The Morning Rant

The situation for believers in China has been extremely difficult, as Xi Jinping and the Communist Party gradually prepare for what seems like a final assault to try to rid Christianity from the country once and for all.

This year, tens of thousands of house church pastors and evangelists have gone missing, especially in those provinces with a large concentration of Christians.

Most of those tens of thousands are still alive, but in preparation for the struggle ahead, they have gone into hiding. They have completely disconnected from all phones and computers, because those devices are used by the government to track their location.

Furthermore, each person in China must have an ID card. It is impossible for a person to catch a flight or train, open a bank account, get a job, or rent an apartment without using their card. Each ID card contains a computer chip which is also used to track people's movements. Many Christian leaders, before they go into hiding, have placed their cards inside a microwave oven for a few seconds, which ruins the chips and renders them useless.

This is the kind of social credit system that our high-tech overlords and their UniParty allies are eager to implement here. I don't know much of their post-election talk of 'purging' and 'cleansing' Trump supporters is empty bluster and how much of it is serious, I think some of it is serious, but regardless, we may have to go off the grid if the situation gets worse.

At the very least, if you have any social media accounts in your real name with real contact information, you should probably consider deleting it. I'm on Twitter, but anonymously, and I deleted my Facebook and LinkedIn accounts a couple of years ago. Make yourself hard to find.

If you're using a desktop computer, consider subscribing to a VPN service. What this does is give you a new IP address, and that is what the internet sees, not the IP address assigned to you by your ISP. With the VPN I use, I can choose which part of the world I can appear to reside. Right now, it's Vancouver, BC. The only problem is that sometimes your VPN might give you an IP that's on a list that Pixy uses to weed out spammers, so you may lose your ability to post comments to this blog. Apparently, there are ranges of IP address that spammers and other bad actors tend to use, so some sites simply reject any traffic from any IP in one of those ranges. So you may have to do a bit of trial-and-error testing.

Maybe it will become prudent to give up our smart phones so they can't be used to keep track of us. Me, I've never owned a smart phone, and I still have my landline phone I purchased and installed back in 1985. Yeah, it's one of those old school wall phones. I'm never going to give it up.

Here is the endgame: There really isn't an endgame. It's not going to stop with Trump. His immediately family is the next target. And then other high-ranking GOP politicians. Even those that have now bailed and are voting to impeach. It won't help them. I will not be able to bring myself to be sorry when Liz Cheney, Mitch McConnell, and other Republicans who intend to vote to impeach, suddenly find themselves cancelled.

"But Comrade Stalin, I am certain that I am in this gulag by mistake. I have always been a loyal Party member. I have always been an anti-racist."

I can laugh (grimly), but then then it will be the donors' turn I am sure somebody, somewhere, is compiling a database of as many Trump donors as they can find. And then pretty soon it will be donors to other GOP candidates and then donors to conservative organizations, insofar as they can be tracked. Hence the sudden realization that invisibility is now a virtue.

So have any of you taken steps to stay off the radar? What did you do?

Oh, one more thing: the need now exists to develop what might be called a 'hardened' server, and by 'hardened', I don't mean hardened against physical damage, but hardened against 'woke' cancellation attacks. Internet infrastructure must be developed that doesn't depend on some 'woke' corporation(s) in order to exist. Those servers may soon be the ultimate safeguards of free speech in our country.

The Tea Party was the polite request, Trump is the less polite request. It does not get more polite from here.
--AlexTheChick

Loose Sh*t:

I'm Old Enough To Remember When Storming Federal Buildings Was Cool:

"Greetings, Fellow MAGA Comrades-- Oops, I Mean Patriots."

"We'll Be The Ones Who Decide Who Gets Shut Down, Peasants!"

AoSHQ Weekly Prayer List

Please submit any prayer requests to “Annie’s Stew” at apaslo atsign hotmail dot com.

Prayer Requests:

9/30 – Coelacanth requests prayers for his son Cameron, for Godliness and clarity of thought and heart and purpose.
10/19 Update – Coelacanth sends thanks – they have seen a couple of small breakthroughs this last week.
12/9 Update – Coelacanth asks for prayers for forgiveness and an open heart and mind. A recent conversation with Cameron did not go well and he is refusing contact with them. Coelacanth’s wife is heartbroken.

10/7 – Lee Also requests prayers for her good friend who needs a lung transplant. He’s been on the list for a while, but it’s getting to the point where he needs it sooner than later. She also would like prayers for the family of the person whose untimely death will give life to her friend. They have lost someone they love. But their generosity will help her friend.
11/18 Update – Her friend has moved closer to the hospital, which means he’s up higher on the list. He’s getting rehab in preparation for the transplant, so keep praying for him, please. And prayers also for the family who lost a loved one and allowed their loved one’s organs to give new life to people like her friend.
12/23 Update – Her friend just got THE call. It may turn out that the lungs won’t be right, in which case, someone else will get them and he will have to wait. She requests prayers that her friend makes it through surgery successfully, and through recovery, and for the family of the donor, that they may have peace knowing that their generosity saved a life.

10/27 – Caiwyn requests prayers for his father, who has been battling pancreatic cancer for 3 years. His chemotherapy treatments are no longer effective enough to justify continuing with them, and they are being discontinued. Prayers for him, and for whatever more time God could possibly give him with his family.
1/10 Update – Caiwyn’s father passed away on New Year’s Eve, surrounded by his wife and children. The family is doing all right and mostly is just glad he’s no longer in pain. Caiwyn sends thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

11/16 – Adriane the Critic requests prayers for her friend “D”. He is fighting a very aggressive brain cancer and the doctors’ prognosis is horrifically short. Prayers are also requested for his exhausted wife and young children, and strength for his sister and family, who are doing a great deal of travel to try and be with him in the little visits they are allowed.
1/11 Update – Adriane the Critic sends: Thank you to the Horde for their prayers. My friend D. died early Saturday morning (aggressive brain cancer). He was able to see his parents and siblings for a few short but coherent visits. Continued prayers for his exhausted wife and young children.

12/2 – Sgt. Mom is asking for prayers for her daughter and unborn grandson, Jamie. The Daughter Unit is 40, this is her first pregnancy, and because of her age, this is considered a high-risk pregnancy, with an elevated chance of Downs’ Syndrome for Jamie. They had an ultrasound this week and an amniocentesis is scheduled for the week of Christmas. The Daughter Unit will carry on with the pregnancy regardless – but prayers for a healthy, normal child are humbly requested.
1/6 Update – Sgt. Mom sends her gratitude for the prayers, and they found out yesterday that her unborn grandson is health and developing normally. No spina bifida, and no trisomy disorders were found!

12/9 – Roxxee asks for prayers for her daughter, who has developed a severe addiction to prescription Adderall, and is now in deep psychosis. She has cut herself off from family and friends and will not respond to any of them. Praying for a Christmas miracle that she wakes up from her psychosis and gets help.
1/4 Update – Roxxee reports: God works in mysterious ways. On the Tuesday before Christmas, her daughter’s mental health tragically deteriorated. However, this event enabled them to get her in a treatment facility where she is finally getting the intensive help she needs. Roxxee asks for continued prayers that the doctors help her and she is able to make a full recovery.

12/12 – Katya, the designated driver sends an update that she was in the ER with shortness of breath last weekend, and has found she has a blood clot in her lung now. The blood thinner she was on for the clot in her leg wasn’t doing the job, so she is giving herself injections twice a day of enoxaparin sodium. She feels good, mostly. She sends her thanks for prayers and support through her chemo treatments.
12/29 Update: Last week was her last chemo treatment. She still has 4 infusion treatments of Keytruda, which is the immunotherapy drug that is still in clinical trials in the US. She has an appointment on Wednesday with the surgeon to scheduler her mastectomy. She sends thanks for continued prayers and support.

12/22 – Homer’s Donuts asks for prayers for work. He was laid off on 12/22 with only a few days of notice, and it feels horrible not knowing when the next paycheck is going to come.
1/11 Update – Homer’s Donuts has an interview on 1/13 that is well suited to his career experience. Please pray for that to work out well!
12/29 – NavyMom requests prayers for her family. Their daughter decided to cut NavyMom and her husband out of her life and her children’s lives. NavyMom’s husband is having lunch with her daughter’s fiancé on Wednesday, so prayers for the right words and hearts to be softened.
12/30 Update – NavyMom reports that the lunch went well, and they are hopeful that the divide can be healed. The next step will be lunch with their daughter. Prayers are still needed for hearts to continue to be softened. NavyMom sends her thanks!

12/29 – empire 1 asks for prayers for her husband, who recently died. She found him, and she probably could use some prayers, too.

12/30 – Prayers of healing are needed for Tikvah, who had part of her foot amputated today and requests prayers. She needs to stay totally off it for 6 weeks to heal.

12/30 – Fox2! requests prayers for his niece, VM, who is pregnant at a relatively high age for being prima (first birth).

1/6 – NaughtyPine has several requests: For the family and friends of Art, who they lost suddenly in late November. The tears come and he’s missed terribly. For the family of Russ, especially his children who are currently estranged from each other. Family healing would make it easier on everyone. For Michele, who lost her ailing father on New Year’s Day. Her “baby” brother died suddenly last March. She is now the sole survivor of her immediate family.

1/8 – Captain Whitebread requests the means to get an eye exam and some new glasses. His current glasses are 4 years old, and he can see distances fine, but his up-close work is blurry. Since he works around computer screens all day, that’s a big problem. His side jobs have all shut down due to Covid, so he’s barely getting the bills paid now; there is nothing to spare.

For Healing:

12/10 - Jewells asks for prayers for her oldest daughter, who is experiencing horrible neck and shoulder pain, which has now turned into nerve pain in her left arm and hand. She is on many medications now, and nothing is helping. She will begin PT and hopefully that will help.

12/16 – Mishdog requests prayers for his mother-in-law, who lives in Russia. She has had high blood pressure for a couple of years and has been taking medication for it. A few weeks ago, she had to call an ambulance because her BP was over 200, but they couldn’t take her to the hospital because their hospital was only taking Covid patients. She was finally admitted to the hospital last Saturday but didn’t see a doctor until Monday. Additionally, they do not have staff to look after her, so she must track her own BP, heart rate, medication, etc. Please pray for a solid diagnosis and treatment plan.

12/21 – Toad-O requests prayers for his mother, who has just tested positive for covid-19. She is 88 years old and in a nursing home.

12/23 – Notsothoreau requests prayers for Jesse in DC’s mom. They believe she has had a stroke. She is in the hospital and being transferred to the stroke unit. She is 94 and would appreciate prayers for healing.

1/10 – Annie’s Stew requests prayers for healing and protection for a sweet young family, expecting their first baby. The mom-to-be has many health issues, and now the dad-to-be just found out that he has lymphoma.

For submission guidelines and other relevant info, please contact Annie's Stew, who is managing the prayer list. You can contact her at apaslo at-sign hotmail dot com.

If you see a prayer request posted in a thread comment, feel free to copy and paste it and e-mail it to Annie's Stew. She tries to keep up with the requests in the threads, but she's not here all of the time, so she may not see it unless you e-mail it to her.

Please note: Prayer requests are generally removed after five weeks or so unless we receive an update.

Please remember the Prayer of St. Francis:
http://www.prayerguide.org.uk/stfrancis.htm

Keep calm and pray on!

Who Dis:

For the 'Ettes:

Friday Who Dis: Here is something you don't see every day. Actor Michael O'Shea retired from show business in the 60s and became an operative for the CIA. When he died of a heart attack in 1973, he had been married to Virginia Mayo for over 25 years. Yes, he got to hold the Mayo (ahem). They met during the production of the Jack London biopic they filmed together.

Today's Edition Of The Morning Rant Is Brought To You By Vanilla Swiss Rolls:

(click for bigger roll)

Vanilla roll recipe available here.

posted by OregonMuse at 11:13 AM

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