The Spy Who loved U.S.

 

The Spymaster

I’ve recently been made aware of Dong Jingwei, the Chinese counterintelligence official that supposedly defected to the United States. I’d heard about this before but only in passing. Defections are notoriously hard to pin down. Countries deny the existence of a defector, or pretend it’s all a rumor while trying to parse the intelligence. The original report came from Red State, a conservative website. If the Washington Post had the story it would have been everywhere. Nearly every piece I read was from June of last year; I didn’t find anything after that.

The War Within

To me the most interesting (telling?) part of the defection is who Dong defected to—the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). That’s not how defections usually work. A spy that wants to defect usually goes through the CIA. Since they have case officers all over the world it’s typical to use them. But this is a high level official. It’s not really correct to call him a spy, it’s more like if our Director of National Intelligence (Avril Haines) packed a suitcase with terabytes of the most highly classified information and bought a ticket for Beijing. It’s literally the biggest defection in history, a massive win.

One source I read said he came with his daughter (a UCLA student) in February. That’s when the deed was done apparently. They went through Hong Kong instead of going to an embassy in country. There is a reason for that which I’ll show later. We don’t know how long he has been here. Red State first reported on it June but it never became a huge story, probably because it was a conservative site that reported on it.

Denial

China for their part deleted all reference to him on their official websites. They did post a picture of him from a state security conference. It might be a real photo but the image has no date context. Newspapers run by the party make reference to him conducting business as usual. Anyway no believes the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) so their clunky attempts at messaging get ignored just like their conferences. The State Department also flat out denied that they had him. It’s unusual to address this kind of sensitive topic to the press at all.

But going to the DIA is interesting. To me it suggests he knew he couldn’t trust the normal channels. That’s scary but not surprising. It means our intelligence community is so full of Chinese spies it can’t be trusted to take in a defector. Also it means that Dong probably knows the names, and the positions, of the spies in our country who work with Beijing. We know President Biden and his son are compromised on some level with the Chinese. That came out of the emails found on Hunter’s laptop before the election. You know, the story the MSM killed because it would’ve skewed the vote against Biden in 2020. 

There is an internal war going on in our government, patriots and anti-Americans. But these lines may not be as clean as I imagine. If Biden was compromised at a high level why wouldn’t he either send Dong back to Beijing or just kill him? Come to think of it maybe he did. Why would Dong come to the US if he feared the administration and its corrupt intelligence agencies would send him back? I’m fairly certain that he isn’t a counterintelligence plant. China couldn’t risk even the appearance of a defector, especially not such a big shot like Dong Jingwei.

Intelligence that Matters

In May of last year the administration changed its policy on the origins of Covid 19 by starting up an investigation into the Wuhan lab leak. Previously they ruled it an escaped wet market virus that jumped from animal to human. Some think the change in direction was due to information from the defector. I’ve been under the assumption that the administration doesn’t want to know or is covering for Obama who approved money for gain of function just before leaving office in 2017. Gain of function research is how you create viruses. 

It looks as though the PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) was using the Wuhan lab. Well of course they were!

Releasing a virus on the world is an act of war and soon everyone is going to know the Chinese did it. The why is unclear right now but the cynic in me says the goal was always to create windfall profits for the pharmaceutical companies through vaccines. It also provided an opportunity to use mail in ballots and machine voting fraud to steal an election. Trump was ruining cooperation between Beijing and Washington and needed to be stopped.

I know of only one other significant case of a Chinese defector that spent the night in a US consulate in Chongqing after avoiding detection. This was in 2012. His name was Wang Lijun and he was the police chief in Chongqing under party boss Bo Xilai. His asylum claim was rejected as to not upset the incoming chairman Xi Jinping. This was under president Obama’s State Department. Guess who was behind the decision?

The office of Vice President Joe Biden overruled State and Justice Department officials in denying the political asylum request of a senior Chinese communist official last February over fears the high-level defection would upset the U.S. visit of China’s vice president, according to U.S. officials.

It gets better. Biden’s aid Anthony Blinken rejected the Wang’s application for asylum. Blinken is now the head of the State Department. He’s clearly a Biden loyalist. This incident with Wang Lijun likely showed Dong Jingwei that going to an embassy or consulate to request asylum won’t work. You have to get yourself out of the mainland.

Awakening

It’s easy to think of the US government as one unit with one goal, to promote the interests of the country. The case of Dong Jingwei proves how naive that is. We are entering a time of mass upheaval in this country and around the world. The virus and subsequent attempt to control the population is forcing people to wake up. From the election of Joe Biden to the origins of the virus, something stinks and we’re starting to figure it out.

I pray this defection leads to a cleansing of the federal ranks.  

Ecclesiastes 6: What are you building?

 

God created us for enjoyment through Him. There's no possible way to enjoy your efforts after you’ve passed. Solomon hits on this theme the same way he always does, by reminding us that ideas rooted in self are vain and foolish.

Ultimately we work for the next generation and in some cases a complete stranger. A lot of people build their own homes. Some are basic one room cabins in the woods with a wood burning stove and a shack to store goods. Other’s build elaborate 2 and 3 story mansions with multiple rooms, garages and a pool. Depending on the project it can take years or decades to complete.

What’s wrong with that anyway? Either you need the space or you don’t, but if you can afford a nice 7 room home go ahead and build it. Does the builder of the ancient temple really take no pride in the process and lasting impression?

He is talking about a soul level satisfaction that we often start out trying to fill, but end up empty. He means that part of us that pulls deep meaning from our work and legacy. The person who labors to create won’t be fulfilled by the effort required to produce.

Listen to the guy who spent his life building, gaining and possessing.

“There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity;[a] it is a grievous evil.” (1-2)

The building doesn’t have to be a house for your family, it’s larger idea than that. We all leave an imprint on our world. From professional athletes to bus drivers, everyone builds a legacy through what they create and how they interact with others. I’m reading a biography of Thomas Edison right now. He averaged a patent for every 10 to 12 days he was alive. He changed so much of modern life by producing and creating that’s it’s not enough to say he worked hard, he lived to work. His legacy is all around us whether electrical or mechanical.

I’ve no doubt Edison enjoyed his work and the success it brought. But it didn’t bring ultimate fulfilment of the kind Solomon is describing. The same way that his phonograph could never play movies. It was designed for music. We can enjoy our work and even benefit from improved designs of the telegraph and the light bulb, but our soul is only filled through “goodness”. By goodness Solomon means Godly living for our fellow man. 

 Why does Solomon call enjoyment a “grievous evil”? Because there is a lie tied up in every patent or invention or grand design we call progress. It’s the idea of ultimate fulfillment of the soul--that human achievements are akin to godliness and the authors’ of achievements, demigods. Human beings benefit from Thomas Edison’s labor and celebrate his life and genius. But what does the adulation mean for a soul that no longer exists? How does he benefit directly?

“All the toil of man is for his mouth, but his appetite is not satisfied” (7)

 Appetites are carnal, rooted in fleshly desires. Nothing is wrong with working to stay alive. But work and legacy will never take the place of God who created us to be made complete in Him. For everything I can tell about Edison it seems like he didn’t believe in God. As a man of science and experimentation, he struggled to grasp the nature of the Divine. But not because he wasn’t intelligent, only because he didn’t bother to.

I don’t know how he missed Him. All of creation speaks to the intricate design of the Creator, but if you don’t look you can’t see it. Edison and so many in his day, never looked. I never knew the beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park until I went there and hiked the trails. I’d been hiking before. I’d been to Colorado before. But I couldn’t imagine how majestic it all was because I didn’t bother to visit. I didn’t even know such a place existed.

Too many people don’t know the goodness and person of God because they never look for Him. Like Edison they’re buried in their own work, hoping to find fulfillment. They’ll find a level of worth and enjoyment in creating legacy. In time they’ll even get to enjoy some of rewards of their efforts. But then what? King Solomon reminds us that seeking to be complete only leaves us with an empty hole.  

^“For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?”(12)

In other words live for something other than the emptiness of work and legacy because it’s not enough. We can’t change our design. It’s a short season so don’t waste it on vain pursuits. They won’t benefit you in the next age. Only God can do that.

Gratitude Fills the Gap

 

Life isn’t fair.

 It’s a simple lesson that keeps repeating like an Aerosmith song on any classic rock station. We’d like to forget but it’s one of those phrases parents like to say when you whine about your brother getting new basketball shoes. “Where are my new shoes?” comes the retort. The answer is always the same, life isn’t fair. Some parents try to explain how it’s perfectly reasonable that your brother got shoes and you didn’t.

 Or they’ll help you with an anecdote about that time that you got to go to Six Flags and he didn’t. This is the parental version of offsets. It’s a losing battle to try to argue with a kid over fairness. They’ll always come up with a scenario you hadn’t considered.

 “I only got to go to Six Flags for one day, my brother went with friends for a whole weekend!”

Now you’re stuck. You have to come back with yet another time when the seesaw tilted toward the unloved soul. Smart parents just say the magic phrase “Life isn’t Fair” unless they’re pressed for time. In that case “tough” will suffice.

 Every day reminds us of the uneven nature of genes, money and intellect.

The gym is full of body builders with 2% body fat and girlfriends that model swimsuits. Customers where I work drive up in Mercedes sedans and wear Breitling watches. They live in wealthy neighborhoods with theater rooms and security fencing around the perimeter.

They take 3 vacations every year and have homes around the country, even one in France. There are people with more talent and connections in every area of life. Ever get passed over for a job or a loose out on a stock pick? Life is full of continual reminders of our short comings, most of them pure chance. Either through talent, connections, circumstances or money, opportunities pass us by consistently.

But because unfairness is so universal it’s possible to see your circumstance, whatever it might be, as significantly better than another person’s. I’ll call this reverse comparison. Instead of complaining about not being able to afford golf course fees, compare with someone who can’t afford clubs. This takes a lot of practice, like uh. . . golf. We’re wired to set ourselves and our families up. Nothing is wrong with that. We work and save and spend on those closest to us. But making a habit of reverse comparison is a hugely beneficial skill that will create lifelong gratitude.

Start simple. Are you healthy? Can you afford to buy your own groceries? Do you have a place to sleep, eat and drink? Can you walk under your own power, or run? Are you mentally sharp and capable of learning? These probably seem a little silly. I’m just listing the most basic functions of human existence and telling you to be grateful for them. But when you see people who need constant medical care, good health feels more important. Cars are essential when don’t have one, as are regular housing and consistent work.

I had to start this in my life after an important sermon on gratitude. The pastor went around the room and asked us what we were grateful for. I was near the back of the room so I had time to contemplate my answer. I can’t say for sure why I went with good health as the central marker of gratitude. It’s always stuck with me though. When I get depressed or feel less than, I remind myself that I’m healthy and strong. It’s enough to shift the focus from lack to abundance. My attitude changes after that and I start to list (mentally) the blessings I have through comparison.  

My favorite statistic of last year is from Dave Ramsey’s massive (10,000 participant) survey on millionaires. The good news “79% of millionaires did not receive any inheritance from their parents or other family members”. Why is that important to my otherwise cheery grateful do-good attitude? Because it’s easy to get caught up thinking that the deck is stacked against us. Be it talent or money the rich keep increasing while we eat ramen noodles and beg for a chance. In America at least it’s just not true.

There will always be Michael Bloomberg types with generational money and a powerful empire. But there will also be lost fortunes and corrupt players like Bernie Madoff to remind us that wealth and fame are fleeting. But the ultra-rich, the famous and the connected can’t keep you from enjoying life or making your own money. So if you must compare, reverse compare. You’ll make it a habit and gratitude will slowly fill the gaps where life isn’t fair.

Cobra Kai's Fatherless Universe

 Cobra Kai's Fatherhood Theme Makes it Universally Appealing

How did This Happen?

Cobra Kai just released its 4^th season of a show that’s done better than it probably sounded on paper. I’ve become an unexpected fan of the series that feels like it’s geared to much younger kids. Originally I thought this was the brainchild of Ralph Macchio hoping to capitalize on a hit from years ago.  I tried to imagine Ralph (Daniel LaRusso) from The Karate Kid trying to sell this remake to a studio executive.

Machio: “Daniel and Johnny are still rivals see? And they each start their own dojos because they hate each other”.

Executive: “Yeah. . . they’re adults now right? So what’s the rivalry about, that was like 30 years ago?”

Machio: “But Johnny never got over it and wants another shot at the man who defeated him in the 1984 All Valley Tournament. He still remembers the humiliation. Daniel is a success because of it and Johnny is a looser, stuck in the 80s”

Executive: shaking his head in disbelief “You mean the tournament put Daniel on a path to success and destroyed Johnny at the same time? We’re talking about karate? A kid’s sport?”

Machio: “Exactly”

What is the theme?

But in TV the biggest shows are often silly, don’t forget Knight Rider the talking/jumping Trans Am with personality. Actually Ralph Macchio wasn’t interested at first, but the creators convinced him to try a series from Johnny’s point of view. YouTube made the initial offer and then parted ways after the second season. Netflix picked it up in the third season which is when I started watching. A quick look at fan reviews from the first season show how popular it was from the beginning.

The fight scenes have improved since then as various characters and story arcs expand far beyond the original rivalry.

But like Disney’s mega hit The Karate Kid, the appeal of this saga is in the universality of fatherhood. How do the characters relate to their fathers? What does the absence of a father do to a kid? Who fills the void? From the two primary characters Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and their missing fathers to their respective mentors, they navigate conflict in different ways.

Both have kids of their own, even though Johnny’s relationship with his son is nonexistent. Daniel teaches his daughter, and others, in the ways of his late Sensei Mr. Miyagi. Fathers help us with identity. Both men continue their mentors' version of fighting through their persistent rivalry.

How did it start?

Despite being an unemployed Coors sipping brawler, Johnny Lawrence finds his purpose when neighbor Miguel asks him for training lessons after seeing him in a fight. Johnny’s only frame of reference for discipline is the old dojo (Cobra Kai) he trained at as a kid. So he reopens the storefront and begins training kids in the “Strike First” mentality his mentors encouraged. 

His nemesis is the successful, well-adjusted Daniel LaRusso who bested him 30 years ago in the All Valley Karate Tournament. LaRusso who owns a string of car dealerships in the area, actively works to shut down Cobra Kai, seeing it as a blight on the respectful version of karate he was taught. But he shifts tactics and starts his own dojo after failing to stop Johnny Lawrence.

The first season sees both men, LaRusso and Lawrence, teaching kids their radically different methods but finding areas of cooperation in fits and starts. An uneasy truce develops as the successive seasons move forward. Old characters from the original movie come onto the scene with their own issues and back stories. I’m trying not to spoil any of the story lines.

Kids crave structure and discipline, martial arts provides that in the Sensei. But they’re as different as dads too, each one seeing the world through formidable experiences, failures and successes. 

What is the background?   

No need to have watched the original 1984 movie either. Characters from The Karate Kid II and the The Karate Kid III pop up and fill out the roster of new story lines. It’s not difficult to catch up though. The series flashes back to scenes from the original movies frequently.  

You’ll have to suspend disbelief that kids can have a karate brawl that would make Bruce Lee wish he’d worked harder. Anyone who has seen a fight between two kids, two people of any ability, knows that the kicks and punches don’t usually hit their target. But it’s still fun to watch and that’s the point.

I’m taking on faith the idea that karate and martial arts are a big deal to kids in Southern California. As a lifelong Midwesterner the idea that a yearly tournament in the valley could be so important is hard to believe. But then again youth football in Texas and Oklahoma is almost a sacred right of passage. So maybe youth karate as a similar marker of fame isn’t such a stretch.

Season 5 is already in the works.

The Curse of the New

 

Is our need for new and different a major contributing factor to our debt hole? Or put differently, how do we wean ourselves off such easy money that we’re almost all guilty of enjoying?  I’m not talking about the big debt that threatens to rip apart at the seams like Dockers on a fat kid. I’m talking about smaller debts like student loans and municipal debts.

People will pay for new stuff. A customer told me this a few years ago. He was a builder and as such, familiar with the psychology of newness. He told me that building projects for schools always got the funding. He meant the money was approved through referendums. The school down the road had just added a new addition to their already impressive football stadium.  

I can’t say his theory holds up every time. In my experience tax increases on a ballot are pretty much a 50/50 bet. But I’m sure it’s true that new buildings projects are more popular than old building restorations. Anyone who’s watched a college football game on TV has seen 100,000 seat stadiums with 100 foot TV screens and 5 star chef level concessions. People want new and better. There is something in our brain that craves novelty and it shows up in our spending habits.

New buildings get approval while repairs to existing ones have to wait. That’s the theory at least. Infrastructure is boring. Boilers are expensive and out of sight. Same for new electric wiring and plumbing, roofs and siding. When shown a blueprint for a new heat and air system we sound like Shania Twain “that don’t impress me much”.

 I don’t mean to say these upgrades don’t happen, but it’s easier to sell a new vision than a retrofit. We seek out the new (novel) because it feels like progress.

Why is new more exciting than upgrade? It’s probably tied to a culture that rewards growing, doing and moving forward. New projects feel more like progress than does replacing old parts. When someone gets a new job we say “Congratulations!” New jobs are thought to be an improvement. We assume their move is upward, even if it’s not. How many people are frustrated in every position and career they enter? Quite a few go job to job like they’re shopping for groceries.

But a lot of this debate comes down to your opinion of money too. Conservatives on one side believe in saving while liberals want to spend. I’m describing accounting principles and not political motivations here. Varieties from both camps are found in government.

There used to be such a thing as a fiscal conservative but no one can claim that anymore with a straight face.

Whatever culture has to say about it, the debt is overwhelming and I think we are going to regret all the profligate spending. Not just at the national level either. It’s probably a combination of Fed policy and our insatiable need for new stuff. If politics is downstream from culture, which I think it is, than it’s our ‘wants’ driving the bus. We elect them after all. Irresponsible behavior and poor governance lie at the feet of those making the decisions. But voters get some blame too.

Reckless financial decisions don’t ensure a loss at the ballot box. If they did than Chicago wouldn’t keep electing Democrats, but they can’t help it. Corruption and indifference blow through the city like the wind across Lake Michigan. Insolvency towers over future spending decisions like a skyscraper ruining the view.

But is Chicago really an outlier? They sit on the one end of the spectrum for overspending while cities like Stockton and Boise fill out the opposite end. It’s not a perfect comparison I understand, but most of the overspending in the big cities is for payoffs. It’s not really overspending but overpromising. Union retirement packages for city employees take the largest chunk of liabilities.

Our addiction to debt isn’t new, but our ease with borrowing at every level makes me nervous about the future. How many empty stores, houses and commercial buildings will sit vacant when the bottom falls out?  The very same new buildings we voted to fund will be a millstone around our necks. There is too much worthless cash in the economy that needs to be sucked out. It’s artificial and it’s propping up our way of life.

And yes, I understand new building projects often pay for themselves through the revenue they bring. But we are in an excessive debt cycle. The last time that happened was in the early 2000s. Lenders starting packaging all the excess debt (mortgages) into financial instruments and selling them off. Then it all fell apart.

If we don’t make serious changes we’ll see another Great Depression.  

This has to begin on a personal level. Pay off debts and reject that urge to buy new when possible. If you really want it, find a way to fund it that doesn’t tie you up for years. We’ve all been too careless in this regard. The only way to come back is through personal responsibility. It’s possible to do this and still enjoy life. We need to get over our lust for the new.

If we aren’t careful the problem won’t be no new buildings for schools but no lenders to offer the loans. This debt hole affects us all.

Cynicism Ruins the Promise: 2 Kings 6-7

 

Dark Times Make us Crazy

2 Kings 6 and 7 reminds of God’s faithfulness in dark times. It’s up to us to focus on His past victories and let them guide our behavior and attitude. The cynical officer shows how we ruin our own future with poisonous words about God’s promise.

Samaria, Israel’s principle city, experienced a famine because of the siege from Syria. The bible doesn’t tell us how long this siege lasted but it’s pretty clear it took a while. The people in Samaria were eating donkey’s heads and boiling children, that’s desperate. 

Most of this plays out in chapter 6. By the end of the chapter the king of Israel sends a messenger to Elisha. 

The king wanted to kill Elisha. The man of God (Elisha) shut the door on him as he approached. Elisha even exclaims to the elders “Do you see how this son of a murderer has come to take away my head?” But the king’s messenger wants to know how long to wait for the Lord’s rescue. The people are starving after all.

Chapter 7 begins with a prophecy from the Lord through Elisha to the messenger. “Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria”. An officer who accompanied the king’s messenger, said to Elisha “Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” Elisha replied to the officer “…In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” (verse 2)

The question from the officer is not in good faith. He’s seen a desperate population become increasingly monstrous. 

He is mocking the possibility that the city will go back to normal. Elisha’s pronouncement shows how commerce will return the next day. No more donkey’s head soup either. Under normal circumstances that takes a while. Even if the army left immediately, the Samarians would still need to go harvest and trade until the price stabilized. 

Of course it happens exactly like Elisha said. The encamped Syrian army gets scared off by the sounds of horses and chariots. The Lord caused them to hear it, even though there was no army, and leave camp. They left their food and silver and gold for the leapers who left Samaria hoping to surrender or be killed. They knew they were dead if they stayed in the city. The famine affected everyone, most of all the leapers who aren’t welcome with the rest of the population.

I think the lesson here is to trust in God’s plan even when it feels like nothing is happening. In our world we get used to planning our lives. We go to work and raise kids. We fall into routines of our own making. Add a few decades to this principle and entire countries forget the greatness of God. We don’t rely on His goodness and daily bread for our lives. We call to Him when we need help. Nothing is wrong with that. The Heavenly Father loves for us to ask Him to do great things (Mark 11:24). 

But our comfortable existence numbs us to the pain of others. Where is the place in our hearts for the Savior, the Redeemer, the King, the Healer. I’m not going to give a hundred examples as proof that global Christianity needs a new awakening. If the reaction from churches around the world, and here in America, to the pandemic wasn’t a marker of where we are in faith I don’t want to know what it will take. Our country saw faith healers praying for vaccines and closing down church for months. They put hand sanitizing stations all over their foyers, social distanced the seating and insisted on masks for the healthy.

It took us all by surprise. At least a lot of leaders recognized this for what it was, an attempt to instill fear and confusion into the population. There is good news too. People have found their voice in this time and God is getting credit once again. One channel I follow (on Telegram) was all politics with a side of prayer and healing. In the last few months it’s become all about healing and a side of politics. Followers are sharing testimonies of God’s miraculous healing in their lives. Our faith in God’s plan is being strengthened in the midst of a corrupt generation. 

We’ve been asleep for too long. We’ve gotten comfortable with the position of God in our lives, an addition to our well planned lives. But he demands the central role and decider of the direction for our world. We are about to see a major shift in the social, political and religious institutions around the world. 

Our prayer as Christians should be, keep us from the cynicism of the officer in 2 Kings. Give us an anticipation of Your plan. Put in us a desire to be used for Your glory. Provide us with opportunities to stretch ourselves, just a little, and watch Your plan unfold like You’ve promised it would.