Thursday, September 3, 2026
Dangerous Escalation: Germany's Policy Towards Russia Risks Dangerous Escalation
The Coming Famine:
EDITOR’S NOTE:
A cattleman in Nebraska told me last month that he sold the last of his breeding stock. Not because he wanted to. Because the well went dry at 180 feet and the cost to drill to 400 was more than his land was worth. He’d been ranching that property since 1987. “Just couldn’t make the numbers work anymore,” he said, shrugging like he’d misplaced a set of keys rather than ended a multi-generational livelihood. This is the tone of the present moment—quiet exhaustion, not dramatic catastrophe. People are giving up. Systems are grinding down. The food supply we assumed was permanent turns out to have been conditional, and the conditions have changed.
What follows documents ten mechanisms of disappearance. Some are climatic, others economic or biological. Together they form a lattice of constraint that no policy, no technology, no market adjustment can resolve within the timeframe that matters. We have perhaps two growing seasons of genuine abundance remaining. After that, scarcity mathematics takes over. Not famine—not immediately—but the end of cheap, reliable, abundant food. The psychology of that shift will reshape American society more profoundly than any political movement of the last half-century.
Read this carefully. Then decide what you’ll do with the information. Most won’t act. Some will. The difference between those groups will matter enormously in the years ahead.
Ranchers in the western United States have been selling their herds at rates not seen since the 1980s farm crisis, and unlike that period, they’re not rebuilding. The mathematics are brutal and straightforward: when pasture grass doesn’t grow due to drought, ranchers must either purchase supplemental feed or reduce animal numbers. Feed costs tripled between 2020 and 2023. Pasture availability in the Southwest declined by 40-60% depending on location. The rational business response—the only response that keeps operations solvent—is liquidation.
Here’s what liquidation means in practical terms: beef production in 2025 will decline 12-15% from 2020 levels. Prices will increase proportionally more because demand for protein is inelastic—people don’t simply stop eating when prices rise, they shift budgets, go into debt, reduce other expenditures. Ground beef, the working-class protein staple, has already reached nominal price levels that would have seemed absurd five years ago. The $8/lb organic ground beef at Whole Foods is now the $5/lb conventional product at Walmart. The discount product is disappearing entirely.
Tyson Foods, JBS USA, Cargill Beef, and National Beef Packing Company collectively control 85% of American beef processing capacity. Their quarterly reports acknowledge “headwind challenges” and “protein complexity,” but the operational reality is plant closures and shift reductions. A feedlot in the Texas Panhandle that processed 4,000 head daily in 2019 now handles 2,200. The physical infrastructure remains but the animals don’t. Rebuilding the national herd would require three to four years of retained heifers, reduced slaughter, and—crucially—improved pasture conditions. Meteorologists who study the Southwestern drought using paleoclimate data from tree rings and lake sediments confirm what ranchers suspect: this isn’t a temporary dry spell. It’s a regime shift to drier baseline conditions that may persist for decades.
The social implications extend beyond grocery bills. Rural communities dependent on cattle economies are hollowing out. Equipment dealerships close. Veterinary practices consolidate. Schools lose enrollment. The network effects of agricultural abandonment ripple through counties that already struggled with demographic decline. When the last rancher sells out, the tax base evaporates. County governments can’t maintain roads. The spiral accelerates downward.
The Bird Flu That Won’t Leave
Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 achieved endemic status in North American wild waterfowl populations sometime in 2022, which means commercial poultry operations now face permanent infection risk rather than episodic outbreak. The virus travels the Pacific and Central flyways each spring and fall, shedding from apparently healthy migratory birds into the environment—onto ponds, into feed, across equipment, onto boots. Biosecurity protocols that once sufficed now fail regularly. Operations that invested millions in perimeter defenses still get hit.
The 2022 outbreak destroyed 52 million birds. The 2023 outbreak destroyed 68 million. The 2024 trajectory, as of August, suggests similar or greater losses. Each detection triggers immediate depopulation of the entire affected facility—sometimes a single barn of 100,000 hens, sometimes a complex of multiple barns totaling half a million birds. Federal indemnification programs compensate farmers at market value, but the cash flow interruption, the psychological trauma of mass euthanasia, and the months-long quarantine requirements that follow detection drive many out of the industry entirely.
Egg prices demonstrate the supply impact with brutal clarity. A dozen large Grade A eggs that cost $1.50 in January 2021 reached $4.82 in January 2023, dipped briefly, then spiked again to $5.17 in August 2024. These aren’t seasonal fluctuations. They’re structural price resets reflecting permanently reduced laying capacity. The volatility itself is economically damaging—restaurants can’t menu-plan, bakeries can’t contract for supply, consumers can’t budget. The egg becomes a luxury item, which sounds absurd until you live it.
Winter Wheat Production Enters Freefall
Hard red winter wheat—the variety milled into bread flour, the foundation of American baking—grows predominantly in the southern Great Plains: Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, eastern Colorado. These same regions experience the most severe precipitation deficits. The 2022 winter wheat crop totaled 1.173 billion bushels, down 8% from 2021. The 2023 crop fell to 1.087 billion. The 2024 preliminary estimates suggest 980 million bushels, a level not seen since the 1980s.
Yield declines tell only part of the story. Quality degradation—specifically protein content—poses equal danger.
The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service tracks global wheat trade with growing alarm. World stocks excluding China—a metric that matters because Chinese reserves are largely unavailable to the global market—have fallen to 75 million metric tons, covering approximately 28 days of global consumption. The rule of thumb among grain traders is that below 60 days of coverage, markets become volatile. Below 30 days, they become dangerous. We’re approaching dangerous.
Bread prices in American supermarkets have increased 35% since 2020, but this understates the real cost because loaf sizes have shrunk simultaneously. The “pound loaf” now weighs 14 ounces. The 20-ounce loaf now weighs 16. Shrinkflation masks price inflation. Consumers notice something is wrong but can’t quite identify what—the bread feels lighter, less substantial, the sandwiches don’t fill you up the same way. These subtle degradations of daily life accumulate into ambient anxiety about the future.
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Damascus: The City At The Center Of One Of The Bible’s Most Dramatic Unfulfilled Prophecies
David Bowen
There are moments when a headline deserves more than a passing glance.
There are moments when the words being spoken in the Middle East should cause students of Bible prophecy to stop, listen, and open their Bibles. One of those moments is presently unfolding in Syria.
Reports and photos have recently emerged of the Syrian Arab Army soldiers standing in formation outside the historic Damascus Citadel and chanting violent threats directed toward Jews. According to published the soldiers declared that they were coming for the Jew and spoke of making Jewish blood flow like rivers.
These were not simply civilians arguing on social media. They were members of Syria’s military. Standing in Damascus. For students of Bible prophecy, these details are hard to ignore.
Damascus is not merely another Middle Eastern capital. It is a city whose name appears in one of the Bible’s most dramatic unfulfilled prophecies.
A New Syria, but an Old Hatred?
When Bashar al-Assad’s government collapsed in December 2024, the world began asking what kind of Syria would emerge from the ruins. Would Syria eventually become more moderate? Would a new government seek peaceful relations with Israel? Could Damascus move away from the Iranian axis that had dominated Syrian affairs? Or would one hostile regime simply be replaced by another?
Those questions have been answered by the military chants and should not be dismissed merely as rhetoric. In December 2025, Syrian soldiers participating in a military parade in Damascus were already recorded chanting their support for Gaza. Arabic reporting documented chants expressing solidarity with Gaza during events marking the anniversary of Assad’s fall.
By May 2026, an official Syrian army video anthem was attracting attention for imagery carrying unmistakable messages toward Israel. The production reportedly showed the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon within a map of Syria and included footage connected with Israeli strikes on Damascus. Then came the August incident. This public display of hate has moved beyond support for Gaza. Soldiers were chanting direct threats against Jews.
The Damascus Prophecy
The prophet Isaiah wrote Scripture’s most famous statements concerning Syria’s capital: “The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap” (Isaiah 17:1). Damascus is among the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. It has endured invasion, conquest, regime change, civil war, terrorism, and bombardment. Yet the city remains.
Isaiah 17 ultimately points toward the destruction of Damascus. Some believe Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled in the eighth century B.C. through the Assyrian conquest of Israel’s ten northern tribes. Bible prophecy should never require us to force today’s headlines into Scripture. However, we know Damascus is specifically identified, as is its future destruction.
Isaiah 17 Is About More Than Syria
There is another important element often overlooked when Isaiah 17 is discussed.
The chapter does not speak exclusively about Damascus. It also speaks about Israel. The prophet writes: “The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus.” (Isaiah 17:3) The prophecy places Syria and Israel within the same geopolitical judgment. That makes Isaiah 17 particularly interesting in our generation. Modern Israel was reborn in 1948. Syria and Israel have technically remained enemies ever since. They fought major wars in 1948, 1967, and 1973. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six-Day War, and the territory remains one of the central strategic disputes between the two nations.
The Golan Heights: Israel’s Northern Shield
To understand why Syria matters so much to Israel, one just needs to look at a map.
The Golan Heights overlooks northern Israel. Damascus lies just forty miles north. Whoever controls those elevations possesses an enormous strategic advantage. Before Israel captured the territory in 1967, Syrian forces regularly used the heights to threaten Israeli communities below. Today the Golan remains one of Israel’s most strategically defensive regions.
The fall of Assad dramatically changed the security environment along Israel’s northeastern frontier. Israel became deeply concerned that weapons, territory, and military infrastructure could fall under the control of hostile Islamic forces.
There is another aspect Christians should recognize. There is a difference between criticizing the policies of the Israeli government and threatening Jews because they are Jews. Governments may legitimately be criticized. Israeli policies, like the policies of every government, can be debated. But when political opposition becomes ethnic or religious hatred, something fundamentally different has occurred.
The reported Syrian chant did not merely address an Israeli administration. It addressed “the Jew.” That should trouble every Christian.
European pogroms persecuted them. Nazi Germany attempted to exterminate them. Yet Israel exists. The Jewish people survived. And nearly two thousand years after Rome scattered them, a Jewish state exists once again in the land of their ancestors. For the Bible prophecy student, that fact is monumental.
The Nations Are Watching Israel
Zechariah describes a future period when Jerusalem will become the center of international conflict: “And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people” (Zechariah 12:3). Notice the progression. The prophecy becomes international. Jerusalem has become a global problem. That may have sounded impossible when Zechariah wrote it, but today it sounds familiar.
Israel is one of the smallest nations on earth, yet decisions concerning Jerusalem, Gaza, the West Bank, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and the Golan Heights repeatedly dominate international news.
- The United Nations debates Israel.
- European governments debate Israel.
- Arab governments debate Israel.
- Washington debates Israel.
- Universities protest Israel.
- Crowds march over Israel.
And now Syrian soldiers are once again directing violent threats toward Jews. Jerusalem’s importance cannot be measured merely in square miles. Jerusalem sits at the center of the Biblical story.
Jesus repeatedly commanded His followers to watch. Biblical watchfulness does not mean predicting dates. It means recognizing direction or seasons. And several directions are becoming difficult to miss. Israel is increasingly isolated internationally. Antisemitism has resurfaced openly around the world. Iran remains committed to confronting Israel. Turkey’s regional influence continues to grow. Syria’s future remains uncertain.
Adding that all up and one sees a season of the Middle East undergoing enormous political realignment. Jerusalem remains at the center of international controversy.
Imagine Reading the Prophets 100 Years Ago. Consider what a Christian reading Bible prophecy in 1926 would have encountered.
- Israel was not a sovereign nation.
- Jerusalem was not Israel’s capital.
- The Jewish people were scattered throughout the world.
- There was no Israeli military.
- There was no modern Israeli-Syrian border.
- There was no modern Iran-Israel conflict.
Many prophetic passages seemed geopolitically impossible. Then history began moving. Israel became a nation in 1948. Jerusalem returned to Jewish control in 1967. The Jewish population of Israel grew into the millions. Ancient regional enemies reemerged in modern political forms. Jerusalem became an international controversy. Suddenly passages written thousands of years ago could be read against an astonishingly recognizable geographic landscape. That gives us reason to take prophecy seriously.
Perhaps the greatest prophetic significance of this story is not the chant itself.
It is the environment in which the chant occurred. Israel is fighting threats on multiple fronts. Antisemitism is becoming increasingly public. And nations are being forced to decide where they stand concerning Israel and Jerusalem.
Scripture tells us that a day is coming when that question will engulf the nations.
Zechariah declares: “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about.” (Zechariah 12:2) The church cannot afford to sleep through the transformation occurring before us.
Israel says it’s ready to ‘decisively’ strike Iran if attacked during upcoming holidays
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that Israel was prepared to respond “with great force” if attacked by Iran during the upcoming Jewish holiday period, after the largest exchange of fire between Washington and Tehran since July.
Iran said it attacked US military targets in Jordan, Kuwait, Iraqi Kurdistan and the United Arab Emirates, after the US military on Tuesday said it had struck Iranian targets including air defenses and mine-laying capabilities in response to Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Later Wednesday, Saudi Arabia said one of its oil tankers was targeted in a deadly attack by Iran in the strait.
Speaking at a conference hosted by the Yedioth Ahronoth media group, Katz said that “for now,” Iran is “striking throughout the region except us.”
“But there is a possibility that they will attack us. We are prepared for that defensively,” he said.
Israel is prepared for a possible attack from Iranian forces over the Jewish high holiday season, which begins in mid-September, said Katz.
If Iran attacks, Israel will “respond with great force, independently of anyone else,” Katz said, adding that “our planes are ready to take off.”
“They like to attack on Jewish holidays because, after all, they hate Jews. Look at the many things that have happened in the past. But we are prepared both defensively and offensively, in coordination with the United States in this regard,” Katz said.
Israel and the US jointly launched the war on Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize its regime and destroy its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.
The fighting entered a truce in April, and the US and Iran signed an interim agreement with Iran in June, but the deal collapsed because of disputes over control of the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran launched a blockade early in the war. The US and Iran have since continued to exchange fire more sporadically.
US President Donald Trump denied on social media on Wednesday that he was seeking to force Iran’s leaders back to the negotiating table.
“I couldn’t care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing. They are just playing out the inevitable.”
“When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?” added Trump, who at the start of the war urged Iranians to seize their government once the bombing stops, but later cautioned the regime would crack down on rebels.
Iran reports 11 killed in US strikes
Iranian state media reported multiple US strikes near the Strait of Hormuz overnight Tuesday-Wednesday, and cited the law enforcement chief of the southwestern Khuzestan province as saying US missiles had killed seven people and wounded eight in three separate locations in the region.
The statement came after Iran’s Red Crescent said late Tuesday that a US attack on a home hosting a wedding in the southern Sirik county wounded more than 50 people and killed at least four, including a small child.
The incidents could not be independently verified. Iran’s West Asia News Agency aired purported footage of the targeted wedding site that showed rubble strewn across rooms and a courtyard of a home. A pair of strappy women’s dress sandals lay abandoned on a blood-soaked carpet.
“I am just glad the casualties weren’t even worse,” said Ali Molahi, identified as the father of the bride.
US Central Command denied targeting civilians, telling Reuters on Wednesday that the US military “never targets civilians, unlike the Revolutionary Guards.”
Following the reported attack on the wedding, Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf called the US “Satan” and appeared to reference Israel as “junior Satan.”
Writing on X, Ghalibaf cited other mass-casualty incidents caused by the US-Israeli strikes.
Iran’s military command said: “American evil in the region will be met with heavier, more widespread, and devastating responses, and any country that cooperates with the aggressive American army must accept its dangerous consequences.”
In a similar warning, Iran’s security chief declared that the US would now face a “new strategy from Tehran.”
“You will soon see that Iran’s new strategy on the battlefield, in diplomacy and in confronting the economic blockade will shatter your foundations,” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei warned on X.
Germany blames Russia for Leipzig airport drone attack, orders Russian consulate closed
FRANCE 24
Germany's government on Tuesday blamed Russia for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport on 4 August using an explosive-laden drone, and announced that it would shut down a Russian consulate among other measures against Moscow. French President Emmanuel Macron said he supported the adoption of new European sanctions against Russia after the attempted drone attack.
The German government on Tuesday blamed Russia for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month using a drone laden with explosives, and announced that it would shut down a Russian consulate among other measures against Moscow.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen vowed "full solidarity" with Berlin in response.
"NATO will continue to strengthen our ability to deter and defend all Allies against any threat – including malign actions like those seen in Leipzig and elsewhere across the Alliance," Rutte wrote on X following talks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Rutte said Berlin had put forward "clear" evidence of Moscow's role in the "hybrid attack" and welcomed the measures announced in response.
"Russia's attempts to intimidate us, to undermine our unity and our willingness to support Ukraine are futile and will fail," he added.
The European Commission president, who likewise spoke with Merz, vowed to "keep the EU united despite these escalating and serious acts".
"I assured him that the EU stands in full solidarity with Germany in the face of this attack by Russia," von der Leyen wrote on X.
"The German government has taken strong measures. And the message is clear: hybrid attacks will not go without a clear response," she said, adding the bloc was preparing additional sanctions against Russia.
"We are united in our resolve to stand against Russian aggression. We will deter anyone who seeks to undermine our freedom and security," the commission chief wrote.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday he supported the adoption of new European sanctions against Russia after the attempted drone attack.
"We must be united in support to Ukraine, France will continue to play its full part," he said in a post on X.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said Tuesday that authorities found elements such as the drone configuration, components, explosives and detonator that are “known to us from other Russian hybrid operations and its war against Ukraine". He said that the device pointed to “a high degree of technical expertise” and painstaking planning, but that the execution of the plan appears to have been left to “low-level” agents.
Dobrindt told reporters in Berlin that intelligence points to “people being involved who acted on behalf of Russian state entities", though he didn't specify which ones. “Taken together, the police investigations, the pattern and intelligence findings prove a Russian responsibility for the attempted attack at Leipzig airport.”
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that “with the attempted attack in Leipzig, the Russian leadership decided deliberately to do significant damage again to our already massively burdened bilateral relationship". He said that the Russian consulate in Bonn will be closed effective September 18 and the contract under which the Russian House cultural centre in Berlin is operated will be rescinded.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry told the Interfax news agency that Moscow “would respond” to what it described as Germany’s “anti-Russian decision".
Leipzig/Halle is a major hub for international freight and for providing support to Ukraine. The planes that regularly use it include Ukrainian Antonov transport aircraft.
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