QOTD: By Their Fruits You Will Know Them

 

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them.

Matthew 7:15-20

We had record low unemployment, energy independence, and our enemies worried about us.

Now we have high inflation, tepid recovery in employment, high energy prices, energy dependence, and Putin saying that American hegemony is over.  I’ll leave China as an assignment to the reader.

By their fruits, you will know them.

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  1. JoelB Member
    JoelB
    @JoelB

    Are you better off now than you were four years ago?

    • #1
  2. She Member
    She
    @She

    A great, and very wise, start to the month.  Thanks.

    ***

    This is the Quote of the Day. July’s sign-up sheet is here, and we’re off to a rather slow start so far this month, so there are plenty of dates available.  Please sign up today!

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    Another ongoing project to encourage new voices is our Group Writing Project. July’s theme is “We Hold These Truths (or Fictions).”  If you’d like to weigh in, please sign up for Group Writing too!

    • #2
  3. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    She (View Comment):

    A great, and very wise, start to the month. Thanks.

    ***

    This is the Quote of the Day. July’s sign-up sheet is here, and we’re off to a rather slow start so far this month, so there are plenty of dates available. Please sign up today!

    If you’re new at this game, it’s a easy way to get your feet wet and start a conversation; if you’re an old-timer, you already know the ropes. Either way, please sign up to speak up.

    Another ongoing project to encourage new voices is our Group Writing Project. July’s theme is “We Hold These Truths (or Fictions).” If you’d like to weigh in, please sign up for Group Writing too!

    -Internal monologue-

    *Don’t say it should have part of Pride Month.  Don’t say it should have part of Pride Month.  Don’t say it should have part of Pride Month.*

    • #3
  4. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Judge Mental (View Comment):

    She (View Comment):

    A great, and very wise, start to the month. Thanks.

    ***

    This is the Quote of the Day. July’s sign-up sheet is here, and we’re off to a rather slow start so far this month, so there are plenty of dates available. Please sign up today!

    If you’re new at this game, it’s a easy way to get your feet wet and start a conversation; if you’re an old-timer, you already know the ropes. Either way, please sign up to speak up.

    Another ongoing project to encourage new voices is our Group Writing Project. July’s theme is “We Hold These Truths (or Fictions).” If you’d like to weigh in, please sign up for Group Writing too!

    -Internal monologue-

    *Don’t say it should have part of Pride Month. Don’t say it should have part of Pride Month. Don’t say it should have part of Pride Month.*

    It’s better stand alone and not part of Pride Month.  

    Someone else can open the can of worms.

    • #4
  5. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    JoelB (View Comment):

    Are you better off now than you were four years ago?

    Is our country better off?

    • #5
  6. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    JoelB (View Comment):

    Are you better off now than you were four years ago?

    I’m not better off than I was four months ago.

    • #6
  7. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Judge Mental (View Comment):
    *Don’t say it should have part of Pride Month.  Don’t say it should have part of Pride Month.  Don’t say it should have part of Pride Month.*

    When do we get to celebrate the other deadly sins?

    • #7
  8. She Member
    She
    @She

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Judge Mental (View Comment):
    *Don’t say it should have part of Pride Month. Don’t say it should have part of Pride Month. Don’t say it should have part of Pride Month.*

    When do we get to celebrate the other deadly sins?

    That is a great idea!  I vote we start with sloth month, followed swiftly by gluttony month, and go from there.

    We’re going to need some more flags though.

    When I was working in health care, it always seemed to be either “lung cancer month” or “colon cancer month.”  Hospitals are big on lobby and cafeteria displays, and I always seemed to be walking past glossy oversized full-color foamboard depictions of colon polyps and where they grow, together with examples of colonoscopy equipment and test results; or (this was the worst) jars containing healthy lungs (pink, frilly, soft, flithery) and smokers’ lungs (gray, woody, rigid).

     

    • #8
  9. Quietpi Member
    Quietpi
    @Quietpi

    JoelB (View Comment):

    Are you better off now than you were four years ago?

    It’s not a matter of where I was four years ago.  It’s the trajectory from where I was one year ago.  It is not looking good.

    • #9
  10. Michael Brehm Lincoln
    Michael Brehm
    @MichaelBrehm

    She (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Judge Mental (View Comment):
    *Don’t say it should have part of Pride Month. Don’t say it should have part of Pride Month. Don’t say it should have part of Pride Month.*

    When do we get to celebrate the other deadly sins?

    That is a great idea! I vote we start with sloth month, followed swiftly by gluttony month, and go from there.

    We’re going to need some more flags though.

    When I was working in health care, it always seemed to be either “lung cancer month” or “colon cancer month.” Hospitals are big on lobby and cafeteria displays, and I always seemed to be walking past glossy oversized full-color foamboard depictions of colon polyps and where they grow, together with examples of colonoscopy equipment and test results; or (this was the worst) jars containing healthy lungs (pink, frilly, soft, flithery) and smokers’ lungs (gray, woody, rigid).

     

    I want a Month of Wrath. I’ve got a big ol’ axe to grind.

    • #10
  11. CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill
    @CarolJoy

    You say:

    We had record low unemployment, energy independence, and our enemies worried about us.

    Now we have high inflation, tepid recovery in employment, high energy prices, energy dependence, and Putin saying that American hegemony is over. I’ll leave China as an assignment to the reader.

    By their fruits, you will know them.

    And their hypocrisy and self righteousness has grown exponentially.

    We who are not of the Left live our truths.

    They demonstrate their truths symbolically, while ignoring any meaningful actions that might be undertaken.

    We are too buy  focused on meaningful actions to worry about symbolical gestures.

     

    • #11
  12. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    I’m not going near that quote.

    • #12
  13. Brian Clendinen Inactive
    Brian Clendinen
    @BrianClendinen

    You are assuming the president has demi-God like powers and he does not. Correlation is not causation. You need to stop the idocacy of both sides. The lock down, which Trump went along with, has more to due with this than anything else.

    • #13
  14. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Brian Clendinen (View Comment):

    You are assuming the president has demi-God like powers and he does not. Correlation is not causation. You need to stop the idocacy of both sides. The lock down, which Trump went along with, has more to due with this than anything else.

    I am not referring to the men, I am referring to their regime and the policies they implement in a broad sense.

    And yes, Trump was wrong on the lockdown but so was the rest of the world.

    • #14
  15. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Brian Clendinen (View Comment):

    You are assuming the president has demi-God like powers and he does not. Correlation is not causation. You need to stop the idocacy of both sides. The lock down, which Trump went along with, has more to due with this than anything else.

    I am not referring to the men, I am referring to their regime and the policies they implement in a broad sense.

    And yes, Trump was wrong on the lockdown but so was the rest of the world.

    Trump had to go along with the lockdown for many reasons.

    The paranoid part of my overactive brain, and/or my newfound interest in fiction writing, says this, for what it’s worth:

    Probing for Trumps personal psychological weaknesses, they determined that his germophobia was his Achilies Heel.  However the pandemic was created and released, and whether or not this was entirely engineered or merely an opportunity that presented itself, as the alarmism and the hype rose to a crescendo, Trump was advised to take strong actions, get ahead of the wave, and be transparent and decisive to avoid what happened to Bush over Hurricane Katrina.

    He was immediately forced into a no-win situation. Still, he boldly stopped incoming flights from China, unless they were Americans returning home.

    This was met with charges of racism and attacks of over-kill.

    Fauci, a long time Democrat with nearly unlimited medical qualifications and power, was perfectly placed to be the front man of the band. He proceeded to create more chaos brilliantly. Trump was meanwhile egged on by nearly everyone in his circle to use this pandemic to rally the country and prove how his administration could be effective. Win-win. 

    Meanwhile Democratic Governors were using their powers granted by our republican form of government to create more chaos, and very possibly deliberate actions that further amplified the death toll and fear. Trump as a Republican, could not have any moral authority to go against their decisions, not to mention any political authority.

    Ultimately the pandemic was used as an excuse to push for mail-in voting whereby the Democrats could commit wholesale and retail fraud.

    There’s no way Trump could have gone against them. No way. If it was a plan, it was brilliant. To whatever extent it wasn’t a plan, they played it very well for political purposes, which is clearly what they -and by they I include the corporate, pharmaceutical supported MSM, perfectly.

     

    • #15
  16. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    Clavius (View Comment):

    Brian Clendinen (View Comment):

    You are assuming the president has demi-God like powers and he does not. Correlation is not causation. You need to stop the idocacy of both sides. The lock down, which Trump went along with, has more to due with this than anything else.

    I am not referring to the men, I am referring to their regime and the policies they implement in a broad sense.

    At my previous job, we made water pumps, mostly for firefighting.  On the portable pumps, the EPA required we put on a label verifying that it had been emissions tested. When I started, it also had to be date-specific, which meant that every time the assemblers needed a label they would have to come find someone to actually print the label out. After Trump was elected, the requirement was changed to a generic label, which we could run off in bulk and give to the assemblers. I’d estimate the change probably saved us at least a half hour of work a night, as well as lowering the chances of getting trouble from the EPA.

    Where I work now, policy changes by the Biden* administration are making us do extra work in shipping products. It’s so far relatively minor, maybe a couple minutes a day, but that also adds up over time.

     

    • #16
  17. Stina Inactive
    Stina
    @CM

    Clavius (View Comment):

    And yes, Trump was wrong on the lockdown but so was the rest of the world.

    One place where Trump was absolutely right concerning lockdowns was avoiding a national lockdown and national mandates. He should be commended for that.

    • #17
  18. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Franco (View Comment):

    Trump had to go along with the lockdown for many reasons.

    The paranoid part of my overactive brain, and/or my newfound interest in fiction writing, says this, for what it’s worth:

    Probing for Trumps personal psychological weaknesses, they determined that his germophobia was his Achilies Heel. However the pandemic was created and released, and whether or not this was entirely engineered or merely an opportunity that presented itself, as the alarmism and the hype rose to a crescendo, Trump was advised to take strong actions, get ahead of the wave, and be transparent and decisive to avoid what happened to Bush over Hurricane Katrina.

    There’s no way Trump could have gone against them. No way. If it was a plan, it was brilliant. To whatever extent it wasn’t a plan, they played it very well for political purposes, which is clearly what they -and by they I include the corporate, pharmaceutical supported MSM, perfectly.

    You imply plans that are set by unnamed others, to cripple the Trump administration and, one assumes, his chances for reelection.

    And remember the rumor.  Patrick Byrne says that in the last months of Trump’s presidency.

    At this point I will insert one important sub-story. In those days of swimming around with people who were in various proximities to the President, I was told something by someone very much in Trump’s inner circle. What I was told was this: Melania had been warned by a government official that if Trump served another term he would be JFK’ed. It may even have been someone in the Secret Service itself, in a “We will not be able to protect him” sense. The threat included another family member as well, per the telling. I find it hard to believe that anyone in the Secret Service itself would ever say that, but the source of the information to me had otherwise been blemishless, and the claim was that whoever (perhaps Secret Service, perhaps someone else) had said this to Melania, it was someone from whom such a claim would be taken seriously. Melania was begging Donald not to fight, and simply to concede and get out of Washington with his family.

    • #18
  19. Clavius Thatcher
    Clavius
    @Clavius

    Stina (View Comment):

    Clavius (View Comment):

    And yes, Trump was wrong on the lockdown but so was the rest of the world.

    One place where Trump was absolutely right concerning lockdowns was avoiding a national lockdown and national mandates. He should be commended for that.

    Agreed.

    • #19
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