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. 

GERMAN POLITICS TURNS VIOLENT

Franziska Giffey, a prominent Berlin politician, was violently assaulted and suffered injuries to her head and neck. (https://apnews.com/article/germany-election-violence-eu-4d09d90a6cc380aacf62ca4a69af1a64)

Latest attack on a German politician stokes concern ahead of elections

German politics is getting violent. This week, Berlin’s top economic official was attacked, sustaining head and neck injuries. A 74-year-old man was later arrested. Although the motive is unknown, it was the latest episode in a rising tide of political violence as Germany gears up for European Parliament elections this summer.

Last week, the top European Parliament candidate of the governing Social Democrat Party was beaten unconscious in the eastern city of Dresden while campaigning. A Green Party operative was assaulted there as well. Several teens with ties to far-right ideologies are suspected in both cases.

Statistics show rising violence against German politicians. In 2023, there were nearly 2,800 physical or verbal attacks, twice as many as in 2019, when a neo-Nazi assassination of conservative lawmaker Walter Lübcke stunned the country.

Last year’s violence included about 500 attacks on politicians from the far-right Alternative for Deutschland, or AFD, and more than 1,200 on members of the center-left Green Party.

Why now? The problem has deep roots, according to Jan Techau, a Berlin-based Europe expert at Eurasia Group. Establishment parties’ long-standing failure to address big issues like immigration, schooling, or the economy, he says, opened the way for more radical and violent forces on both the left and right. “What we see is an overall more charged, political atmosphere where this kind of violence becomes more legitimate.”  (Gzero Signal, 5/9/2024)

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SEN GRAHAM PREDICTS TRUMP’S ACTIONS ON ILLEGALS

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warned in a recent hearing that President Trump will not be lenient on illegal immigrants, including beneficiaries of the DACA program, unless they offer a “unique benefit” to America.

The US Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on Wednesday called “Dream Deferred:  The Urgent Need to Protect Immigrant Youth” that emphasized the need for passing legal protections for noncitizens brought into the United States as children.  “Dreamers” can secure work permits and avoid deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.  However, DACA does not offer green cards and there is presently no path to citizenship through the initiative.  During the hearing, Mr. Graham said that “if President Trump wins, I predict, I’m not going to speak for him, but unless you really truly have a unique benefit to the country or an unusual humanitarian situation, you’re going to be kicked out.  There are millions of people here who have just been waved into the coutry,” he sad.  (Naveen Athrappully, The Epoch Times, 5/10/2024)

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ANTI-WHITE ATTACK AVERTED

Federal prosecutors have charged a recently discharged US marine with making threats to attack white people in a mass shooting.

On Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey announced the arrest of Joshua Cobb, 23, on a single-count indictment of transmitting an interstate threat over the Internet. According to a complaint filed in the case, Mr. Cobb authored a social media post on Dec. 17, 2022, indicating his interest in inflicting mayhem “on the white community.”

The author of the Dec. 17, 2022, social media post states, “I want to cause mayhem on the white community.  The reason I specifically want to target white people is because as a black male, they will NEVER understand my struggles.”  (Ryan Morgan, The Epoch Times, 5/15/2024)

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POSSIBLE OTHER NATIONS MAY ENTER UKRAINE

As Russia’s current offensive gains momentum in Ukraine, politicians in Berlin are debating the merits of deploying European soldiers on Ukrainian territory. Last week, Lithuania announced that it was ready to send military trainers to the war zone without delay and was only waiting for a request from Kiev. Estonia has said that it is prepared to demonstrate military presence of its own on Ukrainian territory as part of a hoped-for “coalition of the willing.” Its focus would be on air defence capabilities. In Germany, the direct deployment of German troops is, with the exception of a few hardliners in Berlin, not publicly advocated. This is partly due to the important state elections upcoming next autumn. However, politicians from the CDU, FDP and Greens are backing intervention proposals that envisage the stationing of air defence systems on Polish and Romanian territory that can shoot down Russian offensive weapons over Ukraine. Warnings that this step would be tantamount to entering the war are being played down. At the same time, discussions are taking place on post-ceasefire scenarios, which might see the deployment of EU or NATO troops in Ukraine. (German Foreign Policy, 5/14/2024)

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AUTIISM – “Different diets can help with autism.”

When Matthew Hirning was diagnosed with autism, specialists told Terri Hirning that her 4-year-old son had a genetic condition, there was nothing she could do about it, and that he’d need to live in a group home as an adult because he’d never be independent.  “I remember thinking, “I don’t know how, but that’s not going to be his story.  That’s not an answer for what’s going on here,” Ms. Hirning told The Epoch Times.

She’d already noticed when he ate certain foods he’d have trouble sleeping, intense sensory meltdowns, and virtually no eye contact.  He also suffered from limited vocabulary and chronic constipation – at times he wouldn’t even respond to his name.

 Both intuition and critical reasoning pointed to diet as an easy entry point to symptom resolution.

“We had a dear friend who was an occupational therapist specializing in autism and she mentioned red dye and MSG [monosodium glutamate, a flavor enhancer] . . . I started to Just kind of dip my toe in the world that was biomedical intervention,” Ms. Hirning said.

The Hirnings learned that Matthew had a disrupted gut microbiome – the community of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that work synergistically to create metabolites that modulate neurotransmitters.  That gut-brain connection can explain mood, behavior, and overall functionality changes that come through diet.

Testing also revealed Matthew had a range of food allergies. With diet modifications tracked in a food journal, Matthew reversed his symptoms of autism.   (“Different diets can help with autism,” Amy Denney, The Epoch Times, 5/15/2024)   

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BRIEFLY

• Fifty years ago today, formal impeachment proceedings for President Richard Nixon began on Capitol Hill. Nixon resigned before the House of Representatives could actually vote to impeach him, which, at the time, had only occurred once before in US history. We’ve since upped the pace of impeachments (three since 1998!) — but the Senate has still never convicted and removed a president.  (5/9/2024 Gzero)

• I was once dined by a Soviet news commentator who told me how his bosses wanted to take over control of the UK bit by bit. They wanted to place their sympathizers, (whether comrades, ideologues, stooges or useful idiots) in three UK institutions. What were the revolutionary targets for the USSR? The Foreign Office, Parliament and the BBC.   (David Heilbron Price from eurDemocracy, 5/9/2024)

• While no Arab nation will accept Gazan refugees, Australia’s Labor Government has no such reservations, welcoming them into Australia with only hours of vetting.  (Roger Cool, Politicom, Australia, 5/7/2024)

• THE Albanese Government is trying to cover up rapid demographic changes for fear of a backlash. It fears people will start asking questions if they see their country changing so rapidly.  (Henry Jom, Politicom, 5/7/2024)

• Volodymyr Zelensky has cancelled all of his foreign trips, following a renewed Russian offensive in Kharkiv, in north-east Ukraine. (The Epoch Times, 5/15/2024)

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THINK ABOUT IT

The Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was the victim of an attempted assassination earlier today (Wednesday, May 15).

The news this morning (Eastern time) made me think of this verse in the book of James.  James reminds us, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.’ (James 4:13-14)

The last few months have surely brought this to mind – that we can make plans but suddenly everything changes.  October 7^th was one of those days.  Trips to Israel or somewhere else in the Middle East were suddenly “on hold.”

It was an assassination in Sarajevo in 1914 that led directly to World War I starting a month or so after the shots were fired.

This assassination is a part of the classic struggle between Russia and Europe.  Robert Fico is the leader of the pro-Russian part of the government.  Another struggle along the same lines is being fought in Georgia.  It’s too easy to say Russia is behind everything.

At this point in time, we don’t know if Robert Fico will live or die.  But in 1914, events kept moving fast until the world was in flames.

Navalny’s Widow Addresses EU Lawmakers

Yulia Navalnaya has vowed to continue her husband’s work to fight for a “free Russia,” Credit: EPA

In the days following her husband Alexei Navalny’s death in a Russian prison colony on 16 February, Yulia Navalnaya has picked up his mantle as a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin.  Speaking to European lawmakers and students from across the continent in Strasbourg, Ms. Navalnaya called on countries to treat the Russian president as the leader of a criminal organization, using the legal tools at their disposal. Ahead of her speech, Mr. Navalny’s spokesperson announced that the activist’s body would be buried at a cemetery in Moscow on Friday, two weeks before the start of Russia’s presidential election, where Mr. Putin is set to win another six-year term.  Ms. Navalnaya addressed the feeling that “Putin cannot be defeated at all,” channeling her husband in saying: “If you want to defeat Putin you have to become an innovator. You have to stop being boring.”   (BBC News Briefing, 2/28/2024).

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TUESDAY’S MICHIGAN PRIMARY – Michigan’s primary mattered, here’s why

Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden won their primaries in Michigan yesterday, but the vote revealed vulnerabilities for Joe Biden that could come back to haunt him in November.

Why Michigan mattered:  It was Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in Michigan that sealed the 2016 election, and Joe Biden’s triumph over Trump there and in other Upper Midwestern states in 2020 that decided the election. In all probability, it will play a decisive role this November. Michigan is also home to the largest Arab-American population in the United States. After a concerted campaign in protest of the Biden administration’s policy toward Israel and Gaza, 13 percent of Democratic primary voters chose “uncommitted” last night. In Dearborn and Hamtramck, two of the Michigan cities with the highest concentrations of Arab Americans, “uncommitted” won 56 and 61 percent of the Democratic vote, respectively. Significant portions of Michigan’s college towns also voted uncommitted in protest, foreshadowing how many young, progressive voters are angry about American support for Israel.

GOP voters once again rejected Nikki Haley in favor of Donald Trump. Haley lost for a fifth time against the former president, winning 27% of the vote against Trump’s 68%. She has vowed to stay in the race through Super Tuesday, where the lion’s share of the delegates are up for grabs. (Gzero Signal, 2/28/2024)

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NATO Troops to Ukraine? Macron Can’t Be Serious

Is French President Emmanuel Macron crazy or just bluffing? It’s a question geopolitics experts are confronting after he suggested Monday that sending Western troops into Ukraine to fight against Russia shouldn’t be “ruled out.”

Ukraine seemed to welcome the suggestion of possible European intervention – hardly surprising given Kyiv’s many challenges at this stage of the war.

But Moscow quickly warned that would inevitably lead to a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO. Germany and Poland on Tuesday also pooh-poohed Marcron’s idea.

Would this actually happen? It’s extremely unlikely that any Western countries will put boots on the ground in Ukraine. No one wants a conflict between nuclear-armed powers.

So why did Macron say this? According to a thread on X by Eurasia Group’s Europe Director Mujtaba Rahman, French sources said Macron’s comments were meant “to reassure Ukraine” and serve as “words of warning to Vladimir Putin.”

Our take:  Macron likes to stand out on the global stage, for better or worse. He took a lot of flak for seeming too friendly to Putin early in the war. Making a non-starter threat like this enables him to look tough, without actually having to back it up. Trés shrewd, Emmanuel.   (Gzero Signal, 2/28/2024)

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MOSCOW MUST LOSE THE WAR

In Germany, the second anniversary of the Russian attack on Ukraine has been marked by noisy sloganeering: calls to keep on fighting until Russia is defeated, and scorn for those who question the logic of ever more lethal weapons for Kiev. “They’re just scared.” From the United States come warnings that Ukraine will lose the war. Some voices within the US administration are now urging President Volodymyr Zelensky to negotiate with Russia. Yet Berlin is doubling down: Moscow must “lose this war.” The leader of the main opposition party in the Bundestag, Friedrich Merz (CDU), says bluntly that there should be “no negotiations” before Russia capitulates. Surveys indicate that not many agree: only 10 to 25 per cent of the German population think a Ukrainian victory is likely. Majorities expect a Russian victory and oppose further arms deliveries. Yet leading German media have joined in the ridiculing of Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his current stance against handing over Taurus cruise missiles to Kiev. He should, they say, stop being “scared”. Any fears are, of course, based on the well-founded assumption that Moscow would interpret the delivery of the Taurus as Germany going to war. Meanwhile, domestically Germany is in a downward spiral. The sharp rise in military spending is accompanied by social cuts and economic decline: “guns without butter,” as one economist quips.  (German Foreign Policy, 2/28/2024)

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US Immigration: Economics vs. Politics

Immigration has overtaken the economy atop the list of Americans’ biggest concerns. In part that’s because the economic future is getting brighter, and as it happens, immigration is part of that story.

The upside:  According to a CBO study, the surge in irregular migrants seen under Joe Biden will lead to 1.7 million more workers in 2024, and will grow the economy by about $7 trillion over the next decade.

The downside:  Irregular immigration is straining social services, even in Democrat-run “sanctuary cities.”  And over the longer term, experts say that the lower skill levels of this wave of migrants could undermine productivity and depress wages in low-skilled sectors.

The politics:  Notwithstanding the findings about undocumented immigrants’ contributions to the future economy, Americans’ views are hardening. 80% of Americans say the current administration is doing a bad job managing the border, and a Gallup poll found that 28% of voters named immigration as the country’s biggest problem, up from 20% last month.   (Gzero Signal, 2/28)

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JEW HATRED IN UK OUT OF CONTROL

In London over the past few days, I was told the following story.

It concerned Menai Bridge, a small town in north Wales which is listed here as having a population of 3,046 souls of whom precisely four are Jews. A few weeks ago, one of these four Jews decided to visit a shop in the town. She was shocked, however, to see a sign in its window declaring “No Zionists allowed.” She put her head round the door and told the owner that she had been intending to visit the shop, but in view of the sign in the window she wouldn’t now do so. At which he yelled at her: “Get out of my shop, you f*****g Jew!” 

The owner was white-skinned. As the woman retreated into the street, an Asian man who was passing heard what was being screamed at her from inside the shop and proceeded to hurl at her the same antisemitic obscenity.

Jew-hatred in Britain is out of control.   (Melanie Phillips, 2/28/2024)

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SHORTS

Any addiction, whether to the internet, opioids, or gambling, is closely linked to depression, with each reinforcing the other. (Rise and shine, Epoch Times, 2/28/2024)

TRUMP’S SURPIRSING PLEDGE. If former President Donald Trump wins reelection in 2024, he’s promising a massive campaign to deport all illegal immigrants. There are some doubts around whether this would be possible, but during the recent CPAC conference, President Trump reiterated this promise. Meanwhile, the former president is saying that a victory for him would render Nov. 5 a veritable “Liberation Day” for hard-working Americans.  (Epoch Times, 2/28/2024)

The Daily Mail leads on the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, allegedly deciding not to boost defence spending in the upcoming budget, despite “raging” wars and “growing threats.” The paper describes this as “indefensible.”  The Times splashes on its own interview with the home secretary, James Cleverly, who tells the paper that he believes that pro-Palestinian protesters have “made their point” and do not need to continue with their demonstrations.  (The Week, 2/28/2024)

Mary Poppins, the 1964 Disney classic film, has had its age rating raised from U to PG by British film censors because it features “discriminatory language.” Mary Poppins includes two uses of the discriminatory term ‘hottentots’,” which was a derogatory term originally used by white Europeans about nomadic peoples in southern Africa, a spokesperson for the British Board of Film Classification said. “Most recently, the film was resubmitted to us in February 2024 for another theatrical re-release, and we reclassified it PG for discriminatory language.”   (The Week, 2/27/2024)

Incitement Against Israel In Qatari Press Continues: Only More Attacks Like October 7 Will Restrain It; The Conflict Will End Only With Disappearance Of Israel (MEMRI headline, 2/28/2024

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RICH BUT, OH, SO POOR

Scripture Reading – Hebrews 13:16-18

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

Stock market values can make people wealthy or poor. Money is not a good god; it cannot love you, nor can it give you eternal life. The one true God, however, has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” The church in Laodicea had a big problem. Because their lukewarm attitude caused a less-than-effective ministry, Jesus warned them that he was about to spit them out of his mouth. They had bank accounts filled with money, tempting their eyes to turn from Jesus toward only themselves. But that made them “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” in Jesus’ eyes.

Jesus did not shut the door on them, but he offered wise financial advice. He advised them to find true wealth in him, and to obtain the pure, white garments of his righteousness rather than the black-wool garments that Laodicea was famous for. And they should invest in the eye medicine of his insight, rather than the medicinal balm their region was known for. Money itself is not the problem, but trusting in money instead of Jesus will bring ruin (see 1 Timothy 6:10). Following the way of Laodicea puts the church at great spiritual risk. Let us thank God that he never leaves us but is always ready to discipline us in love.   (Evan Heerema, Our Daily Bread, 2/27/2024)

GIVE ZELENSKY THE PEACE PRIZE

In the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a Norwegian populist right-wing MP announced on Saturday that he wanted to nominate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded in Oslo. (https://thegoldennews.ca/ukraine-norwegian-mp-nominates-zelensky-for-nobel-peace-prize/)

The prize is awarded only to living recipients. The question is, will Zelensky be alive in the fall? He himself has acknowledged that he is Russian’s “number one target,” and we know from tragic experience how Putin deals with his targets. They are poisoned, thrown out of windows and killed in other brutal and sometimes subtle ways.

Accordingly, the Nobel Committee should break with tradition, meet now and award Zelensky the prize.

This may not save his life, or the lives of heroic people of Ukraine, but it may make it just a little bit harder for Putin to incur the wrath of the entire world by murdering the holder of the Nobel Peace Prize.  (Gatestone, 3/9/2022)

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Russia publishes official list of states it deems ‘unfriendly’  — Russian citizens and companies must apply for a special permit to deal with “unfriendly” foreign entities.

The countries, international organizations and territories considered “unfriendly” include: 

“Australia, Albania, Andorra, United Kingdom, including Jersey, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, the member states of the European Union, Iceland, Canada, Liechtenstein, Micronesia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway,  Republic of Korea, San Marino, North Macedonia, Singapore, USA, Taiwan, Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland, Japan.” Russia lists Taiwan as being part of China.”

While Israel has publicly condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, it was not included on the list. Israel has taken on  a mediation role during the conflict, seeing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett flying to Moscow on Saturday to speak with Putin. (Jerusalem Post, 7 March, 2022, https://www.jpost.com/international/article-700559)

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GERMANY TO HIKE DEFENSE SPENDING IN FACE OF RUSSIAN THREAT

The German government has promised to increase military spending after defence chiefs laid bare the “extremely limited” ­resources of Europe’s biggest economy in helping to push back against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner said it was time for a “turning point” in German ­defence investment, long a target of criticism by Western allies. “I worry that we have neglected the armed forces so much in the past that it can’t completely fulfill its duties,” he said.

“Falling defence spending no longer fits with the times.”  (The Australian, 2/25/2022)

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MOST COUNTRIES STILL HELPING RUSSIA

The western power’s attempts to isolate Russia worldwide because of its attack on Ukraine, have proven unsuccessful. Last week, at the UN General Assembly, Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on all nations of the world, to “now (…) take sides,” regarding Russia’s war of aggression. Although the General Assembly has condemned the war by a clear majority, most of those countries – unlike the west and its closest allies – are still continuing their cooperation with Russia. That is the case with China, as well as for India, which is resisting intense pressure from the United States. The countries on the Arabian Peninsula are not willing to increase oil production, to facilitate the West’s embargo of Russian oil. Similar standpoints could be heard from South Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Among the reasons were that the Iraq War and other armed conflicts waged by the West make the West’s protests of the war in Ukraine seem ludicrous. So far, across the board, the West has had no breakthrough.  (German Foreign Policy 3/8/2022)

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“Isolate Russia” (German-Foreign-Policy:  Own report, 8 March 2022) 

The western power’s attempts to isolate Russia worldwide because of its attack on Ukraine, have proven unsuccessful. Last week, at the UN General Assembly, Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on all nations of the world, to “now (…) take sides,” regarding Russia’s war of aggression. Although the General Assembly has condemned the war by a clear majority, most of those countries – unlike the west and its closest allies – are still continuing their cooperation with Russia. That is the case with China, as well as for India, which is resisting intense pressure from the United States. The countries on the Arabian Peninsula are not willing to increase oil production, to facilitate the West’s embargo of Russian oil. Similar standpoints could be heard from South Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Among the reasons were that the Iraq War and other armed conflicts waged by the West make the West’s protests of the war in Ukraine seem ludicrous. So far, across the board, the West has had no breakthrough. 

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Putin’s fears of a unified, stronger Europe are fast becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy (by Eli Stokols, Tracy Wilkinson, 27 Feb 2022) This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brazen and unprovoked assault on Ukraine is fast turning his fears of a more resolute Europe, and potentially expanded NATO alliance, into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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Boring to ‘historic’:  the awakening of Germany’s Olaf Scholz
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is often described as boring-but-reliable.
Often described as predictable and “robotic,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz has become emboldened since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, smashing policy taboos to steer Germany into “a new era” that could reshape its role on the world stage. (28 Feb, 2022 *  Frankfurt, France24.com/AFP)

Just a few weeks ago, German media were openly asking “where is Scholz?”, slamming the Social Democrat’s perceived lack of leadership on pressing issues like the coronavirus pandemic and worsening Ukraine crisis.  But Moscow’s attack on Ukraine last week has jolted the chancellor into action, culminating in what commentators have called a “historic” speech on Sunday.  Scholz, who has only been in office three months, spoke with uncharacteristic clarity when he unveiled a slew of defence and foreign policy shifts that promise to upend Germany’s decades-long reluctance to raising its military profile.  “The Ukraine crisis has changed the chancellor. And now he’s changing our country,” the top-selling Bild daily wrote.

Addressing an emergency parliamentary session, Scholz told the nation that “we are now in a new era”.  In a country haunted by post-war guilt, Scholz assured Germans that they were “on the right side of history” as Ukraine’s allies.  Among the headline-grabbing announcements was a pledge to earmark 100 billion euros ($113 billion) this year alone to modernise the chronically underfunded army, called the Bundeswehr.  (France24.com, 2/28/2022)

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While the Russian army invades Ukraine, Putin has already quietly taken over another European country by Tristan Bove, Fortune Magazine online, 5 March 5, 2022.

Even as the world condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for his decision to invade Ukraine, the country still has allies elsewhere. Some of these allies are housing thousands of Russian troops.

Last Thursday, Russian forces poured into Ukraine from three directions. From the east and south, they entered from Russia itself, or Russian-claimed territory.  But from the north, the Russian army came through Belarus.

Russian troops and military hardware have been trickling into Belarus since January 17, for what were called joint military drills. By February, NATO officials estimated that Russian forces in the country numbered as high as 30,000. Now some officials are warning that the troops may never leave.    (Fortune, 3/5/2022)

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After Ukraine, Europe wonders who’s next Russian target.

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — For some European countries watching Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, there are fears that they could be next.  Western officials say the most vulnerable could be those who aren’t members of NATO or the European Union, and thus alone and unprotected – including Ukraine’s neighbor Moldova and Russia’s neighbor Georgia, both of them formerly part of the Soviet Union – with the Balkan states of Bosnia and Kosovo.  But analysts warn that even NATO members could be at risk, such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on Russia’s doorstep, as well as Montenegro, either from Moscow’s direct military intervention or attempts at political destabilization.  Russian President Vladimir Putin “has said right from the start that this is not only about Ukraine,″ said Michal Baranowski, director of the German Marshall Fund’s Warsaw office.  “He told us what he wants to do when he was listing his demands, which included the change of the government in Kyiv, but he was also talking about the eastern flank of NATO and the rest of Eastern Europe,” Baranowski told The Associated Press in an interview. 

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that “Russia is not going to stop in Ukraine.  We are concerned for neighbors Moldova, Georgia, and the Western Balkans,” he said.  “We have to keep an eye on Western Balks, particularly Bosnia, which could face destabilization by Russia.”

(A look at the regional situation: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-business-georgia-estonia-bc7d887d4a8bb59f58906459543b1fbe)

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The curious case of Russia’s missing air force
Experts had expected the invaders to use their planes to pick off Ukraine’s forces at will. (The Economist, 8 March 2022)

More than 60 new planes would be delivered to the Russian air force by the end of the year, boasted Lieutenant General Sergei Dronov, its deputy commander, last summer. These would include Su-30, Su-35 and Su-57 fighter jets and Su-34 bombers – as advanced as anything the rest of Europe has to offer. All had been “tested in combat conditions” in Syria, he assured the discerning readers of Krasnaya Zvezda, the official newspaper of Russia’s defence ministry.

Billions of dollars have been poured into Russia’s warplanes over the past decade. Between 2009 and 2020 the air force gained around 440 new fixed-wing aircraft, as well as thousands of drones. At the outset of war, it was widely assumed by defence analysts and officials that Russia would quickly destroy its enemy’s air force and roam freely over the country, using its air superiority to pick off Ukrainian forces at will.

Yet in the first two weeks of combat, Russia’s air force has played a minimal role. Air activity is difficult to track and Russian air strikes may have increased in both number and complexity in recent days. It is clear, though, that the Russian air force has held back its full capabilities. “Fast jets have conducted only limited sorties in Ukrainian airspace, in singles or pairs, always at low altitudes and mostly at night,” notes Justin Bronk of the Royal United Services Institute, a think-tank in London.   (The Economist, 3/8/2022)

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WAR IN UKRAINE A WAKE-UP CALL FOR ISRAEL

The famous neoconservative Irving Kristol once coined the term “mugged by reality.” It means that regardless of one’s theories or ideologies, sometimes the reality of a situation forces a dramatic rethink.

The war in Ukraine should certainly promote a reconsideration in Israel of a lot of positions which it thought of as “gospel” over the last two decades.

The first and most obvious is that we cannot and should not expect any international forces to fight for Israel or provide any type of defense should it be under attack. For too many years, Israel relied on a strange notion that international or peacekeeping forces should be placed in or along borders of conflict to keep the peace.  (Karma Feinstein Cohen, Jerusalem Post, 3/1/2022)

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RUSSIA’S PRESENCE MEANS END OF DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA

Russia’s expanding influence portends a bleak vision for Africa. In effect, Russia is attempting to export its governance model – of an authoritarian, kleptocratic, and transactional regime – onto Africa.

This is especially problematic since there are at least a handful of African leaders who are more than happy to go down this path. Never mind that this diverges wildly from the democratic aspirations held by the vast majority of African citizens.  (The Conversation, 3/9/2022)

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NATO has come together behind stiff economic sanctions against Moscow. Finland and Sweden, after decades of neutrality, have signaled a new interest in joining the alliance while more autocratic members of the defense pact have excoriated Moscow.

And in an effort to shore up Ukraine’s defenses, the European Union for the first time will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday.

In short order, Europe’s leading powers have shifted into a position of heightened defensiveness toward Russia.

Oil prices have plunged after the United Arab Emirates said it supported pumping more oil into the Ukraine/Russia-impacted market. Following weeks of soaring prices, Brent crude fell by more than 17% after the statement by the UAE, a member of the powerful oil cartel Opec, said the BBC. There are reports that Iraq will also support increased supply. Sky News said a slip in the oil price could ease the outlook for motorists, at least for the next few months. (The Week, 3/10/2022)

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described Russia’s attack on a children’s hospital and maternity ward in the southern city of Mariupol as a “war crime.”  In an address posted on Telegram, the president said yesterday’s air strikes were “the ultimate evidence that genocide of Ukrainians is happening.” The White House condemned the “barbaric” attack and Boris Johnson tweeted that “there are few things more depraved than targeting the vulnerable and defenceless.” Foreign ministers from Russia and Ukraine are meeting in Turkey today for the first high-level talks between the neighbouring countries since the war broke out.  (The Week, 3/10/2022)

Moscow could be planning a chemical or biological weapon attack in Ukraine, according to the White House. Press secretary Jen Psaki said Russia’s claims about US biological weapon labs and chemical weapon development in Ukraine were false and an “obvious ploy” to try to justify fresh attacks, reported the BBC. “We should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine,” she added. The Guardian said Vladimir Putin “used the same false justification for brutal bombings in Syria” and pointed out parallels between the two conflicts.   (The Week, 3/10/2022)

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“Biden [in his State of the Union speech] ignored the Afghanistan issue, especially in light of the confused [US] withdrawal. He was also cautious not to talk about relations with China so as not to provoke it. Biden’s speech confirms with full clarity the loss of a consistent strategic vision with regard to central issues globally. This is a sign of the loss of the prestige of the great country [the US]. Biden’s speech was a message of a historical recognition of the upcoming political defeat and the beginning of the birth of a new international order.” – Hassan Asfour, former Palestinian Authority minister, Khbrpress.ps, March 2, 2022.   (Gatestone, 3/10/2022)

The Russian Ministry of Defense’s own media outlet admitted Tuesday that a small number of Russian conscripts (those drafted against their will into the army) had been sent into Ukraine, something that President Putin has repeatedly denied. It’s a further sign that Putin’s initial plan – for a swift takeover with professional soldiers – has failed. This could be politically dangerous for the Russian leader: conscripts going to Ukraine and possibly coming home in body bags is something that may have a more immediate impact on Russian public and elite opinion than any Western sanction or corporate departure from Russia.  (Gzero Signal, 3/10/2022)

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TO THE POINT

• Putin has curated a long track record of turning Grozny to rubble, flattening Aleppo, devouring Georgia and Crimea, and now has been dropping cluster and vacuum bombs, banned by the Geneva Conventions, on civilian targets in Ukraine. His troops have also attacked and taken over nuclear reactors, and Putin has repeatedly agreed to humanitarian evacuation routes that, when people emerge, the Russians shell — all in sub-zero, dead-of-winter weather. The problem: if Putin is allowed to take Ukraine, it will result in further annexations in Europe. The failure to contain aggressive acts results in further aggressive acts.  (Gatestone, 3/10/2022)

• The British public will be asked to offer their homes to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion under plans to be announced within days. The Home Office has faced criticism for the slow rollout of its scheme to resettle Ukrainian refugees with UK families. Government sources confirmed to The Guardian that ministers are launching a hotline and webpage allowing individuals, charities, businesses and community groups to offer rooms to refugees with no family links to the UK. Those offering a place to stay will be vetted and have to agree to house a refugee for a minimum period. (The Week, 3/11/2022)

• “War reaches NATO border” is The Times’ headline today, which accompanies an image of the aftermath of Russia’s strike on a military base near Lviv, close to the border of NATO member Poland. The Daily Mirror says Vladimir Putin has “the West in his sights” and The Sun describes the attack as a “Putin blitz on NATO’s border.”  (The Week, 3/14/2022)

• “Make no mistake:  For Putin it’s not about EU or NATO, it is about his mission to restore Russian empire. No more, no less. Ukraine is just a stage, NATO is just one irritant. But the ultimate goal is Russian hegemony in Europe.” – Jan Behrends, German historian.   (Gatestone, 3/14/2022)

• South Africa Remains The Most Unequal Country In The World:   World Bank — South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, with race playing a determining factor in a society where 10% of the population owns more than 80% of the wealth, a World Bank report said Wednesday.  (EWN / AFP | 10 March 2022)

• At a time like this, let’s remember the words of Jesus Christ: “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” (Matt 24:13)