The Stench of Media Moralizing and the Bout Exchange

Finally after many years it sounds like Russia and the US may cut a deal to release Viktor Bout. Back in 2013, I honestly thought Putin might trade Snowden for him but it turned out that Snowden was a bigger deal than initially thought.

Another Schizophrenic and Incoherent Commentary From the Right

https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2022/jun/02/star-parker-this-country-is-going-through-a/

What a mess. I filed this commentary away over a month ago. To be candid it's pretty worthless but reading it I had to laugh at the total incongruity and dissonance on display in the argument.

All Eyes on Italy and Other Pressures Mounting in Europe

On the one hand the manipulations that led to the Russian invasion of Ukraine have proven very successful. NATO dissent has been largely quashed and the EU has been brought into a kind of subservience to the US. NATO is set to expand, and the US has forced Europe to shift its energy policy, in ways largely favourable to US interests.

Covid and the Two Weeks Narrative

https://off-guardian.org/2022/03/25/two-weeks-to-flatten-the-world/

Over the past year I've encountered in person and via websites expressions of frustration and disgust from many Christians arguing that they tried to obey the government protocols regarding Covid in good faith. They were promised 'two weeks' to flatten the curve and it didn't happen. As such many of these church leaders have shifted over to the Covid-sceptic position and remain bitter that they're open to criticism and in some cases attack from those who questioned it from the beginning.

More New Calvinist Nonsense from G3

https://g3min.org/on-baby-grands-and-expensive-hymnals/

This would have to be reckoned as a sequel to a previous post responding to G3 on the issue of pianos. Apparently this ministry website excels at missing the point.

The Sad Saga of Glenn Greenwald: A Tale of Abandoned Integrity

https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/05/27/apologist-for-tucker-carlsons-racism-glenn-greenwald/

I wasn't surprised to see this article. In some respects I'm surprised more people aren't commenting on this. I was glad to see Greenwald leave The Guardian in the aftermath of the Snowden revelations. The founding of The Intercept looked promising but that too began to degenerate. And then in 2020, Greenwald went out on his own – it was real display of integrity, or at least so I thought.

LPRs Sacralist Allegiance to a Confused and Counterfeit Right-wing Kingdom

https://issuesetc.org/2022/06/21/1721-the-restoration-of-citizenship-dr-victor-davis-hanson-6-21-22/

Listening to this exchange with the Hoover Institute's Victor Davis Hanson it was hard not to be struck by the fundamentally non-Christian approach of the interview, which is a strange thing because supposedly I was listening to a Confessional Lutheran radio programme.

The Cover of World War II Narratives

Millions of their people were killed during World War II, and as a result this country believes that they are exempt from the normative rules of conduct in terms of international affairs. The crisis engendered by the war was of such a nature, such an existential threat to their existence that the only imperative is this – never again.

Scott Brown Still Peddling Vision Forum's Dominionist Filth

https://mailchi.mp/churchandfamilylife/freedom-is-not-free-but-these-books-are-on-sale-1339937?e=176146d50d

When it comes to ethics, the ministry of Scott Brown rests on a foundation of sand – a denial of Scriptural Sufficiency. When Brown and company talk about finances, patriotism, history, ethics, and certainly their concepts of manhood and the like, the Scriptures play little part in their thinking.

Vietnam and Ukraine

You can't make this stuff up. This has happened multiple times and in connection with different media and news outlets. Today while driving home NPR reported that Biden was giving Medals of Honor to Vietnam veterans – men that for whatever reason had been neglected for the past fifty years. Now they're getting their recognition for their bravery and service – or at least that's the official narrative.

Deceit on All Fronts

I clicked on a CNN video the other night and gave up after just a few minutes. It was ridiculous. It wasn't news. It was just a juvenile editorial and misleading at that. Even if I agreed (for the most part) with what was being said, the presentation was disgraceful – the very sort of thing that is par for the course on FOX. The two channels are increasingly cut from the same cloth. Deceit reigns as the interests of mammon dominate the airwaves and both channels (in service to the Wall Street Establishment) are on a mission to blur and ignore context and the true nature of the problems that dominate this society and the larger world. Ratings, advertising, and thus entertainment are paramount and increasingly rage and fear are the tools to keep people energized.

First Christo-Americanism, Now Christo-Trumpism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx8tsompfiM

This disturbing video was released in late May and yet just a month later the context has dramatically changed. The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, ruled in favour of tax money being used for private and thus religious schools, thrown out gun restrictions, ruled in favour of the coal industry and restricted the EPA, and now the court has ruled in favour of an Evangelical football coach praying in connection to school events. More than ever the Christian-Right is energized and they believe their 'victories' are due to Donald Trump.