UKRAINE, RUSSIA, CHINA, THE WEST AND THE CHALLENGE OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
Ukraine, Russia and China have dominated the news cycle this week as the Ukrainian President has maximized the use of his video presentation skills.
I have been thinking a lot about the possible consequences, and even unintended consequences, associated with Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, particularly that of conflicting information and competing propaganda about Ukrainian bio-labs and now attacks by Russia close to the Polish border. It reminded me of the famous local story where a woman who lived in a small town had “taken up” with a new boyfriend. In due course she said that this man was violent, and so she paid her ex-husband to shoot him. She gave the ex-husband important information about when he should turn up at the house and when the ex-husband would likely encounter the boyfriend. Unfortunately there was a communication error and when the woman came around the corner of the house, the ex-husband lying in wait, shot her (fortunately only in the knee) rather than shooting the boyfriend, who then, it seems, rapidly moved interstate. The latter decision at least, seems sound!
Unintended consequences are the outcome of any decision because no-one has clear vision of the domino effects that are possible and which often cannot be anticipated even with meticulous planning. So when you understand that Hunter Biden has received millions of dollars from the Ukraine and China and the flow of cash reaches to his father, Joe (see Miranda Devine’s book Laptop from Hell), the unintended consequence will be Biden’s compromised position and potential for blackmail in dealing with both Russia and China. Both countries know this and it seems only a matter of time before President Xi moves against Taiwan, as Xi assesses the consequences for Russia of its Ukrainian invasion. Unintended consequences will be at play over the next months in international affairs just as they were in local small town story described above!
THE FALL OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION?
I have been musing on the way that the West has been embracing policies that seem certain to lead to its own destruction. Issues such as: the promotion of homosexuality, promiscuity, gender fluidity, lawlessness and drug use are widespread. Governments have sent manufacturing offshore and have implemented education promoting everything and anything other than literacy and numeracy. Divorce rates are at an all-time high, with associated destruction of families, and creation of a mental health crisis in people both young and old. Governments have promoted and forced the uptake of killer “vaccines” and implemented policies that have destroyed small businesses. Everywhere you hear of a climate “emergency” such that energy costs then cripple industries and households. Then there is negative population growth, with most Western countries having falling populations, apart from those being propped up by immigration. At the heart of many of these issues is the rejection of Christianity and its moral foundation, and in the broadest context, we are seeing unfold before our very eyes “the demoralization of the West” as set out by the Soviet defector Yuri Bezmenov in a famous 1984 interview (linked below).
This interview is 80 min long but worthwhile viewing to understand the focus of Soviet subversion which has been extraordinarily successful despite the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The decline of western civilization and its consequences have been occupying my thinking for the last few years and so I was very interested to listen to James Delingpole’s podcast with David Murrin (James Delingpole Podcast). Murrin is the author of Breaking the Code of History, which is not easy to obtain through the usual online sources but which can be purchased from David’s website (Breaking the Code of History). A summary of some of David’s ideas about the 5 Phase Life Cycle of Empires is outlined on his website (David Murrin - 5 Stage Life Cycle) and I will attempt a few short remarks here.
David Murrin has identified a “life cycle” of civilizations that he believes shows that we are in a decline of the West which will have enormous impacts over the next 5-10 years for all of my readers. The figure (Figure 1) from David’s work shows the high level view of the 5 stages of empire which are: regionalisation, ascension to empire, maturity, overextension, and finally decline and legacy. You don’t have to be a genius to see that much of the West is in the stage of overextension and decline. Government budgets have blown out, international ventures such as the war in Afghanistan have created further debt, Big Government and Big Tech have trampled on the rights and freedoms of citizens, and morality has been redefined away from core Western Christian traditions to new ideas about “social justice”. Interestingly, Murrin says that Britain is now in an expansion phase because of Brexit but of course this depends on the UK Government seizing the opportunity by creating a low-tax, high opportunity entrepreneurial environment.
It seems to me that all Western nations are caught in a fabricated debt and social welfare trap and this has been exacerbated by the crazy pandemic spending, where incentives were created not to work and businesses were destroyed, many of them forever. Soon there will have to be a significant financial correction and already inflationary signs are appearing that could get out of hand quickly. It is worthwhile reading about how inflation galloped out of control in the Weimar Republic in Germany in the 1920s (Inflation in Germany in 1920s). Like many other commentators who understand the times, David’s advice is to invest in physical gold and silver and my belief is that there are many who will see the importance of having some land and resources to be self-sufficient. This is not a period to carry significant personal debt and the symptoms of decline seen in Democrat-controlled cities like San Francisco (now more like a post-apocalyptic hell hole) will spread in the Western world. So I also believe that it is a time in which it is, as far as is possible, important to ensure personal security.
The fall of democratic and freedom-loving Western civilization seems certain, as globalism gains further dominance and digital passports and digital currencies enable control of populations. China is ready as a technocratic state to fill the vacuum and the pandemic has given all governments a taste of autocratic dictatorship. The sequence and timing of events is difficult to predict but it does remind me of the story of the man who went bankrupt. He was asked “how did this happen”, and he replied “slowly, then quickly”.
The “China Virus” and “Vaccine” Update
I went to collect some fruit and vegetables from my local wholesaler a few days ago and I remarked to the group assembled “Putin has got rid of the coronavirus”. Everyone was amazed at how powerful Putin was as they hadn’t heard of his remarkable powers until I explained that all our papers were full of coronavirus until Putin invaded Ukraine and then there was suddenly no problem. Thus – Putin “fixed” the China Virus!
In last week’s issue of Sons of Issachar News, I presented the timeline of key events associated with “escape” of the virus from the Wuhan Lab. One reader wrote to me saying that there is no virus and pointed out that it never had been isolated and cultured. I have done some investigations myself and talked to a few doctors who are well-credentialed, and even they can’t be sure about “the virus”. In any case, we know without doubt that the vaccine “solution” was advanced well before there was any information on its effectiveness and safety while long-standing medications such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin were vilified by the pharmaceutical establishment and their partners in crime – the majority of medical practitioners. The threat to health from vaccines and the validity of many current medications have been highlighted by high profile and credentialed “rogue” doctors such as Dr Peter McCullough, Dr Vladimir Zelenko, Dr Tess Lawrie, Dr Pierre Kory and Dr Robert Malone but the vaccine rollout has continued. Now the ongoing release of documents provided by Pfizer to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) (Pfizer Vaccine Data Release) has confirmed significant problems identified with this mRNA vaccine.
The Epoch Times has reported in detail about the unintended consequences of the mRNA vaccines (Unintended consequences of mRNA vaccines), citing the recent publication Worse Than the Disease? Reviewing Some Possible Unintended Consequences of the mRNA Vaccines Against COVID-19 by Stephanie Seneff and Greg Nigh (Worse Than the Disease?). The authors focus on a range of “firsts” in the rapid vaccine development which have led to problems downstream. These “firsts” include: first use of polyethylene glycol (PEG) in a vaccine; first use of mRNA technology against a virus; first vaccine released without claims of reduction in virus transmissibility, infection or death; the first coronavirus vaccine tested on humans (previous trials failed and caused death); and first use of genetically modified polynucleotides. Taken together these “firsts” should have alerted authorities to the potential problems that could ensue and there should have been great caution rather than rushing the “vaccines” into use via Operation Warp Speed. Clearly the pharmaceutical companies have significant influence on the regulatory authorities which is not surprising given that they now supply over 50% of the US Federal Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) regulatory budget, as highlighted by Forbes Magazine in 2018 well before the COVID-19 crisis (FDA's Funding by "Big Pharma"). President Trump should be ashamed of himself for promoting the accelerated production of vaccines (Operation Warp Speed), and while he probably received bad advice, as the sign said on President Truman’s desk “The Buck Stops Here” and so Trump, amongst other world leaders, is responsible. The ongoing health issues from the vaccine, which will become more and more evident, will impact his likely run for the Presidency in 2023-4.
The Epoch Times reported that even at the end of 2021, the US Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) had lodged almost 1 million reports of adverse events and almost 20,000 deaths. Analysis by the COVID-19 Early Treatment Fund (CETF) has suggested that there may be an under-reporting for VAERS by a factor of 41. Thus it is likely that deaths are in the hundreds of thousands from the vaccines. Additionally the Epoch Times notes that Seneff and Nigh suspect “that in the next 10 to 15 years, we’ll see a dramatic spike in prion diseases, autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative diseases at younger ages, and blood disorders such as blood clots, hemorrhaging, stroke and heart failure”. In addition, some US physicians, including Dr Ryan Cole, have suggested a drastic increase in various cancers. This is a horror story and to put this into non-medical jargon –
it is likely that the mRNA vaccines and other vaccines that utilize the coronavirus spike protein will impact your immunity, cause viruses asleep in your body (such as shingles, RSV etc) to be activated, will impact your brain and make various brain diseases and nerve diseases more likely and cause clots in the body and impact your heart, resulting in disability or sudden death
as we suspect happened with famous Australian cricketer Shane Warne and the Australian senator, Kimberley Kitching – both dead in the same week of heart disease in their early 50s. Of course there has been a rush by the authorities to deny any association with vaccines but even a veterinarian like me can see what is happening by following the data trail.
The investment analyst and former BlackRock portfolio manager, Edward Dowd has highlighted the fraud by the pharmaceutical companies (Edward Dowd Interview) and believes that the truth will soon be revealed and that there will be a public backlash that will activate the self-interest of politicians, who will turn against the drug companies. For my readers who have taken the vaccine, my advice is: don’t take any further doses as there is a dose-dependent impact of these lethal injections reported by Dr Vladimir Zelenko – ie. the more doses you take the more likely you are to have serious impacts on your health. These injections, that some are calling “death jabs”, are the greatest scandal of the 21st century. The adverse effects of these injections have been suppressed by all the mainstream media and Big Tech. One hopes that there are more brave publications like the Epoch Times who are prepared to report the truth about these so-called “vaccines”.
Around the world
USA
There seems to be denial at every level of the Biden administration and their henchmen The New York Times and other mainstream media about the impact of high spending policies and their effects on inflation. Congress has approved another US$1.5 trillion to be spent in what appears to be a bipartisan “financial suicide pact”. Many commentators even believe that it could be the beginning of the end for the US$ as the main world reserve currency. As prices surge in the US, containing inflation is the number 1 issue currently for US consumers but it is likely that inflation will continue to rise, even to double figures or beyond and this will likely be followed by a recession that will have an impact globally. The Fed has raised interest rates by 0.25% but further rate rises appear necessary. The uncertainty about the impacts of the Ukrainian conflict will lead to further instability. The US sanctions on Russia together with supply chain issues will provoke further inflation and it is astonishing to see that the Democrats are “all in” for Ukraine. The Ukrainian President Zelensky now has addressed the US Congress (Zelensky Address to Congress) and asked for the establishment of a “no-fly zone” to block Russian planes attacking Ukrainian cities. Zelensky has made a similar request to the EU and UK but even Biden’s advisors know that enforcing a no-fly zone would lead to WWIII. The only person silent is Joe Biden’s son Hunter, who has had the greatest financial benefit from his Ukrainian contacts and should be over there fighting the Russians right now (have a look at the great video made by an Australian producer, Fred Pawle):
Given the way the Democrats “sucked up” to Moscow when Hilary Clinton was Secretary of State (Hilary - Russian Reset Red Button) and then when Obama was caught on a hot microphone in 2012 telling the puppet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that after the 2012 US election Obama would be able to give Vladimir “more flexibility” (Obama and flexibility for Vladimir), it is surprising that suddenly all Democrats have become anti-Russian and pro-Ukrainian. Hunter Biden must have been doing some serious lobbying for Ukraine in the Congress!
In the meantime, the US astronaut on the International Space Station, Mark Vande Hei, must be feeling slightly alarmed about the comments of some Russian officials regarding leaving him at the space station when the Russian cosmonauts return to Kazakhstan on March 20 (US Astronaut "Hostage"). This could be the ultimate unintended consequence of the US sanctions on Russia.
United Kingdom & Europe
Boris Johnson has been traveling widely in Eastern Europe and now has been to Saudi Arabia and the UAE to try to get a deal for cheap oil, as electricity prices in the UK are likely to more than double this year. This is despite a highly regulated energy market and many energy companies going bankrupt. I was reminded of the great quote by President Reagan who said :
If it moves, tax it, if it keeps moving, regulate it, and if it stops moving, subsidize it.
The UK Government and particularly the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, seem to have taken this quote as an instruction for running the economy, particularly energy policy!
Interestingly, just before Boris arrived in the Saudi Kingdom, they executed 81 people, which is the largest mass execution in the country’s history (Saudi Executions), so too late to get Boris to ask for clemency. In the meantime, the UK government has launched a “house a Ukrainian refugee” or “homes for Ukraine” scheme where the public can apply online, be matched with a refugee and receive UK £350 per month (House a Ukrainian Refugee). This scheme has disaster written all over it and I wonder who is going to take responsibility when various problems unfold. I had a look at the website to see if I could put my hand up (travel costs to Australia would be high) and found that the scheme was described as “bespoke”. I wondered if any Ukrainians know what “bespoke” means?
Meanwhile further erosion of freedom of speech is likely in the UK with the introduction of what is being called “world-first online safety laws” (UK Online Safety Laws). In a remarkable phrase, there will be sanctions against companies for content that is “legal but harmful”. You can imagine what this will entail, and it is sure to include any content that says that the COVID-19 vaccines are anything other than “safe and effective”.
There have been celebrations in the UK regarding the 6 year saga of detention for the Iranian-UK citizen Ms Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who was released this week from Iran and flown back to the UK (Release of Nazanin). While you can’t help but be pleased for this woman whose 7yo daughter can’t remember her mother, the recent payment by the UK government to Iran of around US$530 million does bring to mind the old maximum “don’t negotiate with terrorists”. Iran will be encouraged in their nuclear weapons ambition and it is likely that the Vienna talks with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - now called the Iran Nuclear Deal - Nuclear Deal Expected Within Days will give Iran everything it asks for. Undoubtedly there will be further global instability as Iran acquires nuclear weapons technology.
Russia and Ukraine
Many commentators have been highlighting the view that “Putin is a madman”. I believe that there is nothing crazy about Putin but that he is hard-nosed and calculating in his Ukrainian invasion (see the last issue of Sons of Issachar Newsletter). Searching through the recesses of my memories about various significant events that were highlighted in the press over the last 10 years in relation to Putin, I remembered the Putin had ordered various officials and relatives home in 2016 (Russian Officials and Students Ordered Home) for amongst other things, nuclear drills. US children used to undertake nuclear drills in classrooms in the 1950s and 1960s (Nuclear Drills) but this seemed confined to having children hide under their desks with their hands over their heads, which indicated a remarkable lack of knowledge about nuclear explosions! Putin has threatened nuclear attacks (Putin Threatens Nuclear Attacks) if the West becomes further involved in the Ukraine conflict and it is interesting to find that a Russian nuclear-weapon equipped submarine was recently found off the coast of Virginia (Russian submarine off Virginia Coast) earlier this year. The Russian attack on the Ukranian base near Poland this week (Russian Attack on Ukrainian Base) raises tensions with NATO and it is not impossible that an incident, real or manufactured, may light the fuse for WW III. Despite sanctions against Russia, gas and oil prices have increased by 50% in response to supply issues and so Russia is a financial winner. Europe is dependent on Russian oil and gas with estimates of around 30% of European supplies coming from Russia. It is hard to predict what will happen next in Ukraine but it is clear that there has been stronger resistance to the Russian army than was anticipated. We need to watch carefully for President Xi’s next move in this international chess game where the West already seems to be the loser. All the sanctions against Russia by the West are likely to cement the relationship between Beijing and Moscow. Another unintended consequence?
China vs The West
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not really communist but rather a technocracy, according to James Corbett (Corbett and China) with good evidence. With one surveillance camera for every two people in China, and the use of social media scores to control population movement and speech, there is nothing the CCP doesn’t know about their population (and probably ours!). China has a long-term plan for global dominance and the only question is where the global elite from the World Economic Forum sit, but it could be in CCP “re-education camps” in Xinjiang province, together with the Uyghars!
I have been reading Peter Schweizer’s new book Red Handed (How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win). The author of Clinton Cash has done a masterful job in distilling the close links and money trail between the CCP and various US politicians, notably the Biden family. Schweizer has a great quote early in the book from Chairman Mao who in 1956 said:
“yang wei Zhong yong” which translates to “make the foreign serve China”.
He notes that this strategy has continued up until today with the Chinese strategy now offering deals, inducements, praise and access to seduce foreign “elites”. Of course now the strategy includes mass surveillance and re-education camps for those with the wrong ideas (I feel certain that these are coming to the West and even now camps for some unknown purpose are being built in a number of Australian states). Schweizer notes that Beijing calls these camps:
free hospital for the masses with sick thinking.
In the UK I think that they call this system the NHS!
Now China has moved very close to Russia and the end result for the West can’t be good. I have a veterinary academic friend in the US who used to ask his students:
“how do you know if someone is a loser” – the answer “he keeps on losing”!
I reckon dull and muddled thinking will keep we in the West losing in all the showdowns ahead.
Israel
With the rejection of Russian oil, the US will need Iranian oil and so the Iranians, as they have shown repeatedly, have the upper hand in negotiations in Vienna, which downstream will have a big impact in Israel. Russia is part of the negotiating group and they won’t be agreeing to anything that favours the US. Incredibly, the US is likely to agree to $10 billion for the Russians to build a nuclear power station in Iran - so much for sanctions (Russians to Build Nuclear Plant in Iran)!
Israel seems to have become the “honest broker” in negotiations between Ukraine and Russia (Israel Steps into Negotiations). Naftali Bennett, the Israeli Prime Minister, is the only Western leader to meet with Putin as Israel has significant interests with large populations of ex-Russian and Ukrainian Jews.
This week is the Feast of Purim (Feast of Purim) which celebrates the remarkable story of Queen Esther who helped thwart the plans of the evil Persian Prime Minister Haman, to kill all the Jews in Persia (if you don’t know the full story, it is worthwhile reading the Book of Esther). It is a reminder that across thousands of years there has been a satanic anti-Semitic plot to destroy Jews and unfortunately this plot is alive and well today with anti-Semitism rife in the political left and also in much of the church. Not surprisingly, Persia (Iran) is again at the centre of negotiations that could lead to nuclear weapons being unleashed against Israel. I wonder who God will raise up to be a modern-day Queen Esther? Israel understands better than any country that since their founding in 1948, forces of darkness continue to gather and plot against the Jewish state, and that the country needs to be self-reliant in defence. In contrast, the best Ausralia could do would be to send a gumboot against intruders! (If you haven’t heard the fabulous Bridge Over the River Wye it is worthwhile taking 20 min to listen to the YouTube link with Peter Sellers, Spike Miligan, Peter Cook and Jonathan Miller from 1962 in a spoof on the film Bridge over the River Wye).
Our job is to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6) while recognizing Israel’s importance in the coming days with Jerusalem’s future role as the “city of the great King” (Psalm 48:1; Matthew 5:35).