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.

Suspicious Suicides

Was Epstein murdered or perhaps allowed to commit suicide? There's a great deal of circumstantial evidence to suggest either of these scenarios. The media has waged a very aggressive campaign to shut down any such notion and interestingly the many popular conspiracy sites seem to have taken the discussion into a rather bizarre direction suggesting that Epstein is in fact still alive. The waters are muddied and one is left wondering if some of them don't exist for that very purpose.

Wal-Mart and Facial Recognition

https://www.forbes.com/sites/retailwire/2017/07/27/walmarts-facial-recognition-tech-would-overstep-boundaries/#2aa099c945f8

Recently while out with family members I found myself once again in the great temple of consumption also known as Wal-Mart. As indicated in previous writings I find a particular fascination with what's happening up at the check-out area and while standing there and observing, I noticed large CCTV monitors taking in the transaction area as well as the areas in which people queue up or stand in line.

Facial Recognition and the March Toward Dystopia

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/07/07/fbi-ice-find-state-drivers-license-photos-are-gold-mine-facial-recognition-searches/

Law enforcement is just helping itself to our personal data. And they're not collecting it and sifting it because they suspected you did something. They're just running your data through their filters and algorithms... because they can.

American Style Evangelicalism in France

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=XOHbYDfxmew

Expressing the spirit of the modern, these congregations are hip, entertaining and impressive. Putting on high budget productions and appealing to contemporary values and norms, the American Church Growth model is flourishing in Europe.

Dallas (DTS) Continues its Fall into Worldliness

https://www.christianpost.com/sponsored/4-trends-in-full-time-vocational-christian-ministry.html

Founded during the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy, Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) was once a school associated with Fundamentalism, however it abandoned that course long ago. Retaining something of its Dispensational theology, the school now represents mainstream Evangelicalism and the Dominionist Theology that undergirds it.

Wal-Mart and the Self-Checkout Swindle

Recently I have found myself in Wal-Mart on a couple of occasions. We quit shopping there in 2011 but every once in awhile I go in and walk around and observe.

The Chemical and Radioactive Legacy of the US War Machine

https://www.spiegel.de/international/globalsocieties/vietnam-s-ongoing-fight-against-agent-orange-a-1268396.html

It's right that the United States is pledging more aid but of course this must be understood in light of Vietnam's position vis-à-vis China. Washington has a new ally in Hanoi, one it could have had back in the days following World War II but that wasn't meant to be.

Capitalism, Privacy and Medical Records

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/06/ron-paul/medical-ids-enemy-of-privacy-liberty-and-health/

I agree with Ron Paul that a universal medical ID is a bad idea and potentially spells trouble. And yet the question of medical records has been an ongoing problem and all acknowledge the current system slows down the health care process and increases costs.

The Ukraine Conflict: Orthodoxy, Militias and Arms Smuggling

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/-Orthodox-celebrations-for-the-baptism-of-Kievan-Rus-are-at-risk-47570.html

All acknowledged that the recent creation of an autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church would heighten tensions between Kiev and Moscow and amplify the growing rift between the Moscow Patriarchate and that of Constantinople.

These conflicts are playing out on multiple fronts. The AsiaNews link explores some of the difficulties in Ukraine as its symbols, shrines, relics and properties remain divided. Small seemingly innocuous moves can mean a lot.

Additionally, a story broke this week about a weapons cache found among some Neo-Nazis in Italy. The weapons were reported as bound for the Pro-Russian and Moscow supported separatists in Eastern Ukraine's Donbass. Much has been made of this story.

Sloppy Religious Reporting From The Intercept

https://theintercept.com/2019/03/30/domestic-terrorism-donald-trump/

The Intercept has at times produced praiseworthy work but overall the news magazine continues to exhibit would I would consider a downward slide. What was once insightful and somewhat adversarial journalism has (with a few exceptions) slipped into the mainstream of the American Left and at times all but echoes the narratives of the less-than-left wing Democratic Party.

The Guaido Collapse and Perceptions of American Power

Juan Guaido's attempted overthrow of the Maduro government is rapidly losing steam. His May 2019 overreach has taken the wind out of his sails and left him looking weak and vulnerable. There's little doubt that the forces in Washington that backed him and both disappointed and even angry.

Terrorist Timing in Turkey and Sri Lanka

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-turkey-security/erdogan-says-car-explosion-in-turkey-kills-three-may-be-terrorism-related-idUKKCN1U014D

After weeks of tension the Erdogan government is going ahead and taking delivery of the Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system. NATO and in particular the United States don't want to see this happen.

This will begin to detach Turkey from the NATO command structure and throw up barriers in terms of its larger strategies and even battlefield tactics.

VOM and Colombian Half-Truths

https://www.persecution.com/2019-03-colombia/?_source_code=EM1903CL2

The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) can at times be excellent and their reports moving. They are to be commended for their understanding of suffering and persecution as not being incidental or occasional aspects of the Christian life, but rather essential components of our calling.

There are times when I listen to their podcast, watch videos or read their materials and I want to empty my bank account in order to help them.

And then there are the other times when their predilection for Charismatic theology comes to the fore and I reconsider. It's really a continuation of my first encounter with Richard Wurmbrand's work Tortured for Christ which I first read in the 1990's. On the one hand it was deeply moving but on the other hand the theology was such a disastrous mess it was hard to know what to think.

Confronting War Mythology

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/06/laurence-m-vance/the-greatest-generation-of-whoremongers/

Reading this also reminded me of Keith Lowe's Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II. It can be safely said that war foments and breeds evil. It is a case of Providential restraint being withdrawn and depravity is put on display, even unleashed.

Haftar and Libyan Ports

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-economy-port-idUSKCN1U02CH

This development represents further US subversion of the UN recognised regime in Tripoli.

In addition to further support for Khalifa Haftar... who interestingly has threatened Turkish interests... the move ensures that China won't be able to move in and connect Libya to its larger OBOR project.

Christian Media Schizophrenia on Display

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/moms-expose-librarys-shocking-lgbt-youth-pride-event-homosexuality-transgenderism-drag-queens

https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/trumps-4th-of-july-celebration-highlighted-everything-liberals-hate-about-america

On the one hand LifeSite, an Evangelical-style Catholic news outlet has done us a service in revealing the repugnant horrors of homosexual recruitment at work in connection with libraries and other public institutions. It truly was disturbing to read just how debauched and depraved these people are and how blatantly they are attempting to recruit the young into their evil sphere.

Guatemala: Evangelicals and Smugglers Together

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/27/journey-of-faith-the-guatemalan-pastors-helping-smuggle-people-into-the-us

This was a sad and unfortunate read. And what's even more disheartening is that the report should have been broken by Christian reporters but instead it takes a pro-Sodomite Anti-Christian publication like The Guardian to get the story out.

Kagame and Warren

https://www.christianpost.com/news/rick-warren-criticized-for-hosting-rwanda-president-at-saddleback-church.html

Kagame is praised by the West and his legitimacy has been granted through the narrative created about him and his movement and the events surrounding the 1994 Rwanda Genocide. Kagame's subsequent warmongering and brutality are largely ignored.

Palantir: The Electric Eye in the Skynet

https://theintercept.com/2019/05/02/peter-thiels-palantir-was-used-to-bust-hundreds-of-relatives-of-migrant-children-new-documents-show/

The apostate and sodomite Peter Thiel has big plans for the future. He wants to be part of the state surveillance apparatus which in the end will spy on all of us. At this point it's clear Thiel has Deep State connections. Just how embedded he is within the larger machine and circles of power is anyone's guess.

The Asian Underground Railroad

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-northkorea-china-defectors-feature/chinese-raids-hit-north-korean-defectors-underground-railroad-idUKKCN1TH0VH

Beijing fears a massive influx of North Korean refugees. Despite the perceptions of some, the situation with regard to Pyongyang has not stabilised. Xi Jinping's recent visit to the DPRK was an attempt to shore up Kim Jong Un and indeed from his standpoint Xi's visit was a substantial feather in his cap.

There is no love lost between Beijing and Pyongyang and yet the Chinese government (CCP) fears a collapse and the flood of refugees that would result from it. And so they begrudgingly support the Kim regime. Additionally they do not want the Americans or their proxies (like the ROK) deciding the course of events right on their borders. This was in no small part the reason why Mao intervened in the autumn of 1950.

French Arms in the Era of Trump

https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence-and-security/news/frances-weapons-exports-see-sharp-increase-on-european-market/

Nervousness surrounding US commitments to NATO continue to drive the EU to look inward. From the Franco-German Aachen Treaty signed in January 2019, to talk of creating a European Army, many of the nations within Europe are re-thinking security and strategy.

France and Germany have an increased standing in light of Brexit and France which has long served as a Western 'alternative' when it comes to arms is profiting handsomely as a result.

Kurds Reject the White Helmets

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/15b19407-31f2-4709-ab99-580b6a66dc72

Though outlets like Netflix and the Western media in general continue to tout the Syrian White Helmets, not a few in the West are on to them and continue to challenge their origin, actions and narratives. Along with the UK based (and largely fraudulent) Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) the White Helmets have played a major role in the Western shaping of the Syrian War narrative.

Haftar: Made in the USA

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190614-sisi-egypt-will-always-suppor

Contrary to the official narrative and policy I would argue that the United States has been supporting Haftar since his return to Libya in 2011.

Few would doubt that his part in the 2011 so-called Libyan Revolution was sponsored by Washington. But the official narrative posits that he fell out of favour during the subsequent and ongoing civil war which many date to 2014.

Suspicious Timing and Media Collaboration

In July 2018, just as Trump is set to meet with Putin in Helsinki, suddenly Maria Butina is arrested in the United States. The story was a sensation as Butina was painted as a 'Red Sparrow' in reference to the movie that had been released just months before in which a Russian spy uses seduction as a means of gaining intelligence. Western media reported that Butina was just such an agent and in light of the movie and television shows like 'The Americans', the story caused a sensation.

Tajikistan Persecution

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Jehovah's-Witness-jailed-for-four-months-for-reading-banned-Bible-47230.html

This is a real shame. Again, it is not my intent to defend the Watchtower Society and yet their persecution resonates with me in a particular way because of their apolitical stance.

Why do they face such ire? Well, in Russia and the former Soviet Union there is a hostility to 'sects' which are viewed as both Western and detrimental to traditional values and social stability.

The North Korean Embassy Raid

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-northkorea-usa/us-arrests-former-marine-connected-to-north-korea-embassy-raid-in-spain-idUSKCN1RV1AJ

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-authorities-make-first-arrest-in-mysterious-raid-of-north-koreas-embassy-in-spain/2019/04/19/bfee15e2-d984-4600-9b63-14270f9b0bb3_story.html?utm_term=.8c6ecd3a93e4

I've been watching the news since this story broke back in February but the story seems to have faded away. Why did a North Korean embassy in Spain become subject to a raid? What was this episode about? The basic questions are still largely unanswered.

Franco's Legacy: The War Continues

https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/04/26/inenglish/1556272970_468527.html

Franco has been in the news a lot lately. From the plans to move his tomb, which many view as an affront to his opponents in the Civil War and the victims of his regime, to the return of the Spanish Far Right for the first time since his death in the 1970's, the Spanish people are revisiting the period.

Trump's Economy and its Evangelical Apologists

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-untold-story-of-trumps-booming-economy/

There are different ways to read such articles. On the one hand one could read it with a sense of outrage and great umbrage at the crimes of the wealthy.

Others will read it and get angry and defend the status quo. Employing a multitude of Right-wing and Neoliberal arguments they will quash all complaints and morally denounce those who would dare to question economic and market orthodoxy.

But there's another way to read it. First, I reject the assumption of middle class norms. I don't judge the right or wrong of it for workers by the standards of the middle class. I realise the average worker expects vacation days, sick days, a pension and all the rest. I don't and I don't have any of those things... and I don't really care.

So do I disagree with the author of the piece?

Corrosive and Compromised Dominionism

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/faith-work-capitol-hill/

This article typifies what I think of when it comes to New Calvinism applied. This piece is run of the mill on The Gospel Coalition website and for them it's something to celebrate. For me, it's a cause for depression and it serves as a warning.

You will not understand the impulses behind their movement or my criticism of it unless you understand the key tenets of Dominionism which now is the dominant paradigm within Evangelicalism. The New Calvinism is some ways represents a super-charged intellectually robust expression of this and given the cultural angst within the Christian Right, perhaps it's no surprise that this Evangelical-friendly form of Calvinism is rapidly becoming a dominating force.

Chiapas Troubles

http://evangelicalfocus.com/world/4410/mexico_Chiapas_Evangelicals_held_after_refusing_to_organize_a_Catholic_festival

For all the ecumenical bridges that have been built in the developed world between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, it's interesting that in Latin America the old animosity remains.

Bolsonaro and the American Evangelicals

https://www.christianpost.com/news/us-evangelical-leaders-met-prayed-with-brazils-conservative-president-bolsonaro.html

It was hardly surprising to read that Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell Jr. were part of this group that acknowledged and paid homage to Bolsonaro during his March visit.

Authoritarianism and Exploitation: News when it comes to China, ignored in the West

https://www.euractiv.com/section/cybersecurity/news/huawei-admit-chinese-law-obliges-companies-to-work-with-government/

The Chinese government and the ruling CCP are deplorable. There's no need to mince words. They are enemies of Christ and Beijing represents a bestial power vying for its place on the world stage.

Tajikistan Troubles and Evangelical Reporting

https://www.mnnonline.org/news/in-tajikistan-christians-are-government-targets/

https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2019/02/tajikistan-children-barred-from-attending-church-5000-christian-calendars-burned/

Caught between East and West, and embroiled in the New Great Game, Tajikistan continues to exist as an authoritarian state which while mostly secular, panders to Islam in an attempt to counter the narratives of extremist groups like al Qaeda, ISIS, and even the Taliban.

The Knights of Malta Controversy and Wikileaks

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/01/31/wikileaks-releases-documents-on-knights-of-malta-controversy/

This is in reference to an ongoing scandal within the SMOM or Knights of Malta, a famous if secretive lay Catholic religious order that ostensibly is involved in charity work but has always been suspected to have a wider agenda. From its ties to the old Catholic nobility to its many members involved in power politics, the Establishment and often the 'Deep State', the Knights along with Opus Dei and other Vatican entities have elicited no small degree of inquiry and fascination.

NATO, the Military-Industrial Complex and Trumpism

https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence-and-security/news/french-defence-minister-its-called-article-5-not-article-f-35/

One aspect of the US push for an increase in military budgets on the part of its NATO partners is closely wed to the fact that such spending all but demands large purchases from US military contractors. The Europeans know this and yet they are torn.

Butina Addendum

A follow up to my December 2018 piece on the Butina case:

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2018/12/butina-mainstream-media-hype-and.html

Maria Butina has been sentenced to 18 months in prison and then faces deportation.

Le Feu: Notre Dame de Paris

In light of the fire at Notre Dame, I thought another perspective was in order so I decided to link this short piece from 2010.

Orlandi and the Vatican Scandals of the 1970's and 1980's

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/10/vatican-to-investigate-1983-disappearance-of-teenage-girl

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2019/04/10/vatican-opens-probe-into-emanuela-orlandi_da1a1c1f-4f6d-4838-9672-0ca7d972a2b4.html

I think it unlikely that the true story will ever be told. This notorious case has been overshadowed by one salient fact... the Vatican itself has been the chief force of obstruction to the investigation. These articles contain some valid information but as usual the real meat is found in what is left out.

The Evangelical Blitzkrieg Against the Kingdom of Christ

http://religiondispatches.org/project-blitz-seeks-to-do-for-christian-nationalism-what-alec-does-for-big-business/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/04/project-blitz-the-legislative-assault-by-christian-nationalists-to-reshape-america

They think they're doing God service but in fact they're waging war on the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. They have confused power, wealth, prestige and pride with the ethics of the Kingdom. Rejecting the cross they have taken up the sword. They have also taken up the trowel but it's not Jerusalem's walls they seek to rebuild. Instead they're building a new Babel or perhaps they're repairing the breaches of an old one. It's a Babel crowned by a cross of gold, a cross antithetical to the splintered blood stained tool of execution and shame that we're called to bear.

The Christian Right and Lega

The Dominionist Machine Comes to Italy via 1994's ECT

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/30/christian-right-summit-in-verona-draws-massive-protest

This article grabbed my attention because the World Congress of Families (WCF) is run by Allan Carlson. I've heard him interviewed on more than one occasion.

He appeared not long ago on Issues Etc. offering praise for Viktor Orban. While I can understand what is motivating Orban, I don't think I can offer him praise or compliment , let alone work with his party as Carlson's WCF is wont to do.

Ford Motor Company and Argentina's Dirty War

As Christians I don't believe we cannot support labour unions and yet at the same time I understand why people form them and on one level it's hard to not be sympathetic to their concerns.

Bakker: Blind Leading the Blind

https://www.christianpost.com/news/jim-bakker-trump-has-been-led-to-christ-so-many-times.html

What is more sad, that Jim Bakker after all he's been through is still as lost as ever? Or that he is still granted a voice within the spectrum of Evangelicalism?

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.