To give you an idea of the sort of news we’ve been getting since Putin’s War started, the latest weirdity (to coin a term) is that Putin is threatening Finland and Sweden to deploy nuclear weapons in the region . . . which has already been done. In other news:
Is Putin the Biggest Thief in History?
• The Biggest Thief in History Leading a Nation of Thieves. In semi-corroboration of our earlier statements concerning the possibility of Putin being the greatest thief in human history, an article recently appeared reporting on the source of funding for Putin’s war chest . . . much of which was diverted back into Putin’s pocket, thereby essentially stealing from himself for a double theft. A big complaint in the Russian military (aside from being treated like dirt and used as cannon fodder), is that most of the money earmarked for the military was siphoned off by Putin and his friends, which seems to be a perennial problem in Russia, as this article from 2011 claims. The Russians steal from each other as readily as they steal from other countries.
• Big Surprise. One of the Ukrainian Marines who surrendered in Mariupol after being assured good treatment appears to have been tortured and forced to deliver Russian propaganda. The Marine is a British citizen regularly enlisted in the Ukrainian armed forces and is fairly well-known for his reports during the siege. One wonders what will become of those whose identities are not so well-known, or the effect on anyone the Russians try to persuade to surrender in the future.
• What About Fusion? One of Putin’s most powerful weapons against Ukraine is its position as supplier of fossil fuels to the European Union. By threatening to cut off the flow of oil as well as inflict “dire consequences” on anyone who incites his considerable ire, Putin hopes to stop the flow of weapons into Ukraine (which he could do much easier by stopping his own flow of weapons into that country) and halt the expansion of NATO . . . which was not even a realistic issue until Putin’s goosestepping into Ukraine made it imperative. The fact remains, however, that the world needs fuel, and Russia is a big supplier of fossil fuels, using the proceeds to finance his war machine. The obvious answer, then, is to shift away from fossil fuels while we still can, and make an all-out effort to get fusion power commercially viable, along with the various hydrogen powered systems. Fusion power should be the macro system for the grid, with micro hydrogen systems for backup and use in isolated areas or small systems, such as automobiles.
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| "Never let your flagship blow up." |
• “Never Let Your Flagship Blow Up”. As is fairly well-known by now, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Moscow, has sunk. If, as the Ukrainians claim, it was two of their missiles that did the job, it is a huge embarrassment to the Russians. If, as the Russians claim, it was the result of an accident, it is a huge embarrassment to the Russians. As Admiral James Stavridis (U.S. Navy, Retired) commented, “The first thing you learn at Annapolis is never let your flagship blow up.” As Milton Bradley said, “You sank my battleship!” An interesting side note, especially today, which the Western Church celebrates as “Good Friday,” the day Christ was crucified, is that there was reportedly a relic of the “true cross” on board the vessel. Now, whether or not you believe in relics in general or this one in particular, we don’t think it was really on the ship. Given the fact that billions were stolen from the military budget by Putin and his cronies, the relic donated by a private collector may never have actually reached the ship as it would more likely have been stolen and sold by Putin.
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| Still holding out |
• Correction. In our comments on Wednesday’s posting, we said that Mariupol had fallen. We based this on some premature reports coming out of Putin’s propaganda machine about the surrender of some Ukrainian Marines. As of this writing, the defenders are still holding out, and tying up a significant portion of the Russian forces that Putin needs to intensify his terror war in the Donbas region.
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| Henry Cabot Henhouse III, a.k.a. "Superchicken" |
• War and Chickens. Some African tribes give a chicken to a child when he or she is born. No one else has any right to do anything to or with that chicken. The idea is that you begin teaching the child about responsibility and pride of ownership at an early age. Then there is the fact that chickens — if they’re hens, anyway — lay eggs, and thus provide a source of food, making a chicken a capital asset. This was a fortunate thing for a Ukrainian woman, whose chickens helped keep her alive after the Russians invaded, stole everything they could find, and killed some of her neighbors.
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| Postage Stamp of the Year? |
• Russian Warship Commemorative Stamp. First Day Covers of a postage stamp commemorating the “profane” response of a Ukrainian soldier to a surrender demand are selling for big bucks. The stamp itself is also in high demand by collectors and others throughout the world, especially since the vessel featured recently sank . . . as a result of a self-inflicted accident, if Russian authorities are to be believed (or a couple of Neptune missiles, if we believe Ukrainian authorities) . . . so the vessel really did, er, [BLEEP] itself. In any event the stamp is sure to be the centerpiece of many collections . . . except in Russia. . . .
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| Putin's altar boy and his master confer. |
• A Good Argument for Separation of Church and State? According to Alexis de Tocqueville, Church and State have distinct roles in a democracy. To paraphrase, while it is of supreme importance to someone that his or her religion be true, the State’s only legitimate concern is that a citizen obey the law regardless of religious beliefs. Similarly, as long as civil authority does not pass laws contrary to nature or interferes in purely religious matters, there should be no problem. There is, of course, a broad area where Church and State (and Family) must and can work together toward common goals, but not in any way that allows a religion to dictate political policy or civil administration, or whereby the State can dictate religious doctrine, belief, or practice. That is why, according to a number of commentators and religious authorities, the activities of Patriarch Kyrill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, are so reprehensible. His Beatitude is becoming increasingly viewed as Putin’s stooge and religious front man to give a religious patina to an irreligious war.
• The Greater Reset. CESJ’s new book by members of CESJ’s core group, The Greater Reset: Reclaiming Personal Sovereignty Under Natural Law is, of course, available from the publisher, TAN Books, an imprint of Saint Benedict Press, and has already gotten a top review on that website. It can also be obtained from Barnes and Noble, as well as Amazon, or by special order from your local “bricks and mortar” bookstore. The Greater Reset is the only book of which we’re aware on “the Great Reset” that presents an alternative instead of simply warning of the dangers inherent in a proposal that is contrary to natural law. It describes reality, rather than a Keynesian fantasy world. Please note that The Greater Reset is NOT a CESJ publication as such, and enquiries about quantity discounts and wholesale orders for resale must be sent to the publisher, Saint Benedict Press, NOT to CESJ.
• Help Joe Walk Again for Economic Justice. Just a reminder, if you haven’t already done so, to visit the GoFundMe campaign and consider making a contribution and spreading word out among your social media networks. It’s off to a good start, but it’s still just a start.
• Hortense and Her Whos. In case you’ve been wondering how you might advance the Just Third Way by introducing it to legislators at any and all levels of government, we’ve made it easy for you, with the “Hortense Hears Three Whos“ initiative. Visit the explanatory website, and consider downloading the postcard to send to people in government. Don’t worry if you think they won’t be open to it, as the postcard is intended to get them to open their eyes.
• Economic Personalism Landing Page. A landing page for CESJ’s latest publication, Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person, has been created and can be accessed by clicking on this link. Everyone is encouraged to visit the page and send the link out to their networks.
• Economic Personalism. When you purchase a copy of Economic Personalism: Property, Power and Justice for Every Person, be sure you post a review after you’ve read it. It is available on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble at the cover price of $10 per copy. You can also download the free copy in .pdf available from the CESJ website. If you’d like to order in bulk (i.e., ten or more copies) at the wholesale price, send an email to publications@cesj.org for details. CESJ members get a $2 rebate per copy on submission of proof of purchase. Wholesale case lots of 52 copies are available at $350, plus shipping (whole case lots ONLY). Prices are in U.S. dollars.
• Sensus Fidelium Videos, Update. CESJ’s series of videos for Sensus Fidelium are doing very well, with over 155,000 total views. The latest Sensus Fidelium video is “The Five Levers of Change.” The video is part of the series on the book, Economic Personalism. The latest completed series on “the Great Reset” can be found on the “Playlist” for the series. The previous series of sixteen videos on socialism is available by clicking on the link: “Socialism, Modernism, and the New Age,” along with some book reviews and other selected topics. For “interfaith” presentations to a Catholic audience they’ve proved to be popular, edging up to 150,000 views to date. They aren’t really “Just Third Way videos,” but they do incorporate a Just Third Way perspective. You can access the playlist for the entire series The point of the videos is to explain how socialism and socialist assumptions got such a stranglehold on the understanding of the role of the State and thus the interpretation of Catholic social teaching, and even the way non-Catholics and even non-Christians understand the roles of Church, State, and Family, and the human person’s place in society.
• Shop online and support CESJ’s work! Did you know that by making your purchases through the Amazon Smile program, Amazon will make a contribution to CESJ? Here’s how: First, go to https://smile.amazon.com/. Next, sign in to your Amazon account. (If you don’t have an account with Amazon, you can create one by clicking on the tiny little link below the “Sign in using our secure server” button.) Once you have signed into your account, you need to select CESJ as your charity — and you have to be careful to do it exactly this way: in the space provided for “Or select your own charitable organization” type “Center for Economic and Social Justice Arlington.” If you type anything else, you will either get no results or more than you want to sift through. Once you’ve typed (or copied and pasted) “Center for Economic and Social Justice Arlington” into the space provided, hit “Select” — and you will be taken to the Amazon shopping site, all ready to go.
• Blog Readership. We have had visitors from 25 different countries and 33 states, provinces, and territories in the United States and Canada to this blog over the past week. Most visitors are from the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Canada, and Australia. The most popular postings this past week in descending order were “Social Justice, IV: The Characteristics of Social Justice,” “‘Why Are You Here?’” “How Commercial Banks Create Money,” “The Problem with Distributism,” and “‘Remarks on Certain Passages in the Thirty-Nine Articles’.”
Those are the happenings for this week, at least those that we know about. If you have an accomplishment that you think should be listed, send us a note about it at mgreaney [at] cesj [dot] org, and we’ll see that it gets into the next “issue.” Due to imprudent language on the part of some commentators, we removed temptation and disabled comments.
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