🇾🇪 🇮🇷 🌍 This graphic attempts summarizing the current incidents targeting maritime vessels in the Arabian Sea/Bab-El-Mandeb region, it highlights potential UAV ranges, simulates traffic density & presents how vulnerable commercial shipping is to such attacks

📎 Damien Symon

— 🇮🇱/🇵🇸 NEW: Jewish settlers set fire to a Christmas tree in Bethlehem in the West Bank, while under IDF protection

@Middle_East_Spectator

— 🇮🇱/🇵🇸 UDPATE: Muslim and Christian Palestinians banded together, gathering rocks and attacking the settlers, after which they fled and the fire was extinguished

@Middle_East_Spectator

🎄 🇵🇸 🇮🇱 Israeli settlers set fire to the Christmas tree in Bethlehem.

🔶️ Bethlehem is located in the West Bank of Palestine, ten kilometers away from Jerusalem. Christian pilgrims from all over the world come here on Christmas days. The center of their attention is the Church of the Nativity here.

🔶️ This time, after thousands of Palestinians were killed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Christian community in Bethlehem is celebrating Christmas in a very limited way. While most people have decided not to celebrate Christmas.

🔶️ An incident happened here today. Some Israeli settlers set fire to the Christmas tree. After that, the Christians and Muslims there started throwing stones at the settlers and drove them away.

https://vexwift.com/israeli-settlers-set-fire-to-the-christmas-tree-in-bethlehem/

🇬🇧 🇬🇾 🇻🇪 ‘The UK is preparing to send a warship to Guyana in a show of diplomatic and military support for the former British colony, the BBC has learned…HMS Trent would take part in joint exercises after Christmas’

🔶️ The UK is preparing to send a warship to Guyana in a show of diplomatic and military support for the former British colony, the BBC has learned.

🔶️ It comes after neighbouring Venezuela renewed its claim for a disputed part of Guyanese territory that is rich in oil and minerals.

🔶️ The Ministry of Defence confirmed HMS Trent would take part in joint exercises after Christmas.

🔶️ Guyana, a Commonwealth member, is South America's only English-speaking nation.

🔶️ This raised fears that Venezuela might invade and spark the first interstate war in South America since the Falklands Conflict in 1982.

🔶️ While Guyana's economy is growing fast, Venezuela's is suffering. Its hills and jungles are rich in gold, diamonds and bauxite, while huge oil deposits have been found off its coast.

🔶️ A Ministry of Defence spokesperson told the BBC: "HMS Trent will visit regional ally and Commonwealth partner Guyana later this month as part of a series of engagements in the region during her Atlantic Patrol Task deployment."

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-67806227

👮‍♂️ 🇸🇻 🇨🇦 In 2015, El Salvador was one of the most dangerous countries in the world with a homicide rate of 103.

This year, they were practically as safe as Canada.

To replicate these results in your country, follow these two steps:

1. Lock up criminals
2. Keep them locked up

It works!

https://elsalvadorinfo.net/homicide-rate-in-el-salvador/

📎 Crémieux

🇺🇸 US Claims Huge Chunk of Seabed Amid Strategic Push for Resources

🔶️ The US extended its claims on the ocean floor by an area twice the size of California, securing rights to potentially resource-rich seabeds at a time when Washington is ramping up efforts to safeguard supplies of minerals key to future technologies.

🔶️ The so-called Extended Continental Shelf covers about 1 million square kilometers (386,100 square miles), predominantly in the Arctic and Bering Sea, an area of increasing strategic importance where Canada and Russia also have claims. The US has also declared the shelf’s boundaries in the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-22/us-claims-huge-chunk-of-seabed-amid-strategic-push-for-resources

https://archive.ph/cKCb4

❄️ 🇺🇸 🇷🇺 In 1867, the United States made a bold move by purchasing the vast territory of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million, which equated to about 2 cents per acre. This historic deal, known as the Alaska Purchase or Seward's Folly, was spearheaded by U.S. Secretary of State William Seward. Despite the initial skepticism and ridicule, the Alaska Purchase would prove to be a wise investment, as the state's vast natural resources, including oil, gold, and more, would make it worth well over $500 billion today.

The mid-19th century was a time of significant territorial expansion for the United States. The country had recently acquired vast amounts of land through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the Mexican-American War in 1848. In 1867, the U.S. government saw an opportunity to further expand its territory when Russia expressed interest in selling its Alaskan territory.

The negotiations for the Alaska Purchase were led by U.S. Secretary of State William Seward. Seward was a strong proponent of American expansion and believed that acquiring Alaska would strengthen the U.S. position in the Pacific region. Despite facing considerable opposition and criticism from the public, who thought the deal was a waste of money and resources, Seward managed to secure the purchase of Alaska for $7.2 million.

The Alaska Purchase was initially met with widespread skepticism and ridicule. Many people, including some members of Congress, believed that the U.S. had made a foolish investment in a barren, frozen wasteland. The deal was derisively referred to as "Seward's Folly" or "Seward's Icebox."

However, as time passed, the true value of the Alaska Purchase began to emerge. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, gold and other valuable resources were discovered in Alaska, leading to a gold rush and increased economic activity in the region. In the 20th century, the discovery of oil in Alaska further solidified the territory's value.

Today, the state of Alaska is recognized as a significant contributor to the U.S. economy, with its vast natural resources playing a major role in its success. The oil industry in Alaska, centered around the Prudhoe Bay oil field and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, generates substantial revenue for the state and the country. In addition to oil, Alaska's abundant natural resources include gold, timber, and fish, which contribute to the state's economy and overall worth.

The Alaska Purchase of 1867, once considered a foolish and wasteful investment, has proven to be a valuable addition to the United States. Despite the initial skepticism and ridicule, the foresight of Secretary of State William Seward has led to the acquisition of a territory rich in natural resources, including oil, gold, and more. Today, Alaska's estimated worth of over $500 billion.

📎 Historic Vids

✝️ 🇵🇸 🙏 Bethlehem - Cardinal Pizzaballa leads prayers at the Nativity Grotto where Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was born

📎 Catholic Arena

✝️ 📖 🐣 On this Christmas, a look at collapsing fertility and the fall of the Roman Empire, how early Christians had higher numbers of surviving children, and how the sect of Christianity grew to inherit the Roman world.

And parallels to the world of today

Of all the explanations for the fall of the Roman Empire, low fertility may be the most compelling reason.
We know Rome's population collapsed. But this wasn't a sudden thing due to sacking but was continuous over a number of centuries as this chart by @daveg shows.

And our best evidence is that low fertility is the cause. Fertility among elite women was less than two births per woman, while replacement fertility (due to high child mortality) was likely above six.

There is evidence that ancient Romans practiced birth control extensively.

Notably, surviving writings of Soranus of Ephesus document a range of ways that women could prevent or terminate pregnancy.
Infanticide was common.

Christianity was not the cause of Rome's decline. Rome was collapsing due to problems with low birthrates that had been ongoing for centuries.
Christians were a remnant of higher fertility and higher child survival in a world of where children weren't sufficiently valued.

Economist @GuthmannR explains the civilizational life cycle where advancement leads to control of fertility and ultimately population collapse, a pattern that that has eerie parallels with the world of today.

As @BirthGauge carefully documents, fertility rates have dramatically collapsed throughout the developed world.

Meanwhile, as with Ancient Rome, Christians and other faith groups are bucking the trend of fertility collapse. Charts by @lymanstoneky and @ryanburge show this.

Professor @epkaufm's 2010 book, "Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?" looks prescient. Thinkers from @robinhanson to @SimoneHCollins share this thesis.

If broader civilization declines due to fertility collapse, leaving a religious remnant, it won't be the first time!

Will our trajectory be like that of Ancient Rome, or will we find a way to reverse falling fertility broadly across society?

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1739314272356663552.html

📎 More Births