In Case You Missed It

Scrap That

Germany and France have finally decided to abandon the development of an advanced fighter jet for the EU. Announced nearly ten years ago, the project was plagued by disagreement. As with many EU collective defense schemes, the priorities for each partner were too far apart. They could not even agree on what sort of capabilities the craft needed to have. Wrangling between Airbus and Dassault, who are more used to being rivals than working together, was also an issue. The jet itself has been canceled but the project’s auxiliary components will be kept alive under the same name to help avoid the embarrassment of having to abandon the whole thing.

Northern Snakehead

This truly hideous fish is remarkable, in a frightening sort of way. Like the lungfish, it can survive for days outside of the water, propelling itself on its fins. It earns the name “snakehead” in that its head coloration is something you would expect to see on a reptile. It hails from Asia and is considered highly invasive. It can devastate indigenous fish populations, and even eat rodents and small birds when it goes for a romp on shore. Alarmingly, one was discovered on Long Island. Such is the concern that wildlife authorities have been organizing searches to try to stop the snakehead from becoming established. They have been using electricity to shock bodies of water, stunning all the fish and allowing them to float to the surface to try and find and remove the snakehead, which is thought to have been released from a market or personal aquarium into the wild. Let’s hope they only had one.

Female-Only

Not so, says Australia. A major legal case this summer forced the owner of a female-only app to pay damages for blocking a transgender user. An appeals court called it “direct discrimination,” awarding $20,000 (AUD) in damages and up to $100,000 for legal fees. While many nations have been forced to recognize that sex at birth is immutable, Australia ruled in 2024 that it is changeable. This in addition to holding that gender is an expression of how we feel about ourselves as opposed to a concrete classification of who and what we are.

Carbonology

This Chinese company was founded with help from a former VP at Tesla. They claim to be able to convert carbon dioxide into usable fuels normally derived from oil. The process has been proven and is now being tested at scale. The process is called Direct Air Capture. It takes lots of electricity, but leverages intermittent sources such as wind and solar to produce fuels that can be used on demand. The company is initially targeting commercial jet fuel, rather than something more plentiful like gas or diesel, to determine if its process is commercially viable. Success could very well shake the industry and it showcases the potential emerging technologies have to rattle existing markets.

Cueta

The territory is a part of Spain despite being located on the northern coast of Africa, directly south of Gibraltar. It has proven a magnet in the midst of the ongoing irregular migration problem. Fueled by rumors on social media, over 70,000 people stormed into the enclave in a single day. They (mistakenly) thought that by reaching it they would be granted asylum or have access to Europe, despite Cueta not being included in the Schengen free-movement agreement that transcends national borders. The vast majority were sent back over the border to Morocco.

Still, the incident was cause for concern across Europe. Italy suspended free movement with Spain, not only over this incident but because Spain’s socialist government has enacted many open-door policies that encourage these types of movements. This shows the cracks that are forming and widening inside of the EU as we know it and point towards future fragmentation. Morocco has stationed the military along the border and a second attempted border rush was preempted, leading to many arrests. This issue remains a prophetic catalyst for the future of Europe.

Flock, Ring, and the Death of Privacy

No longer does the world of total surveillance and control outlined by the Bible seem far fetched. Flock cameras have caused a stir in communities across the country, logging the license plates of every passerby. The arrests they have led to have been touted as justification but the end result is still total oversight. Amazon’s Ring Doorbell is also facing a class action lawsuit over its “Familiar Faces” feature. It uses facial recognition to capture and store images of individuals, allowing you to be notified not just when someone is near your device, but who is near it. The allegation is that this is carried out without the consent of the person being monitored. Adoption of technologies of this nature all point to one thing: universal surveillance and monitoring.

Alliance

Saudi Arabia has recently signed a mutual defense pact with both Pakistan and Turkey. Interestingly, it triggered absolutely no response amid ongoing attacks from the Houthis in Yemen. Perhaps there is some red line that has yet to be crossed as the specific stipulations of the agreement have not been published. However, it is reasonable to consider that the pact is aimed at an entirely different “enemy.” Negotiations have concluded under the shadow of the war with Iran, but they began while the world was focused on the conflict between Israel and Gaza. Israel has been the target of concerted attacks by all of these nations in the past, something that the Bible indicates will recur during the end time. Egypt is interested in joining, considering itself a natural addition.

Crime?

The FBI has published statistics showing the biggest year-over-year drop in violent crime on record. Murder and robbery each dropped over 18%, with the decrease across all categories reaching nearly 10%. The media has floated any number of wild theories as to why this may be the case, like behaviors and changing societal norms… Sure. Anything but a concerted push to deport violent criminals who are in the country illegally –– it couldn’t possibly be that.

Across the pond, UK officials have faced public ire over the distribution of pamphlets informing migrants that rape and violence against women is wrong. It also pointedly mentions that it could negatively affect the perpetrator’s asylum claim. Ah, priorities. A journalist was also reprimanded for posing as a migrant and crossing the channel from France, showcasing how authorities on both sides facilitate the process.  

AfD Gaining

The much maligned Alternative for Germany has been resonating with German voters despite the continual criticisms, official “extremist” designation, and the refusal of most other political parties to even consider a coalition that includes them. They secured nearly 44% of the vote in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt recently, just shy of an outright majority but far ahead of the competition. Only one minor party is open to potentially governing alongside them, or potentially individual members of other parties could break ranks to join a coalition. Otherwise, there will be another round of voting in which the AfD could win outright. The results were shocking to the mainstream parties. It shows the limits of verbal vilification, as well as how sick and tired the German people are of political pablum sans results. The establishment would do well to take note.