[AmericanGreatness] Progressive Regression and the New Medievalism: The West has mastered the technology of civilization but embraced the politics of barbarism, creating a modern medieval world where progress and regression coexist.
For most people, the story of the medieval world was one of cramped cities, constant violent crime, and episodic outbreaks of deadly plagues—the dividends of unclean urban conditions, rotting food, fouled water, open sewage, and unchecked rats, fleas, and lice. Most of each day was spent simply trying to survive until the next.
Castles and walls dotted the landscape to protect kingdoms from marauding tribes and foreign invaders. City gates were usually closed at dusk to keep out nocturnal marauders. Public executions drew massive crowds. And religious schisms and conflicts often turned deadly.
In other words, it was not altogether unfamiliar to the world we are becoming today.
Yet meanwhile, science advanced quietly among true elites at universities, courts, and monasteries, producing windmills, mechanical clocks, and eyeglasses. Sophisticated crossbows were manufactured in great numbers. Large, multi-sail warships were built that could cross narrow seas.
Some of history’s greatest literature—Dante’s Divine Comedy, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and St. Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae—was the product of the medieval mind.
We still gaze dumbfounded at the architectural genius and beauty of the colossal cathedrals of Cologne, Florence, Milan, Paris, Rome, and Seville. The Byzantine cathedral Hagia Sophia may have risen near the beginning of the medieval period and for a millennium, nothing rivaled its majesty. All these medieval architectural masterpieces were built without computers, porta-potties, overtime, or building permits.
Yet after the collapse of the classical world (circa A.D. 500), Western civilization still needed a millennium to recover even a modicum of its lost knowledge and technology. Centuries passed before the Renaissance saw hygienic principles of sewage systems, aqueducts, and waste disposal—not to mention the medical expertise of classically trained doctors and scientists.
MODERN MEDIEVALISM
Yet our progressive-regressive modern West is now suddenly beginning to resemble the medieval age—with one important caveat: after centuries of so-called “progress,” we should know better.
Our mounting urban filth, dangerous streets, and resurgent diseases are juxtaposed with brilliant revolutions in artificial intelligence, bioengineering, robotics, satellite technology, spaceflight, and cancer research.
Unlike their counterparts in the medieval fiefdom, our officials know how to stop disease, crime, and filth but apparently choose not to. Their neglect grows out of a sick ideology that divides the world into the blameworthy “oppressors” and the blameless “oppressed.” The victim is always right and must be championed—at least from a distance or as long as he does not show up smelly on your doorstep.
We have just experienced a tribal invasion of millions of impoverished foreigners swarming across our southern border—until the belated resumption of border-wall construction, medieval-style, and the deployment of detested patrols who try bravely to stop them.
Western urban street crime seems to require the army to restore calm yet often grows unchecked when troops are barred from helping police.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Yaroslav Karpikov
[REGNUM] The city of Svyatogorsk in the DPR has come under the control of the Russian army, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin announced on September 1.
As the Ministry of Defense clarified on September 2, the city was liberated by forces of the "West" group of forces. According to the military department, our troops are currently clearing out the remnants of the Ukrainian garrison hiding in the basements of buildings.
The advance in the Svyatogorsk region on the left bank of the Seversky Donets River poses a threat to the northern flank of the Ukrainian Armed Forces group in the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration.
But it's also important that the collapse of this section of the front brings closer the liberation of a holy site of Russian Orthodoxy—the Svyatogorsk Dormition Lavra, located on the opposite, right bank of the Seversky Donets. The miraculous Svyatogorsk Icon of the Mother of God and the relics of St. John the Recluse are kept here.
Now that they are under Ukrainian control, terrible news is coming from there: on August 23, the monastery reported the murder of monk Barsanuphius and an attack on two other monks – inhabitants of the Lavra.
Regnum news agency immediately pointed to the involvement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Azov* neo-Nazis in the atrocity. A few days later, Metropolitan Anthony, Administrator of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), a canonical church persecuted by the Kyiv regime, announced that the investigation had been transferred to the Specialized Defense Prosecutor's Office of the Eastern Region. This clearly indicates that the perpetrators of the atrocity were in uniform.
Thus, the liberation of the northern DPR—part of the ancient Sloboda lands of the Russian state—is not only a matter of military and political necessity but also a guarantee of an end to terror against Orthodox Christians. It is the restoration of historical justice, the return of a part of the Russian world twice lost (in 1917 and 1991). It is the return of the Svyatogorsk Lavra to the bosom of the Russian Church, which founded the monastery on the banks of the Seversky Donets.
Examples of the Russian authorities' special attention to the monastery (and later to the Lavra) can be found in the earliest years of its existence.
ABODE ON THE FRONTIER
It is safe to say that the Dormition Monastery in the Holy Mountains was never part of the Kyivan Metropolitanate, and no church hierarch of the Hetmanate (Little Russia) interfered in its governance. Matters of church governance and military defense were entirely in the hands of the Russian state.
Historians then encounter a mystery. The exact date of the founding of the monastery in the Holy Mountains on the Seversky Donets River is unknown; some believe it dates back to before the Christianization of Rus'.
The archives contain a petition from the monks of the Svyatogorsk Monastery dated January 3, 1645. It states:
“From time immemorial, the eternal Sovereigns of the blessed memory of the former Sovereigns, under Tsar Boris, we, your pilgrims, were given estates and fishing grounds from the mouth of the Oskolkoe.”
Elder Job reminds Tsar Mikhail Romanov that the monastery was founded during the reign of Boris Godunov.
That is, at that time, the monastery in the Holy Mountains owned lands that had been granted during the time of Tsar Boris Godunov (who ruled from 1598 to 1605). 'Better' is the enemy of Godunov
Good lord, man — go to your room and ponder the life you have chosen!
The granted lands began at the confluence of the Oskol River and the Seversky Donets River, 10 km south of the modern city of Izyum.
It would seem that such attention from the central government to a small monastery located far beyond Belgorod is connected with the active movement of the Russian state to the south, its expansion towards the steppe.
In 1599, the town of Tsarev-Borisov, located near present-day Izyum, was built. But the ambitious project was short-lived. During the Time of Troubles, in 1611, the town was abandoned. Historians also date the emergence of a settlement on the left bank of the Seversky Donets River opposite the monastery to the late 16th century—the future Svyatogorsk, originally the village of Bannoye.
The Svyatogorsk Monastery was located on the side of the Seversky Donets River that was considered the "Tatar" part. Due to its location, it was repeatedly attacked by Tatars and "thieving Cherkasy" (i.e., Cossacks).
Nevertheless, from all these documents stored in the archives it follows that the Svyatogorsk Dormition Monastery was, at least since 1624, supported by the Russian state in terms of money and food, receiving everything it needed from Belgorod.
As was the case centuries later, many problems had to be resolved manually—but the fact that they were resolved, and quite quickly, speaks to the special attention the Moscow authorities paid to the monastery on Russia's southwestern borders.
The documents even contain a story about how one of the Svyatogorsk monks involuntarily found himself at the epicenter of the church schism that had broken out "in Moscow"—the "black priest" Paisios attempted to "resolve the issue" by appointing himself abbot, but to no avail. However, this only proves that the monastery never fell outside the orbit of the Russian state.
In addition to monks who fled Little Russia from the persecution of Catholics and subsequently from the Russo-Polish War of 1654–67, Russian service people, as well as clergy from the cities of Southern Russia, also took monastic vows at the Svyatogorsk Monastery.
AGAINST THE "THIEVING CHERKASY"
Although the monastery had fertile land at its disposal, there were no peasants to work the troubled borderlands.
The fruits of the earth had to be earned by the sweat of their brows by the monks themselves, who lived in constant fear of attack. In fact, the oldest part of the monastery is located on a cliff for this very reason—there stands St. Nicholas Church, a natural fortress, accessed from the lower platform by a sloping passage cut through the chalk cliff.
To protect the monastery, the tsarist government sent service people from neighboring cities whenever possible.
After the construction of Chuguev in 1638 (a city in the modern Kharkiv region), armed forces also began to be sent from there.
For example, on May 19, 1644, the Chuguev governor Denis Ushakov informed Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich that, in accordance with the Tsar’s decree received on May 6 of the same year, he had sent out “three of your Tsar’s Chuguev service people: the boyar’s son, Kireik Golovin, the regimental Cossack captain Vaska Berdnikov, and the rifleman captain, Yakushka Svortsov.”
Moreover, the Chuguevites were supposed to serve together with the Belgorodites, replacing the Valuysk people.
During the betrayal of the boyar and hetman Ivan Martynovich Bryukhovetsky in 1668, some of the Circassians who had come earlier to the Russian state (to the cities of Mayak and Tsarev-Borisov), who had kissed the cross of allegiance upon crossing, betrayed Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and joined Bryukhovetsky.
Russian servicemen were killed and taken prisoner, and the cities were burned and plundered. The Circassians fled to Little Russia. During the treason, the Circassians also plundered the Svyatogorsk Monastery:
“In the former Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, there was a great shortage of vestments and books, because in the past, in the year 7176 (1667), due to the betrayal of Ivashka Bryukhovetsky, the churches, church vestments and books were stolen from thieves.”
During these years, the monastery, ravaged by Tatar and "thieving" raids, had to be rebuilt several times. The fact that the monastery not only survived but also continued to develop is thanks to Father Joel (Ozeryansky), who became archimandrite of Svyatogorsk Monastery in the last quarter of the 17th century and proved himself a very active abbot.
FROM CAPTIVITY TO REBIRTH
Joel visited Moscow and contributed greatly to the development of church life in the Holy Mountains. In 1679, he began construction of the lower Church of Sts. Peter and Paul with the blessing of the Metropolitan of Belgorod. In the early summer of 1682, the rector arrived in the capital and found himself at the epicenter of political events.
The archimandrite just happened to witness the aftermath of the Streltsy revolt; the petition he submitted was written in the name of only one co-tsar, Peter Alekseevich (without mentioning his older brother, Ivan Alekseevich ).
In his petition, the archimandrite mentioned the hardships of life on the frontier. In November 1679, during a major raid by Crimean and Azov Tatars on the southern districts of the Russian state, the Svyatogorsk Monastery was also plundered:
“The military men fought against our monastery and took me, your pilgrim, prisoner and took your sovereign’s charters of honor.”
Archimandrite Joel and his brethren spent at least two years in Tatar captivity. But eventually, he managed to return to the Russian state.
Joel's first order of business was to seek royal assistance in restoring monastic life, granting new charters, and aiding his fellow sufferers.
Another Tatar captive who came to Moscow in late 1682 was Misael, the elder of the Svyatogorsk Monastery. He had been "wandering among the households" in Moscow, having arrived on a coach from Belgorod. The former Tatar captive was given money and the opportunity to return by coach.
Thanks to the efforts of Father Joel, the Discharge Office again prepared a report on the Svyatogorsk Monastery, which stated:
"Beyond the Belogorodtsk line, in a field below the city of Tsarev Borisov, 20 miles on the Seversky Donets River, on the right bank, in a stone mountain, a monastery has been built for many years, and Russian and foreign elders live there. And in the past, in 7142 (1634), a church dedicated to the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos was built in that monastery, in a stone mountain."
The report also noted the difficult life of the residents of the Svyatogorsk Monastery: the brothers carried water from the river to the chalk mountain on their backs, up 600 steps, a distance of 200 fathoms (426.7 m).
The petition of the persistent archimandrite was considered, and on January 21, 1683, a decree was issued from two tsars, Ivan and Peter Alekseevich, to the local governor Grigory Kobyakov in Valuyka, so that the latter would supply the brethren with bread and money.
UNDER SPECIAL CARE
From documents preserved in Russian archives, it is clear that the Dormition Monastery in the Holy Mountains (now a lavra) and its monks were under the special care of the Russian state from the first years of its existence.
The monastery was a place of salvation for Russian service people, where they could find peace and take monastic vows in old age.
The peace, however, was special: the monastery was a very dangerous place, and each devastation forced it to turn again and again to Moscow for help, money, and food.
And the authorities never refused to help. Initially, the monastery was under the direct jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, and then under the Belgorod Diocese, to which the Lavra, logically, should return in the 21st century. For current events are also reminiscent of those times: having experienced a period of prosperity and wealth, the Lavra was devastated under the new Ukrainian government, which declared war on Orthodoxy.
The monastery was repeatedly shelled, and in June 2022, as a result of someone's malicious intent, the wooden All Saints Skete, an architectural marvel, burned down. Situated somewhat remote, on a mountaintop, not far from the monument to Artem, its churches were built by local carpenters from massive pine logs and decorated with carvings in the traditions of ancient Russian architecture of the 16th and 17th centuries.
All this was reminiscent of legendary times, as was the fire that destroyed the unique building.
The ancient monastery must now be restored from devastation, just as it was in the 17th century, under Archimandrite Joel. For his suffering during Tatar captivity and his refusal to renounce his faith, the abbot was later canonized as a holy confessor.
In 2008, the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate decided to canonize Joel as a locally venerated saint of the Donetsk Diocese. The glorification took place in the Dormition Cathedral of the Svyatogorsk Lavra, in the presence of the Primate of the UOC, Metropolitan Vladimir of Kyiv.
Currently, the canonical church itself is suffering persecution from the heirs of the "thieving Cherkasy." Its liberation from this new oppression, as well as the return of Orthodox holy sites, is the task of the SVO.
[TWZ] Germany says that damage to two communication cables in the Baltic Sea was most likely the result of sabotage. The mysterious incidents, which began on Sunday, are the latest in a series in the region. They come as concerns grow over nefarious Russian activity in Europe, seemingly part of an apparent wave of ‘hybrid warfare’ as the conflict in Ukraine further stokes East-West tensions. Meanwhile, accounts of a Chinese vessel operating in the vicinity of the cables around the time they were damaged raises the possibility that this might have been involved, whether deliberately or otherwise.
The two cables in question are both fiber-optic communication cables, running along the Baltic seabed. One of these runs between the Swedish island of Gotland and Lithuania, and the other between Finland and Germany.
[Jpost] Iran’s attacks seek to strike an area of Iraq that the regime assumes is not well protected, in a push to move fighting outside Iran and avoid insurrections inside.
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
SEPTEMBER 2, 2026 15:05
Iran carried out a number of attacks on the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq last night as clashes with the United States escalated.
The Iranian attacks fit a pattern going back to February. Iran has sought to spread the war to Iraq and other countries via attacks. It has often singled out the Kurdistan Region - made up of Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Duhok Governorate, and Halabja Governorate - for attacks. Since February, Iran and its proxies in Iraq have targeted the Kurdistan Region with 1,000 drone and missile attacks.
Rudaw media in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan Region, said that numerous attacks took place overnight. According to the reports from Rudaw in Erbil, “Iran on Wednesday attacked positions belonging to the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) dissident group near Erbil with several drones, the group said in a statement. The assault comes against the backdrop of renewed US-Iran escalation over the past 24 hours.”
The KDPI is one of the key Kurdish opposition groups in Iran. Along with six other groups, it has formed a coalition against the regime. Its leader, Mustafa Hijri, also gave a recent interview in which he discussed the importance of opposing the regime and building a democratic Iran.
“At 2 a.m. to 2:40 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the Islamic Republic targeted the bases and headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran,” the KDPI said in a statement.
[TAU] Emigration from Israel Remains at Record Levels, New TAU Study Finds. Nearly 270,000 Israelis left the country over the past three years, as researchers warn the trend could have long-term economic and security implications.
Israelis can become a bit hysterical on the subject, but it’s always been this way. Living in Israel is dangerous in a different way than the outside world — not everyone can handle it. Others leave for a while, whether for adventure or for professional reasons like Bibi Netanyahu and his father, each in turn before returning for good. That had been my father’s plan, actually, but then he met my mother. She had only just settled in after returning after medical school in Geneva, and didn’t want to add a third continent, a fifth language, and the possibility of another war to her collection, so they stayed here. Daddy found plenty of other Israelis at the research institute that had hired him — most of whom went back, sooner or later.
OVERVIEW
• Between 2023 and 2025,
…when the war against Israel was going hot and heavy…
268,509 Israeli citizens left Israel for at least three consecutive months, compared with 183,219 during the corresponding three-year period a decade earlier.
• The study presents the first available indication of emigration trends for 2025 using a three-month measure that closely tracks the standard 12-month measure.
Eh? How many left for good, instead of a temporary escape?
• Based on the researchers' analysis, between 45,000 and 50,000 Israelis are estimated to have emigrated in 2025 for one year or longer.
That’s could easily be grad school or something, not actual emigration. Not to mention that immediately following 10/7 the flow was massively the other way, as Israelis dropped everything to go back to sign up for the fight.
The researchers say continued monitoring of migration trends is important because of their potential long-term implications for Israel's economy and society.
[TWZ] A new Ukrainian intelligence report details the complex production chain behind Russia’s shadowy 3M22 Zircon missile and identifies U.S.-origin electronics inside one of Russia’s most advanced weapons. New details also add weight to the theory that the weapon is a maneuverable quasi-ballistic missile rather than a true hypersonic cruise missile.
The unusually detailed new breakdown of the Zircon missile identifies 70 enterprises and 84 individuals involved in its development and production while providing a component-by-component look at one of Moscow’s most closely watched — and least-understood — weapons.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
