The Latest Echo of the Shapur Effect

https://www.churchinchains.ie/news-by-country/middle-east/iran/iran-state-media-accuses-recently-arrested-christians-of-espionage/

In the 3rd and 4th centuries large numbers of Christians lived in Persia - and given that the Roman Empire persecuted them, they were welcome. Rome and Persia had already been engaged in centuries of war and it would continue until the 7th century and the Islamic conquest. Persia was a haven for these Christian communities.

Meloni and the Judges

https://www.politico.eu/article/giorgia-melonis-italy-judges-viktor-orban-hungary-albania-rome-court-russia-war-ukraine/

Meloni's policy has mostly been to tack toward the centre, which has given her great credibility and standing within the EU Establishment. But as the article points out, there's still a very ugly Right-wing side to her domestic policy. Politically it's brilliant as it doesn't allow domestic rivals like Matteo Salvini to outflank her, but I think it's also indicative of her true colours and the nature of her political pedigree.

Wikileaks, Internews, and USAID

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/wikileaks-reveals-us-spent-4726m-to-promote-covert-censorship-media-control-through-ngo/3476741

This linked article comes from a Turkish news source. As expected this Wikileaks revelation isn't getting a lot of coverage in the West.

Some are happy to see USAID collapse because of it ties to US intelligence operations. The article (in the AKP-aligned news outlet) mentions Soros and yet a closer read of the historical record reveals that far from being some agent of Internationalist Globalism or Socialism, George Soros was one of the American Empire's 'point' men in the 1980's and 1990's in Eastern Europe. As soon as the Berlin Wall came down, the US sought to consolidate power in Eastern Europe and worked with Soros and many others to subvert politics, create political parties, and spread money around to quickly shift the former Warsaw Pact nations into the EU and NATO. It was highly successful and played no small role in today's tensions with Moscow.

Memories of Dictatorship in South Korea

https://consortiumnews.com/2024/12/03/south-koreas-6-hour-martial-law/

In what seemed like a power grab, President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law but when challenged he backed down. Now the fallout.

Smoke and Mirrors: Al Jazeera and Euroscepticism in the Balkans

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/8/31/the-danger-of-pro-eu-euroscepticism-in-the-western-balkans

Parties and politicians formerly aligned with Eurosceptic elements have accumulated a great deal of power and now stand near the pinnacle of the EU hierarchy. They're not there yet and they remain divided but were these Right-wing nationalist groups to come together - Brussels could be theirs.

Washington and the Banderites

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/09/13/czgh-s13.html

It had been a few years since I picked up Russ Bellant's Old Nazis, the New Right, and the Republican Party, the 3rd edition published in 1991. The scandals he reports surrounding World War II-era fascists and the Nixon, Reagan, and GHW Bush administrations have been all but forgotten. And yet it was the Ukrainian angle that drove me to revisit the work - and it revealed some interesting bits of information.

Türkiye and BRICS

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/turkey-applies-to-join-china-and-russia-in-brics-economic-bloc-kremlin-says

https://www.dailysabah.com/opinion/op-ed/turkiye-and-brics-step-toward-more-multipolar-future

https://www.trtworld.com/turkiye/turkiyes-brics-bid-is-response-to-eu-membership-delay-18210122

Erdogan announced that Türkiye would be joining the ever expanding BRICS bloc in 2022, but just last month (September 2024) he made it official and Ankara has now officially applied for membership.

The Wooing of Armenia

https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-launch-new-e270-million-plan-bring-armenia-fold-russia/

Since the article's publication in April, there have been numerous reports regarding Armenia. The situation remains dynamic with Yerevan reaching out to Ukraine and thus angering Russia in the process. There are real fears in Moscow of Armenia rescinding its membership with the Russian-led CSTO security agreement and flipping over to the NATO column - not in full membership but as one of its allies. This also generates concerns over the brewing instability of its neighbour Georgia. For Putin, the invasion of Ukraine was meant to arrest Atlanticist expansion, but with the accession of Sweden and Finland into NATO, and now the growing risk of all of Transcaucasia falling under the aegis of the American-led bloc, there's no small degree of consternation. And the EU is also looking to expand.

The 2024 EU Parliamentary Elections

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.

Moldovan Intrigues and Russian Threats

https://www.euractiv.com/section/europe-s-east/news/in-moldova-europes-leaders-strive-to-send-message-of-unity-towards-russia/

This article has been in the queue for a few weeks and I might have tossed it aside other than it struck me today (24 June) of how absurd it is in many respects even as NATO continues to push the narrative about the threat of Russia. Russia has been exposed today as a nation in a state of instability and peril. Not only did Putin's forces fail to take Kyiv in 2022, he has now faced a very threatening mutiny and this is even in light Ukraine's failed spring 2023 offensive. Putin looks weak in the eyes of the world.

Homeschooling in Romania and the HSLDA

https://hslda.org/post/as-homeschooling-grows-in-romania-government-cracks-down

As mentioned in previous posts, I'm not a fan of HSLDA and its Dominionist approach to homeschooling and larger questions concerning the law. Confusing Christianity (its doctrines and ethics) with the Western (and more often the American) cultural tradition, their overall approach theology, ethics, and jurisprudence are (to me) seriously misguided.

Italy and the United States: Seeking Stability in the Elder Statesmen

https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/president-mattarella-reluctant-hero-in-italys-crisis/

Akin to similar developments in other Western democracies, the polarity within Italian politics has reached an extreme – to the point that change itself is feared. Elected to his second term as president, Sergio Matarella is 80 years old and he is the stabilizing factor, the shepherd of an inherently unstable situation – that of Italy's National Unity government which was formed last year.

The Nation, the Christian Right, and Levin's Caricature of Marxism

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/mark-levin-american-marxism/

The Nation is a well-established liberal magazine with deep roots in the American political order.  As connected as it is with the power centres of the Democratic Party, the publisher (Katrina vanden Heuvel) is (ironically) widow to the recently deceased Stephen Cohen – the renowned but controversial Russian studies scholar who rejected and decried the Anti-Russia campaign being led by the US Establishment and particularly the DNC. I'm sure there were some interesting conversations that took place in their home.

Poland,Washington, and the Belarus Border Crisis

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/when-the-us-needed-secret-help-in-iraq-who-did-it-call-poland-of-course/2021/10/20/5ec89bc2-25f8-11ec-9de8-156fed3e81bf_story.html

As the Washington Post reports, Pomfret's new book reveals that Polish collaboration with Washington began in earnest only months after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It's hardly a surprise as the people who came into power had been working clandestinely with the United States for more than a decade.

A Jezebel Among Us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qUnnSu1Dno

I had heard of this woman (Lauren Boebert) awhile ago, but I never imagined she professed to be a Christian. She's best known for her open carry lifestyle – she's almost always armed (this talk being a rare exception) and has made a big deal about her gun-friendly restaurant in Colorado. Riding the wave of fame, she then used her 'charms' to get herself elected to congress.

Another Navalny Travesty

https://www.politico.eu/article/alexei-navalny-sakharov-prize-freedom-thought-eu-russia/

The campaign to promote Alexei Navalny continues. He is but a component of the expansive Western campaign against the regime of Vladimir Putin in Moscow. You literally cannot interact with Western news media anymore without some kind of daily (and at times hourly) attack on Russia even if it's just a quick thirty second 'dig' – It must be remembered that in most American news venues a proper 'Two-Minute Hate' would exceed the attention span of their audience.

US Manipulation of Cuba Protests

https://www.mintpressnews.com/documents-point-to-us-hand-in-cuba-protests/277987/

Once again we find the hand of USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) at work, doing what they do best - labouring to subvert democracy and overthrow governments. As soon as the protests erupted and voices within the US started escalating the rhetoric, it wasn't hard to guess what was happening. And though things have seemingly calmed down, it's not over yet.

The Anti-Russia Campaign Exposed

https://thegrayzone.com/2021/02/20/reuters-bbc-uk-foreign-office-russian-media/

The greatest irony surrounding this story is that it reveals the British government is actively engaged in the very sorts of activities they repeatedly accuse Russia of. And don't think for a moment the US government is any different. I guarantee the campaign is actually on a more massive scale.

The Capitol Attack: China Exposes US Hypocrisy

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Attack-on-Congress:-Chinese-in-US-alerted.-Beijing-criticizes-US-democracy-52006.html

I hate to admit it but in this case Beijing does have a point. Actually their statements are rather restrained – Beijing has only touched upon the tip of the iceberg.

Austrian Intelligence and the Rise of the Right

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-austria-attack-mosques/austria-admits-intolerable-mistakes-in-checks-on-vienna-attacker-idUSKBN27M1J8

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-austria-attack-mosques/austria-orders-closure-of-radical-mosques-news-agency-apa-says-idUKKBN27M1J4

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/11/austria-to-introduce-preventive-detention-after-deadly-attack

The Austrian government had intelligence from Slovakia that the gunman was acting suspiciously and there were indications that he might be planning some sort of attack. And it should be to no one's surprise that Berlin was also aware of him.