Expanding AUKUS Declares Hostility to China

https://thedefensepost.com/2024/09/17/canada-aukus-alliance-china/

Even as Justin Trudeau's government is on the ropes, the Canadian Establishment is moving to bring Ottawa into the growing Pacific alliance. The UK's membership is rooted in historical interests and the fact that it is America's essential ally. Or perhaps it should be worded the other way around? Australia has gone through a stream of scandals and failed governments to finally come to the right conclusion that Washington wanted all along - membership in a military alliance against China. Japan has now made moves to join and South Korea and New Zealand have expressed interest.

Democracy in Crisis

https://theworld.org/segments/2024/09/18/democracy-is-under-strain-across-the-globe

Advocates for democracy are concerned. The once seemingly inevitable and unstoppable 'progress' of their system seems to be struggling. Some would say it's under strain, others would put in more stringent terms and simply say that democracy is in a state of crisis. They would point not just to the rise of authoritarian regimes but the strain on democracy within Europe and the evident fragility of the American system - supposedly the very nexus of modern democracy, the nation upon which the narrative depends.

Kyiv Moves to Ban the Historic Ukrainian Orthodox Church

https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-parliament-legislative-ban-ukrainian-orthodox-church-539e0f3a6d657277aa4fa93b8ec53505

We're told the Zelenskiy regime in Ukraine stands for freedom and liberal democracy. In the United States the First Amendment is often invoked as the foundation from which all the other freedoms spring. This would include the freedom of religion and nations like Russia and China are frequently castigated for denying these rights and freedoms. And yet, we see the Zelenskiy government (which embraces the fascist remnants and permutations of the World War II era) denying these basic freedoms to large sections of its population. Kyiv has intervened and has banned expressions of religion that it does not approve of - those elements of Orthodoxy that retain historical and liturgical ties to Russia. Though the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (UOC) denounced the 2022 Russian invasion and has broken formal ties with the Moscow Patriarchate, this is insufficient in the eyes of the Zelenskiy government. Because the UOC was part of the Moscow Patriarchate it must be eradicated.

The Dominionist Ziklag

https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-ziklag-secret-christian-charity-2024-election

The Christian Right's fundraising and lobbying machine is a veritable labyrinth and this is by design. Money is effectively laundered and the smoke and mirrors make it all but impossible to tell where the money is coming from and where the power is located. There are certain names that always seem to appear - these are in some cases key agents or actors. Sometimes they are the powers, the 'movers and shakers', other times they are the action-arms of the powers - which are often very wealthy people or the people that manage the wealth. It's complicated.

More Signals from Armenia

https://eurasianet.org/armenia-sending-signals-that-it-wants-to-back-out-of-a-nuclear-energy-deal-with-russia

https://theworld.org/stories/2024/09/06/the-rise-of-an-armenian-church-opposition-leader

Yerevan continues to signal its shift to the West. There's little doubt that Moscow is alarmed as now Armenia seeks to re-orient its nuclear energy programme to the West and to cut out the Russians.

China, the Monroe Doctrine, and the American Empire: A Proxy Struggle in Ecuador

 https://thegrayzone.com/2024/08/29/secret-chats-decade-us-meddling-ecuador/

There's evidence of US meddling in the politics of Ecuador. Personally I did not find any of these revelations to be shocking. While the explicit evidence wasn't always there, these types of machinations are well known to those who have been paying attention. Wikileaks also played a role in bringing some of these things to light and by some reckonings, they're not all scandalous but are simply descriptive of how governments work with and relate to one another. It's often something other than what people think.

Homeschooling: The Good and the Bad

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/children-deserve-uniform-standards-in-homeschooling/

Homeschooling has exploded, especially in the aftermath of Covid and it is sending up red flags among the Establishment. There have been numerous articles as of late critical of the movement and for every one of these there are multiple responses issued from the Christian community - which by all accounts dominates the homeschool spectrum.

Orban's Habsburg Dreams in Hungary and Europe

https://www.politico.eu/article/habsburg-empire-viktor-orban-patriots-for-europe-hard-right-european-parliament-hungary-austria-czech-republic/

https://apnews.com/article/viktor-orban-hungary-romania-eu-3ea649669de75d13b0ba3585c0e83239

The lead article alludes to the Habsburg Empire but then proves less than accurate in some of its historical statements. Orban does indeed have Habsburg allies but the article isn't really about the Habsburgs. The article touches on his grand vision, the supposed reconstitution of the Habsburg realm, but the story is really in the numbers. These reveal the rightward shift that's taking place in Europe and (I think) sheds light on Orban's more immediate machinations. It's clear he's thinking a couple of steps ahead, preparing for the next European Parliamentary election in 2029.

The Untold Story of the Prisoner Exchange: Chechen Militants and Western Intelligence

https://thegrayzone.com/2024/08/05/us-russia-prisoner-swap-cia-chechen-jihad/

This GrayZone article also caught my eye. I was glad to see that in all the hysteria regarding Russia, there's a story about Chechnya that's been largely forgotten.

Armenia's Shift to the West

https://eurasianet.org/russia-rages-over-us-military-exercise-in-armenia

These military exercises signal Yerevan's shift to the West and yet another Western incursion on the borders of Russia, another invasion into its historical sphere.

Coveting Serbia's Lithium

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3274031/thousands-protest-lithium-mining-serbia-officials-call-it-coup-plot?module=top_story&pgtype=subsection

This author and many others have been writing for years about the tug-of-war in Serbia. The Atlanticist plan in the 1990's was to break up Serb-dominated Yugoslavia and bring all the pieces into the EU and NATO orbit. This largely succeeded except with Serbia itself which remains outside the bloc and friendly to its historical ally in Moscow.