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‘If the prosecution wins, the ability of pastors to preach the gospel is effectively over in Finland, without criminal sanction.’

A new book, ‘Red Roulette: An Insider’s Story Of Wealth, Power, Corruption And Vengeance In Today’s China,’ exposes China’s top leaders as little more than corrupt oligarchs. //

When the CCP launched economic reform in the 1980s, it did so for survival, not because it had an ounce of desire to embrace freedom and democracy. Desmond sees the CCP’s honeymoon with Chinese entrepreneurs “was little more than a Leninist tactic, born in the Bolshevik Revolution, to divide the enemy in order to nihilate it.”

After decades of economic growth, as soon as the Party became confident that its survival was secure, it has again cracked down on private businesses and entrepreneurs and brutally suppressed dissenting voices. //

this book confirms what we already knew but with concrete examples.

First, the book confirmed that corruption is a systemic problem in China, and it begins with the senior leadership of the CCP. This explains why no CCP anti-corruption campaign has successfully stamped out corruption. These campaigns have always been more about purging political rivals than addressing the root cause of corruption.

Second, the book confirms the true nature of the CCP: it’s coldblooded, ruthless, and will do anything to remain in control. //

Third, the book also confirms that western businesses have been complicit in rampant corruption in China. They offered children and relatives of red aristocrats overpaid positions or invested in firms owned by red aristocrats to land Chinese clients or obtain preferential business deals in China. Driven by greed, western businesses have played a disgraceful role in strengthening a corrupt authoritarian regime. //

Desmond said he wanted to write an honest account. Still, he offers no apology and demonstrates no remorse. Had he taken some responsibility for profiting from and strengthening a corrupt dictatorial regime, it would have made his book more trustworthy.

Another shortcoming of the book is that although it promised to tell all, it only named names of those corrupt senior CCP officials that western media already reported about, such as the Wens. Desmond refrained from implicating China’s current leader, Xi Jinping.

Fifty years ago Friday, on Dec. 21, 1968, Apollo 8 lifted off, marking the first time humans left low Earth orbit and flew to the moon.

This was the second manned spaceflight of the Apollo program, and it was a nerve-wracking and remarkable flight that captured the world's attention. The mission capped a difficult and conflict-filled year in the U.S., offering a rare moment when people could feel good about their planet.

Any trip to space is risky. But a mission to the moon, nearly a quarter-million miles from Earth, was something else. There were many things that could go wrong and many unknowns about this first trip. But on Christmas Eve 1968, the capsule made it to lunar orbit. //

There was also an unexpected moment during the 20 hours they circled the moon. As they focused on the lunar surface below, something else caught the crew's attention.

"Oh my God, look at that picture over there! It's the Earth coming up. Wow, is that pretty!" exclaimed Anders.

Anders rushed to snap a picture of the Earth, rising above the barren lunar landscape. The "Earthrise" image remains one of the most famous ever taken in space, and Anders says it forever changed the way people think about where we live.

"The only color that we could see and contrasted by this really unfriendly, stark lunar horizon, made me think, 'You know, we really live on a beautiful little planet,' " he says. //

In an interview with NPR earlier this year, Borman, the mission commander, noticed the same thing. "The only telegram I remember out of all the thousands we got after Apollo 8 said, 'Thank you Apollo 8 you saved 1968,' " he said.

After over 60 years of service, the James River Power Station (JRPS) is officially being retired. The decision to retire JRPS was based on escalating costs for compliance upgrades, aging infrastructure, and the availability of reliable renewable resources.

To decommission the power station, steps will be taken to dismantle or demolish parts of the plant. This work will include some exterior components, the lakeside water intake structure, and removal of the four stacks.

The demolition process will be handled under strict safety and environmental compliance rules. The process will begin mid-September and is expected to conclude in early 2022. Usable areas of the facility, such as the building office space, electrical substation equipment, and two natural gas combustion turbines will remain.

The U.S. is preparing to save the world from climate change because of fossil fuels by preparing to pockmark the planet’s surface with mineral mines. //

The session started with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) reviewing the bidding the mineral resources risks faced by the United States in a post-climate change industrial base world. In it, the need for metals and minerals to build and maintain post-oil infrastructure will make the United States far more dependent on countries like Russia, China, and countries in Africa, where the mines that produce chemicals needed for computers, vehicles, batteries, solar panels, and other accouterments of a renewables-based world will change the power balance of global stability. //

Bottom line, we’ll be digging new holes in the ground because our cars will need four to 10 times as much metal and mineral content per vehicle. It must come from somewhere. So much for the pristine wilds of Alaska, or anywhere else we happen to find rare earth minerals in the New World. //

Murkowski noted in her remarks that the U.S. must also be thinking in terms of strategic mineral reserves for defense and security purposes. The tensions of limited resources and zero-sum competition begin anew. //

In the next 100 years, it’s only going to be a portion of the First World that will make the conversion to this expensive, mineral-based system. The rest of the world will keep burning oil and gas. And most of the human race’s population growth will take place in those parts of the world. So, by my reckoning, the trajectory of the carbon emission curve of planet Earth isn’t going to change much. It is just what it is.

Environmentalist still have little idea just how much strip mining and ore processing the climate change community has bought into to meet the goals of their global advocates. There will be a lot of money to be made, as ordinary people’s lives are forced to change. I’m anticipating this clash of values among the “woke” is coming as reality sets in. //

Humanity is quite literally exchanging one form of scorching the earth for another one. The whereabouts of the resources will change who has political and economic power. It’ll create economic competition among the world’s industrialized societies for minerals that will cause stress, embargoes, and wars. It’s how matrices work. This is the sound of inevitability.

I’ve always been uncomfortable with this “woke” version of climate change. //

What we will see in the remainder of the 21st century will be the consequence effects of the decisions Climate Change policies are creating now. My instinct says they won’t be pretty. Turning over apple carts never is. The constant is the voracious energy appetite of the First World. All we are doing is changing its diet.

After listening to how the policy community is talking about planning for the future, it may not be for the better. Bit of a Pandora’s Box. Either naively not well thought through or rife with hubris flying on wings of wax that will melt all too soon.

Clarence Thomas’s influence must not be reduced to his race because that characterization inherently contradicts everything he stands for. //

The Washington Post’s attempt to smear Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for thinking like a white man is a completely incorrect interpretation of the justice’s legal legacy. //

It’s fair to say that after the justice’s more than 30 “distinguished” years on the bench, The Washington Post’s interpretation of Thomas is all wrong. Thomas’s thinking has shaped the way all conservatives today think, regardless of their race. He is a great thinker who is not only admired in conservative circles but has inspired them. Thomas’s influence cannot and should not be reduced to his race because that characterization inherently contradicts everything he stands for.

Since hunting season is over, is it legal to put out a device that will cause deer to help drop their antlers? Say pieces of chain over a pile of corn or something like that?

A lot of folks use hog panels fashioned like the inside of a fence corner with the bait at the base of the inside angle. They are lots of variations of this 'contraption'. And yes, they are legal to use to collect antlers. Good luck!

I have a question, I know that baiting is illegal in Indiana. My question is this, can I take a 5 gallon bucket mash up some apples, poke holes in the lid, fasten the lid to the bucket and then hoist the bucket up in a tree around 10 feet or so that the deer can't get to it. Only smell it. Would this be considered baiting? The DNR website say that baiting is when a substance is introduced into the hunt for the deer to consume. Either by solid or liquid. Could I get some clarification on this please. Thank you.

morrison
Moderator

Nov 4, 2014 at 2:06pm

With the scenario you described above, you are creating a very large scent attractant. As long as the deer cannot consume or have the opportunity to consume the apples

Upon receiving this question today, I looked up the federal code of regulations (CFR). I have amended the post from yesterday. Upon reviewing the actual laws, I discovered that neither the federal or state laws restrict the hunting of crows over bait. I have posted the federal and state laws/ administrative codes below. In general, the federal statute establishes the guidelines in which the state can set the regulations for the taking of crows (50 CFR 20.133) The state has developed two administrative codes that establish the season for taking crows as well as a code for taking crows that are causing depredation, being a nuisance, or being a risk to human health.

As you can see below, the federal law established the regulations to cover migratory game birds and crows. It has set crows apart from everything else. Any regulation that applies to the taking of crows will most likely not pertain to any other migratory game bird and vice versa.