Myanmar Woes

http://asianews.it/news-en/Pro-China-rebels-shut-down-Baptist-churches,-arrest-Baptist-pastors-and-expel-Catholic-nuns-45072.html

It is unclear as to whether the anti-Christian policies of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) are emulations of Chinese policy or are in fact being encouraged by Beijing.

Myanmar or Burma has been embroiled in a series of overlapping civil wars since its independence in 1948 and many outsiders have played a part. The US has officially been uninvolved since they airlifted Kuomintang (KMT) remnants out of the country in 1953 but only the willingly blind would believe such a story. The truth is Washington has been deeply involved in the Karen struggle as well as some of the other 'internal conflicts' which continue to plague the Southeast Asian nation.

(North) Macedonia, NATO and the EU

Who has the most power and who is most invested in the Balkans being wed to the Atlantic order?

While the EU would certainly like to see a Balkan consolidation, given the tensions and financial struggles of recent years the European Commission is going to be a little more cautious when it comes to bringing on more instability. Various European powers have their doubts about a full commitment to Skopje and I don't doubt that some fear yet another beach-head for Russia within the EU's structural dynamic.

Venezuela and the Mainstream Propaganda Campaign

https://theintercept.com/2019/03/10/nyts-expose-on-the-lies-about-burning-humanitarian-trucks-in-venezuela-shows-how-us-govt-and-media-spread-fake-news/

Even though this article is already two weeks old, many will have missed the story. And I must say that in the past two weeks the propaganda campaign has escalated. The coverage has been unrelenting and yet profoundly dishonest both in its assumptions and in the way the narrative is being framed.

Good News Out of Africa: CAR, DRC and Nigeria

For once there are good reports coming from Africa. Over the past several months a peace has been negotiated in the Central African Republic. Let us hope it holds.

Ukrainian Autocephaly and Schism

https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraines-crisis-of-faith-orthodoz-church-split-from-moscow-based-rusiian-orthodox-church-christian-schism/

On the one hand one can sympathise with those in distress over the schism and the way in which it has divided Ukrainian society.

Nigerian Prosperity Politics

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/13/gospel-glamour-how-nigerias-pastors-wield-political-power

It is sad and disheartening to read of the corruption and heresy that has overtaken much of the African Church. And thanks to American-style Dominionism they (through the efforts of Theonomists, Evangelicals and Charismatics) have learned about 'worldview' and the need to capture the culture.

Berlusconi Scandals That Won't Go Away

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/15/italy-investigates-mystery-death-of-bunga-bunga-guest

This death may or may not be connected to Berlusconi. She may have been murdered or it may be something else.

But that's not why it's getting all the headlines.

Traditionalist Catholic Responses to the Abuse Scandal: The Case of Pell

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/calling-cardinal-pells-prosecution-what-it-is-religious-persecution

I found this article both refreshing and audacious at the same time. In our current climate of accusation and Neo-McCarthyism few have been bold enough to stand against the tide and resist the trend of presumed guilt and the abandonment of due process.

But when it comes to the crimes of Rome and its sodomite priesthood I believe that not only are most of the accusations true, we've only seen the tip of the iceberg...

The Compromised Pence

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is an unabashed sodomite and brought his cohort with him on his recent visit to the White House. The event made the news because Varadkar upbraided US society for not being pro-sodomite enough its outlook. Most people interpreted the comments as being directed particularly at Vice President Mike Pence who was present and in fact hosting the event.

The Breaking of Honduras

https://www.france24.com/en/20190215-video-reporters-plus-honduras-drought-climate-refugees-migrants-caravan-usa

Honduras is suffering. It has become a textbook example of how globalisation is a form of imperialism in which the market subjugates the people, strapping them with massive debt for infrastructure projects they don't benefit from. From corrupt business deals to the NGO's and old stand by's like USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), to the ways in which Wall Street can manipulate the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the imperial hydra is bleeding the nation dry.

Sodomite Story Hour

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47203976

By now many will have encountered this story but many readers will not understand just how shocking and surreal this is.

This would have been absolutely unthinkable a generation ago. This kind of perversity was relegated to the back alleys and the seedy parts of town. Mainstream society, Christian or not did not view such things favourably or even with much amusement.

If there was amusement it was mocking, shock-value type of amusement represented in popular songs like Lola and Dude Looks Like a Lady. It was something you laughed at but at the same time it was something shameful and dirty. If you saw a cross-dresser out in public it was the sort of thing your blocked your kids from seeing.

The Raw Power of the Military-Industrial Complex on Display

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-saudi-thaad/lockheed-gets-1-billion-down-payment-for-saudi-thaad-missile-system-idUKKCN1QL28R

This is why the murder of Jamal Khashoggi doesn't matter. The Saudis are not only in an informal alliance with the United States and Israel, they are pursuing US interests in Yemen and vis-à-vis Iran.

This is not to say that there aren't Saudi and American interests upset with the recent turn in Saudi politics under bin Salman. Nevertheless the pressure is great to 'let it ride'.

When billions of dollars are at stake, there's a lot of pressure and influence that come to bear and since there are 101 ways to bribe and payoff people and with plenty of money to spare.... the people who sit atop the Wall Street-Defense industry-political-military nexus... the Military Industrial Complex have a lot of power. They get their way and get rich at the same time.

The V4, Likud, Aachen and Atlanticism: New Blocs, New Structures

http://www.praguemonitor.com/2019/02/18/babi%C5%A1-travel-israel-joint-v4-summit

https://hungarytoday.hu/orban-discusses-v4-israel-summit-security-cooperation-with-netanyahu/

These events are already old news in terms of the high-tempo news cycle but they passed without proper reflection.

To start with, the V4 countries are often spoken of in relation to anti-Semitism. Far Right parties and politics are active in the V4 and thus it seems strange to many that they would meet in Israel.

The Threat of China According to The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/dec/07/china-plan-for-global-media-dominance-propaganda-xi-jinping

The rise of Xi Jinping continues to re-shape China and it's becoming clear the New Silk Road or One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative is about more than commerce or economic security.

Historically China (when powerful) has remained more or less within its geopolitical sphere. A dominating regional Hegemon, many have argued that its contemporary resurgence represents little more than an attempt to revert to the historical pattern. The lords of Beijing wish for China to recapture its historical place and position in the global order. Its aspirations are regional and restricted.

And yet some wonder if under Xi the vision has shifted and China is moving more in the direction of a global empire akin to the old European empires but with a special reliance upon the model of the United States.

UMC Traditionalists Score a Pyrrhic Victory

https://www.christianpost.com/news/conservatives-greatly-outnumber-liberals-in-the-united-methodist-church-poll.html

https://www.christianpost.com/news/united-methodist-church-upholds-position-against-homosexuality-same-sex-marriage.html

These 'conservatives' believe they have won a great victory in that the UMC just voted down full sodomite inclusion... and yet the margin was fairly narrow. And the story is hardly over. The conservatives do not control the judicial apparatus within the denomination. If they can't enforce the traditional position and start punishing and excommunicating the sodomite factions, then things will go on as they are.

In reality it's clear the UMC is headed for a split, both globally and within the United States. The real debate will be over the mechanics of the split and the all the ugly (and sinful) court battles over properties and trust funds along with all the other rubbish that reveals denominationalism as a harmful anti-Scriptural distraction.