Sermonette

Caption: The newly opened Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints – Bangkok, Thailand Temple – in the middle of the city.

Below: Catholic Cathedral, Cologne, Germany –new vs old.

 

The Sermonette

If you’re woke, a democrat, likely an atheist, pro-abortion up to birth, and then cool with retroactive birth control through the first couple weeks of life of a healthy child, diversity involves “race, ethnicity, gender, class, ability, geography“—everything except diversity of thought. Society calls it cultural Marxism, but I call it cultural Satanism. It embraces every filthy and debased practice and philosophy. As you sow, so shall you reap.

Mike_C commented on a previous post (Heliophobia), and I want to cite it in part.

female ChiComs who come over here mostly want to stay here
Yes, though that’s changing. I’m meeting increasing numbers of Chinese here in the US who intend to return to the PRC after making some money or connections here. They cite better quality of life back home (less sacred diversity is a big one), and they’re put off by our (“our”) penchant for and forced celebration of sexual deviance, perversion, and mental illness.

I replied: forced celebration of sexual deviance, perversion, and mental illness. — It’s certainly big in the media and some areas of the country, but I don’t see any of it in my daily life in rural Arizona. I must tune in to this or that to encounter the freaks and misfits who bask in the spotlight. There is a lot of push-back against perversion in the circles I find myself in, but that calm and steadfast love of beauty, light, and peace is not what propels the elites (our betters), the media, or what passes for culture in many parts of the land.

 

 

 

Bullet Points:

** Student Debt Problem? Forgive it through military service! Apply the GI bill to what is owed proportionately.

** One may fall in love with the State, but the State never reciprocates.

** Is religion a moral struggle? Discussion by Peterson. A man’s reach must exceed his grasp…etc.

** Riley Gaines tweeted, “Five middle school female athletes in West Virginia refused to throw shot put against male Becky Pepper-Jackson. This comes just two days after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the WV law that says you must compete in the category that matches your sex.” It was a gesture of goodwill as the girls welcomed the boy who sued his way into the sisterhood by allowing him to win uncontested.

** An apple a day keeps the doctor away if you throw hard enough.

** Activity on China’s equity capital markets on the mainland and beyond has slumped to multi-decade lows, highlighting how the loss of momentum in the world’s second-largest economy has weighed on investor confidence.

According to Dealogic data, Chinese companies have raised just $6.4 billion in mainland IPOs, follow-ons, and convertible share offerings this year—the lowest level on record.

Their fundraising in offshore markets, including Hong Kong, is $1.6 billion, the lowest year-to-date since 2003.

China’s outbound M&A of $2.5 billion is the lowest recorded amount over the same period since 2005.

** Another way to look at the Periodic Table:

Do the green elements pair well with ranch dressing, a fine chablis, or what?

Everything tastes better with catsup on it.

** Financial Times: According to the chief financial officer of software technology group Siemens, “It will take decades” for Germany’s manufacturers to reduce their dependence on China. This highlights the quandary facing Western companies and their reliance on the country as a market and a supplier.

Global value chains have been building up over the last 50 years. How naive do you need to believe this can be changed within six or 12 months?” Ralf Thomas said in an interview with the Financial Times.

“This is about decades.”

His comments follow a report from the German Economic Institute that found that the country’s corporations had made little progress in “de-risking” their China exposure and reducing their critical import dependencies since 2022.”

** To be in the Top 1% of earners from a worldwide perspective, you need to earn US$32,000.00 per year.

** (h/t Claudio via Radio Free Asia) In China, birth rates have fallen from 17.86 million in 2016 to just 9.02 million in 2023, despite a change in policy allowing couples to have up to three children in 2021.

In October, Xi called on women to focus on raising families, and the National People’s Congress started looking at ways to boost birth rates and kick-start the shrinking population, including flexible working policies, coverage for fertility treatment, and extended maternity leave. But young women in today’s China are increasingly choosing not to marry or have kids, citing huge inequalities and patriarchal attitudes that still run through family life, not to mention the sheer economic cost of raising a family.

The role of “son” in China is to provide a retirement income for his parents, who will move in and be cared for until they die. The role of “daughter-in-law” is that of a slave to her husband’s mother, who will take over the running of what had been her house. While that may be traditional, it is not appealing, particularly when the mother-in-law is a shrew. The shrewish mother-in-law is a recurrent theme in Chinese soaps and sitcoms because everyone can relate. The wives may laugh (ask not for whom the bell tolls), but it’s a nervous laugh.

** Peterson on why lesbian relationships are doomed.

** I heard that a deadly heat wave will hit Arizona soon. We used to call it summer. Now it’s the End of Days.

 

The Use of US Navy SM3 Missiles vs Iranian IRBMs

(Edited down from Insider Today)US Navy warships used a missile interceptor for the first time in combat over the weekend while defending Israel from an unprecedented Iranian attack.

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said American forces fired the RIM-161, Standard Missile 3, or SM-3, to engage Iranian ballistic missiles that were fired as part of the massive barrage, which included more than 300 missiles and drones launched from Tehran and its proxies.

“We’ve been firing SM-2s, we’ve been firing SM-6s, and just over the weekend, SM-3s, to counter the ballistic missile threat that’s come from Iran,” Del Toro said at a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing on Tuesday.

US officials previously said that two destroyers, the USS Arleigh Burke and USS Carney, operating in the eastern Mediterranean Sea had engaged and destroyed at least four Iranian ballistic missiles. However, how the warships shot down the threats was not immediately clear.

USNI News, citing unnamed defense officials, first reported on Monday that the two ships fired between four and seven SM-3s to intercept the missiles. Del Toro’s comments to lawmakers appear to be the Navy’s first public acknowledgment of the SM-3 employment.

The SM-3 is an element of the Navy’s advanced Aegis Combat System and uses a kinetic kill vehicle to hit and destroy short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles during the midcourse phase of flight. The SM-3 has the capacity for exo-atmospheric intercepts, meaning it can eliminate targets beyond Earth’s atmosphere, unlike the Navy’s other air-defense capabilities.

“SM-3s are unique due to being the only Standard Missile designed to operate in the vacuum of space,” the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank notes in its Missile Defense Project.

Multiple SM-3 variants can be fired from a Navy warship’s vertical-launching system. The Block I interceptors were first fielded nearly 20 years ago. Despite dozens of tests over the past two decades, the SM-3 has not been used in combat until now.

The SM-3 wasn’t the only exo-atmospheric weapon to be called into action over the weekend.

Israel’s Arrow 3 missile defense system, which can also eliminate enemy threats in space, was used to shoot down many of the 120 ballistic missiles that Iran lobbed at Israel on Saturday. Arrow 3 and its predecessor, Arrow 2, make up the top echelon of the country’s sophisticated air defense network.

Israeli officials have said that 99% of the threats fired by Iran and its proxies — which included one-way attack drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles — were intercepted by Israel’s military and its partner forces in the Middle East.

US Central Command said American forces, specifically, destroyed more than 80 drones and at least six ballistic missiles.

 

From Jules

Oliver’s mother, Helen, entered Fleurty’s Flower Shoppe with her heart set on a grand idea for the upcoming village festival. With the theme centered around pink, she sought Camélia’s expertise to create a captivating floral display that would delight everyone attending. Camélia, thrilled by the prospect of working on a project close to her heart, embraced the theme and decided to showcase her favorite flowers, peonies, in all their resplendent glory.

Camélia poured her heart and soul into crafting stunning displays as the festival preparations unfolded. Together with Oliver, who lent a helping hand in setting up, they transformed the festival grounds into a perfectly pink paradise. During the fair, Camélia and Oliver spent more and more time together, their conversations flowing effortlessly as they worked side by side.

Oliver admired Camélia’s creativity and dedication, while Camélia appreciated Oliver’s kindness, devastating good looks, and genuine nature. As the day drew to a close and the festival lights twinkled under the evening sky, Oliver took a deep breath, gathering the courage to ask Camélia a question on his mind. With a gentle smile, he turned to her and asked if she would consider going on a date with him.Camélia blushed, her heart racing. She returned his smile with a radiant one of her own. At that moment, amidst the festival’s fragrant peonies and joyous laughter, she nodded a yes.

________

Jules’s work inspires me, and I’ve started to dabble in watercolor not to compete with her because I don’t have that kind of ego, but maybe I’ll call it therapy.  My youngest daughter, Emilie (with me right), has asked to co-author a children’s book with me. I replied that it would require artwork and asked her who would do that. She reminded me that I made graphic stories for them with pencil drawings when they were little. She has a four-year-old boy and suggests that we follow his interests in dragons and dinosaurs in our creative efforts. I will need to think about that. Irrespective, I will do the watercolors if only for my soul.

I’ve found that following my muse (I wouldn’t say I like the term, but it fits) has been important throughout my life, sometimes in writing or the art of the blog. I live in the beauty of the forest surrounded by elk and foxes (some I’m familiar enough with that they have names now), or maybe I’ll stick to storyboard dragons, beautiful maidens in need of rescue, and brave knights who risk it all for a kiss.

 

Identify the Aircraft

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