®Monomakhos

On Veteran’s Day

by

In 1918, on the 11th hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, a truce was declared between the warring parties in the Great War.

Because it was a truce, it was called Armistice Day.  Neither side had “won” the war but all agreed that it was a horrible one, too terrible to contemplate further sacrifices in order to ensure victory (however defined).

Personally, I believe that the Great War was one of the greatest tragedies known to history.  It was completely unnecessary.  I say this as a man whose two grandfathers served in that war.  I will write more about the injustice of this war –on both sides–in due time. For now I will state that the terms imposed on the Germans at Versailles ensured that another, more horrible war would inevitably rise in Europe.

In 1954, President Eisenhower officially changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day, to honor all those who have served in the armed forces.  And in this spirit, I will reiterate the words of General Douglas MacArthur, which he spoke to the cadets at West Point in May of 1962:

“The solider, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training –sacrifice.  In battle and in the face of danger and death, he discloses those Divine attributes which his Maker gave when He created man in His own image.  No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of Divine help which alone can sustain him.  However horrible the incidents of war may be, the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country is the noblest development of mankind.”

It is not enough to honor our honored fallen by monuments or holidays –though we must certainly do so–we would honor them even more if, going forward, we were more parsimonious in spending our blood and treasure.  And make no mistake, the reelection of Donald J Trump as Commander-in-Chief, portends a return to America-first principles.  I fervently believe that further military expeditions will be questioned more vociferously than they were in the past.

Let us hope that this indeed the case.  In the meantime, if you know a veteran, please thank him for his service.

Comments

  1. Well, the plot thickens. Martyanov has asserted that as of about 4pm today, no more long range missiles have been launched into Russia after the Oreshnik strike. He says that any such reports were incorrect and disputed by the Russian military.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlOuo2f-U0M

    So the saga continues . . .

  3. IMHO, the West is in check on all major fronts:

    1. Iran has demonstrated that it can strike Israel with its hypersonic missiles at will. It simply bombards and overwhelms Israel’s air defenses with regular projectiles and then hits them with a much smaller number of hypersonics which largely penetrate. Israel, on the other hand, does not seem to be able to effectively penetrate Iran’s missile defenses.
    :
    2. All the war games run by the Defense Department regarding a Sino-American war in the South China See result in China winning and American forces being devastated. Part of China’s advantage is that its hypersonic missiles could sink our carriers reliably.

    3. The US and UK have just demonstrated that they cannot effectively penetrate Russia’s air defenses in order to strike the Motherland with ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles. On the other hand, Russia has just demonstrated that it can reach out and touch NATO anywhere in Europe and NATO cannot prevent it. The Oreshnik has shocked Western political and military elites and thus there will be an emergency meeting of NATO on 11/26 at Ukraine’s behest.

    A couple of things can be discerned from these facts:

    a. The Eurasian Alliance has achieved a hypersonic missile gap advantage over the West. As of yet, and for the foreseeable future, the US has no way to counter the hypersonic missiles. This is clear in all three theaters, even in the South China Sea pursuant to war gaming results of our own military.

    b. The US/NATO is caught in a dilemma, they cannot pursue their new policy of directly striking Russia without incurring Russian attacks on US/NATO targets. Yet these Western attacks are ineffective and the Russian counterattacks could be devastating. Russia attached no payloads at all to the Oreshnik fired. Even a conventional payload would do dramatically more damage than what was shown on the footage we have all seen. That damage was purely a consequence of the kinetic force of the Oreshnik warheads hitting their targets at hypersonic speed (above Mach 5).

    It’s time for the West to stand down. I, for one, do not believe that Russia is bluffing. They are faced with direct attacks of NATO (US and UK) into Russia proper. Nothing in the history of Russia or the USSR would give anyone the impression that they will not carry through on their warnings.

  4. This much we can surmise: Trump must have made a deal with DeSantis that Florida AG, Pam Bondi, would be his AG nominee and DeSantis agreed that he would appoint Gaetz to the Senate to fight the moles unearthed through his nomination.

  5. I know Jesus Christ personally and through His Church. He brings me Joy, Mercy and Grace.

    Given how difficult passion are knowing that; I do not see how anyone gets along with out.

    • A lot to unpack here, Michael. Repentance is important but in my view, that’s only the beginning.

      Christ offers joy, mercy and grace even to those who probably wouldn’t deserve it in our eyes. Still, the offer is always on the table. There is always hope. Which may be why it is said that those who are first will be last, and those who are last will be first.

      There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes (one who is arrogant and disdainful), a lying tongue (one who professes anything less than the whole truth), hands that shed innocent blood (I would include refuses to prevent the shedding of innocent blood through all available means), a heart that devises wicked schemes (seeks to undermine the efforts of others), feet that are quick to rush into evil (quick to judge, looking for the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eyes, paying no attention to the plank in your own), a false witness who pours out lies (lies about what others do or don’t do, which one can’t always know), and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers” (through the unjust admonishment of others, often in an effort to elevate oneself).

      Repentance is not just one thing. It is a whole range of behaviors: Acknowledging one’s sins is merely one of them. Contrition is also important. Forgetting the wrongs of others. Generosity, humility, acknowledging being wrong, expressing regret, committing to change, asking for forgiveness are all important.

      And, finally, letting go so you can move onto the next challenge. Philippians 3:13-14 being the closest analogy, stating “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,” signifying the need to constantly move forward and not rest on past achievements. (Courtesy of AI.)

      We do not earn salvation. It is God’s gift and what He sees is not what we see. We’ve got to go forward.

      If Isaiah or John the Baptist were on the blog, I would have no problem with either of them saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” But they would be talking about a LOT of important things, not just about repentance. I would also think (though I can’t prove it) that nations can –and should-repent. If memory serves, the King of Nineveh ordered his entire nation to wear sackcloth and ashes when God sent Jonah to that country.

      Even Titus had something to say about salvation (there are more than 20 sayings total, I believe). He said salvation is NOT because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

      We have a geopolitical blog with a strong interest in the Orthodox Church, with the intent to inform. Hopefully, we can turn this ship around, said ship being the Church, the nation, the world. Lot’s on the table, perhaps I am wrong but To try to distill all of Scripture down to a single point cannot be done. It confuses rather than illuminates.

  6. Couple of items on the radar today:

    1. Russia (per Putin) fired an IRBM (intermediate range ballistic missile) at Dnipro. You may have seen the footage. Ukraine thought it was an ICBM, as did I at first. Of course, it wasn’t nuclear, but the point has been made. Russia can reach out and touch anywhere in Europe and no one can do boo boo about it. It’s called the Oreshnik (which means “hazel nut” or “little nut” in Russian). It travels at Mach 10. Evidently, it has a MIRV, like ICBM’s. MIRV is multiple independent re-entry vehicles; i.e., each missile carries a number of warheads which separate shortly before hitting the targets.

    2. Gaetz apparently dropped out as AG. I say “apparently” because this is exactly what I would expect if he were going to be appointed as an acting or recess appointment. As an act of good faith, you would want to formally nominate them as a gesture. When it became abundantly clear that there were at least 4 hard no votes against him, and that was reported in the news, then you could say “well, I tried the conventional route and was blocked whereas none of Biden’s cabinet nominees were blocked”. That would be a precursor to appointing him as acting AG or making a recess appointment.

    Now, I don’t know if that is the plan or not. He might be destined to be appointed to the Senate from Florida since Rubio will be confirmed as SOS. So stay tuned. But do not become disheartened. Gaetz didn’t resign his House seat for naught. Trump and Gaetz had to have known he would never get through the Senate. This formal nomination to the Senate was all performance. The actual strategy is still a question.

    • I guess they have a death wish. Either that, or they’re daring Russia to act first to give them an excuse. The Ukrarian actor, Zelesky, is no match for Putin.

      Maybe this will turn into what some have been calling a “near death experience” for the U.S. Because Biden did this, expect Russia to do what she has to to avoid it. Are you all up to surviving a nuclear war? Where do you think Russia’s going to strike first? A country that surrounds her country without the wherewithal to do anything? Or the country who is supplying the weapons? Watch out Europe, bombs are coming your way, too. Russia and Ukraine will be just fine.

    • There is much confusion around this situation. Biden has not been clear about exactly what can be used exactly where. Ukraine has been striking into Russia for a long time, that’s not the issue. It may be just the Biden Regime trying to make a headline and stir up a tempest in retaliation for the Trump win: I.e., piss in the soup we all have to drink.

      The actual issue though is the degree of American and NATO involvement in the strikes inside Russia. As I explained on Eurasian Century and have repeated here on occasion, there are levels of involvement in an attack which, under international law, justify corresponding levels of response. If you are merely aware of an attack beforehand, you incur no blame and should not be sued or attacked for the mere knowledge. If you supply the attacker, especially with the weapons used in the attack and/or if you express approval (but not direction or ordering) of an attack, you may be sued for damages by the victim of the attack. But if you are actually physically involved in the mechanics of the attack itself, participating in and/or directing it, then the victim of the attack can physically retaliate against you without incurring the label of “aggressor”. That is, they’re justified in retaliating.

      What Putin was saying in the clip where he lays out his “red line” is that if these attacks inside Russia require US/NATO direct participation to execute, then that is an act of war by US/NATO against the RF and any counterstrike will not be an illegal aggression under international law.

      What he’s saying, in plain English, is that if Ukraine uses some of these sophisticated systems to strike deep into Russia, it could only be done with direct US/NATO assistance in operating the equipment. And this would allow the RF to retaliate against the US/NATO.

      Now, WW3 gets the ratings. So everyone is going there. But what it could mean in reality is the RF, either directly or through proxies, assaulting US military installations in the Middle East or elsewhere, risking American lives.

      He’s saying that if the US is going to directly kill Russians then the RF can kill Americans too. Those are the dice the Biden Regime is rolling.

      • Mark Sleboda explains in this interview exactly why these new attacks implicate US/NATO directly:

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG5yG3gzFOk

        In order to carry out long range strikes, not only must American satellite data be used, but the information would be encrypted on both sides because there is an American security and proprietary interest in the launching sequence data and codes. So, an American must actually download the information into the ATACMS system and use a restricted code to fire it which would not be shared with the Ukrainians. The Russians know this from their own intelligence but we know it because the German chancellor actually stated it in an interview about the use of their missiles.

        I agree with Mark that Russia will try to delay any serious response until Trump is in office and signals his intentions. However, in the meantime, they may very well retaliate against Kiev and some countries have pulled out their people from the city.

        • Russia has just responded
          with a demonstration of power
          unavailable to the West

          * Russia fired new intermediate range missile on Ukraine, Putin says *
          https://www.itv.com/news/2024-11-21/russia-fires-first-intercontinental-ballistic-missile-of-conflict-ukraine-says

          ‘ Russia tested a new intermediate-range missile on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has confirmed.

          The Russian president said they were in retaliation to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with US and British missiles earlier this week.

          Putin also announced that Russia would issue warnings in advance if such missiles were used again against Ukraine to allow civilians to safely evacuate.

          He warned that US air defence systems would not be capable of intercepting the missiles. ‘

          • Actually, Putin said Russia would retaliate against the countries that supplied the munitions to Ukraine and participated in their use; i.e., the US and UK. I don’t believe that the Dniepropetrovsk strike was the last word on that.

            Judging by his language, he intends to hit US and/or UK bases in a similar fashion. He clearly stated that retaliation would not be confined to the Ukraine. Unfortunately, the West did not get the message and there has already been another wave of long range strikes into Russia.

            They want a direct shooting war with Russia. They are betting the farm on the mistaken notion that Russia is afraid to attack them directly.

            So, we shall see. Putin, IMHO, has been too patient with them already. They obviously perceive it as weakness. He’s going to have to kill American or British soldiers in order to get their attention, or else destroy some US or UK military installation..

    • So, on grounds of safety, Gen Milley’s Pentagon
      tried to restrict access to the nuclear codes
      by legitimately elected President Trump,
      only to leave them in the hands of
      this silly vindictive old man.

  9. Oh! Canada!

    1) * Trudeau promotes abortion in speech to high school students in New Brunswick *
    https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/trudeau-promotes-abortion-in-speech-to-high-school-students-in-new-brunswick/?utm_source=most_recent&utm_campaign=usa

    ” The Canadian prime minister told young people that women have a ‘right’ to abortion, even though that ‘right’ doesn’t exist in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and that no Liberal Party MP is allowed to be pro-life. ”

    2) * ‘Infanticide is always wrong:’ Conservative MP
    presents petition to protect sick babies from euthanasia *
    https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/infanticide-is-always-wrong-conservative-mp-presents-petition-to-protect-sick-babies-from-euthanasia/?utm_source=latest_news&utm_campaign=usa

    “A recommendation from a member of the Quebec College of Physicians would allow the murder of babies, infanticide, up to twelve months old if they are born with ‘severe deformities and very serious syndromes’.”

  10. Five Eyes Goggle As New Spook Spooks Spooks:

    * Spy world vexed by Trump choice of Gabbard as US intelligence chief *
    https://www.reuters.com/world/us/spy-world-vexed-by-trump-choice-gabbard-us-intelligence-chief-2024-11-14/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-gb

    ‘ … The Office of the Director of National Intelligence was created after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks to fix what was seen as a lack of coordination between those organizations.
    “She isn’t being put in this job to do the job or to be good at it. She’s being put there to serve Donald Trump’s interests,” U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, told CNN on Thursday. … ‘

    Director of National Intelligence: Tulsi’s qualifications

    1) She is direct (and can cut through the smoke and fog of “intelligence” reports).
    2) She believes in the Nation (surely a prerequisite – the clue is in the job title).
    3) She is intelligent (far more so than most of her critics).

    4) The mere thought of her appointment has already spooked
    the chief spooks out of their cosy club of confirmation bias.
    Perhaps those honest agents, whose honest analyses
    have been long suppressed by politicised bosses,
    may finally get to be properly heard by
    [who knows?] the President.

    Had she been in place earlier, perhaps the McCain canard
    that Russia is nothing but ‘a gas station with an army’
    might never have been taken seriously and
    all those billions got blown away…

  11. * Dr Sam Bailey: “How you were poisoned with aluminium and what you can do” *
    https://canberradaily.com.au/how-you-were-poisoned-with-aluminium-and-what-you-can-do/

    ‘ Aluminium (‘aluminum’ in North America) – what is it good for? Absolutely nothing when it comes to your body. Yes, its alloys are used with great success in motor vehicles, bicycles, construction, machinery and technology, but the wonder element has a dark side. Unlike metals such as gold and silver, aluminium is highly toxic to the human body. Unfortunately, most of us have absorbed too much and are at risk of debilitating illnesses in the future…unless we act now.

    Aluminium is not required by our bodies and its presence in any amount is considered detrimental. However, when I trained as a doctor, the subject was barely glossed over. We were only instructed to watch for aluminium toxicity in kidney failure and patients on haemodialysis. This is because kidney failure impairs our ability to excrete aluminium and haemodialysis does not get rid of it effectively either. However, for reasons that should become apparent, nobody said anything about the rest of us developing aluminium toxicity.

    We are exposed to aluminium through a variety of sources, including food, water, the air we breathe, medicines, cosmetics, anti-perspirants and sunscreen. In other words, many of the best-selling products from Big Ag, Big Food and Big Pharma. It is truly shocking to discover how much our exposure to aluminium has escalated in the past century due to the practices of these corporate empires.

    If you have never heard any of this before then I would implore you to read Professor Christopher Exley’s 2020 book, Imagine You Are An Aluminum Atom. Prof. Exley has been studying human exposure to aluminium for 40 years and his book beautifully summarises what we need to know. (It also reveals how questioning certain Big Pharma products is like stepping on a landmine, something I am also familiar with.)

    Medical doctors are trained to diagnose thousands of conditions but outside of the kidney failure example, aluminium toxicity is unlikely to be one of them. They diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and autism as well as other conditions that are becoming all too common. However, when pressed on what causes these problems there may be a shrug of the shoulders, a suggestion of “genetic factors” or even an imagined “virus”.

    It is very difficult to cure an illness when its cause has not been identified. That is why the allopathic medical system is next to useless and can be dangerous when someone is labelled with one of the aforementioned conditions. The system’s “best practice” typically involves the administration of drugs in an attempt to suppress symptoms. As I have previously pointed out to Canberra Daily readers – even giving paracetamol is usually a mistake.

    And now we get to the crunch.

    It has been discovered that brain samples from individuals diagnosed with these neurological diseases contain higher levels of aluminium. The revelation should have been a game changer when it came to preventing and even curing some of these problems. However, nothing but silence has followed as Prof. Exley outlined in Imagine You Are An Aluminum Atom:

    “This is science that, thirty years ago, would have been featured on every news channel across the globe. The fact that it did not is testimony to the power of the aluminum industry. I am convinced that aluminum is a cause of Alzheimer’s disease and that if there were no aluminum in the brain, there would be no Alzheimer’s disease within a human lifespan of at least one hundred years.”

    More research could be done to confirm such a finding but it appears that a handful of vested interest groups would prefer to keep the public in the dark.

    One of the most powerful of these groups is vaccine manufacturers. When it comes to injected aluminium, the US Food & Drug Administration has suggested a “safe limit” of less than 5mcg/kg/day. A two-month-old baby of 5kg would thus have a “safe limit” of 25mcg. Do parents realise that a child is on the “recommended” vaccine schedule may be injected with almost 50 times this amount during one visit?

    There are no two ways about it, most people are being poisoned by aluminium and vaccines are a major contributing factor. You may see establishment “experts” denying this fact and I have dealt with some of their gaslighting attempts in this presentation. As a former doctor I can reveal that it is highly unlikely your GP or paediatrician even knows what is going on. If you want to put them to the test, ask how much aluminium will be injected into a child following the routine vaccination schedule. Then ask, what would be a “safe” amount?

    Just as most medical practitioners have been complicit in poisoning their communities with aluminium, they are in the dark when it comes to reversing the problem. The good news is that there is something we can all do and that is to drink high silicon (“silica”) mineral water. Essentially this mops up unwanted aluminium residing in our tissues to allow for its elimination. Even better, there are no known downsides to drinking nature’s high-quality mineral waters.

    Of course, the best way to avoid toxicity is to limit exposure to aluminium in the first place. However, the industries that are profiting are showing no signs of cleaning up the pollution of their products. There is no time to wait for action from them or the so-called “public health” agencies. Share this information with others so they can act now to protect themselves and their communities from further damage. ‘

    Dr Sam Bailey is a medical author and health educator from New Zealand. Her books include Virus Mania, Terrain Therapy and The Final Pandemic.

  12. Don’t know if you’ve been watching the cabinet announcements this week, but this govt is going to be lit. Gaetz as AG, Tulsi as DNI, and the rumor is that Kash Patel will be FBI director (per Bannon).

    They may be going for all recess appointments to obviate Senate confirmation. Gaetz resigned from the House immediately to allow for a quick special election. I’m told that Vance can override Thune in the Senate if need be.

    This is what a president would do if he intends to thoroughly clean house.

    Should be entertaining.

    • Gaetz is a brilliant move! Already his nomination has smoked out the traitors at Justice. If he gets it, it’s wonderful. If he doesn’t, he replaces Rubio as Senator from Fla.

      It gets even better: Rubio has to mind his P’s and Q’s at State, otherwise, he has no political future.

      • I don’t think Trump plans to give them a choice. SecDef would be tough but I doubt he could get Gaetz as AG through. Normally, the Senate gets to advise and consent. But in the present atmosphere, Trump made a deal with Thune regarding recess appointments. Trump may submit some or all of them to the Senate for confirmation; however, alternatively, he can make them Acting Secretary (under the Vacancies Act). These appointments last 210 days, but in a president’s inaugural year it is extended to 300 days.

        Or, alternatively, he can make recess appointments when the Senate adjourns:

        “Many presidents have used recess appointments over the years, including Barack Obama, who made 32 recess appointments, and George W. Bush, who made 171, the CRS [Congressional Record Service] says.” – https://www.kgw.com/article/news/verify/donald-trump/can-president-unilaterally-appoint-most-cabinet-members-fact-check/536-c2ec0ae8-8f8b-4ed9-9833-f860750ca0ed

        And . . . moreover . . . they have a scheme to force the Senate to adjourn just in case. The Constitution says that in the event there is a difference of opinion about whether to recess or not, the President can recess both chambers:

        “Article II, Section 3:

        He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper . . .”

        All he needs is for the Speaker of the House to move for a recess and the Senate to oppose – bang, recess appointments.

        Now, it may be a threat, like FDR’s court packing proposal, designed to blast through resistance. No president has ever exercised his right to adjourn Congress. But the clause is there and SCOTUS is friendly.

  14. Another one goes down…

    * ‘Best interests of the Church’: Justin Welby quits over abuse scandal *
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gvpyzxvjpo?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-gb

    ‘ The Archbishop of Canterbury has announced he will step down from his role following a damning report into a prolific child abuser associated with the Church of England.

    The review found that Justin Welby, 68, “could and should” have reported John Smyth’s abuse of boys and young men to police in 2013.

    In a statement, Mr Welby said that “it is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility” for his response after he was first told about the abuse.

    “I believe that stepping aside is in the best interests of the Church of England.”

    “I hope this decision makes clear how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change and our profound commitment to creating a safer church,” Mr Welby said.

    “As I step down I do so in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse,” he added.

    A spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he “respects the decision that has been taken and his thoughts remain first and foremost with all the victims”.

    Last week’s report concluded that Smyth “could and should” have been reported to the police when Church leaders including Mr Welby were presented with details of his abuse in 2013.

    Inaction from the Church represented a “missed opportunity to bring him to justice,” the report said.

    In his resignation statement, Mr Welby said he was “told that police had been notified” at the time and that he “believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow”.

    He also spoke of his “profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures” of the Church over the days since the report was published.

    “For nearly twelve years I have struggled to introduce improvements. It is for others to judge what has been done,” he said.

    Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell said the Church had made “real progress” in safeguarding under Mr Welby’s leadership but added: “There is much further to go.”

    He told the BBC the Church was “a bit polarised and divided” but said “facing up to failure is the way to bring healing and reconciliation”.

    The Church’s lead safeguarding bishop, Joanne Grenfell, said the failings identified in the report meant it was “now necessary for others to take up the baton”.

    She said Mr Welby’s resignation “does not absolve any of us from bringing about the wholesale changes in culture and leadership that are essential in every part of the Church”.

    The archbishop had been facing mounting pressure to resign in the days since the report’s publication.

    The Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, told the BBC on Monday that Mr Welby’s position was “untenable” after the report.

    Three members of the Church’s parliament, the General Synod, had accused the archbishop of “allowing abuse to continue” between 2013 and Smyth’s death in 2018.

    They launched a petition calling for Mr Welby’s resignation, which had been signed by more than 13,000 people by Tuesday afternoon.

    Speaking after the archbishop’s resignation, one of the Synod members who started the petition said: “I think it’s sad that it’s taken so long for meaningful action to take place.”

    The Rev Dr Ian Paul added that he hoped that Mr Welby’s resignation would be the first step towards “cultural change in [the Church’s] senior leadership”.

    Clare MacLaren, Canon Provost of Sunderland Minster, told the BBC Mr Welby’s resignation was “not before time”.

    “It’s something that’s been brewing for the last 24 hours at least,” she said. “It would have been good if he’d done it immediately.”

    The review said that from July 2013, “the Church of England knew, at the highest level, about the abuse that took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s,” naming Mr Welby specifically.

    It found that “several opportunities were missed” to formally report the abuse to police.

    One survivor of Smyth’s abuse told the BBC the archbishop and the Church had effectively been involved in a “cover-up”.

    The archbishop himself, in his resignation statement, said the report had “exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth”.

    Smyth was a prominent barrister as well as a lay preacher – a member of the congregation who delivers sermons but is not ordained – who ran summer camps for young Christians.

    The report accused him of attacking up to 30 boys he had met at the summer camps during the 1970s and 1980s.

    He singled out boys attending the camps and in sessions at leading public schools, including Winchester College, before taking them to his home and beating them with a garden cane in his shed.

    The report by Keith Makin described Smyth’s abuse as a “clearly sexually motivated, sadistic regime” of beatings.

    Smyth then relocated in the 1980s to Zimbabwe, and later South Africa, where he is alleged to have abused a further 85 to 100 “young male children aged 13 to 17”.

    It was not immediately clear when the archbishop would leave his post.

    “It is my duty to honour my constitutional and Church responsibilities,” he said. “So exact timings will be decided once a review of necessary obligations has been completed.”

    He said he would meet victims and delegate his current safeguarding responsibilities “until the necessary risk assessment process is complete”.

    Mr Welby was educated at Eton and the University of Cambridge.

    He spent 11 years in the oil industry before retraining as a priest.

    He was ordained in 1992 and became a vicar in Warwickshire, a Canon of Coventry Cathedral, the Dean of Liverpool, and the Bishop of Durham before being appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013.

    Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell told the BBC the ordination of women as bishops and his work in racial justice were key parts of Mr Welby’s legacy.

    The Archbishop of Canterbury is the head of the Church of England, who leads 85 million Anglicans in 165 countries around the world. They also have a wider constitutional role in the UK.

    The process for choosing Justin Welby’s replacement reflects that.

    A nationwide consultation will be held asking people in and outside the Church of England what they want from the next archbishop. That is expected to take several months.

    Church and government officials will summarise those views, along with feedback from the Church representatives in Canterbury, the area the archbishop technically oversees. That information will form the basis of creating a longlist of suitable candidates invited for interview.

    No one applies for the role. Those chosen for interview don’t have to be from the Church of England and they don’t have to be bishops, although they are likely to be.

    The candidates will then be interviewed by a committee of 17 people. The chair is appointed by the prime minister and the members will include representatives from around the global Anglican Communion, the General Synod, or parliament, as well as at least one bishop.

    At least two-thirds of the committee members must agree before a decision is made.

    The process of choosing his successor is likely to take at least six months. ‘

    • “The Church’s lead safeguarding bishop, Joanne Grenfell…”

      “The Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley…”

      “Clare MacLaren, Canon Provost of Sunderland Minster…”

      What could possibly go wrong?

  16. The Battle Continues – and Viganò says it far better than I can
    How I wish that he were the Orthodox Patriarch of the West:

    * Archbishop Vigano: Some Considerations After the Election Victory by Donald J. Trump
    by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò Nov. 10, 2024 1:20 pm *
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/11/archbishop-vigano-some-considerations-after-election-victory-donald/

    A few days ago, on the eve of the U.S. Presidential Election, the arrogance of political commentators in the United States and all vassal nations had reached unexplored heights. Kamala Harris had already organized the celebration of her own victory by inviting all her usual spokespeople. Singers, actors, philanthropists, public figures, and journalists went so far as to threaten to leave the United States if Donald J. Trump was elected, and in truth many today expect them to fulfill their promises. Even Jorge Mario Bergoglio made a gesture, with his trademark politeness, traveling in a wheelchair to the penthouse of radical Sorosian activist and abortionist Emma Bonino with white roses and chocolates, as if to issue a final, desperate plea to American Catholics not to be too skeevy and to vote for Harris, who shares with Bergoglio the woke religion. The mainstream media, owned by the usual big investment funds, shamelessly endorsed Kamala and ridiculed, indeed criminalized Donald Trump. And the more rude, the more transgressive, the more obscene, the more profane Harris supporters were, the more space they were given on television and social media.

    Trucks with millions of already-voted ballots were ready to reach Pennsylvania and those states where the votes of deceased, relocated Democrats and illegal immigrants were not enough to skew the election result. Insidious algorithms embedded in the State Election Commission’s voter registration databases were uncovered by Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D. These algorithms allowed false voter registrations to be printed and concealed, which could be used in various election fraud schemes, including counting absentee ballots cast by nonexistent voters. By exposing the scheme, Dr. Corsi prevented the creation of millions of fraudulent votes for Kamala Harris. In multiple states in the Union, computer reports revealed that electronic voting registration machines allowed votes to be changed remotely, and in one case access passwords were even leaked online.

    On the morning of November 5, in short, it seemed that everything was settled. Everyone thought so: some with the arrogance of those who believe themselves to be superior merely because they are progressive, woke, green, resilient, inclusive, sustainable, gender-ideologized; others with that fund of trepidation of those who find themselves like the young David fighting the giant Goliath. Yet in a matter of hours, that whole immense house of cards, that whole mighty electoral machine sagged like a circus tent.

    THE GLOBALIST METAVERSE

    The most remarkable element of this presidential campaign, in my opinion, consists in the manifestation of the pride and conceit of the self-proclaimed “good guys”; a pride that has made them deaf and blind to the true, real demands of the people; a conceit that places them above the miserable daily affairs of the vulgar and places them in a virtual world, in a surreal metaverse in which normal people are not allowed. It is the metaverse of the globalist world, with its agenda, its religion, its high priests, its prophets, its rituals, its dogmas, its holy books, and its idols. The only thing Kamala had to do was make this dystopia irreversible by making it the official religion of the United States of America and its ideological colonies.

    Bergoglio, the Jesuits (with their U.S. leaders, Thomas Reese and James Martin), the U.S. Cardinals in the line of McCarrick, and the entire Bergoglian episcopate were waiting for nothing else, replicating in the ecclesial sphere that irremediable rupture between Hierarchy and faithful that in the civil sphere has been consummated between the ruling class and citizens. On the other hand, even the exponents of the “synodal church” are under blackmail no more or less than the clients of Jeffrey Epstein and Sean Combs. It is not surprising that the outcome of the elections has outraged the exponents of the deep church, which for decades, with the support of the deep state, infiltrated the Catholic Church and worked for her demolition. The Jesuits together with “their pope,” accomplices of the globalist subversive plan, ought to soon suffer the same cancellation that in recent years they have inflicted – also making use of the political support they enjoy – on those who have denounced their betrayal.

    “Yes, we can,” Obama said years ago. And we’ve seen it: the deep state has indeed been able to do everything it promised, from protecting the pedo-satanist elite to covering up the most scandalous cases of corruption; from imposing the insane green policies and climate fraud to administering a poison designed to exterminate the population; from genetic engineering to the systematic destruction of agriculture and animal husbandry; from the energy crisis provoked to destroy the economic fabric of the nation to the war in Ukraine and the Middle East. All of this has been done by transferring billions from the pockets of citizens to the offshore accounts of multinational corporations, pharmaceutical companies, arms manufacturers, and “humanitarian” organizations that are always headed by the well-known families of the world’s usurious high finance.

    THE DISCONNECTION FROM THE REAL WORLD

    Those who marvel at the resounding failure of the globalist metaverse show by their surprise that they are totally disconnected from the real world, where men and women literally fight to get to work, and not just to get a job, because our streets are dumps of derelicts and criminals; where parents have to protect their children from the perversions and obscenities of their teachers, or where a woke judge can take your child away from you because you don’t call him or her by the pronouns he or she has “chosen”. In the real world we worry about the cost of living, rising energy prices, the ever-lower quality of large-scale retail products, and the difficulty of finding healthy food. In the real world, the farmer has to think about how to survive after paying taxes and being crushed by unfair competition from multinational corporations, and the rancher feels helpless when the government requires him to cull his cattle for bird flu or because his cows produce CO2.

    To hear a fake African-American posing as a former McDonalds server talking about homo-transphobia, white supremacism, abortions up to the ninth month and beyond, the abolition of gasoline cars and green transition in the face of the destruction of the Nation at the hands of the globalist Left is grotesque and mercilessly shows the classism of an élite that exists and thrives only by exploiting the masses and trampling on the basic rights of the people. And this shameless arrogance of the powerful is also common to Canada, Europe, and Australia. A few days ago, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, emphatically evoked the report “The Limits to Growth” published fifty years ago by the Club of Rome, in which it theorized that world population decline and economic degrowth were needed to save the Planet, or rather: to save the criminal monopoly of big investment funds. The herd led to the slaughter realized that the fine words about environmental friendliness and net zero are colossal lies that hide a terrible truth: the emissaries of the World Economic Forum in the Western governments want to exterminate the population through mass sterilization, wars, famines, droughts, pandemics, abortion, euthanasia, and gender ideology; and that this criminal project was started fifty years ago by means of indoctrination and propaganda work worthy of the worst dictatorships.

    Silencing dissenting voices with the smear of being “conspiracy theorists” has not helped; on the contrary, it has been the fierce censorship, ever since the pandemic farce, that has awakened that healthy instinct that makes anyone suspicious of a narrative that contrasts obscenely with reality. A reality that is not perception, when merely because you have white skin, wear a cross around your neck or have the Stars and Stripes flag flying in your backyard someone feels entitled to consider you inferior and therefore deserving of being attacked or killed.

    THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS VICTORY

    This round of elections shows us not only the unchallenged victory of Donald Trump. It makes evident a plebiscite vote of the majority of Americans in favor of a worldview completely antithetical to and irreconcilable with the globalist, woke dystopia that we now know is supported by a minority of the nation despite the disproportionate deployment of means and resources to support it.

    The result of the polls makes clear the disconnect between the political class of the Radical Left and its electorate, but also and especially that lack of empathy that distinguishes psychopaths. On the other hand, only psychopathic criminals devoted to the worship of Satan can adhere to a neo-Malthusian ideology that theorizes the extermination of one part of humanity, the sterilization of another, and the recurrence of chronic cancers and diseases for the survivors. Only psychopathic criminals devoted to the cult of Satan can claim that destroying agriculture and animal husbandry and producing GMO foods will save nature; or that cutting down trees and replacing them with carbon dioxide-absorbing machines will protect the environment. Only psychopathic criminals devoted to Satan worship can send billions to the most corrupt government in the world – Ukraine – deluding themselves that they can win a war that they provoked and fomented. And there are those among self-styled conservative intellectuals who would like to perpetuate U.S. hostilities with the Russian Federation just to avoid being proven wrong in their self-interested warmongering predictions. Only psychopathic criminals dedicated to the cult of Satan can organize ethnic replacement by indiscriminate immigration, knowing full well that impossible integration is the premise for civil war, especially when citizens are treated as enemies in their homeland. Only psychopaths devoted to the worship of Satan can take children from their families and entrust them to people convicted of pedophilia, or corrupt their innocence with the propaganda of perverted teachers.

    We could say that there is no Commandment of God that is not being broken: woke ideology creeps into every aspect of daily life to kill the body and soul, to offend Our Lord, to deny two thousand years of Christian civilization. But this is precisely what they do, and what many have let happen without protest.

    THE PEOPLE HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF WOKISM

    But then November 5 came.

    What happened, then? What any “normal” person – but we know that to Dems normality is horrifying – could have foretold: the people are tired of being hostages of a subversive Mafia, of perverted criminals for whom there is never conviction or jail time, of corrupt people who flaunt their dealings in the persuasion that they are untouchable, of people devoted to evil. The people are tired of being trampled on daily, of being humiliated for their honesty, of being mocked for their Faith, of being criminalized because they love their homeland.

    In its blinding, the globalist élite has underestimated the strength of that flame that burns in every man, that reminds him that he is called to Good, that admonishes him to avoid Evil, that points him to a destiny of eternal happiness in Heaven. Because the globalists do not know how to love, but only how to hate; and because the hatred in which they are consumed against God and against the man He created in His own image and likeness is sterile, destructive, deadly.

    The people who have elected Donald Trump – a number that is far greater than the official figures, if we consider the voter fraud that nonetheless took place – first and foremost have affirmed their right to remain human. That people is not reactionary, does not hate progress, does not fear freedom. Rather, it does not accept the reversal of the world and reality, it rejects the hell on earth in which the deep state would like to lock it up, and it does not desire to call evil good and good evil (Is 5:20).

    ONE NATION UNDER GOD

    Each of us has been able to see how the most sophisticated plans of the New World Order have been thwarted by seemingly random events. Providence has dismantled a global threat with small moves, showing us that God is truly all-powerful, and that the destinies of the world are in His hands. It is now up to us not to squander the opportunity we have been given, to draw lessons from the recent past, and not let our guard down. The élite now fleeing to their lairs will regroup so that they can launch a new attack more tremendous than the one we have witnessed in recent years. But in this phase of awakening consciences and retaking the Nation under God, we must not forget that the battle between God and Satan, between the children of Light and the children of darkness continues. Nor must we forget that Our Lord comes to our aid only when we recognize our weakness and His power, and that His help is all the more effective the more we cooperate with God’s plan. This is the true “greatest reset”: to recapitulate all things in Christ — Instaurare omnia in Christo (Eph. 1:10) — because it is to Christ alone that universal Lordship belongs. Christ is King. And he is King not only of individuals and families, but of all earthly societies, of all nations.

    The four-year term that will be inaugurated in a few weeks may mark a turning point in the history of the United States of America and of all humankind, and this will depend on the firm determination with which President Trump will roll the heads of this Leviathan, knowing that with the Enemy of God and humankind there can be neither dialogue nor compromise. It will depend on who the President chooses as his collaborators, among whom traitors and opponents will certainly try to creep in. It will depend on how the President will be able to conform his actions to God’s Law, mindful of the grace that was granted to him by escaping multiple assassination attempts.

    Donald J. Trump has recognized that above him is the Lord. Let him not forget this when he uses the international clout America enjoys to promote peace with Russia and an end to genocide in the Middle East, so that the concord of peoples is founded on the Common Good and is no longer threatened by the deep state’s thirst for power. He must not forget that the defense of life, from the first moment of conception to natural death, must be a priority goal. And in this grand and ambitious project of restoring institutions and society, it will be essential to involve those world leaders who, like President Trump, know the threat of the subversive elite and intend to oppose it. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, and other heads of state and government will certainly be his most valuable allies in fighting the globalist agenda. And I believe the time has finally come to promote an Antiglobalist Alliance, through which the healthy forces of the peoples hitherto hostage to the servants of Davos can be united.

    The success of the “greatest reset” represented by the election of Donald Trump and the defeat of the radical Left will also depend on how well the people and their rulers can conform to God’s will. Our prayers have reached the Throne of the Divine Majesty and have been heard: let us make ourselves worthy of God’s Mercy by exemplary living and bear witness to Our Lord Jesus Christ by a life consistent with the Gospel. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom 12:21).

    Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
    former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America
    November 8, 2024