Russia, Moldova, Ukraine, Romania… all in the same powder-keg situation. Many people don’t remember, but the war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year, began as Russia moved to protect Russian-speaking populations in the Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk). Now, even as the conflict with Kiev is still raging, another minority Russian population becomes focus of attention of Russian military authorities. We’re talking about Transnistria, a Russian enclave in Moldova – which itself is a former part of Romania. Now, former defense minister and current secretary of the Russian Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, has come to the public to warn that the safety of Russians in the Transnistria region is currently under threat. Shoigu further warned yesterday (21) that Moscow will take all steps to protect their citizens. Reuters reported: "...Moldova’s pro-European authorities have recently been applying greater pressure on the separatist enclave.” Shoigu said Moscow is ready ‘to use any means’ to protect Russians in the sliver of land that borders Ukraine. “’It must not be forgotten that more than 220,000 Russian citizens live in Transnistria. Their interests and safety are now under threat due to the ill-considered and irresponsible actions of Kiev and Chisinau’,” Shoigu told the daily. Commentary Mark Levin, 29 minutes https://rumble.com/v78jebu-ep026-faith-and-war.html?mref=9yobh&mc=2cpbn Back in the late 1980s and early ’90s, the so-called “experts,” the mainstream media, and every smug Ivy League economist couldn’t stop drooling over Japan.“ Fast-forward to 2025-2026. Japan is a cautionary tale on life support. GDP per capita (PPP) hovers around a pathetic $55,000–$56,000 — crushed by America’s nearly $94,000. After taxes and cost of living? It’s even worse. The “Lost Decades” aren’t a glitch — they’re the feature. Zombie companies, endless stagnation, and a demographic death spiral made infinitely worse by policies that treat businesses like government welfare offices rather than wealth-creation machines. In Japan, it’s the infamous keiretsu system — giant corporate clans glued together by cross-shareholdings and a house bank that plays mommy to every failing division. Lifetime employment. Seniority-based pay and promotions instead of merit. Company unions that treat every layoff like a war crime. The goal isn’t profit — heaven forbid — it’s “harmony” and keeping everyone employed forever. Result? Total paralysis. You can’t fire the dead weight. You can’t reallocate capital to what actually works. ...Germany took the socialization even further with the notorious Mitbestimmung — “co-determination.” In big companies, workers and union reps literally occupy half the seats on the supervisory board. They get veto power over layoffs, plant closings, relocations, and major restructurings. It’s not capitalism anymore — it’s corporate communism with better engineering. The boardroom isn’t deciding how to crush competitors and reward shareholders; it’s negotiating how to protect today’s insiders at the expense of tomorrow’s growth. Add in the deranged Energiewende — the green energy fantasy that tripled electricity costs — and you have the perfect storm. German industry is literally powering down while the rest of the world races ahead. This is what happens when you let “stakeholders” — code for unions, bureaucrats, and professional grievance-mongers — hijack the boardroom. The enterprise stops being a profit machine that lifts everyone through growth and becomes a social-work project designed to protect yesterday’s workers at the expense of tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, young people, and innovators. America’s model is raw, unapologetic, and brutally effective: The company exists to make money for its owners. Management executes or gets fired. You restructure, you pivot, you kill failing divisions without crying about “humanity.” Japan and Germany didn’t fail because of demographics or one bad energy policy. They failed because they turned their greatest companies into paralyzed extensions of the welfare state. The “Axis of Losers” chose preservation over progress — and they’re paying for it in lost decades and lost futures. America still has a choice. We can reject this European-Japanese corporate socialism, tell the unions and the stakeholder grifters to pound sand, and keep rewarding the risk-takers and wealth-creators who actually build the future. A Deeply Alarming Slippery Slope: UK Police Continue Efforts To Criminalize Public Preaching Of The Gospel: Bread of Life Community Church in Essex has been issued with a Community Protection Notice (CPN) that could criminalise its pastor and members for preaching the Christian gospel in Colchester city centre. This is believed to be an unprecedented use of public‑order powers against a whole church, rather than individual Christian street preachers and further seeking to criminalise the content of the message rather than just the manner of preaching. A Community Protection Warning was issued in November 2025, followed by threats of fines. As well as using amplification, the CPN accuses the church of using ‘religious messaging’ which mentions ‘hell’ that causes ‘harassment, alarm and distress.' Discomfort with modern technology shapes Gen Z's desire to live in the past: In the new NBC News Decision Desk poll, a plurality of young Americans said they’d choose to live in the past if they had the option. Nearly half (47%) of adults ages 18-29 said if they had the option, they’d choose to live in the past, according to a new NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey. One-third said they’d pick a time period less than 50 years in the past, while another 14% said they’d choose more than 50 years in the past. The poll found that 62% of Gen Z respondents said they expect life will be worse for them compared to previous generations... In interviews with NBC News, young adults said the desire to live in the past is shaped by their relationship with technology and a growing discomfort with being connected to the internet at all times. Nostalgia for a previous era can bring a sense of community and comfort to Gen Zers who are anxious about an uncertain technological and geopolitical future, they said.
NEW WAR IN EUROPE? Russian Citizens in Moldova’s Breakaway Republic of Transnistria Allegedly Under Threat, as Moscow Vows To Protect Them at Any Cost:
FAITH & WAR:
AXIS OF ECONOMIC LOSERS: Japan and Germany...