William – Page 51 – Really Right

Jesus Supports the Border Wall

A decade or so ago, it was fashionable to ask, “What would Jesus do?” Many people would walk around with little bracelets with the initials WWJD on their wrist. Today I would like to point out that the Bible talks about walls too. In fact Jesus himself addressed the issue directly:

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
John 10:1-11 (emphasis added)

This ladies and gents is Trump’s argument for the wall, enter thru the gate and be welcome, hop the fence and you are lawbreakers come to kill American citizens, steal from American taxpayers, and destroy the American way of life.

Please note that the Pharisees (for our purposes substitute Liberals or Democrats) don’t understand what they were being told.

Case in point, I mentioned the stunt the other day when people hopped the wall at Nancy Pelosi’s house and claimed to seek refuge as they were from Guatemala. I said that I thought it was funny and a clever way to illustrate the hypocrisy that a wall is OK from rich Democrats like her but giving the same protection to the American people is immoral?

Activists Jump Nancy Pelosi’s Mansion Wall With Illegal Immigrants, Demand Entry To Her Home

My coworker, thought it was wrong for anyone to hop the fence around her house but he saw no connection to the border wall dispute. I explained it to him and he still didn’t understand. Ironically, he said they should enter by the gate if they want in. No wonder Jesus said things like, “for those that have ears let them hear.”

The Bible also has much to say about respecting boundaries and property lines and specifically calls it a sin to tamper with such. Also the Bible is very committed to the principle that the foreigner is expected to follow the religious and civil laws of Israel when they are within its borders including honoring the labor and Sabbath laws. In fact this like treatment of citizen and sojourner is part of the Western (Christian) basis for equal protection under the law, not that anyone in a government school would ever acknowledge this fact.

So if Trump is on Jesus’ side, where does that leave Pelosi, Schumer, et al? Why with the liars, murders, and thieves. If you have any doubt just look at their views on abortion. No wonder the Democrats are screaming like demons; they work with them.

Big Mac Attack

If you thought the only EU news today was that the United Kingdom failed to move forward on their Brexit plan, keep reading. Here’s another reason to get away from the political quagmire overseen by Germany and France known as the European Union.

An EU judge today ruled that McDonald’s can no long call one of their hamburgers a “Big Mac”. Yep, the largest food chain on the planet which has legally owned the trademark in the EU since 1996 lost the case to an Irish fast food place called Supermac.

Big Mac under attack from rogue judges in EU

The lawsuit was a result of building tensions between McDonald’s and Supermac’s, after McDonald’s attempted to stop Supermac’s from expanding their chain throughout the EU. McDonald’s argued that the name Supermac’s would confuse customer’s with McDonald’s iconic Big Mac burger.
Supermac’s referred to McDonald’s legal tactics as “trademark bullying; registering brand names which are simply stored away in a war chest to use against future competitors.”
The judgment in favor of Supermac’s, which was handed down by the European Union Intellectual Property Office, ruled that McDonald’s was not putting the Big Mac trademark to “genuine use.” To make genuine use of a trademark, a company must utilize it to “guarantee the identity of the origin goods.” Evidently, the EUIPO didn’t feel that naming a burger the Big Mac was sufficient evidence that McDonald’s was making genuine use of their trademark.
In an interesting twist, the legal decision also reportedly gives Supermac’s the right to use the Big Mac trademark on any of their own food items.

Supermacs wins exclusive right to call hamburgers “Big Mac”

McDonald’s loses ‘Big Mac’ trademark battle to Irish fast food chain Supermac’s

Nothing is more American than a Big Mac, heck Trump just served them in the White House.

Trump welcomes Clemson Tigers to White House with fast food spread

Trump serves burgers, fries and pizza to college football champions Clemson

This is clearly a thinly veiled attack on our way of life.

Follow-up: Bruce Jenner Sign

On my old version of my blog, I used to have the following quotation from Martin Luther:

If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.

If you want to know why the Church in America is so weak and ineffective, just look at the aftermath of the incident that I blogged about a few days ago.

First To Recap

A rural pastor in California put the following on the sign in front of his church:

Bruce Jenner is still a man
Homosexuality is still a sin
The culture may change but the Bible does not

Some local people that were not church members or as best as I can tell, not self-identified Christians, protested.

The pastor responded:

The church has lost its saltiness and I fully expect to get as much or more flack from the visible church as I am getting from the world.

If a conservative mountain farming community is no longer a safe place to call sin, sin, then is anywhere in this country still safe for real Christians?

Follow-up

Little did the pastor know that he had preached him last sermon. You see, his congregation abandoned him and cut him loose for “calling a sin, sin.”

Pastor Justin Hoke posted the following on Facebook on Saturday.

As of today, I am no longer the pastor of Trinity Bible Presbyterian Church.
After much prayer and counsel, I have decided that it is best to briefly communicate what has taken place.
I was informed by our other elder that he felt he could no longer follow my lead as Pastor of TBPC.
I was informed that essentially all but one couple in membership would leave the church if I continued as pastor of TBPC.
Our other elder and the couple felt that those who left would likely return if I would leave.
Our other elder was agreeable to stay and assume the pastoral responsibilities.
Therefore it was determined that it would be in the best interest of the local body for us (TBPC and the Hoke family) to part ways.
Update 1/14/19
I would like to add this, I did not want to leave, I did not quit, and I was willing to stay.

Bottom line was the pastor was faithful, but the flock was not. The clergy would not support him, and the congregation abandoned him.

Please note that he was their pastor for seven years and they kicked him to the curb for being right. Let me emphasize that again:

not for cheating on his wife

not for messing with the altar boys

not for skimming money from the collection

not for buying his wife a Lamborghini

but for BEING RIGHT

He called people to repentance and as a result got the boot. This brings me back to the quote from Luther who said in essence, if you are right about everything except where the devil is attacking at that moment and flinch on that point your faith is worthless.

Sadly, pastor Hoke’s congregation is the rule and not the exception in much of the modern western church. So next time you want to vent about the stupid pagans and what they are doing, remember that they are acting according to their nature—dead in their trespasses and sin—while we that are claiming to be alive in Christ are often the ones to blame.

Sadly, too many Christians read II Chronicles 7:14 like this:

“If those other people, would call on my name, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Unfortunately for them, this verse in not directed at the pagans in our world and commanding them to repent; instead, it is directed at the Church to repent, humble themselves and pray. Those claiming to be believers have failed in their mission. We need to repent and turn to God and that will heal our nation.

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Thanks to, Joe Miller, for making me aware of the update on this tragic situation.

Pastor Loses Job After Church Sign Stating ‘Homosexuality Is Still a Sin’ Causes Uproar

Trump Nukes IRS Forms

We all know that the Trump tax-cut made changes to the Standard Deduction and Payroll Tax Withholding Tables but wait ‘til you sit down and try doing your taxes this year. When you do, forget everything that you thought you knew about filling out the tax forms. The forms that you knew and loved don’t exist!

Form 1040 EZ	Deleted
Form 1040A	Deleted
Form 1040	Nuked

Instead, now there is one form to rule them all and one form to find them, there is only the 1040…and a bucket load of worksheets to bind them.

For Tax Year 2018, you will no longer use Form 1040A or Form 1040EZ, but instead will use the redesigned Form 1040. Many people will only need to file Form 1040 and no schedules.

About Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return

While its not the mythical postcard form that we were promised decades ago, the form has taxpayer information on the first page and all the math on the second. For the most part, the actual calculations are on the six new worksheets. Page 2 of the 1040 is just filling in totals or leaving nonapplicable boxes blank. The tax tables don’t even go above earnings of $100K. If you and the spouse, make over $100K then you take the earning amount and multiple it by a decimal number and that’s your tax! Easy Peasy.

While my wife and I will probably use the Standard Deduction and thus not need to itemize for a Federal filing, the question is what in the heck will California do? We know they don’t like Trump or how the tax cut was crafted but will I miss deductions on the California return if I do the quick and dirty math on the federal form and send it in? Usually states try to mirror what the national government does but, in this instance, I have no confidence that this is the case.

Presently I have no clue; partially because TurboTax doesn’t work yet. I bought the software on December 31^st and got hard stops in the program when I put in my estimates for 2018 taxes. Schedule A –the form where you itemize everything–was broken. Intuit is promising to have the software up and going in mid-January (about now) but I suspect they will be pushing out updates for many more weeks.

W-2s are required to be mailed by the end of January. The government shutdown may affect your ability to get a refund but somehow, I think if you send Uncle Sam a check, he will be happy to cash it anyway.

Based on what I can discern thus far, it appears that our days of getting a big refund are at an end. By lowering the withholding amount from each paycheck and giving me more monthly take home pay, it looks like I may actually stand a chance of writing a check to the government for the first time. If you usually bank on a big refund, I’m warning you that it may not happen. Both my wife and I claim married with zero dependents, this is the largest amount withheld on the tax tables. If we’re sweating about not getting a refund, some on you are probably in big trouble. Don’t wait until the last minute, especially this year.

If you think you’re going to come up short, file you tax return anyway. The biggest penalties from the IRS are for not filing. I know you can arrange payment but do this before April 15^th and I think it will go better for you.

Bruce Jenner Sign, When Proclaiming Truth is Hurtful

Lake Shastina is a little hole in the wall community northeast of Weed, California and south of the Oregon border. The area is full of old hippies from the 1960’s (and their descendants) and also a mix of farmers and people once associated with the logging industry. It is an eclectic mix of folks.

Lake Shastina finds itself in the news because the Truth is offensive to those that choose to embrace lies. In this case, a local church has put up a sign that has got a few pagans and Liberals up in arms. The purpose of such signs is twofold, give information about what the church is doing or what they believe—commonly called outreach. In this instance the Church sign reads:

Bruce Jenner is still a man
Homosexuality is still a sin
The culture may change but the Bible does not

The church’s pastor, Justin Hoke, said he expected “flack” regarding the sign’s message, but believes it is poignant because it “rebukes sin” and calls people to repentance.
“It is not possible to preach the gospel in short pithy statements. I have used this sign for seven years now to provoke reflection or make a strong point about a single truth,” Hoke wrote on Facebook. “Such as this one: ‘The culture does not determine truth, God does.’ … The funny thing is, I could have put those words up and no one would have cared. Why? Because it does not rebuke sin or call anyone to repentance. The church has lost its saltiness and I fully expect to get as much or more flack from the visible church as I am getting from the world.”
In that same Facebook thread, Hoke posted, “The response we’re receiving from this sign proves that it was posted way too late. If a conservative mountain farming community is no longer a safe place to call sin, sin, then is anywhere in this country still safe for real Christians?”

Lake Shastina Church Sign Sparks Protest

Three people organized a protest of the sign and now its national news. Why?

California church draws backlash for sign: ‘Bruce Jenner is still a man’

One protester, worried about what the church message conveys to youth, described the sign as “an amplified voice telling [those youth], ‘You’re wrong.’”

All three propositions are true so what’s the issue? Oh yeah, this is California so I guess I do have to defend each just because…

Statement One
Bruce Jenner is still a man. Here’s the offensive part, God made him a man. No manner how much Jenner has paid to have himself mutilated and pumped full of hormones, biologically and genetically he is still male.

That Jenner has mental and spirit problems is tragic. To be human is to be an image bearer of God. Jenner can’t hurt God so he attacks Him by attacking His image bearer, in this case himself. God is the primary victim of this and every crime, Jenner is a secondary victim to this rebellion.

Statement Two
Homosexuality is still a sin. Homosexuality is not only a sin in both the Old and New Testaments, per Romans chapter one, it is a judgement upon men for exchanging the Truth of God for a lie.

Homosexuality was common in the period when the New Testament was written. If you look at Paul’s arguments in Romans, in chapter one he takes the Greco-Roman world to task for rejecting God and then in chapters two and three, he takes on the Jews of his day that think themselves religious and concludes that they too fall short of God’s standard. Toward the end of chapter three he concludes in verse 23:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

As you continue reading, Paul lays out the case that we cannot save ourselves and only Jesus can save us. So while chapter one condemns homosexuality, the rest of the book presents the case that all people are sinners and need Jesus.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 6: 9-11, Paul points out “And such were some of you”. His point is God can save and redeem even the worst of us.

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Statement Three
The culture may change but the Bible does not. God doesn’t change. You can look at creation and see that there was a designer (Romans 1) but to have a relationship with Him requires special revelation. God’s special revelation, the Bible, is the standard by which we are measured and as stated above, we all fall short. That doesn’t make His standard wrong, just us.

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Hebrews 13:8

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
2 Timothy 3:16 -17

The point is not to call everybody wrong but to call people to repentance. Repentance means that you are sorry for your sin; turn around, you’re going the wrong way.

Stop running from God but instead embrace Him. Jesus is the only way to the Father.

The church message is not a message of hate, it is a warning that people that are going the wrong way and that they need to repent.

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Proverbs 14:12

Which is more loving, seeing someone heading straight to hell and say nothing or warn them to turn around before it’s too late.

Netflix Hires A.I. to Track Customers

Skynet is tracking you if you are a Netflix subscriber. OK, it’s not really steel robots with automatic weapons kicking in your door for violating their terms of service but it’s close.

The way it works, is that streaming service companies hire the UK firm Synamedia that uses AI, behavioral analytics and machine learning to monitor and analyse password sharing activity across user accounts, identify the rule breakers and detect the fine line between finding account sharers and harassing a customer.
“For example, the solution can determine whether users are viewing at their main home and a holiday home, or whether they have shared credentials with friends or grown-up children who live away from home.

If You Share Netflix Password With Others, an AI Could Hunt You Down

If you let your kids watch your Netflix account, they may be looking for you.

Research quoted by Synamedia reported that younger generations are used to accessing streaming services for free and rarely become paying customers.
The company revealed that 26% of millennials share passwords for video streaming services, while economic predictions indicate that in 2021, $9.9 billion of pay-tv revenues and $1.2 billion of over-the-top media services (OTT) revenues will be lost to credentials sharing.
“Casual credentials sharing is becoming too expensive to ignore. Our new solution gives operators the ability to take action. Many casual users will be happy to pay an additional fee for a premium, shared service with a greater number of concurrent users. It’s a great way to keep honest people honest while benefiting from an incremental revenue stream,” said Jean Marc Racine, CPO and GM EMEA of Synamedia.

Netflix and other streaming services know what you are watching and where you watch (via your network I.P. address) so why the third party tracking? Perhaps the A.I. will automatically notify you and send you a bill to upgrade your account to make what you watch legit? It’s not like they don’t use other algorithms and A.I. on your account, how do you think they get the 98 percent match on the suggested show?

Why is this sharing of data OK when Facebook is in deep doo-doo for sharing data with third party folks like Cambridge Analytica? The sharing by both companies was done in exchange for revenue and increased viewers, thus enhancing their stock value. Facebook’s only crime was that they did something that might have benefitted Republicans and for that they must be punished.

Which brings me to the other tech article of the day that is worth a read. It is published by the Hollywood Reporter. The article concerns a unique lawsuit against Facebook for the Cambridge Analytica story.

Cambridge Analytica parlayed its modest access to the lives of ordinary Facebook users and their family and friends into more and more information — enough to begin psychologically profiling American voters and then bombarding them with phony and real news.
And Facebook’s role?
“This kind of mass data collection was not only allowed but encouraged by Facebook, which sought to keep developers building on its platform and provide companies with all the tools they need to influence and manipulate user behavior,” states the March 23 lawsuit filed by Edelson. “That’s because Facebook is not a social media company; it is the largest data-mining operation in existence.”

What makes the Edelson lawsuit different is a name barely anyone knows: Kimberly Foxx, a state’s attorney, the top prosecutor in Cook County, Illinois. Edelson is ostensibly representing the people of Illinois through Foxx on a claim that Facebook engaged in unfair and deceptive conduct. Or, stated another way, a government official has outsourced law enforcement to a class-action attorney.
Edelson, having now been given the role of a Special Assistant State’s Attorney thanks to possessing the “required legal expertise,” as a court order confirming his appointment put it, aims to punish Facebook for violating The Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. It carries massive repercussions, including $50,000 in civil penalties per violation, injunctive relief and — if egregious circumstances call for it — a lost business license to operate in the state. That’s right. Theoretically, Facebook could pay billions and be prohibited from offering its service in Illinois if it loses this lawsuit.

What if law enforcement was outsourced to class action attorneys? Don’t imagine. It’s happening as the Cambridge Analytica scandal becomes Mark Zuckerberg’s legal nightmare.

Edelson’s claim that “Facebook is not a social media company; it is the largest data-mining operation in existence” does make me wonder how he would describe Google or all the apps and devices reporting to your personal data to China or our National Security Agency—after all they are the only part of our government that listens.

Privacy in our society is an illusion; one I may discuss on another occasion.

Are You Living With Debt

An old pastor once told me that the word “mortgage” is from two Latin words; “mort” meaning death like in mortuary and “gage” meaning grip, thus a mortgage was a “death grip”. This is what I thought of when I say this headline today:

1 in 5 millennials with debt expect to die without ever paying it off

The average millennial (aged 18 to 34) had about $32,000 in personal debt, excluding home mortgages, last year, according to Northwestern Mutual’s 2018 Planning & Progress Study. That debt can feel both crushing — and endless.
Just over 60 percent of millennials (classified here as those aged 18-37) with debt don’t know when, or if, they’ll ever be able to pay off what they owe, according to a new CreditCards.com report. That includes roughly 42 percent of millennials who don’t know when they’ll be able to wipe out their debt, and almost 20 percent of those who expect to die in debt.

Expecting to die with debt is not a formula or mindset for success. No wonder so many say they prefer socialism. This blog is about hope for the hopeless.

The above article, without attribution, then proceeds to list several of Dave Ramsey’s “baby steps” for getting out of debt. Ramsey has 7 steps to getting out of debt.
1 Save $1,000 to start an emergency Fund
2 Payoff all debt (except mortgage) using debt snowball
3 save 3-6 months of expenses
4 invest 15% in retirement
5 save for child’s college fund
6 pay off your home
7 Build wealth and give

Dave Ramsey–Baby Steps

I can attest that following Ramsey’s advice will put you on the path to financial freedom. The cornerstone of his plan is the Emergency Fund. By putting this money away, you have a pool of cash to use for car repairs, new tires, fixing the dishwasher, unplugging the drain, or whatever else life throws at you without reaching for the “magic plastic”.

As you are saving this Emergency Fund, Ramsey asks people to cut-up their credit cards and use their Emergency Fund instead. Then replenish the money so you keep the fund available.

If you are married, it is vital that both of you agree on this course of action. Deciding to get out of debt must be a joint decision. You must be working together and not be unequally yoked to this idea. Nothing is more divisive in a marriage than fighting about money. To get both of you on the same page with getting debt free, Ramsey has classes that he offers called Financial Peace University. The cost of materials is about $100 but worth it.

My wife and I attended the Financial Peace classes at a local church about five years ago. I didn’t really know what to expect but found the classes helpful. The classes are held over several weeks. Part of the class is viewing Ramsey and some others, often his daughter, via a DVD presentation. The class facilitators also do various exercises with those attending, many of these are as groups. When we attended, there were eight or nine families. Any worksheets involving money are anonymous although those leading the group many have an idea who wrote which numbers.

The exercise that really got my attention was the one at the beginning where everybody listed their debts and then turned the number into the facilitators. This is part of a before v after comparison designed to show progress towards the baby steps of establishing an Emergency Fund and starting to pay off debt via a “snowball”. It was shocking when the total debt in the room was announced—remember this figure did not count anything owed on a home. Over half of the debt in the room belonged to me and my wife! It was a sobering moment.

Since that night we have paid-off over $100,000 of that original debt and the remaining balance will be gone before the end of 2019. Truthfully, we don’t stick with the snowball as religiously as we could. We still allow for vacations and a few wants. We are honest enough to distinguish between “wants” and “needs”; however, we always pay cash.

A word of caution, when you start cancelling credit cards, the offers begin pouring into your mailbox. Ramsey is a big advocate of going “cold turkey” on the plastic. Cut it up, throw it away, and never look back. Your dealers, Wells Fargo, Citibank, Discover, Golden 1, Chase, Amazon, Costco, etc., will really miss their 24 percent payment each month and offer you even more debt to come back.

If this is the MasterCard, guess who’s the slave?

I think of it as free drugs from the dealer just to get you hooked again. Two percent cash back is still 22 percent to the dealer so exactly how is that a bargain? Buy the heroine and get free needles? Oops, not blogging about San Francisco today.

Anyway, if you are up to your eyeballs in debt, there really is hope and a support network should you need it. Yes, your lifestyle may change as you learn to live within your means but freedom has always had a price. The only thing better than being debt free is teaching your children to learn from your mistakes and showing them a better way.

Since starting down this path, we are optimistic about our future. How many of you still paying for DirecTV so you can watch Fox News and CNN can say the same?

Tesla Kills Autonomous Robot

If you needed proof that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, in the first recorded case of one silicon based life form murdering another, a Tesla vehicle on autopilot ran down an autonomous robot, Promobot, on the streets of Las Vegas. As a pedestrian, the robot clearly had the right of way along the busy Las Vegas Strip but the Tesla ran him down without even slowing, let alone attempting to stop.

According to Promobot, a number of robots were making their way to the booth around 7 p.m. when one of them stepped out of line and into the parking lot roadway.
As it did, it was struck by a Tesla Model S operating in autonomous mode.
The crash tipped the robot onto its side, causing ‘serious damage,’ Promobot says.
Now, with parts of its body, head, arm mechanisms, and movement platform destroyed, it cannot be put on display.
The firm says the damage is likely irreparable.

The Tesla involved in the collision was operating autonomously, though a passenger was inside at the time.
And, it continued driving another 50 meters after the accident before finally stopping.

Oops! Autonomous robot struck and ‘killed’ by a self-driving Tesla in Las Vegas ahead of CES

There is no word on whether the Tesla passenger will be filing a civil suit for the trauma of helplessly having to witness the robot being run over while trapped inside the rogue vehicle. Please note that the Tesla only decided to stop after realizing that it had struck a pedestrian.

Trump Mulls Banning Chinese Technology

I saw this article and thought it worthy of giving you the highlights.

WASHINGTON, Dec 27 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump is considering an executive order in the new year to declare a national emergency that would bar U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by China’s Huawei and ZTE, three sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.
It would be the latest step by the Trump administration to cut Huawei Technologies Cos Ltd and ZTE Corp, two of China’s biggest network equipment companies, out of the U.S. market. The United States alleges that the two companies work at the behest of the Chinese government and that their equipment could be used to spy on Americans.
The executive order, which has been under consideration for more than eight months, could be issued as early as January and would direct the Commerce Department to block U.S. companies from buying equipment from foreign telecommunications makers that pose significant national security risks, sources from the telecoms industry and the administration said.

In March, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said “hidden ‘back doors’ to our networks in routers, switches — and virtually any other type of telecommunications equipment – can provide an avenue for hostile governments to inject viruses, launch denial-of-service attacks, steal data, and more.”

The executive order would invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that gives the president the authority to regulate commerce in response to a national emergency that threatens the United States.
The issue has new urgency as U.S. wireless carriers look for partners as they prepare to adopt next generation 5G wireless networks.
The order follows the passage of a defense policy bill in August that barred the U.S. government itself from using Huawei and ZTE equipment.

Rural operators in the United States are among the biggest customers of Huawei and ZTE, and fear the executive order would also require them to rip out existing Chinese-made equipment without compensation. Industry officials are divided on whether the administration could legally compel operators to do that.

EXCLUSIVE-White House considers new year executive order to bar Huawei, ZTE purchases

I keep going back to the 1980’s and Japan’s mantra that “Business is war”. China has upped that idea to the Nth degree and average Americans could care less. China is not just an economic competitor but the biggest external threat to our freedom.

Senate Scuttles McCain Rename

As expected, Senator John McCain left the United States Senate feet first. McCain—who was a legend in his own mind—was controversial for being wrong and undercutting his own Party in very public ways. While he did serve in the military, it is a wonder that he didn’t get discharged for some of the antics that he pulled; however, having a daddy who is an admiral has its privileges. I hesitate to be as critical as some of his fellow veterans who say that the Forrestal fire and his time as a POW were both his fault. Whatever the truth may be, no one disputes that McCain flaunted the rules when it suited him.

Now in death, a measure of payback has been given to him. In the waning hours of the current Senate, the move to rename the Russell Senate building as the McCain Senate building is dead.

FYI Russell was:

The 109-year-old building is named after Sen. Richard Russell, a Georgia Democrat who, like McCain, chaired the Armed Services panel. Russell, who died in 1971, was a segregationist and led Southern opposition to anti-lynching bills and other civil rights legislation, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He co-authored the “Southern Manifesto” to slow the integration of public schools after the Supreme Court unanimously ordered it in 1954.
Previously known simply as the Senate Office Building, it was renamed in Russell’s honor the year after his death.

Following McCain’s death, this idea was put forth by two of the better known malcontents in the Senate, Chuck “What Wall?” Schumer and Jeff “Never Trump” Flake.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer had proposed renaming the Russell building in McCain’s honor after the veteran Republican senator died Saturday from brain cancer.

Republican Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, who co-sponsored the measure, said renaming the building would be “a particularly good” way to honor McCain, but wanted to make sure McCain’s family agreed.

Republicans resist plan to rename Senate building for McCain

Over four months have passed since McCain died and what does the Senate have to show? Actually not much.

Four months later, the resolution was never introduced.
Mr. Schumer’s spokesman clammed up when asked what happened.
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican floor leader, had seemed cool to the renaming idea, instead promising a bipartisan committee to look at other good ways to honor their departed colleague.

Push to rename Senate office building for McCain fizzles: ‘We are left with a monument to bigotry’

Eventually McCain will get his name on a federal building somewhere. I suggest perhaps an outhouse at a national park in rural Arizona. This will afford folks from other states the opportunity to return to him a measure of crap for all the excrement that we had to endure from him in life.