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)