IMO, the purges are really about Xi’s desire to go to war against the US and invade Taiwan. The purged leadership didn’t want to go along with these plans. I keep reading that China plans to be ready for war by 2027, but I worry that plans might be autumn 2026, just a few months from now.

You say you don’t want to have a conversation, but your persistence is evidence against this. When addressing the Catholic view of anything, none of it is one-dimensional. We can discuss dogmas, sure, but there are several different competing schools of philosophy, historic analysis, pragmatism, and how these things impact modern culture, science, law, etc. Large swaths of Catholic philosophy do not require Catholic dogma to stand on its own and much of what you don’t like is rooted in philosophy more than it is in dogma.

You don’t want me telling you how to live, that’s fine. I’m not. But you don’t live in a vacuum. People are going to tell you how to live. People are going to make laws for you and they are going to enforce them, like them or not.

If Catholics achieve some level of political power, enough to enact some laws, maybe your best bet is to learn to argue your point with a Catholic. To give you an example on a topic different from the one that brought your concerns here, we have the historic example of St. Thomas Aquinas arguing for the tolerance of prostitution. For someone who wants to not regulate certain internet websites, turning to the example of Aquinas might be a source of argument against internet regulation.

Throwing your hands up in the air and saying Catholics should not have political power is not very pragmatic.

The history of the Church is deep. If you want to argue something about biological males who identify as female participating in sports designated for females, come up with an argument. Just telling us we shouldn’t exist isn’t going to get you anywhere.

Big tech wants Europe’s money. The decision would be reversed within minutes.

The indulgence will be granted to those who participate in a pilgrimage “to any Franciscan conventual church, or place of worship in any part of the world named after St. Francis or connected to him for any reason,” it stated.

You think the US cares about European feelings? Greenland has the population of a small town and already hosts a US military base. She doesn’t need a test case to test the waters.

Removed by mod

There’s probably more than one reason, but an important reason I want to outline is the war that’s predicted to happen in 2027 or 2028: China vs. USA, sparked by Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

Venezuela is allied with China, has weapons, and is within range of the Panama Canal. The canal will be very important during the war, as it will be the route that Atlantic naval ships take to get to the war zone. China would lean on Venezuela to target, damage, and possibly shut-down the canal, dramatically increasing US supply lines and down-time for ship repairs & updates. Most of our ship capacity is on the east coast.

Everything the US does now is with an eye on this possible war. It is the reason why the Biden administration didn’t get more involved in the defense of Ukraine. The US fears getting bogged down in a second war when the war against China starts. Here, with Venezuela, we took out a significant threat quickly and made the canal more secure. Yes, there’s oil, ego, distractions, and other reasons … but don’t discount the role this future conflict plays.

Your link reads just like every western European country with failing demographics … and it isn’t working. I did hear on NPR News the other day that China is implementing a new tax on contraceptives. That’s a new idea. Something that would be so unpopular, it could only happen in a non-democratic country. Maybe that’ll help, but my prediction is that it’ll just increase (or slow the decrease of) the population of ethnic and religious minorities within China, something the one-party government may not like. I do not see any good solutions within reach for China. Demographic issues are cultural issues and you cannot change a culture quickly. Demographic issues are rarely economic issues (though economics gets the blame). Are there any subcultures within China known for large families? Here in the US, we have Amish, Mennonites, Muslims, Orthodox Jews, Traditional Catholics, and Quiverfull Evangelicals who all tend to have large families. Myself, I have 11, and have just learned my wife is pregnant with twelve.

I have a customer (I own my own business) who is a Chinese immigrant to the US and I was visiting his house here in the US. We were talking and he learned that I had 11 children. He immediately called his daughter, who is a doctor still living in China, and gave her a stern talking to about how this “poor” man here in the US can give his parents 11 grandchildren and she could not even give them just one. It was a little awkward to listen to, as they went back and forth between English and Manderin. What they feel is not unusual among the Chinese. China’s one child policy defined Chinese culture. And now young men and women just do not have the example or the confidence to start a family. They also have witnessed a generation of people praised for work and professional success that comes at the expense of producing and raising many children. The one-party state does not have the tools to dramatically change this trend. If a reverse happens, it’ll happen over the period of a century, not years or decades.

You did not insult me and I am glad you are willing to have this conversation. At the end of it, I think the fundamental difference is there is something you see as being good that we see as being bad. I wouldn’t want you to do something you think is bad, so I understand why you feel the way you do. And I feel like you are comfortable enough with me having the convictions to follow my own conscience. Where we disagree, and where we have room to discuss further, if the conversation was going to continue, is what is moral or immoral about the issues that are the reason we are having this conversation. I will say, however, if you read Scripture, Jesus did preach & judge. It is just a question of who would be subject to that preaching and judgement today.

Are these the guys who raid schools to rape girls and force boys into child militias?

It was ISIS and Nigeria asked him to do it.

U.S. military’s Africa Command confirmed it had conducted a strike that killed multiple militants at the request of Nigerian authorities.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-says-us-hit-isis-232435995.html

You’re not the super-best defender of your faith

I’ll agree to that. I am just a guy. Nothing special about me. I don’t even know why anyone would care about my opinion about anything at all.

Are you sincerely interested in being a disciple of Jesus, conforming your life to his teachings in every way, and spending time each day with Christ in mental prayer, walking with him through his ministry, his passion, his death, and his resurrection? Do you want all this and consider that the Catholic Church only part-way meets this end?

Or do you find it convenient to try to disparage Catholics simply because you do not like some of the things the Catholic Church promotes and you find it convenient to argue we are lacking in our own ideals?

Your answer shapes how I think about how to best give a reply to your concerns. What do you want your relationship with Jesus to be?

It is all about political control of Burma so that, when China invades Taiwan, they have supply lines outside the south China Sea. In this case, land routes through Burma.

We already have military bases in Greenland and I’m sure their government would be willing to let us do just about anything reasonable for us to do. The situation is adequate for defense and economic opportunities. This is about ego. I don’t want Greenland to be part of the US. I want them to do their thing and continue to be a great neighbor.

Did he remove his microphone? That’s the first thing I do with every new computer, physically remove the microphone. Microphones pick up much more data than cameras.

I’m not from Washington State, so I’m not familiar with the particular issues and you do state “I don’t really care to have an answer…” so I probably am not going to be much help to you but I do want to recognize that the Catholic Church is not a single-issue organization. The purpose of the Catholic Church is the salvation of souls and what makes salvation is a function what is good. Her idea of good is established by teaching handed down through the ages, from the time of the Apostles (or before), along with the aid of certain respected philosophers and theologians.

You do not like the Church’s interference in political issues related to gender but I suspect you have no problem with the work the Church is doing for immigrants during their difficult time. The Church can focus on more than one issue. It is impossible to take a stance on something and not offend someone. You are upset at the Church on gender issues. Others are upset at her providing food and sleeping bags to the homeless who live in the local park. If someone has a problem with these works, that’s just too bad. The Catholic Church isn’t going to stop being Catholic to gain favor with one person or another.

the code required to move the taskbar to the top or sides isn’t actually in Windows 11, because Microsoft created the new taskbar from the ground up

Funny, I run a script on my work computer that let’s me move it. I like it on the top.

Looks like you finally finally left your room: https://kotaku.com/esports-gamer-reportedly-leaves-hotel-room-a-horrible-mess-after-two-year-stay-2000654662

With how much time you spend online, it cannot be far from the truth.

If you did any amount of research on me, you would see I’ve got 11 kids of my own and have enough going on that I cannot spam the internet all day long. You really should log out and work on meeting a girl, get some sunlight, and step outside your bubble. You are a fun adversary but I’m starting to worry about you.

Europe and East Asia have been looking for policies to improve demographics. Nobody has a workable plan.