Indian Christians Betrayed

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/23/trump-modi-mainstream-faces-global-far-right

The American Evangelical hero-president stands on stage with the persecutor of India's Christians. Modi's Hindutva regime has subjected Christians to mob violence and terror. And yet he's welcomed in the United States, the nation that purports to stand for human rights and religious freedoms.

Kosovo: To the Victors Go the Spoils

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/12/world/europe/americans-who-helped-free-kosovo-return-as-entrepreneurs.html

This is a link to a 2012 article. It made it into the New York Times which grants it a level of significance and yet the story should have been bigger. It should have made headlines and if people really understood its significance they would be angry. The warmongers cashed in. This is how loot and pillage works in the 21^st century.

The West's Attempt to Win Over Trans-Caucasia

https://www.euractiv.com/section/azerbaijan/news/juncker-commission-still-hopes-to-finalise-agreement-with-azerbaijan/

This is part of an ongoing project by the members of the Atlantic Establishment. Washington and the EU are making a joint effort to secure the region of Transcaucasia and establish it as a beachhead against Moscow.

Vigano in Hiding

https://catholicherald.co.uk/magazine/the-vigano-affair-has-revealed-the-depth-of-the-churchs-crisis/

Archbishop Vigano is in hiding. A cleric on the run is an intriguing if familiar chapter from Roman Catholic history. The fact that a high-ranking figure has gone underground in 2019 is particularly interesting. Scandal and intrigue swirl around the Vatican. This is hardly new but the Francis papacy has stirred the pot. Old scandals live on and while Francis has upset some of the traditionalists, the Vigano accusations in many respects reveal Francis to be (at least in part) a defender of the status quo.

Samantha Power: A Right-wing Democrat

https://theintercept.com/2019/09/11/a-memoir-from-hell-samantha-power-will-do-anything-for-human-rights-unless-it-hurts-her-career/

The review provides some interesting insight into one such as Power. During her tenure she was viewed by the Right as a Leftist, part of a Far-Left administration. As I and others continue to insist, today's DNC is not really a Left-wing political entity. There's a Left-wing within its ranks, one that duplicitous figures like Sanders and Warren are labouring to keep within its larger sphere. And yet there are also Centrists and then there are those that could be called Democratic Right. And they're not a small faction. In fact they dominate the party.*

T4G: Together For the Gold

The numbers are pretty staggering in every respect. To attend Together for the Gospel's 2020 conference in Louisville Kentucky will cost over $200 just to get in. The total costs of attendance, travel, lodging and meals mean that it's out of reach for a lot of people. I would struggle to even be able to come up with the ticket money. I can't afford their gospel. The conference gives away a pretty hefty stack of books but when you look at the thousands of attendees and start to do the math you realise these conferences bring in some serious money... millions of dollars.

Tungsten, the A-10 and Vietnam

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/08/22/Boeing-awarded-999M-contract-for-A-10-Warthog-wing-replacements/2891566482184/?sl=7

https://www.military.com/dodbuzz/2018/05/14/air-force-debates-replacing-depleted-uranium-rounds-10.html

On one level this exemplifies how the military-industrial complex works. The military ends up stuck with programmes they don't want and wish to cancel. Congress argues they want to keep the A-10 because of its tactical importance. For those in the know it is the supreme tank-killer and has a stellar reputation as a tough almost indestructible killing machine. A strange plane, it's relatively slow and quiet and yet its sound is unique, its engines sound like nothing else. During my days of shame when I wore the uniform of the legions and participated in its murderous policies, I was around them on a daily basis. I knew it by sound as much as by sight.

Trump Disappoints the PiS

https://www.politico.eu/article/warsaw-welcome-awaits-trump

Time and again Trump proves that he is no faithful ally. Poland's Law and Justice Party (PiS) along with its V4 allies has become a near pariah state in the EU. Warsaw has thrown in with Washington and has opened up its borders to NATO expansion and now NATO staging. Under the PiS, Poland has become a frontline state in Washington's new Cold War with Moscow.

Chimeras: Contra Naturam

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/aug/03/first-human-monkey-chimera-raises-concern-among-scientists

Science is on the cusp of great change. There are social forces holding it back but given they have no ethical foundations or anchors, the flood that is coming will prove overwhelming. All it will take is for someone to poke a hole in the dyke and it will quickly collapse. This was proven true with regard to the ethics of sexuality. Science isn't any different.

Cinque Stella (M5S) is Exposed as a Party That's Less Than Stellar

In a political twist, the populist anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S/Cinque Stella) has moved to form a coalition government with Italy's Democratic Party (PD).

This is particularly ironic given that the PD was an object of so much of Five Star's scorn and ire. Why have they done this? For one reason... to counter Matteo Salvini and his parliamentary maneuvers. Salvini has attempted to force elections and take over as Italian prime minister with his League Party in power... and M5S forced into opposition.

Terror and Intelligence Agencies: Keystone Cops or Coordinators?

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/spanish-intelligence-knew-of-terror-cell-ahead-of-barcelona-attack-say-reports-1.3959554

It reminds one of a broken record. Time and again we learn that the terrorists were known to the authorities and in many cases contained elements directly working with the intelligence agencies.

The Endless Battle for the Balkans

https://www.euractiv.com/section/enlargement/news/west-urges-kosovo-serbia-to-restart-talks-with-urgency/

The Atlanticist project to consolidate Europe in the wake of 1989 has hit a brick wall in the Balkans. While nations like Albania, Romania and Bulgaria were quick to join the NATO/EU axis, the break-up of Yugoslavia proved more difficult.