AI in Everything
Because it’s so great, right? Maybe not always… A number of medical devices have rolled out “AI enhancements” on products previously released. Some boast anatomical identification for use during surgery. Unfortunately, accuracy is debatable. Cases are currently in court where doctors lost track of where their minute instruments were, particularly inside the skull, which resulted in terrible injuries. AI has not been definitively at fault, but legal action is underway to hold companies responsible if their technology is in fact to blame.
Avast Y’ Scurvy Cur
No, not pirates or any other malnourished sailors, but users of revolutionary new GLP-1 medications for weight loss. They do in fact work, but there is a new debate on whether eating less is necessarily healthier. Much of it has to do with diet and activity level. Some who have embraced the rapid weight-loss trend are simply eating less overall and, without planning and caution, are now suffering from diseases generally thought to belong to another age. A balanced diet is essential to health, and it’s important to remember that less isn’t always more.
South America Turns Right
The region has long been a bastion of socialist influence. The preference of the current administration of the Unites States is abundantly clear in the actions against Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and the ongoing pressure against the Cuban regime. Yet the trend was already underway. Bolivia’s Presidency changed hands after 20+ years of socialism. Chile also saw an ascension of conservatism in the face of crime and immigration. Peru closed their border after a flood of undocumented individuals who feared deportation after Chile’s election. Whether the trend will hold remains to be seen, but it is in line with recent elections in both Central and South America and is poised to benefit from renewed US interest in the Western Hemisphere.
Trans
It remains among the most volatile of social issues. The recent school shooting in British Colombia brought the violent aspect of this to the fore again, following attacks on a church in Minnesota, a Nashville school, and of course the assassination of Charlie Kirk. We talk of “mental health issues” while officials fall all over themselves in the pursuit of pronouns while serious issues over rationale or the efficacy of treatment are sidelined. Taboo even. The Supreme Court has yet to decide the fate of a nationwide ban on conversion therapy. Various locales have tried to prohibit therapists from encouraging children to be comfortable with their sex at birth. While initiatives to make such designations mandatory in sports or on official documents have been successful, a radical faction continues to push the fiction that gender is malleable. A BBC news anchor was even reprimanded for swapping the scripted phrase “pregnant people” to “women.” Contrariwise, a young woman has been awarded damages after suing over being pressured into transitioning (a double mastectomy) while still a teenager. Her mother testified that the doctors pushing the procedure said her daughter would kill herself if they didn’t go through with it. The girl has since de-transitioned and regrets that physical intervention is often prioritized over therapy.
Missile Treaties
Limitations on the stockpiles of nuclear weapons possessed by the US and Russia have expired. Nor has the US expressed any interest in renewing them without the inclusion of China. This mirrors the end of similar intermediate range missile treaties that this publication has previously reported on, where the US felt at a disadvantage, being bound by a treaty with one power that a third was not party to. While China currently has a fraction of the nuclear weapons (about 600, compared to over 5,000 each) maintained by the US and Russia, they are expanding their stock rapidly and are a top tier contender in many of the most innovative delivery technologies. We shall see if Russia or the US move to increase their stockpiles. Meanwhile, direct military communications that were halted over the war in Ukraine have been restored. This limits any chance of escalation over miscommunication or other peripheral issues.
Speech and Government Overreach
The shooting at Bondi beach, targeting those celebrating the beginning of Hanukkah, brought a rash of tougher “hate speech” laws from the government of Australia. Still, the president of Israel received a tremendous booing when he visited in sympathy with the victims. The UK, in the same vein, recently tried to ban the protest group Palestine Action. Beyond just speech, the group did advocate for and practice direct action, which devolved into the sabotage of military equipment. That ban was ruled unconstitutional however, and the formal “terrorist” designation dropped. The bigger picture illustrates that the underlying problem is an incompatibility of ideas and values. No amount of banning words or groups will fix it. Meanwhile, a meme could get you thrown in jail.
China’s Outlay
The Belt and Road initiative brought infrastructure projects to far flung corners of the world that debt and stability concerns precluded from Western finance. Now, however, the bills are catching up. Reports indicate that more money is flowing to China in the form of interest than is being put back into places that embraced their projects, like Africa. Domestic economic concerns, like abysmal population growth that has seen high taxes imposed on contraceptives, a property sector in disarray, and shifting, uncertain export markets, has limited investment, even to areas considered critical to trade expansion. They have faced further difficulties in places like Pakistan, where their presence is resented by separatists in Balochistan and their nationals have been intentionally targeted in terrorist attacks caliming many lives. Pressure from the United States has led Canada, the UK, the EU and others to make deals with China but there is no real substitute for the world’s largest market, despite protectionist concessions on all sides. There are hints of a thaw however. Some speculate that the US may try to separate the interests of China and Russia, leveraging economic incentives for Sino pressure to end the war in Ukraine. But it is hard to project with any certainty amidst the vagaries of geopolitics.
European Rearmament…
A real trend? The talk is tough but the reality progresses very slowly. Years are required to even approach current NATO spending targets of 5% of GPD. Spain flat refuses to spend more than 2%. Projects such as bridges or spending on forestry services are allowed to be included in these goals under the guise of internal preparation. Initiatives such as the “drone wall” to protect the EU’s eastern flank are talked up but resisted by Western countries who argue the threat applies equally to them. Only under extreme duress (and threats of annexation) has NATO begun to take security around Greenland seriously, despite its importance being stressed universally among sober defense assessments. The threats may be real, and the rhetoric may be effusive and convincing, but the reality is that all these initiatives cost money and require approval across a number of States with divergent interests. There is talk of a “2 speed Europe,” promoted by the Finance Minister of Germany, that would include most of the continent’s major economies. While not exactly the “10 kings” anticipated in Bible prophecy (Daniel 7/Revelation 13), it illustrates the frustration with bureaucracy and debate, and objections by partners perceived as less important by the true economic and military powers of Europe.
The Olympics!
Not the Winter Olympics –– the House Keeping Olympics! Few places have a hospitality industry large enough to spawn such a competition, but Las Vegas has managed to pull it off for the last few decades. Competition was fierce among the housekeeping staffs of various large hotels. Activities such as mopping and making the bed regularly go unappreciated. Outraged critics complained that the activities were demeaning. Since when has it been wrong to take pride in your work or want to do the absolute, verifiable best at whatever it is you do? We might cite the cliché “any job worth doing is worth doing well,” but it may be more appropriate to quote Solomon, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). There is never any shame in laboring to support yourself or your family! Shame is reserved for those who lack humility and belittle necessity.
Migration
Migrants and illegal entries continue to be a problem for the EU. As favored routes are suppressed, new ones seem to spring up. It remains a major European social debate on how to best deal with the problem, and those who campaign on doing something about it continue to benefit politically. This has forced even more sympathetic regimes to take measures to address the issue. Germany, facing a host of asylum claims from Afghans who fled to Pakistan from the Taliban, is offering to pay them not to come. Italy is trying to pass a Bill that would impose a full naval blockade of its shores, making it illegal for charitable endeavors that intercept migrants to operate. It is unlikely to pass. As long as the issue continues unresolved it will benefit the factions advocating for action. Spain’s socialist government is taking the opposite tack. They are rolling out a major amnesty program.
BRICS and Money
They have stopped short of anything as controversial as issuing their own currency. Yet, the “Global South” still seeks monetary alternatives to the Western aligned status quo. An avenue that is being seriously pursued is an exchange system that would circumvent SWIFT, taking dollars (and with them sanctions) out of the equation. It is based on Central Bank Digital Currencies. While still in development, the idea is that digital standards will align and allow for seamless conversions without the necessity of passing through an intermediary currency like the US dollar. Not only that, transactions would accrue monthly, and only the difference would actually have to be transferred at the end of each period. Logistically it makes a lot of sense, but practically there is much work to be done and tremendous pressure not to allow any alternative to the dollar.
Discombobulator
Next level weapons technology was deployed during the US action to seize Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela. President Trump referred to one such weapon as the “discombobulator.” Venezuelan troops reported feeling like they were on fire, total confusion and indecision, collapse, bleeding from the head and vomiting. In other words, being totally and completely incapacitated while under its effects, and yet recovering completely afterwards. How exactly it works is being kept secret.
Megiddo
The site has been of archaeological interest since the early 1900’s. It has yielded many discoveries that bear upon the Biblical narrative. It was fortified by Solomon for his chariots (1 Kings 9:15). It is the site where King Josiah was killed after intercepting Pharaoh Necho, as recorded in 2 Kings 23:29. Remnants from Pharaoh Necho’s expedition are thought to have been found! A large cache of Greek pottery, in combination with Egyptian wares, has been uncovered at the site. It is estimated to date to 7th century BC, the very time their encounter would have taken place, and is the largest of its kind ever to be uncovered in the region. The reference to Lydians in Jeremiah 46:9 is taken to imply that the Egyptians employed Greeks in their army. Taken with the date, it is thought that the pottery is left over from the well documented expedition against Assyria.
