The Cost of Resisting the Empire

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/31/ecuador_boat_strikes_prosecutor_killed

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/may/20/forced-disappearances-torture-ecuador-war-on-drugs-us-troops

https://thegrayzone.substack.com/p/was-ecuadorian-activist-monika-silva  

Whether direct US agents or through proxies, whether by direct order or by an insinuation, someone in Washington ordered this hit. Traditionally it would have been CIA, but the Pentagon has its own intelligence special operations forces. The Pentagon has the most to lose from a prosecution, but at the same time there would be some caution before they just sent in special ops to assassinate someone.

That would be the conventional thinking but of course under the Trump-Hegseth Pentagon, some of that thinking no longer applies.

Would Pete Hegseth give such an order? Do you doubt it?

The CIA and Burma

https://smallwarsjournal.com/2024/12/19/how-memoirs-by-american-officials/

This article provides a quick summary of the facts connected to CIA operations in Burma and the various memoirs that omit this reality. Their reasons undoubtedly vary and are not always clear, but are (in themselves) food for thought.

The Immigration Crisis, New Outsourcing Plans, and Related Christian Ethics

https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-countries-eye-setting-up-migrant-return-hubs-in-rwanda-and-uzbekistan/

The UK plan to outsource its immigration crisis to Rwanda collapsed and was cancelled by Keir Starmer. Despite this, Rwanda is still looking to sign up and receive European funds. And Paul Kagame has his takers as nations such as Denmark, Austria, Greece, and Germany have expressed interest.

America's Biolab Archipelago

https://www.trtworld.com/article/e176f6eb7b05 

This TRT article caught my eye because while it seems to justify Right-wing narratives about either labs in China or perhaps a US-China collusion and Covid cover-up. The reality is the US has been engaged in this kind of research (and pernicious activity) for some time - and I'm not talking about a manufactured pandemic or even a Coved cover-up.

Re-writing History and the Indictment of Raul Castro

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/20/cuba_raul_castro_peter_kornbluh

https://thegrayzone.substack.com/p/the-us-indicted-raul-castro-for-deterring

The recent indictment by the Trump Justice Department of Raul Castro relies on a false narrative. Basically they're asserting that these innocent humanitarian planes were shot down over international waters and as such Castro is guilty of conspiracy and murder. If it only it were that simple.

And why is this indictment being handed down now?

A Sordid Tale of Ecumenism and Apostasy: American Christianity and Memorial Day

I happened to catch Paul Batura from Focus on the Family being interviewed in reference to Memorial Day and he insisted that the whole 'Christian Nationalism' charge and scandal was a farce. He knew of no serious Christians who would own that label - which is completely untrue. Russell Vought and many others immediately come to mind. They embrace it and are proud of it.

Cracks in the Sproul Empire

https://ministrywatch.com/st-andrews-chapel-salaries-well-above-median-salary-in-the-region

This report matters because these are 'respected' ministries and leaders and yet their conduct (as reported in the article) raises eyebrows. I think it is glimpse behind the veil. I think this kind of corruption is far from being an anomaly. There are abuses of power on many levels, corruption, and rank greed. The numbers involved aren't on the level of a Wall Street scandal that makes the national news but for individuals these are serious salaries that pay for a very nice lifestyle and the people in these institutions and bureaucracies are not going to just give them up and go away quietly.

The Iran-Lebanon War Cover-up

https://truthout.org/articles/trump-administration-covering-up-extensive-damage-done-to-us-bases-by-iran/

https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/israel-largest-tank-losses-40yrs-ambushes-21-merkava

It's not surprising to learn that the Pentagon has been trying to cover-up losses and damage to US assets. The fact that Iran can strike back does not fit with the US narrative.

NPR, JP Morgan Chase, and Establishment Media

The Right would have us believe that the Liberals are out to destroy the United States and reduce its might and wealth. This is patently ridiculous - as I have argued on many occasions. The Left (so-called) is just as invested in the Empire as the Right is. The leaders of the DNC and the so-called Liberal Media are all avid capitalists and support the US Empire, its projects and its wars.

However they do like to have it all packaged with a nice humanitarian and legally justified veneer - even if it's all rubbish. They attach interpretive narratives as to how it all works so that it can appear legal, humane, and enlightened. In some respects I find myself despising them all the more for their hypocrisy - though there's plenty to go around.

I was reminded of this listening to NPR's Steve Inskeep interview Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan. It was quite chummy with Inskeep employing his trademark over the top laugh. He was hardly an impartial or watchdog reporter let alone an adversarial one.

Starmer Bows to the Emperor

https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/3/12/al-jazeera-sees-bombs-being-loaded-onto-us-planes-at-uk-base

Keir Starmer has tried to distance himself from America's war and yet Britain is certainly the junior and subservient partner in the Atlanticist Anglo-American Empire. His government is struggling and he didn't want to risk alienating more Labour voters by supporting the Trump-Netanyahu war and so he tried to side-step the issue by suggesting that UK bases would only be used for 'defensive' purposes.

Cover Up, Poitras, and Seymour Hersh

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/we-need-more-seymour-hershes

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2026/02/ritter-russia-and-hersh.html

This post is simply a follow-up or supplement to my recent piece on Scott Ritter and Seymour Hersh. This article provides some additional commentary on the Cover-Up documentary and the importance of Hersh's reporting on My Lai.

Obfuscating the Roots of Kinism

https://ironsharpensironradio.com/2026/02/09/february-6-2026-show-with-lowell-ivey-on-kinism-race-realism-the-gospel/

Some might be excused for thinking I do nothing more than read bad articles and listen to egregious podcasts and radio shows. What's the point, someone might ask me?

It gives me no joy I can assure you but I am consistently astonished by what is taking place in the Church today - the bad teaching, the twisted ethics, the flawed reasoning, and the corrupt leadership. I encounter people that just drink this stuff in without stopping and thinking - and realizing that what they're being told doesn't add up, isn't Scriptural (despite the claims), and is ultimately misleading. At that point we have to ask 'why'? What is happening?

The Assault Weapons Ban and American Guns in Latin America

https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-01-20/carlos-perez-ricart-theres-never-been-a-better-time-for-the-us-arms-industry-than-right-now.html

This article does not affirm what many of us intuitively already know - the US arms industry is experiencing something of a golden age. From sales to the EU (for Ukraine), to client states across Asia and the Middle East, to Latin America - there's a lot of money being made. And as I'm often keen to note - a lot of this blood money flows into the coffers of Christians by means of investment, particularly in mutual funds and 401k portfolios.

But there's another aspect to the arms industry that also constitutes big business.

The Mafia Matrix in Italy, China, and Beyond

https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/fast-fashion-exploitation-how-the-clothes-hanger-wars-escalated-in-italy-a-a9a0d238-03ab-484d-b7a7-b90567646ac7

There are Chinatowns in most large cities. Growing up I visited the famous district in San Francisco which is certainly impressive. But I was really struck by the Chinatown in Lower Manhattan - so proximate to the old Five Points, the various courthouses, and even Ground Zero, and how it all but overlaps with Little Italy. It caused me to reflect on the nature of these ethnic enclaves and the immigrant experience.

A Case of Lamech vs. Caine

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/1/20/minneapolis_minnesota_ice

One need not agree with all that Democracy Now stands for and certainly figures like Al Sharpton rightfully elicit scorn. We need not align ourselves with Renee Good or even the protesters who stormed a Southern Baptist congregation in protest of its ICE pastor. Nevertheless the reporting is pretty stark and damning when it comes to the character and conduct of ICE. I was particularly struck by the exchanges between ICE agents and an Native America/Indian woman with her nephew - harassed for having darker skin. The sheer terror in the woman's voice is disturbing - she's rightly in distress, fearing the ICE agents will kill her nephew.

American Media and the Nordstream Cover-Up

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11/20/italy-to-extradite-ukrainian-nord-stream-sabotage-suspect-to-germany

https://newsukraine.rbc.ua/news/nord-stream-sabotage-suspect-remains-in-custody-1768528278.html

In addition to Kuznetsov who was arrested and extradited from Italy, there is also news of another Ukrainian arrested in Poland who is accused of being part of the Nordstream sabotage.

Canada, Ukraine, and the Fall of Chrystia Freeland

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/freeland-ukraine-economic-advisor-9.7033382

Toronto-area MP Chrystia Freeland is in the news once again. Her most recent high profile position was as Trudeau's deputy and she was viewed by many as the 'minister of everything' and almost the de facto prime minister. Having previously served as foreign secretary, and finance minister, her star has been rising for some time. In a sudden move that sent shock-waves throughout Ottawa and beyond, she resigned the cabinet at the end of 2024 - a move which helped to ultimately bring down Justin Trudeau's government the following month.

Anti-Semitism and the GOP - Then and Now

https://forward.com/opinion/524649/trump-destroyed-guardrails-against-antisemitism-gorka-kyrie-kanye/

The concept of Anti-Semitism has become confused in our day. There is a kind of three-fold debate over race-based Anti-Semitism associated with Right-wing ideology, Anti-Zionism opposed to the state of Israel and its policies vis-à-vis the Palestinians, and even some other forms of Anti-Semitism which often defy the Left/Right divide, focusing on the corrupt nature of Western Capitalist (or for some Globalist) society and the role Jews play in the banking, academic, and political world - and of course the Hollywood and media-entertainment complexes.

PBS:Frontline on the AfD

Last year Frontline ran a documentary on the Alternative for Germany (AfD) which I made a point of watching. Generally I find that PBS does a decent job covering domestic issues and yet like so much of US media is sub-par when it comes to foreign issues. And I remember being less than impressed with the previous coverage of German politics.

Christians Aiding the Trump Cover-Up

After all the efforts to cover up Trump's connections to Jeffrey Epstein, the GOP base and now the White House have capitulated. What has already been revealed is telling and yet not in the least surprising. We already knew what Trump was.

And we'll see whether or not Pam Bondi intervenes and withholds documents due to 'pending or ongoing investigations'. It was no accident that Trump ordered to start investigating Clinton and others in conjunction with his seeming capitulation.