You are currently browsing the monthly archive for November 2020.
Lest anyone wonders, I am being tongue in cheek with ‘long live the conspiracy’.
We have lived a conspiracy in most of the Western world in 2020 with local and national coronavirus machinations.
The attached link leads to the most important article you will read this week:
What we have endured this year goes far beyond anything that Alex Jones could have considered happening simultaneously.
Daisy Luther’s article on The Organic Prepper — a site I’d not read until the weekend — is excellent. It is fully sourced and well written.
The briefest of excerpts from ‘7 Things That Were “Crazy Conspiracy Theories” Until 2020 Happened’ follow, because I would like you to read the article for yourselves.
1/ Universal Basic Income:
With this second round of lockdowns how many more jobs will go permanently down the tubes? What are all those people going to do for food? For rent? The government is going to give them money. And we can’t even argue, really, because everyone knows someone who has lost a job they had for decades and who can’t find other work.
They might call it something else, but Universal Basic Income is coming. And it’s coming soon.
2/ Travel papers:
Don’t be ridiculous. We’ll never have to show our “papers” to travel freely in the United States.
Doh.
Not until a COVID pandemic with all its subsidiary restrictions occurred. Back in March, days after I warned about the first lockdown, I wrote:
…
Yesterday, readers sent me photos of “travel papers” provided to them by employers so they could get to and from work. These are employees who work in industries like healthcare, pharmacies, and foodservice, as well as those who work in the production, transport, and sales of essential supplies.
One reader wrote, “We were told to show these if we got stopped on the way to or from work and that if the authorities gave us any trouble, to not argue and just go back home.”
Papers that people sent were from Pennsylvania, New York, Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, Kansas, New Jersey, West Virginia, Virginia, Oregon, Florida, Louisiana, and Ohio. Industries mentioned in the papers were trucking, grocery stores, medical clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, city transit workers, railroads, food production plants, pharmacies, gas stations, stores like Target and Walmart, and automotive repair facilities.
You can see some of the papers that people sent me here.
3/ Mandatory GPS tracking of humans:
“Don’t be silly. Nobody is actually tracking you with your phone. You’re not Jason Bourne.”
Whoops. 2020 proved that was a lie when they rolled out contact tracing apps to make sure you didn’t breathe the same air as somebody who got a positive COVID test.
4/ Cashless societies:
This had a lot of people concerned, especially since Venezuela used COVID to push citizens toward a cashless society. Here in the United States, the “change shortage” was so extensive is caused many stores to give you your change on a store loyalty card or invite you to donate that change to some cause. A true cashless society would allow significant control over our day to day lives. See this article for some of the totalitarian ways it would affect us.
5/ Microchips:
Darpa got involved early on, touting it as a way to “save” us all from COVID …
The microchip talk died down but the fact it as even a discussion and topic of COVID research should be troubling. Anyway, after the initial microchip hubbub, the push got redirected toward our next conspiracy theory.
6/ Mandatory vaccines:
Remember back when nobody thought that adults would ever be forced to take vaccines except for “crazy conspiracy theorists?” Well, that day is coming sooner than many people expect …
And how will they make sure that “the majority” of the population gets the vaccines? It’ll start out easy – there are tons of people who will gladly roll up their sleeves to get a vaccination that was rushed to market with no testing on the long-term effects. And then, the rest of us will be coerced by being unable to go to work, to a concert, to school, or into a public building without proof we’ve been vaccinated.
There is currently a petition posted on the White House website regarding vaccines. It needs 100,000 by Christmas Eve in order for consideration. It currently has under 3,000 signatures:
The petition text reads as follows:
There is plenty of evidence proving vaccines cause injury, illnesses and even death.
The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) of 1986 (42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-1 to 300aa-34) was signed into law by Pres. Ronald Reagan on November 14, 1986. NCVIA’s purpose was to eliminate the potential financial liability of vaccine manufacturers due to vaccine injury claims. This prevents us from fighting corruption that surrpetitiously infiltrated our health system. We demand the abolishment of this Act.
We also demand that a new Act be signed, outlawing any organization, corporation, institution, et al from requiring the vaccine in order to access their services such as work, education, leisure, travel, health, food etc.
This is unethical. The government is meant to be our servant, not our master.
Not everyone who is concerned about a vaccine is an anti-vaxxer. On a news show I saw on Sunday (BBC Parliament), a physician from Northern Ireland said that some contain necessary ingredients that some people might be allergic to. He mentioned eggs, which, if I remember rightly, he said are in a flu vaccine.
And finally, the seventh point, which has to do with ‘re-educating’ Trump voters. The tweet below appears in Daisy Luther’s article.
7/ Re-education camps:
Finally, for those of us who believed these conspiracy theories were conspiracy facts all along – oh – and for Trump voters – there’s the discussion about how to re-educate us so we can rejoin society.
In a Twitter thread run amok, we saw the dark side of some “well-educated” Democrats who were sincerely trying to figure out how to redeem those of us who did not vote for Joe Biden.
This is true.
Yesterday, I was listening to C-SPAN’s Sunday morning programme on BBC Parliament.
A Democrat union activist, married to another union activist (she said they met in a picket line years ago), asked C-SPAN’s guest when Trump voters would be ‘re-educated’. She said that it must be done because they cannot vote in another ‘unqualified’ person for US president.
Conspiracy theories are no more. We’re living a worldwide conspiracy right now.
As Madge from the old Palmolive adverts used to say, ‘Relax, you’re soaking in it’.
The three-year Lectionary that many Catholics and Protestants hear in public worship gives us a great variety of Holy Scripture.
Yet, it doesn’t tell the whole story.
My series Forbidden Bible Verses — ones the Lectionary editors and their clergy omit — examines the passages we do not hear in church. These missing verses are also Essential Bible Verses, ones we should study with care and attention. Often, we find that they carry difficult messages and warnings.
Today’s reading is from the English Standard Version with commentary by Matthew Henry and John MacArthur.
8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
——————————————————————————————————————
Last week’s verses illustrated why pride is a sin. The Corinthians were ‘puffed up’ one against another in their church divisions.
Paul continues his correction of this behaviour in today’s reading.
The Corinthians were proud of themselves, thinking they had it all — materially and spiritually — as if they ruled the world and did not need Paul (verse 8). Paul adds a bit of sarcasm: would it were so, then he and the other church leaders there (e.g. Apollos) could share in that glory.
Matthew Henry’s commentary explains (emphases mine):
There is a very elegant gradation from sufficiency to wealth, and thence to royalty, to intimate how much the Corinthians were elated by the abundance of their wisdom and spiritual gifts, which was a humour that prevailed among them while the apostle was away from them, and made them forget what an interest he had in all. See how apt pride is to overrate benefits and overlook the benefactor, to swell upon its possessions and forget from whom they come; nay, it is apt to behold them in a magnifying-glass: “You have reigned as kings,” says the apostle, “that is, in your own conceit; and I would to God you did reign, that we also might reign with you. I wish you had as much of the true glory of a Christian church upon you as you arrogate to yourselves. I should come in then for a share of the honour: I should reign with you: I should not be overlooked by you as now I am, but valued and regarded as a minister of Christ, and a very useful instrument among you.” Note, Those do not commonly know themselves best who think best of themselves, who have the highest opinion of themselves. The Corinthians might have reigned, and the apostle with them, if they had not been blown up with an imaginary royalty. Note, Pride is a great prejudice to our improvement. He is stopped from growing wiser or better who thinks himself at the height; not only full, but rich, nay, a king.
John MacArthur has a somewhat different outlook. He thinks that the Corinthians were boasting in their good teachers, including Paul:
They weren’t boasting in themselves so much, they were boasting in this good man, Paul, and you’d almost think that’s all right, but that’s how subtle Satan is when he takes a good thing, twists it into a pride issue, and then Paul unmasks it as something very vile. Satan is very deceptive.
MacArthur explains that the Greek and Roman languages had no words for ‘humility’, although they did have words for ‘pride’:
The Roman language, you know, and the Greek language had no word for humility. Had a word for pride, alazoneia, for one. Had no word for humility. You know why? They had no conception of that. It was nothing even to be thought of that a man would be humble. Christianity and the Old Testament Judaism really invented that word. Because humility comes with a proper perspective of God in Christ. If you don’t have God in Christ and all you can do is compare yourself with other people, there’s grounds for thinking you’re better.
Paul says that the Lord chose His Apostles to be the least of all people: ‘a spectacle to the world’ (verse 9).
MacArthur tells us what ‘spectacle’ meant in that era:
He says, “We’re spectacles for I think that God has set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death, for we are made a spectacle unto the world and to angels and to men.” He says, “You people are really something. You’re the heroes, we’re the criminals.”
He chose a very vivid picture. When a Roman General won a victory, they had a procession they called a Triumph, capital T. And what they did was the Roman general would come into the city and he would parade his victorious army through the streets and in would come the army with all the falderal and all the pomp and the whole bit. They would come parading into the city. He would demonstrate his triumph and his achievement by showing off his troops.
Way at the end of the line of troops there would be a little band of captives. They would probably be the best of the captives. They would be all chained together. They were sentenced to death, and they would die in the arena when they would fight the beasts. Following the great Triumph, the people would move to the arena. In would come the little captives. At the end of everything, they would fight and be consumed by the beasts.
History tells us that there was a common phrase, te morituri salutamus. We who are about to die salute you. And in would come the captives and they would die. And Paul says the word “spectacle” and that’s what it refers to. “We are the spectacles, you are the great generals, you Corinthians, conquering everything, parading with all the falderal, showing off your trophies, and we’re the little group of chained captives who have to go and die.” Boy, that’s sharp language, isn’t it? “You’ve arrived. You’re the heroes, we’re the spectacles. You flaunt your pride, your privileges. You reckon your achievements and we just serve and die.”
Henry has more:
Note, The office of an apostle was, as an honourable, so a hard and hazardous one: “For we are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men, 1 Corinthians 4:9. A show. We are brought into the theatre, brought out to the public view of the world. Angels and men are witnesses to our persecutions, sufferings, patience, and magnanimity. They all see that we suffer for our fidelity to Christ, and how we suffer; how great and imminent are our dangers, and how bravely we encounter them; how sharp our sufferings, and how patiently we endure them, by the power of divine grace and our Christian principles. Ours is hard work, but honourable; it is hazardous, but glorious. God will have honour from us, religion will be credited by us. The world cannot but see and wonder at our undaunted resolution, our invincible patience and constancy.” And how contentedly could they be exposed, both to sufferings and scorn, for the honour of their Master! Note, The faithful ministers and disciples of Christ should contentedly undergo any thing for his sake and honour.
Pursuing that thought, Paul says that the Corinthian laity could reap the rewards of honour while church leaders such as Paul were held in disrepute (verse 10).
MacArthur notes the sarcasm in that verse:
Look at it, verse 10. “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise,” sarcasm again. “We are weak, but you are strong. You are honorable, but we are despised.” Oh, the sarcasm there. “We go through the world and what does the world think of us? They think we’re fools,” and they did. In chapter 17 of Acts in verse 18, the Athenians who were the brilliant people, the Athenians who had all the philosophies, the Athenians who knew everything in terms of a solution to man’s problem, they heard Paul and they said, “What does this babbler know?”
And Paul said in 1 Corinthians earlier that “the preaching of the cross is to the world” – what? – “foolishness.” “They think we’re fools.” Back in Acts chapter 5, Peter and John preached and the Sanhedrin said, “What do these people know? They’re hicks from Galilee. They’re not even from uptown, Jerusalem.” And then the apostles were considered weak. Paul said he had a thorn in the flesh, that his body was constantly infirm.
You read 2 Corinthians 11:23 and all the things he endured. The pain, weariness, watchings, hunger, thirst, shipwrecked, being stoned, being beaten with rods, all of the things that he endured, he was weak and he was a beaten man physically so many, many times. And then he was despised. You remember he went into Lystra and Iconium and Derbe and Antioch and Pisidia and in those towns, he was thrown out of town. He was stoned and left for dead. He was chased all over Macedonia. That’s how the world treated them, “But you Corinthians, why, you’re wise and strong and honored.” Sarcasm, sarcasm.
Henry says:
The Corinthians may think themselves, and be esteemed by others, as wiser and stronger men in Christ than the apostles themselves. But O! how gross is the mistake!
Paul continues, saying that he and the other church leaders had poor attire and could never be assured of their next meal or lodgings (verse 11). Furthermore, they were manual labourers, earning just enough to get by (verse 12).
No self-respecting Greek (e.g. Corinthian) would perform manual labour. Their slaves took care of that.
As such, Paul and other church leaders were looked down upon as the lowest of the low.
MacArthur tells us:
“We’ve been beaten up. We have no home, no dwelling place. We labor, working with our own hands.” And, of course, to a Greek, working with your hands was dishonorable. That’s why they had slaves.
Henry reminds us that Christians in that era were also blamed for natural disasters, with their leaders being the first to carry that opprobrium:
It is reasonably thought by the critics that an allusion is here made to a common custom of many heathen nations, to offer men in sacrifice in a time of pestilence, or other like grievous calamity. These were ordinarily the vilest of men, persons of the lowest rank and worst character. Thus, in the first ages, Christians were counted the source of all public calamities, and were sacrificed to the people’s rage, if not to appease their angry deities. And apostles could not meet with better usage.
The leaders’ behaviour, in obedience to Christ, demanded that they bless those who curse and persecute them (verse 12). Because they appeared outwardly weak, society treated them as if they were filth, the sort one might scrape off a shoe in disgust (verse 13).
Henry notes that such men were imitating Christ, who suffered similarly, and ultimately through His horrifying death:
They were the common-sewer into which all the reproaches of the world were to be poured. To be the off-scouring of any thing is bad, but what is it to be the off-scouring of all things! How much did the apostles resemble their Master, and fill up that which was behind of his afflictions, for his body’s sake, which is the church! Colossians 1:24. They suffered for him, and they suffered after his example. Thus poor and despised was he in his life and ministry. And every one who would be faithful in Christ Jesus must prepare for the same poverty and contempt. Note, Those may be very dear to God, and honourable in his esteem, whom men may think unworthy to live, and use and scorn as the very dirt and refuse of the world. God seeth not as man seeth, 1 Samuel 16:7 …
Note, The disciples of Christ, and especially his ministers, should hold fast their integrity, and keep a good conscience, whatever opposition of hardships they meet with from the world. Whatever they suffer from men, they must follow the example, and fulfil the will and precepts, of their Lord. They must be content, with him and for him, to be despised and abused.
That has been true since the earliest days of the Church and is still true today.
MacArthur says:
It’s easy to get along in the world if you don’t speak the truth. But, boy, when you start hitting the world with the truth, you’re going to get a reaction because the world doesn’t want to hear. And since Satan is the god of this world, the prince of the age, he’s got the system to the place where it won’t tolerate the Word of truth. And somebody who boldly proclaims the Word of truth is going to be set apart and they’re going to be considered as filth and offscouring. There’s no place for exalting ourselves, people. We are in this world as pilgrims. Man, we’re on a journey.
Paul’s reprimand continues next week.
Next time — 1 Corinthians 4:14-16
Below are the readings for the First Sunday of Advent, November 29, 2020.
These are for Year B in the three-year Lectionary used in public worship, meaning that we are now entering into a new calendar year, which always begins with Advent.
Emphases below are mine.
First reading
In Isaiah’s time, God’s people finally repented. This was part of their prayer. However, Matthew Henry notes that it is equally applicable to today’s faithful in any ‘time of affliction’. Verse 6 will be familiar to many; our works are but a filthy rag in the Lord’s sight.
Isaiah 64:1-9
64:1 O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence–
64:2 as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil– to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
64:3 When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
64:4 From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him.
64:5 You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed.
64:6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
64:7 There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
64:8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.
64:9 Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.
Psalm
Although it is unclear under what circumstance this Psalm was written, it is appropriate during times of trouble.
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
80:1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
80:2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might, and come to save us!
80:3 Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
80:4 O LORD God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
80:5 You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure.
80:6 You make us the scorn of our neighbors; our enemies laugh among themselves.
80:7 Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
80:17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself.
80:18 Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name.
80:19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
Epistle
Paul’s greeting to the errant, divided Corinthians was a heartfelt one, reminding them of the spiritual strength only the Lord can provide through His Son Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1:4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus,
1:5 for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind—
1:6 just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you—
1:7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:9 God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Gospel
Jesus spoke of His Second Coming, for which we should all be prepared — as we should be for our own individual mortality. We know not when either will come.
Mark 13:24-37
13:24 “But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,
13:25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
13:26 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.
13:27 Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
13:28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.
13:29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
13:30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.
13:31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
13:32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
13:33 Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.
13:34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.
13:35 Therefore, keep awake–for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn,
13:36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.
13:37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”
Advent reminds us to turn from sin and repent — turn over a new leaf in our lives.
In the days before Christ’s earthly ministry began, John the Baptist preached not only baptism but also repentance, so that we may be prepared for Him whose earthly birth we celebrate at Christmas.
May we use the time of Advent wisely.
The two- to three-week lockdown ended up lasting eight months, even if it was off and on.
It was never totally ‘off’. After we were liberated, we were told, whether it be in Europe, North America or the Antipodes, that we would have to not only continue to socially distance but also to start wearing masks. Then came curfews:
What about being able to open only between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.? Nicola Sturgeon — Scotland’s First Minister (SNP) — is having a laugh, only she’s deadly serious. ‘Off sales’ refers to alcoholic beverages sold in off licences (liquor stores):
Now we are approaching the Christmas season, the peak time of year for sales: parties, banquets, family dinners. A number of US states, including those with RINO governors, were on lockdown this week. As such, they missed Thanksgiving, which ushers in the holiday season in the US.
These are the tweets I ran across this week, during America’s national Thanksgiving, a day of family, friends and food.
In the US, a lot of people cannot travel at the moment. They are not even supposed to see their families, even if they live nearby. Their governors told them they mustn’t or, if they do, they’ll ‘kill Grandma’, which must have come out of a WHO pandemic handbook, because we get that in Europe, too (the UK and France).
This is very important:
Yet, so many Westerners do not mind nearly a year’s worth of restrictions — and that includes a number of Libertarians I know personally:
This is worth repeating:
And again:
How many businesses will collapse this year? Most of them are small to medium business owners who have employees.
The hospitality sector has been devastated, even though every bar and restaurant poured in their businesses’ own money to make their establishments ‘COVID-secure’. Governments said that still wasn’t enough.
Now look what’s happening. This is an example from California:
Laws — or, perhaps more honestly, ‘regulations’ (not all of which can be legally enforced) — differ from place to place. Even in England, what is allowed in one county is disallowed in another. There’s no level playing field or explanation as to why other than this graph with spurious data from America’s Centers for Disease Control and Public Health England which shows that hospitality is the main vector for COVID-19 transmission:
Pull the other one, why don’t you, guys?
The reality from England is that, as Guido Fawkes reported on October 12 (emphasis in the original):
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust shows that “Eating out/ exercise/ shopping/events” accounted for just 2.4% of transmission.
The same data show that a staggering 92.5% of coronavirus cases occurred at home!
Here’s another chart from October, showing low incidences in the hospitality sector. The Daily Mail used NHS data. Homes were excluded from this study:
Yet another study says it’s supermarkets:
In the video below, top Scottish chef Tom Kitchin explains the bankrupting costs for the average restaurateur. The clip did not show his conclusion, which was that probably 6,000 UK restaurants will have to close because of these on-off lockdowns — costing thousands of £££ each time to close and to reopen — prohibiting them from trading. Takeaway doesn’t always help:
And what are the figures for Los Angeles County, where we started?
Restaurants in Los Angeles County account for only 3.1% of coronavirus outbreaks:
Where are there more coronavirus outbreaks in Los Angeles County? Government locations:
The saddest thing is, no state needed to lock down for more than a few weeks earlier this year. South Dakota did not have any lockdown. Below is the situation in Florida, thanks to Republican governor Ron DeSantis:
A lot of US governors need to be reined in. How, constitutionally, I don’t know. Right now, they’re a law unto themselves.
European governments need to get a grip.
Career politicians need to face reality — or they will lose a lot of needed tax revenue.
Lockdowns are a crime against humanity.
The announcement from President Trump’s campaign legal team from November 22 shocked many Sidney Powell supporters.
Many Trump and Powell supporters think that the US president’s case for election redress is sunk.
Here is what is happening. My post from Monday, November 23, offers background, including the Trump team’s announcement.
What Sidney Powell said
Sidney Powell issued her own statement afterwards. Her work is about ‘We the People’, as is L Lin Wood Jr’s.
Powell’s statement is as follows (emphasis in the original, those in purple mine):
I agree with the campaign’s statement that I am not part of the campaign’s legal team. I never signed a retainer agreement or sent the President or the campaign a bill for my expenses or fees.
My intent has always been to expose all the fraud I could find and let the chips fall where they may–whether it be upon Republicans or Democrats.
The evidence I’m compiling is overwhelming that this software tool was used to shift millions of votes from President Trump and other Republican candidates to Biden and other Democrat candidates. We are proceeding to prepare our lawsuit and plan to file it this week. It will be epic.
We will not allow this great Republic to be stolen by communists from without and within or our votes altered or manipulated by foreign actors in Hong Kong, Iran, Venezuela, or Serbia, for example, who have neither regard for human life nor the people who are the engine of this exceptional country.
#WeThePeople elected Donald Trump and other Republican candidates to restore the vision of America as a place of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
You may assist this effort by making a non tax-deductible contribution to www.DefendingTheRepublic.org. #KrakenOnSteroids”
Sidney Powell
What Trump’s campaign lawyers are working on and what Sidney Powell is perfecting are two different issues.
The Trump realm cannot easily enter the Powell realm because that would complicate things unnecessarily.
REX, whom I’ve quoted before, albeit not recently, has this analysis as to why there is a pincer movement going on:
This is also a useful analysis. I am unfamiliar with the author, but what he says makes sense:
Rush Limbaugh and Howie Carr want more action
On Monday, November 23, Rush Limbaugh was disappointed that nothing was happening yet from either Team Trump or Sidney Powell.
The Daily Caller carried portions of the transcript from his show (emphases mine):
“You call a gigantic press conference like that, one that lasts an hour. And you announce massive bombshells, then you better have some bombshells, there better be something at that press conference other than what we got,” he explained.
Limbaugh went on to say that a witness — even one whose identity was disguised — would have gone a long way toward bolstering the claims made by the president’s team.
“But you don’t — you can’t — I talked to so many people who were blown away by it, by the very nature of the press conference,” Limbaugh continued. “They promised blockbuster stuff, and then nothing happened. And that’s just, that’s not — well, it’s not good. If you’re going to promise blockbuster stuff like that, then there has — now, I understand. Look, I’m the one that’s been telling everybody, this stuff doesn’t happen at warp speed, light speed, the way cases are made for presentation in court. But if you’re going to do a press conference like that, with the promise of blockbusters, then — then there has to be something more than what that press conference delivered.”
Limbaugh concluded by saying that if the Trump team was going to make a case, it needed to be done quickly. “Time, of course is of the essence now, as it is speedily vanishing. So they’re going to have to act fast,” he said.
The Howie Carr Show, now a Newsmax programme, came on in the afternoon.
Howie couldn’t get hold of Sidney Powell for another interview, but he did speak with Boris Epshteyn and Joe diGenova. The next few paragraphs are my potted summary of what they told Howie.
Boris Epstein, part of Trump’s campaign legal team spoke to Howie. Epstein said ALL the states in question are still in play. He appeared during Howie’s Newsmax hour. (Howie wears a jacket and tie during that portion of his broadcast.)
Epstein said they are tracking things very closely and said he wanted to reassure Newsmax viewers that everything is in hand and progressing as planned.
Joe diGenova was on Howie Carr’s Newsmax hour after Boris Epshteyn. Joe diGenova said that there IS a two-pronged strategy in play. He said that Sidney Powell doesn’t have any problem pursuing the voting machines angle while Team Trump pursues what went on in the polling stations with no Republican observers admitted or placed so far away that they couldn’t see anything.
He confirmed what Boris Epshteyn said: ALL the questionable states were still in play that day (and this week).
Is President Trump worried about paying for recounts and/or audits in individual states? Based on 2016 and the four years of lefty turmoil that followed, his team were prepared and set money aside, especially as mail-in ballots were heavily promoted in all Democratic-controlled states or cities.
Trump knew his campaign would need to pay for recounts. That’s $3 – 7 million per state. They have that covered.
For those who think Trump should take Al Gore’s advice and concede, in 2000, when the hanging chad contest in Florida was in dispute, Gore didn’t concede until December.
But I digress.
Back to Howie Carr. As an organised crime reporter for the Boston Herald for many years, he knows how the legal system can be manipulated. On Monday’s show he asked whether Sidney Powell’s legal standing would be questioned. On whose behalf could she credibly make her case? (After all, L Lin Wood Jr’s case in Georgia got thrown out last week for lack of standing. He is going to appeal the decision.)
It turns out that Sidney Powell is a military lawyer. As today is still Thanksgiving Day, the ultimate American feast, here’s the retweet:
Now for the original tweet:
She has been representing Gen Michael Flynn.
She has also put the frighteners on certain people involved with the voting machines:
Patience required — more information emerging
An American Thinker article by Andrea Widburg puts the election legal fight into perspective:
Currently, I believe that this election was marked by epic fraud. You cannot convince me that Biden, who got five or six people to his rallies, as opposed to the 52,000 or so at Trump’s rallies in Pennsylvania, ended with more votes than Obama.
Nobody ever said proving this fraud would be easy (or, sadly, even possible). I’m treating its unfolding like an epic novel with a surprise ending …
So should the rest of us.
Imagine if we were on the legal team. We wouldn’t have time to sleep — or contemplate our annual turkey dinner with all the trimmings.
For Team Trump, there is much to challenge. RedState has an article with dizzying detail about Georgia alone.
There are also these items:
Yet another witness has come out in Michigan, describing the same scenario as in Georgia:
This is in addition to the legal challenges going on not only in these states but a handful of others which produced dubious results.
As for Sidney Powell, more information emerges for her, including this:
I really hope this isn’t true (a must see/read thread about Republicans and the voting machines).
Conclusion
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is:
Prayers continue for everyone involved in this historic battle for the future of the Great Republic.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers …
… wherever you might be experiencing lockdown.
I wish all of you a good day, however different it might be in 2020.
Lately, I’ve been watching Howie Carr every weekday on YouTube to find out how the election results are going.
Even now, Joe Biden is not yet president-elect. For the media, he is more like the president-select (all credit to Howie).
President Trump still occupies that spot, at least until January 2021, at least.
As I wrote this post, he rightly had a go at General ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis:
He highlighted Wisconsin’s suspicious election results …
… and pointed out a fact about the 27 House races that notional experts said Republicans would lose. Republicans won all 27:
He rightly celebrated the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching 30,000 for the first time in history. Never let it be said that this was Joe Biden’s doing. It was Donald Trump’s policies that made this beautiful record landmark possible.
This is the ninth stock market record in 2020 and the 48th of the Trump administration:
President Trump pardoned the Thanksgiving turkey, a tradition that began in the 1860s during Abraham Lincoln’s administration when his son made friends with a turkey the Lincolns were planning to eat for Thanksgiving.
This year, a beautiful bird, Corn, came from Ames, Iowa, with his friend Cob — Corn and Cob, corncob — for the ceremony. They returned to Ames afterwards with the farmer who bred them:
Now back to Howie Carr, who also covers the latest coronavirus news on a daily basis.
Pity Americans who have to put up with Dr Anthony Fauci. Even Britons roll their eyes at his advice.
A disgusted English friend of mine scorned Fauci’s ‘don’t kill Granny’ advice. I shook my head at ‘a quarter of a million deaths’, which were revised downward drastically during the summer as being deaths with COVID and not of COVID. There’s a big difference:
Back to the ‘killing Granny’ narrative — this is the other side of the story for many elderly with younger family members:
Too right.
Here’s another choice morsel from Fauci:
I would love to know what Fauci is doing for Thanksgiving, but he doesn’t have a Twitter account and it is too painful listening to his idiocy.
As I write on Tuesday, Howie has been reading out the American resistance to lockdowns and restrictions from news articles. These detail how the great and the good have been dictating, sometimes under penalty of law, how people like you and me should live our lives with an illness that has the same fatality rates as the flu. Note that this does not mean coronavirus is synonymous with flu.
Never mind Fauci. American governors have become more brazen and authoritarian with every passing day, no more so than at one of the sacrosanct, inviolable national holidays: Thanksgiving Day, which is celebrated this year on Thursday, November 26.
Let us make the rounds, coast to coast, to see what these governors have been doing, starting on what used to be known as the Eastern seaboard.
Massachusetts
Republican — actually, RINO — governor Charlie Baker (Joe Biden calls him Charlie Parker) has been issuing various prohibitions for ages.
This is his advice to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (as it is officially known) for Thanksgiving, the kick-off to the holiday season, which ends in the US on New Year’s Day. I enjoyed the response to Baker’s advice — well said:
New York
Let’s move somewhat south to New York State.
Howie Carr plays the best clips of Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo’s monologues sound as if they are clips from horror movies until Howie says that they’re the governor’s pronouncements. Scary.
I don’t have any of those audio clips, but Cuomo’s tweets about Thanksgiving are unintentionally amusing.
Before I go there, however, let’s look back to the beginning of the month, two days before the election on Tuesday, November 3.
There was a massive Trump car rally on the bridge named for his father, Mario Cuomo.
As far as I am concerned, the Governor Mario M Cuomo Bridge will always be the TAPPAN ZEE BRIDGE.
This was held in the rain. I embraced the enthusiasm and wished I could have been there:
The current Gov Cuomo, a Dem, as was his father, does not like the fact that President Trump has been able to announce two coronavirus vaccines:
On Friday, November 20, a group of business owners in Buffalo, upstate near Canada, told sheriffs and one or more notional health inspectors to get lost.
Gateway Pundit reported, in part, that the business owners were in a gym. Gyms are/were currently closed because of the Chi-vi (emphases mine below):
Business owners in Buffalo, New York fed up with Cuomo’s authoritarian Covid lockdown orders asserted their Constitutional rights and kicked out sheriffs and “health inspectors” on Friday night.
50 business owners gathered inside of a shuttered gym in Buffalo, New York Friday night when two sheriffs and a so-called ‘health inspector’ showed up to harass the group in response to an “anonymous tip.”
The business owners shouted down and kicked out the health inspector and the told the sheriffs to come back with a warrant.
Well done!
The story comes from the Buffalo News.
This brings us to Thanksgiving.
Cuomo warned New Yorkers to stay at home within their own households, so much so that the New York Post reported that there are big window decals with a photo of Cuomo snooping in people’s homes, accompanied by an image of a turkey.
Interestingly, the company that makes the decals is also located in Buffalo:
One upstate company wants Gov. Andrew Cuomo to be the biggest turkey at your Thanksgiving dinner this year.
The Buffalo-based design firm Custom 716 is selling stickers of the governor’s face that can be put on a window to make it look like Cuomo is peering inside — presumably to make sure not too many people are there to celebrate the holiday this year.
The sticker is a clear way of ripping Cuomo for demanding that New York families avoid gathering in large groups for the holiday out of fears of spreading COVID-19.
“Great for all gatherings, sure to get laughs, great for your business or your home!” they write about the $10 sticker on their firm’s website.
“$10 and I will mail it to you for free, or pick up is available. Located in North Tonawanda, NY,” the description reads, offering a promo code allowing customers to bypass the $8.05 shipping and handling fee.
Cuomo has been begging New Yorkers to spend Turkey Day alone, warning the coronavirus’s rapid spread has increased in part thanks to small, indoor gatherings in recent months as the weather has turned slightly chillier.
“It’s your family, it’s your home, it’s your table — these are all environments where you feel safe and that’s the beauty of Thanksgiving,” he said during a phone conference briefing with reporters Thursday.
“Your safe zone is not a safe zone, your safe zone is dangerous this year.”
When you hear the audio of him saying that (thanks to Howie), it sends chills down the spine.
Fortunately:
politicians and law enforcement agents across the state … argue it’s nearly impossible to enforce caps on indoor, private gatherings.
At the time, Cuomo included himself in that diktat:
However, a few days later, Andrew Cuomo announced big plans for a family get together. Hmm, interesting:
Here’s a tweet, including a photo of the snoop decal from Buffalo. Note the ‘for thee, but not for me’ response from someone living in Governor Pritzker’s fiefdom of Illinois (see below):
Howie Carr said on Tuesday, November 24 that Cuomo got so much blow back from New Yorkers that his family’s plans for a communal turkey dinner changed. One of his daughters would not be attending (H/T Gateway Pundit):
Aww.
Also:
His daughter, wearing a tee shirt with ‘New York tough’ emblazoned across it, tweeted:
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported:
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo abruptly canceled his Thanksgiving plans Monday, less than two hours after revealing he planned to spend the holiday with his mother and two of his daughters.
During a radio interview Monday around 3:45 p.m., Cuomo revealed his “current plan” for the holiday: His 89-year-old mother, Matilda, and two of his three daughters, Michaela and Cara, are planning on joining him in Albany.
…By 5:30 p.m., Cuomo nixed the gathering entirely.
Good.
Hypocrisy is most unbecoming.
New Jersey
Just west of New York, across the Hudson River, New Jersey’s governor Phil Murphy was accosted by angry diners when he was eating out with his family and appearing without a mask. New Jersey has had a particularly arduous lockdown.
Remember, Phil Murphy won’t have to worry about where his next meal is coming from. The taxpayers are footing his bill:
Murphy, who, Howie Carr says, attended the same high school and college as Massachusetts’s Charlie Baker, is still trying to frighten his state’s residents:
His wife is at it, too:
I couldn’t agree more about the gaslighting.
North Carolina
Moving several hundred miles south, North Carolina’s Governor Roy Cooper approves of business closures in Greensboro:
On Monday, November 23, he issued a Thanksgiving sermonette on the ‘stay at home’ theme, most of which follows. Like the UK, he has a colour-based ‘tier’ designation:
With that sort of warning, what North Carolina resident could possibly want to go through with (gasp) a family or friend oriented Thanksgiving dinner?
Amazingly, people in North Carolina have not been able to attend church — or any sort of celebration — for nine months. He has the nerve to tell them to keep it up ‘just a bit longer’ — for November 2021. Good grief:
Governor Cooper has even better news for the run-up to Christmas:
Excellent response.
Illinois
Let’s travel around 1,000 miles northwest to Illinois.
Governor JB Pritzker comes from a family of real estate moguls. As one would expect, he can escape Illinois, lovely as it is, to take a break at family properties elsewhere.
Last summer, he defied his own executive order to take part in a protest in Chicago. Pritzker is the man in the blue and white checked shirt in the second photo below:
More recently, Howie Carr said that Pritzker’s immediate family have been spotted at their Florida farm which has horses that his children can ride. Howie, now a Florida resident, lives in the vicinity.
Hmm.
A Republican congressman from Illinois called out Pritzker:
Someone replied:
Fortunately, Pritzker’s and Illinois’s directives, such as these …
… are being ignored. Just look at Chicago’s O’Hare airport:
Well done!
Gee, 20 years on, the TSA still have their checkpoint. Why didn’t President Trump ever repeal the Patriot Act? ‘There’s a there there’, no doubt.
For those Illinois residents who will not be travelling for Thanksgiving, there is no absolution if you live in Chicago. On November 15, a spokeswoman from Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office said, ‘You are the problem; you are putting everyone at risk’ (see the 11-second mark):
Yet, anecdotally, the vast majority of Chicagoans are wearing masks:
Speaking of masks:
Chicago — the Windy City — which is also darned chilly at this time of year, is pushing OUTDOOR dining in a TWO-sided tent!
You could not make this advice up:
As for Thanksgiving dinners, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot has cancelled them. She is pictured in the photo above with Governor Pritzker at a June 2020 protest. Note that CNN has not shown the official US COVID-19 death count, which is still at ‘with’ + ‘of’, as it was last summer:
Interestingly, during lockdown in April, Madame Mayor felt compelled to get her hair cut when she had told ordinary Chicagoans that hairdressing was non-essential. See the Daily Mail report from April 12, complete with photo of her with her hairdresser, no social distancing required.
Washington
Let’s leave the Midwest for the West Coast, starting in the most northern state, Washington, home to Seattle, the site of much summer mayhem.
Governor Jay Inslee, who did not oppose said summer mayhem, is now telling Washington residents not to get together for Thanksgiving. This advert is unbelievable:
COVID-19 can find you everywhere! Woo-oo!
Inslee thanks Washington residents for not celebrating one of America’s two most historic holidays this year. The reply is excellent:
Oregon
The state immediately south of Washington is Oregon.
There Governor Kate Brown is all in for the deadly coronavirus narrative, especially at Thanksgiving:
On Monday, November 23, she asked for Oregonians to snitch on each other at Thanksgiving.
Hot Air has the story, first reported in the Washington Times. Reporter Jazz Shaw says:
I guess nobody told Oregon Governor Kate Brown about the old rule regarding snitches and stitches. With the holidays fast approaching and an increasing number of citizens growing tired of government mandates forbidding them from gathering with friends and family to celebrate, Brown is concerned that people may simply ignore her orders and gather around the feast table anyway. So what’s an autocratic executive to do? The answer is as simple as pumpkin pie. She’d like people to keep an eye out for large gatherings in their neighborhood and call the police if they see any suspiciously large, turkey-related activity going on. That’s an idea that’s sure to put everyone in the holiday spirit, right? (Washington Times)
This must be one of the snottiest adverts about family ever made. See what you think. A photo of the governor follows (she’s not the one with the pink gloves):
Let us not forget that Portland has had mayhem going on since June. Every doggone night for months on end:
California
The most blatant nose-thumbing has come from California’s governor Gavin Newsom, who with the co-operation of mayors and county officials has kept the Golden State under lockdown for most of the year, with most counties at the top two highest tier levels during that time.
The status holds true, if not worse, even now:
Meanwhile, Governor Newsom has been releasing prisoners sporadically because they are in danger of catching COVID-19. Forget about law-abiding citizens:
One used to think California voters were being silly in continuing to vote in Democrats.
However, in recent years, a growing number of Americans think that Democrats have won so many elections because of voter fraud:
With regard to the curfew, at least one protest took place. This is from Huntington Beach:
Protests last summer in the state were acceptable to most, but the anti-lockdown and anti-curfew ones attract comment. Fortunately, some can discern the truth:
Newsom has seemingly bought into the mask narrative, even though that policy has not improved his state’s figures:
Exactly. Probably more adjusted statistics. We have them in the UK, too.
However, right now, more Californians are interested in Newsom’s social life during lockdown:
With regard to masks …
No one cares that the Newsom family is self-isolating for a fortnight:
The tweets kept coming and coming:
Newsom isn’t alone, it seems, in rule breaking. Is this the California state legislature? Yes, it is:
By the way, masks are probably not a good conversational topic for Thanksgiving. See this brief exchange:
But I digress.
The three-star French Laundry in Yountville (Napa Valley) is one of the world’s most famous restaurants.
In the 1920s, it was used as a French steam laundry, hence the name.
In the 1970s, the then-mayor of Yountville Don Schmitt and his wife Sally turned the building into a restaurant.
In 1994, the French chef Thomas Keller bought the restaurant and made it into the legend it is today.
Friends invited Gavin Newsom to the French Laundry for a birthday celebration on November 6 during California’s lockdown.
Talk about ‘for me, but not for thee’.
The Daily Caller reported:
Photos show the maskless governor of California dining indoors at one of the highest rated restaurants in the world despite his restrictive coronavirus guidelines for the citizens of California.
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom can be seen dining at the Michelin-starred French Laundry on the evening of November 6, according to photos obtained by Fox LA. The restaurant, located in California’s Napa Valley, is considered “the pinnacle of California dining” and has been ranked the best restaurant in the world numerous times, according to various outlets.
Newsom has said the restaurant was outdoors, but FoxLA reported that the room’s glass sliding doors had been closed, making the dinner party indoors. Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The group was so loud that customers complained:
“While we were there we realized there was a very loud party going on in a room 20 feet from us,” the woman who took the photos told FoxLA. “It was a bit annoying since you’re spending hard-earned money to go there. It got louder and louder and so they had some sliding glass doors that they were able to close, so then it was a closed-off room but you could still hear them with how loud they were.”
She continued: “I just happened to look over and realize hey is that Gavin Newsom, who is that? And I did ask one of the waitresses and she confirmed it was, so I was able to take a couple of photos, I was able to document this especially since nobody was wearing a mask. It was a very large group of people shoulder to shoulder, something that he’s always telling us not to do so yeah it was a bit annoying for sure.”
Newsom has urged California residents to wear face masks “in between bites” at restaurants and announced Monday that California is “pulling an emergency brake” and mandating the most restrictive tier of coronavirus restrictions for more than two dozen California counties …
The governor also warned that he would announce more COVID restrictions Friday ahead of Thanksgiving.
Newsom apologized Tuesday for attending the dinner party, calling it a “bad mistake” and saying that he became uncomfortable after arriving when he realized that the group was larger than he expected, according to FoxLA.
…
But the woman who took the photos said Newsom did not appear uncomfortable.
“I was surprised because it didn’t look like he was uncomfortable being there until the very end until people were looking at him and staring at him as he was leaving the room,” she told FoxLA.
Not surprisingly, the dinner made a splash in California’s media:
A few days ago, the California IBank had the nerve to tweet this. I applaud the reply:
That is so true.
Words fail me.
On Thanksgiving, when in doubt, eat more and add more butter.
I hope that those celebrating Thanksgiving can enjoy their dinner the best they can — with hearty gratitude. (Things could always be worse.)
Last week I posted about lawyer L Lin Wood Jr’s fight for voting justice in Georgia following the 2020 election in the United States.
A longtime reader of mine, Truth Unites And Divides, sent in an update, an article from Law & Crime: ‘Trump-Appointed Judge Rejects Lin Wood’s Georgia Lawsuit’.
Excerpts follow, emphases in purple mine.
On November 19, Judge Grimberg found that Wood had no standing to sue the state as an individual voter or suing about how votes have been tallied since the 2020 primaries in Georgia:
While Wood sued in his capacity as an average Georgia voter, the judge made clear that this did not give the lawyer a basis to sue.
“There is no doubt that the right to vote, even an individual’s right to vote is sacrosanct,” Judge Grimberg added, adding that this “doesn’t mean that individual voters have the right to dictate” the manner in which that vote is counted.
On the surface of his lawsuit, Wood claims that Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger harmed him as a voter by agreeing to a March settlement agreement on signature matching in ballots. The lawyer waited eight months and three election cycles to challenge it on Nov. 13, when it became clear that President-elect Joe Biden had won.
On Friday, November 20:
The day after ruling from the bench during oral arguments, Judge Grimberg issued his written opinion reiterating his remarks from the bench.
“The Court finds that the threatened injury to Defendants as state officials and the public at large far outweigh any minimal burden on Wood,” Grimberg wrote in the conclusion of his 38-page order. “To reiterate, Wood seeks an extraordinary remedy: to prevent Georgia’s certification of the votes cast in the General Election, after millions of people had lawfully cast their ballots. To interfere with the result of an election that has already concluded would be unprecedented and harm the public in countless ways.”
That is assuming the votes were legitimate. More on that below.
Lin Wood disagrees with Judge Grimberg’s decision:
Lin Wood will appeal. Good for him:
Things are very strange in Georgia at the moment.
Something isn’t right:
Last week, a recount and an audit took place in that state.
Early Friday evening:
One hour later:
The Georgia Secretary of State issued a correction Friday afternoon, saying this state is still completing the certification process, despite an earlier announcement that the state had certified an electoral victory for Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, something suspicious was taking place:
That night, voters from across Georgia went to the governor’s mansion to protest:
Last Thursday, voting machines were dumped outside of Savannah. Why would they have been on the roadside? Why were they not disposed of properly?
Lin Wood has a petition requesting that a special session of the Georgia state legislature be convened:
Any American voter can sign it. Georgia’s outcome will have an impact on the national result:
He has also filed a motion to preserve the ballots and voting machines:
At the weekend, the New York Times did a hit piece on him:
As I posted yesterday, Judge Jeanine Pirro interviewed Wood on Saturday, November 21:
Wood explained to Judge Jeanine that many Georgia legislators did not know that the voting law had been changed in March, in time for the primaries.
This is why he filed his own lawsuit only recently.
He plans to file for an emergency hearing, if necessary a district court, after his case was dismissed on Friday.
Fortunately, Lin Wood never gives up and is aware of what lies ahead — and not only for him. He calls for those of similar spirit to join him:
The saga continues. As it does, let’s remember to keep Lin Wood, Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and others in our prayers for their stamina, health and safety.
More in due course.
So much news came out about the US election late last week that it was not possible to cover it all.
Below is a summary of more news.
Trump team press conference — November 19
On Thursday, November 19, lawyers representing the Trump campaign gave a two-hour press conference. Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was also present.
Breitbart reported on the nine main points made:
Sidney Powell interviews — November 20 and 21
During the afternoon of Friday, November 20, Sidney Powell gave an interview to Howie Carr on his radio show. Here’s the podcast.
She said that this fraud was co-ordinated internationally (e.g. Canada, Lichtenstein, China) and that its extent is ‘absolutely terrifying’.
The Supreme Court will definitely want to hear this case as, from what she says, it involves foreign interference in a US election.
She also says there were ballots continually run through for Biden at Trump’s expense.
There was also fractional fraud going on. She said a vote for Trump counted 0.75 and one for Biden counted 1.25.
David J Harris Jr has more on the interview:
That evening, she gave an interview to the Washington Examiner‘s Larry O’Connor which you can listen to here.
She told him that ‘multiple people’ saw the fraud take place in real-time. In addition to the above, she said there were military votes, overwhelmingly for Trump, that were not counted.
She told O’Connor that she has testimony and affidavits to prove what occurred:
She hopes to file a formal complaint soon about election fraud that ‘will make jaws hit the floor’.
She says that the machines are so fraudulent that the upcoming run-off state election in Georgia should not take place. The machines can be programmed to get the desired result.
On Saturday, November 21, Powell appeared on Newsmax:
She said she plans to begin with Georgia, calling their current result ‘a total farce’:
Georgia is the first state I’m going to blow up and Mr Kemp and the Secretary of State need to go with it.
No doubt many saw the following statement dated September 22 from Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis regarding Sidney Powell:
It is unclear what that actually means.
However, she might be digging deeper, beyond the election result:
Or it might have to do with funding:
Two people in the know tweeted their views on Sunday.
Lin Wood said that he and Powell were fighting for ‘We The People’:
Powell’s client, Gen Michael Flynn, said she had been temporarily suspended from Twitter:
Developing …
The voting machines
In the video below, Michael Voris explains in layman’s terms how more votes went to Biden than to Trump on the evening of Tuesday, November 3:
The next video is also informative as it discusses what happened in the hotly contested Bush-Gore election of 2000, involving Florida’s hanging chads. Incredibly, those machines are still in use in some states. They also paved the way for the current machines from Dominion and Smartmatic, which, just to repeat, are completely programmable:
Interestingly, three days after the election Shaffer tweeted this about the Department of Homeland Security’s preparedness for the Democratic National Committee:
About these tweets, Gateway Pundit said on Saturday, November 21 (emphasis in the original):
These tweets caused an uproar on Twitter and liberals freaked out thinking they might have gotten caught in their attempt to steal the 2020 election. But the entire discussion was soon forgotten by the media and on Twitter.
Now with Sidney Powell’s claims the President won the election by a long shot, we wonder if what really Shaffer was hiding and referring to at the same time was the election fraud relate to the voting machines? Shaffer is an expert on the machines, maybe he was telling us they were all over it and not to worry?
This just a hunch but ultimately time will tell.
The ‘scandal of the century’
On November 19, a Louisiana newspaper published a report on the election. The Central City News calls it ‘the scandal of the century’:
With that in mind, no wonder President Trump has been tweeting frequently about it:
Regardless of ‘news’ reports, Pennsylvania is still in play with regard to lawsuits:
Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
On November 16, 2018, President Trump established the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA.
CISA is part of the DHS, the Department of Homeland Security. Wikipedia states (see above link) CISA’s purpose is to:
improve cybersecurity across all levels of government, coordinate cybersecurity programs with states, and improve the government’s cybersecurity protections against private and nation-state hackers.[3]
CISA has Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Council.
Incredibly, the council has a number of entities which seem somewhat misplaced for the Trump administration. How they got there, who knows?
Bear Witness Central has a list of the council members and an in-depth article about the agency itself.
Excerpts follow, emphases mine.
CISA disputed anomalies with the 2020 election results:
… the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)—part of the DHS—issued a statement on November 12, 2020 disputing the allegations and saying “the November 3rd election was the most secure in American history.” However, what CISA failed to disclose is that Dominion Voting Systems is a member of CISA’s Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Council, one of two entities that authored the statement issued by CISA.
You couldn’t make this up:
It is incredible that in addition to Dominion Voting Systems, Smartmatic and SCYTL are also members of the Coordinating Council. In addition, Hart InterCivic electronic machines were used in many states with questionable lack of security, the anti-Trump Associated Press, and Big Tech companies Amazon and Microsoft.
The statement about the election also says:
There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised. “While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too,” says the statement.
Meanwhile:
President Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell have denounced Dominion Voting Systems with the Smartmatic software from Communist Venezuela saying that this voting system has shifted millions of votes from Trump to Biden.
Fortunately, on November 17:
President Trump acted wisely when firing Christopher Krebs, the first Director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and Krebs’s second in command, Matt Travis. A third official, Bryan Ware, Assistant Director for Cybersecurity, resigned.
Many insiders investigating the election think more needs to happen:
The President needs to tell the nation what the CIA did and fire its Director, Gina Haspel, as recommended by his lawyer Sidney Powell. The President needs also to tell the nation what Dominion Voting Systems did and its ties to the Communist Democratic Party. Then the President’s lawyers need to take his case to the Supreme Court. Failure to do that may eliminate his chances to return to the White House for a second term.
Lastly, the President also needs to fire FBI Director Christopher Wray for covering up the stolen election and the crimes of Joe Biden and his family. And his lack of cooperation with Congressional oversight committees.
The whole article is well worth reading.
That could be part of the reason why Trump replaced Secretary of Defense Mike Esper with Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller. At the end of last week, Miller announced that the US president’s orders will be carried out. The Special Operations civilian leadership will report directly to Miller instead of the ‘current bureaucratic channels’. This has been authorised by Congress, he said, and will put Special Operations Command on a ‘direct par’ with ‘the military services for the first time’ and will ‘immediately improve agility’.
The text preceding his video (see second tweet) is the author’s alone. Miller did not say those words:
Judge Jeanine Pirro sums up
Judge Jeanine did not let her audience down on Saturday, November 21.
She says that, for four years, we were led to believe that Russia was behind the 2016 election. Yet, this year, we discover that American votes were counted overseas. She adds that Trump’s legal team have 250 affidavits — sworn testimony of evidence — pointing to voter fraud. She explains the pause in vote counts on November 3:
She says that, while Democrats run free, those who filed affidavits will likely need witness protection for telling the truth. Ordinary citizens are being censored for tweeting about voter fraud. Judge Jeanine tried it out with a friend of hers. Jeanine’s was posted. Her friend’s was suppressed. Yet, the greatest issue remains — if proven, this manipulation of votes is unconstitutional:
Judge Jeanine interviews Lin Wood
Lin Wood explains to Judge Jeanine that many Georgia legislators did not know that the voting law had been changed in March, in time for the primaries:
This is why he filed his own lawsuit only recently.
He plans to file for an emergency hearing, if necessary a district court, after his case was dismissed on Friday. He has video and photographic evidence of voter fraud in Georgia.
More on that tomorrow.
Conclusion
Here’s the election investigation thus far, in a nutshell:
Please pray for everyone involved.
Those interested can show their support on December 12:
In the meantime, keep calm and carry on.
The three-year Lectionary that many Catholics and Protestants hear in public worship gives us a great variety of Holy Scripture.
Yet, it doesn’t tell the whole story.
My series Forbidden Bible Verses — ones the Lectionary editors and their clergy omit — examines the passages we do not hear in church. These missing verses are also Essential Bible Verses, ones we should study with care and attention. Often, we find that they carry difficult messages and warnings.
Today’s reading is from the English Standard Version with commentary by Matthew Henry.
6 I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers,[a] that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. 7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
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Last week’s post introduced 1 Corinthians, explaining more about Corinth and the Christians there.
Unlike the Thessalonians, who were devout, the Corinthians had shortcomings in their beliefs and conduct. Paul counselled and corrected them in this letter.
One of the big issues with the Corinthians involved the divisions within their church. Groups of them followed certain leaders. One faction aligned itself with Paul, another with Apollos, yet another with Cephas as well as one group claiming to follow Christ alone.
Paul addressed this factionalism in 1 Corinthians 3, excerpts from which follow (emphases mine):
2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled[b] master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
As we know, continuing squabbles lead to genuine strife and destructive division that can put an end to a church — or any other organisation for that matter.
Paul warned the Corinthians about the end result:
16 Do you not know that you[c] are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
He also took issue with their notional wisdom. Philosophy was very popular in Corinth:
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
1 Corinthians 4 is about the role of Apostles (i.e. Paul) and ministers in the church (e.g. Apollos) and how the congregation should treat them.
He begins by saying that ministers of the church should be faithful, above all. Paul said he was not concerned if the Corinthians judged him, because only the Lord could judge him:
5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
Paul knew that the divisions among them were causing them to be full of pride, each faction believing it was better than the other.
Therefore, he wrote that he and Apollos were faithful stewards of the church and, as such, just as they did not go beyond what Paul had taught them (‘beyond what is written’) or in Scripture, nor should the Corinthians in esteeming their respective faction over another (verse 6).
Matthew Henry explains:
The advice the apostle would by this means inculcate was that they might learn not to think of men above what is written (above what he had been writing), nor be puffed up for one against another (1 Corinthians 4:6). Apostles were not to be esteemed other than planters or waterers in God’s husbandry, master-builders in his building, stewards of his mysteries, and servants of Christ. And common ministers cannot bear these characters in the same sense that apostles did. Note, We must be very careful not to transfer the honour and authority of the Master to his servant. We must call no man Master on earth; one is our Master, even Christ, Matthew 23:8,10. We must not think of them above what is written. Note, The word of God is the best rule by which to judge concerning men. And again, judging rightly concerning men, and not judging more highly of them than is fit, is one way to prevent quarrels and contentions in the churches.
This is a perfect illustration of why pride is a sin. It destroys, never heals:
Pride commonly lies at the bottom of these quarrels. Self-conceit contributes very much to our immoderate esteem of our teachers, as well as ourselves. Our commendation of our own taste and judgment commonly goes along with our unreasonable applause, and always with a factious adherence to one teacher, in opposition to others that may be equally faithful and well qualified. But to think modestly of ourselves, and not above what is written of our teachers, is the most effectual means to prevent quarrels and contests, sidings and parties, in the church. We shall not be puffed up for one against another if we remember that they are all instruments employed by God in his husbandry and building, and endowed by him with their various talents and qualifications.
Verse 7 seems obscure, but Paul is really asking what makes everyone have such a high opinion of themselves, when everything they have with regard to gifts or talent comes from God.
Henry says that verse 7 also includes the ministers in their midst who headed the various factions. Those ministers were false teachers:
Here the apostle turns his discourse to the ministers who set themselves at the head of these factions, and did but too much encourage and abet the people in those feuds. What had they to glory in, when all their peculiar gifts were from God? They had received them, and could not glory in them as their own, without wronging God. At the time when they reflected on them to feed their vanity, they should have considered them as so many debts and obligations to divine bounty and grace. But it may be taken as a general maxim: We have no reason to be proud of our attainments, enjoyments, or performances; all that we have, or are, or do, that is good, is owing to the free and rich grace of God. Boasting is for ever excluded.
This is very important:
There is nothing we have that we can properly call our own: all is received from God. It is foolish in us therefore, and injurious to him, to boast of it; those who receive all should be proud of nothing, Psalms 115:1. Beggars and dependents may glory in their supports; but to glory in themselves is to be proud at once of meanness, impotence, and want. Note, Due attention to our obligations to divine grace would cure us of arrogance and self-conceit.
More will follow on this subject next week.
Next time — 1 Corinthians 4:8-13
Reign of Christ Sunday — November 22, 2020 — is the final Sunday in the Church year.
This is traditionally known as Christ the King Sunday.
Advent — and a new Church year — begin on November 29, 2020.
These readings are for Year A in the three-year Lectionary used in public worship.
There are two options for the Psalm.
Emphases below are mine.
First reading and Psalm — Option One
Ezekiel 34 contains the Lord’s reproof of the elders of Israel — both religious and secular — in their lack of leadership. The Lord also took issue with the spiritually stronger laymen who neglected their weaker brethren. These verses say that the Lord will look after His people. So, too, does Christ, the root and offspring of David, look after His flock.
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
34:11 For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
34:12 As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
34:13 I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land.
34:14 I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
34:15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD.
34:16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.
34:20 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
34:21 Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide,
34:22 I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
34:23 I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.
34:24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.
This Psalm is a marvellous song of praise and thanksgiving. These verses will be very familiar.
Psalm 100
100:1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.
100:2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing.
100:3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.
100:5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm — Option Two
This Psalm of David’s expresses his joy in and praise of the Lord. These verses will also be familiar to many.
Psalm 95:1-7a
95:1 O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
95:2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
95:4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.
95:5 The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
95:7a For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
Epistle
These verses of Paul’s to the believers in Ephesus are ideal for Christ the King Sunday.
Ephesians 1:15-23
1:15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason
1:16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.
1:17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him,
1:18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,
1:19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
1:20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
1:21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
1:22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,
1:23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Gospel
This is the continuation and conclusion of Matthew 25, which Jesus preached in the days before the Crucifixion. Here He describes His Second Coming.
Matthew 25:31-46
25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.
25:32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,
25:33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.
25:34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
25:35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
25:36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’
25:37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?
25:38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?
25:39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’
25:40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’
25:41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;
25:42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
25:43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
25:44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’
25:45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
25:46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
I pray that all of us reading this are among the sheep.
Churchmouse Campanologist 