Insana: Europe’s economy may be facing a winter of despair. Here’s why it should matter to the Fed PUBLISHED FRI, JUL 8 202212:53 PM EDT Ron Insana@RINSANA https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/08/ins...-despair-why-it-should-matter-to-the-fed.html
The EU is already facing residential, Factories and Industry problem(s) already (Heating, Energy).. ... due to US-Demanded $anctionings against Importing Energy from Russia: Oil, NGas and more... Come this winter and next/etc... many "things" (including Food production) shall get worse.. These problems extend all over the world .
This may be why Conchita said it would be difficult for her to get to Spain. It may not have been about her age.
I don't think "Russia's errors" are limited to Communism. I think it's something more insidious, that Communism is just a cover. Specifically, for several centuries either the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) controlled the Tsar's government; or the Tsar's government controlled the ROC. It went past "scratching each other's backs" to the point where each one relied on the other to approve and implement it's own policies. For example, at the insistence of Tsar Peter the Great, the governance of the ROC changed from a single Patriarch to a "Holy Synod". Peter wanted the ROC to be more like the Lutheran churches of Germany and Sweden. This "Most Holy Synod" was mostly ecclesial authorities, with a secular official to ensure the Synod's actions were legal. (Think of the Soviet Union's practice of having "political officers" in their military groups, with authority to overrule decisions of the military officers.) What I'm seeing are all these different ("churches"/"confessions"/however you want to put it) more and more adopting the spirits of the surrounding secular culture and the politics therein. Just last week, the General Assembly (GA) of the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) ("General Assembly" = "Holy Synod") adopted a resolution calling Israel an apartheid state. From what I've read, this was done with the approval of 70% of the GA, while 70% of the PCUSA rank and file DISAPPROVE of this resolution. There was the case about 10 years ago when a major city in Texas (Houston, IIRC) passed an ordinance to require churches to submit their sermons to a city office for approval before being delivered in the church. This was done as part of a program of prohibiting "hate speech" against any "protected group." It was dropped less than a month later after national and international outcry, so it never even got to the courts to determine its constitutionality. Still, the fact that this civilian government felt strong enough to put such a rule into place AND SOME CHURCHES COMPLIED shows just how much of a "Holy Synod" view of Church-State relations has permeated American culture. And, of course, there are the cases where various civil governments in Canada were determining just who could and could not receive Holy Communion (or ANY sacraments, for that matter.)
Just a thought to inject into the conversation: With all this talk of war in Europe and surroundings, I refer you to Isaiah 17, aka "Oracle on Damascus". This scripture describes how overnight, Damascus "shall cease to be a city / and become a pile of ruins; / Her cities shall be forever abandoned, / for flocks to lie in undisturbed." And this is literally overnight: At evening, there is terror, / but before morning, they are gone! Damascus is one of the longest continuously inhabited cities (if not THE longest) in the world. It has been conquered several times, but never permanently wiped off the face of the earth. That's what Isaiah is describing: NOT some conquering army destroying its walls and pillaging it, but its complete destruction. As Isaiah 17:6 says: Only gleanings shall be left in it, as when an olive tree has been beaten— Two or three olives at the very top, four or five on its most fruitful branches FYI, this "beating of an olive tree" happens only during the early spring harvesting season. There aren't as many olives on the tree as in summer, so you hit the branches with a stick to knock the existing olives down. This happens in March/April of the year. So I'm interested in what may happen in March/April of 2023.
The US (and others) want Assad out... and have been supporting mercenaries, and pilfering Syrian Oil (as has Turkey) Russia's been militarily supporting Assad big time for almost 7 years.. partially for reason of having both the use of a Russian Military Air Force Field at Hmeimim in Latakia and access to a Naval Port at Tartus --- both on/by the Eastern Mediterranean There's always battling going on in Syria ... replete with many differing groups (including Iran) - replete with mercenaries and Putin and Turkey's Erdogan talk from time to time on differing geopolitical issues.
Try over 14 years. Russia, Iran, and Syria signed a not-QUITE-mutual-defense treaty where Russia agreed to provide both Iran and Syria their top-of-the-line S-400 missile system along with radar and tracking systems in exchange for oil and land for military bases. Russia also provided technical support for Iran's nuclear program. Iran, for its part, is "helping" Syria by providing scholarships to Iranian universities to the top Syrian students. I say "helping" because while these students are getting a good education, they're also being introduced to Sunni Islam, particularly the "Twelver" end-times theology. These students will return to Syria where they will replace the current Shia Islamic leaders.
Is it? IS IT? Or is it simply ... INCONCIEVABLE! (Sorry. I'm a huge "Princess Bride" fan, and I felt the need to lighten things up.)
Frankly said: ↑ Russia's been militarily supporting Assad big time for almost 7 years.. I should have been clearer. I'm referring to the actual Russian military intervention (Air Strikes) in Syria - followed by Cruise missile strikes - against ISIS which began September 30, 2015, (slightly less than 7 yrs ago) after an official request by the Syrian government for military aid against rebel terrorist groups. Recall.. . ISIS gained fame when e.g. it began crucifying Syrian Christians https://www.cnn.com/2014/05/01/world/meast/syria-bodies-crucifixions/index.html The US 'take' on Russia's bombardment involvements in Syria - differ wildly from Russia's POV. _
Pope Francis To Visit Kazakhstan In September, Expected To Meet With Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill August 01, 2022 12:25 GMT By RFE/RL Pope Francis has warned Kazakhstan's Patriarch Kirill against becoming "Putin's altar boy" by supporting Russia's policies. Pope Francis will visit Kazakhstan in September to attend an event regularly organized by the Central Asian nation's authorities that will also be attended by the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. The Vatican said on August 1 that the pontiff will be in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, on September 13-15 to attend the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev's office also announced the visit. The Vatican statement did not mention Kirill but Francis has said several times that he hopes to meet with the Russian Patriarch at the event. Since the beginning of Russia's ongoing unprovoked invasion of Ukraine launched on February 24, Kirill has made a number of statements in solidarity with the policy of the Russian authorities, prompting Pope Francis to warn the patriarch against becoming President Vladimir "Putin's altar boy." More than 150 Russian Orthodox clerics called for a stop to war in an open letter on March 1. Kirill was not among those who signed it. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.rf...ssian-orthodox-patriarch-kirill/31968947.html if the meeting takes place, perhaps there will be an announcement of the date of a possible visit to Moscow?
Well, Muzhik, your prophetic focus is more attuned to the Middle East than mine, but our taste in films seems a whole lot closer! "Have fun storming the castle!"
