No one would have believed
In the last years of the nineteenth century
That human affairs were being watched from the timeless worlds of space
No one could have dreamed that we were being scrutinized
As someone with a microscope studies creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water
Few men even considered the possibility of life on other planets
And yet, across the gulf of space
Minds immeasurably superior to ours
Regarded this Earth with envious eyes
And slowly and surely, they drew their plans against us

This is from the opening of Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds. I have the vinyl records somewhere in the cupboard and I also have a couple of sets of the CDs. This opening text was narrated by Richard Burton. A creative masterpiece. And yes, no one wants to believe that our free world could be attacked. That evil wants to burn it down to the ground. And this is what is happening right now. We don’t have to wait for Mars.

Ukraine, Israel and South Africa are at war. Tragically, SA has statistics for a country at war. The murder rate is insane and violence is a way of life. It is very very sad. And then there are bombs, tanks, canons, and guns firing non-stop in Ukraine, and now, we have the same devastation unfolding in Israel. Evil is spreading. I will bet that WW III is not far away.

How did the world get to this point?! Sure, there is a lot of evil out there, and it appears to be spreading. But I don’t believe that the masses are evil. The reality is that there are some twisted and unhinged leaders and dictators on our planet. Like that madman from North Korea, who has nuclear weapons. I would not be surprised if Kim Jong Un attacked South Korea, who doesn’t have nuclear weapons.

Corruption and perverted capitalism are the seeds of this evil. That is what I believe. Taken to new levels by people like Trump, Putin, etc. But it is not just these mumsers, it is everywhere, including in Israel, which is now in all the news. Israel took its eye off the ball. They have their own corruption, greed and in-fighting to deal with, and they were fast asleep as to the real problems. Greed sits at the center of all of this. This is what I believe too.

Greedy, corrupt, selfish people have brought us to this point. Sadly, I don’t believe there is a solution. I can’t see the greedy suddenly become a whole lot kinder en masse. And all this money making and taking, has left America, for example, weak. The selfishness is peaking and so is the lack of compassion. This is probably why America is so divided. It was easy for a lunatic like Trump to stir up the neglected masses. And the same goes for many other parts of the world. Russia, on the other hand, is more about brainwashing, but for sure, the masses there have so little to lose, so little self-respect. It is easy for a madman like Putin to fire them up. And if they don’t comply they simply get sent to Siberia.

Don’t get me wrong. I am selfish too. We are all selfish. But there are levels that most won’t go beyond. Unfortunately, it only takes a few with power to push us over the edge.

America used to set the pace in the world. Not anymore. Their inward focus and weakness is clear to China and to Russia. Putin, for example, is constantly seeing how far he can push things. And he will keep on taking chances. And by doing so, it is giving other dictators the confidence to also try get away with evil. Hamas is an example of evil that saw weakness and made its move.

I believe war is on Europe’s doorstep. If Ukraine falls, God forbid, then WW III will be upon us. But it could also start somewhere else. North Korea may be the catalyst. Or perhaps China will invade Taiwan. Who knows any more. But anything is possible.

In Ukraine the people there are most likely mentally equipped for WW III. I think the same goes for Israel. And I would argue, in South Africa too. Phew, I am therefore very well prepared. But Americans, for example, are not. They are fast asleep, in my view. They spend their time on so much rubbish. Just turn on the news any day of the week. The writing is on the wall.

My friend Guy wrote this text. It is highly compelling.

The Israeli connection to China’s World domination 

As the world watches what happens in Israel, many would like it to seem like a Hamas / Israel conflict. The simple truth carries a much larger global impact.

My abilities and training always were around understanding trends and movements. Those far from the naked eye. The “whys” most people won’t take the time to ask or understand.

For years I have been monitoring the situation in Israel. For the last 2 years, like most of the world, I’ve been monitoring the situation in Ukraine. And living in South Africa for nearly 15 years motivated me to understand the way of China. 

And you know what? It all connects. I will work backwards to connect these threads:

Israel and Hamas: Hamas is funded and fueled by Iran who also finances Hezbollah and not only helped plan, but last week “green lighted” the attack on Israel. This conflict has gone on for years under the public guise to wipe Israel from the face of this earth under religious fanaticism. As all hate fueled conflict, fanaticism is the veil of those who seek power to manipulate those who embrace it.

Here is another:

Ukraine and Russia: One dictator decides he wants the old USSR to come to life. He wants to create another empire. He believes he can do it. The West knows that Ukraine is strategic to Europe. We will come back to that, with a broader China-Russia context. 

And yet another one. The crazy one: 

North Korea: They have nuclear weapons. Kim Jong Un threatens the East: Japan and Taiwan. But is also threatened by democracy and American capitalism. 

Of course, then there are BRICS: (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), an economic force currently that is challenging America. BRICS is a powerful alliance as it dominates 3 of the world’s continent with a massive emphasis in Asia and are all challenged by democracy. 

When you look at all of four elements, the one common denominator that ties them together on all fronts is China.

On the BRICS front, all countries apart from China have very low credit ratings, which makes it very difficult for them to borrow dollar-based money. The interest rates are high. So, they turn to China who can lend them in Yuan or even grant them cash without much impact. In return, China holds them to an economical dependency, or economical ransom. These countries must abide to China’s wishes through financial pressures that they apply. The result is control on major resources around the world: mining, infrastructure, power, food and water with minimal investment or risk.

On the other front you have China, Iran, Russia and North Korea. I have decided to coin them as CIRN. 

While BRICS is an economics alliance, CIRN is an alliance of chaos and unrest. 

The Chinese continues to influence and manipulate the other 3 countries by supporting and embellishing to their strengths and their desires while fueling their fears.

Putin wants his empire. Iran wants Islamic dominance in the Middle East, which requires the elimination of Israel / Zionism. And North Korea, well, this guy is a bit on the crazy side but will only continue to hold power as a totalitarian dictator.

CIRN is an interesting alliance. More like a suicide squad consisting of the bully, the fanatics, the crazy and the diplomats, China. In CIRN, China keeps their hands clean and lets the rest cause noise and damage. 

Does China hate Israel. Of course not. Do they hate Ukraine, of course not. Do they care about these countries. Of course not. 

Do they care about BRICS and CIRN? Yes, for as long as they serve their purpose of global economic and political destabilization while strengthening China. 

And that brings me to the point where I believe this all connects. 

For a long while China has wanted to demolish the American dominance in the world. They have mentioned, more than once, that the dependency on the dollar is an issue (I would agree but it is a topic for another time). They want to challenge the status quo and create an economy that is based on Yuan. 

And they know what they’re doing. In simple terms, the West feels it can play chess with China while China plays Go with them. And they are likely to win. 

China has 3 milestones it wants to achieve:

1. Disruption of American influence
2. Disruption of world economy and democracy
3. Financial gains in the short and the long runs

The easy targets to achieve these goals are Ukraine, Israel, South Africa, Taiwan and Brazil. These countries drag the US, UN, and NATO into conflicts that make them spend resources like money, food, energy while stilting innovation and distracts the westernized world from Chinese ambition. 

They are also benefiting from American investments that can be damaged if they misplay their hands (cyber being one of those through the different groups in CIRN).

So, we have here a master puppeteer that pulls so many strings at the same time, playing Go “the long game”, with one agenda in mind: create a world independent from the dollar and any American influence, wanting to create a new world order as the only global superpower. 

Don’t get me wrong, the American way has many weaknesses and has many caveats, some of which I simply don’t like. Years of unrest in various regions for profiteering or bumbling even the best of intentions. But I prefer this way any day, any time, than one of Chinese world order. 

In my humble opinion, if the world stands a chance to stop to China’s plans, they must win the Indians’ and Saudis’ hearts and minds. Especially as the US has lost its influence over Africa and still spends a fortune of time and money on Pakistan / Afghanistan foreign matters, which are a mere diversion in China’s global plan.

The world is suffering from major unrest due to one major master puppeteer disrupting economies and peace – China. And Israel is just one of 5 of them being the manipulated and now, attacked. 

Oh, if you are religious (I am) the days of Gog and Magog and Armageddon are here. And if you like other prophecies, Nostradamus mentioned that the next world war would be between the East and the West. It looks like we are about to have both…

If we stand a chance, we must have ruthless accountability and if we seek the larger picture, it becomes obvious that this attack has much larger global implications.

This text from Prof. Timothy Synder is simply brilliant. Terror and counter-terror. A reflection on Hamas and Israel.

I want to share a thought about terror and counter-terror, prompted by the Hamas attacks and the dilemmas Israel faces.  It is not based on regional knowledge but does draw from scholarly work on the politics of terror and insurgency.  It is not so much a take on specific events as a general reminder of the larger shape such events can take.

For the victim, terror is about what it is. For the terrorist, it is about what happens next.

Terror can be a weapon of the weak, designed to get the strong to use their strength against themselves.  Terrorists know what they are going to do, and have an idea what will follow. They mean to create an emotional situation where self-destructive action seems like the urgent and only choice.

When you have been terrorized, the argument that I am making seems absurd; the terrorists can seem to you to be raving beasts who just need punishment.

Yet however horrible the crime, it usually does not bespeak a lack of planning. Usually part of the plan is to enrage.

Americans have fallen for this. 9/11 was a successful terrorist attack because we made it so.  Regardless of whether or not its planners and perpetrators lived to see this, it achieved its main goal: to weaken the United States.  Without 9/11, the United States presumably would not have invaded Iraq, a decision which led to the death of tens of thousands of people, helped fund the rise of China, weakened international law, and undid American credibility. 9/11 was a contributing cause to American decisions that caused far more death than 9/11 itself did. But the point here is that 9/11 facilitated American decisions that hurt America far more than 9/11 itself did.

On 9/13/2001, I dropped my planned lecture on east European history and spoke entirely about terror and counter-terror, along these lines. I was worried, but did not imagine then just how well the provocation would work. The invasion of Iraq was a disaster that arose from many sources; but one of them was the logic of terror — and indeed its exploitation by people who wanted a war in Iraq anyway.

In evaluating what Hamas has done, it is important to remember that the atrocious crimes are not (or are not only) ends in themselves.  They are utterly horrible and deserving of every condemnation, but they are not mindless. Unlike Israelis, who are shocked and feel they must urgently act, Hamas has been working out this scenario for years. The people carrying out the bestial crimes follow a plan that anticipates an Israeli reaction. 

Classically, a terrorist provokes a state in order to generate so much suffering among his own people that they will take the terrorist’s side indefinitely.

I won’t claim to know what Hamas expects from Israel, nor what Israel should do.  That would be a matter for people with the languages and expertise to read and analyze the documents and the data. My point is that it is always worth asking, in such situations, whether you are following the terrorist’s script. If what you want to do is what your enemy wants you to do, someone is mistaken.  It might be your enemy.  But it also might be you. 

PS.  I am conscious that the cool tone of this thread might seem jarring in the context of human suffering.  I regret this.

PPS. I anticipate the objection that Israeli state policy has been designed to provoke Palestinians. I agree that the strong can also terrorize the weak.

I did not believe that Elon Musk actually put this out there, and then I went online to look for myself and there it was. How can someone be this miserable, this clueless and so lacking in class.

Just because someone is rich does not mean they are decent. It is such a sad world we live in. What has happened to humanity?!

Is this fool really so desperate for attention. It is truly mind boggling that someone of this sort of influence will post something like this.

My one friend in the US text’d me this a few moments ago, “What’s almost more disgusting is the 256,000 likes. He’s become super right wing. It’s a very right wing thing to be anti-Ukraine right now.”

This is making my stomach turn.

I got a bunch of comments from some friends this morning and I am updating this short blog post. Sounds like no one in Ukraine will be buying a Tesla car after this. My friends in Kyiv are all disgusted.

“He’s just upset that Ukraine is getting more taxpayers money than Tesla is. He is the king of subsidy sucking so ironically that meme is really about him.”

“It’s interesting that it’s taken this amount of money to show who he really is.”

“What an idiot. He has shown his true colours. Totally disgusting!!”

“This guy has no boundaries and no moral code.”

The Bunster is 3 years old today. Wow, what a journey this little man has had already. Talk about a wild ride, not that he will ever remember any of it. But we sure do have a lot of pics and videos. One day we can show him how his first 3 years were.

Being a dad is magical and exhausting. And yes, I am just another dad. No big deal. I know. Please excuse me. I do love this new dimension to life, but throw in the war, and everything else, and, well, we are seriously tired just about all the time. Marta is a trooper – I am very lucky to be married to her. The Bun has one helluva cool mom. He is lucky this little man.

I feel confident that the Bun man is nurtured and loved to the maximum. We are hands on parents and we don’t outsource his days to a TV set. He is active, and we walk with him, talk with him, ride bikes and scooters, build things with Lego, learn magic (well, er, I am trying to teach him some stuff, but he eats the cards), read books (in English and Ukrainian) and more. He is often not easy on us our busy little Bun and he still does not sleep through the night. But we love him too bits and he makes us smile, and sometimes cry.

I imagine a purpose of every parent is to leave the world in a better state for the next generation but it looks like we are all failing. What a mad world the Bun will grow up in – it often scares me. Between the wired kids and the digital devices everywhere, and the violence, this evil war, toxic social media, a hotter planet … it is a very different world to when I was a kid.

The war has been so traumatic and it is not ending any time soon. We just want to return to where Bun was born, to his home city, Kyiv. The devastation of this insane war can be seen in the divorce rate in Ukraine which has more than doubled since the start of the full scale invasion. And then there are the children that Russia has “taken”. Hundreds and thousands of innocent young souls. It is frightening to think about this. And the world just watches, and no one can do anything to stop it. We do thank God the Bunster knows nothing of this evil.

We sometimes talk about a brother or sister for Bun. But we would only ever consider this when the war ends. For now, the Bun man is our focus, and we are doing all we can to try give him a good life experience. So far so good, we think … war and all.