(Once a year I’ll share with extended family and close friends about things I’ve talked about since 2016.  War, and domestic war.  This year I’ll share with you, too:)

Happy 2023 family and friends (but I’m repeating myself . . .)

I thought I’d take a moment to share my thoughts on themes I’ve been talking about since 2016.  Time to see if I am just another lunatic (and I won’t argue that I’m not!), or maybe got a thing or two sort-of close.

One year ago there was no war in Europe. Today there is war in Europe.    

NATO (the West) has sided with Ukraine; this is no longer a “special military operation” to recapture some lost Russian provinces and protecting ethnic Russians from oppressive Ukrainians.  NATO (the U.S.) shipped missile systems, and all manner of ammunition to Ukraine. And $100 Billion in cash, some of which has filter back to D and R politicians in the U.S.   In the news today, Germany, Poland, and the U.S. are trending toward sending battle tanks to Poland.   Patriot missile donations are old news.  YouTube shows soldiers with strangely American or British accents fighting Russians in the Ukraine.  U.S. Embassy acknowledged one recently deceased American in the fighting.  The 101st Airborne and the 82nd Airborne deploy to Poland and Romania. Secretary of Defense Austin admitted that there are troops in the Ukraine to “monitor” the weapons we sent. And this is just what is in the Press.

The point:  War in Europe was not reality twelve months ago, but it is today. It is not just gun fights, it is full economic warfare.  Somebody blew up the Nord Stream pipeline— it didn’t blow up itself.  U.S. sanctions on Russia remind me of the U.S. sanctions against Japan just prior to their attack on Pearl Harbor. American politicians (R and D) by a large margin support this war against Russia/for Ukraine.

Now, mind you, this little imbroglio need not limit itself to the U.S., Ukraine, and Russia.  The U.K. has a beef with Russia (remember Sergei Skripal?)  Japan and Russia are historical enemies. You all remember the Russo-Japanese war from 1904-05, right? No?  I’ve spoken to Army officers who had no idea 13,000 U.S. troops were on the ground in Russian during Russia’s Civil War.  As were Japanese, Brits, and Czechs. 

But the Russians remember.

The Chinese are hungry for Taiwan.  Japan and China have “history.”  Nuclear enmity between India and Pakistan, Israel and Iran.  North and South Korea. There’s great potential for a block party. 

I see no sanity on the horizon, only angry beasts. 

Which takes me to the domestic situation.

Anyone notice what happened in Atlanta last week?  Antifa set up their own “autonomous zone,” not unlike CHAZ  in Seattle a couple years ago.  Police moved in, shots exchanged, and the riots and burnings began.  Antifa never went away.

Did anyone catch the “shootings” in L.A. recently? People can’t figure it out.  But there was only three mass shootings and only a dozen died.  Why are they worried?  Chicago and Detroit do that every weekend.  But imagine if we continue to lose our cool.  It can get ugly quick.

Anyone notice the electrical power grid attacks over the last year? They dragged a couple of yahoos out of the woods — “they did it and we caught them!”  And that’s what they want you to know.  There are unresolved attacks out there.  The U.S. targeted the electrical grid when it invade Iraq. Russia’ is following suit in the Ukraine.  But it does not take an F-16 to knock out a power grid. In Las Vegas, it was one dude with his car. In Washington State, it was two locals.   Cases in California are unresolved.

Imagine what Antifa could do.  The Mayor of Atlanta reports that Antifa were using explosives in their night-time sports activities. Wonderful.

Let’s wrap this up.

— It does not matter if one favors the Russia or Ukraine — there is war in Europe and it is growing.  Others will get sucked in.

— It does not matter if AntiFa is right or MAGA — there is a powder keg and the fuse is lit. Those in the middle will not escape not matter how innocent they are.

What can you do?  That cabin in the woods of Montana remains as elusive as ever for me.  I’m at ground zero.  The Pentagon, the CIA and the White House surround me.  I’m pointing this out to let you know that, short of winning the lottery, no one will be in the ideal location to weather the storm.

But think about your situation.  That’s one great thing about many government agencies — they are proactive on “prepping” without calling it that.  Some have  mandatory classes like Foreign Affairs Counter Terrorism.   Overseas, employees think through the “what ifs” and practice things impossible to learn in the moment of panic. We build our own decision points because they will be different for each location, and family.

When do we “bug out?” Hopefully before the airport is overrun because driving through broken roads in open war — with children —  isn’t fun. And, without diapers.

Consider this:

1) Order three cases of Stagg chili from Amazon and a sack of rice. Feeds one person for a month.  Cost: $90.00.  And you already have a camping stove and propane.  And a Mr Heater as well — those damp cold winters are miserable when the furnace is down.

2) Water.  Used 55 gallon drum for ten bucks on Craigs List.   Put it under a downspout.  Unsanitary, you say? Most water is used to avoid dysentery after a trip to the loo.  (Hopefully you have a five gallon bucket lying around and a place to dump it.  Having a shovel and a strong back is helpful). When you run out of toilet paper, and the leaves don’t quite do enough . . . water is really nice.

3) Friends and family. No one does this alone.  I’m Grandpa, now.  I go to bed at 8 o-clock. Going to be a team effort.

I’m preaching history, not the end of the world. Wars are normal.  Last general slaughter in the U.S. ended in 1865. For Japan, and China, it was in the lives of our parents.  For Europe it is, again, right now.

Storms, they happen. Make it fun, think it through, and get that extra roll of toilet paper.

Fritz

PS: I would really like Pastors to think it through with their Congregation. The “Rapture” is not the solution.  Lead your people.