A very early Sunday morning to all. I woke up at 20-minutes before 5 a.m., deciding it was time to build a fire in the wood stove and have some hot tea, only to remember I needed to put the clocks back and it was now 20-minutes before 4 a.m.. Too late. I was awake. Actually, it was one of those sleepless nights anyway. I had spent most of yesterday and through the late evening completing the 2nd chapter of my western story. So, I went to bed with my mind filled with story changes and where was I headed in the next page and the next... I've heard it referred to as a writer's nightmare or a brief time when the creative juices stir...more like are rammed into and through the mind like the closing strides of a 100 meter dash for the Olympic Gold. Me, I'm still trying to qualify. True I have one book on the market and I'll take this brief interlude to remind you, "A Coming Storm", carried by Amazon and use my name under William Casselman for quick access. And the way things are going on around this world you might find some of my comparisons interesting.
Being Sunday, time changes always messes with everyone's internal clocks. So, there will be those who always end up arriving an hour early in the late Fall and an hour late in the Spring. When I was working late shift, I disliked that extra hour on patrol and for some reason the "spring forward" , giving the shift a 7-hour night, came on my days off. Plus we never got paid overtime for that extra hour. We were talking union when I retired the first time, but couldn't afford to stay retired and went back to work. Alaska can be expensive, but Mona and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
You know, with my writings, I often look back over our 35 years together and some of our more interesting times. We've faced some all-fired up tough crowds together, even rougher situations, but the Good Lord has seen us through. He's kept both of us still breathing and done bonded our marriage together into a one-flesh package with Biblical backing. Try as he may that old Patch dude, the one who wanders about in hell's flames and offers up the world if you only trade in your soul, well he ain't broken us apart. Oh, we've had a few cracks in the floor boards here and there during that time from all our foot stomping sessions on who was right and who got stuck eaten crow, but every couple has, especially when you go this long or longer, and we're both looking forward to that big 50 anniversary. Its also about the time we can go and burn our mortgage... Now that'll be a celebration. I'll be a bit over 75, then, all my teeth will be gone, my hide will be covered in those nasty lookin' brown age spots and what's left of my gray hair will be a single white carrot sprout to the back of my head I wear in a three foot long pony tail. My beard with be mangy unless I let the woman braid it like she's already threaten to do, now, plus I'll be blind in one eye, hard of hearin' from both sides, but we'll still be taking on all comers, loaded to bear. Strangers a comin' ta visit will find us on the porch, sittin' in our handmade rockers, with Glock shootin' irons in both hands, and Winchester rifle and a 12 gauge shotgun within grasping, but our open Bibles will be on our laps. If in they come peaceable, they'll be made welcome and we'll sing the old songs together under an evening moon or a summer's never ending day. But if they come with other ideas, mah Bibles open to read over em', when the buryin' done. Ma got a nice little garden cemetery going out among the spruce grove. But Ma, my Mona, she's still that beautiful queen I married not so long ago, when she was nigh over twenty, now matriarch of a mighty herd of kids, grand-kids and great-grandkids. Able to tickle a mosquitoes wing at 20-yards with either pistols, she still carries one of those wooden spoons in the back pocket of her Levi's, used to keep the small fry in order from generations to the next. Now ain't that that a pretty picture to come upon when lookin for directions, now ain't it.
See what happens to me when I start off writing a western. Before long I'll be outside wandering about wondering what scoundrel done and took off with my horse. Beautiful things, nearly 19-20 hands to handle mah size, could go all day and night out across the desert flat lands without a breather. One half mustang and the other pure bred gray and black spotted Appaloosa. A black mane you could brush all day and....Where the heck am I going with this! It's 8: 15 a.m. and I've got church in two hours. Better get this done.
NEWS BRIEFS:
Dutch Intel Services- "The increasing momentum of Dutch Jihadism poses an unprecedented threat to the Netherlands." and " Dutch Jihadists are convinced that a Caliphate is not some utopian dream but an achievable reality for Syria and other Muslim nations...and even for the Netherlands." ( Again, I want to stress that Jihadists are the fanatics, who will do any atrocity in the name of Islam. But this is not the majority of Muslims. There is already too much hate in the world to allow us to condemn to the peace seeking ones of any religious sect. God is the judge, not us. BUT, with fanatics, be they Communists, Muslim Jihadist, misguided and extremely violent Buddhist or Hindi monks and their followers, or any other violent activist group, these must be treated as the criminal they are, when they leave behind themselves a smoldering field littered with bodies of the innocent. AND this includes the so-called radical Christians, KKK, the socialists and fascists, neo-Nazis, all, who are on the rise and their desire for a religious war is like an unquenchable thirst.)
Russia has informed the world that it has recently test-fired its new Topol-M Intercontinental Missile, supposedly to test it technical features. ( new DVD/CD player, flash drive, adjustable rear seats, with heaters... I mean the thing flies and goes boom, world ends... Mankind is really pushing it and no one seems to recall where the abort button is.)
The Country of Bangladesh has weathered a 24-hour blackout, following the collapse of their national grid. A sudden vacuum caused disruption of power generation at all power plants across the country. There was no explanation as to what caused the "sudden vacuum". (Could this have been a few hackers sharing some pizza and brews and thought they'd
knock out a country's power and picked on one of the poorest in the world. Or was it actually targeted as a test, for an EMP- style weapon and Bangladesh was chosen because tere wasn't as much risk as running a test on say...Italy or Thailand. Bad for tourism and calls all the military reserves out. Still, maybe it was simply a fluke, an accident made to happen because of old British occupation-era electronics still in use. We may never know, until it happens again. Watch the skies! You people have just got to start watching those old 1950's flying saucer movies to understand where I'm often coming from...unless I'm a sittin' on my horse.)
India: At no surprise, India has refused to favor a non-nuclear pact treaty being brought forward by the United Nations. India was joined by Israel and North Korea in not signing the treaty, while 164 other countries agreed to favor it. (This left the big nuke powers of U.S., Russia, China, Pakistan, EU, England and one or two others who have stock piles of nukes in their inventories. India and Israel do not like to claim they have nuke weapons, but numerous intelligence services know otherwise, while North Korea and Iran are trying very hard to construct their nukes to stand with the big guys. While North Korea has had the nuke payloads for sometime, or so it is believed, they have had trouble making a small enough package to mount upon a missile for an offensive weapon. It is believed that with all the nuclear weapons destroyed between the SALT I and SALT II Treaties of Russia and the US, our two countries still have enough power to render the globe a lifeless cinder. Russia is also missing approximately 100 nuclear weapons, lost during the collapse of the Soviet Union, that no one likes to talk about now, because no one seems to know who has them or who sold them to who wants to blow up a country with them in the foreseeable future.)
With the recent clashes between Palestinians and Jews/Christians upon the Temple Mount, the Israeli Police temporarily closed down visitation of the Mount following the shooting of activist Rabbi Glick, who is in the hospital and reported to be slowly recovering. The Mount has now been now reopened but limited to Palestinians over 50 years old and this limited access and the closure has brought a lot of anger down on top of Israel. Jordan's King Abdullah has stated recently, "We will prevent Israeli unilateralism in Jerusalem." The Monarch also accused Israel of "Brutal aggression" during its Operation Protective Edge, and he vowed to mobilize international efforts to rebuild Gaza. He also desired to see the peace talks between Palestinians and Israeli "relaunched", which would "lead to a Palestinian State and East Jerusalem as its capital. ( Even Hillery Clinton got on the bandwagon accusing the Prime Minister of Israel as being brutal and overly aggressive. This reminded of of the Cold War's East and West Germany, with Berlin divided in two- until the day the Walls came a tumbling down. But with our current politicians from Yonkers, can you imagine how they might feel of the British decided they wanted Northeast United States back and New York City cut in half as the capitol. No, I'm not talking New Jersey, but NYC. How many elected politicians are going to go for that. All those Americans who wouldn't like to become British citizens and pay 70% income tax would have to lift up stakes and relocate, and then what avenue do they cut NYC in half. Who gets Broadway and who gets the sports arenas? This is what all these people are telling the Israelis to do, to give up land their people fought and bled over in the 1967 wars, in which they feel, as well as hundreds of millions of other Jews and Christians alike, believe the Almighty God gave them this land in a miraculous victory against overwhelming odds. For them, this is like defying God to give up what He has given them. The Obama Administration refuses to look at it that way and the President began losing points when he thought he had the Israeli Prime Minister wrapped around his finger, convincing him to retreat to pre-1967 borders and believing everything was settled he addressed it on live TV, when suddenly the Prime Minister leaned forward from his chair beside the President and says, "NO". Obama, stunned then and stunned now, has been sliding down ever since. God will only give up what he chooses according to His plan, not the White House and not the high Mullah in Iran, who is appearing to be running all the Muslim Jihadists.)
Germany: ( I added this because I wondered how long before we'd see it happen here.) Reportedly a court in Bavaria, largest state in Germany, has recently reaffirmed that it lawful for the government to spy on citizens who are opposed to the construction of a controversial mega-mosque in Munich. An activist in Germany was heavily fined for using his free speech to speak out against the building of the massive mosque and his complaints of constantly being followed by the police brought about the ruling. ( I am betting this had opened a massive can of worms in Germany's legal system, if not the entire European Union, who pride themselves with the individual's lawful rights and freedom. A lot of our forefathers were immigrants from Germany and they were weary of monarchy and in search of this knew democratic ideology.)
Earthquakes: (13) in the 4.0 range and higher around the globe. A 7.1 at Ndoi Island, Fiji was the largest reported in the last 24 hours. (4) Alaskan quakes in the 2.5 to 3.8 range with a 3.8 hitting below Mt. Redoubt our active volcano. Japan had a 4.8 and a 4.7 quakes, while Oklahoma experienced a single mild quake at 3.0.
France: Airbus, the European Manufacturing giant, is reportedly in talks with Mainland China- their China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings, for a potential order for around (100) of the Air Bus A-320 aircraft, which is rival in size to a Boeing 737. Deal would involve between $9 and $11 Billion dollars-US and to be made in 2015. When questioned about the deal, both parties declined to make a statement. China had earlier ordered (36) of these aircraft following a 2012 airshow, but these new aircraft have upgraded engines. ( Now this is a lot of aircraft and you know me, I see conspiracy everywhere and bugles sounding a call to arms. But a little camouflage paint and you have Chinese military aircraft to haul their newly trained airborne troops around and to deliver supplies for advancing regiments. These new jets with the upgraded engines they can fly slow enough for a safe jump, without tearing the jumpers head right off from wind sheer. Now you will most likely recall, for those paying attention, when I investigated China's air power in 1998-99, in writing A Coming Storm, they didn't have the aircraft to to deliver a regiment of airborne, but they had 500 fighter aircraft, which was overkill to US and Russia combined for active fighters. Now with 100 A320s, who would work part time in passenger service until the balloon went up, they could relive the Normandy Invasion...just like they did in my Book. But I have a vivid imagination, or so I am told. But like I said, I ain't no prophet and I'm no highly trained military officer from the war college. But I am a well-trained investigator and I look for the pieces of evidence and see how they line up, feel the nudges the Good Lord has given me for guidance and kept me from going down many a blind alley and see how things are adding up. Could all come out to be a big hayride and fiddle dance with me in clown paint. But has anyone been able to buy any .22 caliber long rifle ammo. I've got two rifles and no bullets, and the store shelves are empty. Where is it all going and why? I'll take space aliens for $20, Bob.)
Bad news in Syria-AGAIN: Two of the main rebel groups receiving weapons and training over the last 6-months from US advisers to combat the Syrian regime and the country's Jihadists, have now surrendered to the area's al-Qaeda. The US was said to be relying on these two units to be part of the ground force who would attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant fanatics, who have murdered hundreds of men, women and children across Syria. These rebel groups were also given GRAD rockets and TOW anti-tank missiles, along with the necessary training to use them effectively. Now the group's bases, equipment, men and weapons was handed over to the Islamic State per the local al-Qaeda group. This has temporarily shut down the Coalition's ground war in Syria. The surrender happened after Syrian Jihadists dealt a final blow, storming and capturing the home town of the rebel group's senior leader. The amount of equipment lost and type was not published.
CHINA: "Chinese Christians have accused police of using a crackdown on 'evil cults' as a cover to intensify their persecution of the country's underground church." Reported by World Telegraph. "High profile anti-cult campaigns have rolled out across China since June, when five cult members beat a women to death in a McDonald's Restaurant after she rejected their attempt to recruit her." The cult involved in the deadly attack was identified as having a membership of 1,000 members and going under the name, " Church of Almighty God". But in the process of picking up these 1,000 , the Chinese are using the incident to persecute tens of millions of Christians in the "House Church Movement". ( In earlier days, the Chinese Communist Party Office of Propaganda and working with the Party's Secret Police Enforcers, would stage such incidents as the murder of a woman by five "thugs" in a high profile location, to make a point and instill fear. Now they have an American grass root enterprise in China, and a cult so-call named "Church of Almighty God" and its all just too good to be true. I suspect, going only on what I've read in various articles, this is a con job and some poor woman died so the Party had an excuse to go after the Christians. With so many underground churches in China, it'll be like digging up gophers in Southern California, but along with demolishing the accepted Christian churches, they hope to seek out the leaders and eventually end the problem. The Chinese are patient, but the Word of God is moving too rapidly for the communists to catch-up, even with their set ups and church destruction. Communist hadn't realized that ruble was just that, it was the hearts of the people the Word was spread upon.)
Turkey- Thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of of Diyardbakir, chanting slogans of solidarity with Kurds now defending the Syrian border town of Kobani.
Italy- In an unpopular move, the Italian government announced it was formally ending its Search & Rescue Operations in the Mediterranean Sea, but now fear the EU-led replacement may lead to more migrant deaths. (Italy, along with other EU coastal countries were busily pulling migrants out of the water as their rafts and boats fell apart upon the open seas on the journey from North Africa. Men, women and children were escaping the war torn lands in hopes of finding better lives in Europe or England. Far too many, their numbers unknown, had never made it. Some bodies were recovered and pieces of boats or raft material floating on the surface, from dozens of attempts to flee the battlefields before they too might become a casualty. Instead, they had become the missing, those who died in the turbulent seas between the two continents. In some ways I imagine it a repeat of those brave immigrants who came across the vast Atlantic in such small ships to a new promised land, and like these immigrant of North Africa, many of them never survived to see the New Americas' shoreline. Atlantic storms were fierce, with hurricane force winds, water spouts and lightening setting sails afire. Even the mighty Norsemen, ( only referred to as Vikings when they were on a raid), remained close to shore so they could duck into a inlet, bay or cove when bad weather was upon them. For the Norseman knew, not even their mighty axes could stand up to a icy wind and their ships were not built for the sea action of a storm's mighty waves. But the Phoenicians, the Norsemen and the Pilgrims all made it to the North Americas, but how many boats were lost, with how many crew and passengers. So as our ancestors fled the wars and persecutions of Old Europe, a new crop of migrants is making their way from one land to another, and hopefully a more favorable future. )
With notes and background checks its now 11:00 a.m. and I've missed church. But I am seriously in need of a nap. When I miss church, which isn't often I always have my backyard, where I commune with the Good Lord with the most beautiful view to remind me of his creative juices that seriously...I love it. I was just brought a large coffee by my eldest granddaughter and two open face tuna sandwiches....very HOT! God Bless, BILL
Being Sunday, time changes always messes with everyone's internal clocks. So, there will be those who always end up arriving an hour early in the late Fall and an hour late in the Spring. When I was working late shift, I disliked that extra hour on patrol and for some reason the "spring forward" , giving the shift a 7-hour night, came on my days off. Plus we never got paid overtime for that extra hour. We were talking union when I retired the first time, but couldn't afford to stay retired and went back to work. Alaska can be expensive, but Mona and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
You know, with my writings, I often look back over our 35 years together and some of our more interesting times. We've faced some all-fired up tough crowds together, even rougher situations, but the Good Lord has seen us through. He's kept both of us still breathing and done bonded our marriage together into a one-flesh package with Biblical backing. Try as he may that old Patch dude, the one who wanders about in hell's flames and offers up the world if you only trade in your soul, well he ain't broken us apart. Oh, we've had a few cracks in the floor boards here and there during that time from all our foot stomping sessions on who was right and who got stuck eaten crow, but every couple has, especially when you go this long or longer, and we're both looking forward to that big 50 anniversary. Its also about the time we can go and burn our mortgage... Now that'll be a celebration. I'll be a bit over 75, then, all my teeth will be gone, my hide will be covered in those nasty lookin' brown age spots and what's left of my gray hair will be a single white carrot sprout to the back of my head I wear in a three foot long pony tail. My beard with be mangy unless I let the woman braid it like she's already threaten to do, now, plus I'll be blind in one eye, hard of hearin' from both sides, but we'll still be taking on all comers, loaded to bear. Strangers a comin' ta visit will find us on the porch, sittin' in our handmade rockers, with Glock shootin' irons in both hands, and Winchester rifle and a 12 gauge shotgun within grasping, but our open Bibles will be on our laps. If in they come peaceable, they'll be made welcome and we'll sing the old songs together under an evening moon or a summer's never ending day. But if they come with other ideas, mah Bibles open to read over em', when the buryin' done. Ma got a nice little garden cemetery going out among the spruce grove. But Ma, my Mona, she's still that beautiful queen I married not so long ago, when she was nigh over twenty, now matriarch of a mighty herd of kids, grand-kids and great-grandkids. Able to tickle a mosquitoes wing at 20-yards with either pistols, she still carries one of those wooden spoons in the back pocket of her Levi's, used to keep the small fry in order from generations to the next. Now ain't that that a pretty picture to come upon when lookin for directions, now ain't it.
See what happens to me when I start off writing a western. Before long I'll be outside wandering about wondering what scoundrel done and took off with my horse. Beautiful things, nearly 19-20 hands to handle mah size, could go all day and night out across the desert flat lands without a breather. One half mustang and the other pure bred gray and black spotted Appaloosa. A black mane you could brush all day and....Where the heck am I going with this! It's 8: 15 a.m. and I've got church in two hours. Better get this done.
NEWS BRIEFS:
Dutch Intel Services- "The increasing momentum of Dutch Jihadism poses an unprecedented threat to the Netherlands." and " Dutch Jihadists are convinced that a Caliphate is not some utopian dream but an achievable reality for Syria and other Muslim nations...and even for the Netherlands." ( Again, I want to stress that Jihadists are the fanatics, who will do any atrocity in the name of Islam. But this is not the majority of Muslims. There is already too much hate in the world to allow us to condemn to the peace seeking ones of any religious sect. God is the judge, not us. BUT, with fanatics, be they Communists, Muslim Jihadist, misguided and extremely violent Buddhist or Hindi monks and their followers, or any other violent activist group, these must be treated as the criminal they are, when they leave behind themselves a smoldering field littered with bodies of the innocent. AND this includes the so-called radical Christians, KKK, the socialists and fascists, neo-Nazis, all, who are on the rise and their desire for a religious war is like an unquenchable thirst.)
Russia has informed the world that it has recently test-fired its new Topol-M Intercontinental Missile, supposedly to test it technical features. ( new DVD/CD player, flash drive, adjustable rear seats, with heaters... I mean the thing flies and goes boom, world ends... Mankind is really pushing it and no one seems to recall where the abort button is.)
The Country of Bangladesh has weathered a 24-hour blackout, following the collapse of their national grid. A sudden vacuum caused disruption of power generation at all power plants across the country. There was no explanation as to what caused the "sudden vacuum". (Could this have been a few hackers sharing some pizza and brews and thought they'd
knock out a country's power and picked on one of the poorest in the world. Or was it actually targeted as a test, for an EMP- style weapon and Bangladesh was chosen because tere wasn't as much risk as running a test on say...Italy or Thailand. Bad for tourism and calls all the military reserves out. Still, maybe it was simply a fluke, an accident made to happen because of old British occupation-era electronics still in use. We may never know, until it happens again. Watch the skies! You people have just got to start watching those old 1950's flying saucer movies to understand where I'm often coming from...unless I'm a sittin' on my horse.)
India: At no surprise, India has refused to favor a non-nuclear pact treaty being brought forward by the United Nations. India was joined by Israel and North Korea in not signing the treaty, while 164 other countries agreed to favor it. (This left the big nuke powers of U.S., Russia, China, Pakistan, EU, England and one or two others who have stock piles of nukes in their inventories. India and Israel do not like to claim they have nuke weapons, but numerous intelligence services know otherwise, while North Korea and Iran are trying very hard to construct their nukes to stand with the big guys. While North Korea has had the nuke payloads for sometime, or so it is believed, they have had trouble making a small enough package to mount upon a missile for an offensive weapon. It is believed that with all the nuclear weapons destroyed between the SALT I and SALT II Treaties of Russia and the US, our two countries still have enough power to render the globe a lifeless cinder. Russia is also missing approximately 100 nuclear weapons, lost during the collapse of the Soviet Union, that no one likes to talk about now, because no one seems to know who has them or who sold them to who wants to blow up a country with them in the foreseeable future.)
With the recent clashes between Palestinians and Jews/Christians upon the Temple Mount, the Israeli Police temporarily closed down visitation of the Mount following the shooting of activist Rabbi Glick, who is in the hospital and reported to be slowly recovering. The Mount has now been now reopened but limited to Palestinians over 50 years old and this limited access and the closure has brought a lot of anger down on top of Israel. Jordan's King Abdullah has stated recently, "We will prevent Israeli unilateralism in Jerusalem." The Monarch also accused Israel of "Brutal aggression" during its Operation Protective Edge, and he vowed to mobilize international efforts to rebuild Gaza. He also desired to see the peace talks between Palestinians and Israeli "relaunched", which would "lead to a Palestinian State and East Jerusalem as its capital. ( Even Hillery Clinton got on the bandwagon accusing the Prime Minister of Israel as being brutal and overly aggressive. This reminded of of the Cold War's East and West Germany, with Berlin divided in two- until the day the Walls came a tumbling down. But with our current politicians from Yonkers, can you imagine how they might feel of the British decided they wanted Northeast United States back and New York City cut in half as the capitol. No, I'm not talking New Jersey, but NYC. How many elected politicians are going to go for that. All those Americans who wouldn't like to become British citizens and pay 70% income tax would have to lift up stakes and relocate, and then what avenue do they cut NYC in half. Who gets Broadway and who gets the sports arenas? This is what all these people are telling the Israelis to do, to give up land their people fought and bled over in the 1967 wars, in which they feel, as well as hundreds of millions of other Jews and Christians alike, believe the Almighty God gave them this land in a miraculous victory against overwhelming odds. For them, this is like defying God to give up what He has given them. The Obama Administration refuses to look at it that way and the President began losing points when he thought he had the Israeli Prime Minister wrapped around his finger, convincing him to retreat to pre-1967 borders and believing everything was settled he addressed it on live TV, when suddenly the Prime Minister leaned forward from his chair beside the President and says, "NO". Obama, stunned then and stunned now, has been sliding down ever since. God will only give up what he chooses according to His plan, not the White House and not the high Mullah in Iran, who is appearing to be running all the Muslim Jihadists.)
Germany: ( I added this because I wondered how long before we'd see it happen here.) Reportedly a court in Bavaria, largest state in Germany, has recently reaffirmed that it lawful for the government to spy on citizens who are opposed to the construction of a controversial mega-mosque in Munich. An activist in Germany was heavily fined for using his free speech to speak out against the building of the massive mosque and his complaints of constantly being followed by the police brought about the ruling. ( I am betting this had opened a massive can of worms in Germany's legal system, if not the entire European Union, who pride themselves with the individual's lawful rights and freedom. A lot of our forefathers were immigrants from Germany and they were weary of monarchy and in search of this knew democratic ideology.)
Earthquakes: (13) in the 4.0 range and higher around the globe. A 7.1 at Ndoi Island, Fiji was the largest reported in the last 24 hours. (4) Alaskan quakes in the 2.5 to 3.8 range with a 3.8 hitting below Mt. Redoubt our active volcano. Japan had a 4.8 and a 4.7 quakes, while Oklahoma experienced a single mild quake at 3.0.
France: Airbus, the European Manufacturing giant, is reportedly in talks with Mainland China- their China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings, for a potential order for around (100) of the Air Bus A-320 aircraft, which is rival in size to a Boeing 737. Deal would involve between $9 and $11 Billion dollars-US and to be made in 2015. When questioned about the deal, both parties declined to make a statement. China had earlier ordered (36) of these aircraft following a 2012 airshow, but these new aircraft have upgraded engines. ( Now this is a lot of aircraft and you know me, I see conspiracy everywhere and bugles sounding a call to arms. But a little camouflage paint and you have Chinese military aircraft to haul their newly trained airborne troops around and to deliver supplies for advancing regiments. These new jets with the upgraded engines they can fly slow enough for a safe jump, without tearing the jumpers head right off from wind sheer. Now you will most likely recall, for those paying attention, when I investigated China's air power in 1998-99, in writing A Coming Storm, they didn't have the aircraft to to deliver a regiment of airborne, but they had 500 fighter aircraft, which was overkill to US and Russia combined for active fighters. Now with 100 A320s, who would work part time in passenger service until the balloon went up, they could relive the Normandy Invasion...just like they did in my Book. But I have a vivid imagination, or so I am told. But like I said, I ain't no prophet and I'm no highly trained military officer from the war college. But I am a well-trained investigator and I look for the pieces of evidence and see how they line up, feel the nudges the Good Lord has given me for guidance and kept me from going down many a blind alley and see how things are adding up. Could all come out to be a big hayride and fiddle dance with me in clown paint. But has anyone been able to buy any .22 caliber long rifle ammo. I've got two rifles and no bullets, and the store shelves are empty. Where is it all going and why? I'll take space aliens for $20, Bob.)
Bad news in Syria-AGAIN: Two of the main rebel groups receiving weapons and training over the last 6-months from US advisers to combat the Syrian regime and the country's Jihadists, have now surrendered to the area's al-Qaeda. The US was said to be relying on these two units to be part of the ground force who would attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant fanatics, who have murdered hundreds of men, women and children across Syria. These rebel groups were also given GRAD rockets and TOW anti-tank missiles, along with the necessary training to use them effectively. Now the group's bases, equipment, men and weapons was handed over to the Islamic State per the local al-Qaeda group. This has temporarily shut down the Coalition's ground war in Syria. The surrender happened after Syrian Jihadists dealt a final blow, storming and capturing the home town of the rebel group's senior leader. The amount of equipment lost and type was not published.
CHINA: "Chinese Christians have accused police of using a crackdown on 'evil cults' as a cover to intensify their persecution of the country's underground church." Reported by World Telegraph. "High profile anti-cult campaigns have rolled out across China since June, when five cult members beat a women to death in a McDonald's Restaurant after she rejected their attempt to recruit her." The cult involved in the deadly attack was identified as having a membership of 1,000 members and going under the name, " Church of Almighty God". But in the process of picking up these 1,000 , the Chinese are using the incident to persecute tens of millions of Christians in the "House Church Movement". ( In earlier days, the Chinese Communist Party Office of Propaganda and working with the Party's Secret Police Enforcers, would stage such incidents as the murder of a woman by five "thugs" in a high profile location, to make a point and instill fear. Now they have an American grass root enterprise in China, and a cult so-call named "Church of Almighty God" and its all just too good to be true. I suspect, going only on what I've read in various articles, this is a con job and some poor woman died so the Party had an excuse to go after the Christians. With so many underground churches in China, it'll be like digging up gophers in Southern California, but along with demolishing the accepted Christian churches, they hope to seek out the leaders and eventually end the problem. The Chinese are patient, but the Word of God is moving too rapidly for the communists to catch-up, even with their set ups and church destruction. Communist hadn't realized that ruble was just that, it was the hearts of the people the Word was spread upon.)
Turkey- Thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of of Diyardbakir, chanting slogans of solidarity with Kurds now defending the Syrian border town of Kobani.
Italy- In an unpopular move, the Italian government announced it was formally ending its Search & Rescue Operations in the Mediterranean Sea, but now fear the EU-led replacement may lead to more migrant deaths. (Italy, along with other EU coastal countries were busily pulling migrants out of the water as their rafts and boats fell apart upon the open seas on the journey from North Africa. Men, women and children were escaping the war torn lands in hopes of finding better lives in Europe or England. Far too many, their numbers unknown, had never made it. Some bodies were recovered and pieces of boats or raft material floating on the surface, from dozens of attempts to flee the battlefields before they too might become a casualty. Instead, they had become the missing, those who died in the turbulent seas between the two continents. In some ways I imagine it a repeat of those brave immigrants who came across the vast Atlantic in such small ships to a new promised land, and like these immigrant of North Africa, many of them never survived to see the New Americas' shoreline. Atlantic storms were fierce, with hurricane force winds, water spouts and lightening setting sails afire. Even the mighty Norsemen, ( only referred to as Vikings when they were on a raid), remained close to shore so they could duck into a inlet, bay or cove when bad weather was upon them. For the Norseman knew, not even their mighty axes could stand up to a icy wind and their ships were not built for the sea action of a storm's mighty waves. But the Phoenicians, the Norsemen and the Pilgrims all made it to the North Americas, but how many boats were lost, with how many crew and passengers. So as our ancestors fled the wars and persecutions of Old Europe, a new crop of migrants is making their way from one land to another, and hopefully a more favorable future. )
With notes and background checks its now 11:00 a.m. and I've missed church. But I am seriously in need of a nap. When I miss church, which isn't often I always have my backyard, where I commune with the Good Lord with the most beautiful view to remind me of his creative juices that seriously...I love it. I was just brought a large coffee by my eldest granddaughter and two open face tuna sandwiches....very HOT! God Bless, BILL
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