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Can You Segway?Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.So exactly who was going to be sympathetic to their plight, who we cared about?Beyond my fevered dream of making a difference there was a pinch of reality. See, the Cabindans and the people of Zaire were both ethnic Bakongo and the Bakongo of Zaire had also once had their own, independent (until 1914) kingdom which was now part of Angola. The Bakongo were major factions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) -(formerly for a short time known as the nation of Zaire, from here on out to be referred to as the DRC and in the running for the most fucked up place on the planet Earth, more on that later)- and Congo (the nation) yet a minority in Angola. Having an independent nation united along ethnic and linguistic lines made sense and could expect support from their confederates across international boundaries.The Liberation Air ForceThe Earth & Sky operated under one constant dilemma ~ when would Temujin make his return? Since they didn't know and it was their job to be prepared for the eventuality if it happened tomorrow, or a century down the line, they 'stockpiled', and 'stockpiled' and 'stockpiled'.That was why they maintained large horse herds and preserved the ancient arts of Asian bowyers, armoring and weapons-craft. That was why they created secret armories, and sulfur and saltpeter sites when musketry and cannons became the new ways of warfare. They secured sources of phosphates and petroleum when they became the new thing, and so on.All of this boiled over to me being shown yet again I worked with clever, creative and under-handed people. The Khanate came up with a plan for a 'Union' Air Force {Union? More on that later} within 24 hours, and it barely touched any of their existing resources. How did they accomplish this miracle? They had stockpiled and maintained earlier generation aircraft because they didn't know when Temujin would make his re-appearance.They'd also trained pilots and ground crews for those aircraft. As you might imagine, those people grew old just as their equipment did. In time, they went into the Earth & Sky's Inactive Reserves ~ the rank & file over the age of 45. You never were 'too old' to serve in some capacity though most combat-support related work ended at 67.When Temujin made his return and the E&S transformed into the Khanate, those people went to work bringing their lovingly cared for, aging equipment up to combat-alert readiness. If the frontline units were decimated, they would have to serve, despite the grim odds of their survival. It was the terrible acceptance the Chinese would simply possess so much more war-making material than they did.Well, the Khanate kicked the PRC's ass in a titanic ass-whooping no one (else) had seen coming, or would soon forget. Factory production and replacement of worn machines was in stride to have the Khanate's Air Force ready for the next round of warfare when the Cease-fire ended and the Reunification War resumed.Always a lower priority, the Khanate military leadership was considering deactivating dozens of these reserve unit when suddenly the (Mongolian) Ikh khaany khairt akh dáé (me) had this hare-brained scheme about helping rebels in Africa, West Africa, along the Gulf of Guinea coast/Atlantic Ocean, far, far away, and it couldn't look like the Khanate was directly involved.They barely knew where Angola was. They had to look up Cabinda to figure out precisely where that was. They brought in some of their 'reservist' air staff to this briefing and one of them, a woman (roughly a third of the E&S 'fighting'/non-frontline forces were female), knew what was going on. Why?She had studied the combat records and performance of the types of aircraft she'd have to utilize... back in the 1980's and 90's and Angola had been a war zone rife with Soviet (aka Khanate) material back then. Since she was both on the ball, bright and knew the score, the War Council put her in overall command. She knew what was expected of her and off she went, new staff in hand. She was 64 years old, yet as ready and willing to serve as any 20 year old believer in the Cause.Subtlety, scarcity and audacity were the watchwords of the day. The Khanate couldn't afford any of their front-line aircraft for this 'expedition'. They really couldn't afford any of their second-rate stuff either. Fortunately, they had some updated third-rate war-fighting gear still capable of putting up an impressive show in combat ~ providing they weren't going up against a top tier opponents.For the 'volunteers' of the Union Air Force, this could very likely to be a one-way trip. They all needed crash courses (not a word any air force loves, I know) in Portuguese though hastily provided iPhones with 'apps' to act as translators were deemed to be an adequate stop-gap measure. Besides, they were advised to avoid getting captured at all cost. The E&S couldn't afford the exposure. Given the opportunity ~ this assignment really was going above and beyond ~ not one of these forty-six to sixty-seven year olds backed out.No, they rolled out fifty of their antiquated aircraft, designs dating back to the 1950's through the mid-70's, and prepared them for the over 10,000 km journey to where they were 'needed most'. 118 pilots would go (72 active plus 46 replacements) along with 400 ground crew and an equally aged air defense battalion (so their air bases didn't get blown up). Security would be provided by 'outsiders' ~ allies already on the ground and whatever rebels could be scrounged up. After the initial insertion, the Indian Air Force would fly in supplies at night into the Cabinda City and Soyo Airports.The composition,14 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 jet fighters ~ though she entered service in 1959, these planes' electronics were late 20th century and she was a renowned dogfighter. 12 were the Mig-21-97 modernized variant and the other two were Mig-21 UM two-seater trainer variants which could double as reconnaissance fighters if needed.14 Sukhoi Su-22 jet fighter-bombers ~ the original design, called the Su-17, came out in 1970, the first 12 were variants with the 22M4 upgrade were an early-80's package. The other 2 were Su-22U two-seat trainers which, like their Mig-21 comrades, doubled as reconnaissance fighters. The Su-22M4's would be doing the majority of the ground attack missions for the Cabindans, though they could defend themselves in aerial combat if necessary.6 Sukhoi Su-24M2 supersonic attack aircraft ~ the first model rolled off the production lines in the Soviet Union back in 1974. By far the heaviest planes in the Cabindan Air Force, the Su-24M2's would act as their 'bomber force' as well as anti-ship deterrence.8 Mil Mi-24 VM combat helicopters ~ introduced in 1972 was still a lethal combat machine today. Unlike the NATO helicopter force, the Mi-24's did double duty as both attack helicopter and assault transports at the same time.4 Mil Mi-8 utility helicopters, first produced in 1967. Three would act as troop/cargo transports (Mi-8 TP) while the fourth was configured as a mobile hospital (the MI-17 1VA).4 Antonov An-26 turboprop aircraft, two to be used as tactical transports to bring in supplies by day and two specializing in electronic intelligence aka listening to what the enemy was up to. Though it entered production in 1969, many still remained flying today.2 Antonov An-71M AEW&C twin-jet engine aircraft. These were an old, abandoned Soviet design the Earth & Sky had continued working on primarily because the current (1970's) Russian Airborne Early Warning and Control bird had been both huge and rather ineffective ~ it couldn't easily identify low-flying planes in the ground clutter so it was mainly only good at sea. Since the E&S planned to mostly fight over the land,They kept working on the An-71 which was basically 1977's popular An-72 with some pertinent design modifications (placing the engines below the wings instead of above them as on the -72 being a big one). To solve their radar problem, they stole some from the Swedish tech firm Ericsson, which hadn't been foreseen to be a problem before now.See, the Russians in the post-Soviet era created a decent AEW&C craft the E&S gladly stole and copied the shit out of for their front line units and it was working quite nicely ~ the Beriev A-50, and wow, were the boys in the Kremlin pissed off about that these days. Whoops, or was that woot?Now, the Khanate was shipping two An-71's down to Cabinda and somewhere along the line someone just might get a 'feel' for the style of radar and jamming the Cabindans were using aka the Swedish stuff in those An-71's. The Erieye radar system could pick out individual planes at 280 miles. The over-all system could track 60 targets and plot out 10 intercepts simultaneously. NATO, they were not, but in sub-Saharan Africa, there were none better.Anyway, so why was any of this important?Why the old folks with their ancient machines? As revealed, since the Earth & Sky had no idea when Temüjin would return, they were constantly squirreling away equipment. World War 2 gave them unequaled access to Soviet military technology and training.Afterwards, under Josef Stalin's direction, thousands of Russian and German engineers and scientists were exiled to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan who were then snatched up (reportedly died in the gulags/trying to escape) and the E&S began building mirror factories modeled on the 'then current' Soviet production lines.So, by the early 1950's, the E&S was building, flying and maintaining Soviet-style Antonov, Beriev, Ilyushin, Myasishchev, Mikoyan-Gurevich, Sukhoi, Tupolev and Yakovlev airplanes. First in small numbers because their pool of pilots and specialists was so small.The E&S remedied this by creating both their own 'private' flight academies and technical schools. They protected their activities with the judicious use of bribes (they were remarkably successful with their economic endeavors on both side of the Iron Curtain) and murders (including the use of the Ghost Tigers).By 1960, the proto-Khanate had an air force. Through the next two decades they refined and altered their doctrine ~ moving away from the Soviet doctrine to a more pure combined-arms approach (the Soviets divided their air power into four separate arms ~ ADD (Long Range Aviation), FA (Front Aviation), MTA (Military Transport Aviation) and the V-PVO (Soviet Air Defenses ~ which controlled air interceptors).).It wasn't until the collapse of the Soviet Union and the independence of the various former SSR's that the E&S program really began to hit its stride. Still, while Russia faltered, China's PLAAF (Peoples' Liberation Army Air Force) began to take off. Since the Chinese could produce so much more, the E&S felt it had to keep those older planes and crews up to combat readiness. The younger field crews and pilots flew the newer models as they rolled off the secret production lines.Then the Unification War appeared suddenly, the E&S-turned Khanate Air Force skunked their PLAAF rivals due to two factors, a surprise attack on a strategic level and the fatal poisoning of their pilots and ground crews before they even got into the fight. For those Chinese craft not destroyed on the ground, the effects of Anthrax eroded their fighting edge. Comparable technology gave the Khanate their critical victory and Air Supremacy over the most important battlefields.What did this meant for those out-of-date air crews and pilots who had been training to a razor's edge for a month now? Their assignment had been to face down the Russians if they invaded. They would take their planes up into the fight even though this most likely would mean their deaths, but they had to try.When Operation Fun House put Russia in a position where she wasn't likely to jump on the Khanate, this mission's importance faded. The Russian Air Force was far more stretched than the Khanate's between her agitations in the Baltic and her commitments in the Manchurian, Ukrainian, Chechen and Georgian theaters.With more new planes rolling off the production lines, these reservist units began dropping down the fuel priority list, which meant lowering their flight times thus readiness. Only my hare-brained scheme had short-circuited their timely retirement. Had I realized I was getting people's grandparents killed, I would have probably made the same call anyway. We needed them.The KanateThe Khanate's #1 air superiority dogfighter was the Mig-35F. The #2 was the Mig-29. No one was openly discussing the Khanate's super-stealthy "Su-50", if that was what it was, because its existence 'might' suggest the Khanate also stole technology from the Indian defense industry, along with their laundry list of thefts from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the PRC, Russia and half of NATO.Her top multi-role fighters were the Su-47, Su-35S and Su-30SM. The Su-30 'Flanker-C/MK2/MKI were their 2nd team with plenty of 3rd team Su-27M's still flying combat missions as well.Strike fighters? There weren't enough Su-34's to go around yet, so the Su-25MS remained the Khanate's dedicated Close Air Assault model.Medium transport aircraft? The An-32RE and An-38. They had small, large and gargantuan transports as well.Bombers? The rather ancient jet-powered Tu-160M2's and Tu-22M2's as well as the even older yet still worthwhile turboprops ~ from 1956's ~ the Tu-95M S16.Helicopters? While they still flew updated variants of the Mil Mi-8/17 as military transports, the more optimized Kamov Ka-52 and Mil Mi-28 had replaced them in the assault role.Bizarrely, the Khanate had overrun several Chinese production lines of the aircraft frames and components ~ enough to complete fairly modern PLAAF (Peoples Liberation Army Air Force) FC-1 and J-10 (both are small multi-role fighter remarkably similar to the US F-16 with the FC-1 being the more advanced model, using shared Chinese-Pakistani technology and was designed for export,).They did have nearly two dozen to send, but they didn't have the pilots and ground crews trained to work with them, plus the FC-1 cost roughly $32 million which wasn't fundage any legitimate Cabindan rebels could get their hands on, much less $768 million (and that would just be for the planes, not the weeks' worth of fuel, parts and munitions necessary for what was forthcoming).Meanwhile, except for the An-26, which you could get for under $700,000 and the An-71, which were only rendered valuable via 'black market tech', none of the turboprop and jet aircraft the Khanate was sending were what any sane military would normally want. The helicopters were expensive ~ the 'new' models Mi-24's cost $32 million while the Mi-17's set you back $17 million. The one's heading to Cabinda didn't look 'new'.The Opposition:In contrast, the Angolan Air Force appeared far larger and more modern. Appearances can be deceptive, and they were. Sure, the models of Russian and Soviet-made aircraft they had in their inventory had the higher numbers ~ the Su-25, -27 and -30 ~ plus they had Mig-21bis's, Mig-23's and Su-22's, but things like training and up-keep didn't appear to be priorities for the Angolans.When you took into account the rampant corruption infecting all levels of Angolan government, the conscript nature of their military, the weakness of their technical educational system, the complexity of any modern combat aircraft and the reality that poor sods forced into being Air Force ground crewmen hardly made the most inspired technicians, or most diligent care-takers of their 'valuable' stockpiles (which their officers all too often sold on the black market anyway), things didn't just look bleak for the Angolan Air Force, they were a tsunami of cumulative factors heading them for an epic disaster.It wasn't only their enemies who derided their Air Force's lack of readiness. Their allies constantly scolded them about it too. Instead of trying to fix their current inventory, the Angolans kept shopping around for new stuff. Since 'new'-new aircraft was beyond what they wanted to spend (aka put too much of a dent in the money they were siphoning off to their private off-shore accounts), they bought 'used' gear from former Soviet states ~ Belarus, Russia and Ukraine ~ who sold them stuff they had left abandoned in revetments (open to the elements to slowly rot) on the cheap.To add to the insanity, the Angolans failed to keep up their maintenance agreements so their newly fixed high-tech machines often either couldn't fly, or flew without critical systems, like radar, avionics and even radios. Maybe that wasn't for the worst because after spending millions on these occasionally-mobile paperweights, the Angolans bought the least technologically advanced missile, gun and rocket systems they could get to put on these flying misfortunes.On the spread sheets, Angola had 18 Su-30K's, 18 Su-27, 12 Su-25's, 14 Su-22's, 22 Mig-23's, 23 Mig-21bis's and 6 Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano (a turboprop aircraft tailor-made for counter-insurgency operations), 105 helicopters with some combative ability and 21 planes with some airlift capacity. That equated to 81 either air superiority, or multi-role jet fighters versus the 12 Union Air Force (actually the Bakongo Uni o de Cabinda e Zaire, For as Armadas de Liberta  o, For a Area ~ Liberation Armed Forces, Air Force (BUCZ-FAL-FA) Mig-21-97's.It would seem lopsided except for the thousands of hours of flight experience the 'Unionists' enjoyed over their Angolan rivals. You also needed to take into account the long training and fanatic dedication of their ground crews to their pilots and their craft. Then you needed to take into account every Unionist aircraft, while an older airframe design, had updated (usually to the year 2000) technology lovingly cared for, as if the survival of their People demanded it.A second and even more critical factor was the element of surprise. At least the PRC and the PLAAF had contingencies for attacks from their neighbors in the forefront of their strategic planning. The Angolans? The only country with ANY air force in the vicinity was the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and they had ceased being a threat with the end of Apartheid and the rise of majority Black rule in that country nearly two decades earlier.In the pre-dawn hours of 'Union Independence Day', the FAL-FA was going to smash every Angolan Air base and air defense facility within 375 miles of Cabinda (the city). Every three hours after that, they would be hitting another target within their designated 'Exclusion Zone'. Yes, this 'Exclusion Zone' included a 'tiny' bit of DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) territory. The DRC didn't have an air force to challenge them though, so,Inside this 'Exclusion Zone', anything moving by sea, river, road, rail, or air without Unionist governmental approval was subject to attack, which would require neutral parties to acknowledge some semblance of a free and independent B U C Z. Worse for Angola, this 'Zone' included Angola's capital and its largest port, Luanda, plus four more of their ten largest urban centers. This could be an economic, military and humanitarian catastrophe if mishandled.The Angolan Army did not have significant anti-aircraft assets. Why would they? Remember, no one around them had much of an air force to worry about. The FAL-FA in turn could hit military convoys with TV-guided munitions 'beyond line of sight', rendering what they did have useless. It got worse for the Army after dark. The FAL-FA could and would fly at night whereas the average Angolan formation had Zip-Zero-Nadda night fighting capacity.Then geography added its own mountain of woes. As far as Cabinda was concerned, there was no direct land line to their border from Angola. Their coastal road only went as far as the port of Soyo where the Congo River hit the South Atlantic Ocean. Across that massive gap was the DRC where the road was not picked back up. Far up the coast was the DRC town of Muanda (with an airport) and though they did have a road which went north, it did not continue to the Cabindan border.Nope. To get at Cabinda from the south meant a long, torturous travel through northeastern Angola, into the heart of the DRC then entailed hooking west to some point 'close' to the Cabindan frontier before finally hoofing it overland through partially cleared farmland and jungle. Mind you, the DRC didn't have a native air force capable of protecting the Angolans in their territory so,In fact the only 'road' to Cabinda came from the Republic of Congo (Congo) to the north and even that was a twisted route along some really bad, swampy terrain. This had been the pathway of conquest the Angolans took 39 years earlier. The difference being the tiny bands of pro-independence Cabindan guerillas back then couldn't hold a candle to the Amazons fighting to free Cabinda this time around in numbers, zeal, training and up-to-date equipment.Next option ~ to come by sea. They would face a few, stiff problems, such as the FAL-FA having ship-killer missiles, the Angolan Navy not being able to defend them and the Unionists having no compunction to not strike Pointe-Noire in the 'not so neutral' Republic of the Congo if they somehow began unloading Angolan troops. It seemed the Republic of the Congo didn't have much of an Air Force either.Before you think the FAL-FA was biting off more than they could chew, Cabinda, the province, was shaped somewhat like the US State of Delaware, was half the size of Connecticut (Cabinda was 2,810 sq. mi. to Conn.'s 5,543 sq. mi.) and only the western 20% was relatively open countryside where the Angolan Army's only advantage ~ they possessed armed fighting vehicles while the 'Unionists' did not (at this stage of planning) ~ could hopefully come into play.Centered at their capital, Cabinda (City), jets could reach any point along their border within eight minutes. Helicopters could make it in fifteen. To be safe, some of the FAL-FA would base at the town of Belize which was in the northern upcountry and much tougher to get at with the added advantage the Angolans wouldn't be expecting the FAL-FA to be using the abandoned airfield there, at least initially.Where they afraid attacking Angolan troops in the DRC would invite war with the DRC? Sure, but letting the Angolans reach the border unscathed was worse. Besides, the DRC was in such a mess it needed 23,000 UN Peacekeepers within her borders just to keep the country from falling apart. Barring outside, read European, intervention, did "Democratically-elected since 2001" President (for Life) Joseph Kabila want the FAL-FA to start dropping bombs on his capital, Kinshasa, which was well within reach of all their aircraft?Congo (the country), to the north, wasn't being propped up by the UN, or anything else except ill intentions. In reality, it hardly had much of a military at all. Its officer corps was chosen for political reliability, not merit, or capability. Their technology was old Cold War stuff with little effort to update anything and, if you suspected corruption might be a problem across all spectrums of life, you would 'probably' be right about that too.If you suspected the current President had been in charge for a while, you would be correct again (1979-1992 then 2001- and the 'whoops' was when he accidently let his country experiment with democracy which led to two civil wars). If you suspected he was a life-long Communist (along with the Presidents of the DRC and Angola), you'd be right about that as well. Somehow their shared Marxist-Leninist-Communist ideology hadn't quite translated over to alleviating the grinding poverty in any of those countries despite their vast mineral wealth,At this point in the region's history, little Cabinda had everything to gain by striving for independence and the vast majority of 'warriors' who could possibly be sent against her had terribly little to gain fighting and dying trying to stop them from achieving her goal. After all, their lives weren't going to get any better and with the Amazons ability ~ nay willingness ~ to commit battlefield atrocities, those leaders were going to find it hard going to keep sending their men off to die.And then, it got even worse.See, what I had pointed out was there were two oil refineries in Angola, and neither was in Cabinda. Cabinda would need a refinery to start making good on their oil wealth ~ aka economically bribe off the Western economies already shaken over the Khanate's first round of aggressions.But wait! There was an oil refinery just across the Congo River from Cabinda ~ which meant it was attached to mainland Angola. That had to be a passel of impossible news, right?Nope. As I said earlier, it seemed the people of northern Angola were the same racial group as the Cabindans AND majority Catholic while the ruling clique wasn't part of their ethnic confederacy plus the farther south and east into Angola you went, the less Catholic it became.But it got better. This province was historically its own little independent kingdom (called the Kingdom of Kongo) to boot! It had been abolished by Portugal back in 1914.The 'good' news didn't end there. Now, it wasn't as if the leadership of Angola was spreading the wealth around to the People much anyway, but these northerners had been particularly left out of this Marxist version of 'Trickle Down' economics.How bad was this? This northwestern province ~ called Zaire ~ didn't have any railroads, or paved roads, linking it to the rest of the freaking country. The 'coastal road' entered the province, but about a third of the way up ran into this river, which they'd failed to bridge (you had to use a single track bridge farther to the northeast, if you can believe it). It wasn't even a big river. It was still an obstacle though.How did the Angolan government and military planned to get around? Why by air and sea, of course. Well, actually by air. Angola didn't have much of a merchant marine, or Navy, to make sealift a serious consideration. Within hours of the 'Union Declaration of Independence' anything flying anywhere north of the Luanda, the capital of Angola, would essentially be asking to be blown out of the sky.Along the border between Zaire province and the rest of Angola were precisely two chokepoints. By 'chokepoints', I meant places where a squad (10 trained, modernly-equipped troopers) could either see everything for miles & miles over pretty much empty space along a river valley and the only bridge separating Zaire province from the south, or overlook a ravine which the only road had to pass through because of otherwise bad-ass, broken terrain.Two.Zaire Province had roughly the same population as Cabinda ~ 600,000. Unlike Cabinda, which consisted of Cabinda City plus a few tiny towns and rugged jungles, Zaire had two cities ~ Soyo, with her seventy thousand souls plus the refinery at the mouth of the Congo River, and M'banza-Kongo, the historical capital of the Kingdom of Kongo, spiritual center of the Bakongo People (who included the Cabindans) and set up in the highlands strategically very reminiscent of Điện Biàn Phủ.Of Zaire's provincial towns, the only other strategic one was N'Zeto with her crappy Atlantic port facility and 2,230 meter grass airport. The town was the northern terminus of the National Road 100 ~ the Coastal Road. It terminated because of the Mebridege River. There wasn't a bridge at N'Zeto though there was a small one several miles upstream. N'Zeto was also where the road from provinces east of Zaire ended up, so you had to have N'Zeto ~ and that tiny bridge ~ to move troops overland anywhere else in Zaire Province.So you would think it would be easy for the Angolan Army to defend then, except of how the Amazons planned to operate. They would infiltrate the area first then 'rise up in rebellion'. Their problem was the scope of the operation had magnified in risk of exposure, duration and forces necessary for success.The serious issue before Saint Marie and the Host in Africa were the first two. They could actually move Amazons from Brazil and North America to bolster their numbers for the upcoming offensive. Even in the short-short term, equipment wouldn't be a serious problem. What the Amazons dreaded was being left in a protracted slugfest with the Angolan Army which the Condottieri could jump in on. The Amazons exceedingly preferred to strike first then vanish.There was reason to believe a tiny number could have stayed behind in Cabinda to help the locals prepare their military until they could defend themselves. They would need more than a hundred Amazons if Cabinda wanted to incorporate Zaire. The answer was to call back their newfound buddy, the Great Khan. While he didn't have much else he could spare (the Khanate was ramping up for their invasion of the Middle East after all, the Kurds needed the help), he had other allies he could call on.India couldn't help initially since they were supposed to supply the 'Peace-keepers' once a cease-fire had been arranged. That left Temujin with his solid ally, Vietnam, and his far shakier allies, the Republic of China and Japan.First off ~ Japan could not help, which meant they couldn't supply troops who might very well end up dead, or far worse, captured.. What they did have was a surplus of older equipment the ROC troops were familiar with, so while the ROC was gearing up for their own invasion of mainland China in February, they were willing to help the Chinese kill Angolans, off the books, of course.The ROC was sending fifteen hundred troops the Khanate's way to help in this West African adventure with the understanding they'd be coming home by year's end. With Vietnam adding over eight hundred of her own Special Forces, the Amazons had the tiny 'allied' army they could leave shielding Cabinda/Zaire once the first round of blood-letting was over.To be 'fair', the Republic of China and Vietnam asked for 'volunteers'. It wasn't like either country was going to declare war on Angola directly. Nearly a thousand members of Vietnam's elite 126th Regiment of the 5th Brigade (Đặc cáng bộ) took early retirement then misplaced their equipment as they went to update their visas and inoculations before heading out for the DRC (some would be slipping over the DRC/Cabindan border).On Taiwan, it was the men and women of the 602nd Air Cavalry Brigade, 871st Special Operations Group and 101st Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion who felt the sudden desire to 'seek enlightenment elsewhere, preferably on another continent'.They too were off to the Democratic Republic of Congo, man that country was a mess and their border security wasn't worth writing home about, that's for damn sure, via multiple Southeast Asian nations. Besides, they were being issued fraudulently visas which showed them to be from the People's Republic of China, not the ROC/Taiwan. If they were captured, they were to pretend to "be working for a Communist Revolution inside Angola and thus to be setting all of Africa on fire!" aka be Mainland Chinese.There, in the DRC, these Chinese stumbled across, some Japanese. These folks hadn't retired. No. They were on an extended assignment for the UN's mission in, the DRC. OH! And look! They'd brought tons of surplus, outdated Japanese Self Defense Forces' equipment with them, and there just so happened to be some Taiwanese who had experience in using such equipment (both used US-style gear).And here was Colonel Yoshihiro Isami of the Chūō Sokuō Shūdan (Japan's Central Readiness Force) wondering why he and his hastily assembled team had just unloaded,18 Fuji/Bell AH-1S Cobra Attack helicopters,6 Kawasaki OH-6D Loach Scout helicopters,12 Fuji-Bell 204-B-2 Hiyodori Utility helicopters,6 Kawasaki/Boeing CH-47JA Chinook Transport helicopters and4 Mitsubishi M U-2L-1 Photo Reconnaissance Aircraft.Yep! 46 more aircraft for the FAL-FA!Oh, and if this wasn't 'bad enough', the Chinese hadn't come alone. They'd brought some old aircraft from their homes to aid in the upcoming struggle. Once more, these things were relics of the Cold War yet both capable fighting machines and, given the sorry state of the opposition, definitely quite deadly. A dozen F-5E Tiger 2000 configured primarily for air superiority plus two RF-5E Tigergazer for reconnaissance, pilots plus ground crews, of course.Thus, on the eve of battle, the FAL-FA had become a true threat. Sure, all of its planes (and half of its pilots) were pretty old, but they were combat-tested and in numbers and experience no other Sub-Saharan African nation could match.The Liberation Ground Forces:But wait, there was still the niggling little problem of what all those fellas were going to fight with once they were on the ground. Assault/Battle rifles, carbines, rifles, pistols, PDW, SMGs as bullets, grenades and RPG's were all terrifyingly easy to obtain. The coast of West Africa was hardly the Port of London as far as customs security went. They were going to need some bigger toys and their host nations were going to need all their native hardware for their upcoming battles at home.And it wasn't like you could advertise for used IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicles), APCs (armored personnel carriers) and tanks on e-Bay, Amazon.com, or Twitter. If something modern US, or NATO, was captured rolling around the beautiful Angolan countryside, shooting up hostile Angolans, all kinds of head would roll in all kinds of countries, unless the country,A) had an Executive Branch and Judiciary who wouldn't ask (or be answering) too many uncomfortable questions,B) wasn't all that vulnerable to international pressure,C) really needed the money and,D) didn't give a fuck their toys would soon be seen on BBC/CNN/Al Jazeera blowing the ever-living crap out of a ton of Africans aka doing what they were advertised to do and doing it very well in the hands of capable professionals.And politics was kind enough to hand the freedom-loving people of Cabinda & Zaire a winner, and it wasn't even from strangers, or at least people all that strange to their part of the Globe. If you would have no idea who to look for, you wouldn't be alone.That was the magic of the choice. See, the last three decades had seen the entire Globe take a colossal dump on them as a Nation and a People. They were highly unpopular for all sorts of things, such as Crimes Against Humanity and 'no', we were not talking about the Khanate.We would be talking about Република Србија / Republika Srbija aka Serbia aka the former Yugoslavia who had watched all their satellite minions (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia) slip away. Despite being reduced to a tiny fraction of their former selves thus fighting two incredibly brutal and bloody World Wars for nothing, Serbia insisted on maintaining a robust armaments industry.Mind you, they didn't make the very best stuff on the planet. That didn't stop them from trying though. Of equal importance was their geographic location and the above mentioned desire for some hard currency without asking too many questions. The geography was simple, you could move even heavy gear unnoticed from central Serbia to the Montenegrin port of Bar by rail and load them up on freighters and off to the Congo you went.The Serbians produced an APC called the BVP M-80A's which weren't blowing anyone's minds away when they started rolling off the production lines back in 1982, plus some over-eager types on the Serbian Army's payroll sweetened the deal by offering 'the rebels' some BVP M-80 KC's and a KB as well.Then they slathered on the sugary-sweet Maple syrup by upgrading a few of the M-80A's to BVP M-98A's. Why would they be so generous? The KC's and KB were the Command & Control variants, so that made sense (C = company & B = battalion commander). The -98A had never been tested in the field before and they were kind of curious how the new turrets (which was the major difference) would behave. 'Our' procurement agents didn't quibble. We needed the gear.Besides, these Slavic entrepreneurs gave them an inside track on some 'disarmed/mothballed' Czech (introduced in 1963) armored mobile ambulances and Polish BWP-1 (first rolled out in 1966) APC's which were either in, or could be quickly configured into, the support variants those ground-fighters would need. The 'disarmed' part was 'fixable', thanks to both the Serbians and Finland. The 'missing' basic weaponry was something the Serbians could replace with virtually identical equipment.It just kept getting better. Unknown to me at the time, the Finnish firm, Patria Hágglunds, had sold twenty-two of their 'most excellent' AMOS turrets ~ they are a twin 120 mm mortar system ~ then the deal fell through. Whoops! Should have guarded that warehouse better. Those bitches were on a cargo plane bound for Albania inside of six hours.The ammunition for them was rather unique. Thankfully, it was uniquely sold by the Swiss, who had no trouble selling it to Serbia, thank you very much! Twenty-two BWP-1's became mobile artillery for the Unionist freedom fighters, though I understood the ship ride with the Serbian and Chinese technicians was loads of fun as they struggled to figured out how to attach those state-of-the-art death-dealing turrets to those ancient contraptions.To compensate, the Serbians added (aka as long as our money was good) two Nora B-52 155 mm 52-calibre mobile artillery pieces and one battery of Orkan CER MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) for long-range artillery, two batteries of their Oganj 2000 ER MRLS for medium range carnage and six batteries of their M-94 MRLS for 'close support' as well. More field-testing new gear for the "freedom fighters" We also managed to 'purchase' ten M-84AS Main Battle tanks plus an M-84A1 armor recovery vehicle. It should have been twelve tanks, but two had 'loading issues'.Not to be deterred, our busy little procurement-beavers discovered four tanks no one was using, in neighboring Croatia. Why wasn't anyone immediately keen on their placement? They were two sets of prototypes, Croatia's improvements on the M-84; the M-95 Degman which was a 'failed redesign' and the M-84D, which was a vast up-grade for the M-84 line which had been sidelined by the 2008 Global economic collapse, after which the project stagnated.It seemed they were all in working order because late one night 'my people' exited a Croatian Army base with them, never to be seen again, until two weeks later when an intrepid news crew caught the distinctive form of the M-95 sending some sweet 125 mm loving the Angolan Army's way. Whoops yet again! At least they hit what they were aiming at and destroyed what they hit, right?By then, millions of other people would be going 'what the fuck?' right along with them as Cabinda's camouflage- and mask-wearing rebel army was laying the smack-down on the Angolans. That was okay; over a million 'free Cabindan Unionists' were in the same boat. Over a thousand Asians with their mostly-female militant translators were right there to prop up their 'Unionist Allies', but then they were the ones with the tanks, armored vehicles, planes and guns, so they were less worried than most.To pilot these tanks, APC, IFV and man this artillery, they had to go back to the Khanate. Sure enough, they had some old tankers used to crewing the T-72 from which the M-84's and -95 Degman were derived. They'd also need drivers for those BVP M-80A's and Polish BWP-1's and OT-64 SKOT's... who were, again, derived from old Soviet tech (just much better). The Serbian artillery was similar enough to Soviet stuff, but with enough new tech to make it 'more fun' for the reservists to 'figure out' how to use.More volunteers for the Liberation Armed Forces! More Apple sales, great apps and voice modulation software so that the vehicle commanders would be heard communicating in Portuguese if someone was eavesdropping. As a final offering the Turkish Navy spontaneously developed some plans to test their long range capabilities by going to, the South Atlantic.On the final leg they would have six frigates and two submarines, enough to give any navy in the region, which wasn't Brazil, something to think about. This was a show of force, not an actual threat though. If anyone called their bluff, the Khanate-Turkish forces would have to pull back. These were not assets my Brother, the Great Khan, could afford to gamble and lose.If someone didn't call that bluff, he was also sending two smaller, older corvettes and three even smaller, but newer, fast attack boats, a "gift" to the Unionists ASAP. The frigates would then race home, they had 'other' issues to deal with while the submarines would hang around for a bit. The naval gift was necessitated by the reality the Unionists would have to press their claim to their off-shore riches and that required a naval force Angola couldn't hope to counter.As things were developing, it was reckoned since a build-up of such momentous land and air power couldn't be disguised, it had to happen in a matter of days ~ four was decided to be the minimum amount of time. More than that and the government of the Democratic Republic might start asking far too many questions our hefty bribes and dubious paperwork couldn't cover. Less than that would leave the task forces launching operations with too little a chance of success.Our biggest advantage was audacity. The buildup would happen 100 km up the Congo River from Soyo, the primary target of the Southern Invasion, in the DRC's second largest port city, Boma. Though across the river was Angolan territory, there was nothing there. The city of roughly 160,000 would provide adequate cover for the initial stage of the invasion.There they grouped their vehicles & Khanate drivers with Amazon and Vietnamese combat teams. The Japanese were doing the same for their 'Chinese' counterparts for their helicopter-borne forces. Getting all their equipment in working order in the short time left was critical as was creating some level of unit dynamic. Things were chaotic. No one was happy. They were all going in anyway.What had gone wrong?While most children her age were texting their schoolmates, or tackling their homework, Aya Ruger ~ the alias of Nasusara Assiyaiá hamai ~ was getting briefings of her global, secret empire worth hundreds of billions and those of her equally nefarious compatriots. She received a very abbreviated version of what the Regents received, delivered by a member of Shawnee Arinniti's staff.When Aya hopped off her chair unexpectedly, everyone tensed. Her bodyguards' hands went to their sidearms and Lorraine (her sister by blood), also in the room on this occasion, stood and prepared to tackle her 'former' sibling to the ground if the situation escalated into an assassination attempt. No such attack was generated, so the security ratcheted down and the attendant returned her focus to her Queen. Aya paced four steps, turned and retraced her way then repeated the action three more times."How many people live in the combined areas?" she asked."The combined areas? Of Cabinda and Zaire?""Yes.""I," the woman referenced her material, "roughly 1.1 million.""What is the yearly value of the offshore oil and natural gas production?""Forty-nine billion, eighty hundred and sixty-seven million by our best estimates at this time,""How many live in Soyo City proper?""Roughly 70,000.""We take Soyo," she spoke in a small yet deliberate voice. "We take and hold Soyo as an independent city-state within the Cabindan-Zaire Union. From the maps it appears Soyo is a series of islands. It has a port and airport. It has an open border to an ocean with weaker neighbors all around.""What of the, Zairians?""Bakongo. As a people they are called the Bakongo," Aya looked up at the briefer. "We relocate those who need to work in Soyo into a new city, built at our expense, beyond the southernmost water barrier. The rest we pay to relocate elsewhere in Zaire, or Cabinda."By the looks of those around her, Aya realized she needed to further explain her decisions."This is more than some concrete home base for our People," she began patiently. "In the same way it gives our enemies a clearly delineated target to attack us, it is a statement to our allies we won't cut and run if things go truly bad.""In the same way it will provide us with diplomatic recognition beyond what tenuous handouts we are getting from Cáel Wakko Ishara's efforts through JIKIT. Also, it is a reminder we are not like the other Secret Societies in one fundamental way, we are not a business concern, or a religion. We are a People and people deserve some sort of homeland. We have gone for so long without.""But Soyo?" the aide protested. "We have no ties to it, and it backs up to, nothing.""Northern Turkey and southern Slovakia mean nothing to us now as well," Aya debated. "No place on Earth is any more precious than another. As for backing up to nothing, no. You are incorrect. It backs into a promise from our allies in the Earth & Sky that if we need support, they know where to park their planes and ships."Aya was surrounded with unhappy, disbelieving looks."The Great Khan is my mamētu meáeda," she reminded them, "and I have every reason to believe he completely grasps the concept's benefits and obligations."The looks confirmed 'but he's a man' to the tiny Queen."Aya, are you sure about this?" Lorraine was the first to break decorum."Absolutely. Do you know what he sent me when he was informed of my, ascension to the Queendom?""No," Lorraine admitted."We must go horse-riding sometime soon, Daughter of Cáel, Queen of the Amazons."More uncertain and unconvinced looks."He didn't congratulate me, or send any gifts. He could have and you would think he would have, but he didn't. He knew the hearts of me & my Atta and we weren't in the celebratory mood. No. The Great Khan sent one sentence which offered solace and quiet, atop a horse on a windswept bit of steppe."Nothing.Sigh. "I know this sounds Cáel-ish," Aya admitted, "but I strongly believe this is what we should do. We are giving the Cabindans and Bakongo in Zaire independence and the promise of a much better life than what they now face. We will be putting thousands of our sisters' lives on the line to accomplish this feat and well over two hundred million dollars.""What about governance of the city ~ Soyo?" the aide forged ahead."Amazon law," Aya didn't hesitate. "We will make allowances for the security forces of visiting dignitaries and specific allied personnel, but otherwise it will be one massive Amazon urban freehold.""I cannot imagine the Golden Mare, or the Regents, will be pleased," the attendant bowed her head."It is a matter of interconnectivity," Aya walked up and touched the woman's cheek with the back of her small hand. "We could liberate then abandon Cabinda with the hope a small band could help them keep their independence. Except we need the refinery at Soyo so the people of Cabinda can truly support that liberty.""So, we must keep Soyo and to keep Soyo, we must keep Zaire province. There is no other lesser border which makes strategic sense ~ a river, highlands, a massive river, an ocean ~ those are sustainable frontiers. You can't simply keep Soyo and not expect the enemy to strike and destroy that refinery, thus we must take Zaire province.""But the Bakongo of Zaire cannot defend themselves and will not be able to do so for at least a year, if not longer. That means we must do so, and for doing so, they will give us Soyo and we will be honest stewards of their oil wealth. We cannot expect any other power to defend this new Union and if we don't have a land stake we will be portrayed as mercenaries and expelled by hostile international forces.""So, for this project to have any chance of success, we must stay, fight and have an acknowledged presence, and if you can think of an alternative, please let me know," she exhaled."What if the Cabindans and Bakongo resist?""It is 'us', or the Angolans and they know how horrible the Angolans can be. Didn't you say the average person their lives on just $2 a day?""Yes.""We can do better than that," Aya insisted."How?" the aide persisted. "I mean, 'how in a way which will be quickly evident and meaningful?'""Oh," Aya's tiny brow furrowed. Her nose twitched as she rummaged through the vast storehouse of her brain."Get me in touch with William A. Miller, Director of the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service. He should be able to help me navigate the pathways toward getting aid and advisors into those two provinces ASAP.""I'll let Katrina know," the attendant made the notation on her pad."No. Contact him directly," Aya intervened. "We established a, rapport when we met. I think he might responded positively to a chance to mentor me in foreign relations.""Really?" Lorraine's brows arched."Yes," Aya chirped."Are you sure, Nasusara?" the attendant stared. She used 'Nasusara' whenever she thought Aya had a 'horrible' idea instead of a merely a 'bad' one."Yes. He owes me. Last time we met I didn't shoot him.""Didn't?" the woman twitched."Yes. I drew down on him with my captured Chinese QSW-06. I didn't want to kill him, but I felt I was about to have to kill Deputy National Security Advisor Blinken and he was the only other person in the room both armed and capable of stopping me.""Why is he still alive?""Cáel Ishara saw through my distraction and then took my gun from me, asked for it actually," she shyly confessed."Would you have shot him?" the aide inquired."What do you think?" Aya smiled.And Then:So, given t

Today, we expect and anticipate an answer to every limitation or problem to come through technology. Our idolatrous faith in technology even extends into the realm of life after death.What human scientists have started to conceptualize God has been talking about from the beginning. God says: I can do this. I proved it through the resurrection of my son Jesus (witnessed and explained in my bible). 

偶像大師XLoveLive!的世紀級大聯合演出，讓全世界的P和LLer都雲集在東京巨蛋，現在就聽聽有參戰的一位P說說這次盛事的情況吧！主持：傑特、B方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779

 2023年好遊戲一大堆，但垃圾遊戲也一大堆，還未過年就有雜誌選出年度十大爛遊戲了。主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779

 年初遊戲界最大震撼彈一定要數 Palworl。將多種要素揉合為一算是抄襲還是創新?這次嘗試從法律從遊戲開發等角度,梳理並澄清各方觀點。 主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779

 自從京亞尼工作室大火慘劇之後創作人對於不實的抄襲指控超級敏感，幾原邦彥就反控告他抄襲的人勝訴，比起還個清白更重要是阻止那些人的無聊妄想而帶來的危機。主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779 

 2024日本第一週就連橫出事，先是能登半島大震災，然後是羽田空港撞機，還有火車斬人事件，幾乎天天都有大事，日本人該不該找幾個政客去祭神了？主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779

過了夢幻的異次元Fes之後年末最後的戲界大事The Game Awards 2023，不過比起伯德之門3可以拿幾個獎，遊戲新作發表才是最重要的，果然大型遊戲發表活動有其存在的必要，只不過不是E3。主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779

 自我認知第一次出事開始籌備主題,第二次出事錄音,第三次出事出街,韓國男女問題燒到ACG還真是定期來一劑。所幸最少這一次,有個算是正面的結果…吧?主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779

應該說是出櫃還是宣傳？很多人都知鈴木愛奈和花井美春是姊妹，但二人一直都沒表示，直到新作動畫二人飾演雙生子角色時才公開，算是找到一個好時機吧？主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779

 是不是本(2023)年度最爛作不好說,但肯定是年內最大的遊戲詐騙案。 主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779

因為yoasobi又令到老掉牙的話題再浮上來：日本唱片大賞排斥動畫歌？而因為逃稅太嚴重，日本政府打算修改退稅方法。主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779

 遊戲界的「新城獎」TGA公佈候選名單，在名作連發的23年讓這個其實並不怎樣受注目的獎突然火紅起來。水管嚴打adblock竟然有用戶控告Google?主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779

Jonah's story challenges assumptions. Assumptions about what it means to be “chosen”… not a free ticket but a responsibility. Assumptions about the power of human freedom within the framework of prophecy and the will of God. The account we have of Jonah sticks out as very unique within the 12 minor prophets. Putting Jonah among the 12 minor prophets asks us to consider it in relation to those books and their message. The story of Jonah questions overly simplistic ideas some people, may have about prophecy. Placement among the 12 minor prophets offers a thoughtful antidote to false assumptions held by people in 500 B.C. … the 1st century A.D. …  even 2024 A.D.l Particularism - the idea that God only cares about the people of Israel [in our day we might apply it to the Church of God]. l Determinism/Fatalism - the idea that outcomes cannot change. Which can lead to pessimism and apathy about the future.

 近日信和BL漫畫「被勸喻」落架事件,開門見山的說,並不是與近年出版自由收窄的敘事,而是香港跟日本制度和習慣本身的差別一直被忽略,到認真執行起來的落差,加上前線不學無術鬧出來的無罔之災有些人硬是要扭曲事件來符合其論述,實在有夠噁心主持：末日幽靈、傑特方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779 https://format-channel.blogspot.com/2023/12/474bilibili.html

Jonah 1:1 this verse allows us to find Jonah in 1 Kings 14:23-25. He came from a town in northern Israel on the south coast of the sea of Galilee near Nazareth. He appears to be a part of the  company of prophets surrounding the king of the norther tribes… Jeroboam II. The time frame would be 780 BC.... about 50 years before northern Israel would fall to the Assyrians.Why was Jonah giving Jeroboam II prophecies of victories at the same time Amos and Hosea were dishing out such hard criticism?

 半年前錄有關bilibili停更潮,雖然因為踩煞車,退市潮未有出現,但靠燒錢換市場的「新經濟」無以為繼仍舊持續發生。不過B站相對來說還不至於是空中樓閣,只是回到那個從窮酸宅宅身上要錢的年代而已。 主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779

Why Proper Teaching About the Holy Spirit MattersTeaching the holy spirit is a third person in a trinity causes confusion. What the bible actually reveals is a better, and more functional, explanation about how God is at work within you… of how you can and will be at one with God… how you can become like Him in mind and character… and how you can enter into the universe ruling God family.The trinity teaching makes God more remote, self contained, and strange than actual scriptural teaching. The scriptural way in which God presents Himself is as a family. A family which achieves oneness through a unity of mind, will and purpose. A family that you can be part of… but if you do want to be part of it you have to change the way you think and behave. You can join a family… you cannot join a trinity.The roles of Father and Son clearly present God as a family. The inclusion of a holy spirit a third divine person doesn't fit... what is it? An eccentric uncle? A cousin? No, the holy spirit is not presented as part of any recognizable family member.The family pattern also portrays the importance of authority and submission as the means whereby peace and harmony will be achieved (now and in eternity). The Father and the Son are easily understandable pictures of authority and submission balanced with love and respectIncluding the Holy Spirit as a third person gets us off track. Not only does it not have a clear place in any family pattern... it does not fit any recognizable pattern of authority or submission.

Knowing & Understanding GodJeremiah 9:23-24 God wants us to know and understand Him... and He wants us to then pattern our lives after what we know. Because that is how we will get joy and pleasure from the gift of eternal life. We know and understand Him through 1) what He does (hesed, exercises kindness, grace, mercy) and 2) what He says (guidelines for justice and righteousness).What He Does: the record of Israel's history... is there to show YHWH in action… ready to bless with every good thing, but also ready to judge righteousness and justice, but with mercy. The Psalms & Prophets could be seen as reflections on what we come to know about God through His actions.What He Says: God has given us a foundation of laws, statutes, and behavioral case studies. These are God's ideals for human interaction.Then… God revealed Himself to us even more powerfully through the life and ministry of Jesus. God became a human being so that we might know God better (and visa versa).The TrinityHowever, most professing Christians (Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox) insist that God must be understood in a very different manner... the trinity. 

 又到了Comiketh的派位時間，今次竟然又出現「伊東ライブ狀態？英國金搖杆獎伯德之門3大熱勝出，而美國的演員工會罷工終於結束。主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779

 結論：無事發生,一切繼續。除了花生,也探討政變的前因後果,背後就是兩種理念的衝突。只是由金主到員工甚至使用者,都站在了SAM哥的那邊。主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779

 在特攝圈也算是薄有名氣的池田純矢竟然因欺詐被捕？BLIZZCON在微軟收購後第一次展開，另外中國SNS當紅到一定程度就要公開新名。主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd X Format-ACG動漫遊戲討論分享區：https://twitter.com/i/communities/1727884384731365779

 鬧得聲優圈叫苦連天的發票制是什麼？現在就來分析一下這個根本是向窮人開刀的制度吧！主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

 老友記的「Chandler」Matthew Perry離世，讓無數老友記迷大受打擊；『傳說』名作夜勒病棟重製，男主角會有配音嗎？主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

 TGS 2023真正地回復正常，經過三年的混沌，真的能回到以前的東京遊戲展嗎？主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

本來有人自稱是原作者找真正的原作者並不奇怪，但經過京動大火事件就不能當成笑話來看了，另外Diablo 4超慘烈的第一賽季，天怒人怨到為了留負評竟然去買Steam版就只為了洗版也夠厲害。主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

 征服日本全國所有高塔-為了一個聽來有趣但做起來超麻煩的挑戰，Lord of Nightmaret化了半個月走遍全日本，就聽聽他難得的有謀大挑戰吧！主持：傑特、Lord of Nightmare 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

白金工作室的代表、也是遊戲界有名的網上戰神（笑）的神谷英樹決定離開有份創立的白金工作室，Bayonetta的未來會是？主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

 Apple「快到嚇你一跳」發表會公佈了M3晶片、以及Macbook Prov以及更新了的M3 iMac，3nm製程的晶片能再次力壓各太廠成為最快的晶片？主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

ヒロユキ算是很受歡迎的漫畫家，但竟然因為玩手錶而欠一屁股債，還把故事畫成漫畫，以一個經常動畫化的人氣漫畫家竟然搞成這樣也太誇張了吧？主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

 有如M1橫空出世的震撼,高通X Elite再次衝擊PC市場,尤其是它並不會像M1般Apple限定,甚至說不定能為PC改朝換代,結束X86的王朝。但近期來看,成敗很看X86-ARM的轉譯做成如何,像隔壁rosetta2就很成功了,這不是高通能話事的…其實甚至也不是微軟能話事就是了 主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

神谷英樹離開他有份創立的白金工作室，最大的擔心是Bayonetta 4會如何？主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

 美國商務部對中國(及香港)的禁令加強,遊戲顯示卡4090赫然在列。在混亂的消息間,似乎既好像很大件事,亦好像無回事。對玩家影響多大,視乎零售批核的寬鬆度,至於制裁效果…你甚麼時候產生了會有效果的錯覺? 主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

漫畫流出最新刊的事竟然可以鬧到上新聞也很誇張，只是之後的劇情發展，鬧這麼大的意義是？主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

 一年四季的任天堂線上發表會，雖然今年給人吐槽是瑪利歐發表會，但吹脹的是展示的遊戲仍然每一隻都好像非玩不可。主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

 Starfield真的話題不斷，由大戰伯德之門3到瘋狂吐槽bug太多再到連另一隻遊戲無人深空也炒起來，果然是年度話題之作。主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

We proclaim the coming kingdom of God... like Jesus did, like the apostles did…  and the early Church did. We know the rule of God on earth  does not come about by human efforts or pretensions of progress... the rule of God on earth begins with the return of Christ preceded by clear signs and events foretold by Jesus and the prophets. Like the disciples we ask and wonder... when will it come?

一年一度的Apple iPhone發表會，雖然每年都給人說沒創意設計隨便乜乜七七，但出來還是必然買爆，今年有USB-C接頭算是大改進了。主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

 兩大作Starfield和伯德之門3正面對決！相對一致激讚的伯德之門3，starfield卻很兩極？主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

Unity提出新收費方案全業界一齊反枱，最後跪低結束，究竟搞邊一科？主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

 開拍前幾乎一致看衰的真人版One Piece意外地拍得不錯，不論是不是原作迷都給很不錯的高評價，是年度大驚奇？主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

 前後陰差陽錯,C102成了近年唯一一次無任何限制的コミケ,從這次的表現,來看看未來的展望。 主持：傑特、末日幽靈 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

 曾經是遊戲界一大盛事的Blizzon要復辦了，不過先不談現在這家公司的名聲，明年他們會變成MScon嗎？主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

公認最文藝風（？）的蘿莉漫雜誌LO宣傳佈轉雙月刊，加上各網上付費投稿平台打擊蘿莉向作品，二次元蘿莉控的日子是越來越難過了。主持：傑特、末日幽靈方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

 真正的回到正常的Comic Market，當然不能錯過這個機會，除了親身體驗新入場機制下的Comiket也報告一下日本之旅（with台風直擊）的見聞，以及老話題的火車旅行故事。 主持：傑特、小直、孫伯符 方墨茶館：https://discord.gg/aKtkn9FTdd

Daniel 10-12 The Final Vision: King of the North and the King of the SouthThis is the longest and most detailed of the visions given to Daniel. It adds detail to previous visions but without the symbolism or riddle. The focus of the vision is the person who will rise up at the end time... a.k.a. the man of lawlessness, the anti-Christ, the beast.The coming of this person is one of the key pieces of information Jesus gave His followers in answer to their question "what will be the sign of your return?" ... the one who invades Jerusalem and sets up the abomination of desolation.Here is a link to the handout used in the message - https://www.ucg.org/system/storage/serve/1524411/daniel_11_verse_details.pdf

Sexual SinsWhen I first introduced the sin lists of Paul I pointed out to you that sexual sin seemed to be at the top of most of the lists. If order is a form of ranking then overcoming  sexual sin is a priority issue.Regulating our sexual behavior according to biblical lines is challenging. Desire and promiscuity seem to be written into our genetic code... acknowledging that raises hard questions:if we are designed that way isn't placing limits and establishing boundaries going against nature? Wouldn't it be more natural to simply let human sexuality operate without interference? Why would an all-knowing creator design us one way and then expect us to over-ride some of the basic programming on a regular basis?Keep Reading »

Intro Paul's Sin ListsDigital media company Buzzfeed made a billion dollar business out of click-bait headlines  like “10 things you must do now if you want to…” or “7 Reasons You Shouldn't…”. People love lists! You'll even find lists in the bible [ex. the Women's discussion group is going over the “7 things God hates”]. The apostle Paul is known for providing interesting lists of spiritual virtues and vices commonly known as “the sin lists”. There are 8 of them. Your bible contains other such lists but I'm limiting myself to these 8.I have compiled the 40+ sins or vices on these lists and categorized them in 5 basic groups: Sexual, Bad Temper, Greed, Quarreling, Speech. Each list contains vices from multiple categories. Sometimes, the way Paul groups and orders them shows a cause and effect relationship [this, leads to this].SPS: today, I would like to address the sins and vices from Paul's lists by category. Limiting myself to the category of quarreling: strife, self-ambition, sedition, heresy, conceits, and tumults. Note: I will be spending more time on words mentioned multiple time in the bible than I will on words only mentioned once.The multiple and different word in the category reveal different facets of this problematic behavior. Such as; what do we tend to quarrel about,  what motivates quarreling, what are the outcomes of quarreling, and how do we confront it. So, let's begin:Keep Reading »

The biblical holy days are presented to us as 3 seasons of harvest, two grain harvests in spring and early summer, then a produce harvest in the fall. The first festival season is Passover and Unleavened Bread, the second is the Feast of Weeks, the final is the Festival of Tabernacles.The United Church of God teaches that the second grain harvest… the harvest of wheat which happens at the same time as the festival of Pentecost … is a picture of the great spiritual harvest taking place NOW. The sowing and reaping of this harvest is the current work of the Church, placed upon us by the Father and Jesus Christ. The 7 holy days give us God's timeline for bringing humanity into eternity… a timeline that spans thousands of years... At this present moment we are in the phase of the great spiritual harvest, the harvest of the first-fruits. So let's go through what the bible has to say about the great spiritual harvest pictured by the Feast of Pentecost.Keep Reading »

Christ as Head of the 7 Churches of RevelationRevelation chapters 2 & 3 contain messages written for and sent to the 7 Churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.l Each receives its own short, personalized message from the head of the Church, the resurrected Jesus Christ.l Each message follows a pattern of noting their accomplishments, their faults or shortcomings, their trials, and they are reminded of the glorious outcome for those who overcome and persevere.l At the start of each message He mentions one or two things about Himself which relate to His role as head of the Church. This serves to remind them that what the messenger brings to them is actually from HimMost of these attributes of Christ are mentioned in Revelation 1:10-20. These verses serve as an introduction to the letters written to the churches and in certain cases adds some insight to what the symbols mean.SPS: Let's look into these attributes of the risen Christ and consider how they relate to His present role as the living head of the Church… actively working within His Church!Keep Reading »