Encore of Revival: America, June 14, 2021

Raucous parties turn riot in New York. AOC says we have crime because we have prisons—specifically because we waste money on punishing people rather than helping people. Yes, America’s priorities are off. But, solutions are equally simple to their problems. AOC says people need mental health care and hospitals instead of prisons. She forgot to mention how much money gets wasted on church buildings. AOC makes the problem too complicated. The solution to rave partying in New York is much simpler than that. The problem came from a combination of imbalanced taxes and a breakdown of the Darwinian family.

Sunday church hasn’t helped preserve the Darwinian family either, but we’ll circle back to that later.

Young members of New York’s working class are partying at night—after work. This indicates a need to let out stress caused by instability and lack of hope. As we approach the face-off between the Returning Christ and the soon-to-be-seen Antichrist, all Hell is breaking loose, so to speak.

Yes, AOC, people aren’t partying from lack of prisons. No, AOC, people aren’t partying from lack of insane asylums nor from lack of Obamacare. People are partying from lack of a stable home and reliable taxes. After all, why should anyone in New York try to work to become wealthy when New York will tax away their wealth anyway? It goes to show why the partiers of Washington Square label the rich residents uncaring “Karens”. This is a fight between classes inflamed by strange taxes. But, the best-kept secret to the success among residents near Washington Square was always that they came from stable families.

A stable family is not anything AOC will suggest as a solution because stability at home is not something government can take away and then redistribute. Once stability is taken away, it’s gone.

But, what got us here is not a lack of prisons or hospitals anymore than it is a lack of church buildings. The real Jesus—the Returning Christ—can repair all things, even re-stabilize homes. But, the real Jesus is the best-kept secret on Sunday morning. Establishment Churchianity pushed its own man-made morals, which even the Apostle Paul said can’t help (viz Col 2:23). The church-goers left a bad taste in society’s mouth because society doesn’t need another list of made up rules. The best-kept secret on Sunday morning is what God’s rules actually are. Those are very simple and hard for anyone to hate. But, if you’ve hated fake rules all your life, it’s hard to listen to real ones. So, how to love actually remains a secret.

If government can’t redistribute it and Sunday church can’t sell it, nobody wants to talk about it. In response, Washington Square in New York hosts parties to let out our self-made stress. Even police can find an excuse to beat people while church-goers find their excuse to keep complaining. But, some people are starting to see what’s really going on.

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Encore of Revival: America, April 12, 2021

The Supreme Court is proving its worth. The bench ruled in favor of itself many times this past week, even through silence. Justice Breyer doesn’t sound like he wants to resign. He doesn’t want the Court packed either. That throws a wrench in the gears of any attempt to subject the Court to politics. Courts are supposed to be independent of party politics so that routine wheeling and dealing does not disrupt society’s need for stable justice.

That need hasn’t been so strong for a long time. Congress and the White House are putting Washington theatrics on full display. Biden’s infrastructure plan is headed to the Senate where it’s sure to get a hair cut big enough to make it lose a few pounds.

But, the big question on the table is: Why—with all the Democrats rearranging the furniture—does Biden keep Trump’s same policies toward China? Something’s up.

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Cadence of Conflict: Asia, November 12, 2018

Xi Jinping announced yet another new policy for China: Blaming other countries is wrong, each country must deal with its own economic and environmental issues without the problem being someone else’s fault. While this 180° new direction should be welcoming to foreign companies whose intellectual property was taken by China, along with the neighboring lands that China has no presence in, yet threatened to invade, such as Taiwan, Xi gave no particular details as to how he planned to adjust China’s current action plan. In fact, Xi’s announcement came as if it was not any change at all, but a continuation of the current policy, that taking unoccupied territory and accumulating foreign technology without payment was necessary for China’s economic and environmental well being within its borders. Perhaps his intention was to further confuse the West about China’s international policy or perhaps he has made himself even more understandable than he ever has before. We’ll have to wait and see what actions follow to interpret Xi’s meaning.

China is growing its ties with Israel, for the time being. An infrastructure deal is said to be the kind that will irritate US President Trump. China, however, should be more concerned. Israel has some of the best counter-intel gathering in the world. If China does use the building contracts as an opportunity to spy, after Israel has a chance to respond, it might be the Chinese who break contract. Israel is one nation that China won’t be able to bully. As stubborn as ancient Asian worldviews can still be today, Israeli culture can be more stubborn. It’s not about race, it’s about two cultures about to collide. ‘Tis folly to double-cross a nation whose name means “wrestles with God”; and the name is not a reference to wrestling with China.

This week, Taiwan and Hong Kong did what they do best more than they have done before. When a Financial Times writer is banned from Hong Kong because he intends to interview an author—and that author’s speaking engagements are shut down after Chinese requests—the wisdom of Roger Branigin returns to the western readership: “I never argue with a man who buys ink by the barrel.” China wasn’t satisfied to argue with an author who is more famous for it, but now wants to argue with more in the ink business. But, that wasn’t the most significant development of the week. Taiwan is labeled as the “island of hope” for Asia at an international forum for Human Rights hosted in Taipei.

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