BULKING UP THE BUNDESWEHR

The number of German soldiers is declining  (https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/06/06/germany-is-thinking-about-bringing-back-conscription)

Germany is considering the return of conscription.   The chancellor is reluctant. 

“Kriegstuchtig” does not trip easily off the English tongue.  Nor does it fall easily on German ears.  Translated roughly as “war-ready,” it is a word deployed by Boris Pistorios, the defence minister, to describe his favored destination for the long under-resourced Bundeswehr or armed forces.  Money is now pouring in, and Mr. Pistorios is overhauling the Bundeswehr’s Structures.  But like many of its NATO allies, Germany is struggling to find enough willing recruits.  The minister is among many who want Germany to consider restoring conscription, suspended since 2011, to get the numbers up. 

“Under plans drawn up in 2018 Germany aims to boost the Bundeswehr to 203,000 troops by 2031, up from around 181,000 today.   This is a fraction of the size or the men under arms during the cold war.  But the army is ageing and shrinking; given attrition, it needs to recruit 25,000 soldiers a year just to stand still.”  (The Economist, 8^th June, 2424)

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UKRAINE AND MELONI TAKE CENTER STAGE – Leaders from the G7 countries met Thursday in Italy’s Puglia region, where the future of Ukraine aid was high on the agenda

Who’s there? The meetings are hosted by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is at the height of her political power after European Parliamentary elections last weekend. She stands in contrast to other G7 leaders from Canada, the US, the UK, Japan, and Germany, all of whom are on shakier ground domestically.

Meloni also invited an A-list of non-Western leaders like President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The highlights:  President Joe Biden and Zelensky affirmed their partnership at a bilateral press conference. The group agreed to loan Ukraine $50 billion to rebuild its devastated infrastructure with the understanding it would be paid back by interest earned on the frozen Russian assets. They also passed a new round of sanctions aimed at countering China’s effort to remake Russia’s defense industrial base.

Looming over the group’s progress on Ukraine was the possibility that Donald Trump, who has spoken openly of pulling out of NATO and against further Ukraine aid, could be back in power by the time the group next meets in 2025. Several present — including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President Emmanuel Macron — are facing elections that could redefine Europe.  (Gzero Signal, 6/14/2024)

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LEFT IN THE DUST:  EUROPEAN VOTERS SWING RIGHT

Europe took a hard right turn in European Parliament elections this weekend, dealing a substantial blow to key EU leaders German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, prompting the latter to call early elections.

In France, Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party surged to 31.4% support – more than twice as much as Macron’s Renaissance coalition, with 14.6%. Close behind are the Socialists and their lead candidate Raphaël Glucksmann with 13.8%.

A sober-looking Macron took to French television to dissolve parliament and called for elections on June 30, with a second round on July 7. The outcome of the EU elections, he said, was “not a good result for parties who defend Europe.” This is a gamble for Macron: A similar far-right wave in the French parliamentary election could see his party lose its majority.

In Germany, projections show the far-right Alternative for Germany set to secure second place with 15% of the vote, a record high. Support for Scholz’s Social Democratic Party and coalition partner Free Democratic Party declined, securing 14% and 5% of the vote, respectively. And Germany’s Greens took the biggest hit, dropping a whopping 8.5 percentage points to 12%, as cash-strapped voters spurned costly environmental policies.

Coalition time:  Post-election, European political parties realign in blocs in the EU Parliament. The largest, the center-right European People’s Party, has  recently shifted right on issues of security, climate, and migration, and could swing further to the right if joined by Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy. Another scenario would see Meloni’s group and other far-right parties such as Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party stay with the more hard-line European Conservatives and Reformists group, or become part of a new hard-right group that could form the wake of the elections. We’ll be watching the horse trading as coalitions take shape.  (Gzero Signal, 6/10/2024)

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WESTERN WOMEN IGNORE ATROCITIES COMMITTED BY PALESTINIANS

• Today, June 19, the United Nations will observe the annual International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. Yet, it took the UN five months to document and condemn Hamas’ sexual crimes on October 7.

• These crimes are reminiscent of the crimes ISIS (Islamic State) committed against Christians and Yazidis during and after their violent takeover of large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.

• Sexual assault as a military tactic has commonly been used by Islamic terrorists since the seventh century, worldwide.

• More than 2,600 abducted Yazidi women and children are to this day still waiting to be rescued from the hands of ISIS terrorists.

• Teenage girls abducted by Islamic State terrorists in Iraq and Syria were sold in slave markets “for as little as a pack of cigarettes,” the UN envoy on sexual violence, Zainab Bangura, said.

• “Since October 7th, the media has suppressed your [Israelis’] story, even going so far as to claim it never happened while others justified it as warranted resistance to Israeli oppression. Someone please tell me where children bound and shot to death with their guts cut out constitutes a warranted resistance…  We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that stupid people are not offended…. The media is actively suppressing the events of October 7th to rewrite history according to their chosen narrative….  It all boils down to likes, views, and revenue for them.” — Steve Maman, founder of The Liberation of Christian and Yazidi Children of Iraq.

• “[On October 7], humiliation, mutilation and murder took place during those rapes. Woman raped in front of their loved ones and then shot. Knives inserted into their private parts. Scalped heads. Nails inserted into woman’s private areas. Indescribable pain must have taken place before death….  Attacking innocent people and subjecting hostages to torture is not an act of freedom fighting…. The global response to victims of radical Islam has consistently been one of silence, allowing such atrocities to continue unchecked, perpetuating a cycle of violence.” — Steve Maman.  (Uzay Bulut, Gatestone, 6/19/2024)

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EUROPE’S EXTREME RIGHT MEETS

An international conference in Hungary is promoting cooperation between conservative and extreme right-wing parties in the European Union. CPAC Hungary was opened on Wednesday 25 April in Budapest by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and will end on Friday. The event brings together politicians from parties organised in the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), which includes Germany’s CDU and CSU, and parties such as the Belgian Vlaams Belang or the French Rassemblement National, which are classified as extreme right-wing. The event has been organised against a background of efforts in the European Parliament to tear down the longstanding cordon sanitaire between the EPP and the far right. The anti-fascist firewall has in any case been crumbling for a long time in the EU. We see here another initiative to forge a broad right-wing bloc. On Wednesday, the EPP together with the two far-right groups, ECR and ID, combined to jointly reject a motion in the European Parliament. Some observers see this as a test run for further collaborations. CPAC Hungary is an offshoot of the Trump-affiliated CPAC in the United States. Its members include US Republicans as well as far-right figures from Latin America and Israel.  (German Foreign Policy 6/13/2024)

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BRIEFLY

• Children In West Bank Celebrate Eid Al-Adha By Brandishing Weapons, Wearing Hamas And Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Headbands; Preschoolers In NJ Islamic School Learn To Slaughter Toy Sheep As Part Of ‘Mock Hajj’. (MEMRI. 6/17/2024)

• Hamas Official Baraka: North Korea Is Part Of Our Alliance; Hamas Official Basem Naim’s Message To Samidoun ‘Resistance Festival’ In Belgium: I Salute Each And Every One Of You; We Will Celebrate The Victory Of Our People, From The River To The Sea. (MEMRI, 6/19/2024)

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BIBLICAL SOLUTIONS

Constantly, we hear of somebody who is missing.    A couple of weeks ago, a well-known TV personality had gone off for an afternoon walk on a very hot afternoon on a Greek island.  He then disappeared.   When he was found, he was dead.  

Today, a UK teenager is missing on Tenerife.   After a party, others had found their way home; this one got lost.  He’s now been missing for over 60 hours.   He has no water with him despite the intense heat.   The search continues. 

Both of these people, and countless others, would have experienced different outcomes if they had taken somebody along with them when they set off on the journey.

In the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes, the author observes that: 

   Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
   If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
   But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.  (Eccl 4:9-10)

It seems so obvious. 

Women are especially at risk when they go off alone, and not just from the natural environment.

The last point made is that if you fall and have no one to help you up, the outcome can be disastrous.   That is what happened with the first man mentioned.

People should never be over-confident.   They should always realize the risks.  Walking with somebody else minimizes the risk.  Always. 

ISRAEL HITS IRAN

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRzrj17Dn8s)

Well, now we know the answer to the question of how Israel planned to respond to Iran’s recent attack. Explosions were reported early on Friday near the northwestern Iranian city of Isfahan, in what several major outlets reported, citing US officials and local sources, as an apparent Israeli strike.

The blasts come just days after Iran launched its first-ever direct attacks on Israel, launching hundreds of missiles and drones, almost all of which were shot down by Israeli and US missile defenses. That salvo was itself seen as a response to Israel’s strike on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus early this month.

Syria and Iraq reported blasts as well. Blasts possibly related to the strikes on Iran were also reported around the same time at sites in Iraq and Syria. Both countries are home to sizable Iranian proxy forces and intelligence units.

So much for the Passover head fake. Earlier on Thursday, US officials had suggested anonymously that Israel would wait until after the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins Monday, to retaliate.

Was this an escalation by Israel? “On the surface, it appears rather limited,” said Gregory Brew, lead Iran analyst at Eurasia Group, “beyond the symbolic significance of Israel hitting Iranian territory.”

Iran isn’t blaming Israel. Tehran is claiming to have shot down several drones in the Isfahan area but is downplaying the significance of the incident and hasn’t blamed Israel — instead pointing the finger at “infiltrators.” Iran has not indicated any plans for retaliation, in a potential sign that it doesn’t want to escalate the situation.

“It’s early,” Brew noted, “but the official regime line may be that this is not an action that requires immediate and public retaliation.”

That’s good news even in a bad situation, he says. “It would suggest that the Israeli effort to hit back without triggering further escalation has been successful.”  (Gzero Signal, 4/19/2024)

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ISLAMIC ATTITUDES IN THE UK

Poll shows British Muslims want Islam as the national religion and an Islamic political party.  1 in 3 Muslims living in the UK want Islam to be declared the national religion and for everyone to live under the brutal system of Sharia law which calls for beheadings and amputations. 

Among younger Muslims 18-24, 1 in 5 believed that making Islam “our national religion” was “very desirable,” and a total of 43% supported redefining the UK as an Islamic state.  Only 16% opposed it.

This younger group who are the future of Muslims in the UK was also the one most likely to sympathize with Islamic terrorists.

1 in 4 British Muslim men expressed a positive view of Jihad. 46% of British Muslims sympathized with Hamas as did 58% of younger British Muslims. None effectively sympathize with Israel. Previously 1 in 4 Muslims had sympathized with the 7/7 suicide bombers in London.

52% of Muslims supported a ‘blasphemy’ ban on Mohammed cartoons. This Sharia ‘blasphemy code’ had already been used to justify violence and Islamic terrorist attacks against artists and magazines. Including the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris by heavily armed Muslim terrorists.

A previous poll reported by The Telegraph in 2015 showed that 1 in 4 Muslims supported the Hebdo attacks. 

Setting up conflicts with feminists and LGBTQ activists, 1 in 5 Muslims wanted to legalize polygamy and 1 in 4 wanted to ban homosexuality. While a majority of Muslim colonists would not commit to the move, both measures had similar levels of opposition and support.    (Jihad Watch, 4/16/2024)

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THE BRUSSELS GANGSTER STATE

A conference of the National Conservatives brought European conservatives together in Brussels, the capital of the European Union.  Delegates included Nigel Farage, the famous Brit and friend of Donald Trump, who led the Brexit campaign; Suella Braverman, a leading Tory politician who is very controversial on immigration;  Victor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister, whose conviction is that Hungary belongs to Hungarians and has taken a hard line on immigration; and other Europeans who support the same causes.

From Melanie Phillips, in attendance at the conference:  ‘Bowing to left-wing protests, a Socialist Party Brussels mayor, Philippe Close – who last year invited Tehran mayor Alireza Zakani, a member of Iran’s tyrannical Islamist regime, for an official visit –  pressured the NatCons’ venue, Concert Noble, to cancel the event. Concert Noble, a high-end event space, duly caved.

Undaunted, the conference organizers secured a second venue at the Sofitel hotel. Late on Monday, Sofitel also cancelled after a second Brussels mayor, Vincent de Wolf, applied the thumbscrews. Sofitel duly sought police help to eject the conference organizers from its premises hours before the conference was due to start.

The conference organizers went to court to seek an injunction against Sofitel. The judge threw that out. Hundreds of people were arriving in Brussels for a conference that had nowhere to meet. 

With remarkable persistence and determination, the organizers located a third conference venue, a nightclub called Claridge. They worked most of Monday night setting up from scratch all the equipment, food and other supplies necessary for a two-day conference. By the time the conference registration opened at 8 am on Tuesday morning, it was all up and running — a formidable achievement.  This was, however, far from the end of the story.

For yet another Socialist Party Brussels mayor, Emir Kir, issued an order to shut down the conference. His reasons were “that [NatCon’s] vision is not only ethically conservative (e.g. hostility to the legalisation of abortion, same-sex unions, etc.) but also focused on the defense of “national sovereignty”, which implies, amongst other things, a “Eurosceptic” attitude…”

He also said that some of the speakers “are reputed to be traditionalists” and that the conference must be banned “to avoid foreseeable attacks on public order and peace”.

After his order was issued, three police officers turned up at the back of the hall demanding a shutdown with “immediate effect” on the grounds that the opinions of Farage, Braverman, and other speakers could lead to public disorder. When the TV cameras swiveled round to film the police, however, they beat a retreat outside, doubtless aware that being seen to shut down prominent European politicians wouldn’t be a good look. 

Next, on came Suella Braverman who spoke about the need for the UK to withdraw from the European Convention of Human Rights. She added:  “The thought police instructed by the mayor of Brussels saw fit to try and undermine and denigrate what is free speech and free debate. What really concerns me is that, only last year, the mayor of Brussels was happy to host the mayor of Tehran. And yet he seems to be pretty offended by democratically elected politicians, people from all over the European continent, who are giving voice to millions of people talking about things like securing our borders.”

Other supposedly terrifying topics discussed by the speakers were EU overreach, farmers’ protests, the failing birthrate and the pressures of mass immigration.

Another speaker, German Cardinal Ludwig Müller, was visibly shocked by the police blocking the entrance to the Claridge when he arrived. “This is like Nazi Germany,” he said.  “They are like the SA.”

What was originally a small conference of no great interest to anyone beyond a few thousand political nerds was now creating waves across the world. Country after country voiced shock and outrage about the way it had been treated. Britain’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, called the attempt to shut down the conference “extremely disturbing.” The events at the Claridge were trending on Twitter. It was publicity for National Conservatism beyond its supporters’ wildest dreams.   (Melanie Phillips, 4/17/2024)  

Attempts to shut down conservatism in Europe and attempts to silence Donald Trump in the US through the courts, may backfire.   Even people who do not support conservatives may find all this disturbing.

Also, it may backfire:  when conservatives are in power, they may use the same tactics to throttle the left.

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THE NEXT HOUSING DISASTER

“Think about the places vulnerable to climate change, and you might picture rice paddies in Bangladesh or low-lying islands in the Pacific. But another, more surprising answer ought to be your own house.  About a tenth of the world’s residential property by value is under threat from global warming – including many houses that are nowhere near the coast.  From tornadoes battering midwestern American suburbs to tennis-ball-size hailstones smashing the roofs of Italian villas, the severe weather brought about by greenhouse gas emissions is shaking the foundations of the world’s most important asset class.

The potential costs stem from policies designed to reduce the emissions of houses as well as from climate-related damage.  They are enormous.  By one estimate, climate change and the fight against it could wipe out 9% of the value of the world’s housing by 2050 – which amounts to $25 trillion, not much less than America’s annual GDP.    It is a huge bill hanging over people’s lives and the global financial system.   And it looks destined to trigger an almighty fight over who should pay up.”   (The Economist, 4/13/2024)

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POSSIBLE UKRAINE DEFEAT

Ahead of the meeting of G7 foreign ministers, beginning today on the island of Capri, there are frank warnings of a Ukrainian defeat on the battlefield. Alarm is being voiced both in Ukraine and in Western capitals. Kiev is “at great risk” of losing the war in the course of this year, declared a high-ranking British military officer at the weekend.

Senior Ukrainian officers had previously warned that the Russian armed forces could soon be able to smash open sections of the front. A Russian advance into large parts of eastern and even central Ukraine is no longer ruled out. Experts criticise the way Western accounts have “talked up the situation in Ukraine from the outset.” The Ukrainian officers complain in particular that the impact of new Western weaponry is frequently overestimated – often based on a traditional bullishness and self-certainty. It is now clear, for example, that the Russian military has learnt how to eliminate Storm Shadow or SCALP cruise missiles, targeting them with a high hit rate. The G7 foreign ministers are now looking at options for preventing a collapse of the Ukrainian front. Foreign Minister Baerbock is proposing a worldwide “mapping of all Patriot systems” to secure faster supplies from third countries.  (German Foreign Policy, 4/19/2024)

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BRIEFLY

“The British Angle” – “Brits should give up alcohol if it offends Muslim immigrants.”  (4/19/2024 YouTube).

One hundred years ago, British troops were trying to keep Muslims and Jews apart; in India the problem was Hindus and Muslims.   Now, one hundred years later, they are trying to keep them apart at home.  Decades of reckless immigration laws have left many ethnic groups fighting each other.

Also on YouTube:  “They all Betrayed us,” with pictures of Rishi Sunak, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, Theresa May and David Cameron, all prime ministers for over 25 years, except for Liz Truss who was only in office for 49 days and could not do too much damage.   There have been calls for trials and imprisonment.

A London Jew was watching a pro-Palestinian march in the capital city, until the police forced him to move, with the threat of arrest.  He was told “Your presence is aggravating the situation.”  It seems as if the police have been told to keep Jews and Muslims apart.

THE VIRTUE OF NATIONALISM

January 25, 2024

One of the best written books you will ever read is The Virtue of Nationalism by Yoram Hazony. There is too much in it to quote here. But note this:

“The European Union does, despite the propaganda, have a powerful central government whose directives are legally binding on European nations and on their individual members . . .  It lacks a strong executive – an emperor – capable of conducting foreign affairs and waging war . . .”

“The European nations are, as everyone understands, dominated by Germany. The European Union is a German imperial state in all but name. However, as long as Germany seeks to avoid building up its military and taking responsibility for the security of the continent, the EU will apparently remain an American protectorate – a protectorate that is also an empire in its own right. Should the United States ever withdraw its protection, all the talk of Europeans pioneering a new form of political order will quickly evaporate. At that time, a strong European executive will be appointed by Germany and empowered to maintain the security of the continent. Then the reconstitution of the medieval German empire in Europe will be complete, and the English-inspired experiment with an order of independent national states in Europe will have reached its end.” (pp, 152, 153, 154)

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ISRAEL AND US DISAGREE ON FUTURE OF GAZA

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long been opposed to Palestinian statehood. And he has reiterated this view, saying Israel must have security control over all land west of the River Jordan, which would include the territory of any future Palestinian state. “I tell this truth to our American friends, and I also stopped the attempt to impose a reality on us that would harm Israel’s security,” he said. While not surprising, the very public nature of this latest dismissal of the US diplomatic push for a two-state solution is likely to cause frustration among Israel’s allies, writes correspondent Mark Lowen. Asked about Mr. Netanyahu’s comments, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby recognized that the US and Israel “obviously” see things differently. Mr. Netanyahu’s focus on destroying Hamas may also be at odds with a majority of Israelis who, according to recent polls, would rather  prioritize bringing home hostages. More than 100 remain in Gaza after being kidnapped during the 7 October attacks in which about 1,300 people were killed.   (1/19/2024)

ENDING PALESTINIAN SUFFERING

Palestinians in Lebanon are “prevented from employment in 39 professions such as medicine, law and engineering . . . are socially marginalized, have very limited civil, social, political and economic rights, including restricted access to the Government of Lebanon’s public health, educational and social services and face significant restrictions on their right to work…” — United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees, updated September 2020.

Arab citizens of Israel…. can own, buy and sell property, can vote and run in national and local elections, have equal access to free public healthcare, education and other services . . . Many Arab Israelis serve in senior positions in hospitals, universities and colleges, courts, the civil service, and even in the Israel Police and the Israel Defense Forces.

Neither Syria nor Lebanon grants citizenship to the Palestinians living there . . .

[W]hat is happening inside the Syrian detention centers against the Palestinians is “a war crime by all standards.” – Action Group for Palestinians of Syria, alquds.co.uk, November 29, 2023.

By ignoring the profound suffering of the Palestinians in Syria and Lebanon, these self-proclaimed “pro-Palestinian” activists and groups are once again proving that their goal is not to help Palestinians, but only to make Israel into a pariah state.

If these activists and groups want to end the suffering of the Palestinians, they should be demanding that the Arab countries end their discriminatory and repressive measures against their Palestinian brethren. The activists and groups should also be raising the plight of the Palestinians at every available international platform instead of blaming Israel.   (Bassam Tawil, Gatestone, 1/16/2024)

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TIMES SQUARE MACHETE ATTACKER PLEADS GUILTY

When Trevor Bickford was 19 years old, on Dec. 31, 2022, he ventured to Times Square along with multitudes of New Year’s Eve revelers, but he was not interested in joining the festivities. Instead, he attacked three NYPD officers with a machete. On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to three charges of attempted murder, and while his motive is abundantly clear, authorities appear to be completely indifferent about what its implications are for the future.

The Associated Press reported Thursday that Bickford, who came down to Times Square from his home in Wells, Maine, said this as he entered his guilty plea: “On Dec. 31, 2022, I attempted to kill three NYPD officers with a knife while they were working in Manhattan. I know what I did was wrong and I’m sorry.” That’s swell, but it would have been more helpful if young Bickford had explained why exactly he was sorry now for an act that he carried out in accord with his newfound beliefs and ideology.

AP added that Bickford “shouted ‘Allahu akbar’ — the Arabic phrase for God is great — before striking the officers in the head with the machete and trying to grab an officer’s gun, authorities said. One officer suffered a fractured skull.”

AP’s explanation was inaccurate: While most media outlets routinely translate “Allahu akbar” as “God is great,” it actually means “Allah is greater.” That is, the god of Islam is superior to anything that non-Muslims worship or hold dear. This declaration of superiority frequently accompanies acts that are designed to enforce the subjugation and submission of the non-believer or “infidel,” amounting to a kind of explanation of why a particular act of violence is being perpetrated.

It was unusually forthright of this far-left news service to bother to mention the politically incorrect fact that Bickford shouted this at all. AP even went so far as to add that “authorities say he had studied radical Islamic ideology and decided to wage jihad against U.S. officials.

Yet while AP was unusually forthright about Bickford’s motive, Bickford himself may have been trying to obscure it:  “At the outset of the hearing,” AP tells us, “Bickford said he was taking three medications for treatment of schizoaffective disorder.” In Europe, it is extremely common for clear cases of jihad violence to be dismissed as mental illness, with the perpetrators hospitalized rather than imprisoned.

There was no doubt, however, when Bickford was arrested. He had a handwritten note in his backpack, asking his family to “please repent to Allah and accept Islam.”   (Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch, 1/15/2024)

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TURKISH PARLIAMENT SAYS “YES” TO SWEDEN

The Turkish Parliament has officially approved Sweden’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership bid after months of deliberation.

On Tuesday, the Parliament plenary in Ankara voted 287-55 in accepting Sweden’s application to NATO. 

Before the document is filed with the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., the papers will be returned to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey for his signature and final approval.

Erdogan, who recently endorsed Sweden’s admission, is anticipated to sign.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in May of that same year. NATO’s border with Russia was doubled when Finland joined the alliance in April 2023, however, Sweden’s accession process has been plagued with setbacks.

Analysts maintain that NATO would benefit from Sweden’s entry by expanding its northern reach and strengthening its defense of the east. 

Prior to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military actions, Sweden and Finland had avoided membership in military alliances.

Hungary is the only member state that has not yet ratified Sweden’s accession.

In order to negotiate the conditions of Sweden’s membership bid, Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary, announced on Tuesday that he had extended an invitation to Ulf Kristersson, the prime minister of Sweden, requesting that he visit Hungary to negotiate and discuss his terms.

“Today I sent an invitation letter to Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson for a visit to Hungary to negotiate on Sweden’s NATO accession,” Orbán said on X (Twitter). (OAN, 1/24/2024)

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BANNING A POLITICAL PARTY – NOT SO EASY

More than 800,000 people took to the streets of Germany’s major cities over the weekend to protest against Alternative for Germany (AfD), following reports that members of the right-wing party have been discussing a radical plan to expel millions of migrants.

Independent investigative news site Correctiv reported on a meeting of right-wing groups including the AfD and the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). They were planning “for the so-called remigration, or expulsion, of millions of people who have immigrated to Germany,” said Deutsche Welle.

The story “jolted the nation awake from its winter slumber,” said The Guardian, “triggering sackings and resignations” and “mass rallies across German cities.”

It also prompted “a politically risky debate over an outright ban of the country’s second-strongest party,” the paper added.   (The Week, 1/23/2024)

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BRIEFLY

Britain’s shrinking army is “not what it used to be,” a top US general has warned, as the UK’s armed forces face a funding, procurement and personnel crisis just when they are most needed.

The UK has taken the lead – along with the US – in conducting military action against Houthi rebels in Yemen, with Rishi Sunak authorizing RAF air strikes last night for the second time in two weeks. This fits with Britain’s vision of itself as a “tier one” military power, loosely defined as having a full spectrum of capabilities, including a nuclear deterrent and a navy, army and air force capable of being deployed anywhere in the world.

But even the UK’s closest allies see this as fantasy, with a senior US general telling the then defense secretary Ben Wallace in 2022 that Britain was “barely tier two.”  (The Week, 1/23/2024)

The race for the Republican nomination is “all but over,” said the BBC, after Donald Trump won the New Hampshire primary. It is a highly significant victory for the former president and puts him in pole position to become the party’s candidate in November’s White House election. Joe Biden said it was “clear” Donald Trump would be the 2024 Republican nominee and warned that “the stakes could not be higher.”  (The Week, 1/24/2024)

A Tory MP said the party must replace Rishi Sunak as prime minister or be “massacred” in the general election. Writing for The Telegraph, former cabinet secretary Sir Simon Clarke said the Conservatives have “lost key voters” and need a leader who “shares the instincts of the majority.” But Priti Patel accused Clarke of “facile and divisive self indulgence” and backbench Tories “used WhatsApp groups to attack the former levelling-up secretary,” said The Times. (The Week, 1/24/2024)

The head of the Army is to “warn that the British public will be called up to fight if the UK goes to war,” claimed The Telegraph. In a speech later, General Sir Patrick Sanders will say the government will need to “mobilise the nation” if there is a war with Russia. Gen. Sir Patrick has been “openly critical of troop cuts” and believes there should be a “shift” in the mindset of regular British people, where they “think more like troops.” But the paper understands he does not support conscription.  (The Week, 1/24/2024)

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GET A HEARING AID

Some seven million people in the UK could benefit from wearing a hearing aid, according to RNID, but five million of them don’t regularly wear one. And they may be risking early mortality as a result, a study has found. For the research in the US, 10,000 adults with an average age of 49 had their hearing tested. Almost one in five of them were found to have hearing loss and were asked about how often they used a hearing aid. All of the participants were then tracked for ten years. Analysis of the results revealed those who had poor hearing were more likely to die during the period of the study – but those who wore a hearing aid regularly had a 24% lower risk of early death than those who did not. This was the case even after adjusting for age, sex, education, socioeconomic status and the severity of the hearing loss. The study didn’t look at why it might be the case, but previous research has found links between hearing loss and increased rates of depression, dementia and social isolation. Lead author Dr. Janet Choi suggested that improved hearing leads to better mental health and healthier, more active lives.   (The Week, 1/19/2024)

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Now and Forever

by Bob Arbogast — Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Scripture Reading — Matthew 19:16-26

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” - Matthew 19:24

The kingdom of God is eternal. It’s the ultimate reality, when everything will be good at last. Surprisingly, though, the kingdom is also right here, right now—wherever Jesus is present in the flesh or by the Spirit. We can see that in Matthew 19. A rich man who comes to talk with Jesus is very interested in having eternal life—that is, life in the kingdom of God. But does he really want that kind of life? When Jesus tells the man, “Sell everything, give to the poor, and follow me,” the man can’t do it. He can’t take those three steps. It’s really hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. That’s what Jesus says. And he means more than entering the eternal kingdom in the future. He also means living the way of the kingdom right here, right now. Among other things, the way of the kingdom is selfless and generous. And the way of the kingdom includes deeply trusting in God to meet every need. Sadly, the rich man in this story wasn’t ready to live that way. Not here, not now. How about you? Are you ready to live the way of the kingdom here and now? If not, will you want to live that way in eternity? (Our Daily Bread, 1/24/2024)

DEATH OF THE QUEEN

Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8^th.

If you have been watching the commentary at various times during the week, you will have noticed how religious it’s all been.  The British people are not very religious, but the Queen was.   Churches have been full.

There was some speculation about the double rainbow that appeared in the sky soon after her death.

The celebrations were the last hurrah for the country, faced with serious economic problems predicted for the next 12 months.

One scripture that comes to mind in thinking of the life of this exceptionally popular monarch is Matthew 23:11 “The greatest among you shall be your servant.” She was an exceptional head of state to all fifteen of her territories and a dedicated servant to the 56 nations of the Commonwealth.

Hopefully, the emphasis on service and duty will be followed by her successor.   It has not always been the case.

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Germany’s Scholz Invited UK’s Truss to Berlin – German Spokesperson
BERLIN (Reuters / USNews.com, 7 Sep 2022)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Britain’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss by phone on Wednesday and invited her to visit Berlin soon, a German government spokesperson said. “They exchanged views on current topics. The Chancellor has invited his British counterpart to Berlin for an inaugural visit soon,” said the spokesperson in a statement, adding Scholz also conveyed his congratulations to Truss on taking office.  There were no further details.  (https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-09-07/germanys-scholz-invited-uks-truss-to-berlin-german-spokesperson)

Germany must accept leading military role, says defense minister German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has said Germany must take on a leadership role militarily, whether it wants to or not.  “Germany does not have to be afraid” of doing so, she said. (12 Sept 2022, Deutsche Welle)

“Germany’s size, its geographical situation, its economic power — in short, its clout — makes us a leading power whether or not we want to be one. Militarily as well,” she said in a keynote security address in Berlin.  Her remarks come as Europe is struggling to come to terms with the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Germany rethinking its defense strategy after decades of major dependence on Washington for its security. “The war in Ukraine has shown everyone, even us Germans who are used to peace, that states need armed forces as a last resort — that is, whenever an enemy is determined to use invasion, destruction, murder and forced displacement” as means to serve its interests, she said.  . . . Lambrecht confirmed that Europe’s security was still guaranteed by its most important ally, the US.  “But this ally has been forced to shift its main focus of attention to security in the Pacific region,” she said.  This meant that Europe, and above all Germany, had to play a more important role . . . 

“Germany is ready to take the burden off America in Europe and thus make a decisive contribution to sharing the load fairly,” Lambrecht said.
(https://www.dw.com/en/germany-must-accept-leading-military-role-says-defense-minister/a-63089386)

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EU TRADE WAR

The EU may be at the threshold of its next trade war, according to remarks pertaining to today’s appointment of Liz Truss as the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It is caused by the dispute between Brussels and London over the Northern Ireland protocol, which, becoming effective in the aftermath of Brexit, imposes the establishment of a customs border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, obligating London to comply with single market regulations in Northern Ireland. Given the fact that, until now, the EU has only been willing to allow minor corrections to the protocol, even though it is provoking serious tensions in Northern Ireland, the British government is preparing to institute changes unilaterally. It has been reported that Truss could suspend parts of the protocol soon after taking office. Such a move could provoke a “trade war” between the EU and Great Britain, Katarina Barley (SPD), Vice President of the EU Parliament, was quoted to have said. The damage that would ensue from that trade war, would add to the severe damage inflicted on the economies of Germany and the EU from their sanctions on Russia. In addition, because of the power struggle with Beijing, there is also a danger of a slump in business with China.   (German Foreign Policy, 9/7/2022)

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US AIR STRIKES ON SYRIA

US forces carried out airstrikes in Syria on Tuesday, targeting groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The airstrikes took place in the Euphrates River Valley, in the administrative region of Deir ez-Zor.

Washington said the strike was intended to defend US forces from recent attacks. A statement by US Central Command cited an August 15 attack on American forces as an example.

The airstrike is important because the US has rarely retaliated for dozens of attacks carried out by the IRGC and its proxies against its forces over the past several years. These attacks increased in 2019 and have resulted in harm to US personnel in Iraq. Under the Trump administration, the rising tensions led to America killing IRGC Quds Force head Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.  (Seth Frantzman, MEF, 8/24/2022)

GENOCIDE IN NIGERIA

• The Christians of Nigeria are, in fact, being purged in a genocide, according to several NGOs Every two hours, one Christian there is killed.
• “Heavily armed bandits, many of whom are said to be ethnic Fulanis, are waging their own form of Jihad; killing, abducting and terrorizing worship centers and educational institutions owned by churches as well as impoverished communities in the North and Middle Belt regions.” — (Vanguardngr.com. June 19, 2022, Nigeria)
• The Biden administration’s response to the jihadist onslaught against Christians in Nigeria . . . has been to remove Nigeria from the State Department’s list of Countries of Particular Concern: nations that engage in, or tolerate, violations of religious freedom.
• “The landlocked Sahel state [Burkina Faso], one of the world’s poorest countries, is in the grip of a nearly seven-year-old jihadist insurgency. Thousands of people have died and nearly two million have been driven from their homes.” — Guardian.ng, June 28, 2022, Burkina Faso.  (“Where is the Media?”, Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone, 8/14/2022)

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AMERICA IGNORING PROBLEMS – Too many Americans are blithely dismissing threats that could prove cataclysmic.  by Mitt Romney a Republican senator from Utah.
Illustration by Paul Spella, The Atlantic, July 4, 2022

Even as we watch the reservoirs and lakes of the West go dry, we keep watering our lawns, soaking our golf courses, and growing water-thirsty crops.

As inflation mounts and the national debt balloons, progressive politicians vote for ever more spending.  As the ice caps melt and record temperatures make the evening news, we figure that buying a Prius and recycling the boxes from our daily Amazon deliveries will suffice.  When TV news outlets broadcast video after video of people illegally crossing the nation’s southern border, many of us change the channel.

And when a renowned conservative former federal appellate judge testifies that we are already in a war for our democracy and that January 6, 2021, was a genuine constitutional crisis, MAGA loyalists snicker that he speaks slowly and celebrate that most people weren’t watching.

What accounts for the blithe dismissal of potentially cataclysmic threats? The left thinks the right is at fault for ignoring climate change and the attacks on our political system. The right thinks the left is the problem for ignoring illegal immigration and the national debt. But wishful thinking happens across the political spectrum. More and more, we are a nation in denial.  (Mitt Romney, The Atlantic, 8/15/2022)

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CHINA TO OVERTAKE US

• The [Harvard Belfer Center] report, “The Great Economic Rivalry: China Vs. the US,” predicts that at the current rate China will overtake the US economically within a decade.
• When it comes to trade, China has now displaced the US. “When this century began, China was knocking on the door of the WTO and the U.S. was the leading trading partner of most major economies. Today, China has overtaken the U.S. to become the largest trading partner for nearly every major nation . . . by 2018, 130 countries traded more with China than they did with the U.S . . .” — The Belfer Report.  (Gatestone, 8/17/2022)

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CHINA USING CHINESE IN US

Can Americans of Chinese descent be loyal to both America and China?

No. China’s Communist Party has made itself an existential threat to America and every other society. . .  The promotion of tianxia [ruling “All under Heaven”] means, among other things, that the Party views the U.S. government as illegitimate and America as nothing more than a tributary society or colony.

Although we [“Chinese-Americans”] technically do not have an obligation to prove our loyalty to America, we must, as a group, understand that a hostile power is trying to weaponize us. Xi Jinping has openly called on us to become a subversive force, to help him destroy the country we now call home.  (Gatestone, 8/23/2022)

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TO THE POINT

• Germany’s defence minister said the country must assume a leading military role in Europe. Speaking to the German Council on Foreign Relations, Berlin’s defence minister said the US would remain Europe’s main protector and there could be “no substitute for the American nuclear deterrent for the foreseeable future” but tensions between the US and China over Taiwan and Washington’s pivot to the Asia-Pacific region meant “we are called on to do more than before for Europe,” adding: “Germany is prepared to make a decisive contribution to fair burden-sharing.”  (The Week, 9/13/2022)

• Aldi has surpassed Morrisons to become Britain’s fourth largest supermarket chain. The discount grocer enjoyed an 18.7% jump in sales in the 12 weeks to September 4 that boosted its share of the overall grocery market to 9.3%, according to figures released by Kantar. Lidl also experienced a surge in sales, which were up 20.9%. “Rampant inflation is prompting consumers to tighten their belts,” said The Times, and they are increasingly “turning to discounters amid soaring food prices.” (The Week, 9/14/2022) Both Aldi and Lidl are German owned.

• “Germany’s size, its geographical situation, its economic power — in short, its clout — makes us a leading power,” declared German Minister of Defense Christine Lambrecht. As Lambrecht affirmed yesterday in a speech to the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Germany is “a leading power … also in the military sphere.”  In the future, the Bundeswehr must play “a more important role in our political thinking and action.” In her speech Lambrecht focused on the new National Security Strategy that the government plans to adopt still this year. The strategy, being drafted under the auspices of the foreign ministry, reflects on a national level the EU’s “Strategic Compass” – a sort of military doctrine – and NATO’s new Strategic Concept. Since the Strategy’s implementation will entail considerable costs, it is necessary to win broad public acceptance – for example by introducing a “National Security Day.” The ambitious plans are in stark contrast to the failure of German military missions over the past few years.   (German Foreign Policy, 9/14/2022)

ASSAULT ON RELIGION WITHOUT PARALLEL

Staff photo by Wyatt Massey / Pastor Doug Plumlee delivers a sermon at Ridgedale Baptist Church on March 15. The Baptist church was shut down for in-person services.

Vaccination is now the hot topic for decision-making. The argument for widespread vaccination is powerful, but a few million Australians quietly disagree. They carry concerns, often unspoken. Having suffered financially from the lockdowns, they see no sign of comparable financial sacrifices being offered by leading politicians and high-ranking officials, who mainly decide which citizens, industries and occupations should suffer.

Hosts of civil servants are receiving higher salaries and working safely at home while the losers in the private sector are suffering financially and even dipping into their superannuation.

Women, especially those in hospitality and tourism, are losers. The young more than the middle-aged suffer from unemployment, a burden that is more widespread than is measured by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The government’s job subsidies tend to support full-time employees, whereas so many young workers, especially students, are casuals.

Outer regions tend to suffer more than the big cities, while in the heart of those cities the hairdressers, coffee shops, laneway bars and other small businesses suffer more than banks and big mining companies.

Some businesses, of course, have gained more than they merited because the Morrison-Frydenberg formula of subsidies necessarily had to be devised with speed and generosity.

The loss of daily freedom has perhaps surpassed financial losses from the pandemic, though the two forms of damage cannot be compared easily. School-age children, deprived of their friends by the onset of online learning, have suffered emotionally. Mental health is impaired in all age groups. The assault on freedom of religion – inflicted promptly during lockdowns – has probably no parallel in the past 185 years.

This assault is more punitive than that organized by governments during the mask-wearing months of the Spanish flu, when Christians were often allowed to worship in the open air near their chosen church.  (“Compared with Spanish flu, we’re doing ok,” Geoffrey Blainey, The Australian, 8/4/2021)

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MUSLIM ASSOCIATION OF CANADA

Muslim Association Of Canada (MAC), After Participating In Summit With Prime Minister Trudeau, Canadian Officials, Schedules Muslim Student Leadership Conference Featuring Muslim Brotherhood Leader Tareq Al-Suwaidan, Who Has Said Gays Should Be Killed, Called For Jihad Against Israel, And Spoke At December 2020 MAC Conference Alongside Islamist Figures Muhammad Al-Dido, Muhammad Al-Nabulsi   (MEMRI, 8/6/2021)

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DIEGO GARCIA OCCUPIED ILLEGALLY

The frigate Bayern, which set sail for East Asia yesterday, will soon make a port call at Diego Garcia, an island under occupation, in violation of international law, and serving military purposes. It is the main island of the Chagos Archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean and the site of a strategically important US military base. The Chagos Archipelago is an old British colonial possession that had once belonged to Mauritius. It was detached, in violation of international law, during the decolonization of Mauritius, to allow the United States to construct a military base. The population was deported to impoverished regions on Mauritius. In the meantime, several international court rulings have been handed down and a UN General Assembly resolution has been passed on this issue – all concluding that Mauritius has sovereignty over Diego Garcia and calling on the United Kingdom to hand back the illegally occupied Chagos Archipelago. To this day, London and Washington refuse to comply. This does not bother Berlin.   (German Foreign Policy, 8/3/2021)

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IRANIAN PROTESTS

Protests began on July 15 in the southwestern Khuzestan Province. The initial focus was a scarcity of water in recent months, which has led to deaths among livestock and consequent impoverishment among farmers in the ethnically diverse province. The lack of water is also leading to a breakdown in electricity provision and frequent blackouts.

But while scarcity of water was the initial trigger, the protests soon began to include more generalized slogans against the ruling Islamist regime. Khuzestan Province, in which Arab-Iranians form the largest community, is a place of high unemployment, poorly served by the central government in terms of services. In the course of a week, the protests spread, with additional, though smaller, demonstrations taking place in the cities of Isfahan, Karaj, Kermanshah and Tabriz.  (“Unrest grows in Iran,” Jonathan Spyer, MEF, 7/30/2021)

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WILL LEBANON FALL TO IRAN?

If Lebanon falls to Iran, the Iranians will control an arc of territory from Iran, through Iraq and Syria.   This territory is basically the old King of the North, which the Bible says will be restored prior to Christ’s return.

• There is growing concern among the Lebanese and other Arabs that Iran is planning to exploit the severe political, economic and financial crisis in Lebanon to complete its takeover of the country.
• Iran already has a political and military presence in Lebanon through its terrorist proxy, Hezbollah. The current crisis, however, is likely to facilitate Iran’s mission of adding Lebanon to the list of countries it already occupies:  Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
• “Iran is already very dangerous without a nuclear bomb. The region is witnessing a state of chaos and agitation by fundamentalist forces, which threaten all Arab countries without exception.” — Mishary Dhayidi, Saudi writer, Al-Arabiya, July 21, 2021
• The Arabs appear clearly worried about the perceived apathy of the US and other Western powers towards Iran’s scheme to extend its control to Lebanon. They seem particularly alarmed that Lebanon will meet the same fate as Iraq, Syria and Yemen…. thanks to Iran’s continuous efforts to export terrorism and the “Islamic Revolution” to the Arab countries.
• [T]he mullahs in Tehran are doubly dangerous: they aspire not only to develop nuclear weapons, but also to occupy Arab states.  (“Will Lebanon fall into the hands of Iran?,” Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone, 7/26/2021)

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HUNGARY’S ORBAN FACES ELECTION

Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s far-right populist prime minister, likes to shock people. It’s part of his political appeal. Orbán has proudly proclaimed that he is an “illiberal” leader,” creating a frenzy in Brussels because Hungary is a member of the European Union.

It’s been over a decade since the 58-year-old, whom some have dubbed the “Trump before Trump,” became prime minister. In that time he has, critics say, hollowed out Hungary’s governing institutions and eroded the state’s democratic characteristics.

But now for the first time since then, Orbán faces a real challenge to his power. Six ideologically-diverse opposition parties have joined forces to unseat him. But even if the opposition bloc wins elections next spring, a hard feat given Orbán’s popular appeal, what would it even mean to “liberalize” Hungary again?   (Gzero Signal, 7/29/2021)

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FAMILY FIRST, NZ

George Orwell is traditionally credited with saying this great quote:  “The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.” Let me adjust that slightly to my version. “The further a society drifts from biblical truth, the more it will hate those who quote it.”   (Family First, NZ, August)

The proposed ‘conversion therapy’ ban will be yet another attack on parents’ rights. A ban would criminalize parents who wish to protect their child from the physical, emotional, and psychological harm caused by gender dysphoria. Shockingly, parents would be criminalized and potentially liable up to five years in jail simply for affirming that their sons are boys and their daughters are girls. The government want to criminalize the discussion and practice of alternatives to hormones, surgery and confusion.
 
And if a person wanted to align their sexuality with the teachings and values of their particular faith – be it Muslim or Christian, Jewish or Sikh – and sought help to do so from a minister, imam or other faith leader, a ban would make it virtually impossible to access the support they wanted. Furthermore, if they were able to find someone prepared to provide counselling of that kind, they could well cause that person (such as you!) to become implicated in a criminal offence. According to the government bill, consent is not relevant. But the right of self-determination is a founding principle of the mental health profession, and for children, the wider whanau / family is part of this important value and support base.   (Family First NZ, August)

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CRITICAL RACE THEORY

Despite widespread acceptance of bi-culturalism and the increasing use of Te Reo Māori, terms like “systemic racism”, “White guilt” and “White privilege” are being enthusiastically embraced by organizations and governments – and now being pushed in our education system. It’s all part of critical theory – a radical and dangerous new way of thinking about human identity and value. But critical theory is divisive. It’s reduces human interaction to the notion of us versus them. This then feeds the very thing it claims to be fighting:  racism, prejudice, resentment and self interest. And the traditional values of reconciliation, love, treating others the way you want to be treated, forgiveness and colour-blindness have no place in a world gripped by critical theory. But it’s wrong to teach children to be defined by their race rather than as individuals, as though they are only the color of their skin and that’s all they will ever be. This is confusing to children and creates resentment, tribalism and division in schools. Fighting racism with racism is a double standard. Parents need to check whether this agenda is in their local schools.   (Family First NZ, August)

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President Biden’s Middle East policy

The Biden team has attempted to base its Middle East policy on the noble values of human rights and democracy, which are inconsistent with the Arab Middle East.

by Yoram Ettinger: a former ambassador & head of Second Thought: A U.S.-Israel Initiative.  (August 8, 2021 / JNS)

The Middle East does not intend to disengage from the United States. America is perceived by rogue Middle East entities as “The Great Satan,” and the main obstacle on their way to achieving their overarching goal: bringing the West into submission. This goal has deep roots, going back to the seventh century C.E.

Isolation is not a realistic option in the increasingly globalized village, where rogue Middle East regimes are engaged in the proliferation of terrorism, non-conventional military technologies and drug trafficking around the globe. Their reach extends all the way to the American continent, impacting U.S. homeland security.  . . . Biden and his team assume that Islamic terrorism (e.g., Iran’s ayatollahs, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, Hamas, PLO, Houthis) is driven by despair. They ignore the fact that Islamic terrorism has been driven – since the 7th century C.E. – not by despair, but by deeply-rooted, intolerant, fanatic and megalomaniacal anti-Western ideology, irrespective of Western and Israeli policies.  (https://www.jns.org/opinion/president-bidens-middle-east-policy/)

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Germany’s Left Party candidate for chancellor supports NATO and European army by Peter Schwarz (9 August 2021, © 1998-2021 World Socialist Web Site. All rights reserved)

A world without an army was “a wonderful utopia,” Dietmar Bartsch, the lead candidate for Germany’s Left Party told an ARD television interviewer recently. 

A utopia, however, he also made clear, that for him and his party existed only as fiction. Bartsch made unmistakably clear that despite verbal declarations about peace, the Left Party supports foreign deployments of the Bundeswehr (Armed Forces), the creation of a European army and NATO. (https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/08/09/left-a09.html)

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Why did so many world leaders attend the inauguration of Iran’s murderous president?
For a regime that makes such noise about how many foreign leaders attend an inauguration, it sure is quiet about how many citizens it has murdered.

(August 8, 2021 / The Jewish Journal) What would you do if you were a senior European Union diplomat who was invited to the inauguration of a man affectionately known as “The Butcher of Tehran”?  Yes, I’m kidding about the “affectionately” part, but not about “The Butcher of Tehran.” You don’t earn that nickname (as well as “Ayatollah Massacrist”) among Iranian people unless you’ve overseen the arrest, torture and murder of thousands of dissidents and protestors for more than 30 years.  If you’re Enrique Mora, a senior E.U. diplomat, you RSVP “yes” to the swearing-in of newly-elected Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, which was held on Thursday in Tehran.  Mora was joined by representatives from over 70 countries who also said “yes.”  Specifically, the ceremony was attended by “10 presidents, 20 speakers of parliament, 11 foreign ministers, 10 other ministers, envoys of presidents, vice presidents and parliamentary delegations,” according to a statement by Iranian Parliament spokesman Seyyed Nezam Al-Din Mousavi. For a regime that makes such noise about how many foreign leaders attend an inauguration, it sure is quiet about how many citizens it has murdered. + Noted:  thousands murdered.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/why-did-so-many-world-leaders-attend-the-inauguration-of-irans-murderous-president/

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Evidence shows biblical-era earthquake reached Jerusalem

The new findings update what was previously the earliest destruction layer of Jerusalem – from the Babylonian conquest of 586 BCE.
by Brian Blum (8 August 2021, Israel 21c)

Did an ancient earthquake described by the Bible in the Kingdom of Judah some 2,800 years ago reach as far as Jerusalem, the region’s capital? An archeological dig says yes.  This could have only one explanation: the eighth century BCE earthquake mentioned in the books of Amos and Zechariah.

https://www.israel21c.org/evidence-shows-biblical-era-earthquake-reached-jerusalem/

Is Iran on the verge of sparking a water war?

Years of mismanagement has left Iran facing “irreversible” water shortages that threaten to trigger conflict across the Middle East and North Africa, an exiled former minister has warned.

Kaveh Madani, a scientist who served as deputy environment minister, told The Times that Iran was “water bankrupt” – when consumption is greater than renewable water availability – as reservoirs, rivers and groundwater begin to run dry.

And the shortages are “being replicated across the region,” says the paper, “with the marshes of southern Iraq starting to dry out again despite restoration efforts, and eastern Syria suffering a significant drought.”  (The Week, 7/29/2021)

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TALKING POINTS

• “Biden is failing in his first constitutional duty — to defend the United States from foreign invasion. We Americans no longer decide who comes into our national home and whom we shall adopt as new citizens . . .   We defend the borders of scores of nations; we cannot, or Biden will not, defend our own.”  (“Is America becoming a failed state?” by Pat Buchanan, 8/10/2021)

• Not once in this century has the U.S. decisively won one of the wars it launched — in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen or Libya. And the sole superpower status we enjoyed as the 21st century began is gone with the wind.”  (PB, 8/10/2021) 

• Iran ‘working systematically to build serious cyber-attack capabilities’
  Revelations about malign plans by Tehran’s leaders serve as the latest confirmation of how seriously the Islamic Republic takes cyber warfare, said Professor Col. (res.) Gabi Siboni, an expert on cyber security.  (https://www.jns.org/iran-is-working-systematically-to-build-serious-cyber-attack-capabilities/)

• VIEWPOINT Quote of the day, UK — It’s phenomenal to see first-hand the enthusiasm of the British public for the vaccines.”  Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi hails the news that 75% of adults have now been double-vaccinated.  (The Week, 8/10/2021)

• Nigel Farage helped lead the British people to Brexit.   He now has a program on a new channel called “GB News,” which is far more even-handed than the BBC.  Imaginatively, his program is called “Talking Pints.”   Nigel sits at a bar interviewing people.  Both participants have a glass of brownish liquid in front of them.  It’s well worth a view (and can be seen regularly on YouTube).  Although I like the concept, we shall continue to call this segment of the blog “Talking Points.”

FINAL THOUGHT

GOD’S WAITING ROOM

My wife had a birthday at the weekend.  A lady friend in Australia called her on the day to wish her a happy birthday.  I also talked with her for a few minutes.   She mentioned how one old lady she knows described the years after 70 as being in God’s waiting room.

Psalm 90:10, written over 3000 years ago, is a reminder that people normally live about 70 years.  “The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor …”  Some may be given a few more years, but life only gets harder as we all deal with failing health.

It’s as if we are in God’s waiting room.   As in any waiting room situation, we have choices.  We can do something profitable while we wait such as reading; or we can waste away the time checking our phones for messages!

In our general life, we can spend time with the grandchildren or waste our days watching television.  

You get the idea.   Redeem the time.   Use it profitably.

Ephesians 5:15-16 tells us to “see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

We don’t know how long we will be in the waiting room, but, as we wait patiently, let us use the time well.   For we never know when the wait time will be over.

WHY WON’T THEY TELL US HE’S A MUSLIM?

Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, Boulder Police Department photo

As we witness U.S. authorities and the establishment media trying to de-Islamize the Jihad in Boulder and to obscure the fact that the Jihadist perpetrator, Ahmad Al Issa, is a Muslim migrant ISIS sympathizer, a vital question confronts us: why does the Left consistently engage in Jihad Denial? Why is it so invested in denying the Islamic roots of Islamic Jihad?  This is, without doubt, one of the most pertinent questions of our time, especially now with the Boulder Jihad — and its tragic victims — hovering right before our very eyes. (Jihad Watch 3/25/2021)

Although Christians face oppression throughout the Islamic world, Muslim converts to the faith face an even harsher climate because Islamic doctrine condemns apostasy and conversion away from the Islamic faith is deeply taboo. Islam “was created 600 years after Christ as a rebellion against biblical values,” said Darwish, and therefore “to choose the Bible over Islam . . . Jesus over Muhammad, is the ultimate insult to Islam.” Muslims living in the Middle East who convert to Christianity often claim to have seen Jesus in a dream – maintaining, in effect, that Jesus chose them, not the other way around.   Islamic law sanctions the killing of apostates. Although civil laws in some countries may nominally protect converts, in most countries “the percentage of Muslims who believe in killing apostates is huge” and authorities often turn a blind eye to it, so the threat of “vigilante justice against apostates” is ever-present. (Marilyn Stern, MEF, 3/26/2021)

Demonstrations outside a school where a teacher showed a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed to pupils are “disturbing,” a cabinet minister has said.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said the protests outside Batley Grammar School were “not right” and that “we shouldn’t have teachers feeling intimidated” as more people gathered there again on Friday. (Sky News, 3/26/2021)

“As a society, for too many years we have not made the necessary demands of newcomers. We have had far too low expectations for the refugees and immigrants who came to Denmark. We have not made sufficiently tangible demands on jobs and self-sufficiency. Therefore, too many immigrants have ended up in prolonged inactivity.” — Danish government report, “Showdown with Parallel Societies.”  (Gatestone, 3/23/2021)

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BERLIN CONCERNED ABOUT LOSS OF BUSINESS WITH IRAN

Berlin and the EU could permanently lose out on political influence and substantial business deals in Iran, due to new agreements between Iran and China, on the one hand, and to the ongoing US blockade of Tehran on the other. The People’s Republic of China has not only been able to somewhat maintain its Iranian oil imports despite US sanctions, and, since the beginning of the year, also register a significant increase. Over the weekend, Beijing even concluded a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Tehran, which provides for huge investments and could, in the long run, procure a long-term dominant economic influence for China in Iran. Germany’s attempt to sidestep US sanctions in favor of German business with Iran has failed, with no perspective for relaunching its traditionally lucrative economic activities in that country. Experts complain that the Biden administration is even blocking necessary humanitarian imports of food and Covid-19 vaccines.  (German Foreign Policy, 3/30/2021)

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COVID DIVIDES COUNTRIES

The EU’s serious failings in procurement of Covid-19 vaccines are dragging the Union into internal and external conflicts prior to today’s summit. Tensions are growing between EU states, because poorer countries are being discriminated against in the distribution of the scarce supply of vaccines and are thus lagging behind in their vaccination programs. The fact that a growing number of EU member states, in addition to the protracted procurement at Union level, have begun to purchase Russian vaccines on a national level has caused further conflicts. Several allied countries are very upset because the EU has widened vaccine export controls and openly threatens to impose export bans. It was reported yesterday that the EU Commission had ordered the police to inspect an AstraZeneca vaccine filling plant in Italy, accusing the company of smuggling vaccines to the UK in a breach of contract. The accusation proved to be unfounded. According to insiders, the EU’s maneuvers are already wasting precious time in global vaccine production.  (German Foreign Policy, 3/25/2021)

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SERIOUS ABUSE IN UK FOOTBALL

As a youth coach at Crewe Alexandra and Manchester City, Barry Bennell fed “dreams of being the next big star” to the boys in his care, said Kyle O’Sullivan in the Daily Mirror. A charming man with a “mesmerising” personality, he easily won the trust of parents, who’d think nothing of letting their sons stay overnight at his house. But Bennell’s charisma was a front: he was a predatory paedophile who “destroyed a succession of young lives” in a career lasting from the 1970s to the mid-1990s. And we now know he was one of many such men in English football. The horrifying scale of abuse over this period has been laid bare by a new BBC documentary, Football’s Darkest Secret, which follows the publication last week of an FA-commissioned report into historic abuse in the game. 

Football child sexual abuse report:  ‘a dark day for the beautiful game’

The “landmark inquiry” shows what a “free run predatory abusers had,” said David Conn in The Guardian. It documents hundreds of cases of abuse, and a notable failure to act. Talent scout Frank Roper was at Blackpool FC for two decades, despite having multiple convictions for sexual assault on a minor to his name.  Most victims never complained at the time, being “bullied, scared or shamed into silence.”  But the game’s authorities were culpably slow to respond when the scale of the problem began to emerge. Bennell received his first conviction in 1995 – yet it took the FA another five years to establish anything like a proper safeguarding culture. 

Daniel Gordon’s documentary was horrific to watch, said Carol Midgley in The Times. Seeing men in their 40s and 50s break down before the camera high-lighted the damage inflicted by Bennell and his ilk. The boys they abused suffered irreversible injuries that never healed no matter what they went on to achieve. Paul Stewart, one of Roper’s victims, said he’d gained no pleasure from a successful career with Man City, Tottenham and Liverpool. “Alone,” he said, “I was just dying inside.”  The courage he and others have displayed in coming forward beats “anything you’d see on a football pitch.”   (The Week, 3/26/2021)

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US DEBT MOUNTS

The federal government’s debt will rise to twice the size of the economy by 2051, the Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday.  The CBO said that by the end of 2021, federal debt held by the public is projected to equal 102 percent of GDP. That is before taking into account the $1.9 trillion covid spending bill currently being considered by the Senate.

“Debt would reach 107 percent of GDP (surpassing its historical high) in 2031 and would almost double to 202 percent of GDP by 2051,” the CBO said.

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BOYS FORCED TO HATE THEMSELVES

Parents of male students at a school in Victoria’s southwest are furious after their sons were forced to stand up at an assembly and apologise to their female classmates.

Brauer College, in Warrnambool, held an assembly on Wednesday where boys were told to stand in solidarity for female students who had experienced sexual harassment.

Outraged parents say their sons were told to apologise to the girls for offensive behaviour on behalf of their gender.

The move comes after a viral petition exposed thousands of stories of sexual assault from students and former students around Australia, throwing the education sector into crisis.

A Snapchat post, believed to be by a male student at the school, took aim at the assembly saying:  “Today at Brauer they made every guy stand up and apologise to every girl for rape, sexual assault and so on. ” (au.com 3/26/2021)

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CHINESE PLAN TO BRING DOWN AMERICA

A leading Chinese professor—who is also an adviser to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)—laid out a comprehensive plan for the communist regime to overthrow the United States as the world’s superpower.

The professor’s multi-pronged strategy involves a range of malign actions to subvert the United States while strengthening the Chinese regime. They include:  interfering in U.S. elections, controlling the American market, cultivating global enemies to challenge the United States, stealing American technology, expanding Chinese territory, and influencing international organizations.

The plan was explained in detail by Jin Canrong, a professor and associate dean of the School of International Studies at Beijing’s Renmin University of China, in a July 2016 speech on “Sino-U.S. Strategic Philosophy” given over two full days at Southern Club Hotel Business Class in south China’s Guangzhou City.  “We want to be the world leader,” Jin said, explaining Chinese Leader Xi Jinping’s desire for a “national rejuvenation” of the country.  (Nicole Hao, Epoch Times, 3/26/2021)

Cole Bridges, a 20-year-old American who joined the U.S. Army in late 2019—and who was earlier described as “a polite, responsible and trustworthy teen”—was recently arrested and faces two federal charges: “attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group and the attempted murder of U.S. military service members.”

Earlier, in October, 2020, Bridges, a convert to Islam, came into contact with an FBI online covert employee (OCE) posing as a Muslim supporter of and in contact with the Islamic State. In their communiques, Bridges made clear that his allegiance was to Islam and jihad, not America and its soldiers.  According to the criminal complaint against him: “Bridges then provided training and guidance to purported ISIS fighters who were planning attacks, including advice about potential targets in New York City, such as the 9/11 Memorial. Bridges also provided the OCE with portions of a U.S. Army training manual and guidance about military combat tactics, for use by ISIS.” …  (Raymond Ibrahim, MEF, 1/29/2021)

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CANZUK GETS A BOOST

BRITAIN could form a special alliance with Canada, Australia and New Zealand, all predominantly English-speaking nations with historic links to the UK, under a radical proposal.   by James Bickerton, 2/10/2021

The plan, known by the acronym CANZUK, would see the four countries agree to free trade, reciprocal migration and foreign policy cooperation. This would allow citizens of the four CANZUK nations to move freely between each other, provided they don’t have a serious criminal record.  CANZUK International, which advocates for the scheme, was founded by Toronto based James Skinner in 2015.

Explaining the policy to Express.co.uk he said:  “The vision for it is really founded on the principle of these four countries working together as sovereign independent nations for the betterment of their economies and opportunities for their citizens.

The way we promote that is through three objectives. The first would be reciprocal migration whereby citizens of these countries could freely live and work in the other countries, minus a few stipulations and requirements.

“Then free trade between these countries would maximize trading potential opening up trade to [markets worth] about $3.5trillion (£2.5trillion).

“The third aspect would be foreign policy cooperation so acting as sovereign nations we could improve on the relations we already have.”

A poll of 13,600 people in 2018 for CANZUK International found overwhelming support for free movement in all four nations.

The policy was backed by 82 percent of New Zealanders, 76 percent of Canadians, 73 percent of Australians and 68 percent of Britons.

UK ‘model for race relations’
Britain is a model for race relations and claims of institutional bias are “not borne out by the evidence,” according to a government report commissioned in response to protests last year. It found that pupils from Indian, Bangladeshi and black African backgrounds outperform white British children in their GCSEs, and that “elite professions” are increasingly diverse. But it acknowledged that some ethnic minority communities are “haunted” by historic racism and that explicit discrimination remains a problem. A spokesperson for Black Lives Matter UK said the report “fails to explore” serious issues and the Runnymede Trust said it appeared to “downplay” the impact of racism.  (The Week, 3/31/2021)

ZIMBABWE NEAR COLLAPSE

A woman waits to buy gas at a service station in Harare, Zimbabwe, July 16, 2019. (Reuters)

There’s so much happening right now, it’s difficult to know where to begin.

Zimbabwe’s economy is, once again, near collapse.  Electricity is available only six hours a day, usually at night, which means that cooking meals and ironing a shirt can only be done in the middle of the night.  Food is once again scarce and prices high.

It’s hard to believe that, forty years ago, everything was in plentiful supply.   In fact, the country exported food, feeding much of Africa. But that was before independence.

Coincidentally, I’m wearing a T-shirt my wife bought me. Emblazened across the front are the words: ‘Rhodesia was super.”   “Rhodesia is super” was the slogan of the Rhodesian tourist industry four decades ago.

It certainly was.

Like all countries, it had its faults.   But what replaced it has been a miserable failure due, primarily, to bad government.

May God speed the day when change, real change, will come!

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RAMPANT INJUSTICE

Boris Johnson promised 20,000 more police to combat Britain’s horrendous crime wave.

This followed the murder of a 28-year-old newly married policeman. He was murdered by a screwdriver and dragged a considerable distance under a car.   Ten 13-30-year-olds were questioned about the murder.   A 20-year-old man has been charged.

There were over 31,000 violent assaults on policemen in the UK last year, up from 26,000 the previous year.

I can still remember when a violent attack on a policeman was a very rare event.   This is clearly not the case any more.   In a country where guns are rare, machetes and knives are often used in violent acts.   The machete is a recent addition, being brought in from Africa by immigrants.

There’s not much hope of a real national discussion on the crime wave.   There’s a definite need for one.   But it would be pointless without freedom of speech.   One factor is the gang warfare that plagues the big cities.   Most of these are ethnic, but you can’t mention that.   The restoration of free speech is a must, for any serious discussion on anything.

Now that the UK is leaving the EU, they will have the freedom to restore the death penalty, banned throughout the European Union.   The murders of policeman and of children are particularly heinous and should receive the maximum possible sentence.  They need to be put on trial and sentenced quickly

“When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.”  (Ecclesiastes 8:11 NIV)

Over fifty years ago, there was compulsory Christian education in schools.   That needs to be restored, too.   All children should be taught the ten commandments.

In the US, in the same week, it was announced that there have been nine police suicides in the NYPD this year, highlighting a serious problem across the nation.

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TLAIB TALKS NONSENSE, AGAIN

“U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib said Monday Israel’s decision to prohibit her and another Muslim member of congress from visiting the West Bank this week had “nothing to do” with their itinerary but with silencing critics of the occupation of Palestine.

“I think the focus is on hiding the truth,” Tlaib, a Democrat from Detroit, said at a news conference in St. Paul with US Rep. Ilhan Omar.

Israel is, and likely will always be, the most liberal, open and pluralistic society in the Middle East.

The 22 members of the Arab League are all dictatorships, of one sort or another.

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AFGHANISTAN @100

Afghanistan celebrated 100 years of independence last week, August 19^th.

The country was never a colony but did have a protected status, short of complete self-rule.

After three wars against the Afghans, the British had had enough.   The country has seen off many conquerors over the centuries, giving it the well-earned moniker:  “the graveyard of empires.”   In recent years, the Russians were defeated (1989) and now it’s America’s turn.   When the US withdraws, the most likely outcome is that the Taliban will take over; or even ISIS.

America should be careful withdrawing.   In January 1842, one lone British doctor was the only person left alive after a massacre of 16,000 Anglo-Indian troops in the Khyber Pass.   They left the one man alive to tell others what happened.

America today has 14,000 troops remaining.   Other members of the Coalition have already left.

The set-back in Afghanistan is part of a regional trend of lost influence and reduced power.   From Australia comes the following: “The US is so weakened in the Indo-Pacific region, it could now lose a short, sharp conflict started by Beijing in just “hours,” up-ending the military order in our region.

Furthermore, Australia is no longer able to rely on Washington to come to its defense.

That’s the conclusion of a blunt new report that found years of spending cuts, an “outdated superpower mindset” and ageing equipment mean US military installations in the region are vulnerable to being wiped out by China in a surprise battle.

“The stakes could not be higher,” the analysis by the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Centre warned.”   (“US so weakened in Indo-Pacific it could now “lose war to China,” news.com,au 8/21)

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NATO STRENGTHENS TIES WITH AUSTRALIA

(Own report) – NATO continues to intensify its cooperation with Australia.   This is the result of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s talks in the Australian capital in the middle of last week.   According to Stoltenberg, the cooperation is aimed particularly at taking a stance in the growing rivalry between the major powers – against Russia, but above all, against China.   For several years, Germany has been accompanying NATO’s cooperation with Canberra, by enhancing its own bilateral military cooperation, explicitly considering Australia to be a “strategic springboard into the Asian-Pacific region.”

Currently tensions are threatening to escalate because Washington would like to deploy intermediate-range missiles in Australia, which could directly hit Chinese territory.   Strategists are increasingly pushing NATO to intensify its activities in the Asian-Pacific.   These could even develop into the warfare alliance’s key task, according to the president of the Federal College for Security Studies in Berlin. (German Foreign Policy, 8/20)

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TRUMP UPSETS DENMARK

President Trump on Monday offered to buy Greenland, an autonomous province of the Kingdom of Denmark.

The Danish prime minister thought the suggestion “absurd”.  So President Trump has canceled his visit to the country.

It’s not the first time that the US has offered money for the Danish island.  It was offered first in 1946.

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GERMANY IN RECESSION

Germany, Europe’s industrial powerhouse and biggest economy, with companies like Volkswagen, Siemens and BASF, may be entering a recession, according to a gloomy report from the country’s central bank Monday — a development that could have repercussions for the rest of the eurozone and the United States.

A technical recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth, and Germany saw a 0.1% drop in the April-to-June period. In its monthly report, the Bundesbank said that with falling industrial production and orders, it appears the slump is continuing during the July-to-September quarter.

“The overall economic performance could decline slightly once again,” it said. “Central to this is the ongoing downturn in industry.”

Deutsche Bank went further Monday, saying “we see Germany in a technical recession” and predicting a 0.25% drop in economic output this quarter.

Germany’s economy is heavily dependent on exports, and the Bundesbank said the trade conflict between the U.S. and China and uncertainty about Britain’s move to leave the European Union have been taking their toll. Both the U.S. and China are among Germany’s top trade partners, with Britain not far behind.    (“Wide implications as Germany teeters toward recession,” A.P., 8/20)

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BAD NEWS FOR GERMANY’S ECONOMY MIGHT BE GOOD NEWS FOR THE FAR RIGHT

BERLIN — Despite Germany’s 10-year economic boom, a far-right party has managed to become Germany’s main opposition in Parliament, enter every state legislature in the country and vie for first place in elections in the former Communist East next month. And now the economy is slowing.

At a moment when populism is riding high in various corners of Europe, often against the backdrop of economic distress and high unemployment, a downturn in the Continent’s richest and most stable liberal democracy could add fuel to the fire and strengthen the nationalist Alternative for Germany party, or AfD, analysts said.

“Economic crises fuel a fear of the future, a sense of decline and the sense that the elite is failing the people,” said Yascha Mounk, an expert on populism and author of “The People Vs. Democracy.” “That’s fertile ground for populists.”  Marcel Fratzscher, a respected German political economist and professor at Humboldt University in Berlin, put it more directly:  “The economic slowdown should rather help the AfD.”

Professor Fratzscher, who also heads the German Institute for Economic Research, pointed to a forthcoming study from his institute, which will show that the AfD is much stronger in economically and structurally weak regions.   “This regional inequality and polarization is a threat to democracy,” he said, adding that “with the economic slowdown, structurally weaker regions will be hit harder, which will increase regional inequalities and accelerate the polarization.”

That is as true for Europe broadly as it is for Germany in particular. Signs that a period of exceptional economic growth may come to an end in Europe’s biggest economy sent shivers through global markets this week.   But beyond the economics, the political implications of the slowdown are just as disconcerting.

A weaker German economy not only threatens to open a broader path for the AfD.   It may also further reduce the influence of Berlin and its lame-duck chancellor, Angela Merkel, precisely at a moment when German leadership is needed to address the European Union’s manifold problems, including Britain’s scheduled departure on Oct. 31, as well as global trade issues.” (Katrin Bennhold, New York Times, 8/16)

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MACRON SAYS “NON”

Charles De Gaulle resoundingly said “Non” when Britain applied to join the EU 5o years ago.

Now, his successor, Emmanuel Macron, says “Non” to helping Britain leave on amicable and workable terms.  He is refusing to cooperate with Boris Johnson’s request to remove the Irish backstop, the arrangement that would preclude any hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

What does Ireland have to do with France?  Good question!

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ITALY’S FASCIST PAST REVERBERATES IN ROME

Lovers of fascist architecture never disappeared from Italy’s capital, where Mussolini sought to centralize powers.   He continues to be revered in one of the Roman neighborhoods the dictator built, and elsewhere.

 (Deutsche Welle * 17 Aug 2019)   Fascist buildings can be found all over Italy.   Roberto Canali, the right-wing mayor of Predappio, Mussolini’s birthplace, announced plans last month to reopen the dictator’s crypt to tourists all year around.   At the moment, fascists and neo-fascists can only access the site in central Italy three times a year.   The mayor said that the move would help local business.

I always sell all the copies of the Primato Nazionale,” adds Moreschini, referring to a far-right, nationalistic monthly magazine founded in Milan six years ago.   Even if it is impossible to say whether fascists could make a comeback, it is clear that the current political fragility, coupled with regional emergencies and Italy’s sluggish economy, is increasing the visibility of far-right ideas.   “In the end, fascists never really disappeared,” says Pietro Di Placidi, as he cleans up Sgobbone restaurant after the lunchtime customers have left.   (https://www.dw.com/en/italys-fascist-past-reverberates-in-rome/a-50024325)

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OLD SOUTH AFRICAN FLAG CONSTITUTES “HATE SPEECH”

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 21 (Reuters) – “A South African court on Wednesday ruled that displaying the country’s apartheid-era flag in public constituted hate speech that discriminated against black people and violated equality laws.

The case relates to a 2017 demonstration against attacks and killings of farmers where the so-called ‘Apartheid Flag” was displayed.   The protest was led by predominantly white, Afrikaner nationalist groups.

After public anger at the display of the flag, the Nelson Mandela Foundation applied for an order declaring “gratuitous display” of the flag as hate speech, unfair discrimination and harassment based on race.”   (Mfuneko Toyana, 8/21)

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Pakistani Islamic Scholars Urge Jihad Against India In Kashmir, Say: ‘Kashmiri Muslims Have No Path Other Than Jihad’;  ‘The Muslims’ Neck Is In The Grip Of The Jews’   (MEMRI headline, 8/18)

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BUBONIC PLAGUE IN US

Bubonic plague may seem like a disease that’s been relegated to the history books, but that’s not the case.   The disease that struck terror in people in the Middle Ages is alive and well in the modern world, and it’s most recently appeared in prairie dog towns in the suburbs of Denver.

So how did prairie dogs get a virulent infection that plagued the Byzantine Empire and killed 60 percent of Europeans in the 1300s? During the last half of the 19th century, plague spread across China. When it hit the port of Hong Kong around 1894, the disease-carrying fleas began to spread to port cities around the world, eventually killing about 10 million people.   Ester Inglis-Arkell reports that bubonic plague came to the U.S. via Chinatown in San Francisco around 1900, though local officials refused to acknowledge the disease, worried about driving away tourists.   In 1906, however, when an earthquake leveled large parts of the city, rats carrying plague fleas proliferated in the rubble, leading to an outbreak of the disease.

The bacteria were also transmitted to San Francisco area squirrels, and from there, spread to the small rodent population of the American West.    Now, the disease is endemic, meaning it’s always present at low levels, though researchers don’t completely understand why larger outbreaks occur during certain years.   On average, between one and 17 cases of plague are reported annually in humans, with hotspots located in the high deserts of northern New Mexico and Arizona as well as southern Colorado, according to the CDC.

But it’s not just humans that suffer from Yersinia pestis.   Outbreaks of the plague, which is called sylvatic plague when it infects small mammals, can kill over 90 percent of prairie dogs infected with the disease.   (“Plague infected prairie dogs cause parks to close near Denver.” Smithsonian, 8.22)

 

SRI LANKA AND OUR FUTURE

According to Wikipedia, Sri Lanka has a variety of religious beliefs, making it a truly multicultural experience.  It’s over 70% Buddhist, 12.6% Hindu, 9.7 % Muslim and 7.4% Christian.

For over thirty years, there was a civil war between the majority Buddhists and the minority Hindus.   The civil war ended ten years ago.   Bombings, frequent during the war, were a thing of the past.

Until Sunday. Easter Sunday, when 253 Christians were killed by nine Muslim suicide bombers.   The suicide bombers were all from wealthy backgrounds.

At first, the death toll was 359.   This is because of the way body parts were counted. Later, the death toll was revised downward.

Initially, speculation was rife that the attacks were revenge killings for the massacre of Muslims in New Zealand, but intelligence has determined that the attacks were planned three months ago, a long time before the New Zealand massacre.   Terrorists need no excuse when it comes to mass carnage.

The BBC’s Clyde Myrie, reporting from Sri Lanka, described ISIS as a “perversion of Islam.”  But is it?  How many more terror attacks have to take place before we face up to reality?   On January 18^th the Wall Street Journal, on its opinion page, had a long list of Muslim terror attacks under the title:  “A Bloody month of jihad.”   In any given month, a number of terrorist attacks take place around the world, all a part of the global jihad against non-Muslims.   ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Sri Lankan attacks.

A Christian man who survived the bombing of St. Sebastian’s church in Sri Lanka had this to say:

• “We are a peace-loving community in this small city, we had never hurt anyone, but we don’t know from where this amount of hate is coming.   This city has become a grave with blood and bodies lying around . . .   Since the past three years, we don’t know why, but we see an extremist’s mindset developing among the Muslims.   I know many good Muslims, but there are also a lot who hate us, and they have never been so before.   It is in these three years that we see a difference.”                    (Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone, 4/25)

Also from Gatestone:

• “In 2017, in Egypt, Islamic terrorists bombed two Coptic Christian churches during Palm Sunday mass, which inaugurates Easter week, murdering 50 people and wounding 120. On Easter Sunday 2016 in Pakistan, an Islamic suicide bomber detonated near the children’s rides of a public park where Christians were known to be congregated and celebrating; over 70 people — mostly women and children — were murdered and nearly 400 wounded.  On Easter Sunday 2012 in Nigeria, Islamic terrorists bombed a church, murdering at least 50 worshippers.” (4/25)

Christians are clearly being targeted by Muslims, yet few give attention to this in the West.   Gatestone is one of the few.

(The last time I quoted Gatestone, I saw a comment posted to my blog claiming it’s an extreme right-wing website which is often wrong.   Gatestone simply sees the threat posed by radical Islam to the western world.   It is warning the West.   It is no more wrong than mainstream media, which is failing in its responsibility to warn the West.   It is described as “extreme right wing” because it opposes globalization and multiculturalism.)

Former US President Barack Obama could not bring himself to talk about the attack on Christians, describing them as “Easter worshippers.”

Allison Pearson, in London’s Daily Telegraph, wrote:

“Compare and contrast the reaction of Hillary Clinton to the two tragedies.   On Sunday, she tweeted, “I’m praying for everyone affected by today’s horrific attacks on Easter worshippers and travelers in Sri Lanka.”  Easter worshippers?  That’s a clunking new euphemism for Christians.   When the mosques in Christchurch were targeted, did Clinton talk of Ramadan worshippers?   No, she wrote, “My heart breaks for New Zealand and the global Muslim community.”” (4/23)

Former Vice-President Joe Biden, announcing his candidacy for the presidency, in his promotional video lamented the incident in which one person died in Charlottesville, yet gave no mention of the terror attacks in Sri Lanka, which took the lives of at least four Americans.   The widening conflict with the Islamic world will require a president who can stand up to the terrorists, not somebody who avoids the issues.  Biden is too deeply rooted in the past and is not facing up to what’s happening in the present, let alone the future.

We’re afraid to face the fact that Christians everywhere are being persecuted.

The multicultural dream that the West has been pursuing, everywhere, is dead.   Sri Lanka shows this.   Other terrorist attacks have also shown it, but not on this scale.

At the same time, it seems to be open season on Christians.   For decades, they have been persecuted in the Middle East, with little concern expressed in the West, even in the Vatican.

In London, the Muslim Mayor of the city, sent extra police protection to mosques after the New Zealand massacre.  None were sent to Christian churches on Easter Sunday.   Christians are on their own.   They can never be described as victims (hence Mr. Obama’s use of the term “Easter worshippers”).   Only Muslims can be victims!

There are also reports that many Frenchmen do not believe Notre Dame was an accident.

Allison Pearson again:

“I’m afraid that politicians like Clinton and May are paralyzed by a terrible dilemma.  It’s too scary to admit that militant Islamists are at war with Christianity and Western civilization, that vandalism of churches is rife across Europe and that, according to the Pew Report, Christianity is the world’s most persecuted religion.”

Prince William, the future king of New Zealand, was asked to come and speak at the Christchurch mosque, to encourage the people at this very difficult time for them.   They were the victims of a white nationalist who protested the presence of Muslims in the country.

Attacks and counter attacks.  This has become almost a daily staple worldwide.     This “clash of civilizations”  between Islam and the West was predicted by Samuel Huntington 25 years ago;  it is also prophesied in Daniel 11:40-44.

Sadly, Sri Lanka is the future of us all!

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I am going overseas for three weeks and am unlikely to post while I’m away.  This is a fun trip.   Hopefully, no news will interrupt it!

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON RECENT EVENTS

24-storey apartment building in London on fire

I stayed up late a week ago to watch the British election results, broadcast live on BBC World’s television channel.   It soon became clear that Theresa May’s ruling Conservatives were not doing well. Mrs. May had called an early election to strengthen her position prior to the start of Brexit talks with the European Union.   Her gamble failed – she now finds herself leading a party that does not control over 50% of parliament.   To stay in office, she has had to enter a coalition with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the pro-British faction from Northern Ireland.

This is already being misinterpreted by Sinn Fein, the anti-British, pro-republican faction from Northern Ireland; it could easily lead to further violence in the province.

There’s another threat to the coalition. Mrs. May also relies on the Scottish Conservatives, who did extremely well in the election, increasing their parliamentary representation from one to thirteen seats.  Their leader, Ruth Davidson, who is married to her female partner, is a fervent supporter of same-sex marriage; while the Northern Irish conservatives are socially very traditional.

It’s going to be interesting to see how this all works out.

At the very least, it has weakened the government at a crucial time, as negotiations begin on Monday, with the most efficient and uncompromising bureaucracy on the face of the earth – the European Union.

An additional threat comes from the opposition Labour Party.   A prominent voice in the party is calling for one million people to take to the streets to bring down Mrs. May.   Sound familiar?

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”  (Mark 3:25.)

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EUROPEAN LEADERS CHILDLESS

Talking of Europe, note the following, sent by a friend in New Zealand:

• Emmanuel Macron, the newly elected French president, has no             children.
•  German chancellor Angela Merkel has no children.
•  British prime minister Theresa May has no children.
•  Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni has no children.
•  Holland’s Mark Rutte, has no children.
•  Sweden’s Stefan Löfven, has no children.
•  Luxembourg’s Xavier Bettel, has no children.
•  Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon has no children.
•  Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, has        no children.

So a grossly disproportionate number of the people making decisions about Europe’s future have no direct personal stake in that future.

Additionally, in the last few days, the Irish Republic has a new prime minister.   He also has no children.  The press has been full of the fact that he is the youngest prime minister ever.   He is also half-Indian and gay, neither of which is an issue.   (Serbia’s new prime minister is also gay, as is Luxembourg’s PM.)

At the very least, all the above are thinking short-term, wanting to win the next election.   When Europe was dominated by kings, at the very least the leaders wanted to preserve their thrones for their descendants;  this also meant ensuring the continuation of the nation-state.   Both of these factors no longer apply.

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THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS

Talking of kings, King Henry II got a mention in the US Congress a week ago.   Henry died long before the United States ever existed as a nation – even before America was “discovered” by Christopher Columbus.   He reigned from 1154-1189.

Note the following from Vanity Fair:

“The James Comey hearing has officially gone medieval.   A little less than two hours into the former FBI director’s highly watched testimony, Comey dropped a reference to Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury who was killed at the casual request of King Henry II in the year 1170.   The reference popped up when Senator Angus King was questioning Comey, asking him about Donald Trump’s seemingly casual but firm request to have Comey drop the FBI’s Michael Flynn investigation.  Though Trump did not demand outright that Comey drop the investigation, even his slightest requests come with an air of seriousness, King suggested.

“Do you take that as a directive?” King asked Comey of Trump’s question.

“Yes, yes,” Comey replied.   “It rings in my ears as kind of ‘Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?’”

Henry II was a very significant monarch.   James Comey learned a lesson from his reign.   Today’s British people, who have experienced three terrorist attacks in less than three months, could learn something else.   Note the following:

“Henry II, who is considered the father of the common law, promulgated the Assize of Arms in 1181. This required all (male) British citizens between 15 and 40 to purchase and keep arms.   The type of arms required varied with wealth; the wealthiest had to provide themselves with full armor, sword, dagger, and war horse, while even the poorest citizens, “the whole community of freemen,” must have leather armor, helmet and a lance.   Twice a year all citizens were to be inspected by the king’s officials to insure that they possessed the necessary arms.   Conversely, the English made it quite clear that the king was to be expected to depend exclusively upon his armed freemen.   When rebellious barons forced John I to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, they inserted in its prohibitions a requirement that he “expel from the kingdom all foreign knights, crossbowmen, sergeants, and mercenaries, who have come with horses and weapons to the harm of the realm.” (Historical Basis of the Right to keep and bear arms, by David P. Hardy, 1982)

During the recent terror attacks in England, on each occasion, one armed citizen could have made a significant difference and saved lives.  Medieval monarchs were very concerned that the people should be able to defend themselves against the French; today, the threat is Islamic extremists, but the principle remains the same.

Also note, in the quote above, that Henry’s second son, John, one of the worst monarchs in English history, was required by the people to “expel from the kingdom all foreign knights, crossbowmen, sergeants and mercenaries, who have come with horses and weapons to the harm of the realm.”

No prizes for guessing who should be expelled today!

It should be noted that King Henry did not introduce the right to bear arms; he simply restored an ancient right that went back to at least the reign of Alfred the Great, in the 9^th century.  The Vikings were one of the problems at that time.  The threat changes, but a threat is always there.

With this in mind, I found the following interesting while studying this morning:   “The story of David and Goliath is helpful since “five smooth stones” and a “sling” are the closest equivalent to a handgun we can find in the Bible.   David seems to have been armed with his sling at all times.   There was no way he could run home to get his sling when a lion or a bear was about to attack his flock.   (1 Sam. 17:31-37, 41-54)

It’s possible that Jesus had the Old Testament case law in mind when He offered this injunction to His disciples:   “But be sure of this, if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.”   (Matt 24:43) (“Jesus, Guns and Self-defence – what does the Bible say?”)

Christians should, of course, strive to live peaceably with all men. (Romans 12:18)   Jesus Christ said: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” (Matt 5:9)   He also told us to “turn the other cheek.”  (vs. 38-39)

With terrorism, we are dealing with a totally different mind-set from Jesus Christ, a religious belief system that encourages and celebrates killing en masse.   People have to be able to defend themselves. King Henry understood this.   Today’s leaders in countries like the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada need to address the issue, enabling people to defend themselves from acts of barbarism.   In contrast, Australia has just announced an amnesty calling on citizens to hand over illegal weapons.

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THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON, 2017

The tragic apartment block fire in London dominated the news on Wednesday.   30 deaths have been confirmed, but scores of people are still missing.   There were also over sixty injured.   What started the fire is not known at this time, but a material used in construction appears to have helped the fire to quickly spread.   The Daily Express said Thursday that EU environmental directives could be the cause.

Most of the people in the apartment block seemed to have been from other countries in Africa and Asia.   Looking at the high-rise (24-storey) block of flats, as they are called in England, I wondered why people would leave their own countries to live in such an awful place.

My wife and I have spent many happy days in African villages.   I can truthfully say that I would rather live in one of those than in a high-rise apartment block in London, or any other major city.   Isaiah 5:8 warns against living too close to each other.   “Woe unto them that join house to house.”

What attracts people to move to the West varies for each individual. One of the established reasons in the UK is the generous welfare benefits.   Perhaps some of that money could be diverted to African villages to bring water and electricity to communities to improve their quality of life.   Together with the abolition of welfare for new arrivals, this would go some way to help solve the immigration crisis.

On BBC World this morning, interviews with survivors of the fire revealed a lot of understandable anger.   It’s also clear that many have an “entitlement mentality,” demanding that the government re-house them immediately, claiming that hotels are not good enough; they also dismissed Theresa May’s call for an independent inquiry – they want those responsible punished NOW.

Since writing the above, some residents and neighbors have stormed the local town hall, chanting their demands, blaming the fire on the Conservative government.   There was no logic – just a mob mentality. Scary and a sign of things to come. 

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ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS

• At the moment, the bar for taking extremists out of circulation is set ridiculously high.   People known for their own extremism that reaches pre-terrorist levels should not be walking the streets when they have expressed support for Islamic State (ISIS) or tried to head to Syria or called for the destruction of Britain and other democracies or allied themselves to people already in prison. Their demand for free speech or freedom of belief must never be elevated above the rights of citizens to live safely in their own towns and cities.   It is essential for parliament to lower the bar.
• Is this to be the political landscape for the future, where groups of people demanding death and destruction are given the freedom of the streets whilst those wishing to hold a peaceful celebration are prevented from doing so?
• To see extremist Islam as a “perversion” of Islam misses an important point.   The politically correct insistence that radical versions of Islam somehow pervert an essentially peaceful and tolerant faith forces policy-makers and legislators, church leaders, rabbis, interfaith workers and the public at large to leave to one side an important reality.   Flatly, Islam in its original and classic forms has everything to do with today’s radicals and the violence they commit.   The Qur’an is explicit in its hatred for pagans, Jews and Christians.   It calls for the fighting of holy war (jihad) to conquer the non-Muslim world, subdue it, and gradually bring it into the fold of Islam. Islam has been at war with Europe since the seventh century.

(“No tolerance for extremism, “ by Denis McMacEion, Gatestone Institute, 6/16).

 

EUROPE CHANGES WHILE US PRE-OCCUPIED

British Prime Minister Theresa May,  Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, U.S. President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet at the German Chancellery in Berlin, Germany November 18, 2016.       REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

When newspapers around the world reported that the Archduke Franz Ferdinand had been assassinated in Sarajevo, nobody would have thought it would lead to the First World War, the worst war in history.  The subsequent war started in the Balkans, a part of Europe that frequently saw conflict; it didn’t seem anything to worry about.

25 years later, another world war followed on from the first, again started in Europe.

You would think that, consequently, the world would want to know what’s happening in Europe!   But the mention of Europe is likely to see wide-mouthed yawns in an audience – Europe is a continent of the past, not the future; a quaint place to visit but of no relevance.

However, Europe is a continent that is unraveling as old rivalries rise to the surface.   The end result could be a Europe that is very different from what we see now.

What we are witnessing is the return of nationalism, the root cause of both world wars.   Right now, we are in the dark, just as the world was the morning after the Archduke’s assassination.   Another seemingly insignificant event could lead directly to global conflict, just as the assassination did over a century ago.

After six decades of the European Union and its predecessor, Europeans are turning against the idea of “an ever closer union.” Now, they want to put their own country first.   It started in the United Kingdom with the Brexit vote.   Outside of Europe, the Americans voted earlier this month to put “America First.”   Austrians seem likely to elect their “far right” candidate to the presidency on December 4^th.   If he wins, he has promised to dissolve parliament and to hold a vote on whether or not the country should stay in the EU.   A referendum in Italy on the same day could also have a profound effect on other countries in Europe.

However, the biggest two upcoming elections will be in France in May and Germany four months later.

France just had its primaries for the center-right party, resulting in the selection of Francois Fillon as their presidential candidate. He will run against the leader of the Socialist Party.   It’s not likely that their candidate will be the current socialist president, Francois Hollande, as his approval rating is down to only 4%.   A third party candidate, Marine LePen, of the National Front, could beat the two establishment figures.   Ms. LePen is against both the EU and immigration, two popular positions that could give her victory.

Elections next year in France and Germany may see a continuation of the trend toward nationalist parties.

Brexit has already led continental Europeans to move ahead with a European Army, independent of NATO.   This has been talked about for some time, amid growing concerns about Russia and Islamic terrorism.   Donald Trump’s victory in the US led, hours later, to a German call to quickly move forward – without Britain this is now possible.   It’s also the case that, until the UK actually exits the EU, it will have to help pay for the combined military force.

Europe and America differ on Russia, even more so now that Trump will be president.   Note the following from The Orange County Register, November 25^th.

“Russian and American interests in Europe do not align.   Although both powers do share the general goal of preventing Islamic terror networks from spiraling out of control, Russia’s tacit support for some acts of terrorism, through its close relationship with state sponsors of militant jihad, is well known.   The truth is that Putin’s regime wants instability in Europe, by hook or by crook, so as to replace U.S. dominance on the continent.” (“High-stake Russian relations”)

The editorial continues:   “And the reality is that Putin is well on his way to getting it.   NATO allies like Turkey, Bulgaria and Hungary have joined in a clear pendulum swing away from Western liberalism.   At the same time, reactionary parties on the ascent aim to shake off the political bonds economically forged by the international institutions that give the US its influential stake in European affairs.   Few in Europe wish to become satellites of Moscow.   But few realize that, absent a robust American role in Europe, there is no European force powerful enough to keep its patchwork of small states from slipping into Russia’s shadow.

“Were the US capable of defending a persuasive liberal agenda abroad, friendlier European relations toward Russia wouldn’t necessarily be cause for such profound alarm.   But today, America’s leadership – like public opinion – is divided and unsure about just how much support free trade and international agreements deserve. Without clarity and confidence, even a little resurgence in traditionally pro-Russian sentiment in Europe could trigger a stampede away from the kind of American influence that has helped build and maintain security and order on the continent for generations.

“Is that a price America’s pro-Russian right and left are willing to bear?   Whatever Trump’s actual preference around Russian relations may be, he is well advised to take into account the answer to that question.   Nothing can ruin a presidential legacy like losing Europe.” (The last sentence was italicized by myself for emphasis.)

Five days earlier, another editorial in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette addressed European issues:

“President Obama spent Thursday and part of Friday in Germany, underlining the importance of the relationship with Chancellor Angela Merkel and, particularly, their personal rapport.   With Obama’s imminent disappearance from the world stage, the transition to a Donald Trump administration is creating international disquiet, as world leaders prepare for the unknown.   The German chancellor is arguably the most important figure of stability in international politics . . .   They met in Berlin, increasingly the capital of Europe, although Brussels still hosts the headquarters of both the European Union and NATO, British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Francois Hollande and Spanish Prime Minister Maariano Rajoy all traveled to Berlin for their farewell-as-president meeting with Obama.”

Continuing:   “Germany is the economic and, thus, probably, the political center of Europe, an ironic epilogue to its loss of two major wars in the last century.”  (“Obama’s last key European stop.”  Italics mine)

Put these two articles together and what you have is this:

Europe is increasingly likely to break away from America; and Germany is the leader of Europe.

But . . . not yet!

The Economist magazine’s Charlemagne column adds that Germany and its Chancellor Angela Merkel “are still too hesitant to be able to lead the free world” (“Iron Waffler,” Charlemagne, November 19^th):

“Now, after an election campaign in which Mr. Trump trashed immigrants, vowed to rewrite trade deals and threatened to withdraw America’s security guarantee, the West’s indispensable nation appears to have dispensed with itself.   Desperate for a candidate to accept the mantle of leader of the free world, some alighted on Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor.”

Yet Mrs. Merkel’s options are limited.   “We are protected by our terrible history,” says Joschka Fisher, a former foreign minister.   “You cannot say, ‘Make Germany Great Again’.”

Times are changing – and further changes are likely as a result of Donald Trump’s victory in the US.   “The Westbindung (Western integration), a staple of German foreign policy since Adenauer, is fraying as extremist parties on the left and right cozy up to Russia.”

Konrad Adenauer was Germany’s first chancellor after the formation of the Federal Republic in 1949, four years after Adolf Hitler.   Germany’s foreign policy since then has been firmly rooted in both NATO and the EU.   Extremist parties in the country threaten this and could destroy this policy after next year’s election.

“Germany’s stake in the global liberal order is immense.  Its export-led economic model relies on robust international trade; its political identity is inexorably linked to a strong EU; its westward orientation assumes a friendly and engaged America.   All of these things may now be in jeopardy, and Germany would suffer more than most from their demise.   But do not look to Mrs. Merkel to save them, for she cannot do so alone.”

A different chancellor, a stronger chancellor, perhaps with more extremist views of either left or right, could make a huge difference in the 2017 general election.

It’s very difficult to predict what will happen in the next twelve months in Germany or other European nations, but the continent is going through a peaceful turmoil that could see radical changes in the months ahead.

The biblical books of Daniel and Revelation both wrote of the Roman Empire and successive attempts to revive the empire down through the ages.  In 1922 Mussolini proclaimed a revived Roman Empire; in 1957, the Treaty of Rome was signed to lay the groundwork for another attempt at European Union.   A final group of European nations will soon come together, with Germany as its leader.   Bible students have expected this for years — now the world’s media sees Berlin as the new European capital and Germany as the driving force behind the world’s biggest single economic grouping.

 

Does any reader have 60,000 frequent flyer miles they are not likely to use?  I would like to go over to Europe to research and write on developments on the continent.