The nebulous Nazi connection lives on or so it would seem.
Even this Guardian article openly admits the connections between the American
formed post-war German intelligence services and ex-Nazis. The question is, as
Neo-Nazi groups have acted and continue to act (often with impunity) are they
being facilitated by the state intelligence apparatus? It would seem so.
12 March 2017
Max Boot has joined the CIA
Boot recently produced an article entitled Wikileaks has joined the Trump administration
at Foreign Policy, the largely Neo-conservative magazine founded by Samuel
Huntington of Clash of Civilisations
fame.
Tolkien Cosmology Update
I recently updated The
Cosmology of Tolkien on The Pilgrim Path/Proto-Protestantism website. The
link is here if anyone is interested, followed by the additions I made.
11 March 2017
The Latin American Pseudo-Left Revolutions and the American Backlash
The Bush years afforded a rise of a new Latin American Left.
From Argentina, to Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador and even some of the nations in Central
America, the people reacted to over a century of US imperialism and voted in
governments that were openly hostile to American interests. It was a New
Leftist Revolution, or was it?
10 March 2017
Brave Christians on the Tumen Frontier
There's an ongoing, heroic and very moving story that's been
taking place in North Korea and in China's nearby region of Manchuria. It's a
story of missionaries, refugees and an underground railroad. It's often a sad
and very cruel story and yet there are some real shining lights, people who are
labouring as Christians to reach out to escapees and in some cases help them
embark on the long road to a new life in South Korea.
09 March 2017
The Intercept: The Good, Bad and Ugly
It's hard to deny The Intercept is an exciting online
magazine. Launched in 2014, it came on the scene in the wake of the Snowden
revelations. Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill were the big
names associated with its launch. Poitras has since departed to focus on her
film-making.
Since its start the magazine has put together an impressive
team of journalists and they literally churn out articles and analysis. The
website has become a wealth of information and due to their high-profile in the
alternative media world they are getting a lot of tips and leaks which
facilitate their reporting.
Economic Warfare and the US Justice Department
There are so many stories like this floating around if you go
looking. The US is waging a war against companies that do business in places
and with people not liked by the Washington Establishment.
08 March 2017
Vatican Tensions Escalate
Some of you may have been following the scandal over the
Knights of Malta. While the catalyst for the scandal was somewhat absurd it
points to deeper tensions within the Vatican.
06 March 2017
Croatian Proxies and the Balkan Strategy
The article proclaims the Croatians ignored well-founded
concerns the arms they sold to Saudi Arabia would end up in Syria.
These concerns weren't ignored. This was the whole point.
Greece, NATO and Moscow
Greece has often been one of the most volatile members within
the NATO alliance. Under the Karamanlis government which came to power in 1974
after the US-backed Junta of Colonels was ousted, Greece left the military
structure of NATO and did not return until the 1980s. And even then under Andreas
Papandreou the relationship was less than brilliant.
04 March 2017
Deutsche Welle (DW): Turkish Intelligence (MIT) Hunting Down Dissidents in Turkey... but there's more to the story
The Turkish intelligence agency, the MIT is hunting down
Kurdish dissidents affiliated with the PKK, Gülenists and others beyond its
borders. Germany with it large Turkish population, which includes numerous
Kurds is the special focus of the operation. Germany was a nation without
colonies and thus when it looked for cheap labour, it couldn't import Africans,
Indians or other Asians. Instead a deal was cut.
Proxy Espionage and Empire
This article fails to connect its own dots. Der Spiegel has
already reported on US dominance of the German intelligence service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst
(BND). In light of that we must ask, why is the BND spying on foreign
journalists?
01 March 2017
The Pull of the CIA: Italy Capitulates
I've
been following this story, especially as it has been in the news the past few
days. How frustrated the Italian prosecutors and investigators must be. They've
laboured to bring this to trial, to hold someone accountable for what was done
within their borders, in violation of their nation's sovereignty. They're
trying to demonstrate that America cannot act with impunity.
Carlson on Capitalism
LPR's Issues Etc. usually frustrates me but this segment was
a pleasant surprise, although I'm not sure if the host or most of the audience
was equally enthused.
26 February 2017
The Trump Liturgy
This was passed to me recently. I think it's starting to
generate some attention.
I don't have a lot to say about this Washington Post article
but I think readers will find it interesting. I suppose one of the reasons is
due to the fact that this Nazarene pastor, while thoroughly patriotic and
supportive of Christian America... all the things I'm not.... still has enough,
what shall we say... sanctified common sense?... to realise something is very
wrong.
24 February 2017
Buried Secrets of the Balkan Wars
Not a few will be watching these Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)
trials for clues and indications of US Deep State involvement. Numerous
military contractors as well as indication of intelligence services involvement
have been identified as working within Croatia and Kosovo before and during the
1995 and 1999 wars that were the death of Yugoslavia.
Balkan Tensions: A Generation After the Wars of the 1990's
This story points to two realities. One the situation in the
Balkans has never fully been resolved. The tensions still exist and with Brussels'
hand growing weak, NATO is attempting to step in and fill the gap. The NATO
diplomatic intervention indicates something of a brewing crisis. With the
exception of Slovenia and Croatia, the countries of Former Yugoslavia have not
joined the EU and so it represents this pocket within Europe wherein Brussels
cannot wield full control and has limited influence.
22 February 2017
Right-wing Femininity and Leadership
The Right-wing and Populist proclivity toward Romantic-style
feminine figures continues with Nye Borgerlige the latest party to form in
Denmark. From Yulia Tymoshenko's nationalist hair-style to the rather dishy M5S
mayor of Rome, to the host of American Right-wing Sarah Palin-esque sleeveless
short-skirters and even to some degree Marine LePen, the tendency to look to
these ultra-feminine matronly/desire figures continues.
21 February 2017
John McCain and Lindsey Graham: Politicised Integrity and Delusion
Trump's team is definitely in disarray and yet it seems to me
that in the past if someone spoke this way about a president they would be
severely criticised.
If they spoke this way overseas to a foreign audience their
allegiance would be called into question. McCain has always been part of the
faction that makes such accusations.
19 February 2017
Religious Symbols in Austria
It is noteworthy to consider how the European Right focuses less on a
specific Christian narrative and instead casts Christianity in terms of the
overall Western 'intellectual' heritage. The Christianity they wish to preserve
is the synthesis that occurred in the 18th and 19th
century when orthodox forms of Latin Christianity (both Roman and Protestant)
underwent a transformation and were blended with Enlightenment epistemology and
ultimately classically Liberal values.
Trump: Netanyahu's Dream and Nightmare
This Ynet op-ed spells out the realities and difficulties of
a Likud government operating in parallel to the Trump administration.
On the one hand, it's their dream come true. They finally
have a US president that has effectively given them a blank check. Not only is
there agreement when it comes to policy, there are actual personal relationships.
17 February 2017
Trying to Keep Focused in a Spinning World
Steel Mills, Fighter Jets, Leaks and Fake News
This isn't about keeping our eyes on Christ amid a world that
seems bent on chaos. That goes without saying.
I'm talking about what's happening on the street.
Military Accounting Tricks and The Eastern Front
Notice the game being played. The troops aren't supposed to
be there on a permanent basis so they get around it by rotating the troops every
six months.
The US does this all the time. They'll list a base as having
say... 500 personnel but then they might have 2000 more there on a more-or-less
permanent basis but can avoid the designation by having them on a rotation.
It's an accounting trick.
Polakow-Suransky Provides Background on Europe's Far Right
Polakow-Suransky offers a succinct but reasonably thorough
narrative and analysis of the rise of the Far Right in Europe.
14 February 2017
NATO's Test: The Montenegro Flash Point
Once again the Trump administration has indicated that it is
not going to follow a pro-Russia line. Pushing for NATO to expand into
Montenegro represents yet another hostile move by the US-dominated alliance.
Montenegro is part of the Orthodox-Slavic orbit that has historically been
allied to and dependent upon Moscow.
13 February 2017
Another Defector from the US Pivot-to-Asia Strategy
Sri Lanka's Sirisena administration which came to power in
2015 appeared to represent a shift away from the pro-Beijing policies of Rajapaksa.
But for various reasons this has not proven to be the case.
12 February 2017
The Korean Peninsula: Stealth Ships and Military Exercises
The tensions continue to escalate. The statements issued by
the Trump White House have only added to already existing tensions that have
been brewing since Obama's announced 'Pivot' in 2011.
10 February 2017
THAAD in South Korea
Once again, the West portrays this as the US making a prudent
move to 'block' Pyongyang. While there are legitimate fears when it comes to
North Korea, the missile system placement is as much about Beijing and
Moscow... and they know it.
Both China and Russia are being slowly encircled.
08 February 2017
Vatican Intrigues and Italian Politics
Many a bookshelf could be filled with volumes on Vatican
intrigues and there's no doubt that events for many future chapters are taking
place right now.
Ukrainian Intrigues at the National Prayer Breakfast
What is most remarkable to me about this article is that
Yulia Tymoshenko who had all but disappeared from the public eye after her
release from prison and failed election bid in 2014 is apparently still in the
picture... but operating somewhat in the background.
07 February 2017
Dominionism Infecting Romania's Evangelicals
Romanian Evangelical leader and aspiring political
player Adrian Petrice claims he isn't looking for a theocracy or seeking
political control but he's using all the language and concepts found in
Dominion Theology. It's obvious that he has picked up these concepts from
Western Evangelical influence.
Italian Cyberspies: Who are they working for?
That has yet to be revealed but there are some rather
intriguing angles to the story. The Italian authorities were aided by the FBI
but they also traced servers to the United States. Guilio Occhionero founded a
financial advisory firm which certainly looks like a classic front company.
The story cannot be told as of now but it bears watching.
05 February 2017
Moral Equivalency: Probably Trump's Greatest Sin Yet
Trump shocked both his detractors and supporters when he
admitted to FOX news spinmaster Bill O'Reilly that Putin was a 'killer' but
that the United States was guilty of the same and something less than innocent.
O'Reilly was clearly dumbfounded and tried to suggest that no
American political leaders are killers.
Trump wouldn't back down and he was right.
This is the most honest thing he's said yet.
NPR and the Establishment Line: Fetid Narratives on Laos and Russia
NPR's interview programme Fresh Air is something of a mixed
bag. At times it's very interesting. The interviews and guests are informative
and I've benefitted and enjoyed listening to many episodes. For me, this is
generally true when it comes to domestic social and political issues. The show
also provides a great deal of time to pop culture figures which are not usually
of interest to someone like me. Altogether I listen to maybe a third of the shows.
04 February 2017
The Only Solution: Lie, Steal, Torture and Murder to the Glory of God
Pompeo, the professed Evangelical Christian who now heads the
CIA stands up and dares to speak as a Christian and proclaim that Jesus is the only solution to the world's problems.
The 'only' solution he insists.
Would that he believed it.
02 February 2017
The Gospel and the Proxy War in Yemen
http://evangelicalfocus.com/blogs/2223/Yemen_Faith_is_flourishing_in_the_midst_of_war
I found this article to be both moving and inspiring as I
considered the plight of the suffering Church in Yemen. The fact that out of
the suffering and bloodshed of the US-backed Saudi campaign (which has all but destroyed
their society), a Church is being built, testifies to the grace and glory of
God.
Süddeutsche Zeitung and Stratfor: Poroshenko and the Escalation in Eastern Ukraine
For the most part the Western Media continues to insist that
Russia, emboldened by the new Trump administration rapprochement with Moscow
has ordered the Kremlin-backed Separatists to re-ignite the Donbass conflict.
A different take is to be found in the Süddeutsche Zeitung which reports that Berlin is blaming Kiev for
the escalation.
01 February 2017
Christians under Modi's BJP
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/11/christians-in-india-increasingly-under-attack-study-shows
The rise of Christian
persecution in India has spiked so sharply that even mainstream Western media
outlets are being forced to take notice.
29 January 2017
Re-Alignments Underway: The Brexit and Trump Effect
Theresa May after visiting Donald Trump and solidifying 'The
Special Relationship' has flown to Turkey to meet with president Erdogan. They
immediately cut a £100 million deal for fighter jet development.
The NSC Shake-Up and Shockwaves Across Washington
At the end of World War II the United States created the
National Security Council or NSC as a means to re-organise the nature of the
American war machine and national defense. The nuclear age and the era of total
war had changed the nature of 'defense'.
Standing armies and a techno-industrial sector were now
essential to the way in which modern war would be fought and power maintained.
The Military-Industrial Complex was in the process of being created and through
the NSC (it could be argued) it would now have a place at the table. The
council ostensibly headed or guided by the National Security Advisor consists
of top cabinet officials and is also staffed by various appointees who usually
come from the military-industrial and academic establishments. This ruling
mechanism operates largely outside of congressional oversight or accountability.
28 January 2017
Indian Cotton and Farmer Suicides
Some will stumble because this link is to a documentary
produced by RT. But if you can get past that, there's some helpful information
and certainly some contextualisation with regard to GMO cotton and its place in
contemporary India.
No doubt at this point many have heard about the thousands of
farmers committing suicide. While this phenomenon antedates the Modi
administration, his market friendly policies if anything are exacerbating the
problem. It's a controversial issue and a great deal of ink is spilled arguing
over statistics and causes.
27 January 2017
The Economist: Right Wing Movements and Medievalism
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2017/01/medieval-memes
This tendency to romanticise and even glorify the Middle Ages
was already at work within the Christian Right during the 1990s and certainly
received a boost in the climate created by the 9/11 attacks.
26 January 2017
Revertere ad Tenebras: The Black Sites are Reborn
I have never been remotely convinced that all of these sites
are actually closed. Considering that Obama and various figures within his
administration have been caught repeatedly telling absolute lies and did all
they could to hide and obfuscate regarding their various illegal programmes...
why should we believe that these practices weren't reinstated?
23 January 2017
The European Right: Fascism, Islam and Israel
http://www.dailysabah.com/islamophobia/2017/01/14/austrian-far-right-calls-for-law-banning-fascistic-islam-muslim-symbols
Fascistic Islam... that's rather interesting coming from the
head of Austria's FPÖ. The Far-Right Freedom Party of Austria was founded (at
least in part) by Anton Reinthaller an ex-Nazi official.
20 January 2017
Varieties of Christian America
http://michaeljkruger.com/taking-back-christianese-7-america-is-a-christian-nation/
While I cannot fully agree with all his conclusions, Kruger
is certainly on the right track and once again displays considerable wisdom in
how he addresses the issue. He gets the answer right even if he's unwilling to
put it as strongly as I would. In the final analysis, America is not a Christian nation.
Health Insurance: Risk or Access?
As it would seem Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known
as ObamaCare is under attack and faces repeal, I've noticed a certain way of
speaking is starting to crop up once again.
Insurance is being referred to as a question of calculated risk and this definition is
being used to discredit concepts like comprehensive coverage and even the idea
of access.
And yet it must be remembered that the latter is actually the
key issue. For the working class and the poor, health insurance is not a
question of calculated risk. This is how the upper class and some of the middle
class approach the question.
17 January 2017
Obama's Gesture and Bradley Manning
Obama's commutation of Bradley Manning's prison sentence will
probably be the one gesture that is genuinely appreciated by the Left, not the
DNC-style Left, but the actual Left that has been mostly opposed to Obama and
his many betrayals. Obama the president that has more than any other crushed
whistleblowers, leakers and investigative journalists, the president who has
empowered the NSA and accentuated the domestic spying apparatus, has in his
final hours shown a degree of magnanimity.
16 January 2017
Christopher Steele, the US Deep State, the UNSG and Bulgaria
https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/the-uk-spy-behind-trumps-kompromat-also-investigated-eus-georgieva/
Anyone following
international news in the latter half of 2016 would have known something about
the disturbance with regard to the selection of a new UN General Secretary. At
the time Bulgarian Kristalina Georgieva
was in the running and yet it was a candidacy born in controversy as Sophia had
switched gears and disavowed a former candidate due to perceived controversies.
15 January 2017
Ulster in Light of Brexit
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/10/mcguinness-northern-ireland-cash-for-ash
This is one of the recent stories that needs to be followed.
For Christians this is actually a much 'bigger' story than the host of issues
surrounding Brexit.
11 January 2017
Slovakia: Right-Wing Paramilitaries and the EU
https://apnews.com/cd66f0f8a51b416b93460e37368b42f7
America has been dealing with such paramilitary movements
since at least the 1990s but it's startling to see them beginning to appear in
Europe as well. Needless to say Europe's history with such groups cannot help
but remind one of the Fascist era.
08 January 2017
Franklin Graham and Trump's List of Heretics
http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2017/01/religious-wild-cards
Some Evangelicals will be disappointed by Franklin Graham but
after spending twenty years learning that Billy Graham (and by extension
Franklin) doesn't represent what I was raised to think he did... nothing
surprises me anymore.
07 January 2017
Michael Horton on Trump, Paula White and the Prosperity Gospel
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/01/03/evangelicals-should-be-deeply-troubled-by-donald-trumps-attempt-to-mainstream-heresy/?utm_term=.387655a782a6
I must say I was surprised to find this in the Washington
Post. As I've made clear in recent posts on both websites as a Two-Kingdom
adherent I take exception to the Westminster California variety of Two Kingdom
theology of which Horton is a part if not a representative. That said, there is
much they stand for and express that is to be appreciated.
Horton presents a helpful summary and analysis of Trump,
White and the context of Christian theology and values that have led these
people to the 2017 presidential inauguration.
A Vision of China's Future Crisis
This is a link to a somewhat heartbreaking 25 minute video
about the children in China that are left behind in the villages while their
parents go off to the city for work.
The United States has been in the process of destroying the
family and thus the foundation of the social fabric for more than fifty years.
China has unintentionally embarked on the same project since the 1980s and yet
with far greater zeal. In both the United States and China, the quest for money
has played no small part in this unintended consequence and China has yet to
really reckon with the fruit of this awful and immoral mistake.
03 January 2017
India's Coal Monopoly
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-coal-modi-idUSKBN13Q45W?il=0
It is important to
understand that while breaking up monopolies is perceived as anti-market and an
imposition of the regulatory state, it can just as easily prove a boon to the
corporate Establishment.
Breaking up a
nationalised public-private monopoly is a means of extending privatisation.
Union contracts are negated and can be dismantled. It's yet another application
of divide and conquer.
01 January 2017
The Church in Central Asia: Caught in the Middle of Islamic Struggle
http://evangelicalfocus.com/blogs/2106/The_Secret_church_in_Central_Asia
While the 1990s brought an era of cultural libertarianism and
market economics, the sudden onslaught of Capitalism, its values and effects,
led to a degree of social reaction.
One unforeseen aspect of the collapse of the USSR for Central
Asia was a revival of Islam, and this was in no small part affected by the
jihadist fervour just to the south of the Soviet border. Though the Afghan War
ended for the United States in 1989, it did not end for Central Asia. The
United States had funded numerous groups, some of which agitated even within
the borders of the USSR, something largely forgotten today. The spread of
Salafi, Deobandi and Wahhabi forms of Islam greatly affected the region and
there was something of a revivalist spirit in the air.
31 December 2016
M5S Leader Calls for Mass Deportations
Beppe Grillo is the leader of the 5-Star Movement, a rising
power in Italian politics. While not technically part of the European Far Right
Grillo is also calling for the mass deportation of refugees.
M5S represents a new type of political model. It's populist
and yet in many ways defies the Left-Right divide. It's pulling from all sides
of the spectrum and while this particular position sounds reminiscent of Donald
Trump, many of M5S positions would strike a chord with Bernie Sanders
followers.
29 December 2016
The Labyrinth of Drugs and Weapons Smuggling: The Balkans, Latin America and the Strategy of Tension
https://theintercept.com/2016/11/30/did-the-dea-nab-an-international-weapons-dealer-or-a-cia-asset-hung-out-to-dry/?comments=1#comments
Due to the inconclusive nature of the story I'm not sure why
The Intercept chose to publish it. Perhaps it's for the same reasons that I'm
passing it on. It provides an opportunity to expose readers to the confusing
mess and double-dealing that's going on in government agencies and in the back
alleys. I think we all know these things go on, but sometimes it's helpful to read
something like this that fleshes it out a bit.
28 December 2016
Apple, Ireland and the EU
Apple has formally appealed its €13billion tax bill which was
levied when it was determined that Ireland had given the Silicon Valley giant
illegal tax breaks. Apple employs thousands within the Irish Republic and has
invested millions of dollars into its economy. And Apple is by no means the only
American company to do so. Altogether American firms employ over 100,000 people
in Ireland and have invested close to $200 billion.
Ireland wants to retain this investment and in particular
wants to keep Apple on their shores. The fact that they're using the Republic
as a tax shelter and means of asset protection is well known in Dublin. But
they're happy to forego the revenue to keep the jobs and investment.
27 December 2016
Peeling Back the Curtain on Recent Israeli Machinations
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/26/inquiry-launched-palestinian-fugitive-omar-zayed-death-embassy-bulgaria
This story is from earlier this year and involves a Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) fugitive who was murdered while
hiding out in the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria.
Conformity and the German Judiciary
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/07/german-court-rules-against-muslim-girl-in-burkini-case
Disgusting.
As Christians we should support religious freedom for all. It
only benefits us as well. Germany has grown hostile to homeschooling and other
educational alternatives. Some of this is due to hostility to Biblical
Christianity but unfortunately a lot of the grief is something of a
side-effect, a result of Berlin's policy with regard to the Muslim community.
It's long past time for Christian families to get out of
Germany.
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