30 January 2018

New Data on Angleton and Cold War Counter-Intelligence

I don't have much to add to this article but I did want to post the link. Angleton's name is well known to those familiar with the unrestrained years of the CIA, the period extending from its founding in 1947 to the congressional investigations of the mid-1970's. Prompted by Watergate and the growing unease surrounding rumours of dark deeds and assassinations, many hoped the investigations would turn a new leaf and begin a new era of legality and transparency. The recent death of J Edgar Hoover in 1972 also prompted such hopes from those within and critical of the FBI.

28 January 2018

21st Century Editions: A Warning

This book review warrants a reading because it reveals a growing trend... revisionist republications.
Regardless of one's opinion of Stott or the book, the reviewer does a great job exposing what these publishers (and editors) are up to. It's dishonest and potentially harmful to both the legacy of the author and the larger body of ideas they represent.

27 January 2018

Microsoft, Ireland and the EU

Europe is socialist. Socialism means the government regulates and controls everything.
That's what I was taught growing up. These messages came not only from the public education system but from within my own Right-wing home.
Of course I later came to question this and understand that it's not that simple. Socialism can mean regulation and control and certainly does when it comes to certain aspects of business and society.

22 January 2018

Italian Masonry and the Mafia

Freemasonry carries a mystique in the United States but most people discount any notion of conspiratorial activity. Few are able to understand the role it played in the Revolution and the formation of American society.
Italian society on the other hand has direct historical proof of Masonic conspiracy, and not just in the 19th century but in modern times. No one doubts its nature.

20 January 2018

MI5, Ulster Loyalist Paramilitaries and an Assassination Plot

This article raises more questions than it is able to answer. It suggests there were elements within the British Establishment that were less than happy with Thatcher's overtures vis-à-vis the Irish Republic.

16 January 2018

History Rears its Head: The Revival of German Militarism

There is nothing remarkable about this article. It is but part of a growing chorus calling for German militarism and rearmament. Aside from that ominous call, it tries to dress up the arguments with diplomatic lingo and pretentious ethics. It's a call for Germany to rise up and become once again... the master of Europe.
These are strange words to hear post-1945 but history has come full circle or to put it another way, it has reared its head.

13 January 2018

Can Western Evangelicals Condemn the Kremlin's Ban on The Watchtower Society?

There's a sad irony here. Russian Evangelicals are right to condemn and reject the state's ban on The Watchtower Society. While the Watchtower represents a rejection of the Biblical Gospel it nevertheless should be allowed to exist and its followers should be permitted to pursue their own path.
Western Evangelical condemnations of the ban, instigated by the Anti-Western Kremlin and the anti-Evangelical campaign flowing from the Orthodox Patriarchate, are often more rooted in pragmatics and politics.

11 January 2018

Libyan Betrayals

Some will find it shocking that in order to make peace with Gaddafi in the wake of 9/11, the British (and Americans) were willing to help him in his dirty work and eliminate his enemies.
I don't find it shocking at all but I reckon the episode (as reported in this Guardian piece) instructive in this regard. When Gaddafi was an enemy, especially during the 1980's, Britain gave refuge to his political enemies. Washington did the same as some of the figures opposing Gaddafi were directly supported by the CIA.

09 January 2018

The Politicisation of Christianity in Pakistan

Christians in the Subcontinent are suffering. Of that there can be no doubt, and yet this move by the Trump administration is unfortunate. It once again puts them in the middle and gives Islamabad every reason to look the other way when jihadists attack Christian gatherings.

07 January 2018

Brazil is Heating Up

This article makes for a disturbing read and while I don't wish to dwell on the particulars I simply wanted to post something about the changes taking place in Brazil. The Evangelicals are on the rise and it would seem Brazil is headed toward a culture war.

The First Shot: Brussels vs. ÖVP Austria

The ÖVP has introduced its first attempt at nationalist legislation. They're not the first to do so, but others have backed down. The Austrian Right is trying to keep Austrian money within Austria which of course undermines the larger EU project and the authority of Brussels.

06 January 2018

Plan Honduras

As I'm just finishing a book on the School of the Americas I stumbled across this Intercept article on Honduras. Since the US backed coup in 2009, the entirety of Latin America has been experiencing an episode of 'Rollback'. Right-wing governments are coming into power and as this Honduras episode demonstrates, it would seem the old playbook has been dusted off and reactivated.

01 January 2018

Trump +346: UN Funding, the American Empire and the Rise of Multipolarity

The Trump administration recently declared it would further cut US payments to the United Nations. This is particularly damaging to the international body as the US pays a significant portion of its budget. American conservatives have long argued that the UN works against American interests and thus they are particularly bitter about the fact that US tax money helps to fund the organisation.