Holy Cow (Not)

Gilbert House Ministries

Holy Cow (Not)

August 10, 2024

ACTIVISTS FROM THE TEMPLE INSTITUTE were pictured last week apparently practicing the ritual of the red heifer to herald construction of the Third Temple.

However, the image shared on social media (which was taken in the City of David, not the Mount of Olives as Derek incorrectly said) showed the rabbis with appears to be a cardboard standup of a bovid that is neither fully red nor a heifer. It’s a steer (a bull that’s been neutered).

We discuss the situation in Israel, where tensions are high as Israelis await Iran’s expected military response to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on July 31. Some Western intelligence analysts believe it will come on the 9th of Av, which begins at sundown Monday, a date that marks the anniversaries of the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in 586 BC and the Second Temple in 70 AD.

There are reports that Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian is trying to prevent an all-out war with Israel. We pray the reports are true and that he succeeds.

Also: US agrees to sell offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia; wave of bank closures in US; and new research shows that cows can be “mixing vessels” for H5N1 avian flu, allowing for transmission to humans.

Christians Vote—Deal With It!

August 4, 2024

LIBERAL MEDIA in the US has gone into a panic over a “secretive organization” of wealthy Christians working to turn out the vote this fall. Apparently, it’s only OK for rich liberals to influence elections. Specifically, progressives are hyperventilating about a group called Ziklag, named for a town in southern Israel where David took refuge from Saul 3,000 years ago. Membership in the group is by invitation only, and restricted to families with a net worth of at least $25 million. ProPublica reported that the group plans to spend $12 million to promote conservative candidates this fall, including Donald Trump. Given that the Harris campaign has raised over $300 million since she was appointed the Democratic Party nominee, we don’t see the reason for the panic. In fact, there is none; this is simply the media doing PR for the anti-Trump candidate who, just a few weeks ago, was the least popular vice president in US history, and is now being described in glowing terms as the savior of the Democratic Party—if not democracy itself. Also: Kipling’s WWI-era poem revived to vilify patriotic protesters in England; China won’t save the faltering economy this time around; and virulent strain of Mpox spreads in Congo.

Are They Really That Incompetent?

July 20, 2024

TWO MAJOR EVENTS shook the world over the last seven days: The attempt on Donald Trump’s life and the biggest IT outage in history. The biggest question in our minds for both events is this: Is it plausible these things occurred through sheer incompetence? There were so many obvious failures by the Secret Service and local law enforcement at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania last Saturday that it’s led some to question how such a cascading series of errors is even possible. Likewise, a botched update rolled out to CrowdStrike’s anti-virus software caused Microsoft Windows to crash in computers all over the world. That led to grounded airliners and airport closures, banks and businesses unable to process credit and debit card transactions, and hospitals forced to reschedule non-emergency procedures. How is it possible that code so badly written was pushed out to millions of customers without being tested by CrowdStrike? Also: Israel’s Knesset passes resolution declaring that there will be no independent Palestinian state—“not now, not ever,” according to a Likud Party MK. And the electricity demands of Bitcoin farms and AI data centers are bringing a sharp dose of reality to Net Zero dreams.

Stumbling Into World War 3

July 13, 2024

NATO MET IN D.C. this week, celebrating its 75th anniversary with a series of moves that take the world closer to war. Specifically, NATO announced a new military command to coordinate arms shipments and training for Ukraine; offered Ukraine an “irreversible path” to NATO membership; opened a liaison office in Amman, Jordan; and signed a military agreement with South Korea, expanding its reach into the Asia-Pacific. The latter move is significant because it comes as China moves closer to reintegrating Taiwan, by force if necessary, and is engaged with Belarus in joint military exercises near the borders of Ukraine and Poland, a NATO member. We also discuss parallels between the geopolitical situation of a hundred years ago and the present day. Just as Europe fumbled its way into World War 1, which set the conditions for the eruption of World War 2, we’re seeing interlocking treaties and unbridled hubris setting us up for another global conflict—but this one may involve nuclear weapons.