The Christmas Star

Most of my life I have resided in areas that were well lit at night. Only the brightest stars were visible. So my first time camping was a revelation. My God, there are a pants load of stars.

The Ancients did not have to deal with halogen lights. Except for the moon and whatever you could burn, when the sun set, it got dark and stayed dark until the sun rose again in the morning. But the stars....

The Ancients watched the heavens as we watched the Game of Thrones, but they did it every night and they took notes, copious notes.

They used the stars to determine seasons, for navigation. The lunar  calendar was based on the phases of the moon as it circled the earth. They noticed that while almost all stars were stationary, some stars moved across the sky. The Greeks called them planets - "asteres planetai" (ἀστέρες πλανῆται) - wandering stars.

Astrological studies sought to assign significance to celestial bodies and the movement of certain stars and planets assumed great importance. This is why the story of the Star of Bethlehem is so important today.

The convergence of Jupiter, Regulus and Venus occurred in 2 B.C. and this is what the Magi were tracking. Jupiter and Venus appeared to be on a collision course. To the Ancients, this was astounding. To their naked eye the two "stars" appeared as one. And where this happened was also of great significance.

This convergence occurred in the constellation of Leo, which was considered a royal constellation. Within Leo is Regulus, the "King Star."

There was a lot going on within the Roman Empire during this time. For more on this phenomenon, go here.

Is This The NY Times' Last Obamagasm?

The NY Times, "The Grey Lady," has managed to drop her so-called objective undies, spread her hoary editorial legs wide so as to give the liberals another go while she shudders and moans through one more Trump hit piece.

How Trump’s Calls to World Leaders Are
Upsetting Decades of Diplomacy

I won't bother to quote any more of the squealing sheilas' steamy, senseless, stippled soliloquy (dang! broke my thesaurus!) but you, faithful reader, can well imagine the tripe that only the fevered brow of the Times can produce.

In this digital swill, to which I refuse to link, the Times savagely bites the pillow and still manages to scream that Trump is ruining Obama's diplomatic masterpiece; in brief, Trump has smeared a mustache over Obama's Mona Lisa of Global Outreach.

The Times gives us a Christmas Cacophony of Doom...

On Pakistan! On Kazakastan! On Japan and Britian!

On Mexico! On China! On NATO and Putin!

On world trade and oil! On building his wall!

Now dash away, dash away! He's gonna kill us all!

Of course the Times fails to mention Obama's failed foreign policies. Aided by his first Secretary of Scandal,  the Great Bowing and Scraping Initiative of his Administrative has produced nothing but terror and instability throughout the world.

Here's a Whitman's Assorted Incompetence Sampler of Obama's achievements.

• Libya and Syria are in flaming ruins.
• Egypt barely managed to avoid the same fate. 
• Tunisia is now run by terrorists. 
• Iran still provides armaments to terrorists throughout the region and is on the threshold of producing its own nuclear weapons. 
• Russia invaded Ukraine and now has massed troops, missiles and armor along its borders. 
• China is militarizing and claiming mineral rich and vital commercial waterways in the South China Sea.
• In response to China, Viet Nam is doing the same albeit on a smaller scale.
• North Korea has finally manged to get a intermediate range ballistic missile off the launch pad. 
• The Philippines - well, a former ally told us to f**k off.

Scores of world leaders are calling President-elect Trump. I guess they no longer are calling Obama.

But none of this penetrates the Times' frenzied Obamagasm. On the other hand, let her enjoy it. In the very near future they'll be few and far between.

In The News

Hillary Gains In Election Recount Micron By Agonizing Micron
It's like having a powerful adhesive band-aid being slowly pulled off a wound. Except this wound won't heal.

The first day of Wisconsin’s presidential recount narrowed the gap between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President-elect Donald Trump by precisely one vote.

The dems know this won't get them anywhere, they just want to stall the Electoral College vote so it ends up in Congress.


Kicking And Screaming And Dragging Their Heels
Here's one of the reasons I am ashamed at times to be a New Yorker.

Dem senator comes out against waiver for Mattis to be Defense head

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) came out against Donald Trump’s selection of retired Marine Gen. James Mattis for secretary of Defense, saying she would not support a necessary congressional waiver to allow him to take on the role.

Gillibrand is the first lawmaker to oppose waiving the prohibition on former military officers heading the Pentagon less than seven years after retiring.

She used to be a Republican but loved the Kool-aid more than her conscience. We need a Mad Dog in the DoD. We don't need her.


Idiot Wars: The Spewster Strikes Back
Spewing partisanship, ignorance, juvenile behavior and liberal bile, an IL democrat protests the outcome of a lawful, constitutional election.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said Friday he won't be attending the inauguration of President-elect Trump in January, because of his plan to boost enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

"I'm not going to this inauguration, I can't go to this inauguration, because he continues to spew hatred, bigotry and prejudice even after he said he was going to bring us all together," Gutierrez said on CNN.

"But he's not," he added. "He continues to spew this kind of ... hatred. So I'm not going to be there."

Gutierrez will march in protest during Trump's inauguration. Afterwards, he vowed that he will hold his breath until Pennsylvania and Michigan turn blue.


Worried About The Wall?  Better Worry About Mexico's Banks
Agustin Carstens is El Jefe Peso - head of Mexico's central bank - and he is leaving his position in July. He has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago (which may explain why Mexico is in such a mess). This comes on the realization that the Mexican economy is incredibly dependent on dollars sent home from America by immigrants, legal and otherwise.

Remittances sent home by Mexicans working outside the country surpassed petroleum revenues in 2015 for the first time. There was a 4.75% increase in money sent from abroad, most of which comes from the U.S., to total US $24.8 billion last year, up from $23.6 billion in 2014, said the Bank of México.

The bank said it was the first time remittances had totaled more than petroleum revenues since it began tracking them in 1995. Oil revenues last year totaled $23.4 billion. (read more)

However, that guesstimate only measures wire transfers (individual to individual – Western Union money services). That measure doesn’t include bank to bank transfers, nor does it account for direct transfers of capital via cash, personal check, money order or banker cheque. In essence, the estimation is severely understated.

An honest evaluation of all possible currency transfer streams puts the outflow well over $100 billion, well over.

And that does not take into consideration the billions in income tax fraud perpetrated by Mexicans living in the US. If Trump does what he says he will do, Mexico will have to find someone else to prop them up.

Hilarious Trump Parody

H/T iOTW

Pocket Sized Surveillance Drone Company Acquired

An article from Recode:

The leading maker of thermal imaging sensors, Flir, bought a Norwegian drone maker for $134 million, the company announced Wednesday.

Flir acquired Prox Dynamics, which makes the Black Hornet, a tiny nano-drone used by the military and law enforcement for surveillance and reconnaissance. The drone is deployed by throwing it in the air and is small enough to fit in a soldier’s pocket. Despite its compact frame, the Black Hornet carries three cameras.

 

The palm-sized aircraft is used by the U.S. Marines, the British Army, the Australian Army and Norway’s Armed Forces.

These drones can easily fit in the palm of your hand.

President-elect Donald Trump wants to resume law enforcement access to military equipment, so Flir acquired Black Hornet at an opportune time, when its client base in the U.S. may soon swell.

They're not cheap. I can see a new law enforcement grant initiative whereby federal tax dollars will be used to purchase these devices. The Black Hornet drone and all the equipment necessary to operate it costs $1950,000. Few small or even medium sized police agencies can afford that price tag.

If these drones become common place there might be an ancillary business boom for residential swimming pool domes . Swarms of miniature drones, cheap civilian models and otherwise, could infest skinny dipping sites. It could resemble a bee migration.

And what would you call a swarm of surveillance drones?

There's a bevy of quail, a dole of doves, a siege of herons, a gaggle of geese and a raft of ducks.

A dollop of drones?  

Audit Bags A Weiner

Ex-Congressman and recovering sextaholic Anthony Weiner was informed that an audit of his 2013 run for Mayor of NYC uncovered some irregularities.

Weiner learned Thursday that the city Campaign Finance Board ordered his 2013 mayoral campaign committee to repay over $195,000 in public funds and whacked it with a fine of $64,956 after irregularities were identified in an audit.

The biggest portion of the fines resulted from the campaign’s failure to explain tens of thousands of dollars in expenses during the campaign and more than $100,000 afterward.

Auditors at the CFB also identified more than $1,500 in expenses that seemed to be personal in nature, including for dry cleaning bills.

Records show that as of July, Weiner still had nearly $4 million in his mayoral campaign account.

He received $1.6 million in taxpayer matching funds.

Story here.

Seriously, what will the NY Post do if Weiner goes underground? If he decides to live out the rest of his life in a monastery; there to fulfill himself through a life of tranquility and self denial?

Nah, that'll never happen. Weiner is drawn to mischief and public controversy as a dung beetle is drawn to a herd of elephants. The whiff of a fifteen year old pubescent female will give him the shakes. A trashy porn star wanna-be can still get him to flash his Hanes clad member throughout cyberdom.

He is compulsive, impulse driven. How this hot mess got to be a Congressman is beyond me.

This poor boy has got his wires crossed and three weeks on a horse is not going to fix that. We can expect more entertainment from this lad; all Weiner, all the time.,

More Sacrifices To The Pagan God Diversity

Somali refugee Abdul Razak Ali Artan posted on Facebook that he was 'sick and tired of seeing my fellow Muslim brothers being killed and tortured' shortly before he went on a slashing rampage at the Ohio State University that left 11 injured. 

Authorities are currently investigating the posts, allegedly made by Artan, which mention radical cleric Anwar Awlaki and accuse America of 'interfering' with other nations.

'I am sick and tired of seeing my fellow Muslim brothers and sisters being killed and tortured EVERYWHERE,' it stated. 'I can't take it anymore.

Then stay in your shit hole at the other side of the world. See if you can "take it" any better over there.

No one asked you to come here.

No one sent you an engraved invitation requesting that you sit your unwashed heathen ass down at an American table to enjoy the liberties that you did not fight for and an education that you had no intentions of paying for.

More here.

A Death Worse Than Death

For a limited time only you can now receive 76 hot houri babes for the discounted price of  ... martyrdom.

That's right, 76 beautiful, gorgeous virgins that will delight your dead ass for the price of 72.

Hurry, this offer expires soon!

From The American Thinker:

Last month, when the battle for Mosul began, Islamic State "caliph" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi reportedly promised four extra Houris (supernatural, celestial women designed for sexual purposes) – atop the other 72 promised by the prophet Muhammad – to all jihadis who die (are "martyred") fighting the infidel forces, according to Arabic media accounts.

Al-Baghdadi did this during an extra-"fiery" sermon wherein he recounted 15 hadiths and three stories dealing with the Houris in the context of the original Muslim conquest of Mosul, circa 637, at the hands of Muhammad's companions (the sahahba). After promising his followers that "blood will run like rivers in the [forthcoming] battle," al-Baghdadi declared: "All, without exception, will enter paradise as martyrs. Moreover, you will enter paradise with four more Houris than other martyrs. For just as you stand by me now, so will they stand by you, or under you, or above you, so that you might forget what will happen to you by way of violence, death, and degradation in this war."

Who Pays The Most In Taxes?

Seems funny that the richest socialists like Sanders and Clinton are always griping that the rich need to pay more while they hide their assests with every legal device at their command. Yet the poorest pay little or nothing yet garner the greatest benefits from the government.

From Zero Hedge:

[...]with approximately $1.55 trillion in individual income tax expected to be collected in 2016, this means that less than 1% of US taxpayers will be responsible for more than a third, or roughly $575 billion in government revenue, nearly double what corporate income taxes ($300 billion) are expected to bring in.

Here are 27 large corporation that did not pay any federal taxes last year.

Of course there is no attempt (or intent) by the government to just provide essential services. This is all about wealth redistribution in order to maintain political advantage.

H/T Lucianne