Symphony

Encore of Revival: America, January 11, 2021

The treachery of American political parties runs much deeper than any of us thought. There is nothing wrong with the Constitution, the problem lies within political parties that ignore their voters. Biden is the rightly-elected president because voters do not actually chose the president; they indicate their will to Congress, which is allowed to ignore the will of voters, which Congress just did. The Republican Party is finished; the Democratic Party is soon to be.

Trump was an outsider who actually took easy and necessary steps to stop the global breakdown caused by a selfish political class made of fake Republicans and fake Democrats. For this good he did, that political class attacked his unrelated character flaws. The system determined on its own self-destruction could not resist its neediness to attack anyone trying to save it. When push came to shove and the Capitol chamber was breached, the Washington worms retreated to their old belief that nice talk without right action calmes angry citizens. That’s what the Republicans did to their voters. Then again Republican voters have done the same to Democratic voters on police violence and racism for centuries.

Peter Drucker said, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” Republicans have been good managers, doing things right without doing right things. Democrats pretend to do the right things, but always do things wrongly. Trump was loved for America’s brief moment of finally doing a few things right. Not one war started for the first time in decades. Allies cut the umbilical cord from dependence on American soldiers. Many troops were called home. Many jobs returned. But, Trump didn’t redress grievances, so in mainstream media he was criticized for his tone instead of grievances neglected.

The treachery is not in the Constitution, which rightly gave Democratic voters the stolen election they wanted. Republicans voters lost because they would not exit their complacency to create a third party and because they would not win the hearts of their Democrat-voting neighbors. Instead, they grew lazy and angry in their religious fallacy that Trump was some kind of heavenly savior, chosen by God to create a godly government within a system that rejects godliness.

Trump did not insight the Washington protestors to illegally enter the Capitol; Republican state legislators provoked them by not heeding the countless peaceful assemblies and petitions. The blood spilled and yet to be spilled is on their hands. Now, only Trump can reduce the rage that those Republican legislators certified when they certified an election they had a mandate not to.

Unless Trump has other plans, which he probably does, the next ordinary step would be for him to resign so Pence could pardon him from the politically-motivated assault he is under, then further his political movement to evict the establishment that rejected the majority of voters along with him. That would give his raging supporters a constructive way to direct their rage. The Washington worms would be wise to leave him alone if he does, lest things get even worse than Washington’s overuse of Delphi technique has already made them. However, that presumes we are in ordinary times, which we are not. Likelihood of “politics as usual” decreases with each news headline. Remember, Trump is full of surprises.

Our times are unprecedented. Banning millions of Twitter and Facebook users from following a president—even in his lame duck days—is like trying to stop the Mississippi River with a paper mache dam. It only creates a new and unpredictable river. Newsmax and Gab sure are making money, perhaps they are the real conspirators. This unabashed censorship and the Republican disdain for its own base indicates power mongers who fear something the public doesn’t know yet, but are convinced the public will soon learn anyway. Likelihood is high for martial law, followed by a new political party to rise, along with the return of another public figure betrayed by the RNC—Sara Palin.

We’ve seen angry Democrat-voter protests. Now, we will see what happens when the Republican base is enraged—something the political class undermined more than we thought. We don’t need to prove an election was fraudulent; we need to prove that each election wasn’t. In this election, proving fraud would be easier than proving accuracy. The Republican Party had a mandate to undo doubtful election results from its voters. They Constitutionally and legally ignored those voters, not knowing they ended their political futures when they did.

So, the greatest danger Trump posed from the beginning is no longer a threat: The Republican Party will not gain trust from Trump’s work done too well. The new danger is that treachery of the legislature often gives rise for the executive to declare martial law. If Trump is conspiring instead of merely salvaging, then the RNC and DNC are in on it too. If not, then those parties are the conspiracy. If Trump is bad, neither party is the solution. At least people are now awake to the depth of American treachery. The problem lies within political parties, locked in a charade like Chris and Ian pretending to be Saruman and Gandalf in a wizard dual. The DNC and RNC are not enemies; they are friends playing enemies on stage. Now, the Republican voters know. The Democratic voters will figure it out in a few years. The third party is on its way.

Trump

Trump Plans Defiant Final Week as Many Democrats Urge His Ouster // MSN News

You won’t see it on Twitter
Statement From President Trump January 7th, 2021 | Donald J Trump // Gab TV

Former Trump communications director says President lied about 2020 election and should consider resigning // CNN

Donald J Trump (@realdonaldtrump) // Gab

Twitter permanently suspends Trump’s account // CNBC

Donald Trump asking aides and lawyers about self-pardon power // CNN

Trump supporters hold ‘stop the steal’ protest in San Jose. Unlike the one in D.C., it didn’t turn into a riot. // San José Spotlight

Trump bans Pence chief of staff from White House as other aides resign // Axios

US allies say Trump attempted coup with help from federal law enforcement // Business Insider

Trump pressured Pence to engineer a coup, then put the VP in danger, source says // CNN

Cleta Mitchell, who assisted Trump on call with Georgia officials, resigns from law firm // CNN

Then what kind of trouble would Biden be in?
Trump’s call could put the president in jeopardy, legal experts say // CNN

Election

Rush Limbaugh: Democrats ‘Recoiling in Fear’ and ‘Quaking in their Boots’ that Donald Trump Will Unleash a Bevy of Damning Classified Documents // Gateway Pundit

The Swamp Is Scared of the Next 12 Days // Rush

THERE IT IS: Evil Pelosi Admits in ’60 Minutes’ Tongue-Bath Interview that Motivation for Impeachment Is To Ensure ‘He Never Runs Again’ (VIDEO) // Gateway Pundit

The Feds did nothing
Capitol siege was planned online. Trump supporters now planning the next one // Seattle Times

Democrats plan to introduce articles of impeachment as early as Monday // CNN

Trump commits to orderly transition after Congress confirms Biden’s win, mob’s assault on Capitol // NBC News

U.S. Capitol secured hours after pro-Trump rioters invade Congress // CNBC

Delay
What’s left to count in Georgia’s Senate runoffs // Politico

Georgia Election Official Gabe Sterling Claims Processing was ‘Normal’ At the State Farm Arena Election Night – Nothing Could Be Further from the Truth // Gateway Pundit

Georgia deciding US Senate control in election’s final day // AP

The senators who were expelled after refusing to accept Lincoln’s election // Stamford Advocate

House Republicans rush to Trump’s defense over Georgia call as Democrats prep censure resolution // CNN

Law

Liberals to Breyer: Time to retire // Politico

Activism, Unrest & Protests

Airlines, flight attendant unions concerned about security when pro-Trump rioters leave DC // CNN

Violence, Radicalism & Terrorism

Capitol mob brought raging collection of grievances, disillusionment // SF Gate

Amash’s Successor Peter Meijer: Trump’s Deceptions Are ‘Rankly Unfit’ // Reason

Human Rights, Civil Liberties & Privacy

Proud Boys leader arrested in the burning of Black Lives Matter banner, D.C. police say // NewsTimes

Security & Public Safety

Beck:
Our ‘Inner Capitol’ Was Breached Years Ago // Facebook

No charges filed against Kenosha officers in Jacob Blake shooting // NBC News

Mexico to Take Steps to Grant Assange Political Asylum, President Lopez Obrador Says // Sputnik News

UK judge refuses US extradition of WikiLeaks founder Assange // AP

Markets, Economy & GDP

Elon Musk is now the richest person in the world, passing Jeff Bezos // CNBC

Dow drops over 382 points with tight Georgia election ahead // Fox Business

Pandemic

South African Covid variant appears to ‘obviate’ antibody drugs, Dr. Scott Gottlieb says // CNBC

UK scientists worry vaccines may not protect against S.African coronavirus variant // Yahoo News

Anti-Mask Protesters Storm Century City Mall in Los Angeles // The Wrap

Mid East

Pentagon changes aircraft carrier’s orders, issues warning to Iran // Business Insider

Standard
Symphony

Encore of Revival: America, September 14, 2020

Get ready for more. All history points to Trump’s re-election, including the usual Leftist press who predict the defeat of every Republican incumbent who wins anyway.

Half of the American voters’ minds are already made up.

Trump supporters don’t want to surrender to the utter despotism demanded by the rising kamikaze movement from the uttermost Left. In the past, whenever voters finally saw evidence a Republican candidate was only 99% perfect or less, they voted Democrat. Not anymore!

Anti-Trumpists from the rising kamikaze movement from the uttermost Left have their minds half made up. They won’t accept Trump no matter the evidence, no matter the results, no matter the jobs brought back from China, no matter the Chinese invasion repelled by Trump’s administration. But, they haven’t made up their minds that their boring “Hidin’ Biden” candidate won’t win by holding conventions over Skype or the like. They don’t know when they are losing, possibly because they lack sense of “self”. After Trump wins in November, expect the uttermost Left to demonstrate something akin to “narcissistic rage”.

Things aren’t cooling off anytime soon.

While the uttermost Left destroys themselves in order to destroy everything—or perhaps the other other way around—those not from the uttermost Left finally see the insanity for what it is. Many in the center-Left have concerns about a rising police state. Republicans have let down their guards because they happen to be getting things their way this time around. Republicans might be here to save the day, but they won’t save tomorrow. A new political movement must rise to save our future. With people waking up to what the utter Left demands, now we only need to wake up to what the utter Right has ignored. Then we’ll be through.

Russianewsgategate

Top Senate Republicans pressing for investigation on Mueller team phones being ‘wiped’ // CNN

Election

Exclusive: Data shows that half of 2019 donations to ActBlue came from untraceable ‘unemployed’ donors // Fox News

Susan Sarandon receives backlash after voicing support against Joe Biden vote // Fox News

‘Biden is favored to win the election’
2020 Election Forecast // FiveThirtyEight

Law

The Supreme Court could deal a severe blow to abortion rights this week // Vox

Activism, Unrest & Protests

The Left Secretly Preps for MAGA Violence After Election Day // Daily Beast

Radical Extremism & Terrorism

LA deputies shot: 2 police officers ‘fighting for their lives’ after Compton ambush shooting; Manhunt underway for suspect // ABC7 Los Angeles

Scandal, Graft & White Collar Crime

War is ‘last resort’, US Army chief says following Donald Trump’s comments // SCMP

Prices, Rates, Oil & Food

The drop in oil prices is ominous // Forexlive

Science, Weather & Health

Hurricane warnings in effect for parts of Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Sally gathers strength // Accuweather

‘Fire tornado’ hit Huntington Lake in California Creek Fire // Fresno Bee

Scientist Who Denies Climate Change Hired At NOAA By Trump Administration // NPR

It’s time to start watching Mars // EarthSky

Mid East

Egypt: Two missing ancient cities tipped for discovery as scans bring major breakthrough // Express

Standard
Symphony

Encore of Revival: America, August 17, 2020

The ability to attain and maintain peace is special, especially these days. It’s what government should do, but doesn’t always know how. The police in Kalamazoo, Michigan did the right thing by being close enough to act if needed, but not being the “main event”. The role of the police is to preserve the peace, not to prevent the consequences of a radical group choosing to provoke another radical group. Conflict only lasted 10 minutes, then quickly calmed down. Less could be said for other parts of the nation.

Our president’s brother passed away at 71, God rest his soul. As the family grieves, business in the nation continues.

Israel now has formal ties with the UAE, which could mean direct flights between Dubai and Jerusalem. The Palestinians aren’t happy; the world isn’t surprised. This affects the Unites States on the international stage as well as the election. Foreign relations help at the ballot box.

Biden has all but formally announced the VP nominee. It won’t matter because he doesn’t stand a chance of winning. Headlines about the Democratic ticket doomed to fail do little more than distract Democratic voters who don’t know they have been duped by the media into a false hope based on false fears and slanted polls. But, those lies sure do sell newspapers!

Trouble is on the rise. It comes in spurts, but it is growing. People are moving out of Californian cities. Protests continue in Portland and Seattle. The trouble is complex, much of it is deserved, and much of it is necessary for our nation to confront the issues that keep us from healing from our past. The only way out is through. To do that, we’ll need to listen to each other.

Russianewsgategate

Former FBI lawyer set to plead guilty to altering email during Russia investigation // CNN

Trump

Robert Trump, the president’s younger brother, dead at 71 // Yahoo News

Election

Fox’s Baier pushes back after Pirro says Biden might not be on Democratic ticket // The Hill

Biden picks Kamala Harris as VP nominee // Politico

‘It sends a strong signal’: Black voters respond to Kamala Harris’ nomination // Guardian

What Kamala Harris Means for Feminism // The Atlantic

Kamala Harris and the New Democratic Party Coalition // The Atlantic

On record:
How Donald Trump has already handed Joe Biden a debate win // CNN

On record:
The Republican Senate nightmare is coming true // CNN

Joe Biden VP rankings: The *final* list // CNN

White House

What are the 4 new executive orders for COVID relief? Here are the details you should know // CNET

Activism, Unrest & Protests

Seattle police arrest 3 after property damage on Capitol Hill // Seattle Times

Seattle Police arrest 3 in Friday night protest // KOMO News

Seattle BLM protesters demand white people ‘give up’ their homes // NY Post

Portland protest declared riot; police, protesters clash // KGW8 Portland (NBC)

Protesters skirmish, fire pepper spray in Portland // KOMO News

Portland protest declared riot Saturday; afternoon counter-protest ends in reports of gunshots // The Oregonian

Fights erupt, police report multiple injuries as protesters clash in downtown Kalamazoo // WWMT West Michigan (CBS)

Proud Boys, antifa clash in downtown Kalamazoo // Detroit News

WOOD news coverage
Proud Boys, counter-protesters clash in Kalamazoo // YouTube @ WOOD TV8

Street violence in Kalamazoo – Antifa & BLM attack Proud Boys // YouTube @ Cincy32

Raw Fight between Proud Boys vs Antifa BLM in Kalamazoo Michigan // YouTube @ nico bellic

Human Rights, Civil Liberties & Privacy

NPR fires weatherman for comparing Seattle riots to Germany in 1938 on his personal blog // Watts Up With That?

NPR station boots weatherman off air for comparing Seattle riots to Kristallnacht in Nazi Germany on his personal blog – American Thinker // American Thinker

NPR Weatherman Fired for Accurately Describing Dystopian Seattle // Rush

Security & Public Safety

Speculation grows over pardon for Edward Snowden after Trump remarks // Guardian

Prices, Rates, Oil & Food

Leaving California: Is LA Doomed? Is It Time To Flee? (Pt. 3) | Bryan Callen // YouTube @ The Rubin Report

US seizure of Iran fuel bound for Venezuela was largest confiscation of its kind ever, DOJ confirms // Fox News

Science, Weather & Health

Rolling Power Outage Triggers Oakland Estuary Sewage Spill: 50,000 Gallons Discharged Into Waterway // CBS San Francisco

Flown for ‘EGLE’ by Hunter King ‘…maybe it did not like its name being misspelled’… Only in Michigan!
Bald eagle attacks state’s $950 drone in U.P., sends it to bottom of Lake Michigan // MLive.com

Greenland’s ice sheet has melted to a point of no return, study finds // CNN

Trump unveils new Covid adviser who backs reopening schools // Guardian

The new national medical voice:
Dr. Scott Atlas on new role advising White House, fate of college sports amid COVID pandemic // MSN News

Mid East

How did Israel and the UAE get to normalising relations? // Aljazeera

Explained: Israel and UAE normalise relations; here’s what it means for the Middle East // India Express

Standard
Symphony

Encore of Revival: America, August 3, 2020

The montages and excerpts won’t sway a single vote. Congressman Jordan’s six minute video mainly shows footage of just a few groups mobbing police with limited looting. This doesn’t contradict the narrative on the Left that activists don’t primarily loot, but strongly oppose police in particular. Both Right and Left voters think the video justifies their own position. Not one opinion changed.

People are generally fed up with police having an elitist attitude. Trump supporters don’t think Trump needs to act for police to get what they beg for, the mobs on the Left are doing a good enough job. There won’t be any changed votes over police and protests.

Experts and analysts are starting to predict a possible Trump victory because Trump identifies with the main backbone of swing States. In other words, some people think the energizing incumbent who kept campaign promises might win against a boring opponent. The technical polling research term for that is, “Dah!”

The interesting factor in all this analysis is that Trump supporters don’t seem swayed at all by the media. Rich Thau finds that his Obama-Trump focus groups mainly watch local news. And, that explains everything.

The media can’t take away what the media did not give. Sentiment for Trump never came from any single speech or opinion. It came from results. People were tired of jobs moving overseas while the so-called spirit of free trade served as little more than an excuse to fatten China into the otherwise unnecessary threat we have today. Now, people are glad jobs are back and someone is actually telling China to behave. People were tired of a Washington culture that talks nice and polite while steamrolling the obvious will of the electorate. People hated bad results before and liked the good results in the last three and a half years. It was the results, not opinion-slanted news from any side, that shaped pro-Trump opinion.

The concept that reporting doesn’t decide public opinion is a concept that the reporting establishment can’t grasp. All the polls that falsely predict every Republican incumbent’s magical defeat can’t change people who don’t even watch, no matter how much those polls think they can.

Election

Three question marks at the end:
With Universal Mail-In Voting …, 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history… Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote??? // Twitter @realDonaldTrump

The voters who are still backing Trump (opinion) // CNN

Pompeo Reacts to Trump’s Proposal to Delay November Election // US News

This made headlines…
What if Trump loses but refuses to leave office? Here’s the worst-case scenario // Guardian

Former Sanders campaign co-chair Nina Turner compares voting for Biden to eating ‘bowl of sh–‘ // Fox News

Activism, Unrest & Protests

Rep. Jim Jordan Plays 6-Minute Video Montage of Violent Protest at House Judiciary Hearing // YouTube @ Breitbart News

‘These are his people’: inside the elite border patrol unit Trump sent to Portland // Guardian

Judge temporarily bars federal officers from using force, threats, dispersal orders against journalists, legal observers // The Oregonian

News Media, Journalism & Free speech

CNN’s Stelter accused of breaching network’s confidentiality agreement with Sandmann: ‘May cost him his job’ // Fox News

Human Rights, Civil Liberties & Privacy

US Supreme Court denies Nevada church’s appeal of virus rule // AP

Covid-19 and the First Amendment: A running report (July 27) // MTSU

Science, Weather & Health

Donald Trump claims Anthony Fauci ‘wrong’ about cause of Covid-19 surge // Guardian

Indian schoolgirls discover asteroid moving toward Earth // CNN

 

Standard
Symphony

Encore of Revival: America, June 1, 2020

It’s amazing what can happen in a week. It’s amazing what a week can reveal about what quietly happened over the course of decades. America has somehow attracted and cultivated a police force with an attitude other than one “to serve and protect”.

Minnesota and Minneapolis are run by Democrats. So are New York and New York. Neighborhoods with violent rioting over the abominable murder of George Floyd see violent responses from more abominable police. What we see from police against all demographics of protesters makes Hong Kong look gentle. It’s atrocious how provocative police are seen in footage coming from the protests.

As Will Smith said, “Racism is not getting worse, it’s getting filmed.” So is police disregard for the public.

America has a systemic racism problem compounded with a supremacist police problem. These days, people don’t consciously disdain others for skin color—not much. Instead, we accept certain events as part of the narrative. If a White pastor mugs someone, that’s headline news. If a Black man gets killed by a cop, oh well tragedies happen all the time. Thanks to what little freedom is left in social media, we got to see just how unabashed murderous cops have become. When they killed George Floyd, it seemed routine.

With politicians the saying goes, “Not all are bad; it’s just the 99% that give a bad rap for the rest of them.”

Yeah, the bad apples give the bushel a bad name. Many police out there really do want to make a positive change, to repair what we have come to accept and expect. But, there are a lot more bad apples than the public narrative gave credit to. It seems that good apples gave too good a rap to a half-rotten bushel. At least now we know.

Trump

“…I don’t mean that in a physical sense”
Trump retweets video declaring ‘the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat’ // The Week

Support will increase…
Twitter labels Trump’s false claims with warning for first time // Guardian

Congress

REPUBLICANS SUE PELOSI Over Ghost Voting Resolution // YouTube @ FOX 10 Phoenix

State & Local

Here it comes…
Whitmer: Michigan needs support, flexibility from federal government to avoid cuts to education, other services // Crain’s Detroit Business

As Covid-19 cases rise in 17 states, Americans still divided on whether masks should be mandated // CNN

News Media, Journalism & Free speech

Watch live: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gives coronavirus update // CBS News

Chris Cuomo’s ratings plummet as Americans tire of brothers’ schtick // Fox News

Security & Public Safety

Racism is not getting worse, it’s getting filmed. – Will Smith @ snoopdogg // Instagram

Police brutality in America is on full display right now. From coast to coast. @ Shaun King // Instagram

“I hope these cops are dealt with good and hard. I’ve seen the video like everybody else, and it makes me so mad I can’t see straight.”
There’s No Justification for George Floyd’s Blue State Death // Rush

Both had a history…
What we know about Derek Chauvin and Tou Thao, two officers caught on tape in death of George Floyd // StarTribune.com

Minneapolis Mayor says George Floyd would still be alive if he were white // Daily Mail

‘We Must Restore Peace’: Minneapolis Burns During 2nd Night Of Protests Over George Floyd’s Death // CBS Minnesota

Looting, fires rock Minneapolis after man dies in custody // AP

George Floyd: Family says four officers involved in his death should be charged with murder // CNN

Family demands justice for George Floyd as hundreds protest in Minneapolis // YouTube @ CBS This Morning

Hundreds demand justice in Minneapolis after police killing of George Floyd // Guardian

Minneapolis: Hundreds protest in streets after George Floyd died following police encounter // CNN

The Minneapolis Police murdered this brother. ⁣ ⁣ This man, who, like Eric Garner, yelled out over and over and over again that HE COULD NOT BREATHE… @ Shaun King // Instagram

Standard
Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, December 30, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=604GfnuPNGg

We are headed toward a massive inquisition of police. It could be known as the "Hong Kong Trials", where each police officer who served since June is combed over and evaluated for every step taken at every single protest, then tried under international law. It's not immediately around the corner, but the current powers governing Hong Kong are doing everything they can to make that day inevitable.

Over the holidays, neither protestors nor police took a break, except for a brief moment on Christmas at midnight, when protestors were the adults in the room to pause for a moment in honor of something greater. Many had Christmas dinner away from their families, largely due to East Asian culture's dogma toward older family members. Authoritarianism generally drives away people who are self-motivated and take initiative, family being a least exception. Older generations in Hong Kong don't understand that. Neither does Beijing. This Christmas, many middle aged and elderly parents faced the question posed by empty seats at many a dinner table: Do you love your children more than your desire for compliance? To some extent, families will be reconciled in due course; parents who refuse will lose even more.

Taiwan had its own drama over the holidays. An accused Chinese mole, formerly in Taiwan's military, is being hung out to dry for purportedly recruiting more moles. Former president Ma is accusing the Control Yuan of interfering by questioning the judge who let him off scot-free. That stands to reason since the Control Yuan was effectively shut down during his tenure, which, unbeknownst to most, gave even greater rise the Sunflower Movement of 2014. As if Taiwan hadn't its fill of holiday joy, US Congress is now working on a bill that will formalize the US envoy to Taiwan as a full ambassador—requiring presidential appointment and Senate approval. That is about as close to recognizing Taiwan as a country without recognizing Taiwan as a country as a country can get. China won't be happy, but the Taiwanese sure thought it was a very Merry Christmas!

continue reading

Standard
Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, November 18, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgBxpk0zjRA

America and China are getting fed up with China and America being fed up with each other. Americans tried patience and negotiations; that didn't work. China hid its agenda for global domination, denouncing so-called "interference" except when China did the interfering. Now, China's true colors are showing and it looks like a lot of debt. Municipalities and local governments are buried in debt, which is eating at China's central economy like Asian ants on a morning worm.

Amid riots and threats, encroachments by police on university campuses and by China upon Hong Kong rule, the primary issue in Hong Kong is the upcoming revolution election in March. On October 4, Hong Kongers declared the current government already nullified and that interim government elections would take place in March. That election is not the primary concern for most reports coming out of Hong Kong, if it gets mentioned at all. But, that election should be the primary concern of China, the United States, and the current—and denounced—Hong Kong government. Perhaps those upcoming elections have not been taken seriously, and, if so, that would be perhaps the most serious miscalculation.

But, rather than carefully calculating the right way forward, China is more concerned with optics—not with causing good optics, but with countering bad optics with more mere optics.

The same Plague from the Black Death has re-emerged in China's Inner Mongolia province. Historically, whether in 541, 1347, or 1894, the Plague always had its origins in the Far East. Rather than promptly confronting the source, the Chinese are basically doing what the San Francisco government did in the early 1900s: covering it up.

Even Chinese soldiers play the optics game. Chinese Communist PLA soldiers are not allowed to leave their garrisons in Hong Kong without a formal request from Hong Kong's government. But, they did anyway—to clear streets blocked by protestors. They didn't clash with protestors, they simply picked up stuff in the street, mostly bricks. They weren't armed nor did they wear fatigues; they wore running shorts and OD-green T-shirts, the same that they exercise in on a daily basis. But, they weren't invited by the Hong Kong government. As a result, their presence was technically illegal, though seemingly helpful in the minds of some residents who want to drive down the street.

Interestingly, the unarmed, seemingly-harmless soldiers were accompanied by cameras; it was a publicity stunt. Voices in the British Commonwealth are especially concerned because this beautiful, warm, kindhearted photo-op sets a precedent of PLA soldiers breaching Hong Kong illegally. Chinese thinking puts logic before law, which feels like justice at first, but then operates with no standard of conduct, deciding right and wrong from one moment to the next. In other words, Beijing thinks that China's soldiers must not enter Hong Kong uninvited—unless they want to.

continue reading

Standard
Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, November 11, 2019

Hong Kong has presented the world with the ethical question of confronting bullies. Say there is a bully at school who quietly eats whosever lunch he wants, stealing anyone's homework he wants, until one day someone says something and the bully gets violent. In theory, most people agree that the bully started it. But in practice, when it comes time to stand up to the bullies of life, even the biggest Braveheart fans place the blame for the fight on the one who had the conscience to stand up to the bully. So, are Hong Kong protestors to blame for not going along to get along while China quietly violates its treaty with the UK, denies human rights, and refuses to regulate police conduct?

China says restoring social order in Hong Kong is the "most pressing issue", but obviously not as important as destroying anything that stands in the way of Chinese Communist hegemony.

In a double-standard, Taiwan is having to adjust its laws to deal with Chinese interference. The CCP is paying news outlets to spread its propaganda in Taiwan. It got caught having a fake news site and is now resorting to outsourcing. The Taiwanese don't think that publishing what China tells someone to publish is "free speech".

Xi Jinping's decision to keep Carrie Lam as CEO of Hong Kong only makes sense, notwithstanding it proves interference by pure definition. The Chinese Communist Party would never dispose of such an efficient creator of chaos. Chaos is always the first phase of the CCP taking over a resistant people; the second phase is to send in the military and—well, do what China's military does so well. While the Western press explains keeping Carrie as a way to avoid opening a can of worms, the Chinese have much more sinister intentions as history proves.

More crud hit the fan this week, over and over, again and again, evermore. A college student not connected with a nearby protest tried to escape a parking lot just after police fired tear gas, then fell to his death. As expected, police denied any wrongdoing.

A woman rumored to be only 16 years old passed a police station Tsuen Wan where she claims to have been ordered inside, then gang raped by four masked men. Meeting some of the criteria of a rape victim, she found she was pregnant a few weeks after the incident, the young woman was reportedly suffering from depression, and had an abortion last Thursday. The investigation is ongoing, but, in the current atmosphere, police have done little elsewhere to stop such stories from being believable.

Over the weekend, police arrested six lawmakers who effectively filibustered Carrie Lam's annual report back in May. Six reporters wore Chinese letters on hardhats at a police press conference, spelling a Cantonese request to investigate police. This was in response to two reporters having been arrested. The police department sent formal objection letters to the six reporters' press agencies. Lawmakers and journalists should be immune to such arrests in order to prevent political interference. But, Hong Kong police no longer wear ID tags on their uniforms, and China says the unrest in Hong Kong started because police don't have enough power.

Western foreigners visiting Hong Kong have started to join protests. It's arguably bad form, though it indicates that the world feels a sense of solidarity in standing up to China's bullying anywhere and everywhere it happens. China sees it as proof of interference while the West sees it as successful marketing from the Hong Kong protesters. The problem with China's "interference proof" argument is that foreign attendees after the fact do not prove any causality before the fact. But, when being a mouthpiece rather than a think tank has been the habit for so long, Chinese wouldn't understand the difference.

continue reading

Standard
Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, October 21, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj_itp5q4Ys

"Careless" Carrie Lam's effectiveness in Hong Kong is in the red. After banning masks at public gatherings, more people are wearing masks at gatherings than in the past. She bans an assembly, but people assemble anyway. Protests are so bad, police hit some people guarding a mosque with a water cannon and had to apologize to the imam. Lam was heckled by legislators during her annual policy speech and had to leave the chamber twice, finally delivering her speech on television. A government so defied and can't govern. But, the need for public trust isn't understood by Confucianism nor Communism nor especially Confucian Communism.

Beyond loss of control, the West gets the message loud and clear: China won't back down on its forced expansionism. US Congress continues to pass laws favoring freedom in both Hong Kong and Taiwan. The TAIPEI act is largely symbolic, but still meaningful inasmuch as it gauges China's response. Evaluating Hong Kong's level of autonomy to be treated as a separate territory from China makes sense. Still, China considers the US formulating its own international policy a form of "interference". Think about that...

US international policy must be what China wants it to be, otherwise China labels this as "interference". This can only mean that China considers the US already under Chinese rule. It's no longer about whether or to what extent China can boss Hong Kong and Taiwan. Now, the question is whether China should be allowed to dictate another country's foreign policy.

Another factor is corporate. Gaming companies oust gamers who make "political" statements to defend freedom and human rights, but then Dior gets political by apologizing to China for not putting Taiwan in its map of China. If companies were consistent about being so-called "non-political", then Dior would have refused to agree or disagree with China. But, this isn't about being non-political; it's about agreeing with whatever China demands.

continue reading

Standard
Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, October 14, 2019

You can't bring a pot to boil forever. While the conventional narrative for Hong Kong warns, "Retribution is coming," a better understanding would be, "The Chinese are coming if Hong Kong doesn't level up." The protests must either "level up" or otherwise change, or else the PLA will indeed march and smash.

While the situation in Hong Kong is deteriorating into a cultural war—a defense against an invasive culture of Sinicization—talks between the US and China took a similar cultural detour for the worst. China doesn't want so-called "interference" with kidnapping 1.5 million Muslims in Xinjiang, in Beijing's view "internal matters". By that definition, "internal matters" violate international Human Rights laws.

Trump's words, that all is well in Hong Kong, elude Hong Kongers and Chinese as much as the American media. On the surface Trump appeared to praise the doctored press reports coming out of Hong Kong. He also praised Supreme Justice Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Ford, days before mocking her. Not one main news agency reported Hong Kong's October 4 de facto declaration of independence with plans for rebellion elections. Praising evidentially censored reports from Hong Kong surmounts to little.

Still, Trump knows the ramifications of his words. By playing along with propaganda China would normally get resistance from, and by staying hands-off, Trump was indirectly telling Beijing that he knows Hong Kong is worse than reported while also letting Hong Kong learn the hard lesson that independence starts with expecting no help from the outside. Over the weekend we saw just that, including smaller flash-protests and perching the Hong Kong "Goddess of Democracy" atop Lion Rock in Kowloon. "Careless Carrie" Lam even cancelled a meeting with Senator Ted Cruz—after his 10+ hour overnight flight landed.

Trump's words could lead to the very "level-up" game-changer the Hong Kong protesters must make in order to survive. One should guess that Trump doesn't want Hong Kong to "just be okay", but to earn whatever independence they get on their own. It feels like rejection at first, but being abandoned to earn one's own victory—and the spoils with it—is the greater gift of a friend. Trump never said he would squash Hong Kongers' call for independence; he simply refused to steal their thunder.

The Chinese probably won't pick up on Trump's subtlety because Confucianism—especially Communist Confucianism—doesn't believe anything can happen without outside "help". This is the only reason Beijing suspects supposed "Western interference" without a shred of evidence.

So, the trade agreement seems to be okay, this week. But, China doesn't want to be told to let its economy play by the same rules as ours because that too is "internal". There is one key flaw with China's thinking: entitlement.

Of course, America should not dictate what type of economy is best for China or any other nation. At the same time, trade is a privilege not a right. By America requiring a free market as a condition for trade with another free market, America is not interfering, but refusing to be interfered with.

Just the same, Beijing claims to reject a "zero-sum game" deal. What they mean is that they want a zero-sum game in China's favor because they believe being better than everyone else is their right. If America doesn't lose so that China can gain, China will reject the deal as unfair, just as they did with Britain in the "silver-for-leaves" trade that led to the Opium Wars. Nothing has changed.

The virtue of compromise doesn't work in dealing with China, whether as an American trade negotiator or as a citizen of Hong Kong. When China demands 100, then we compromise at 50, China will demand another 100 again tomorrow. If we compromise again, it would be 100-0, and it would happen all over again the next day and the next. China will keep demanding to expand and overrun everyone else. By China's China-favoring standards, the only compromise stands on how fast China takes you over, either ultra fast or slowly. For Beijing, there is no room for the words in the Book of Job where God told the ocean, "Here, and no farther."

continue reading

Standard
Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, October 7, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jfV7cP7gIM

Hong Kong has declared independence! On Friday, October 4, thousands peacefully gathered in Ma On Shan at New Hong Kong City Centre and read aloud a manifesto. This manifesto included basic arguments similar to the US Declaration of Independence, along with basic steps for a provisional government until the new government takes over. In the eyes of China, this will be treason, just as the US Declaration of Independence was treason in the eyes of Britain.

There has been no bigger news in almost 200 years. No nation has stood up to a world superpower so great since the American Colonies defied the world-dominating British Empire in 1776. Suspiciously, mainstream news agencies were utterly silent about this all weekend.

The next question is whether Hong Kong will be able to resist China's military. That question can only be answered by historians who have studied asymmetric warfare, such as the First War of Scottish Independence in 1270, the American Revolutionary War of 1775, or Vietnam's August Revolution of 1945.

Britain would be wise to help because that might allow the Crown to hold Hong Kong among the Commonwealth afterward. The UN is calling for an investigation into how China has handled the four months of protest, so it would seem that the world is on Hong Kong's side. But, investigations always follow long after a crime, even against Human Rights, while the people are left to defend themselves until help arrives. Can Hong Kong join the successful revolutionaries of history?

The string of anti-extradition protests began March 31, this year, 190 days ago. The protests have been in a state of ongoing outbreak since June 9. Hong Kongers have lived and fought in unrest in their own home for 120 days straight. They have overpowered a 32,000 troupe police force the entire time. Hong Kongers have thus become formidable and battle-tested with inferior weaponry. The impossible odds—fighting with bamboo sticks against guns—make the typical Jackie Chan movie prophetic. If China's PLA soldiers think they will have an easy time suppressing Hong Kong, they have news in store. It's not impossible. Only history will tell.

Unrest turned to turmoil on October 2, when China held its 70th Anniversary parade for the Communist Party. America will soon join Hong Kong's objection to China in its own way.

In Beijing, showing off the old-news, well-known DF-41 hypersonic, "can-hit-America-in-30-minutes" 10-nuke-warhead missiles was a miscalculation. America is not afraid because we don't expose the limits of our tech in parades. Most of our most-advanced military tech isn't known to the general public, which is somewhat how the American people want it to be, kind of. Seeing this flagrant, open threat will motivate the inventors and businesses in the wealthier, higher-tech America to neutralize China's open threats ASAP. Some are calling it a "Sputnik moment".

China is a nation that thinks itself to be stronger than it actually is. If it rises to even a quarter of the world domination it hopes, it would be the first time a superpower rose from a nation so ancient. Since Persia, all world superpowers of history rose from new nations built on the encouragement of new ideas, legal limits of government, and rights for citizens. China is not on a quest to defy the world; it is on a quest to defy history. Hong Kong has history on its side.

continue reading

Standard
Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, September 9, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpivwNEV6VA

The missile issues in North Korea have too much unknown about them to formulate a clear opinion. From reports, Kim has indeed kept his promise, though he has violated seemingly less significant UN sanctions. Japan is on alert. Trump doesn't seem to care. If we made a stack of American clothes made in China, then stacked what we don't know about the North Korean missile crisis, the stack of what we don't know about North Korean missiles would be higher. It's unsettling, but sometimes we just don't know.

Carrie Lam's response to the "five demands" from protestors will not bode well in Hong Kong. She withdrew the controversial bill. The best illustration from Hong Kongers is a bandaid on a scratch after it turned gangrene. "Too little, too late" is what most are saying. Expect riots and burning buildings in the weeks to come.

Some Hong Kongers will indeed be satisfied with her speech, dare we say thrilled, but others will be enraged that she waited until after three months and a leaked recording. That recording included Lam's claim that she couldn't resign and that she had two masters, one of them Beijing. This is contrary to the autonomy required by the contract allowing China to claim Hong Kong as its own. If true, that recording could return Hong Kong to Britain merely in court. The stakes are high. Beijing cannot allow the public to believe that the recording demonstrated any truth. And, apparently Lam can't either.

If that recording was inaccurate as she said, then she wouldn't be so angry. Not only did she admit that the recording was real, it made her angry. Her objection to it is the recording's greatest notoriety. But, Confucian Beijing-minded Chinese don't understand that evidence speaks louder than spin. They only bake the cake they'll have to lay in.

Withdrawing the bill will be seen by many as an attempt to counter evidence that Beijing interferes regularly, violating the Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984. But, the evidence remains, and there are greater grievances.

Lam's speech fails to address the protests' demand for her resignation, which is the very subject of the leaked recording, which came just before her sudden withdrawal of the bill. The protestors insist on her resignation and will continue to. When she said that she never considered resigning, she further incriminated herself by proving that Hong Kong does not have its required universal suffrage and that she is part of the reason why.

Some will stop protesting, but those who continue will do so with more veracity. Apart from withdrawing the bill, everything in Lam's video ignores and insults the protest demands, essentially telling the people what they ought to want.

Telling people what they should want is widely accepted in Confucian society. But, it mixes with the West like water with oil. Lam wants to investigate to find out why Hong Kong rejected what are essentially Confucian values. But, there is no disturbance or interference or social trend to investigate. The conflict arose because the Confucian minds controlling Hong Kong, namely Lam and Beijing, are incapable of recognizing that Hong Kong already was Westernized. The question now is whether William Wallace can defeat Mao Tse-Tung.

continue reading

Standard
Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, September 2, 2019

Reuters broke the story. According to unnamed sources, Beijing refused to let Hong Kong's government grant free elections, withdraw the extradition bill, and crackdown on police brutality. If this report can be proven in court, a case could be made that Hong Kong is no longer under China's governance, already. Of course, China would never recognize such a ruling and a military conflict between China and the West would quickly ensue.

The West has slowly been inching forward in support of Western freedoms everywhere the West resides, including Hong Kong, and China has been ill prepared. Had Beijing anticipated the status quo, preventative measures would have been taken long ago. But, China doesn't understand the West, just as Beijing can't understand Westernized Hong Kong. So, "suspicion" is the emotional response to expect.

Well past the 79-day record of continued protests from the Umbrella Movement in 2014, the extradition protests are in their 13th week.

Turn of events included protestors setting large fires on police-related barricades and the police using blue die in water cannons, presumably to mark protestors for later action. This is a serious escalation on both sides. Far more importantly, but less likely to be noticed, protestors marched outside the Chinese military garrison, near Central on Hong Kong Island. This is a direct affront to Chinese control and, for that reason alone, the situation has never been more explosive, so to speak.

Hong Kong's miracle was that it was Western, but it was located in the Far East. This made it an overlap and a gem in the world. It was the convergence of extremes that made Hong Kong special. But, Confucian-Communist Chinese can't imagine that being Western would make a thing desirable. So, Beijing chalks-up Hong Kong's "greatness" to the idea that "it is Chinese".

In attempt to explain the protests, and without evidence, China has repeatedly accused the West of interfering in Hong Kong, which got its very value from already being Western. The greatest Western influence in Hong Kong came from Hong Kong itself. Reports of supposed Western financial backing for Hong Kong protests seem laughable to the West since they have been presented without a shred of anything remotely resembling a "paper trail"; it's mere surmise.

Far more importantly, since when did Beijing object to Western influence? Communism is Western. But, seeing that requires objective thought, something Confucian culture can't do.

Beijing supposes their must be someone behind the protests. In Confucian Chinese thinking, no one would oppose their great benevolence unless someone else told them to, and "objective thinking" is a mere myth. But, the West can't imagine anyone supporting the government of the Tienanmen Square massacre without brainwashing.

As Westerners, Hong Koners don't want to be brainwashed to support such a murderous government, neither does the rest of the West. So, with this past week, we can't expect the West not to interpret action against Hong Kong's protestors as a preemptive attack on the rest of Western civilization. World War veterans remember what happens when the West feels threatened. Still, no matter how much Hong Kong wants to, Beijing refuses to allow the only way to stop making Western culture feel like someone wants it to stop being Western.

continue reading

Standard
Symphony

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, August 26, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDdu3sTLit0

The Hong Kong police have lost public trust. They've cried, "Victim!" after their injuries were proven to be from self defense when they were the assailants. They illegally shot tear gas canisters as harmful projectiles in violation of international law and from windows high enough to kill someone if a canister landed on someone's head. One girl lost an eye because the police shot rubber bullets at the crowd at point blank range and one bullet passed through her protective face mask. Yet, the police claim that rubber bullets don't cause harm.

Now, peace turns to instant violence just because these police arrive. Or, perhaps it's because they arrive, then start pounding their batons against their shields as if they were Roman soldiers about to charge.

At the Yuen Long MTR Station in a somewhat remote part of Hong Kong's New Territories, protestors were loud, but not violent, until the police showed up. From well-earned fear, protestors tore up the place to block the police from blinding someone else. Trash cans and other furnishings were turned on side, fire extinguishers made a smokescreen, and the students pulled down a gate to block the way between themselves and the violent police of Hong Kong.

The greatest mistrust of Hong Kong police isn't their violence, but their inaction. The great criminals control the government. Perhaps protestors believe the police should enforce the Basic Law by forcefully unseating CEO Carrie Lam for violating the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984. But, they don't because they have become a tool of Beijing's interference, proven most by the usual Human Rights violations of Beijing.

But, Hong Kongers' fears are still greater, sharing an overlap with US President Trump. China wants to Sinicize the world, as the 2008 Olympics opening ceremony showed—as Hong Kong and Taiwan show—as America's economy shows.

As if Hong Kong's problems haven't shown enough about the greater threats looming over the world from the Far East, South Korea's vindictive administration keeps making trouble. This week, South Korea ended an intel sharing agreement with Japan, then stepped up military drills near an island disputed by Japan.

continue reading

Standard