Symphony

Encore of Revival: America, November 15, 2021

America’s divide is staggering. Neither Trump nor Biden divided America; our difference in values did. We were divided since the Pilgrims arrived and signed a Compact where Christians and non-Christians would work together. But, both overreached and tried to boss the other—both tried to force their values on everyone—whether classic Bible-wielding Christians, those who believe in no god, those who believe in every god, those who believe in one kind of marriage, and those who believe in any kind of marriage.

For many years, we worked in peace to make it through our differences together. But having grown up, we now see our true colors. Many of us grew up in families and circles that go against our true values. People switch loyalties. After the last two presidential elections, fewer people think of themselves as independents, and many Democrats and Republicans hopped to the other side of the fence.

We can’t blame leaders for our division. Instead, we must look to lines of thought that promote peace. America does not need to help Taiwan as much as America must absolutely learn from Taiwan. That island nearly half the size of Lake Michigan with a population larger than Florida hosts the most peaceful and yet resilient people in the world. COVID theatrics—either way—never worked on the Taiwanese, who calmly stood together through it all. Now, safety restrictions are lifting and life is nearly back to normal without a problem.

As America unites against the self-made enemy known as China, Taiwan is plopped in the limelight. While some Americans will see another poster boy on whom to lavish messiah complex -driven “compassion”, some may see the peaceful people whom America can still become like.

Trump

Jan. 6 probe threatens fragile Trump-Pence peace // The Hill

Trump White House records can be given to Capitol attack panel, judge rules // Guardian

Washington as Usual

Violence, Radicalism & Terrorism

‘Unfortunately, the correct answer here may very well be that it is not terribly unlikely.’
Would America survive a civil war? // UnHerd

GOP silence deafening as post-Jan. 6 threats of violence escalate // The Hill

Markets, Economy & GDP

Legendary investor Jeremy Grantham warns Tesla stock is in a bubble, rings the inflation alarm, and predicts an epic market crash // Markets Insider

Elon Musk sold about $6.9 billion in Tesla stock this week // CNBC

Pandemic

Oklahoma Guard goes rogue, rejects COVID vaccine mandate after sudden change of command // Air Force Times

Federal appeals court halts Biden administration’s vaccine requirement, delivering policy a major blow // MSN News

NATO Focus

Ukraine says Russia has nearly 100,000 troops near its border // Yahoo News

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Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, December 21, 2020

Readers still can’t get a break from bad news of China. More Chinese companies are added to the notorious “entities list”. The WHO sends a team to China, which isn’t exactly wonderful press. China is the biggest military threat. The US Navy along with the Coast Guard must reshape its strategy to protect against the Chinese. Trump even blames the Chinese for a recent cyber attack.

As China continues in headlines as the villain, Taiwan is evermore adorable. The Taiwanese plan to become their own military supplier and submarine maker, not as much dependent on the US. They hope to get so many awesome weapons of their own, other nations will want to buy weapons from the Taiwanese, who can defend themselves against the great China, after all. As if that’s not enough to irritate Beijing, Washington will start calling Taiwan’s not-embassy by “Taiwan” instead of “Taipei Economic and Cultural”.

But, how serious is Taiwan about its own defense? While Washington cozies up to Taiwan with somewhat more, semi-respectful names, America’s envoy to Taiwan is still called “American Institute in Taiwan”. And, as much as Taiwan claims to want technology and good relations with other nations, xenophobic immigration laws are still on the books. Immigrants to Taiwan vs immigrants from Taiwan have a much more difficult path and the ratios are insultingly low. Very few Westerners can contribute to Taiwan’s economy, technology, and goal of English as a second official language with these unchanged restrictions in Taiwan’s immigration policies. Nearly all changes in Taiwan and in Washington go little beyond symbolic.

Washington is mostly talk. Taiwan is too ambivalent to love actually. And, Beijing is easily insulted. The trends aren’t subtle anymore. They used to be five years ago, but they’re just not subtle anymore—quite the opposite.

Indo-Pacific

HK might cut off student exchanges // Taipei Times

Trade & Tech

US to blacklist dozens of Chinese firms including SMIC, sources say // Fox Business

China

Chinese drone maker says products to remain on sale despite U.S. restriction // Yahoo News

Zoom executive in China charged with disrupting Tiananmen videoconference commemorations // MarketWatch

Trump breaks his silence on huge cyber attack and says China may be responsible not Russia // Daily Mail

Macron infected; China to admit WHO team // Taipei Times

Revealed: China suspected of spying on Americans via Caribbean phone networks // Guardian

The Ghosts Who Haunt the South China Sea // The Atlantic

Taiwan

US warship sails through Taiwan Strait // Taipei Times

Taiwan wants Cathay Pacific to correct wording on documents // Taiwan News

Taiwan’s planned submarine fleet could forestall a potential Chinese invasion // CNN

US lawmakers call to rename TECRO // Taipei Times

Taiwan might be arms supplier: Tsai // Taipei Times

Australia

China-Australia trade tension: How Beijing will derail Canberra in 2021 // News.com.au

Military Faceoff

US Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard unveil maritime strategy // Naval Today

New Naval Strategy Zeroes in on China as Biggest Long-Term Threat to the US // Military.com

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Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, August 17, 2020

All of us enjoy the results of the paths we choose, paths which no one can choose for us. Americans believe this so strongly, it often leads to unhealthy apathy toward others in distress. When America finally decides to help others, it is often from a kind of “Messiah” complex, viz Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. From this American worldview, including the good and the bad, America would have no motive to “keep China from rising”. We just don’t think about others that much, you see.

Nonetheless, China has frequently claimed its destiny and right to rise to greatness, using this claim as an excuse to threaten, attack, and oppress others, all the while adding another claim that resistance to forced Chinese subjugation is an attempt to “keep China from rising”. But again, free-minded people, whether self-absorbed or genuine, have no motive to keep others from rising.

Why do voices from China’s government suppose the intended motives of a free-thinking people, which the Chinese Confucian Communists cannot themselves identify with? Is this a random misunderstanding? To suspect ill motives of others toward oneself while at the same time seeking unchecked authority over others is more reminiscent of the paranoid narcissist. Adding to that China’s legislated policy for Hong Kong, against its UN-registered treaty of 1984, and for Taiwan, of which it still remains unable to assert jurisprudence, we now have signs of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. OCD was never about being clean and organized, but rather using excess rules of organizing as a means to control others. Added up, China demonstrates personality disorders from all three clusters.

That is an explosive mix, so to speak.

But, while insanity is a threat to others it is always a greater threat to itself. In addition to narcissism, an over-inflated view of self falls within purview of the Biblical proverb, “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” We in the West should not fear Chinese aggression, rather the fallout of narcissistic rage as China painfully learns that it cannot be a worldwide dominator. That lesson may cost a tuition of lives in the millions.

Yes, we are going down this path. August 15, this past weekend, marked the 75th Anniversary of Japan’s surrender to the United States and serves as a reminder of Western resolve to stop the map from changing. Almost four years prior, Japan had provoked the West against the wise advice of China; today, those roles seem reversed. We have no reason to fear, but we must be honest with ourselves enough to be ready for what has been brewing a long time.

Great Pacific

PLA drills point to stepped-up plans to take control of Taiwan, analysts say // SCMP

China imposes sanctions on US officials in retaliation for Hong Kong measures // Financial Times

China

US sanctions: economist Yu Yongding flags risk of Chinese bank assets being seized overseas // SCMP

South China Sea: Chinese military told not to fire first shot in stand-off with US forces // SCMP

Taiwan

US Senate defense bill calls for Taiwan’s participation in RIMPAC exercises // Taiwan News

Former top US military officials say China could take Taiwan in 3 days by early 2021 // Taiwan News

Cabinet approves lowering age of majority to 18 // Taipei Times

Proposed defense budget to rise 4.4% // Taipei Times

The de facto ‘pro-independence’ party: 70%!
Chen Chi-mai wins Kaohsiung vote // Taipei Times

US formalizes sale of new F-16 warplanes to Taiwan // Taipei Times

Taiwan eyeing US cruise missiles, mines to make ‘invasion very painful’ // Taiwan News

Taiwan president meets with US health secretary, pledges to strengthen collaborations // Taiwan News

U.S. health chief offers Taiwan ‘strong’ support // Yahoo News

Hong Kong

Agnes Chow: the Hong Kong activist who gave up UK citizenship to fight for democracy // Guardian

Jimmy Lai!
Hong Kong media tycoon arrested, newspaper raided // Aljazeera

Japan

Korean Peninsula

South Korea’s Moon Jae-in to focus on victims in ‘comfort women’ dispute with Japan // Mumbai Mirror

Military Faceoff

Ships Arrive In Hawaii For RIMPAC Amid Heightened Local Scrutiny // Honolulu Civil Beat

20 Ships Participating in Reduced RIMPAC in Hawaii Starting Monday // Military.com

Scale of RIMPAC may be smaller, but military leaders say significance still huge // KITV4 Island News Honolulu (ABC)

RIMPAC international maritime wartime exercise to begin // Foreign Brief

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Symphony

Encore of Revival: America, July 6, 2020

Happy Independence! Americans celebrated their declaration almost 250 years ago on Saturday. The country has coexisted with unseen freedoms in many ways and unheard deafness to its own oppression in others. It serves as a reminder that we live in a Republic only as long as we keep it. It’s not the job of presidents nor judges nor legislators to preserve our freedoms for us.

Chief Justice Roberts made a decision that baffled some, but not those who remember his deciding vote on Obamacare. Arguably, having voted to keep Obamacare on the books was the bail of hay that broke the camel’s back and elected Trump. Now, this election mover has stirred the electorate once again toward a choice that will move us closer to the inevitable reversal of Roe v. Wade.

As we approach “election solstice”, the Left puts out every argument it can drum up to oppose Trump. It seems overdone for a group that claims to believe they will win November. And, they ignore deeper matters that move Trump votes.

Much more is at stake other than abortion. China is taking over with a force to eclipse Japan’s expansion in the 1940s. No one was willing to not capitulate to China except Trump. If he were not re-elected, we might have no discussion on civil rights because the Chinese would be killing everyone in America who is not Han.

But then, America’s military is spread too thin and neither Republican nor Democratic president has worked to reduce our expanding global presence, none except Trump. There’s also the matter of manufacturing and closing the border to China over a virus when Democrats wanted to keep it open.

While our nation is in no position to decide an election on the social issues when basic needs are at stake, we are thankfully forced to address our neglected past. Intolerance over the atrocities of racism won’t shift the election because those lines have already been drawn. By not being distracted with yet another failed political solution to racial healing, we the People will actually have to deal with the wounds of racism ourselves. Maybe something will finally get done.

Trump

Here comes the push…
Rough polling stretch has GOP operatives asking: Could Trump drop out? // Fox News

Election

Theory:
Trump has a plan to stay in the White House if he loses election, former senator says // Independent

Law

Supreme Court: John Roberts sides with liberals to block controversial Louisiana abortion law // CNN

Supreme Court rejects challenge to Justice Department’s efforts to restart federal executions // CBS News

Congress

Speculation unfettered, that’s a big IF
McConnell warns Democrats about changing Senate rules to kill the filibuster // Yahoo News

Federal System

Justice Department considering replacing US attorney in Brooklyn with Barr ally // CNN

Activism, Unrest & Protests

Trump news live: Latest 2020 election updates as US posts record daily coronavirus rise // Independent

Armed St. Louis homeowner speaks out: ‘When I saw that mob … I thought that we would be overrun in a second’ // Fox News

Human Rights, Civil Liberties & Privacy

From the Magazine: ‘It Is Time for Reparations’ // NY Times

Science, Weather & Health

Trump news live: Latest 2020 election updates as president baselessly claims coronavirus will disappear // Independent

NATO Focus

Iran issues arrest warrant for Trump over killing of Qasem Soleimani // CNBC

 

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Cadence of Conflict: Asia, June 22, 2020

China seems desperate for war. America has typically been the infamous provocateur. That’s how China paints things. That’s how Japan and Germany saw things. But, China has taken up a new role.

Buzzing jets into Taiwanese airspace is just one concern. China also sends fishing boats to ram Taiwan’s Coast Guard and sand ships just to annoy. These won’t convince the Taiwanese that China’s rule would be preferable to status quo. Taiwanese respond by demanding more money for military and more weapons purchases from America.

Hong Kong looks grim as Beijing closes its stranglehold. There’s no question anymore whether China held up its end of the bargain on its treaty that allowed Hong Kong to return. The question is whether anyone in the West cares. Hong Kongers have done all they can.

Meanwhile, Trump hasn’t forgotten. In America’s election, China “trumps” many topics, as it were—including the economy, the virus, Biden’s past, and even war. The only reason China hasn’t stepped up its aggression is unawareness: China doesn’t know how American elections work because China doesn’t understand the concept of democracy, as Hong Kong’s deterioration shows. To those who know, Trump faces a statistically likely victory. Holding out for November might prove too late.

Taiwan

Seventh Chinese jet spotted this month // Taipei Times

Beijing steps up presence in ‘military grey zones’ to pressure Taiwan // SCMP

Chinese fighter jets buzz Taiwan again, stoking tensions // Yahoo News

Taiwan jets ‘drive away’ intruding Chinese fighter plane, third intrusion in days // CNA

Hong Kong

Beijing details HK security law // Taipei Times

This is what is called a ‘threat’
The End of Hong Kong. // thenationalpulse.com

Beijing reserves right to handle ‘rare’ cases involving Hong Kong’s new national security law // SCMP

Korean Peninsula

North Korea blows up liaison office in Kaesong used for talks with South // CNN

 

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Cadence of Conflict: Asia, May 18, 2020

It was a week of slap after slap in China’s face. Congress pokes at Human Rights in Xinjiang among other old-news grievances. China “warns” the US—again—about Huawei, apparently unaware that warnings require power or at least clout, of which China retains neither.

As blame circulates against China for a global outbreak, Taiwan courts favor. Airlines have corrected a listing that identifies Taiwan as somehow part of China or something-or-other. You know you’ve lost when airline companies aren’t even afraid of you.

The dirtiest and best-kept secret is about war. China can’t even threaten military action against America because of the elections in America. While American polling likely lies as usual, war is good for any sitting president’s numbers. Threat of war would be good news for America’s incumbent, whomever that incumbent may be.

So, China is left with a choice: Wait until the West is even stronger in China’s back yard and face shame for not acting or else respond to Western provocation to start a war too early and face shame for losing.  · · · →

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Cadence of Conflict: Asia, May 11, 2020

China must brace itself for war. Regardless of any plot from America being true or false, how Beijing handled Wuhan—or rather mishandled—will not be overlooked by the free world. Regardless of how different governments handled the outbreak, the West will see an outbreak that wouldn’t have happened if China had followed the same forthright standards that the West does. The West thought China was on its way to following standards. But, Confucian Communism knows no standard except its own authoritarianism.

How did China get this far? There is so much in China to be desired, including the Bible-based government Dr. Sun Yat-Sen started over a century ago. Chinese medicine addresses many matters of health that elude Western pharmacy. Politeness, indirection, family, and respect—these are virtues the West could have learned from China. Except, just look at what’s happening now.

The term kowtow came from Hong Kong Cantonese. Bowing and placating the bully emboldens the bully.  · · · →

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Cadence of Conflict: Asia, April 13, 2020

The global case against China is marching forward in force. Typically the West doesn’t care about human rights violations—they care, but never enough to do anything until it involves themselves. Two million Uyghurs missing in Xinjiang doesn’t matter to the West. But, if Americans and Europeans are afraid of catching a pneumonia-cold that most people don’t know anyone who died from, but they have to stay home without toilet paper—well, now it’s time for a war. Who do the papers blame?—China.

Anti-Chinese sentiment is no joke. Taiwan is being painted as a key victim. The Chinese Communists are being labeled as the perpetrators of the global pandemic. Even in Israel, even among the anti-Trump American electorate, China is the biggest bad guy ever!

We can argue that China deserves it. We can argue that the West set up China by making China rich in the first place, then causing a fake pandemic. However we chalk it up, the West is coming for China. The saddest part of all comes from the Chinese.

A reporter working for a news company owned by a Chinese general makes a Chinese propaganda speech when “asking a question” to the president. Chinese college students at Western schools march, protest, and even bully, all inline with Chinese Communist propaganda. And, while the West amasses force against China, the Chinese Communists only dig their heels in and feed the forest fire of hate raging against themselves.

Great Pacific

Tucker: What does the US get from supporting WHO? // YouTube @ Fox News

Trade & Tech

How did Huawei fall foul of the US government and find itself at the epicentre of a new tech war? // SCMP

China

Xi Jinping’s China did this // Times of Israel

Chinese social media attacks Hong Kong star Karen Mok for supporting ban on eating dogs and cats // SCMP

China to release tourist blacklist after Great Wall vandalized // CNN

Coronavirus: nearly half a million Chinese companies close in first quarter as pandemic batters economy // SCMP

Taiwan

The WHO Ignores Taiwan. The World Pays the Price. // The Nation

Google gets federal OK to operate subsea cable from Taiwan to US // CNBC

Exclusive: Taiwan’s Powercall targets videoconferencing space as Zoom worries loom // Taiwan News

Taipei to reduce frequency of MRT trains during weekends // Taiwan News

Zoom banned by Taiwan’s government over China security fears // BBC News

Taiwan’s Advance on WHO in Covid-19 Shows Its Place in World // Bloomberg

US sees coronavirus window to push Taiwan’s global status // Yahoo News

 

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Cadence of Conflict: Asia, March 30, 2020

https://youtu.be/ayqbj-b8SKg

Blame! Both general theories about where this virus originated fail to do two things: They don't acquit anyone and they don't tell us how to treat it. The theories no longer seem to matter since fear has taken over the world.

Initially, we had a theory that the virus passed from wildlife to humans at a kind of so-called exotic meat market in Wuhan, a city in China. Then, a Chinese government official—later seen as a lone wolf not speaking for the pack—blamed the US Army specifically, as opposed to the US Military or CIA as the usual conspiracy theory suspects go. We'll look at the Army's place in Chinese politics later.

Upon review, there is a convincing case that the 2019-nCoV had its origin at a military laboratory and got out into the American public last summer before the CDC shut down that laboratory. But, this still doesn't explain how it would have gotten to Wuhan. And, both China and the US still face scorn for coverups and delayed response.

Then, we have China's negative PR campaign, two actually. Blaming the US "Army" feeds Chinese kook theory because the Chinese military is called the "Army". Even China's Navy is called the "People's Liberation Army Navy". It seemed from the outset as intended to tip Chinese cultural sentiment against America, not intending to be based in fact. Now, a few weeks later, the Chinese people fear "foreigners" (Westerners and 'Black People'). Old Chinese superstition still lingers, that Black People are cursed by the gods or by nature because black is the bad color in their culture.

As anti-foreign sentiment grows in China, the world grows more irritated with China. And, as the WHO digs its heels in on keeping Taiwan out, the world sees China controlling too much of the world through its deep pockets—a concern the international finance community had brought up from an article from Harvard Business Review, How Much Money Does the World Owe China?. When a WHO official hung up on an interview twice, we see that Harvard's curiosity wasn't irrelevant.

The world is responding in hatred toward China with such venom, people beat up Asians of any nationality, even those without any connection to China. Yes, the world propped up China for a grand fall into global disfavor. But, China still hasn't done anything to help itself. One little virus, no matter where it came from, was all it took to push the world over the brink.

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Cadence of Conflict: Asia, January 20, 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQrpM6sveIQ

China is engaging in "rapid expansionism"; this is different from the slower-moving modes of Russia and, until Trump, the United States. During Obama, Russia took back Crimea—after that fling Nikita Khrushchev had in giving Crimea to Ukraine when it wasn't his to give. Russia has also been crawling its influence in Syria, softly with Iran, and shrewdly using China as an effective puppet.

America, though not an empire seeking to claim more within its political borders, propelled power through military bases around the world. Once the Chinese got over their phobia of technology—a disease it long had, which even led up to the Opium Wars—they looked beyond their bubble and saw America's non-border expansion. But, they still haven't seen Russia's soft-handed expansion for what it is. 180 military bases in China's backyard didn't bode well with China's neediness for receiving endless heinie kisses.

Thankfully, Trump is slowly recalling propelled American power—consider Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey, and now Iraq. He is not the archetypal "neocon" expansionist. But, other than Trump, America did have its own soft form of expansionism.

China, different from either of the two soft expansions of America and Russia, is engaging in a more rapid, rude, speedy expansion. The Chinese don't care how they come across to others because they have been knocked off their emotional rockers, having seen that the world doesn't regard them to be a fraction of what they think themselves to be. This speed has alarmed the nations of the world like a body's immune system responding to a spreading virus or cancer. Even India is on alert.

Russia played its card well—or maybe we should say Russia played its China well: expansion backed by Russia, which upsets the global balance, and Russia doesn't get blamed for it. China doesn't know what its speedy expansion, mainly against Taiwan and India, will do because China hasn't been paying attention to the rest of the world for most of human history.

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Cadence of Conflict: Asia, April 8, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDeNIyUcNV4

America's government has finally cracked the code on China. They know how to get under China's skin. They had an idea before, but the algorithm—the precise frequency of activation—needed fine-tuning. And, of course, China made it all too easy to know that the code had been cracked. The sale of 60 F-16V's to Taiwan—inferior in both number and, supposedly, technology—wasn't even made official. Still, China couldn't wait to announce to the world exactly the kind of insignificance that it found irritating above all previous attempts.

With this new and tested knowledge, we can expect the US to do more, and to do so more subtly. America will stand calmly, smiling. China will fume more every day, seemingly for no reason. At last, the Chinese will be so overwhelmed with rage that they will strike before military wisdom advises.

The sad, but poetic, part is that no warnings, not even reading this article, not even a spy exposing some kind of "provocation plot" or whatnot would be able to deter China from this fate. For, China loves respect above all else. Those who hunger for respect are easy to provoke and anyone provoked is under complete control of the provocateur. And, Chinese culture doesn't know how to change or even listen.

But, there is another factor that blinded China to the American tactics. A nation with a one-child policy won't have as much experience in sibling rivalry. America doesn't have such a policy. Americans learn from childhood how to get under some else's skin—especially when that someone else is the known playground bully who needs to be provoked to a brawl and sent to the principle's office before getting any older, and bigger.

The die has been cast. The fate of the American-Chinese war has already been determined: China strikes; China loses; China loses more. Now, it's just a matter of watching how the specifics play out on our road to the foreseen.

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Encore of Revival: America, July 2, 2018

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6necue

America is in great peril. A party is looking at winning the midterm right after winning the presidency. This is not normal and it doesn't matter how "wonderful" the party may seem at the time. Single-party rule is the death of the nation.

Mass shootings, Leftist protests, anger, rage, blame—the Left turns up the volume and the Republican party grows bigger.

The Republican Party is not what anyone thinks it is because the Republican Party isn't really a thing. This is the party that despised its own president, who is giving them this unusual midterm victory—but then suddenly gets behind him. This is not a party with normal values of conscience, but a party that gauges popular opinion and always arrives at the right conclusion too late—because that party actually has a moral compass quite different from the rest of the country.

Whatever that hidden moral compass is will only be seen after the party gains its supermajority and Trump leaves. From the moment he announced, Trump's biggest danger was always that he would succeed too well.

Give it ten years to ripen, but we live in the most dangerous time of the nation's history. Of course, there's always a chance to wake up and get it done right. But, the nation first needs to see the danger where it lies: in the hidden values of the always "failing" GOP, then to recognize that hope has already been kindled.

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Letters

Korean Non-Communion

It was at the North-South Korean border. An American military official approached the line, accompanied by one or two South Korean officials. He held a megaphone. Stopping just before the line, he aimed the megaphone over the border and explained that South Korea had found the body of a dead North Korean soldier and wanted information on how to turn it over to North Korea officials. As he spoke North Korean soldiers looked at him through binoculars and scattered about like flies until they finally went inside their building and closed the door.

It is difficult to take it all in. Normally, when you try to talk to someone, they listen, receive your message, and pass the message on. But, the North Korean officials seemed to assume that South Korea had some other intentions, as if the South wasn't saying what the South was saying. That's not to mention that the South had to communicate with a megaphone because no one in the North would receive a simple message.

What was even more startling was how much I kept thinking about communication between different Christian sects and denominations.

In the Church and in America as a whole, communication has a striking similarity. People are suspicious of each other and they don't receive each others' ideas. When a Baptist speaks to a Pentecostal, it is as if each of their friends circle the other with binoculars before silently walking away and closing the door. The only way to talk about even the most basic of cordial concerns is through a megaphone because there is no reception.

By refusing to listen to each other, Americans have adopted dangerous values to a point where North Korean missiles may not be necessary to destroy the country.

But, shouldn't Christians at least act better? Not only should Christians be courteous across their borders, there shouldn't be borders in the Church. It is as if American society follows the example of old-time, denominational, divided "Churchianity".

Unfortunately, the Church keeps the borders they shouldn't while governments don't keep the borders they should. Ironically, removing Church borders and building government borders are equally politically incorrect. Dr. Ben Carson had some words about political correctness.

"...Fix the PC culture in our country, which only listens to one narrative. And if it doesn't fit their philosophy, then they try to ascribe some motive to it... Whenever you are asked a certain question, it has to be answered in a certain way, and if you don't answer it that way, then let's attack. Let's not try to actually understand what a person is saying. Let's just attack, attack, attack. And hopefully, everybody else will look at that and they will realize they're never supposed to say something like that again. That's what the PC culture is." – Dr. Ben Carson

Blame for the nation's division rightly rests at the doorstep of the Church. It's impossible to rule-out that the North-South Korean conflict wasn't influenced by the Church's own division and non-communication. Non-communication is very dangerous. The Church doesn't seem to understand how important the issue of communication has always been. Christians don't even understand what they say to each other, let alone the great dangers that now await them, merely from their refusal to communicate.

So, the Christian and American political scripts are the same: When someone doesn't respond according to the expected narrative, the programmed minions assume that he has some hidden agenda and it is as if they can't hear plain English. continue reading

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Encore of Revival: America, August 14, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2MNLlPECY0

Jared Kushner was fined $200 for being late in a financial statement filing, and it's apparently news. Investigators, including the Leftist publication, The Nation, have determined that Russianewsgategate is nonsense. And, someone wrote a think piece for inside baseball at Google and was fired shortly thereafter.

The so-dubbed "Google Manifesto" is a critical thinking piece, carefully defining terms, using many qualifications so there is no doubt that it is not stereotypical and that the author is willing to listen and evaluate his own ideas. The opening clearly states that nothing is intended to be discriminatory, no "blamer-mode" language is used. Shortly after it was released, he was fired. The CEO's response included reservations about the term "Neuroticism". When the "Google Manifesto's" author used the term, it was linked to a Wikipedia article and used in a thoughtful and academic way, not in a name-calling or "categorical" way.

Now, that "Google Manifesto" is being reported as having support from niche, idiosyncratic, "alt-right" political groups. But, agreement with the "Google Manifesto" is anything but a minority. On the other hand, as much as many would like to think the author was fired for his ideology, his primary crime was making waves in "corporate America".

Never stir discussion that the boss didn't invent. Never question rank and file conformity in "the company". Never outshine the de facto emperor best known as "the boss". Never make waves.

That was the crime of the "Google Manifesto" by corporate standards. The author's punishment is to be immediately fired so that the company doesn't have to "deal with the wave-maker" anymore. But this time, that firing backfired. Google has now been seen as a bureaucratic thug that doesn't want "necessary disrupters" propelling the company forward. This is the public beginning of the end for Google. It's coming: "Sell, sell, sell."

Corporate wave-making was his first crime, in the corporate world. Now, he's a martyr. His second crime was committed against the public: He exercised "critical thinking" use of words.

In "critical thinking" conversation, people speak objectively about problems in order to understand and solve those problems. But, people who only "blame" when they consider a problem don't know about "critical thinking" conversation. Hearing a critical thinker, they say, "How dare he mention a problem! He's only complaining because that's what I do when I talk about problems!"

How dare the writer of the "Google Manifesto" think carefully to solve a problem! How dare he even suggest that our first knee-jerk reaction isn't the best and only solution! How dare he say ideas that haven't been said already! He's just trying to sound clever to sell us into a pyramid scheme! He's really just a "big meanie face".

That was the crime of the "Google Manifesto" by  blamer-mode group-think standards. The problem is that problems don't go away without critical thinking. So, this author of the "Google Manifesto" will actually be able to solve his problems. But, people who find fault with "critical thinking" conversation won't solve their problems, including no-brain, all-bureaucracy "corporate America".

And, to think that people are worried Google will be able to create "artificial intelligence"! Actually, AI will more likely be invented by misunderstood people like the author of the "Google Manifesto". It takes critical thinking to develop software that can think critically.

For a while, "critical-thinking", backbone Americans executed that "quick to listen, slow to judge" ethic they learned from the Bible. They were fair with people they disagreed with. They heard-out their political opposites more than enough, then continued listening. But, being heard only emboldened the talking blamers. They thought being heard meant they didn't need to listen themselves. They talked more and more and more. And now, they have over-talked.

Racism and slavery in America grew in the South, where the first British colonies began. The Pilgrims landed in the North on Plymouth Rock, the part of the country that fought to end slavery. They taught their children to read so they could read the Bible. They taught their children to think on their own so they could think about the Bible without dogma. Consequentially, the first constitution attempted to ban slavery, but the England empire-influenced South wouldn't have it. The North had to pry the South away from British imperial values a century later in a Civil War, while those evil values continued yet another century in segregationist laws. Pilgrim-valued America has fought against that same "British supremacy" culture since its founding, yet the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock have been blamed for it.

America can no more be blamed for bigotry than an Ebola victim can be blamed for having Ebola. The true, Bible-believing, Pilgrim-founded, northern-value heart of America is no longer only in the north; it is fighting the problem throughout the nation, not causing it. It was the Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock who taught "critical thinking" in America and it was the "critical thinkers", both in the North and the underground in the South, who defeated slavery.

America's problem is neither Black people nor White people, but anyone who doesn't love his neighbor as himself. There are demographic ratios to be seen in anything, but when searching for the cause, demographics only fix stereotypes; demographics don't fix problems.

Constant and misplaced blaming isn't helping. To the blamers, nothing is good enough; apologizing and changing is evidence of further guilt, not something to be welcomed. A compliment is an insult only in the minds of people who hate themselves, hate others, and only give compliments to serve their own dubious, selfish goals.

"How dare you say I look good!" is the motto of insecurity. Such people would have us bloat our language with politically correct disclaimers at every line of every paragraph so that no one needs to learn to not feel offended. They expect the rest of the world to change so that victims don't need to heal. Such are people who fix nothing except blame.

There are two Americas: Those who thoughtfully listen and those who thoughtlessly blame. The blamers aren't entirely wrong, no one is, but their blaming has over-reached and it is becoming clear that they never wanted a conversation. The stress is snapping.

The listeners of America are taking the long, deep breath, just as they did with Pearl Harbor on 12/7/1941 and New York on 9/11/2001. They are looking at the the manner of firings, scandals, investigations, and reporting in business and government. They see that "political correctness" is an attack against themselves in their own situations across the nation.

We are witnessing the culmination of a century of propaganda efforts coming to a head and it's about to change history. The listeners are about to tune out the blamers entirely. When they do, they will work and they won't stop. They will create infrastructure without limits and justice without borders. They will take on both the corporate-bureaucrat giants and the blamer-mode masses and they will succeed for the sole reason that they have "critical thinking".

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