There's so much that could be said right now about events in the Middle East and the conflict between Israel and Iran and the potential for a wider war including the United States and others.
For my part I think about scenarios in which the war could go sideways or the aftermath of a regime collapse.
I caught a few minutes of the Family Life Network's (FLN) news segment the other day and I was struck by how fuzzy the line gets between mis- and disinformation. It's also noteworthy how much the network has shifted to the Right in recent years - though it's nowhere near American Family Radio (AFR) or even local stations like WDCX out of Buffalo, New York - other stations I pick up at times when I'm out and about.
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/11/05/israel-blackmail-the-presidents/
Not a few historians, analysts, and commentators wonder just who is in charge? Who is calling the shots in terms of the US-Israel relationship? At times it almost seems like Israel has the upper hand and steers the American ship - at least with regard to Middle Eastern policy.
This is just one of the endless outrages and hypocrisies associated with this war. One of the many war crimes ignored by the West as Israel pursues it genocidal campaign in Gaza.
Evangelicals are excited. There's a new Bonhoeffer movie coming out from Angel Studios, the same people who produced The Sound of Freedom - based on Tim Ballard, a Mormon QAnon advocate and liar. And from everything I've read, this Bonhoeffer movie is basically another example of twisted history and propaganda. But this is nothing new. Bonhoeffer was hijacked by the Evangelicals years ago.
https://www.breakpoint.org/the-horrific-attacks-of-october-7-a-year-later/
Stonestreet never disappoints. If you're looking for distortion and Evangelical perversions of Biblical doctrine, ethics - and reality, look no further. This disciple of Charles Colson consistently labours to outdo the mendacity and deception of his mentor and this piece on the October 7 attacks is no exception.
Consider his opening:
One year ago, on October 7, 2023, thousands of Hamas terrorists entered Israel and attacked civilians, killing some 1,200 Jews, the largest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. Among those killed were soldiers and civilians, men and women, children and adults. They were killed simply because they were Jews.
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.
Since the Saturday evening assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania I have been rather struck by the mainstream media response as well as that of the DNC. For some odd reason they are kow-towing to the MAGA Republican line and seem almost apologetic as if they are to blame for this.
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/honduras-president-arrested/
The death of Alexei Navalny received around-the-clock coverage and it was simply assumed that Putin ordered it and yet when someone like Berta Caceres of Honduras is killed, virtually no one in Western (and certainly American) media seems to care and suggestions of American involvement are met with scoffs.
https://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-braces-for-far-right-wave-as-eu-election-looms/
It's too difficult to tell if there will be a Right-wing wave in the June 2024 EU Parliamentary Elections. For years the Right has been predicted to win in France and yet always seems to fail in the second round. In other words, when it comes down to it, people are willing to vote strategically rather than stick to one party come what may. It's a definite difference when compared to the US winner-take-all system - one that makes a two-party duopoly all but inevitable.
Listening to the near breathless and morally outraged coverage of Alexei Navalny's death, several things come to mind.
When the story broke over the weekend I immediately thought of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and how happy he must be at this news. He wants to widen the war and there are plenty within the US Congress, Pentagon, and even White House that want the same. The Iran Hawks are already squawking – demanding some kind of massive bombing campaign – even if it leads to a massive war. As one commentator pointed out the Middle East is in the cusp of the biggest regional war since 1973. These people couldn't care less. Men like Lindsey Graham are literally just vampires – they live for blood.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/09/us/politics/jfk-assassination-witness-paul-landis.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66792977
On the sixty year anniversary of Kennedy's assassination, the
debate goes on and while many in the Establishment think the case is closed –
as Gerald Posner would have it, the truth is most of the public doesn't buy it,
and for good reason. While there are many misunderstandings and unfortunate
sidetracks, as time marches on, more and more evidence and testimony emerges
which casts the Warren Commission into doubt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmBOMK_-zcU
Responding to the 7 October attack on Israel, US president
Joe Biden condemned Hamas and rightly so. But then he proceeded to make some
rather astonishing remarks – remarks that should offend anyone who has followed
events for the past several decades, anyone in possession of a conscience.
The sources cited here are not above scrutiny, but given the
history of the Orthodox world, and the present tensions within Georgia and the
Caucasus in general, the intrigues and attempted assassinations are not
altogether surprising. In fact the Georgian Orthodox Church had a similar
incident in 2017.
Emanuela Orlandi disappeared from near the Vatican in 1983 and while the popes and curia wish the story would go away, it lingers on. It is captivating to say the least and every so often it pops up again in the news. Netflix recently released a documentary which more or less summarizes the story to this point and attempts to advance it a step or two. And much to the chagrin of the Vatican, this documentary has effectively put a spotlight on the story and has introduced it (and the scandals connected to it) to a new generation.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/06/far-right-politics-hitler-d-day
The son of former CIA director Richard Helms is alarmed at
the present political climate in the United States and as a result has pulled
out a historical curiosity to make his point. He is in possession of a letter
written by his father in 1945. The future CIA director was part of the OSS and
wrote his infant son a letter on the recently defeated Hitler's stationary
warning him about the evils in the world and his witnessing of them.
When Western and even Christian media cover the situation in
Colombia they invariably focus on the terror and violence perpetrated by the
Leftist guerilla groups – such as the FARC. This is true enough but they
consistently misrepresent the story. There are cycles of violence and terror
and the reason many among the rural poor gravitate toward the Left is due to
the violence of Right-wing paramilitary groups which are often unofficial arms
of the state and in other cases are effectively private armies funded and
backed by Western corporations. And it must be remembered that groups like the
CIA are always in the background pulling strings and attempting to manage the
situation.
These are stressful times for the AKP leadership in Ankara
and many wonder if its long tenure is nearing its end. Erdogan has been on the
West's blacklist for years but his recent moves to block Sweden from joining
NATO have earned him a new set of enemies and with elections in the spring, the
pressure is starting to mount. These moves by the US Treasury Department are
only going to pour fuel on an already intensely burning fire.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/9/turkey-resumes-gas-exploration-in-the-eastern-mediterranean
Under Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey continues to carve out what
can only be described as an independent geopolitical course. Long viewed as an
essential member of NATO, due to its unique cultural and geographical position,
under Erdogan's AKP the Eurasian nation continues to anger its longtime allies
and sponsors by reaching out to Western rivals and adversaries and in pursuing
policies that the EU and NATO would describe as reckless, defiant, and even
treacherous.
