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We have reached the point of no return…we must stand up & be counted… The only thing necessary for the triumph of Evil is for Good Men to do nothing.  I believe in faith, family and the American dream. Always dream bigger!!!

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The Science Behind Beautiful Fall Foliage

For years, scientists have worked to understand the changes that occur in trees and shrubs during autumn. Although we don’t know all the details, we do know enough to explain the basics to help you enjoy nature’s multicolored display. Three factors influence autumn leaf color:

– leaf pigments

– length of night

– weather

The timing of color changes and the onset of falling leaves is primarily regulated by the calendar as nights become longer. None of the other environmental influences – such as temperature, rainfall, food supply – are as unvarying as the steadily increasing length of night during autumn. As days grow shorter, and nights grow longer and cooler, biochemical processes in the leaf begin to paint the landscape with Nature’s autumn palette.

Check out NASA images from space

Leaf Pigments

A color palette needs pigments, and there are three types that are involved in autumn color:

– Carotenoids: Produces yellow, orange, and brown colors in such things as corn, carrots, and daffodils, as well as rutabagas, buttercups, and bananas.

– Anthocyanin: Gives color to such familiar things as cranberries, red apples, concord grapes, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and plums. They are water soluble and appear in the watery liquid of leaf cells.

– Chlorophyll: Gives leaves a basic green color. It is necessary for photosynthesis, the chemical reaction that enables plants to use sunlight to manufacture sugars for food.

 Trees in the temperate zones store these sugars for the winter dormant period.

Both chlorophyll and carotenoids are present in the chloroplasts of leaf cells throughout the growing season. Most anthocyanins are produced in the autumn, in response to bright light and excess plant sugars within leaf cells.

During the growing season, chlorophyll is continually being produced and broken down and leaves appear green. As night length increases in the autumn, chlorophyll production slows down and then stops and eventually all the chlorophyll is destroyed. The carotenoids and anthocyanin that are present in the leaf are then unmasked and show their colors.

Brilliant Fall Leaves On The Superior National Forest. (Forest Service Photo)

Certain colors are characteristic of particular species:

– Oaks: red, brown, or russet

– Hickories: golden bronze

– Aspen and yellow-poplar: golden yellow

– Dogwood: purplish red

– Beech: light tan

– Sourwood and black tupelo: crimson

The color of maples leaves differ species by species:

– Red maple: brilliant scarlet

– Sugar maple: orange-red

– Black maple: glowing yellow

– Striped maple: almost colorless

Some leaves of some species, such as the elms simply shrivel up and fall, exhibiting little color other than drab brown.

The timing of the color change also varies by species. For example, sourwood in southern forests can become vividly colorful in late summer while all other species are still vigorously green. Oaks put on their colors long after other species have already shed their leaves.

These differences in timing among species seem to be genetically inherited, for a particular species at the same latitude will show the same coloration in the cool temperatures of high mountain elevations at about the same time as it does in warmer lowlands.

Length of Night

In early autumn, in response to the shortening days and declining intensity of sunlight, leaves begin the processes leading up to their fall. The veins that carry fluids into and out of the leaf gradually close off as a layer of cells forms at the base of each leaf. These clogged veins trap sugars in the leaf and promote production of anthocyanin. Once this separation layer is complete and the connecting tissues are sealed off, the leaf is ready to fall.

How does weather affect autumn color?

The amount and brilliance of the colors that develop in any particular autumn season are related to weather conditions that occur before and during the time the chlorophyll in the leaves is dwindling. Temperature and moisture are the main influences.

A succession of warm, sunny days and cool, crisp but not freezing nights seems to bring about the most spectacular color displays. During these days, lots of sugars are produced in the leaf but the cool nights and the gradual closing of veins going into the leaf prevent these sugars from moving out. These conditions – lots of sugar and light – spur production of the brilliant anthocyanin pigments, which tint reds, purples, and crimson. Because carotenoids are always present in leaves, the yellow and gold colors remain fairly constant from year to year.

The amount of moisture in the soil also affects autumn colors. Like the weather, soil moisture varies greatly from year to year. The countless combinations of these two highly variable factors assure that no two autumns can be exactly alike. A late spring, or a severe summer drought, can delay the onset of fall color by a few weeks. A warm period during fall will also lower the intensity of autumn colors. A warm wet spring, favorable summer weather, and warm sunny fall days with cool nights should produce the most brilliant autumn colors.

What does all this do for the tree?

Fall Showing At The Norway Beach Recreation Area On The Chippewa National Forest. (Forest Service Photo)

Winter is a certainty that all vegetation in the temperate zones must face each year. Perennial plants, including trees, must have some sort of protection to survive freezing temperatures and other harsh wintertime influences. Stems, twigs, and buds are equipped to survive extreme cold so that they can reawaken when spring heralds the start of another growing season. Tender leaf tissues, however, would freeze in winter, so plants must either toughen up and protect their leaves or dispose of them.

Evergreens: pines, spruces, cedars, firs, and so on are able to survive winter because they have toughened up. Their needle-like or scale-like foliage is covered with a heavy wax coating and the fluid inside their cells contains substances that resist freezing. Thus the foliage of evergreens can safely withstand all but the severest winter conditions, such as those in the Arctic. Evergreen needles survive for some years but eventually fall because of old age.

Broad-leaved trees: These are trees that do not have needles or scale-like leaves. They are tender and vulnerable to damage, are typically broad and thin and are not protected by any thick coverings. The fluid in the cells of these leaves is usually a thin, watery sap that freezes readily, which makes them vulnerable in the winter when temperatures fall below freezing. Tissues unable to overwinter must be sealed off and shed to ensure the plant’s continued survival.

What happens to all those fallen leaves?

Needles and leaves that fall are not wasted. They decompose and restock the soil with nutrients and make up part of the spongy humus layer of the forest floor that absorbs and holds rainfall. Fallen leaves also become food for numerous soil organisms vital to the forest ecosystem.

It is quite easy to see the benefit to the tree of its annual leaf fall, but the advantage to the entire forest is more subtle. It could well be that the forest could no more survive without its annual replenishment from leaves than the individual tree could survive without shedding these leaves. The many beautiful interrelationships in the forest community leave us with myriad fascinating puzzles still to solve.

Where can I see autumn color in the United States?

You can find autumn color in parks and woodlands, in the cities, countryside, and mountains – anywhere you find deciduous broadleaved trees, the ones that drop their leaves in the autumn. New England is rightly famous for the spectacular autumn colors painted on the trees of its mountains and countryside, but the Adirondack, Appalachian, Smoky, and Rocky Mountains are also clad with colorful displays. In the East, we can see the reds, oranges, golds, and bronzes of the mixed deciduous woodlands; in the West, we see the bright yellows of aspen stands and larches contrasting with the dark greens of the evergreen conifers.

Many of the Forest Service’s 100 plus National Scenic Byways were planned with autumn color in mind. Almost every one of them offers a beautiful, colorful drive sometime in the autumn.

When is the best time to see autumn colors?

Unfortunately, autumn color is not very predictable, especially in the long term. Half the fun is trying to outguess nature! But it generally starts in late September in New England and moves southward, reaching the Smoky Mountains by early November. It also appears about this time in the high-elevation mountains of the West. Remember that cooler high elevations will color up before the valleys.Table of Contents

• How Do Leaves Get Their Color?
• Why Do Leaves Change Their Colors?

The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the most famous drives in the US. Last fall, I had the good fortune of driving through it at the perfect time. It was undoubtedly the most beautiful ride of my life. I had no destination and I never wanted the drive to end. Surrounded by a wonderland of yellow and orange leaves, it felt like I was driving through a garden, not on a public road. The sight of all that fall foliage was simply breathtaking.

When autumn arrives, life suddenly becomes more enjoyable. When you see all those beautiful yellow and orange leaves on the road, all your worries about traffic and work stress just vanish. People around you seem happier, eager to soak up the natural beauty of the world around them.

However, have you ever wondered how all those leaves magically change their green color to yellow, orange and red when autumn finally arrives?

How Do Leaves Get Their Color?

During summer vacations, when you are playing outside, the trees are working hard to provide you with oxygen for all of your activities. Then, when you get tired and are sweating from the summer sun, these trees provide you with shade beneath their green leaves.

Photosynthesis

Trees take water from the ground through their roots and carbon dioxide from the air. They use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose. Glucose is a type of sugar that trees use as food. This process is known as photosynthesis, and a vital chemical called  chlorophyll helps in photosynthesis.

Chlorophyll is a green color pigment that is abundantly found in leaves; therefore, it is chlorophyll that gives leaves their green color.

Why Do Leaves Change Their Colors?

Yellow and Orange

Other than chlorophyll, leaves contain two other pigments: carotene (orange color) and xanthophyll (yellow color).

During the summer, chlorophyll is the busiest pigment, as it is required for photosynthesis. The abundance of chlorophyll masks the orange and yellow color pigment that lie beneath.

Trees work hard in the summer season to produce food, which they can store for the autumn and winter season. Autumn is the time for the trees to finally take a rest after all that hard summer work.

In some parts of the world, during autumn and winter, days become shorter and nights become longer. Therefore, the amount of sunlight decreases significantly, and as a result, plants are not able to perform photosynthesis. As the amount of sunlight reduces, the amount of chlorophyll also reduces and becomes less dominant. Due to this, the carotene (orange) and xanthophyll (yellow) pigments that were already present in the leaves begin to show.

Red Color

Leaves look even more beautiful when they are red in color. This red color is the result of the anthocyanin (red color) pigment. Anthocyanins, unlike carotene and xanthophyll, are not present in leaves all the time. The tree synthesizes anthocyanins only after the chlorophyll content reduces significantly. Anthocyanins are produced as a form of protection for the leaves; they allow the tree to recover nutrients in the leaves before they fall off.

In short, leaves do not actually change their color. They simply lose their green color during the autumn.

We should be very thankful for trees , as they let us enjoy the beauty of nature in every season. Autumn is like a second spring, when every leaf is a flower.

References:

1. Environmental Science and Forestry
2. US Forest Service
3. Why do we celebrate Halloween, go trick or treating and carve pumpkins? (goodto.com)
4. Impossible – Nat King Cole

Holy Grail UNEARTHED in Jerusalem | Buried: Knights Templar and the Holy Grail (S1, E1) | History

History of the Knights Templar – Wikipedia

Templar protectors of Jesus. We must not tolerate an elite class of such people as we have in Congress, elected as public servants and putting themselves above the law. Govt produces nothing but inflation, misery, poverty & slavery.

Were Crusader Knights Really Protecting the Cup of Christ?
By Dan Jones

The Knights Templar: The Holy Grail
Between 1200 and 1210 the German writer Wolfram von Eschenbach composed an epic romantic poem, tens of thousands of lines long, called Parzival : Wolfram von Eschenbach : Free Download, Borrow, Streaming : Internet Archive

It drew on the hugely popular legends of King Arthur, which had for decades delighted aristocratic audiences with tales of chivalry and questing, love and betrayal, magic and combat.
Eschenbachs patron was one Hermann, Landgrave of Thuringia, but the readership his work eventually found was enormous and its influence immense. More than 80 medieval manuscripts of the poem still survive.
In Parzival, the eponymous young hero appears at Arthur’s court and quickly becomes embroiled in a dispute with a “red knight,” whom he kills in a fight.

After going away to learn to be more chivalrous, Parzival embarks on a search for something called the Grail: both a literal hunt for a mysterious, life-giving stone and a spiritual journey toward enlightenment in God. The Grail is initially guarded in a magical castle by a character called the Fisher King, who is in constant pain from a wound to his leg, divine punishment for his failure to remain chaste.

Parzival meets the Fisher King, then becomes sidetracked by other escapades. Eventually, after fighting a knight who turns out to be his own brother, he learns that he himself has become the new king destined to guard the Grail, and the story eventually draws to a close.
Much of Parzival, as written by Eschenbach, was unoriginal. Earlier writers such as Geoffrey of Monmouth and Chrétien de Troyes had already established the world he described and provided many of the plots.

Eschenbach was essentially updating: expanding the characters’ adventures and giving the tales a flavor that he thought his own readers (and listeners, for many would have heard the poems read aloud in their lords’ halls) would enjoy.
One of the ingredients he added was the appearance of a military order called the Templeise, warriors sworn to chastity who help the Fisher King keep watch in their “temple” over the Holy Grail. These men were not identical to Templars: Their symbol was a turtledove rather than the crusaders’ cross, and they did not appear to have a developed rule.

All the same, the resemblance was striking and the story proved to be enduring. The Templars had been transformed for the first time from a crusader militia into the guardians of the mythical Grail.
During the later Middle Ages the legend of the Grail became ever-more developed and fanciful. In the stories by Chrétien de Troyes and Wolfram von Eschenbach, the Grail was a somewhat indistinct object—a plate, a stone, a bleeding lance or a goblet—all of which served ultimately as a metaphor for Jerusalem and for the kingdom of Heaven itself.

But as time went on, writers began to imagine the Grail to be something quite specific. Robert of Boron, writing shortly after Eschenbach, concocted a backstory for the Grail, in which it was both the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper and the vessel used by Joseph of Arimathea to collect drops of Jesus’s blood as he hung dying on the cross. It was now a Holy Grail. In this telling, the Holy Grail was then transported by Joseph from the Holy Land to Avalon, which came to be identified with a specific location: Glastonbury, in the southwest of the British Isles.

All of this was high fantasy, which people in the Middle Ages would have recognized as such: The Holy Grail was no more real than Spectre in today’s James Bond films. Yet as time went on, Robert of Boron’s entertaining but bogus pseudo-history became confused with the real history of Christianity, and of crusading.
Today, writers of fiction—and even of history—often assume that the Holy Grail was a real object, and combine its supposed presence in Jerusalem with the story of the Templars, speculating that one of the order’s first purposes in the Holy Land was to protect the cup of Christ. From this exciting but illusory point of departure, it’s possible to speculate that the “real” reason the Templars were destroyed by Philip IV of France was connected to some conspiracy to strip the brothers of their most holy secrets.
Ironically, some modern writers, beginning from the false assumption that the Holy Grail was a real object, have gone on to argue that in fact the Grail was actually a metaphor! Much play has been made of the pun in medieval French on san graal (holy grail) and sang real (royal blood). Perhaps, runs this argument, the grail was not a mystical vessel after all, but code for a secret line of descent from Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

This is all great fun, but it belongs to the realm of fantasy. As we have seen, the Grail was never a real physical object. It began as a literary motif and an allegory, both for crusading in general and for the individual quest for salvation. Philip IV, for his part, had far better reasons for destroying the order of the Temple than retrieving from them an imaginary goblet.
But the Holy Grail myth is a brilliant starting point for fiction, whether that means re-telling the Arthurian legends, or inventing stories about the deeds of the Templars—or a fusion of the two. Many historians become irritated by the conflation of fantasy and fact, but there is a huge popular appetite for tales of the Grail, particularly when the Templars, endlessly fascinating, are included.

That was undoubtedly the case in the early 13th century when Wolfram von Eschenbach and Robert of Boron were writing their epic romances. Today, around 800 years on, it is as true as ever.
From THE TEMPLARS: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God’s Holy Warriors by Dan Jones, to be published September 19, 2017 by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2017 by Dan Jones.
DAN JONES is an acclaimed medieval historian and lead consultant on HISTORY’s forthcoming ‘Knightfall’ series.

The Knights Templar: Fathers of Modern Banking

By Jefferson P Webb.

While the Knights Templar are famed for their courage and valor in combat against Islam in the Crusades, these famed and even legendary knights are responsible for more than just the protection of pilgrims to the holy land, or for facing off with Saladin’s forces from Syria. While there are many books and articles composed and published about the Templar Knights, some of which are quite fantastical to the point of science fiction, there are certain contributions that these knights made that have positively influenced western civilization to modern times that need due attention.

“The Order of the Temple was founded as the Order of the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ by a French nobleman named Hugues de Payen in 1119 in Jerusalem. Hugues de Payen led the original order of nine knights by the names of Godfrey of Saint-Omer from Picardy, Payen de Montdidier, Andre de Montbard, Archambaud de Saint. Aignon, Geoffrey Bisol, Roland, Gondemar, and yet a ninth knight whose name is not known. All of these knights took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The Order was founded to protect pilgrims from robbers and bandits who attacked, robbed, and often murdered pilgrims to the Holy Land.”1

The pilgrims, “came in their droves, unaware of the dangers that lay ahead – the roads around Jerusalem were notorious for the bands of robbers that haunted them, preying on the travelers to the Holy Places. Sometimes these robbers were Saracens; sometimes they were lapsed crusaders. To counter this threat, Hugues de Payen gathered together a group of nine knights to protect the pilgrims.”2

“Together these nine knights took on the roll as protectors of the pilgrims in 1119, but the order was not officially established until 1129. “The Knights of the Temple of Solomon of Jerusalem ( Order of the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ) were established as a religious Order of the Latin Church in 1129, when they were officially accepted at the Council of Troyes in Champagne. They were granted Rule which urged all secular knights to hasten to associate themselves with those ‘who God has chosen from the mass of perdition.’”3

Clearly the Templars filled the role of protectors of Christian travelers and did indeed begin to draw the attraction of secular knights as well as noblemen to their ranks for service to the Church in the Holy Lands and in Europe as well. While the Templars did see combat actions in the Middle East as line fighters for Christian armies, flying their black and white battle flag called a Beauseant and shouting their battle cry, “In Hoc Signo Vinces!” meaning, “In this sign conquer,” in reference to a vision in a dream by Emperor Constantine prior to the Battle of Milvian Bridge, there were many Templars who never saw combat. They filled entirely different roles within the Order. One of those many roles was the role of banking.
Many of the Templar knights were used to record and safeguard the items and monies placed within their care within the walls of their monasteries and banks/keeps. In fact, there were many more brother knights that oversaw the recording of transactions of loans, ceded estates and lands, and other financial matters for the Order than their were brother knights serving in combat functions for the Church. Simply put, there were more of these famed “warrior monks” that actually filled the function of “banker monks.” “The great majority were administrators of the more than 9,000 manors that had been given to the Order by pious benefactors.”4

Much of the wealth that the Order accumulated came from knights and noblemen donations of lands, monies, and other forms of wealth when they joined the Knights Templar for service to the Church. In spite of the fact that the monks themselves took vows of poverty among other vows, the Order itself became extremely wealthy in assets. They became so wealthy that they maintained their own fleets for the transportation of soldiers, pilgrims, goods and valuables, and many other items bound for the Middle East and other areas. The earliest record of the Templars’ wealth beginning to blossom was recorded as taking place even before the Order was established officially with the Church. “It appears to have begun with a meeting of Hugues de Payen and Fulk V, Count of Anjou, while Fulk was on his pilgrimage in 1120 to Outremer. After this meeting, Fulk committed to the Order an annual income of 30 livres angevines. Fulk was also able to inspire other French noblemen to make pledges to Hugues de Payens Templars as well. The Order’s economical means began to build, and as its wealth grew so too did its influence on the European and Middle Eastern stages.”5

The Knights Templar had become one of the richest entities in the world over just a few years, and with well established banks within their monasteries, and arguably the best security in the world for those assets, the brother knights found themselves serving in yet another capacity. Nobles and Royals alike began to entrust the brother knights with securing their valuables within the safety of the Monastery walls under the guard of the Templar Knights. What took place was the establishment of the safe deposit box.
A person turned in their valuables to the monastery for safekeeping and was then able to retrieve them at their pleasure, just as is the case today with a safe deposit box at your local bank. An example of such a transaction along with the language of the documentation and agreement of the withdrawal transaction is found in a quotation from a primary source document. It was a transaction to retrieve jewels by James I, King of Aragon from the Temple of Mozon.

“Be it known to all that we, James, by the grace of God King of Aragon, Majorca, and Valencia, Count of Barcelona and Urgel and Lord of Montpellier and we, Yolanda, Queen, Countess, and Lady of the said places, acknowledge that we have received and possess all and every jewel that we had deposited and put in the safe keeping in the house of the Temple of Monzon. Wherefore we declare the houses of the Temple and all brothers freed from all chains from us and ours concerning all the said jewels. Henceforth neither we nor ours can make further demands for any or all the said jewels. Henceforth, neither we nor ours can make further demands for any or all of the said jewels nor incriminate, attack, or even harass the brothers of any house nor any possessions of the Temple in respect to said jewels. Given at Calatayud, ten days before the kalends of March, 1240. Sign of James, by the grace of God, King of Aragon, Majorca, and Valencia, Count of Barcelona, and Urgel, and Lord of Montpellier.”6

Evidenced in that primary source is a prime example of the types of items the brother knights were entrusted with protecting, but also brings to light insight into the language used in such legal documentation of the transactions. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the language of the document and transaction is not unlike that which we see today in such agreements. Without question the Knights Templar were well trusted by the upper crust of European aristocracy and indeed can be credited with the establishment, officially, of the modern safety deposit system.
It is not surprising given the Templar wealth that they too were sought for loans. Here too another function of modern banking was well established with the Templar. It is safe to say that they are not the first to issue loans, but what the Templars did do was issue loans on a much larger, and much better documented scale than most other organizations during their period or since. One such example can be seen here of such a loan made by Robert II, Count of Artois, who was count from 1250-1302, and was the first cousin of the King of France, Philip III.

“I, Robert, Count of Artios, declare to all who peruse this present document, that I owe the monk Brother John of Tour, Treasurer of the house of the Knights Templar in Paris, 1,578 livres parisis in respect of a legal loan in cash the said treasury made me for the furtherance of my affairs, of which we have full satisfaction, renouncing the receipt of non-cash property and moneys not yet received. In satisfaction and full payment of this said loan to the said treasurer, free of debts and having full legal rights, I assign specifically and in the name of a special attribution, and herewith ascribe to said treasurer, all and every one of my rents, proceeds and income from my castlery and townships of Domfront – en – Passais, and all their apprentices, i.e. reeveship, woods, waters, pannage, ovens, mills, pastures, hay, hens, capons, wheat and whatever else exists, pertaining to me in any matter in those said places…they shall be had, received, and enjoyed by the said treasurer or his representative annually from now on without break, in full, without any loss or opposition, quit and free, in payment and discharge to said debt, until by the continuous payment of the rents, proceeds, and income, full and complete satisfaction for the whole of the said debt shall have been made to the said treasurer.”7

Pilgrims, Warriors, Heretics: Who Were the Knights Templar? | HISTORY Channel

Again we see a magnificent example of the language used in the transaction, but too this shows us the enormity of the loan transaction itself and the level of wealth involved. The Knights Templar were involved in some of the largest loans of their time and even made loans to royal houses to finance the endeavors of nations. With such as a trustworthy reputation established, the Templars also began to be used for transferring monies from one place to another. In doing this, the Templars issued a note to a person for the amount deposited in one place that was good for the person to collect such an amount from the Templars in another place or region. The Templars were effectively issuing travelers checks to people upon deposit of monies. This was of great benefit to people traveling abroad and specifically to the Holy Lands where bandits and robbers made their livelihoods.

While the Templars are well-known for bravery in combat, here it is clearly shown that their function and influence was on a much broader scale than what they are generally given credit for. Nevertheless, their wealth would end up being one of the prime reasons for their demise as France’s King Philip found himself and his country in serious economic peril. Furthermore, King Philip influences Pope Clement V to dissolve the Order in accusations of heretical behavior to claim their assets for France and for redistribution to other monastic knightly orders, in particular the Knights Hospitaller. The Knights Templar were effectively dissolved in 1314 by Clement V and their wealth taken from the Order. But, their contributions to the modern system of banking is profound in spite of the fact that it is predominantly overlooked. It is true that the Knights Templar were heroes of the Crusades, and can be looked upon in many ways as inspirational examples of courage and bravery, and dedication to the Christian Faith under extremely difficult circumstances. But there should be much more attention paid than there is to their influence on the modern system of banking. The Knights Templar set the bar for the use of safety deposit boxes, loans of great magnitude and travelers checks and bank notes and the efficiency with which these things were accomplished.

10 Crazy Claims About The Bloodline Of Jesus Christ – Listverse

Sources:
1. Webb, Jefferson P. The Order of the Temple: Influences on Modern Banking. Waco, TX: Webb Publishing. 2009.1
2. Martin, Sean. The Knights Templars. NY: Thundermouth Press. 2004.1
3. Barber, Malcolm and Bate, Keith. The Templars: Selected Sources. NY: Manchester. 2002.1
4. Read, Pier. The Templars. NY: Saint Martins. 1999. 181
5. Webb, Jefferson. The Order. 3
6. Barber and Bate: The Templars: Selected Sources. 208
7. Barber and Bate. 209

Bibliography
Andrew Jotischky and Caroline Hull. Historical Atlas of the Medieval World. New York: Penguin. 2005
Frank Sanello. The Knights Templar: God’s Warriors, the Devil’s Banker. New York: Taylor Trade Publishing. 2003
Gordon Napier. The Rise and Fall of the Knights Templar: The Order of the Temple, 1118-1314: A True History of Faith, Glory, Betrayal, and Tragedy. UK: Spellmount. 2003
Jefferson P. Webb. The Order of the Temple: Influences on Modern Banking. Waco, TX: Webb Publishing. 2009
Helen Nichols. The Knights Templar: A New History. UK: Sutton Publishing. 2002
Malcolm Barber and Keith Bate. The Templars: Selected Sources. New York: Manchester United Press. 2002
Martin, Sean. The Knights Templar. New York: Thundermouth Press. 2004
Norman Cantor. The Civilization of the Middle Ages. New York: Harper Collins. 1993 … Piers Read.

http://www.the-games-blog.com/knights-templar-want-ban-on-negative-games/ Accessed 08-14-2011. The Games Blog.com. April 29, 2011. GabrielVandervort.

Templar on Horse: http://www.ancientresource.com/lots/medieval_crusades/knights_templar_coins.html Accessed 08-14-2011. Ancient Resources 2011.
Crystalinks.com.Templar Seal. http://www.crystalinks.com/templars.html

The workers who keep global supply chains moving are warning of a ‘system collapse’.

Green Vaccine Alternative: What Are They & Where To Get Them.

Vaccines: The Death of Natural Immunity (naturalblaze.com)

Climate Alarmists Won’t Let Reality Sway A Useful Narrative.

The view from Howell: Michiganders weigh in on Biden agenda.

By Jason Dick, Paul M. Krawzak, and Evan Campbell.

President Joe Biden took his pitch for enhanced infrastructure and social safety net spending to Howell, Mich., this week, accompanied by the town’s congresswoman, Democrat Elissa Slotkin. CQ Roll Call senior writer Paul M. Krawzak also went to Howell, located in exurban Detroit, and spoke to people about how they felt about the president, his positions, and politics more broadly. He joins us on this episode of the Political Theater podcast.

Show Notes:

BREAKING: Biden Administration Rolls Out Plans To Begin Actively Monitoring ALL BANK ACCOUNTS For “Certain Transactions”

Biden environmental regulations will only sabotage America’s recovery (msn.com)

• Biden plays for time on infrastructure, larger budget package
• Infrastructure uncertainty rankles vulnerable Democrats
• Business groups blast House GOP opposition to infrastructure bill
• Biden pitch meets resistance in Michigan GOP stronghold

The post The view from Howell: Michiganders weigh in on Biden agenda appeared first on Roll Call.

Divided We Fall by Over Time ft. Caleb Jacobson (America’s Video)

Over Time – County Line (Official Music Video)

I don’t trust The Science™. I trust data.

In an attempt to lay out the Biden administration’s approach to charting the course of the U.S.-China economic relationship, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai underscored that the bilateral relationship is “complex and competitive.”  

More importantly, Tai noted, “In recent years, Beijing has doubled down on its state-centered economic system. It is increasingly clear that China’s plans do not include meaningful reforms to address the concerns that have been shared by the United States and many other countries.”

Indeed, that’s the core of the problem in moving forward the “complex and competitive” U.S.-China economic relationship. 

To be fair, China’s economic development has been notable since it opened more to the world in the late 1970s and allowed for a more capitalist economic model to succeed.

Entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 further opened China’s market to foreign trade and investment, enabling China to lift millions more out of abject poverty and giving a greater number of Chinese citizens access to a better quality of life and leisure.

Beijing has long taken credit for China’s economic success and wishes to keep it that way.

However, the Chinese Communist Party has never abandoned its socialist ideology and authoritarian approach. Chinese President Xi Jinping has successfully injected the party’s new paradox between craving greater control that puts the party above all and the pursuit of much-needed positive economic outcomes, which has been increasingly challenging.

China has often paid lip service to reforming its bloated, inefficient state-owned enterprises and command economic structure. Unfortunately, recently announced reforms rarely pan out, with pro-market reforms slowed and even derailed in some sectors.

About 15 years ago, the one-party government in Beijing began redefining state-owned enterprise “reform,” using the phrase to refer to centralizing state control over key industries, the opposite of what it means in the rest of the world.

The Chinese Communist Party’s third plenum in 2013 outlined how the state would reduce control of commercial state-owned enterprises, while pushing them in key industries that contribute the most to China’s economic development and national security to focus on “core” areas of their businesses.

In practice, that has meant ever-increasing deference by state-owned enterprises to party officials’ top-down control of their activities.

Pursuing and maintaining high rates of economic growth is not, of course, the primary goal of any communist dictatorship. The real objective is always the party’s retention of full control of the country’s people, usually by any means necessary. The party does seem to understand that spurring continued economic growth is a key factor in maintaining popular support.

That makes its continued affinity for relying on its “state-centered economic system” particularly misguided and eventually unsustainable. It’s bad for China in the end, but it certainly causes distortions in markets beyond China’s borders as well.

China has not fared well in The Heritage Foundation’s annual Index of Economic Freedom, which measures economic governance in key areas related to economic growth and prosperity.

China’s economic freedom has grown over the past few decades, but at a snail’s pace. The Chinese economy remains “mostly unfree” and stands as the 107th-freest (out of 179) in the 2021 index, lagging behind the majority of other countries in maximizing opportunities for greater economic dynamism.

In a recent Wall Street Journal commentary, New Zealand’s former trade minister and ambassador to the U.S., Tim Groser, offered some timely observations by highlighting:

We don’t yet know where the new policy script that the Chinese Communist Party is now writing will lead the world’s second-largest economy. … Things have been moving backward lately, in the direction of greater centralization and state control.

Unambiguously, that “greater centralization and state control”—which suffocates the intellectual, social, and economic strength of the Chinese people—is at the core of all the issues that Washington must deal with in shaping its course toward the communist regime.

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