Today, the Chinese nuclear arsenal could destroy most of the United States. The North Koreans have a stockpile of bombs. And the Russian Federation, which inherited the Soviet nuclear arsenal, has launched a major war against Ukraine. As the war began, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his nation’s nuclear forces to go on heightened alert and warned the West that any interference with the invasion would have “consequences that you have never experienced in your history.” Suddenly, the unthinkable seems possible again.
There was a time when citizens of the United States cared about nuclear weapons. The reality of nuclear war was constantly present in their lives; nuclear conflict took on apocalyptic meaning and entered the American consciousness not only through the news and politics, but through popular culture as well. Movie audiences in 1964 laughed while watching Peter Sellers play a president and his sinister adviser in Dr. Strangelove, bumbling their way to nuclear war; a few months later, they were horrified as Henry Fonda’s fictional president ordered the sacrificial immolation of New York City in Fail-Safe. Nuclear war and its terminology—overkill, first strike, fallout—were soon constant themes in every form of entertainment. We not only knew about nuclear war; we expected one.
But during the Cold War there was also thoughtful engagement with the nuclear threat. Academics, politicians, and activists argued on television and in op-ed pages about whether we were safer with more or fewer nuclear weapons. The media presented analyses of complicated issues relating to nuclear weapons. CBS, for example, broadcast an unprecedented five-part documentary series on national defense in 1981. When ABC, in 1983, aired the movie The Day After—about the consequences of a global nuclear war for a small town in Kansas—it did so as much to perform a public service as to achieve a ratings bonanza. Even President Ronald Reagan watched the movie. (In his diary, he noted that The Day After was “very effective” and had left him “greatly depressed.” (The Atlantic, 6/1/2022)
“The nuclear danger was growing before the invasion (of Ukraine). North Korea has dozens of warheads. Iran, the UN said this week, has enough enriched uranium for its first bomb. Although the new START treaty will limit Russia’s and America’s intercontinental ballistic missiles until 2016, it does not cover weapons such as nuclear torpedoes. Pakistan is rapidly adding to its arsenal. China is modernizing its nuclear forces and, the Pentagon says, expanding them.” (The Economist, 6/4/2022)
UK TARGETED BY RUSSIANS: “…tune into the state owned Russian television channel Russia-1. ”Just one launch, Boris,” warned Dmitry Kiselev, the station’s main news presenter on May 1st, “and England is gone.” In case this message proved too subtle for the British prime minister, or the audience at home, Mr. Kiselev laid out the launch options he had in mind. One was a Sarmat intercontinental missile (ICBM) shown streaking towards Britain. Another was a Poseidon thermonuclear torpedo, designed to whip up an isotope-laced tsunami. “Having passed over the British Isles, it will turn whatever might be left of them into a radioactive desert,” enthused Mr. Kiselev, “Unfit for anything for a long time . . .” Every few days, some Russian official is making explicit nuclear threats.” (“Thinking the Unthinkable,” /2022, 6/4)
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IS THE PENTAGON LOSING TAIWAN?
“We have no competing fighting chance against China in 15 to 20 years. Right now, it’s already a done deal; it is already over in my opinion.” — Nicolas Chaillan, former first Chief Software Officer for the Air Force, who resigned in protest over the Pentagon’s slow pace of technological development, citing China’s fast advancements in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and general capabilities in cybersecurity, (Financial Times, October 10, 2021)
“By the time the Government manages to produce something, it’s too often obsolete.” — Preston Dunlap, the Pentagon’s first Chief Architect Officer, responsible for promoting technological innovation at the Pentagon, who also resigned, labelling the Pentagon “the world’s largest bureaucracy;” The Japan Times, April 19, 2022. (Judith Bergman, 6/6/2022)
MONKEY POX LINKED TO SEX
A leading adviser to the World Health Organization described the unprecedented outbreak of the rare disease monkeypox in developed countries as “a random event” that might be explained by risky sexual behavior at two recent mass events in Europe.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Dr. David Heymann, who formerly headed WHO’s emergencies department, said the leading theory to explain the spread of the disease was sexual transmission among gay and bisexual men at two raves held in Spain and Belgium. Monkeypox has not previously triggered widespread outbreaks beyond Africa, where it is endemic in animals.
“We know monkeypox can spread when there is close contact with the lesions of someone who is infected, and it looks like sexual contact has now amplified that transmission,” said Heymann.
That marks a significant departure from the disease’s typical pattern of spread in central and western Africa, where people are mainly infected by animals like wild rodents and primates and outbreaks have not spilled across borders. (CBS news, 5/24/2022)
British health officials reported 77 more cases of monkeypox Monday, raising the total to more than 300 across the country. To date, the UK has the biggest identified outbreak of the disease beyond Africa, with the vast majority of infections in gay and bisexual men. (Lansing State Journal, 6/7/2022)
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ATTEMPTS TO FREE UP GRAIN
The EU is obstructing UN efforts to avert global hunger being caused by war and sanctions. The plan provides for the transit of Ukraine’s huge grain reserves over Belarus for shipping via ports at the Baltic Sea. The plan endorsed by UN Secretary General António Guterres is considered to be the only viable alternative to the recently blocked grain-transport via the Black Sea. Of course, the EU is not ready to allow the prerequisites for the plan’s successful implementation and to lift its sanctions against Belarusian fertilizer exports. UN Secretary General António Guterres is in favor of lifting these sanctions to secure the global supply of fertilizers. In a highly symbolic step, Brussels toughened its sanctions against Belarusian fertilizer producers last Friday. On the other hand, UN efforts to jump-start the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea are gaining momentum. Russia and Turkey are paving the way for initial shipments from Odessa. (German Foreign Policy, 6/7/2022)
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TO THE POINT
- Experts have warned that a “storm” of bankruptcies is on the horizon, The Telegraph reported. During the first three months of the year, around 137,000 businesses closed their doors for good in the UK, a jump of nearly a quarter on the same period in 2021, and there were also nearly 5,000 voluntary insolvencies in England and Wales – the highest level since the Insolvency Service launched its survey in 1960. “There is a storm coming,” said Simon Bonney, managing director of Quantuma, a restructuring firm based in the Square Mile. (The Week, 6/6/2022)
- Gunmen killed more than 50 people in an assault on a Catholic church in Ondo state in Nigeria during mass on Sunday. The attackers targeted the St Francis Xavier Catholic Church in the town of Owo as the worshippers gathered on Pentecost Sunday, gunning down parishioners and detonating an explosive device, local media reported. President Muhammadu Buhari said “only fiends from the nether region” could have performed this “dastardly act.” (The Week, 6/6/2022)
- Pope Francis will attend a ceremony founded by one of the few Pontiffs who stepped down from the role during their reign, fuelling speculation he is set to retire. Following rumours in the Italian and Catholic media, the Vatican announced that the Pope will visit the city of L’Aquila in August for a feast initiated by Pope Celestine V. The Telegraph notes that although traditionally popes are expected to hold their post until death, there have been some exceptions, including Celestine V. (The Week, 6/6/2022)
- Fish and chip shops are looking to Norway as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens their business, The Times reported. Bosses have warned that a third of chip shops may have to close if tariffs on fish from Russia add to the pressure they are under from shortages of sunflower oil, flour and potato fertiliser. The National Federation of Fish Friers and the Frozen at Sea Fillets Association will speak to the Norwegian Seafood Council at a conference this week at the port of Alesund. (The Week, 6/6/2022)
- British Pro-ISIS Preacher Urges Queen Elizabeth II On Her Platinum Jubilee To Embrace Islam To Save Herself From Hellfire/2022 (MEMRI 6/7/2022)
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FINAL THOUGHT
For the first time (and probably the last) Britain and some Commonwealth countries celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. That’s seventy years on the throne. February 6th was the actual day that she became Queen, but it’s too cold to celebrate anything in February. So the four-day celebration took place in June, around the annual Trooping the Color, the queen’s official birthday.
Her long reign is a first for Britain. Only Louis XIV of France reigned longer (1643-1715), but he was only five when he became King. Until he turned 18 the country was ruled by a Regency, so the first 13 years don’t count. Anyway, the queen could live another couple of years, which would make her the longest serving monarch ever.
You would think by now people would want a change. But that is not the case. She is consistently the most popular royal, with an approval rating way above that of any politician. The lowest figure I’ve seen is 69%, with her heir, Prince Charles, coming in at a mere 19%. Prince William, Charles’ heir, is somewhere in between.
What makes her so popular? During the Jubilee, there was an interesting article in The Australian, by Australian Angela Shanahan.
“Young people, especially in Britain, who in general have discarded most of the intrinsic values of family, religion, even democracy, sometimes become very defensive of “our Queen.” Criticize her at your peril! Perhaps for many young people she is a sort of granny figure. She represents something that is often missing in the lives of the young today: stability and continuity.” (“In a world of crumbling values Queen carries on,” Angela Shanahan, The Australian, 6/4/2022)
It isn’t just the fact that she has lived so long – it’s more that she upholds the traditional values that society long ago discarded.
Proverbs 14:34 reminds us that there is a choice for all global leaders. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” They can choose righteousness or sin. The Queen represents righteousness, while her children, unfortunately, have all clearly sinned. So the respect isn’t there.
Charles is trying to live a more righteous life. William is, too. So there is hope for the future. The Queen has set a very good example, which the next generation (and the one after that) will do well to follow.
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