Europeans have been talking about a common defense union for many years, but little has developed. That appears to be changing. Ursula von der Leyen was just reelected for another five-year term as President of the European Commission after nearly losing her job (CNN, July 18, 2024). In one speech, she profoundly observed that the next five years will define Europe’s place in the world for the next five decades.

Last weekend, former U.S. President Donald Trump was injured in an assassination attempt at a political rally. As widely reported, Mr. Trump was shot in the ear with a bullet that just barely missed his skull. The gunman was killed and at least one member of the audience present at the rally was also killed. The attack prompted President Biden to make a statement condemning political violence.

That bold statement is the title of a recent article published in the Telegraph (June 15, 2024). The article notes that, thanks to the Ukraine conflict, many nations are coming to understand that modern warfare is really an artillery war. He then cited Joseph Stalin’s reference to artillery as the “God of War.” The war in Ukraine uses “millions of shells and hundreds of thousands of rockets a year.”

Some contend that while the Jewish Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, the Christian Sabbath is the first day, or Sunday. Others believe that the Sabbath is on the seventh day for everyone. To further complicate things, some claim that, biblically, days don’t begin in the evening but instead begin in the morning—thus, even the Sabbath should start on Saturday morning instead of Friday evening at sundown. What day is the Christian Sabbath? Do biblical days begin in the evening or the morning? And why does any of this matter?

South Africa is the latest in a long list of nations legalizing recreational marijuana use (Al Jazeera, June 10, 2024). Some wonder if South Africa’s decision will prompt other African nations to follow its lead. The socio-political peer pressure is high, and politicians are moving to make this once-illicit drug legal for the people of their nations, in spite of growing evidence that marijuana use is unsafe.