Written on 25 December 2024.

Ukraine’s Demographic Black Hole – Academic

A professor from Kyiv’s Shevchenko University said in a recent interview that “hungry” Ukrainian women and “hungry for women” foreign peacekeepers would boost the country’s birth rate.

In an interview aired on YouTube, Nikita Vasylenko, Professor of Journalism at Kyiv’s National Shevchenko University really put the cat among the pigeons with his comments on one way that Ukraine could solve the problems of its demographic crisis.

Interviewed by pro-Russian commentator Alexander Shelest on his YouTube channel, Vasylenko said that when the war in Ukraine ends, the country is likely to see the arrival of thousands of “foreign peacekeepers.”

 “You can imagine how this will solve our demographic problem. At least 40,000 men with money, hungry for women, not tested by the front, but raised on good European products. And hundreds of thousands of hungry Ukrainian women who did not manage to leave for one reason or another, whose men have either already been killed or maimed in the war,” Vasylenko said.

He went on to compare the post war situation Ukraine would face with that during the Second World War when the country was filled with German soldiers, referring to “many ‘Fritz’ [slang name for Germans] children, born from ‘Fritz fathers’.”

Although Vasylenko later backtracked on his comments and spoke out against the introduction of thousands of peacekeepers into Ukraine, the damage had already been done.

Written on 07 December 2024.

Man wundert sich über das Lob in der europäischen Presse für die „Rebellen“, die sich anschicken, nach Hama und Homs auch Damaskus zu erobern. Der Islamistenführer al-Jolani wird als milder, nicht aggressiver und christenfreundlicher Herr dargestellt, der (endlich) in Syrien aufräumt und den Assad unterstützenden Iran vertreibt.

Zugegeben. Der Iran ist ein unangenehmer Akteur. Aber in diesem Moment sollten wir froh sein, wenn es dem Iran und Russland gelingt, den Vormarsch der Islamisten zu stoppen. Syrien als ein Afghanistan II? Nein danke!

Niemand in der Region braucht ein fanatisches, aggressives islamistisches Paradies; schon gar nicht Israel, denn ein islamistisches Syrien könnte die halbtoten Hezbollah und Hamas wiederbeleben. 

Written on 11 December 2024.

In den 20 Jahren zwischen 2003 und 2023 sank das verfügbare Pro-Kopf-Einkommen der Italiener um 7 Prozent, so der 58. Bericht des Wirtschaftsforschungs-Instituts CENSIS. In der EU insgesamt stieg das verfügbare Haushaltseinkommen zwischen 2000 und 2020 um 25 Prozent (um 14% zwischen 2000 und 2009, dann minus 3% aufgrund der Finanzkrise, und erneut um 14% zwischen 2013 und 2021)

Ergebnis: Italiens Pro-Kopf-Einkommen ist in 20 Jahren um 25+7 Prozent. also um insgesamt 32 Prozent unter das EU-Niveau gesunken. Mit anderen Worten: Die Italiener haben im Vergleich zu den anderen EU-Bürgern ein Drittel ihres Einkommens verloren.

Italien verarmt zusehends

Die Kluft zeigt sich noch größer, wenn man den Anteil Italiens am europäischen Durchschnittseinkommen herausrechnet.

Nach Jahrzehnten eines viel gelobten Wirtschaftswunders erlebt Italien die Rückkehr der Armut. Italia povera.

Written on 24 November 2024.

Back in 2012, the US military released the results of its first study of the potential threat of climate change to US national security.  Among the reported potential dangers are threats to civilian infrastructure from storms, water and food insecurity, mass migrations, civil unrest, and wars.  The report authors also predicted that governments across the globe would become increasingly authoritarian to better manage and cope with larger populations and climate chaos.

And just as the physical manifestations of climate change (more extreme storms; rising temperatures; loss of snow and ice; etc.) are occurring sooner  than was initially predicted by climate scientists, it appears that the changeover from democracy to authoritarian government has also occurred here in the USA sooner than anyone predicted. 

I myself doubt that many Trump voters specifically want an end to democracy, but I do imagine that most of them want a stronger government that would take more forceful  action to make the problem of immigration or homelessness go away.  But even a King Trump cannot reverse the effects of continued population growth, anymore than King Canute can order the tide to go out.