Chinese City Paying $73 a Month to Families for Having Third Child: A city in China will start to pay a monthly subsidy to families that decide to have a third child in an effort to reverse the country’s catastrophic birth rate, according to a report published by China’s state-run newspaper Global Times on Sunday. The Global Times reported that the city of Shenyang, located in the northeast province of Liaoning, will offer a subsidy of 500 yuan ($72.96) to local families that have a third child. The monthly subsidy will last until the child reaches 3 years of age. For decades under the Communist Party, having more than one child per couple was illegal. Between 1980 and 2015, China imposed a draconian “one-child policy” enforced through forced abortions and infanticide. The fervent desire for sons resulted in the mass killing of girl babies for decades; Chinese officials estimate that 400 million people were “prevented” from existing under the policy. Genocidal dictator Xi Jinping “softened” the policy in 2016, allowing two legal children, and expanded to a “three-child policy” in 2021. The birth rate continued to decline severely following the easing of the one-child policy. Rather than attributing the failure of the three-child policy to lead to more births to the lack of women of child-bearing age – as so many girl babies were killed – or to a lack of desire to start families under totalitarian communism, the Communist Party largely blames feminism for the phenomenon. Study: 70% of Suspects Freed from Jail Without Bail Arrested for More Crimes: In early 2020, amid the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, the California Judicial Council required counties to enforce an “emergency bail schedule” which effectively released thousands of criminal suspects from jail without having to pay bail under the guise of reducing prison overcrowding. “This program designated that the bail for select crimes was dramatically reduced, many to zero dollars,” county officials state. The analysis also compared recidivism rates over an 18-month period, finding that 78 percent of suspects released without bail were found to be rearrested for crimes while only 46 percent of those who paid bail were rearrested. Many of those suspects freed without bail were rearrested for violent crimes including homicide, rape, kidnapping, robbery, carjacking, attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, and domestic violence. And I’ll bet “they” had to put together an expensive committee to figure that out. 🙄 Exactly, Yohanan! I am sure they did and that the study/research cost them a lot of money. A police officer who was only 27 years old got killed a couple of month ago by a criminal who was on bail. Record US Credit Card Debt Nearly $1 Trillion as Americans Struggle to Survive Under Joe Biden: ABC News reported: U.S. consumer credit card debt has jumped to nearly $1 trillion, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Thursday. Credit card balances increased more than $60 billion over the three months ending in December, lifting the total amount of U.S. credit card debt to an all-time high of $986 billion, the report found. The skyrocketing credit card balance has coincided with an increase in the interest rates paid on such debt, crunching household budgets as high inflation eats away at the savings that many amassed during the pandemic. Americans are falling behind in Biden’s economy with low-paying jobs, 40-year-high inflation, and a loss in the value of their net assets due to inflation pushing prices to record highs. As a last resort, Americans turn to their credit cards to get by, hoping they will be able to pay them off next month. This cycle is maddening for Americans who work hard and can’t seem to get ahead. Now, they are falling behind. Steve Cortes was on the War Room where he discussed this record-setting US credit card debt. Credit card debt is nearly $1 trillion. Trillion with a “T” in the United States at the highest interest rate ever, above 20%, the average credit card interest rate, the highest ever in the United States. Cyber Attack on Produce Giant Dole Shuts Down Production Plants in North America: A cyber attack on produce giant Dole shut down production plants, according to a company memo obtained by CNN. “Dole Food Company is in the midst of a Cyber Attack and has subsequently shut down our systems throughout North America,” Emanuel Lazopoulos, senior vice president at Dole’s Fresh Vegetables division, said in a February 10 memo to retailers, according to CNN. The hack, which is being reported as ransomware, led to a shortage of Dole salad kits. Dole said it contained the threat and “engaged leading third-party cybersecurity experts” to secure its systems. Retail Collapse: Over 800 Big Stores Set to Close Due to Inflation, Crime, Interest Rates: Retail stores have been in trouble since the beginning of the pandemic, but now the issue is coming into hard focus. Over 800 large stores are set for closure in various parts of the country. Inflation means people have less money to spend. Combine that with the issue of rampant crime and rising interest rates and you have a recipe for disaster. The retail world continues its downward spiral, as holiday sales failed to meet expectations and wary consumers are keeping their wallets in their pockets due to rampant inflation and soaring interest rates. The end result: over 800 big-box stores are slated to shut down across the country in 2023. Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, Gap, and Party City are among the big names that will be downsizing. Bath & Beyond, which narrowly escaped bankruptcy proceedings earlier this month, is the biggest loser, aiming to cut its number of stores to 480 when it once had over 1,500 locations. At least 416 stores have been identified for closure, along with all 65 of its locations in Canada. Thirty-five will close in California alone… [part of a much longer, wide-ranging article] Pope Francis Calls on Humanity to Unite Around One World Religion: Pope Francis has once again called for all of humanity to unite around a one-world religion. Both in his ecumenical “pilgrimage of peace” and in his message for the International Day of Human Fraternity, the pope recently called for religions to “increasingly intertwine” in the “service of brotherhood.” LifeSite News reports that over the past few days, Francis has once more renewed his oft-spoken calls for increased interreligious dialogue and activity, reawakening concerns that leading prelates have made in the wake of such statements over the years. The first came during his recorded February 4 video message for the third International Day of Human Fraternity, which is born out of his 2019 Abu Dhabi document on human fraternity – a document which stated that a “pluralism and diversity” of religions is “willed by God.” His statement mentioned God, but did not mention Christ or Catholicism. Instead, Francis spoke in a much more abstract manner, describing the purpose of religion as “reminding us that man’s destiny goes beyond earthly goods and lies in a universal horizon.” Francis is a member of the Society of Jesus, also called the Jesuits, and is also the first Jesuit pope in history. Jesuits have for decades been steeped in revolutionary Marxist teaching, and a focus on social justice and liberation theology here on earth, rather than winning souls for Christ or preparing people for life in the hereafter.
