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#our media makes it seem like the usa is over so
nicohischierz · 9 months
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invisible string: dalibor dvorsky
thank you @jimmy-snuggs for listening to my silly suggestion 🫶
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world juniors was a competition you grew up watching every christmas. so when you heard there was an opportunity to help take pictures for the media you leaped at the opportunity. 
now you stood next to your family friend jimmy snuggerud as you take some photos of his teammates during their cool down time. there were some boys playing a very intense game of cards which made the two of you laugh. 
“oh shoot, i left my other card in my room,” you exclaimed searching your bag for the small chip. your current sd card had filled up and whilst you were transferring the images into your phone you wanted to be prepared. 
jimmy told you to drop your equipment off in your room and forget about the card as the team wanted to go out for dinner together. 
so you did just that.
on your way back, you were texting jimmy as he asked you what you were thinking of eating as the boys were indecisive. however, you weren’t watching where you were going as you walked straight into someone. 
“are you okay?” the guy asked. his voice was deep and held a slight accent to it. you nodded before looking up at him. 
he was the most attractive person in your opinion. he dark brown eyes that now held worry in them. his arms didn’t leave your body until one of his teammates cleared their throat. 
“oh. umm i’m okay thank you,” you answered stepping away from him. dalibor nodded and smiled at you. some of his friends started walking away from the two of you when he spoke again. 
“i hope to see you again,” he called out before leaving. 
the smile on your face after that didn’t leave your face throughout dinner. even when the guys started chirping you. 
over the next couple of days you seemed to be seeing your mystery man everywhere. 
the one chance you saw him was when slovakia played usa. you were able to catch the back of his jersey before he stuck his helmet on. 
dvorsky
you were sat by the pool editing some pictures when he appeared in front of you. dalibor didn’t say anything instead he just smiled at you. 
“dvorsky right?” you asked. 
“dalibor or dali,” he added. 
“y/n,” you smiled at him. 
from that day on the two of you would meet by the pool everyday and talk about your day and the little things you noticed around you. 
“i hope this isn’t the last time we meet dali,” you whispered bringing him in for a hug. dalibor hugged you back, his arms wrapped around you “i also hope this won’t be the last time miláčik,” he whispered. 
before dalibor left to get on the bus, he cupped your face in his hands and placed a gentle kiss to your lips. you reciprocated immediately. 
“i’ll see you soon,” he promised. 
it had been months since you last saw dalibor. your communication was cut to very other day as the two of you became busy. and to distract yourself from the hurt you felt, you decided to apply for an internship with the st louis blues. 
so now you stood in nashville at the nhl draft, ready to take pictures and videos of the new prospects. 
you had zoned out after the second pick, you were on your phone waiting for st louis to make a pick when you heard the call of a familiar name. you looked up to the tv in time to see dalibor walking down towards the stage as the blues board stood on the stage. 
luckily, your colleague had taken a position in front of the stage allowing yourself time to breathe. 
“miláčik?“ dalibor asked as he approached you. 
you smiled at him, the boy wasted no time running to you and wrapping you in his arms. 
“i missed you so much,” “i’m so proud of you,” the two of you let out. 
when you pulled away, dalibor didn’t let you go far. his hands moving from your arms to your face. 
he looked around to make sure it was clear before he bent down and kissed you. this time you were able to wrap your arms around his neck. 
“funny that we seem to find our way to each other,” he mumbled against your lips. you laughed before pulling away. 
“like an invisible string pulling us together,” you commented.
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meraki-yao · 2 months
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Twitter is not the greatest place to be rn for many reasons, but I think people are missing out on some things that are basically common sense:
Taylor can promote (which, by the way, these promotions are part of the “For Your Consideration” campaigns for awards seasons, especially the awards the movie is nominated for) because he's in LA. These are not regular or fancy screenings, so it doesn't make sense to make Nick travel.
Nick's projects have close promotional periods. Like, they overlap at some point. And he's going to focus on it because it's his job. It doesn't mean he's moved on — it means his projects must also be promoted. I think people don't know or forget the strike was during the promotional period the movie premiered.
Some people are upset with Nick because he's not talking about the movie any more. And I think most of them are clinging to the super online Nick of a few years ago or even 💜 Nick who promoted. And, again, the strike got in the way. He has to be in the USA during March, so he can likely make it to screenings or the GLAAD Awards if his schedule lets him. But people need to remember that he's over there because of his other projects, not RWRB only.
I think people diminish what the boys are doing, and pit them against each other because neither is doing what they want. And forget what they've been saying about the movie, the characters, the book. They care about it deeply, and of course, they deserve to talk about it. I hope people calm down and stop being upset because things are moving forward, but that doesn't mean that RWRB is over.
I mean I pretty much agree with you here. Incredibly well analysed and well said.
And I want to highlight your final paragraph. This is the problem with parasocial relationships with any form of celebrity: delusional fans so easily start to feel like they have some say in the celebrity's actions.
About the promo, yeah, that's his job too, and I think the disparity in reaction is kind of partly because we missed our RWRB promo due to the strike, so it suddenly goes from "he's not talking about this" to "he's talking about this a lot". (I know he's most likely gonna be at the TIOY premiere but it just occurred to me that M&G is a UK-based production though?) RWRB is in a really unique and weir circumstance where we missed out on promo and press almost entirely.
And I get missing Nick being chronically online, it seemed really entertaining, but he's just growing up and entering a new phase on how he wants to manage his social media. His past six Instagram posts were all pretty formal "business" stuff. Which, people change. I've seen people call it a rebrand but really I just think it's him changing how he views social media. (personally, I did the same thing at 2022: went from chronically online and sharing everything to being relatively inactive and only posting when it's something memorial like a birthday or a festival)
I think at the end of day we should look to their direct actions: the primary source evidence, so to speak. Nick happily signs RWRB book, refers to Henry as himself, and teases Taylor playfully through book signing. It's clear he loves this project, and experiences/ love like this doesn't fade.
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larsnicklas · 12 days
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some hockey players grow on you slowly — you come to appreciate them over time as you get to know the way they play and conduct themselves, pick up the tiny things that set them apart. but other players are the type you're enamored with right away, from the first shift onward. you see them play and you think, god, if only that guy could be on my team, we'd win the cup. i'd die happy. you just know in your heart that this is a guy you could love forever if given the chance. tj oshie is this type of player for me and i don't think i'm alone in this.
okay, picture this: 2014. sochi. usa vs. russia. it's pretty much a meaningless game, technically speaking. but fuck, it'd be nice to win. one of the really magical things about the olympics is that it brings heroes to light, and medals don't always have something to do with that. when tj oshie took six shootout attempts and scored four times to beat the russians, he cemented himself in the hearts of american hockey fans for life. and more than one person i know became a hockey fan because of this infamous shootout. a signature moment! american hero tj oshie, we said. tj sochi! he was considered a tossup to make the team at all, and ten years later, that shootout is basically all we remember about that usa squad. and yet tj always deflected the attention to the guy on the other end of the ice, the goalie who kept the game alive and gave tj the opportunity to ice the game. (thank you, jon quick!!!!) and i think maybe this is one of the easiest ways to explain who tj oshie is: a guy who always plays for his teammates, who digs deep and comes up big when needed, and a guy who will always uplift those around him rather than bask in attention alone.
in the summer of 2015, the capitals traded for tj. at the time, they were searching for a winger who could play to the right of nicklas bäckström. the young guns era was emphatically over; just ovi and nicke remained, and the team just. was not quite there yet. they were good, but not quite there. and gmbm and co. believed that this winger — high energy, physical with some offensive finish — would be able to put them over the top.
and, well, it turned out alright, didn't it?
i don't want to understate the importance of tj's blues era one bit; by all accounts he speaks of his time there glowingly. he did a lot of growing up there, playing for seven seasons with st. louis. so do not take this the wrong way at all but: tj oshie was always meant to be a capital — this is a team that has always seemed to have versions of a core four; there have been so many iterations of the caps with so many great players, but to me, despite my genuine love for the young guns, when all is said and done: the most impactful and truest core will be ovi, nicke, carly, and from the moment he arrived, osh. he fit so seamlessly into the ethos of the organization that it feels now, almost a decade later, like he has always worn capitals red. fans cheerfully joke about how glad they are that the capitals drafted him in 2005. he came into his own here. he's ours. not all big trades can be a home run. but thank god this one was.
he arrived in dc with his customary aplomb and good nature that would endear him to the fans, organization, and local media alike. his energy on and off the ice was notable. he always had time for the people around him, no matter who they were, and that's something that continues to this day — fans talk all the time about how warm and genuine tj is when they happen to meet him out and about. i think one of the most likable things about tj is how absolutely down to earth he is; he is so aware that he is, at the end of the day, just some guy! who's lucky to be living the dream.
but of course, it's not all luck! tj on the ice works as hard as anybody i've ever seen. when asked to talk about him, every one of his teammates and coaches mention his work ethic, his effort level, his layman's attitude in his approach despite having the hands to be able to play an entirely different sort of game. and it's like, the way he plays is not easy on the body; he's built solid but no one would ever call him big. especially when he was younger he played with reckless abandon; you could see his eyes light up when he had a guy lined up for a huge momentum swinging hit. these days he skates as hard as ever but picks his spots for that big physical play more wisely out of necessity. the last few years he's fought back from injury after injury; i think there's a lot of anxiety every time he goes down from the fans because there is this pervasive feeling of: what if he doesn't come back this time? what if this is the one that forces him away? so far, he's always come back. and i love him for that, but i also think he's given so much more of himself to the franchise than we could have ever reasonably asked, and when he eventually hangs up the skates, i hope no one ever wears 77 for the capitals again.
in the end, looking back, i think tj will be remembered for a lot of things that he'd be proud of. but the thing that stands out the most comes down to this: he's all heart, man. like. he's very good, don't get me wrong, but he's never been the biggest or fastest or most talented player on the ice. what he has been though, all throughout his career, is fearless and selfless and determined. heart and hustle, that's tj down to the bone. i love watching him play because he plays from a place of so much emotion. sometimes it's pretty, sometimes it isn't, but he always, always plays with love: for his teammates and for the game and for the people in his life, and that manifests in the way he works so hard every single shift. and just when you think he can't possibly give any more, that he's already giving 100% and there isn't anything left in the tank, he digs deeper and gives you 110%, 115%. he elevates the players around him, too, because when a guy is grinding like he is and sacrificing the body and finding ways to contribute whether he's on the scoresheet or not, you can't not do the same.
he is such a leader in this room; he's been the beating heart of this club in so many ways for nearly ten years. i have a bad habit of mourning the loss of players before they're gone and i'm trying not to. just the thought of a capitals team with no tj oshie.... it feels awful!! above all i want him to be able to live a happy and healthy life post-hockey though, and i do understand what every game costs him. like time and time again, he's put team before his own body and wellbeing. i hope he knows that as fans, we do appreciate him every shift he takes and that we will not begrudge him for a single second when he does decide it's time to retire. and i hope he knows that the love he gives to the people around him is returned to him tenfold.
tl;dr: tj oshie it has been and continues to be a pure joy to watch you take the ice. i will always be grateful for the player and person you are. we could never repay you for everything you've given to us. we love you so, so much.
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mariacallous · 2 months
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Donald Trump’s supporters believe the “deep state” is out to get him – even though, if the USA had a deep state worthy of the name, the CIA would have sent a hitman to dispatch Trump years ago.
The Tory press, Liz Truss, Jacob Rees-Mogg, and their pals on the Tory right blame an establishment plot for the failure of 14 years of Tory rule – rather than blaming – oh I don’t know, let’s pick an example at random – themselves.
Everywhere you see the new right of the 21st century embracing the conspiracy theory of the old left of the 20th century. Democracy is in danger because the unelected elite in business, the civil service and the media will never allow real change.
I am not making a case for moral or political equivalence. Indeed, I want to argue that the radical right matters more than the left for one simple reason: the radical right actually wins​ power.
Before going any further, here is how the sworn enemies can look like bosom buddies
To understand the mental universe of the rulers of the UK and, if our luck fails us, the future rulers of the US, come back with me 40 years to the left of the 1980s.
We, too, were raging against a world that seemed to have escaped our control. Voters, including working class voters, had put Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in power, and they kept them there, despite the right of the day presiding over extraordinary levels of unemployment. The Cold War was entering a terrifying phase. The Soviet Union and the USA were placing medium-range nuclear weapons in Europe and threatening to turn the continent into a battlefield.
If I could offer you one book that ​encapsulates the mood on the​ 1980s left, I would offer Chris Mullin’s A Very British Coup, published in 1982 and turned into a TV drama later in the decade. (See above).
It’s still worth reading and watching, if you have a few hours. I have nothing against it as drama. But the best way to view is as a map of what were then left-wing fears.
Mullin was a Labour MP and a follower of Tony Benn, the left-wing champion of the day. Benn failed to become Labour leader or even deputy leader. But inspired by the movement he represented, the party swung to the left in the 1980s. No good did it do Labour. It went down to landslide defeats in 1983 and 1987. I can still remember feeling scared and astonished as a young man as I watched Mrs Thatcher crush all opposition.
Mullin escaped from defeat into a kind of fantasy world. He imagined what the “elite” of the day would do to a radical Labour government. Mullin created Harry Perkins, a working-class Labour leader. He became prime minister, and was determined to put in place a Bennite programme.
Media monopolies would go, under Mullin’s fictional Labour government, so out with Rupert Murdoch. The UK would commit to unilateral nuclear disarmament, and withdraw from Europe (the old left hated Europe with a passion that matches that of today’s new Right). It would support a Palestinian state, nationalisation…and all the other courses on the left’s menu du jour.
“​'Our ruling class have never been up for re-election before,” cries Perkins. “But I hereby serve notice on behalf of the people of Great Britain that their time has come.’ Such language had never been heard from a British Prime Minister before. Although received with rapture in Sheffield town hall, Harry Perkins’ words burst upon the Athenaeum as though the end of the world was at hand. Which, in a manner of speaking, it was.”
The Athenaeum for readers unfamiliar with the geography of the British class system is an establishment Pall Mall club, where in the imagination of Mullin and many, many thousands of others the privileged meet to plot their wicked schemes.
Which Mullins’ establishment duly does. It leaks details of Labour politicians’ affairs to the gutter press and drives their families to suicide. The CIA conspires to make the country ungovernable. The civil service and the military conspire against the elected government they are sworn to serve.
I could go on but you get the picture. The power elite will never allow the left to govern.
And now it is right-wing politicians who sound like the left of the 1980s. Here is Jacob Rees-Mogg, a faux aristocratic populist at this week’s launch of the satirically titled “Popular Conservatism” movement. He was a snob looking for a mob to raise
Rees-Mogg began with the language of the 1790s and quoted the anti-Jacobin Tory politician George Canning denouncing the cosmopolitan progressives of Georgian England.
“A steady patriot of the world alone, The friend of every country but his own”
Well, OK, and fair enough. Canning has been proved right down the generations. Liberals and leftists have often laid themselves open to charges of lacking patriotism. In Chris Mullin’s day we were demanding that the UK give up its nuclear weapons in return for nothing at all from the Soviet Union, to cite one of many examples.
And, yet after 14 years of Conservative rule, who is betraying whom? Who is the true friend of this country?
Wages have not increased, the public realm is derelict, the country is in decline.
Rees-Mogg refused to accept responsibility. Instead, he spent much of his speech laying into British judges. The reason this government had failed to stop asylum seekers reaching these shores was, he said, the fault of the judicial enemy within.
Speaking alongside him was Liz Truss, the Lady Jane Grey of the Conservative party. In her 49 days in power, she crashed the economy, sent interest rates hurtling upwards, and nearly destroyed the private pension industries.
Commentators covering the event focused on the admittedly absurd spectacle of the most unpopular prime minister ever appearing at a “popular conservatism” conference.
They missed the construction of a myth. Truss’s economic policy  was as much a fantasy as any of the ideas of the defeated left of my youth.
When they were in power, Truss and her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced unfunded tax cuts for the rich. There were no reductions in public spending to pay for them, just the belief that tax cuts would magically pay for themselves – an idea as utopian in its way as the left’s belief in the 1980s that, if the UK unilaterally disarmed, the USSR would do the same.
Despite it burning in flames, the right cannot let go of the dream, as Truss proved with her speech
“The left don’t just compete with us at the ballot box now. They also work to take over our institutions. We see it in much of the media, we see it in the corporations, we see it in the quangos and much of the bureaucracy that emerged under Tony Blair.”
And which quangos did Ms Truss have in mind?
The Office of Budget Responsibility, home to a rather tame bunch of economists, the right want​s to blame for the economic disaster Truss let loose on the British.
Notice the conspiracy theory.  The crash in the British economy was brought about because generally rather right-wing men (and the occasional woman) working in the bond markets concluded that the government of the United Kingdom was in the hands of “morons”.  
Rather than accept the judgement of her peers. Truss and those around her want to blame the Treasury, the Bank of England, and the Office for Budget Responsibility for the Conservative party’s mistakes
But note, too, how the right appropriated the conspiracy theory of the left.
One of the leftists in Mullins’ drama declares that
“They’ll never let a Labour government headed by Harry Perkins take power,” he told her.”
‘Who’re ‘they’?’ she had asked innocently.
 ‘Your friends in the City, the newspaper owners, the civil servants, all them sort of people’.”
Today he might be a Tory explaining why, to use Truss’s list, the media, the corporations and the quangos will never allow a truly Conservative government to enforce the “will of the people”.
Paranoia has its consolations. The left of the 1980s was destroyed in election after election. And yet it could think that it did not fail because leaving Europe and unilaterally disarming were terrible ideas. Rather we could believe a vast conspiracy had brainwashed the public into voting against its interests.
Conservatives think the same today, and the temptation is to make some glib remark about the “horseshoe theory” proving that the radical left and right aren’t so different after all and leave it there.
But there is one very striking difference: the radical left loses but the radical right wins.
The UK is so clearly moving towards electing a Labour government we can miss the wider picture that everywhere you look radical right parties are advancing.
Indeed, even out of power Donald Trump is controlling our lives. He is threatening to throw Ukraine to Putin and pull US forces from Europe, and can rely on his allies in the US Congress to make his malign dreams come true.
Despite calling themselves patriots, Rees Mogg and Truss are all for Trump.  They prefer his America to NATO ​and the UK’s defence interest because Trump’s success and the successes of the European radical right allows them to believ​e that they are not out of the game yet.
And they may not be wrong. Unless we can find arguments to defeat them, they will be back.
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unbossed · 11 months
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Warning: This is going to ramble.
I absolutely love how much you can infer about a social order by the background “context” in its media. I’ve seen a lot of old “social guidance” and assorted industrial and sales training films in my time (thanks almost entirely to my 30+ year obsession with MST3K, I admit). At some point I started watching out for things that seemed unusual to me but which were presented as utterly unremarkable, but not such things that we are already accustomed to from the past like various prejudices and bigotries.
I’ve noticed an unmarried man in his 30′s or 40′s still living with his parents presented as nothing more than the setting for a sales manager to get advice from his retired sales manager father. I’ve noticed a grandfather, still living on the farm he’s handed over to his adult son, guiding the kids in “quality of life” activities there while their father and oldest brother are busy with the “sustainment” chores*. I’ve noticed very recent changes to the way families are expected to be structured in order to serve a capitalist social order.
I’ve mentioned it before, and I’m not likely to ever shut up about it, but the “nuclear family” is an absurd anomaly that was cultivated to increase sales of consumer goods. The fragmentation of the family into smaller entities was not the historical norm even in the places where it’s most widely endured today. Until less than a century ago multi-generational homes were typical, commonly consisting of the grandparent(s) and the family of one of their adult children. This customary arrangement arose from the agrarian origins of modern life. As I’ve mentioned before, the nuclear family was an unsustainable model before industrialization. (Personally, I think we’re seeing it proven unsustainable even now.)
In the post-WWII USA its promotion was, I believe, a campaign by capitalists to capture post-war “prosperity” by eliminating the sharing of many common household resources and coercing their purchase instead. When three generations lived under the same roof they only needed one set of household tools, for example. (I’ve also seen short films extolling the value of knowing how to do your own home and auto repairs, rather than paying someone else for them.)
A multi-generation home only needed one set of appliances, as well, and so on. Move the kids out into their own homes, though, and they’re going to buy their own tools, too. Co-housing, even with “found family,” means buying fewer durable consumer goods. The nuclear family model is meant to serve capital. (Sharing those things is still possible, obviously, but we humans seek convenience like we seek salt, fats, and sugars.)
The conditions that made this shattered form of family possible could almost certainly only have arisen in the wake of something as catastrophic as the Second World War. The post-war prosperity of a sufficient number of people in the USA to create those conditions was only the result of the USA having the only undamaged industrial capacity productive enough to sustain it. To put it plainly, when everyone else needed to rebuild their bombed out countries the USA were the only ones left who could sell them enough bricks.
As the rest of the world recovered from the war the advantage that the USA had enjoyed from their devastation steadily dwindled. The social conditioning, however, did not. Most of the USA’s populace was led to believe that economic policies were the primary driver of that advantage. Abandoning that comforting fantasy, which tells us that such “prosperity” can be turned on and off just by winning enough elections, is critical. Recognizing that it is only made possible by the immeasurable suffering of all forms of Earthling may be the only thing that will drive us to keep our habitat inhabitable.
TL;DR We need to share more, buy less, and foster the social arrangements that make those easier.
* While their dad and brother were tending the animals overwintering in the barn he took the kids out to their woodlot to cut a Christmas tree.
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absolutebl · 2 years
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Hi fave bl encyclopedia ❤️
So my question is about Japanese bl, like I don’t understand it! Please help 😭
So I know japan is like the motherland of yaoi and they pretty much started it all, and they make some pretty graphic and explicit bls ( which is not my cup of tea tbh), but then they also have shows like cherry magic and keita and the most recent KEI X YAKU (I am watching this one rn, and I actually like it so very much) but for the life of me I can’t figure out why these shows are made with zero intimacy between the main couple, not even a simple innocent kiss?!
are these shows considered more mainstream? Are the yaoi only allowed in fandom space? And not in mainstream media?
Just why are these shows made the way they are?
Don’t get me wrong CM and KH are two of my absolute favorite bls of all times, but I still don’t get just… WHY?
Hi! 
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The Weeds of Japanese BL 
So I am going to go off of this blog post on the history of Japanese BL and yaoi and only bother to repeat myself if strictly necessary. 
Top 10 BLs Out of Japan - top 10 plus history of BL (part 1 in the series on the history of BL)
Otherwise there would be a lot of rehash. 
So my question is about Japanese bl, like I don’t understand it. Please help! 
So have you read the above post? Because if you haven’t reading that will at least give you some kind of foundation for your understandable confusion.
But part of most people’s misunderstanding over Japanese BL actually has to do with the nature of Japanese cinema. 
Here’s the thing, the Japanese have a very specific taste to their cinema. They have a style and lens that they stick to and (with a few noted exceptions) they pretty much haven’t deviated since the 1950s.
In film style there’s atmospheric (cinematic and sweeping, think Kurosawa) vs live action manga (think cartoonish + sound effects, stylized framing and staging techniques meets slapstick). 
In yaoi there’s light (sweet, clean, bright, airy) vs dark (erotic, serious, gritty, rough). 
In the sexual sphere there's prudish & chaste vs kinky & explicit. 
Everything seems to be bifurcated in Japan. Now, on a very few occasions they can tread the line between the lanes, and borrow bits and pieces from different approaches, but most of the time they stick to those lanes pretty cleanly. 
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I can’t figure out why these shows are made with zero intimacy between the main couple, not even a simple innocent kiss
Generally speaking, the shows that are very light very sweet and very bright, cartoony, with lots of slapstick elements will have little to no sexual contact at all: so Cherry, Mix Up, Ossan, Same Difference, Mr Unlucky, Our Dining Table to fall into this category.
They'll owe a lot more to Shōnen-ai (which is turn has a lot to do with Bildungsroman) which means it's more gentle and tends to be a journey of self discovery for the uke - undertaken by younger characters (or younger acting/seeming innocents), and thus (like YA) much less sexualized.
(I am not going to comment on KEI X YAKU since I didn’t watch it because it appears to be a bromance.) 
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are these shows considered more mainstream? 
Sort of, it’s more that they’re just considered a different category. Like how USA draws a distinction between the amount of sexual content that is allowed in a sitcom versus a soap opera. Similar kinds of topics, frameworks, filming style, and target demographics dealt with, but expectations around nudity and sexuality are way different. Different air times and lengths too. 
This doesn’t seem weird to me because I grew up with soaps vs sitcoms. But if I step outside of my upbringing, it’s odd right? The nature of the sexual content is so different, but they’re mostly both family dramas with a ton of romance. And then the “late night” (read sitcom timeslot) soaps came along kinda blending the two. Ah... the 90s. 
Where was I? 
Okay so, why are they different? Because Japan thinks of them differently. 
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Another thing to know about the Japanese film industry? 
They take little to no interest in or guidance/feedback from the international market. They do not care. Their attitude, when something like Cherry Magic does well outside of Japan is... oh do the internationals like that one? How quaint. That’s special. Should we consider... distribution? A second season? *yawn* how tiresome.
Which is why a JBL will drop locally, get mad pirating and illegal subs and such, and then about half way through suddenly show up on a distribution platform like Viki or GaGa pretending it has always been there.
Can you sense my frustration? This is why backlist is so hard to get hold of too. But it KEEPS happening. 
Like Japan just forgets about us.
Which is probubly because THEY DO. 
Japan cares about their own internal market interest and style way way WAY more than any other BL producing country. (I would argue including Mainland China.) 
Japan respects Japan’s taste.  
PERIOD. 
End of discussion. 
Look at the HAIR.
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I rest my case. 
When I talk about the fact that Japan has an unchangingly firm point of view? This is what I mean. 
Set your expectations based on what Japan has done in the past, because that is what they will do in the future.
You will never be disappointed. They will hold steadfast to their traditions, the good, the slapstick, and the kinky. 
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Are the yaoi only allowed in fandom space? 
Cherry Magic I would call both mainstream, popular, and live action yaoi. 
Plenty of yaoi of this type (and back in the day) has very little on page kissing (or anything else for that matter), either. There is a whole sub-genre of sweet, or even clean, yaoi. Which is not to say it didn’t piss me off that they couldn’t actually kiss in Cherry Magic. Especial with that elevator fake out and the dead fish kiss from the side dishes. Very disappointing. 
Might be expense involved. Talent ain’t cheep in Japan, might be too costly to have them kiss. 
Or they just being coy teases about it. 
Basically they brats, and we in a non-con kink relationship where they promise but never deliver kisses in some kind of weird passive aggressive D/s dynamic. Also, VERY Japanese.  
Oh shit, my dating trauma is showing. 
Ignore that last bit. 
Just why are these shows made the way they are? Don’t get me wrong CM and KH are two of my absolute favorite bls of all times, but I still don’t get just… WHY? 
I know it is super frustrating. I would like it if they just put at least one kiss in there too. 
Here’s the thing: I happen to like Japan’s lanes, even as I am frustrated by them. Because when they do it well, they are square root of it all. 
Get it???
SQUARE root? 
Because, ya know, no kisses = so square. 
Okay I’m pushing it. 
But also the other lane gives us kisses = great = MURDER DEATH MUTILATION!!!! 
Oh, Japan. 
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Here’s some interesting stats on Japanese ‘s BL (or more properly LAY - live action yaoi) for you: 
As of early 2022, there’s still only about 55 of them. 
High heat erotic LAY & pinks: 21 
Light cheerful LAY in which there is little to no kissing, or it’s very dead fishy: 21 
LAY that managed to be very yaoi but actually strike a balance between the two: 12 (and I include all the Takumi-kuns in here and they seriously might not qualify because... Takumi) 
I just did the count for this post and it’s wild how even the split was. 
(I’m missing some and not all are really BL, but with a sample of only 50+ it’s not really statistically viable anyway). 
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If you want to really understand how Japan adapts yaoi you should delve into Love Stage!!: 
Read the yaoi manga 
Watch the anime 
Watch the Japanese live action adaptation 
Watch Thai BL adaptation
It’s a pretty informative experience. Tells you a lot about Japan’s relationship to the industry and genre that they started and how yaoi is treated differently in the different mediums. 
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But honestly, the answer to your question is gonna really frustrate you. 
This is all just Japan being Japan, and it’s the way they approach BL. Because it’s the way Japan approaches cinema. 
Because, in the end, even if we call it BL, Japan is always going to do LAY, and that is kind of its own creature. The starter to the sour dough, not the bread that results. 
Because Japan is always going to pick their lanes and stick to 'em. 
Having said that, here’s some LAY that actually manages to have all of the things we expect from BL including kisses! 
Seven Days  
Given 
Life: Love on the Line
Restart After Come Back Home AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de
Utsukushii Kare AKA My Beautiful Man
That last one is absolutely amazing. See me lose my tiny mind over it and how it manages to be SO yaoi and SO Japanese and SO WONDERFUL despite everything. Or perhaps BECAUSE of everything. 
Utsukushii Kare is a BL that actually no other country could make. It’s PURE uncut Japanese live action yaoi and it’s AMAZING partly because of that. 
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Mr. Unlucky (AKA Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shikanai!) is an interesting test. 
I, and many other aficionados of LAY, expect it to have no kissing. But it’s already odd in that it got its distribution sorted before it started airing. Like a goddamn adult. This is confusingly un-Japanese of it.  
If Japan produces this as a slapstick comedy, in the vein of Kieta Hatsukoi (AKA My Love Mix Up), but it actually has decent kiss like Utsukushii Kare? It means Japan, whether it likes it or not, is finally being influenced by the popularity of Korean & Thai BL. 
But if it doesn’t give good kiss, it means they are still sticking to their established traditions. 
And this being Japan, my money is on the later. 
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Let’s see how much crow I eat in a month.
More on Japanese cinema here.
(source)
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hystericgal · 9 months
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I saw your post about Kathleen Stock and I agree with you. But I find myself asking, are there any mainstream gender critical speakers who aren't in some way pandering to the right? I have not seen anyone with a voice calling out Kathleen or even more extreme like Posie Parker for their frankly dangerous views on women's bodily autonomy, and it's quite worrisome. I'd rather TRA's get everything they want than for women to lose abortion rights, and it seems like so many in the movement are putting the cart before the horse.
This is so long and ramble-y sorry in advance, i kinda went all over the place but idk what to cut out😭.
i really can’t think of any here in the uk tbh. kathleen writing that article and putting it up is all on her and not at all justifiable imo, I was a bit surprised by it, but she is literally writing for unherd (lol), is besties with political lesbians & goes on channels like GB news which is right-wing so maybe i shouldn’t have been.
I think in some women’s minds it makes sense (to an extent) to take a platform from the right, but all the women i can think of honestly haven’t just taken a platform, they’ve actively platformed right wingers &/ right wing ideas, which as “feminists” or just women who claim to care about female rights that should go against everything they stand for. very hypocritical.
however nowhere left wing will platform gender critical women. like i can’t think of a single left wing media outlet that would have a gc feminist on or have a proudly gc feminist on staff talking abt this stuff. & to most women, despite maya forstater winning her appeal, the fear of being fired & not having the funds to sue your employer & being essentially out in the cold for questioning gender ideology is enough to stop them, in any field, from speaking out.
you might disagree with this & please lmk if you do & why if you can because I am open to having my mind changed on this I just haven't had any reason good enough for me to.
I think that kathleen is very brave, she talks a alot of sense when it comes to gender/sex and womens spaces/sex based protections in law & what happened with her and her job breaks my heart, she doesn’t seem like she’s every been really politically active, she was just a lesbian who spoke out abt self ID and got an incredible amount of hate and lost her career- i can’t help but empathise with that still. & as for posie parker, for all I disagree with her on (which is practically everything) she organises very well and has all sorts of women speaking, which is something no one else is doing here & until that changes I have a begrudging respect for her. I wish there were any actual radical feminists calling out these womens shit though because they are (by their own admission) not radical feminists, any yet we are associated with them so heavily, because of the whole “terf” thing- which mean’s literally nothing I’ve even seen males being called terfs lmao.
+ these women are not mainstream feminists & are from the USA & CA but Lisa Michele & Radical ramblings, both on YouTube, have actually spoken about Kathleen Stock (just a few days ago when the article came out) & about Posie Parker. they both also talk about how alliance’s with the right are harmful for feminism & just a lot of interesting topics. they are very much not mainstream though sadly.
& i completely agree though that women’s right to autonomy should take priority over TRA shit. imo allying with a “gc” right wing woman (even if she is “socially liberal” or whatever the fuck) does more harm than allying with a TRA that’s left wing & supports workers rights. the whole idea that a woman’s abortion can be criminal stems from the idea that we are not fully human and deserving of autonomy, that we are somehow violating someone else’s rights by being in full ownership of our bodies, it’s the same idea men use to justify underpaying us, overlooking us for jobs/promotions, assaulting us, r*ping us, murdering us, etc because we are not whole human-beings in the same way they are. also women are so disproportionately effected by poverty and capitalism that it will never be helpful for any women other than the 0.01% to support even right wing economic policies.
I dont see radical feminism becoming mainstream anytime soon sadly, I think the only thing we can do is not be silent in our lives, speak out & support women doing the same, because women’s spaces & sports ARE important, even if less so than abortion, but make sure to take everything mainstreams gcs with a mega pinch of salt and to call out their bullshit when we see it & hope our words get to other women who are ready to hear them atleast.
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bookishtheaterlover7 · 4 months
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Thanksgiving is a big holiday in the USA,
Chris loves tradition such as holiday celebrations, so it doesn't make sense why a wife would willingly be half across the world at an event that she has no reason to be at. She made it clear by saying she has nothing to promote or speak about. Therefore, she had no reason to go.
I know she isnt from the USA but if i had a spouse who had a holiday that was important to him like Canadian Day, ect, I'd be there. Thanksgiving is a heavy, tamily oriented holiday
Marriage is about growing together and experiencing things together. What we see seems to be everything Chris said he didn't want. His morals and beliefs can be "sold" to us, but there is no reason for him to say he wants to have traditions with hia family unless the he wants the tradition is being thousands of miles apart.
I swear if I hear one more freaking thing about Chris being the reason she isn't talking or doing things online, imma scream. First off Chris has been looking horrible- so bad ages 10 years and sull laxlluster skin- he used to glow. He syattwd to lose that glow during the SMA shoot (i waa locing the farm boy vibe) but The only reason he looked better on the View's zoom is his old camera, zoom filter and makeup. That isn't the look of someone who is orchestrating and being the puppet master. We also know the man has bad anxiety - RDJ wais on a talk show that Chris had a huge anxiety iasue over who arrived first to the Civil War premier and the cars. Think about it does ir sound like a man whose a maatermind for a a whole year + of things
2ndly the nazi has a track record of making bad decisions when it comes to social media (and prob. elsewhere), ie the shower vid that was left up? It takes seconds to take down and she left i4 up. Then the videos/pictures showed she doesn't have an engagement ring or wedding band. Those jewels are watched like a hawk, so it makes sense that she didn't have them on because they weren't hers so she wasnt allowed to wear the jewlery more than necessary for the event.
Idc who you are you wear the Cartier ring on the other hand necause no one takes their engagement/wedding rings because they have two hands- 2!! It's peoven she can't be trusted on social media by herself without her screwing up the narritive their teams want to push. Frankly, I say let her post and screw things up, she looaes followers when she posts so ler her lose more so she has bots.
I'm team just get this over with and srop torturing our Dodger.
Thanks for reading
👑 I usually stay behind the scenes helping book researching things but I had to say those things in a forum.i know peoplemwouls losren.
Bookie also deserves a round of applause we constantly try and make sure we have the facts and receipts. Bookie has done a lot more than you know all know, and I dont think shes been getting the credit she deserves - so let's all give hwe a big round of applause and thanks for crearing the safe soaxe on her blog that is informative and understanding and a positive environment
Honestly, 👑 An🫶n, I agree with everything you said about Chris.
It's kind of not possible for the guy to be a mastermind, because again, and say it with me, Fandom... Chris Evans is not that good of an actor.
And awwwwwww... You're welcome 🤗 y'all deserve some of the cred. Y'all interact with my posts and send asks, otherwise my page would be as dead as it was years ago...
I only tell it like it is. I just didn't know a lot would agree 😆
So, a big thanks goes to y'all for tuning in and sticking around 🥂 here's to more new content in the future ❤️
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saydams · 1 month
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the foreign wars aid bill passed the usa senate. still has to pass the usa house. it's a better bill than i thought. aid for ukraine AND for taiwan, and $9.2 billion in aid for humanitarian relief in gaza.
the fact that it contains so much money for israel to carry on its war is devastating.
the aid to ukraine has to get through though. i don't think ukraine can possibly continue any longer without it. and gaza also needs aid desperately. (and im so happy taiwan has not been forgotten, last i read about it it seemed to me like we were abandoning them)
there is no way this aid would pass the senate (or will pass the house) if it is decoupled from israel aid. that is just a (revolting) fact. it will take the israel hawks joining up with the ukraine supporters to make it past the MAGA obstructionists.
start composing your emails to biden and your reps about how that earmarked money for israel should be distributed, and for what. (and/or think about it for your messaging at riots/protests/direct action). the money is going to israel (or it's going to no one). we need to mitigate the damage now.
from the AP's reporting:
[$60 billion to Ukraine] Dollars provided by the legislation would purchase U.S.-made defense equipment, including munitions and air defense systems that authorities say are desperately needed as Russia batters the country. It also includes $8 billion for the government in Kyiv and other assistance.
“For us in Ukraine, continued US assistance helps to save human lives from Russian terror,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on social media. “It means that life will continue in our cities and will triumph over war.”
In addition, the legislation would provide $14 billion for Israel’s war with Hamas, $8 billion for Taiwan and partners in the Indo-Pacific to counter China, and $9.2 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza.
Progressive lawmakers have objected to sending offensive weaponry to Israel, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent of Vermont, as well as two Democrats, Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Peter Welch of Vermont, voted against it.
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rainbowsky · 2 years
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Hi! I really liked your answer if XZ and WY would leave China in the future. I'm from a western country, but one from the southern hemisphere, so "western fantasies of leaving one's country for freedom (in the USA or Europe)" always rubbed me the wrong way. First, because not all of USA or Europe is actually a LGBTQ+ paradise. Second, it's prejudice, even if it comes from good intentions. Besides, I think they would (if they could) rather advocate for more rights in their our country...
This is in reference to a previous post.
Yeah. I think it's misguided, even if it’s at times understandable, to wish GG and DD would move to another country. They clearly love their country, and it can very difficult and painful to leave everyone you love behind and start out somewhere new, especially if there are language or cultural barriers.
It would be a huge step down in their careers to leave what is by far their biggest market and try to make more inroads internationally. They would be leaving the infrastructure they've built around themselves that is guiding them, protecting them and assisting their careers. Teams of people they know and trust, and probably have very close friendships with by now.
I suspect they probably already have a mostly pretty comfortable circle where they are safe to be themselves and be open about their relationship, so there's really not a lot to be gained for them by leaving, and potentially a lot to be lost. Wherever they go, if they want to maintain their careers they're going to have to project an aura of romantic availability, so they wouldn't be able to come out about their relationship. Not unless they were retired, I guess.
And it's not like they would be completely leaving the influence of the current regime in China anyway. This regime is known to be quite protective of its own interests and image globally, and to exercise influence over expats even from afar.
I like what you said about advocating for more rights in their own country. Unfortunately there are pretty big limits to people's ability to do that in China, but I totally agree that it would be far preferable to see the situation for queer people improve in China, than to see a mass exodus of queer people from China.
And it's true that it's not a queer paradise in most other parts of the world. It's pretty damn good in Canada, but Canada is also a very small nation. Vancouver or Toronto would seem like a small village to GGDD. 😅
I do sympathize with that Anon, though, and with other fans who want GG and DD to be in a better position in some ways. I think our hearts are in the right place, we just all need to be very sensitive about how we express our concerns and what kind of climate we are creating for others with the things we say, and we need to reflect a bit on where some of our ‘delusions of grandeur’ come from as well. Very often it comes from our own ignorance about what it’s like in other parts of the world.
Here in the west we are so steeped in Sinophobic BS in all of our media, it's important to make sure we examine situations fully to ensure that we are well informed. It's common, for example, for international fans to believe that homosexuality is illegal in China, and that GG and DD are in imminent danger as queer men in China, which is simply untrue. I talked about that in more detail here. (Not saying Anon believed that, just that it’s common among fans).
It can be infuriating to watch some of the things that have been happening regarding queer rights, etc., but unfortunately leaving probably isn’t the magic solution to that for GGDD. It would be nice if it was that simple, but it really isn’t.
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moonlayl · 2 years
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Angry Rant:
Nothing bad can ever happen in America without it immediately drowning every other problem and so many Americans feeling entitled over the rest of the world.
And it’s frustrating as fuck.
Two women, both 21 years old, Naiyera Ashraf and Iman Rashid were brutally murdered at their respective universities in Egypt and Jordan, only 3 days apart on June 20th and June 23rd.
These two murders have triggered a widespread fury across the Middle East and North Africa and rightfully so, because this is NOT uncommon. People, especially Arab women, are calling for greater protection against gender violence and femicide in those regions.
AND YET, outside of Arabic news, any post or article talking about this on ANY social media, about this real issue that Arab women have been facing, about this reality in our countries, about the fact that women are brutally killed and assaulted, has mostly gotten English comments like “yeah this world is so misogynistic. Just look at what happened in the USA today”
Except we’re not talking about the fucking States, so jot that down.
What happened in the states is disgusting and terrible and awful and Americans have every right to be upset and disgusted, but for the love of GOD, recognize that it’s not the only bad thing that has happened to women recently and that the world doesn’t revolve around the US.
If your first thought when hearing about how a 21 year old women was SHOT to death because she refused to marry an asshole and rejected his ass is “sucks, just like how women can’t get abortions in the USA anymore” screw you.
And I’m not saying “Non American women have it worse”. That’s not what I’m saying. It’s not a competition.
All I’m saying is, when we’re talking about misogyny, and abuse, and assault that women face in other countries, the conversation is not about the USA, and that goes for everything else. Also, you can talk about both at the same time, without so clearly making it seem like one doesn’t matter as much.
And I’m sick of there being this expectation that you have to always talk about any terrible thing that happens in the USA because “it affects everyone else” or “it makes you a shitty person if you don’t” WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY, Americans are the first to preach about how difficult it is to stay up to date on all the terrible things that happen to the rest of the world. “It affects our mental health. We can’t keep talking about these things. We need a break.”
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maaruin · 1 year
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Hot Take: The Harry Potter books probably helped, not hindered, trans rights
While we are on the topic of Harry Potter, let me share my thoughts on a particular observation.
The observation: very very few of the people who grew up with Harry Potter followed J.K.Rowlings into TERFdom. Instead, when JKR became hostile to trans people, they either dropped the books or simply didn’t care about her opinions.
Why is that? Well, support for trans rights is normally packaged with support for other marginalized groups and other socially progressive causes. And there does seem to be a correlation there. (There was a study that showed that Harry Potter fans are more likely to oppose Trump even after controlling for things like Gender and Education.)
Now look at this, when reading Harry Potter, who is more memorable: Voldemort or Rita Skeeter? Voldemort of cause, he is the main villain, Rita is a secondary antagonist, mostly limited to a single book. Voldemort is pretty obviously similar to Hitler, while Rita is maybe supposed to be a trans woman but the hints are so subtle they go over most people’s head. The parts of a story that stick in mind are the things that are important in the book, and fighting against a Nazi analogy is one of these things. This is a message about who is good and who is evil that the reader is supposed to apply to the real world.
With me so far? Okay, here is how this connects to social progressivism: In a socially progressive worldview the Nazis are the ultimate evil and other ideologies are generally judged in their evilness by how close they seem to be to Nazi ideology. And the core of what makes Nazis evil is their violence against minorities. (Conservatives also view Nazis as evil, but there is a different emphasis: They tend to put Nazis and communists on the same level and view totalitarian government as the core of the Nazis’ evil.) So, in the progressive worldview, Nazis are the big evil because they committed genocide against minorities, conservatives are a smaller evil because they discriminate against minorities.
And now you have a generation of people who read in their favorite book that Nazis are the worst evil, and their history class in school may also teach them that the Nazis are the worst evil. And then they encounter a movement that calls them to political action against the things the Nazis stood for: racism, but also sexism, homophobia, etc. So people adopt that worldview and that includes support for trans rights and at some point they go somewhere where JKR doesn’t want to go.
I wonder if she knows this? I wonder if she is frustrated by this?
(A suspicion I have in this context is that people who grew up playing shooters in which the central conflict was Americans vs Islamist Terrorists ended up on average more right wing than other people their age. I do think if the central conflict of the fiction most important to us when our beliefs are still forming is close to the self-image of a common worldview in the real world, we are more open to adopting that worldview. And the idea that the central conflict was USA vs Islam was both present in popular games of the 2000s and the news media of the 2000s.)
Anyways, this was my case that over the course of her life JKR has helped trans rights more than she hurt them, even though that was never her goal. (But that doesn’t necessarily mean her books should be read now.)
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lawrenceop · 2 years
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HOMILY for 4th Tuesday of Easter
Acts 11:19-26; Ps 86; John 10:22-30
preached at a Novena at Our Lady of the Holy Souls, Kensal New Town
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“It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians.’” (Act 11:26) Before that, followers of Jesus were sometimes called “Nazarenes”, a term that, you might recall, terrorist groups in Syria had revived in recent times to brand us. But the origin of the word Christian was no less of a stigma. It seems that the people of Antioch had also first used ‘Christians’ as a derisive term, and this use of the word recurs time and again. The word ‘cretin’ for example, which means a stupid or insensitive person, comes from the time of the French Revolution when being called a crétin, a Christian, was used as an insult. But although people called us Christians (and still do) in order to dismiss us, or exclude us from the public sphere, the early Church took on the name ‘Christian’ as a badge of pride. For it means that we follow Christ, that we are anointed as he is with the spirit of Sonship, and so we are called to be little Christs in the world so that those who see us will see Him, our Crucified and Risen Lord. 
Hence the Lord says plainly in the Gospel to those who ask him if he is the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One of God: “The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.” (Jn 10:27) To be called a Christian, therefore, and to be worthy of the title means that our behaviour has in some way marked us out as belonging to Jesus Christ, and it is a behaviour that should set us apart from others, making us distinctive and different and odd in an increasingly non-Christian world. Many will think us to be cretins because we are truly Christian. 
To be truly Christian is not to be nice – not necessarily. It is, however, to love. For this is what it means to follow Christ our Good Shepherd. It means we follow him to the Cross where he showed a sinful world what love looks like. Thus we follow him also to the grave and beyond, into the evergreen pastures of eternal life, as he promises us in the Gospel. Loving and following Christ, however, does not mean just believing in private beliefs. No, it is clear from the context of today’s Gospel, and the example of the early Church, and the Martyrs and Saints, that from the very beginning, our belief in Christ, our listening to his voice, sets us up for public visible actions and choices that will bring us into conflict with the world, and that challenge a world that has grown cold and distant from God, from truth, from the good, and even from beauty. To love and follow Christ, therefore, means to love and defend the good and the true. So the Lord also said: “‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you.” (Jn 15:20) 
Consider, for example, the furore in the USA and on social media over the issue of so-called abortion rights – as if one could ever have a right to kill another human being, let alone the most vulnerable of all human beings, the baby in its mother’s womb. And so, for those who stand up for genuine human rights, beginning with the fundamental right to life, they have been called all manner of hateful and insulting names, and even been subjected to physical violence – for violence is the way of a people, blinded by sin and ignorance, who cannot actually cope with thinking and debating rationally about emotive topics. Thus the people of the world clamoured for blood and killed the King of Love. Thus, as we hear in the first reading today, the first Christians had come to Antioch because they had to escape fierce persecution in Jerusalem. And so we are opposed on many fronts in our time, but most especially against the sanctity of the family and authentic marriage.
Many, like sheep, will follow the strident voice of the world: one hears it in the opinions of politicians, celebrities, social media influencers; in popular books, on television, in universities, and all our favourite brands. All the more must we listen for the voice of the Good Shepherd who leads us to eternal life, who leads us into a deep love for God and his commandments, and so into a deep love for our neighbour, especially those who do not yet know God and who do not keep his word. St John of Avila, doctor of the Church whose feast falls today, would say: “The proof of perfect love of our Lord is seen in the perfect love of our neighbour”. It is this unified love that motivates us to be Christians, not only in name, but in deed, witnessing to the truth of the Faith in our very behaviour, even at the risk of being regarded as cretins. For to be a Christian is to love. 
So, the response of Christians all over the world, whenever they have been confronted by hatred and violence and persecution has been to turn to Our Lady and to pray the Holy Rosary, a great prayer centred on God’s saving love. Back in 1571 when Christianity in Europe was imperilled, my holy confrere the Dominican pope St Pius V, called together the Christian people in Rome, gathered into the Rosary Confraternity, to pray the Holy Rosary. After the Muslim forces were successfully repelled because of these prayers, St Pius V added the title Auxilium Christianorum, Help of Christians, to the Litany of Loreto. 
So in these days as you observe this Novena, as Dominican Promoter General of the Rosary, I say, thank you for praying the Rosary. And I pray that Our Lady will help us Christians today in our time, in our current struggles and challenges. May Our Lady help us to be Christians, to live up to our baptismal promises with courage, humility, and love. And so, by Our Lady’s prayers, may she amplify in our hearts and minds the voice of Christ, whom St John of Avila calls, “a great Friend”. May all come to hear God’s voice calling all peoples to friendship with him. For this, divine friendship, is what it means to be called a Christian – and we are proud to profess it in Christ Jesus our Lord!
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bopinion · 2 years
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2022 / 31
Aperçu of the Week:
"How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer's deadly toy?"
(Sting / Russians)
Bad News of the Week:
Nuclear Weapons. For decades, the epitome of terror. Even though it's often sold as a deterrent. As someone who grew up in Central Europe in the 70s and 80s of the last century, I know what I'm talking about. In childhood, I had to learn how to behave in the event of a nuclear attack. And in my youth I took to the streets against nuclear weapons - but "Petting instead of Pershing" did not really reflect the seriousness of the situation. And then the iron curtain fell. The "cold war" was over. But unfortunately not the end of the nuclear arms race.
Today marks the 77th anniversary of the terrible destruction of Hiroshima. It was the first and penultimate time in human history that an atomic bomb was actually used. With devastating consequences - for hundreds of thousands and for decades. Have we all lost this from our memory? Just because it wasn't reported on social media at the time, but only in the newsreels? That can't be true. That has to be not true. Because current history teaches us that there is still a problem. A fundamental one.
In the week that is coming to an end, the meeting on the "Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons" began in New York - as it does every five years. Unfortunately, lately rather a content-empty shell. For nothing new is to be heard from the five official nuclear powers - USA, Russia, China, France and Great Britain. The USA and Russia are modernizing their arsenals and accusing each other of violating control mechanisms. China is basically keeping its cards close to its chest. France and Britain are clinging to this dubious show of strength, as they do in the UN Security Council, in order not to lose even more geopolitical importance.
And then there are India and Pakistan as de facto nuclear powers, which are suspicious of each other - there, too, the "thanks" go to the United Kingdom. And Israel, which wants to use them to assert itself against perceived Arab superiority. Iran would like to have nuclear weapons, but is probably not yet ready. North Korea could already be further than it lets one sleep calmly. And when was the last time anything was heard from South Africa? Most recently, Russia actually seemed to be discussing the use of "strategic mini-nukes" in Ukraine - of all places, the country where the consequences of the Chernobyl meltdown are still being felt.
UN Secretary General António Guterres is once again living up to his role as chief moral prosecutor, saying the world is in a "time of nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War." And only one misunderstanding or miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation. Only the final destruction of all nuclear weapons would be a safe way out for humanity. After all, all the theories about deterrence, nuclear sharing, and balance of terror barely conceal what this Pandora's box really is: a gun powder keg. And we're all sitting on it.
Good News of the Week:
With ever new, mostly specious arguments, Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia had held up the Biden administration's climate protection and welfare package. Officially, the last word was that he wanted to curb avoidable spending in times of inflation. In truth, however, he fears only for his own wealth, which is based on coal production. His power in the Joe vs. Joe game is simply based on the fact that without his vote there would be no Democratic majority in the Senate, which has otherwise rarely been so clearly divided according to party.
But now Manchin has abandoned his opposition in negotiations with majority leader Chuck Schumer. This has cleared the way for a package - albeit a much slimmed-down one - that includes $369 billion over the next ten years for investments in climate protection and energy security. Financed by closing tax loopholes for large corporations. So it makes twofold sense. And finally a success for this so far richly bruised presidency.
"Build back better," then, could also apply to Joe Biden's historically low approval ratings. Perhaps the upswing - if it comes - will come just in time for the midterm elections in November. And Republicans may not succeed in winning a majority in both chambers of Congress that would pave the way for Trumpism to win the 2024 presidential election - whether with the original or Ron DeSantis.
Personal happy moment of the week:
As a freelancer, I always have a hard time taking vacation. Because what I don't do, doesn't get done. And doesn't get any better. And doesn't bring any money. That's why it's always hard for me to switch off when I’m not working. These days I'm trying something different during the six-week summer vacations: I'll work three days a week as normal and then take a four-day weekend. My plan is that nothing will be left undone for more than 48 hours. And I could therefore manage to clear my head. Right now is the first of these long weekends. It doesn't quite work yet, but all beginnings are difficult. But I am on a good way. And that feels good.
I couldn't care less...
...that Russia's judiciary sees itself as independent jurisprudence. First, Ukrainian militias are labeled as terrorists in order to be able to significantly increase their sentences. A joke - but it's probably about demoralizing Ukrainian troops. Then US basketball player Brittney Griner is sentenced to nine years in prison for importing drugs. This means waping cartridges and 5 grams of cannabis oil that was prescribed to her by her sports doctor as a painkiller. A joke - but it's probably about making an example against the class enemy. And about leverage for a prisoner exchange. Jurisprudence? A Joke.
As I write this...
...the Voyager 1 spacecraft has already traveled 23.4 billion kilometers since 1977. And it's still sending signals. But these are recently only an incomprehensible gibberish, which NASA cannot explain. I can. Because I have seen the movie "Contact" by Robert Zemeckis with Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. On the other hand - as the saying goes: the proof that there is intelligent life in the universe is that no contact has been made with us.
Post Scriptum:
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has visited Taiwan. As #3 in the U.S. political system, it was the highest-ranking visit in 25 years. Which was not officially on behalf of the government. And explicitly does not change the "One-China" stance of the US. So it was a pure PR action full of flowery words like "We stand by the side of every free people" or "It is important to show our solidarity." Beijing's announced reaction began immediately: sanctions against Pelosi personally as well as the freezing of virtually all bilateral discussion formats, including on climate, maritime security or transnational crime.
But above all, a gigantic military maneuver - with real ammunition, cyber attacks, violation of airspace, etc. Experts see it as an exercise to cut off Taiwan's sea lanes. Be it in an invasion to finally reunite the motherland or "just" to cut off trade, the country's economic lifeline. Combined with export restrictions from China itself, this would make the Western world feel its dependence on Far Eastern manufacturing. Again. Globalization and multilateralism only work if everyone goes along. Xi Jinping is currently being shown by Vladimir Putin how to put the "free world" in a bind. Let's see how far his hubris reaches.
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202116938caic2324 · 2 months
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The Political Landscape: Could 2024 Belong to Trump?
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In the dynamic realm of global politics, a central question reverberates not only within the corridors of American discussions but also captures international attention: Can Donald Trump orchestrate a political resurgence and reclaim the apex of American influence in 2024? While the mere consideration of such a scenario might appear unlikely, the fascination surrounding this potential comeback interests observers worldwide.
If expectations materialize, Donald Trump is poised to become the Republican Party's candidate in the upcoming presidential election. Presently, Trump wields significant influence, commanding the support of 66 percent of the party's loyalists. In hypothetical match ups against Joe Biden, the former president either finds himself in a deadlock or takes the lead, paving the way for a conceivable political revival.
There's a notable possibility that Donald Trump could make a comeback as the President of the United States. His aspirations include pulling the USA out of NATO and shifting the focus to internal issues rather than Ukraine. The prospect of Trump returning to the presidency is considerable, as indicated by a survey conducted by CNN and the University of New Hampshire, where he emerged as the preferred choice for 50 percent of likely Republican primary voters. Trump's popularity has been on the rise since the start of January, with 39 percent of respondents expressing their intention to vote for him during that period.
As revealed by the results released by the state Republican Party, Donald Trump secured victories in an impressive 98 out of 99 counties in Iowa, garnering over 55,000 votes. This achievement marked him as the first candidate in the history of Iowa primaries to surpass the halfway mark in terms of votes.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a 38-year-old investor of Indian descent who held the fourth position in the race, made the decision to withdraw from the campaign, throwing his support behind Trump for the ongoing competition. Ramaswamy received just under 8 percent of the total votes.
In his triumphant address, the former president initially adopted a conciliatory tone, expressing the belief that the divided nation would soon come together. However, he quickly shifted back to his characteristic attacks on Democrats, labeling them as "communists, fascists, and Marxists," along with criticisms aimed at the media. Additionally, Trump mentioned his intent to address issues related to Ukraine and Israel.
Against this backdrop, recent events, such as Trump's deliberate decision to abstain from a Republican candidate debate on December 6, add complexity to the unfolding narrative. This prompts reflections on the dynamics of media coverage and public attention when the central figure of the spectacle opts to remain in the background. As we delve into the intricacies of Trump's potential return, we navigate a multifaceted political landscape that extends beyond national borders, sparking curiosity among onlookers worldwide. “Make America Great Again”.
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It is important to think about what actually draws support from Trump’s followers. For the typical Donald Trump supporter, the United States appears feeble. It seems incapable of addressing issues like illegal immigration, the complexities of the contemporary economy, the so-called Islamic State, or diplomatic dealings with Russia, China, and Iran. Whether it's a substantial trade deficit with China or the actions of terrorists, the blame is consistently placed on America's perceived vulnerability. Trump's rallying call, "Make America great again!" is a plea to restore the nation's former greatness, emphasizing the desire for dominance and the adoption of our worldview by others.
In pursuing this approach, Trump not only speaks to the aspiration of revitalizing a "great America," but critics argue that he also stokes a yearning for a "great white America." His remarks about Mexicans, labeling them as criminals and rapists, had a profound impact on mainstream America. Similarly, the proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States was unsettling, even for those less concerned with political correctness. Yet, for Trump's supporters, these statements are not discouraging. To them, the commitment to build a border wall with Mexico is a long-awaited measure. The border is perceived as insecure. Trump steps in, not only proposing a wall but staunchly defending the idea at any cost, even clashing with the Pope. Pope Francis remarked that it's challenging to regard someone advocating for such measures as a true Christian. Trump countered, emphasizing the extensive wall he observed at the Vatican.
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As announced by Donald Trump, if re-elected as President of the United States, he intends to carry out "the largest deportations in American history." He emphasized that this action would decisively put an end to the scourge of violence from illegal immigrants.
Evidently, the events surrounding the Capitol siege and attempts to overturn the election results have not cast a negative shadow on the former president. Even additional criminal charges related to the thwarted coup and allegations about irregularities in his financial affairs don't seem to be harmful. Some may argue that these challenges are, in fact, working to his advantage. "Financial Times" boldly asserts that Trump's support has seen an uptick since formal charges were levied against him. In a BBC interview, Ipsos research analyst Clifford Young suggests that a substantial 40-45 percent of the Republican Party's electorate maintains an unwavering connection with Donald Trump. Young points out, "They see the world through his eyes. The most fervent supporters believe he has been wronged, and the charges are politically motivated." Rom Solene, a 61-year-old Trump supporter from Arizona, conveyed to the BBC that the charges are a "bold attempt to hinder Mr. Trump's pursuit of the presidency."
Facing a total of 91 charges across four cases, spanning financial matters and an attempt to unlawfully overturn the presidential election results, Trump's support remains unwavering. Two-thirds of Republican voters assert they would still cast their vote for him, even if more charges were to surface or if he were formally convicted before the elections. Furthermore, the vast majority of his party's supporters firmly maintain their belief in his innocence.
The United States finds itself in an unprecedented scenario. Prior to Trump, the closest encounter with legal trouble for a president was Ulysses S. Grant's formal arrest in 1872 for speeding in his carriage. Typically, former presidents in the United States retreat from the spotlight, avoiding overshadowing their successors. They fade into the background, engaging in occasional speeches and charitable actions, gradually relinquishing the grand stage.
Holding a former head of state accountable is a novel experience for Americans. When such actions are taken, it may appear suspicious, particularly for those who subscribe to conspiracy theories, such as the belief that someone stole the election from Trump. Despite Trump and his allies losing over 60 cases related to election denial, with judges appointed by Trump dismissing the lawsuits as baseless, a big percent of Republican Party supporters and sympathizers still question the fairness of Biden's victory. This underscores how receptive Trump's conspiracy theories are within his follower base.
Even the age factor plays its part in ongoing elections, concerning the current president. In August, a poll conducted by AP and the Norc Center revealed that 77 percent of Americans view Biden's age as a concern, with 89 percent of Republicans and even 69 percent of Democrats sharing this sentiment—a significant majority within his own party. A similar trend was observed in another poll conducted in October.
What does not work in his favour is Joe Biden’s ongoing challenges when he stumbles in speeches or forgets words. On the other hand, Trump is slightly younger than Joe Biden by almost four years. For some it is only four years, for others it is a massive difference. Interestingly, only 39 percent of Americans believe Trump is too old for the presidency.
Now, let's turn to the objective data. As reported by CNN, unemployment in the United States has been at its lowest in half a century for over a year and a half. August marked the 32nd consecutive month of employment growth. Biden has emphasized that nearly 9 million new jobs have been created since he assumed office. Following Russia's attack on Ukraine, inflation in the USA peaked at 9.1 percent, but by October of this year, it had decreased to 3.2 percent. Moreover, in November, the Consumer Price Index (month-to-month) saw a decline for the first time since 2020. This implies a reduction in prices, not inflation.
Analysts have had to consistently revise their forecasts due to the unexpected growth in the economy, as noted by Morgan Stanley experts in a recent report. Even gasoline prices, a significant concern for Americans, remain far from the peaks seen in June of the previous year.
Biden might not be America’s favourite president, but it is important to take a look at the contrast between the economic policies of Presidents Biden and Trump. Despite President Biden overseeing a robust economic recovery post-pandemic, polls indicate that a majority of Americans still place greater trust in the economic stewardship of Donald Trump. Both leaders' economic tenures have been significantly shaped by the challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis, impacting job markets, inflation, and the national debt.
President Biden's administration has seen impressive job gains, with over 14 million jobs added in less than three years, surpassing expectations and contributing to a strong labour market. Unemployment rates, especially for historically marginalized groups, reached record lows during Biden's tenure. While Biden's presidency has been marked by substantial economic growth, with a 22% increase in GDP, concerns persist about the sustainability of the current growth rate.
However, the economic landscape is multifaceted. Escalating inflation, driven by pandemic-related disruptions, has affected household finances, leading to a notable decline in consumer sentiment despite continued high levels of spending. Challenges related to housing affordability, fuelled by soaring home prices, and apprehensions about a growing federal deficit add layers to the economic narrative. As the election draws near, these economic factors are poised to be pivotal in shaping voters' perceptions and decisions.
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 It is also worth to mention a trend from 2022, started by Trump supporters. Americans were expressing their discontent by affixing stickers to fuel pumps, sarcastically attributing the responsibility for high gas prices to President Joe Biden. The stickers boldly state, "I did that," placing the blame on the US president for the current gas prices, which have risen to over $4 per gallon. In comparison, just a year before that, Americans were paying approximately $2.90 for the same volume of gas.
Presidents have limited control over gas prices, but many view the Trump era more favourably in this regard. Gas prices have been on a roller-coaster ride since 2020, affected by pandemic disruptions, the Ukraine war, and increased demand. From April 2020 to April 2022, prices doubled from $1.84 to $4.11 per gallon, peaking at nearly $5 in June 2022 but subsequently decreasing. Analysts anticipate prices falling below $3 per gallon in the coming weeks due to higher production and reduced demand. The impact of gas prices on Americans' economic perceptions has led to prolonged pessimism during much of Biden's presidency.
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What is also worth of mentioning, is the promise that Donald Trump made regarding NATO. While speaking on Fox News, acknowledged that if he returns to the presidency, his support for the NATO alliance will hinge on how European nations treat the United States. This comes in response to reports on January 10 that, during his presidency, Trump had informed top European officials that the U.S. wouldn't come to Europe's aid in case of an attack. In a recent speech, Trump asserted that if he is re-elected, he will honour NATO commitments only if the organization treats the USA "fairly."
Trump criticized NATO, stating that it took advantage of the United States, along with European countries exploiting the U.S. in trade and military protection matters. This commentary is connected to Trump's viewpoint on long-term assistance to Ukraine, which has been defending itself against significant Russian attacks for almost two years.
In conclusion, the political landscape in the lead-up to the 2024 election is marked by the intriguing prospect of Donald Trump orchestrating a political resurgence. The global attention surrounding this potential comeback is fueled by Trump's significant influence within the Republican Party, where he commands the support of 66 percent of loyalists. Hypothetical matchups against Joe Biden indicate a competitive scenario, setting the stage for a plausible political revival.
Trump's aspirations, including the intention to withdraw from NATO and shift focus to internal issues, add complexity to the unfolding narrative. His popularity, as evidenced by survey results and impressive victories in state primaries, underscores the considerable possibility of a Trump return to the presidency. The multifaceted political landscape, extending beyond national borders, continues to captivate observers worldwide, echoing the iconic slogan "Make America Great Again."
Examining the motivations of Trump's followers reveals a perception of the United States as vulnerable in addressing issues like immigration, the economy, and diplomatic relations. Trump's rallying call to "Make America great again!" resonates with a diverse support base, encompassing WWII veterans, retirees, and those attributing challenges to the perceived decline of the nation.
However, Trump's approach has drawn criticism for potentially stoking a yearning for a "great white America," with controversial remarks about Mexicans and proposals such as the Muslim ban. Despite these controversies, Trump's supporters remain steadfast, viewing measures like building a border wall as necessary.
The legal challenges and criminal charges against Trump, including those related to the Capitol siege, have not eroded his support. His resilience in the face of 91 charges across four cases speaks to the unwavering backing from a substantial portion of the Republican Party's electorate.
As the United States navigates this unprecedented scenario, the age factor becomes a notable consideration, with concerns raised about President Biden's age. Polls indicate widespread apprehension, especially within the Republican Party, despite Biden's achievements and economic recovery post-pandemic. The contrasting economic policies of Biden and Trump, shaped by the challenges of the COVID-19 crisis, play a pivotal role in shaping voters' perceptions.
The economic landscape, marked by impressive job gains and GDP growth under Biden, is tempered by challenges such as inflation, housing affordability, and concerns about the federal deficit. Additionally, the unique trend of expressing discontent through stickers on fuel pumps, attributing high gas prices to Biden, reflects the tangible impact of economic factors on public sentiment.
In the realm of international relations, Trump's stance on NATO remains a key consideration. His conditional commitment to the alliance, contingent on fair treatment from European nations, echoes past criticisms of NATO taking advantage of the U.S. This position aligns with Trump's perspective on long-term assistance, particularly in the context of Ukraine's defence against Russian attacks.
As the 2024 election approaches, the world watches with bated breath, eager to see whether Trump can transform speculation into reality and reshape the trajectory of American leadership in 2024. The journey towards the election promises to be tumultuous, and the outcome will undoubtedly have profound implications for the future of the United States and its place on the global stage.
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biblenewsprophecy · 5 months
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‘Will America Make It Until November 5, 2024?’
COGwriter
NBC reported the following:
November 7, 2023
WASHINGTON — Pick a metaphor: President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is a “five-alarm fire.” It’s a cardiac case in need of a “defibrillator.” Or a lemming on course to “slowly march into the sea and drown.”
All come from Democratic strategists whose low-boil frustrations with Biden’s candidacy erupted over the weekend amid a spate of bleak polling numbers. No less a party mastermind than David Axelrod, architect of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, suggested in a social media post that Biden consider dropping out of the race and letting someone more electable take his place as the Democratic presidential nominee.
The 2024 presidential election looks increasingly like it will be a rematch of four years ago, and Democrats are more and more worried that the outcome may not swing their way this time. Yet at this point, they’re stuck with Biden — whether they like it or not.
Biden has given no indication he is interested in dropping out. Nor does his campaign team seem to be sweating the New York Times/Siena College poll that showed him losing to Republican Donald Trump in five of the six swing states that he captured in his 2020 victory.
Troubling signs for Democrats jump out from the poll. The party’s bedrock constituency, Black voters, appears to be eroding. In 2020, Black voters favored Biden over Trump by a margin of 78 percentage points. In the new survey, Biden’s margin had dropped to 49 points. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/democratic-frustrations-biden-spill-open-five-alarm-fire-rcna123841?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma&taid=654a26c66de02a00016ad2be&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
Yes, unless Joe Biden or Donald Trump die, pull out, or are so impacted by legal matters, a rematch of 2020 is the position of most pundits.
Related to the two of them and 2020, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:
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Biden, Trump, and the Bible
The USA presidential campaign is in full swing. Though Democratic party candidate Joe Biden and Republican party candidate Donald Trump have differing economic and climate policies as well as different views on abortion and racial matters, there are many similarities both share. Do they have policies that they share that are leading to the destruction of the USA? What do Bible prophecies reveal about sexual immorality, debt, and hypocrisy? What are some of the national sins of the USA? Does the Bible endorse voting? What did Jesus teach related to what to seek and pray for? What does the New Testament teach that Christians are to do related to leaders? Is the lesser of two evils still evil? Dr. Thiel goes over these matters, including going over eleven similarities the two major party candidates share and some of what the Bible teaches about evil.
Here is a link to our sermonette video: Biden, Trump, and the Bible.
Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump have also taken steps consistent with my published warnings about them in my respective books (Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction and Donald Trump and America’s Apocalypse).
Furthermore, the USA is becoming more and more divided. As Jesus said:
25 Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. (Matthew 12:25)
17 Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. (Luke 11:17)
The divide in the USA is growing as many of its sins (including hypocrisy) become more blatant.
As far as the fall of the USA goes, a reader sent me a link to the following:
Will America Make It Until November 5, 2024?
November 6, 2023
This past weekend, America hit an important, although a bit overlooked, milestone. As of Sunday, we are exactly 366 days until the 2024 presidential election. ..
A question I, and I believe so many other Americans, have begun to ponder also popped back into my head. So I am going to ask it out loud. Can America make it to November 5, 2024? …
While it might sound a bit melodramatic, I can’t help but think that so many Americans are feeling the same way. For the first time in their lives, they are truly frightened for the future of our country. Not because of any one thing specifically, but the entire toxic stew that seems to be bubbling up, and no one in any position of authority is competent enough, or even seems to care enough, to handle it. …
But the one thing that chills me to the bone is the byproduct of this potential World War III scenario — the virulent, unrelenting, and pathological antisemitism that has reared its head in a nation founded as the refuge for freedom and liberty for anyone seeking it in the world. It is an ugliness that many Americans, including myself, would have never thought we would see anywhere else in the world ever again, much less in America. Add in the fact that Iran, already funding Hamas, has threatened to become even more involved in the powder keg that is the Middle East, as have other nations. …
But the collective threats America now faces could easily erupt into utter unmanageability well before the 2024 election, and we would have few options as to how to proceed. This game of beat-the-clock is a scary proposition, but if little old me is thinking about it, others surely are, too. https://redstate.com/beckynoble/2023/11/06/will-america-make-it-until-november-5-2024-n2165961
While the USA will make it past 2024, yes many in the USA are uneasy.
And yes, many are uneasy about a Joe Biden or Donald Trump re-election.
But WWIII is not about to begin–that is at least 3 1/2 years away (cf. Daniel 9:27, see also The ‘Peace Deal’ of Daniel 9:27) –but it is getting closer.
As far as how long the USA may last, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:
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Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028?
Are there prophetic reasons to believe that the USA will not last two complete presidential terms? Yes. There is a tradition attributed to the Hebrew prophet Elijah that humanity had 6,000 years to live before being replaced by God’s Kingdom. There are scriptures, writings in the Talmud, early Christian teachings that support this. Also, even certain Hindu writings support it.
Here is a summary of ten items to consider: 1. If as the School of Elijah taught, that God inspired Elijah to state that the world as we have known it would last 6,000 years, to be followed by a thousand year sabbatical time, which Jewish tradition (Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin [97a]) and early Christian traditions records (e.g. Irenaeus, a hearer of Polycarp. Adversus haereses, Book V, Chapter 30:4), then we are getting close to the end of that time.
2. And if, consistent with scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments, we can apply the concept that a thousand years is as a day to God (Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8).
3. And if, as generally understood in the Church of God that Jesus was killed and resurrected no later than the Spring of 31 A.D. on Passover.
4. And if we can presume that the “last days” of a 7,000 year prophetic week began AFTER the middle day (day 4), then the last days prior to the “sabbatical” time, which some would refer to as the millennial Kingdom of God would last two thousand years.
5. And if when Peter referred to being in the last days (Acts 2:17-18) and since Hebrews 1:1-12 teaches that “God … has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.”
6. Then adding 2,000 years to a period of time leads to the end of the 6,000 years no later than 2031 (and it could be earlier than that).
7. Since the Great Tribulation is expected to start 3 1/2 years prior to that (cf. Revelation 12:14; 13:5) subtracting 3 1/2 years from the Spring of 2031 would be late in 2027.
8. Understand that the U.S.A. is prophesied to be taken over near the rise of the Beast and start of the Great Tribulation (cf. Daniel 11:39; Jeremiah 30:7; Matthew 24:21-22).
9. Therefore, since the end of two full U.S.A. presidential terms would end in January of 2029, these prophetic understandings point to the end of the U.S.A. prior to two full presidential terms.
10. This is also consistent with certain Hindu and Roman Catholic prophetic writings as well. This video gives more details and quotes which point to the destruction of the United States of America by 2028.
Here is a link to the video: Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028?
That said, some see hope in Joe Biden and others in Donald Trump. I do not (though one could be better for the economy than the other).
Voting for Donald Trump or voting in Republicans will not stop the decline of the USA.
Voting for Joe Biden or voting in Democrats will not stop the decline of the USA.
The Bible warns:
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).
I am NOT a voter nor a Democrat nor a Republican –I am a non-partisan Christian looking for the return of Jesus and the establishment of the Kingdom of God.
Notice two translations of Psalm 146:3:
Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there. (New Living Translation)
Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. (NKJV)
The Book of Psalms also teaches:
8 It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in princes.  (Psalms 118:8-9)
From a Christian perspective, consider that neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden advocate national repentance nor the kingdom of God.
So, what should a Christian do?
Well, one thing is to pray:
1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  (1 Timothy 2:1-4)
9 In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.  (Matthew 6:9-10)
Understand that neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump will change what will happen to the USA without national repentance.
The USA needs the return of Jesus and the coming Kingdom of God.
The Feast of Tabernacles, which was observed last month, is a foretaste of the Kingdom of God. One in which:
15 … “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15)
So, yes, there is good news, despite what goes on with the governments of this age. Related Items:
USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses Can you point to scriptures, like Daniel 11:39, that point to the USA in the 21st century? This article does. Two related sermon are available: Identifying the USA and its Destruction in Prophecy and Do these 7 prophesies point to the end of the USA?
Who is the King of the West? Why is there no Final End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy? Is the United States the King of the West? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Rey del Occidente? ¿Por qué no hay un Rey del Occidente en la profecía del tiempo del fin? A related sermon is also available: The Bible, the USA, and the King of the West.
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? Two related sermons about this are also available: Real Repentance and Real Christian Repentance.
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is are links to related sermons: Christian Election: Is God Calling YOU? and Predestination and Your Selection. A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Might the U.S.A. Be Gone by 2028? Are there prophetic reasons to believe that the USA will not last two complete presidential terms? Yes. There is a tradition attributed to the Hebrew prophet Elijah that humanity had 6,000 years to live before being replaced by God’s Kingdom. There are scriptures, writings in the Talmud, early Christian teachings that support this. Also, even certain Hindu writings support it. Here is a link to a related video: Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028? In Spanish: Seran los Estados Unidos Destruidos en el 2028?
Donald Trump and America’s Apocalypse This 188 page book is for people truly interested in prophecies related to Donald Trump and the United States, including learning about several that have already been fulfilled and those that will be fulfilled in the future. The physical book can be purchased at Amazon for $12.99 from the following link: Donald Trump and America’s Apocalypse.
Donald Trump and America’s Apocalypse-Kindle Edition This electronic version of the 188 page print edition is available for only US$3.99. And you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to for your free Kindle reader and then go to Donald Trump and America’s Apocalypse-Kindle Edition.
Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction Can the USA survive two full presidential terms? In what ways are Joe Biden and Kamala Harris apocalyptic? This book has hundreds of prophecies and scriptures to provide details. A Kindle version is also available and you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to your free Kindle reader app (or if you already have one or a Kindle), you can go to: Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction (Kindle) to get the book in seconds.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. It is available in hundreds of languages at ccog.org. Here are links to four kingdom-related sermons:  The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
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