A Bishop Scribbles

This title may surprise many. This article was written to convey the suffering of the bishop who seeks the face of God and the sanctification of his people. It aims to shed light on the suffering of the Church in the East—a Church that, together with her people, lives under harsh conditions, leading the faithful to look upon the Church as a lifeline of salvation. Yet, amid this suffering, they have come to demand from the Church more than she can bear. The article is, in essence, an indirect call for us to intensify our prayers for our Church.

Most believers are used to relating to their pastor in only one direction — he gives and they receive. They expect his hand to remain always extended toward them, carrying whatever they think they need or desire. To them, he exists to fulfill their requests. They often treat him like a "superhuman" or someone who must not make mistakes, get tired, or need rest! Why, they think, should he even have to worry about food or drink? They forget that he is a human being, and that he too needs to feel a living spiritual and emotional connection with his flock and with others. In fact, such connection is not a luxury, it is essential for him to continue his ministry and fruitful service.

For a pastor to endure being forgotten by his people, he would have to be an angel in a body without human limits. But if he is a man with a sensitive conscience and a tender heart, living his priestly calling in sincerity and truth, then he can only accept carrying his cross daily, fixing his eyes on the Lord and seeking from Him alone true comfort and consolation.

The needs of God's people are many and varied — spiritual, social, material, psychological. That is why the role of faithful believers, who are conscious of their responsibility, is indispensable. How can a pastor meet all these needs when so many expect only to be embraced, but few ever embrace him?

I sometimes wonder: what image do believers really have of their pastor? Many are astonished to discover that he is, in fact, human — that he needs human connection, if not also spiritual companionship. In their minds, they place him on a very high pedestal — yet they leave him there alone, excusing themselves from striving for that same holiness to which he and they are equally called.

At the same time, they show him little mercy for any action, behavior, or even word that displeases them. Their measure is not whether his ministry aligns with the Gospel. What matters to them is that he didn't fulfill their request, even if he tried his best and went beyond his strength.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk described this painful reality from his own experience:

"If a priest guards himself from sin, they call him rigid;

if he grieves over his sin, they call him gloomy;

if he gives alms, they call him a hypocrite;

if he prays much, they call him an extremist;

if he is insulted and forgives, they call him weak;

if he gives generously to the poor, they call him a fool."

Read the rest here.

HT: Dr. Tighe

Trump Orders Ukraine to Surrender

Donald Trump demanded that Ukraine submit to Vladimir Putin’s peace terms or face destruction in an angry meeting at the White House last week, it has emerged.

The US president, who spoke with his Russian counterpart shortly before hosting Volodymyr Zelensky, warned that Putin would “destroy” Ukraine unless a peace deal was in place.

Shouting and swearing, Mr Trump threw aside Ukrainian maps of the battlefield and pressured Mr Zelensky to surrender the Donetsk region to Russia.

Putin is demanding the withdrawal of Ukraine’s army from the crucial eastern territory as a precondition for peace.

However, the surrender of Donetsk is a red line for Ukraine, which has long refused to cede the territory, which Russia has failed to capture despite fighting since 2014.

Kyiv still holds about a quarter of Donetsk province. The land makes up part of the so-called “fortress belt”, a string of heavily defended towns that blocks Russia from making rapid westward advances towards the capital.

In the White House meeting, Mr Trump echoed Putin’s talking points, despite them contradicting his own recent assessment that Moscow was a “paper tiger”, European officials briefed on the meeting told the Financial Times.

Read the rest here.

Trump is far too stupid to be a Russian spy. But I honestly can't fault people for suspecting otherwise. 

Vindictive Prosecution

"The Federal Prosecutor" an address by Robert Jackson US Attorney General (later Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court) April 1, 1940 

cf: Selective and vindictive prosecution

The Most Corrupt President in US History

If you were an authoritarian seeking to influence another head of state, you might offer him a luxuriously appointed Boeing 747 airplane. You might spend big at his hotels or invest in one of the many companies owned by him and his children. You might buy his sneakers, NFTs and other branded products. In the case of President Trump, a potential influence peddler has a vast menu of choices.

But why bother with all that? While campaigning, Mr. Trump announced his cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial, and, just days before his inauguration, his namesake memecoin. Anyone can indirectly deliver money to a Trump family entity simply by buying World Liberty’s tokens. Mr. Trump and his family have accrued billions of dollars in paper wealth through crypto ventures owned by the president, his sons and family friends.

With World Liberty, Trump has created a powerful vehicle for those seeking influence. Anyone — you, me, an Emirati prince — can put money in his pocket by simply buying the tokens the company issues. The key is the convenience factor. For influence peddlers, bags of cash and Swiss bank accounts have been replaced by crypto tokens that can be quickly shuttled between digital wallets and cryptocurrency exchanges. Savvier crypto users — nation-states, hacker groups, money launderers — can use digital “mixers” and other tools to obfuscate their trail.

It’s precisely these conveniences that have also made crypto a favored tool of criminal organizations and sanctions evaders.

We’ve never seen anything like this before. You can tick off notorious executive branch scandals — President Ulysses S. Grant’s rogues’ gallery of corrupt advisers, Teapot Dome’s bribes for oil leases in the Harding administration, Watergate and the downfall of Richard Nixon — but none of them featured this scale of mixing of personal and government interests, much less the sheer accumulation of profit, of Mr. Trump’s multibillion-dollar crypto windfall.

Read the rest here.

And Trump ordered convicted fraudster George Santos immediately released from prison on the grounds he was "horribly mistreated." 

Words fail.

GAFCON Severs Ties with Canterbury and Liberal Churches in Major Anglican Schism

Official Statement here.

See also this.

The near total silence on this event from the mainstream press and media, including in the UK, is deafening.  

Trump: Now I am getting drug prices down 500, 600, 800%, in some cases even more than that, hard to believe.

The dumbest president in American history, by far.
pic.twitter.com/WtToFmz0Iv

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) October 16, 2025

Military Restricts Press Reporting

Wednesday was a major moment for the coverage of the United States military. Scores of journalists with access to the Pentagon handed in their press passes rather than sign on to new rules laid out by Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense.

The news organizations that have refused to agree to the rules include large organizations such as The New York Times, NBC News and Fox News, as well as many smaller publications that focus entirely on the military. At least one news organization, the conservative cable network One America News, has agreed to the new terms.

The new rules codify sharp limitations on access and raise the prospect of punishment — including revocation of credentials — for simply requesting information on matters of public interest. Lawyers representing national news organizations have been negotiating for weeks with Pentagon officials over the strictures.

Read the rest here.

The Young Republican Chat Scandal

NEW YORK — Leaders of Young Republican groups throughout the country worried what would happen if their Telegram chat ever got leaked, but they kept typing anyway.

They referred to Black people as monkeys and “the watermelon people” and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

Read the rest here.

Giving credit where it is due

Trump got Israel to stop the horror show in Gaza and forced Hamas to release their hostages. We will see what follows.

How Trump’s message to ‘Pam’ got exactly the results he wanted

All it took was a personal message to “Pam.”

A Sept. 20 tirade from President Donald Trump on Truth Social set off an extraordinary rush that has turned a once-hypothetical fear into reality: a president personally directing criminal charges against people he sees as his enemies.

Trump’s public instructions to Attorney General Pam Bondi (which he may have intended as a private DM) were not subtle. The president named three public figures he has long detested and urged the Justice Department to prosecute them immediately.

Now, less than three weeks later, two of them are under indictment: former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Both have denied wrongdoing. And the many other targets Trump wants to see in jail are bracing for who will be next.

The third person Trump named in his message to Bondi — Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) — decried the new reality Thursday, shortly after James was indicted on two counts stemming from allegations of mortgage fraud.

Read the rest here.

Trump DOJ Indicts NY Attorney General

New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted Thursday in Alexandria, Virginia, as President Donald Trump’s Justice Department continues to pursue charges against his political opponents.

James has been under investigation since May over a 2023 mortgage she took out to help her niece buy a home in Norfolk, Virginia.

The grand jury returned two felony charges: bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. James’ first court appearance is scheduled for October 24 in Norfolk.

According to the indictment, James claimed on mortgage paperwork that a home she purchased in Norfolk would be her second residence. That claim allowed her to get favorable loan terms not available for investment properties, prosecutors say.

But, prosecutors allege, James did not use the house and instead rented the property to a family of three. They allege she falsely stated in loan applications that the residence would be a secondary home when they allege James knew she would use it as an investment property.

The charges come as Trump continues to call for his enemies to be prosecuted in court. Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty Wednesday to allegedly making a false statement in a congressional proceeding. The Justice Department has also opened investigation into former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff, and others.

Read the rest here.

Recent News

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Frustrated lawmakers say lack of trust is making it harder to end the government shutdown

Why gold is having its best year since 1979

Ray Dalio Sees Gold as Safer Than the US Dollar

‘Bow to the Emperor’: 50 Legal Experts on the Trump Presidency

Doug Wilson: America Should be a Christian Theocracy

Press groups condemn US Defense Department rules governing media access

Trump’s war on the left: Inside the plan to investigate liberal groups

Russia's industrial titans furlough workers as its war economy stalls

France's Macron seeks sixth prime minister in under two years

The Anglican Communion is closer than ever to formal schism

Backgruond... GAFCON & Sarah Mullally

A Libertarian Argument for an Interventionist Foreign Policy

Individual Liberty and the Responsibility to Protect: Toward a Neolibertarian Foreign Policy

From here.

Side note: Due to my mother's death there will be little blogging until the 9th of Oct. However, I found this to be a really good read and thought I'd share it. My sisters and I will be quite busy during the mourning period settling mom's affairs. Lastly, I am deeply grateful for the many expressions of sympathy and prayers posted here and communicated privately. They have been a source of comfort in a very dark and painful moment. Thank you.

Memory Eternal!

Mom died tonight. It was unexpected though I was able to say goodbye. She was the last member of the family from that generation. Those who have been through this will know the awful grief. Prayers are deeply appreciated.

In a blessed falling asleep, grant, O Lord, eternal rest unto Thy departed servant Geraldine and make her memory to be eternal!

Memory eternal! Memory eternal! Memory eternal!

Making Polio Great Again

Ok. It's time to call a shovel a shovel. Anti-Vax pseudo-scientific nuttery has now gone mainstream in the Republican Party. RFK Jr. is turning the Department of Health and Human Services into an agency dedicated to all out warfare on modern medicine. Florida's Surgeon General wants to end ALL vaccine mandates for kids. Yes, even Polio! If this quack had been in charge a couple of generations ago, we would still have Smallpox in the world. If you don't know what that is, firstly you are very fortunate, and secondly it's because we eradicated it by mass vaccinations. In the 19th century one in four children did not live to adulthood. Vaccines are one of the most important reasons we have reduced infant mortality rates in the developed world to less than 1%. The most dangerous people are always well meaning fools with power. And these kooks are going to get people killed. 

Ray Dalio Warns of Debt, Wealth Inequality and America's Drift Towards Authoritarianism

One of the world’s most prominent hedge fund billionaires has warned that rising inequality is turning the US into an autocratic state and condemned business leaders for failing to speak out against Donald Trump’s policies.

Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, said “gaps in wealth” and a collapse in trust were driving “more extreme” policies in the US.

Speaking to the Financial Times, the veteran financier said many western countries were affected by growing inequality, leading voters to turn increasingly to autocratic leaders.

“I think that what is happening now politically and socially is analogous to what happened around the world in the 1930-40 period,” he said.

“Classically, increased wealth and value gaps lead to increased populism of the right and populism of the left and irreconcilable differences between them that can’t be resolved through the democratic process.

“So democracies weaken and more autocratic leadership increases as a large percentage of the population wants government leaders to get control of the system to make things work well for them.”

Concerns about a significant rise in borrowing by the US government were well founded, said Dalio, who has long predicted a reckoning for economies that allow debts to rise.

In his books, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order and How Countries Go Broke: the Big Cycle, he has described how large annual spending deficits and unsustainable debt growth had brought the US economy to the brink of a debt crisis – a situation that had worsened over many years.

“The great excesses that are now projected as a result of the new budget will likely cause a debt-induced heart attack in the relatively near future,” he said. “I’d say three years, give or take a year or two.”

Read the rest here.

Unfortunately, the original interview is behind a paywall. But it is getting a lot of attention in the broader press.

Gold Posts New Record

Gold currently trading at ~$3,566 /oz amidst expectations of the Fed cutting interest rates (whether by choice or under presidential coercion), and the risks of a weaker dollar and higher inflation. 

Update: Gold closed at $3,599 /oz. 

China's navy is the world's largest and expanding at breakneck speed

...Suoyuwan park in Dalian, which juts out of north-eastern China into the Yellow Sea, has stunning views of one of China's largest shipyards, and is a place to gather and be merry.

But to White House analysts thousands of miles away in Washington, this cradle of Chinese shipbuilding is part of a growing threat.

In the last two decades, China has ramped up investment in shipbuilding. And that has paid off: more than 60% of the world's orders this year have gone to Chinese shipyards. Put simply, China is building more ships than any other country because it can do it faster than anyone else.

"The scale is extraordinary… in many ways eye-watering," says Nick Childs, a maritime expert with the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. "The Chinese shipbuilding capacity is something like 200 times overall that of the United States."

That commanding lead also applies to its navy. The Chinese Communist Party now has the world's largest, operating 234 warships compared to the US Navy's 219.

China's explosive rise has been fuelled by the sea. The world's second-largest economy is home to seven of the world's 10 busiest ports, which are critical to global supply routes. And its coastal cities are thriving because of trade.

As Beijing's ambitions have grown, so has its arsenal of ships - and its confidence to stake a louder claim in the South China Sea and beyond.

President Xi Jinping's China certainly wants to rule the waves. Whether it will is the question.

Read the rest here.

Largely overlooked in this otherwise good story is the fact that China's navy is concentrated in the Western Pacific. The US Navy is spread all over the world.