Apr 30, 2013

Breaking News



I'm continuing to follow the story of the Boston bombers very closely through the alternative media, and am gathering material for another reflection.

Video footage has just surfaced from neighbours witnessing the gunfight between the boys and police, except that from the footage it appears to be only one sided, from police to the Tsarnaev brothers, at the beginning, with desperate attempts from the boys to get the police to stop firing.

The following words can be heard on the footage, muddled in parts, separated by a few seconds each. I've used exclamation marks, because the boys are clearly screaming.

Chill out!!

Chill out! Chill out!!

Chill out!

We didn't do it!

We didn't do it!

We didn't do it!

Hey, officer.

Heartbreaking and sickening at the same time.

p.s. some viewers are claiming that towards the end, the guys filming are heard to say, "They just ran over the guy. State police, what the f...k!" I can hear from 'State Police' onwards.

I tried to embed the video but was unsuccessful, so here is the You Tube URL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf5OuNgV3Ww&feature=player_embedded

A deluge of information has surfaced regarding the intelligence connections, which I'm gathering together for a later posting.

And so...the official story continues to unravel and the mainstream media continues to ignore it, at least as far as serious commentary is concerned.

And to end on a more cheerful, if incongruous note:









Apr 29, 2013

Recovering Nicely

Well, I appear to be over the worst of the pneumonia and am beginning the slow ascent back to normal. Hope to be back on the computer in a few days, however.

My composure was shattered this morning, however, by the reverberations of a powerful explosion about a mile up the river from me near the historic National Theatre. I could feel the blast in my toes actually, it was that strong. I went out on the balcony, but couldn't see anything. In these times and after Boston, ones thoughts immediately assume the worst. It turns out to have been a natural gas explosion in a building near the theater and local reports first mentioned four dead and many injured, though I've yet to see that confirmed in the English press. The mayor has denied anyone died in the blast. Shocking all the same.

Reading over the two previous postings I made on the Boston bombings, I see that I was much too exhausted to be making proper judgements and should have been much more tentative. Whereas it is not clear that the Tsarnaev brothers were set up, it is clear that a "setup" is a reasonable assumption to make among many, and should be vigorously investigated - except, of course, it won't be. And whereas it is not clear the older brother considered himself being groomed as a top CIA asset, it is a reasonable possibility to entertain, given the existing evidence of his intelligence contacts, beginning with the interview conducted by three shadowy men in his home, an interview Sibel Edmonds judges to have all the hallmarks of the classic CIA recruitment interview.  In light of all of the indicators, which are many, it strains belief to believe these boys "acted" alone' whatever their actions might have been.


Apr 27, 2013

6th Day : Breaking News

6th Day of pneumonia for me, exhausted but have appeared to turn a corner.

I must apologise for my final statement yesterday which assumed the guilt of the young 19 year old accused of Boston bombings of actually dropping one of the loaded bags, because it is now becoming increasingly clear both brothers have been set up. If this is the case, anything he is reported to have said/written will have been carefully scripted. Don't have the energy to elucidate, unfortunately.

Breaking news which, shockingly, is not being covered/reported by mainstream media:

Govt of Georgia and Russia reveal documents proving older brother, Tamarlan Tsarnaev attended exclusive CIA sponsored conference in Dagestan  in 2012:


Tamerlan Tsarnaev attended a workshop sponsored by the CIA-linked Jamestown Foundation, Izvestia reports today. The Russian newspaper cites documents produced by the Counterintelligence Department Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia confirming that the NGO “Fund of Caucasus” held workshops in the summer of 2012 and Tsarnaev attended.
The Caucasus Fund was established in November, 2008, following the Geoergian-Ossetian conflict. The main purpose of the organization, according to Izvestia, is to “to recruit young people and intellectuals of the North Caucasus to enhance instability and extremism in the southern regions of Russia.”

It seems clear (not just from this) he considered himself being groomed as a top CIA asset.

Uncle of brothers, famous now for his passionate denunciation of his nephews has CIA connections going back to the nineties and was married to daughter of top CIA official, Graham Fuller. You would think this a story worth pursuing, right? He is also a top Halliburton oil contractor with many shady connections. Read full story here.
There is so much more, but can't get into it. 

Russia’s Federal Security Service announced that 140 people have been detained in the Russian capital for suspected membership in extremist Islamist organizations.
More than 30 of those detained are reportedly foreign nationals, the FSB said in a statement. According to law enforcement, the chapel in southern Moscow where the suspects were detained was often visited by people who later “converted to radicalism and joined militant groups active in the North Caucasus, as well as participated in preparing and perpetrating terrorist acts in Russia.”

Gee, what a surprise and what perfect timing, as US drops "news" of chemical weapons in Syria, preparatory to invading. Sibel Edmunds vindicated again.

Finally, to end with the younger brother, Dzhokhar, as I did yesterday. After numerous official reports he exchanged gunfire with police during capture, it was finally admitted he was captured unarmed. So the entire city of Boston of 600,000 people was locked down while a massive military presence searched for one unarmed teenager with no paramilitary training.

Beware of the deluge of contradictory stories in the mainstream media at the moment. Harmful to the soul.
Peace on earth.



Apr 26, 2013

5th Day Of Pneumonia. Paris/Syria/Boston

Enjoying a 'pleasant' day in bed and in the sun, after 5 days of Pneumonia,  though very tired with many days of recovery ahead.

Very grateful to Bill Lindsey at Bilgrimage for his in depth and passionate coverage of the anti gay riots in Paris. What a frightening example of how fascism and bigotry like a cancer can invade a religion and twist its very soul.

I've also been closely following the Boston bombings, but through the acute analytical lens of political analyst and former FBI expert on the Caucasus, Sibel Edmonds. As Sibel predicted several days ago, there has already been a significant shift in the political atmosphere -as possible evidence of a secret deal made over the  Boston bombings- with Russia toning down its rhetoric/attitude towards a US invasion of Syria and the US already making a lightning switch in its attitude towards Chechyen "freedom fighters, " now able to view them in light of Boston as the new hot "terrorist,""until the day it becomes politically  expedient to view them as freedom fighters again. Such is the cynical and cruel game of geopolitics. Here is Sibel's take:


In the next few days we’ll be witnessing major developments on the Syrian front. Our direct military attack- the invasion- is about to begin. With Russian silence, the sudden removal of Russia as an obstacle in our invasion of Syria, think Boson Terror, and think Chechen-Caucasus-Russian angles scripted into the event.
Also, in the next few weeks we’ll be witnessing, reading and hearing about a new heated war within the borders of Russian territory-the Caucasus. The Russian raids will be portrayed here at home as ‘Russian counterterrorism efforts again Radical Islamic Terror.’ The Russian domestic raids will be characterized as another battle front against Al-Qaeda.
Now, let’s watch the events unfold with critical eyes and minds.

Meanwhile in a Boston hospital lies a young man who allowed himself to be manipulated into callously dropping a lethal bomb at a race track, not knowing he was merely a pawn in a vast geo-political game far beyond his comprehension.


Apr 24, 2013

Boston Bombings: Sibel Edmonds speaks out.

I'm in bed with pneumonia at the moment and can't really post in any depth, but I'm following the Boston bombings very very carefully. This is now a huge story, much bigger than a pair of hapless, alienated backpackers dropping bombs.

Former FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, a woman for whom I have the greatest respect (google her) has finally spoken out, giving over 100 minutes of interview time - none of which will be reported in the mainstream media. She warns us not to get caught up in the conflicting details at the moment, but calls the official story "a B grade movie script."

Here is her in-depth geo-political analysis giving insider knowledge of US relations to the Caucasus, which the main stream media would never report ...and her take on the hapless youths who may have been the actual bombers. The second series of interviews at her actual website are the most revealing.


http://youtu.be/1wZoCIydCgg


http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/








Apr 20, 2013

Prayers for Boston and the Nation Are Not Enough

Now that the drama in Boston has been resolved for the moment, we can compose ourselves and seek a deeper understanding. But far too many questions remain casting doubt on the official narrative. I fear for my country.

I was up very late last night here in Prague watching events in Boston live on CNN. We are six hours ahead of Boston here, which means the drama ended with the capture of the very young suspect at 1:30 am Prague time. Today I'm running a fever from the stresss of the night before, a self referential comment I only insert to explain why these comments must be brief. While sharing in a small degree in the anguish and grief of the victims involved, I was also distraught for the young 'perpetrator' and his family, and for the moment I accept the fact of his involvement, but on what level and with what provocation?

When a neo con lite magazine like the Atlantic publishes an article disussing the possibility of a false flag attack in Boston, we know we have turned a dramatic page in history. They are joined by Yahoo News and Truth Dig, all of them raising the isse in one way or another. Something already smells about the official narrative. Any questioning of it, however, will get one tossed onto the heap of 'conspiracy theorists.'

Why were there so many obvious and rather sinister looking security  personell at the finish line, two of them standing right behind the young 8 year old boy who died. Did they not notice an individual in a white hat dropping off a heavy bag? Apparently not. And none of them, None, have been shown on CNN, FOX NEWS, SKY TV, THE BBC. Immediately after the blast, both men were photographed in the race track itself looking back calmly at the bomb site, speaking into cell phones with hands pressed to their left ears. Can they be described as 'calm.' Yes, most certainly, in exactly the same way the two brothers were described as walking calmly away from the scene. These were not the only two suspicious characters carrying large backpacks, (larger than those carried by the Chechyian brothers.)

The FBI has now admitted, after many denials, fits and starts, obfuscations,lies that they had been monitoring the elder brother for almost five years, and in the words of his mother, harassing him and his family. How, then, could they not know?
And then we are told that a bomb exercise was underway at the same time - just as with 9/11 and 7/7 in London. Terrorists experts in the street enacting the very attack that then ensued and at the very same locations:


Though it is too early to know for sure, the Boston bombings featured the most important telltale sign of a false-flag op: A terror drill running simultaneously, mirroring the actual attack. As Webster Tarpley has explained in his book 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA, false-flag attacks such as 9/11 and 7/7 are designed as drills that suddenly “go live.” This allows insiders to plot and execute the attacks under cover of the drills, with the “Team B” bad guys actually carrying out the attacks they were supposedly going to feign.

Conspiracy theories, motivated by feat and panic, or a taste for the sensational? Perhaps. But this terrible experience drew me immediately into prayer, and in silence and solitude I sense that something is rotten about this whole case. I fear for the young man incarcerated, I wish him to atone for his crimes, but I also want justice, true justice, that does not use a misguided, vulnerable, and manipulable youth, for truly sinister ends. We are in peril in the US and sometimes prayers are not enough.




Apr 15, 2013

Prayers for Boston/Concern for the Nation

Tragedy strikes the Boston marathon and I fear for my country of origin, because of the psychological effects of such a traumatic event and because it will undoubtedly be used by unscrupulous politicians for devious ends. Of course, one's first thoughts, prayers and sympathies should be for the victims and their families. This will send shock waves through the nation. But I couldn't help be reminded of the scene of carnage in the recent film The Quiet American, starring Michael Caine, caused by a bomb explosion in a busy Saigon market square, which the film later reveals was planted and detonated by the CIA, in an attempt to discredit a political faction in the country. And that led me to think of the terrible carnage caused by the US from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. Unimaginable carnage on an unimaginable scale. Millions of innocent human beings's lives lost, a staggering number. As my cousin said to me after 9/11 (he lives in New York and had to run across Manhattan to pick up his daughter because all public transportation had been stopped) "Now we know what it is like to bomb other countries with impunity." My heart goes out to the victims and their families, unsuspecting victims of a cowardly act. The repercussions are going to be profound, however, and not to the good for the future of the US. I await Christian Hedges' response to this one. For the moment, TruthDig has THIS video of the tragedy via the Boston Globe.  Such a cowardly act.

Apr 14, 2013

Thoughts on Spring: Persecutions and Risen Bodies




Spring has finally arrived in Prague after a long, cold, snowy March. It was so wonderful to be able to eat dinner on my terrace overlooking the river (spinach pasta and Tempe). The sun is shining, the air is crisp, the birds are singing, and my neighbors are frolicking across the valley and shouting from their balconies.  That includes the little eight year old boy practicing his kung fu moves on the balcony at the moment. He waves, I wave, and life seems sweet. Six months ago he was blowing a trumpet on the balcony and filling the valley with song. 



Other signs of Spring would certainly include the transformed papacy of Francis, quietly working his humble way through a morass of problems, very few of which he can definitively solve, and not to everyone's  liking either. I'm simply grateful that a humble man has found his providential way into this 'top spot,' and now we wait for the reverberations to unfold. He  has already moved towards collegiality with his commission of eight cardinals, picked to advise him on reforms in the church. We will see. I have no great expectations of change from the top, only the expectation that his modest example will enable more and more 'official' figures to locate their cojones in their drawers and begin speaking common sense about key issues of justice (and injustice) within the church. Hopefully, Francis will both encourage these voices and listen to them attentively.



Already there are signs of change regarding the 'gay issue,' with several cardinals and bishops - finally, after much timidity and hesitation - coming out in support of civil unions for gay people at least. Even fiery Hans Kung has said the same, stopping short of endorsing gay adoptions, which he feels the church should not support. Oh well. On the one hand, I'm grateful for small favors, on the other hand a feeling of exasperation sinks in and impatience as well - with the obtuseness of these elderly males who control so much of the public face of the church. But then I remember that I'm not called to be a part of the day to day functioning of the church or to join a parish or to 'return' to Sunday eucharistic celebrations, all of that far behind me. I've been led to a smaller, simpler place on the margins, in peace and joy, celebrating the Eucharist on my own, occasionally with like-minded friends, and such moments fill my day with peace. In fact, I feel this daily celebration is the very heart of the day for me and the most important action I can perform. Gratitude to 'God' and the Lord Jesus and his Holy Feminine Spirit for leading me to this peaceful place outside all the clamor and discord of the institutional tent. A bit selfish of me, perhaps, and a bit cowardly, but interiorly I feel no 'connection' or moral or spiritual obligation to become a part of the official circus. Yet the sense of 'mystical obligation' is profound - to serve in whatever ways I feel called -  the spiritual healing and transformation of Mystical Mother Church. 

Rebel Girl at her wonderful blog Iglesia Discalza has posted several translated articles on Pope Francis which particularly struck me recently, and apologies if I don't link to each one, since I'm writing this from memory (and for my own clarity of mind). The first - another reflection/interview from Leonardo Boff, in which he ends with this powerful statement:

Do you think he could go live outside the Vatican?

Like John Paul I who, two days before dying, gathered the cardinals and announced that to them; two days later, he turned up dead.

Are you saying that Pope Francis would be taking a risk?

It's a risk, because there's a history in the Vatican of many assassinations, a long time ago. He should be careful because where there's a struggle for power, there's no love -- and power always seeks more power. He should handle this to make reforms without causing a schism. The base of the two previous popes was the fundamentalists like Opus Dei, Communion and Liberation, and the Knights of Christ. Those groups must be very unhappy with the new pope, who is more social [justice] based.



Since this blog, Gay Mystics, is dedicated to the memory of John Paul I, Albino Luciani, and since I am one among many who are convinced the saintly, gentle man was assassinated, this affirmation of that opinion from one of the greats of Liberation theology resonated deep within me. A powerful reminder about how 'dangerous' life in the Vatican can be for a reforming pope, a sentiment which should give us a measure of patience and tolerance for any attempted reforms of Father Francis.

And then this extraordinary interview:


Fr. Antonio, a Capuchin friar, spent ten years in prison on trumped up charges, and he would be considered a representative of the Catholic 'left' in Latin American. So his ringing endorsement of Pope Francis is inspiring to read, as is the entire interview with this extremely interesting and charismatic man. But this statement in particular struck me, because like Leonardo Boff's above, it highlights the difficulties any well meaning pope must face:

Fr. Antonio Puigjané: "I think Francis will address celibacy"



What decisions should Francis make in the Vatican?Take apart that sort of Mafia that exists among the cardinals. The Vatican is a circus and he has to take that apart little by little. He's already begun. There've been some gestures already. Very subtly, intelligently. I tried to watch when he greeted the cardinals. He treated all of them with great affection, but at the same time he ought to be wary of them. Because, taken together, they're a sort of huge Mafia that doesn't even come close to Jesus' plan. And I think Pope Francis wants to go back to Jesus' plan, like Saint Francis of Assisi. It's very hard, because the anti-power...He has said that the real power is the power of service, and it's true. Jesus even gave his life to serve.


And there we have it, thoughts of assassinations and the insidious influence of a Cardinalate Mafia, what could make things more difficult? So patience and tolerance is called for, as well as the acknowledgement that real change must come from the bottom up and from the margins, for which Francis has expressed the deepest affections. We will see.





Terry Weldon has some wonderful, hope inspiring articles at his seminal blog, Queering the Church, two on recent statements by Cardinals and Bishops coming out in support of civil unions, HERE and HERE. But the article that most warmed my heart was this GREAT STORY of a gay teen attending a Catholic high school who managed to convince the Bishop that the traditional Church language on homosexuality was indeed harmful to young gay people. This is indeed a victory for decency and common sense. 


In Canada, objections by a Catholic student in a Catholic High School has resulted in a Catholic bishop removing a much reviled cornerstone of Catholic teaching on homosexuality, on “intrinsically disordered” from his school website.



 And this great photo of the boy and his father:




On another front, just to bring us back down to earth, here is a disheartening yet all too familiar STORY about the fact that sex education classes for teens conducted by New York public schools are banned in buildings owned by the Catholic Church. One reads this story in stupefaction and disbelief. The classes are banned because they discuss 'safe sex' and the risk of AIDS, not to mention that most horrible 'option', same sex relations. All anathema to the Catholic Church. What this means in practice is that students must trek from 15 to 30 minutes outside their normal school buildings to attend these classes, and they are quite aware of the reason - that a major religious denomination, which owns their school buildings, will not allow the classes on campus because the issues discussed and positions on safe sex recommended are opposed to the teachings of the Catholic Church. These affected students have, of course, discussed this absurd situation - and their understandable contempt for the RCC - on facebook and twitter. There goes another whole generation of young people successfully alienated from organized religion. One shakes one head in dumb disbelief. How could any organization be so stupid, and why would anyone support it, or join it or have any faith in it whatsoever, let alone allow one's own children to be in any way influenced by it. Get Behind Me Satan. if I can be permitted a melodramatic reaction.

Finally,  there is the news of the young and very dedicated gay Catholic minister in New York state- removed from his ministerial duties by the local bishop because the young man married his partner in a civil ceremony - this story has been circulating in the blogosphere for some days. National Catholic Reporter has an excellent article on this issue by Jamie Mason, 

Gay Catholic barred from ministry still faithful, hopeful


I rarely comment at this site, but this time I made an exception:

The outpouring of support for Nicholas Coppola is encouraging and heartwarming indeed, as is his own unwavering loyalty to the Church, despite the abusive treatment he was subject to at the hands of a misguided authority. It is painful to acknowledge that the Church in its official leadership has once again singled out a vulnerable minority group for oppressive treatment, based upon an intrinsically disordered moral teaching, which cannot stand up to any kind of authentic theological or scriptural scrutiny. Do we need to be reminded of how often in the past the church has done this? It was the Fourth Lateran Council which decreed: "Jews and Saracens(Muslims) of both sexes in every Christian province and at all times shall be marked off in the eyes of the public through the character of their dress." The end result was the 'Yellow Star," a practice binding upon all Catholic leadership with the same moral strictures as the church now pronounces upon/against gay unions and the use of contraceptives. The practice did not fade out in Europe until the Age of Enlightenment at the end of the 18th century, only to be resurrected by the Nazis who made explicit reference to the decree of the 4th Lateran Council! And this from Pope Saint Pius V: "We order that, within 90 days, all Jews in our entire earthy realm of justice - in all towns, districts, and places - must depart these places. (If they fail to comply) they shall become slaves of the Roman Church, live in perpetual servitude and the Roman Church shall have the same rights over them as the remaining worldly lords over slaves and property." Why was Pope Pius so insistent? Because, in his words, "For the salvation of our own people, it becomes necessary to prevent their (the Jews') disease. We have carefully investigated how this revolting sect abuses the name of Christ and how harmful they are to those whose life is threatened by their deceit." Catholics were bound by these strictures under pain of sin. This was a paramount Catholic Rule of the day and not to follow it (by expelling any Jews in one's employ) was to risk excommunication! This warped and destructive theological analyses was based upon Scripture, and buttressed by the authority of the Pope. We can be thankful that the language used against same sex orientation is not quite so pernicious as that used against the Jews in ages past. But it is just as fatally flawed `and indefensible, in light of the findings of the contemporary social sciences. The problem, as I see it, is not the teaching itself as it is with the inability of Church leadership to admit just how wrong authority has been and can be in some of its moral teachings. It is precisely the living witness of outstanding Catholics like Nicholas Coppola which drives home this fact. When persons of such integrity and evident compassion and humanity, feel called to express their love for their partners in a sexually responsible way, this should cause us all to question any church teaching which denigrates such loving relationships. How dare we suggest such relationships must be 'intrinsically disordered' and merely an expression of 'selfishness' and 'sin.' Based upon the terrible errors of the past, in true humility, we must ask whether -yet again- the Church has failed to see the living humanity of an oppressed minority group before it, and has preferred instead to worship  the false idol of an infallible authority.

Fortunately, most of the comments in response to this article were warmly supportive of Nicholas Coppola, so it looks as if indeed the tide is changing within the RCC (while keeping in mind NCR is a 'leftie' journal in many centrist Catholics opinion.)

However, to close this series of random reflections and references on a note of spring, here is a truly wonderful slogan: