ULTRA-ORTHODOX TO BE DRAFTED

(Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men protest in Jerusalem against compulsory military service.  Ohad Zwigenberg/AP (https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/25/middleeast/israel-orthodox-military-high-court-intl/index.html)

Since becoming a nation over 75 years ago, Israel has always exempted the ultra-Orthodox from national service.  But, with increasing military demands, that looks set to end. — Editor

Israel’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Tuesday that ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students must be drafted into the military like any other citizens. This ends the exemptions that young Israeli men registered in full-time religious study have enjoyed for decades. In the past, about 1,200 ultra-Orthodox have volunteered for service per year, but 63,000 yeshiva students are now eligible for conscription. The IDF doesn’t publish its numbers, but an estimated 170,000 Israelis are now serving.

Israeli men and women are expected to serve in the military, and the court made clear that the current war has made the ultra-Orthodox exemption untenable. “These days, in the midst of a difficult war, the burden of that inequality is more acute than ever — and requires the advancement of a sustainable solution to this issue,” the nine judges wrote.

What’s next? This ruling creates an immediate problem for Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister’s government depends on the support of two ultra-Orthodox political parties. But the ruling did not mandate how many yeshiva students would be drafted or when, and this loophole could allow Netanyahu to greenlight the conscription process with a signal that it will move forward slowly. Still, many politicians and citizens will refuse to accept the decision, and we’ll be watching for possible political and community confrontations.  (Gzero Signal, 6/26/2024)

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NO-FAULT DIVORCE ATTACKS THE FAMILY

Since no-fault divorce was introduced over 50 years ago, the breakdown of the family has continued unabated.   Now there’s. an attempt to reverse the law. –Editor

A growing cadre of GOP social conservatives as senior as House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senator JD Vance say no-fault divorce has undermined family stability, and they attribute a litany of social ills to it. Vance told high schoolers in California in 2022 that “even violent” marriages should continue in some cases. Johnson and his spouse, meanwhile, are in a covenant marriage, a rare legal institution available in only three states that essentially waives no-fault divorce rights preemptively.

Ronald Reagan signed the first no-fault divorce law in the US as California’s governor in 1969, allowing one spouse to end a marriage unilaterally. Before then, anyone who wished to end a marriage needed to prove their partner had committed an offense like adultery, abandonment, or abuse. The criteria could be tough to meet — in some places, a woman could prove she had been beaten by her husband, for example, but be forced to stay married if the jury did not find he acted with “cruelty.”

The stats speak for themselves when it comes to women’s safety: Between 1976 and 1985, as no-fault divorce laws proliferated, domestic violence against both men and women fell 30%, while the number of women murdered by partners fell 10%. Research suggests that over an even longer term, suicide rates for women declined between 8 and 16%.

A whopping 81% of Americans say divorce is “morally acceptable,” according to Gallup, but they actually aren’t getting divorced that often: Divorce rates are near 40-year lows. Still, you know, maybe talk to a lawyer if you’re unhappily married before it’s too late. (Gzero Signal, 6/26/2024)

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KENYANS BURN PARLIAMENT BUILDING

A violent demonstration against rising taxes has taken place in Kenya.   Rather than reducing the tax burden, the president seems set on raising them.  This will only mean more troubles ahead for his government.

Kenyans enraged over a new finance bill that would increase taxes attempted to storm Parliament in Nairobi on Tuesday, prompting police to use live ammunition. Part of the building was set on fire, and multiple people were reportedly killed.

The demonstrations, which have also spread to other major cities and led Kenya to deploy the military, have been “a long time coming” and reflect the general mood across the country, says Caroline Gray, a Fulbright scholar based in Nairobi.

Kenyans — especially the younger generation, which is driving the protests — are fed up with the high cost of living and rising unemployment. “These proposed tax increases on everyday, basic goods have pushed people over the edge,” says Gray.

The protesters wanted lawmakers to scrap the bill, which aims to ease Kenya’s sizable debt burden, but it was pushed through Parliament on Tuesday. President William Ruto can now either sign the legislation or send it back for amendments.

Many young Kenyans who once supported Ruto feel betrayed and are now calling for his resignation. “They feel Ruto is taking instruction from the IMF,” says Gray, which recently gave Kenya additional loans to help with its financial problems – but with conditions to ensure repayment.

Meanwhile, the Kenyan government just sent a large police force to help quell gang violence in Haiti, which bolsters the view among the population that Ruto is “not working for them but for his global image,” Gray adds.

The president has two weeks to act on the legislation. Ruto on Tuesday pledged a tough response to the “treasonous” protests. In the meantime, if Ruto doesn’t make changes to the bill or other concessions, Gray says the protests are likely to “continue and escalate.”  (Gzero Signal, 6/26/2024)

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IRAN MOVES ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAM FORWARD

• The United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently issued an unusually jarring warning, highlighting a development in Iran’s nuclear program. IAEA inspectors confirmed that, for the first time, Iran has commenced the process of feeding uranium gas into three cascades of advanced IR-4 and IR-6 centrifuges at its Natanz enrichment facility.
• By waiving sanctions on Iran, the Biden administration has effectively provided financial support amounting up to an estimated $100 billion to the mullahs. Worse, the Biden administration has turned a blind eye to Tehran’s destabilizing and aggressive policies, both within the region and without.
• Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has explicitly articulated his vision for Israel’s destruction in his 416-page book, Palestine. This manifesto serves as a detailed guide to eliminating Israel, often referred to in Iran as “The Little Satan,” and vehemently condemns the United States, referred to as “The Great Satan.”
• By acquiring nuclear weapons, the regime could also equip its proxies — Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis — with these weapons to use against Israel. Using its proxies as its “human shields” allows Iran’s regime to maintain plausible deniability, so it can continue hiding behind them while escalating the real threat to Israel, which is Iran itself.
• The Biden administration needs urgently to take decisive action to curb Iran’s aggressive nuclear advancements. The US needs to stop its current practice of waiving sanctions on Iran and start reimposing — and enforcing — severe sanctions on the country’s oil and gas industry. The US also needs to cut off the financial flow to the regime by imposing secondary sanctions: any country that does business with Iran may not do business with the United States.
• US failure to act will only rapidly lead to a nuclear-armed Iran, significantly upending global stability and providing a potential vacuum for America’s adversaries to fill.    

(Majid Rafizadeh,  Gatestone, 6/22/2024)

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CHINA VS USA – CHINA WOULD WIN

Prominent Chinese journalist Hu Xijin, formerly the Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Global Times media outlet, spoke in a June 12, 2024 episode of his show “Hu Says” about the recent statement by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command commander Admiral Samuel Paparo that if the PLA invades Taiwan, the U.S. would launch its “Hellscape” strategy involving thousands of unmanned systems, with the goal of distracting the PLA. and buying itself time to respond. Hu said that while this strategy may sound intimidating at first, it is actually cowardice on the part of the U.S. because it does not dare deploy troops to actual combat. He also said that in a war of drones, China would certainly win, because its drones are domestically produced at a large scale and are much cheaper and more effective than American drones.  (MEMRI, 6/21/2024)­­ 

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BRIEFLY

• 6 million:  South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, is now home to the world’s largest mammal migration, with a new aerial wildlife survey showing roughly six million antelopes on the move. While the country is struggling amid a devastating civil war, the antelopes have become a source of national pride, and President Salvador Kiri Mayardit hopes to transform the “wildlife sector into a sustainable tourism industry.”  (Gzero Signal, 6/26/2024)

• 16:  Will the price of espresso soon jolt you awake more than the coffee? Vietnam, the world’s second-biggest coffee producer, is experiencing one of its worst droughts in years, which is expected to cause up to a 16% drop in coffee bean production. But so far, coffee bean inflation is hovering around just 1.6% in the EU – so no jitters yet. Vietnamese farmers are enjoying the price surge and are optimistic that new farming practices can help manage the heat wave.  (Gzero Signal, 6/26/2024)

• 14.5 million:  Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman on Tuesday was defeated in the most expensive House primary in US history. Bowman, a progressive and member of the “Squad,” lost to moderate George Latimer in New York’s 16th Congressional District in a race that put a spotlight on the Democratic party’s deep divisions over Israel and the war in Gaza. Bowman has been a fierce critic of Israel and has faced allegations of antisemitism in the process. AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobbying group, spent roughly $14.5 million on ads — via its PAC, United Democracy Project — in an effort to unseat Bowman.   (Gzero Signal, 6/26/2024)

• 30:  US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory on Tuesday declaring gun violence a public health crisis because the growing number of suicides and homicides caused gun-related deaths to reach a 30-year high in 2021. Murthy referred to the devastating mental and physical toll that gun violence has had on US communities and called for stricter gun regulation and the banning of automatic rifles. (Gzero Signal, 6/26/2024)

• CAIR Director:  9 Million American Muslims Can Tip Balance In Michigan, Minnesota, Washington, Wisconsin; Texas Islamic Scholar Suleiman In Baltimore: Time For Us To Follow Example Of Gaza; Newark, NJ Mosque Event: Zionism Is Rebellion Against God.  (Headline: MEMRI, 6/21/2024)

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BIBLICAL SOLUTIONS

The British general election takes place next Thursday, July 4^th.  Seven parties are contesting the election, with Labor expected to win.   All parties, with only one possible exception (the new Reform party) are left of center.  It seems as if the longer democracies go on, the more expectations people have of their leaders.  This is one reason why democracies eventually collapse.

God warned Israel about this desire for human government over 3,000 years ago.  You can read about this in I Samuel 8. 

In this example, the people desired a king “like all the other nations.”    God warned them that this would cost them.  ‘However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”  (verse 9)

 ^“And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest ^[a]young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.”  (I Samual 8:11-18)

This was the time when Israel became a monarchy, “like all the other nations.”  The people were warned of “high taxes” (a tenth).  What God would say about our modern democracies where taxes are creeping up to 50% in some cases, even higher in others, can only be imagined.  But this is not how it was meant to be.

In the British world, the trend started with the 1906 Liberal government.  They introduced social security.  After World War II a universal “free” medical system was introduced, which now spends 11.3 % of GNP, with politicians always promising more.

4.2 % is spent on education.  Oh yes, there’s also defense at a mere 2.3%.  (India spends 2.4%).

This election sees politicians promising more for health care, defense and even breakfast for every school pupil in the land.  Where is the money to come from?  Presumably from taxes, though they are all promising to not raise taxes.   Borrowing? 

It’s not too difficult to imagine the country collapsing under the weight of its own debt.  Others would collapse, too, so the UK won’t be alone.  But a collapsed economy would be the worst thing that could happen.  I know.  I’ve lived through it before in another nation.

Far better to avoid that outcome by not asking for more.  If you really feel you must vote, vote for the party that promises the least.   That way, you might survive the next five years.