Death of two journalists in Syria – and why it is significant

Marie Colvin, 55 year old British journalist and Remi Ochlik 28 year old French photographer have been killed in the city of Homs after they were deliberately targeted by the regime. (These deaths confirm my belief that the Balibo 5 as they are called, Australian journalists murdered by Indonesian army in East Timor in the 1970s was also deliberate, they were not caught in the cross-fire as claimed). You can read about what happened at this link.

What I want to concentrate on is why the death of these two journalists is significant. Marie Colvin seems to have been a woman who cared about what was taking place, and Remi Ochlik seems to be one who was prepared to take the risks by getting a record in photographs of the truth regarding the Assad regime actions against their own people. Marie had been broadcasting her story and the last one that she broadcast was apparently quite horrific.

When the action in Syria began the Assad regime immediately expelled all foreign journalists, including the Lebanese. He did not want the world knowing the truth about his retaliation, which meant that we have been relying upon two versions of the truth. Assad claims one thing, but the truth is something else again. The journalists who did sneak into Syria were warned that if they were found that they would be targetted.  A week ago they were given a warning that they had been found. The death of these journalists cannot be wiped away as being caught in the cross-fire because the Lebanese security services had in fact picked up conversation that pointed to the fact that this was a deliberate action.

Whilst I have not come out in support of the Syrian opposition, I do respect the fact that they have serious issues with the Assad regime, and that what they have been saying is more likely the truth than what is coming out of the Assad regime. The regime is shelling buildings without regard for civilians. They are honing in on any telecommunication signals and then blasting that building. Men, women and children are dying as a result of that shelling.

Just like the situation in Libya, I cannot accept that anyone sees such actions as being acceptable. It is not in the least bit acceptable to treat one’s own people in this fashion. In the case of Libya it was the deliberate shelling of the people that brought me to the side of the NTC. So for this reason, I will now take the side of the Syrian Opposition, even if they are far worse than Assad on the surface – except that we really do not know if that will be the case.

The deaths of Marie Colvin and Rei Ochlik for me are a turning point in that I am no longer neutral and will speak out against Assad until he is removed from power.

horror of horrors

The big controversy for the week is the theft of documents from the Heartland Institute, and the disclosure of information on the internet. It looks a lot like Climategate but there is a very big twist, and this time the Watermelons have left themselves open for accusations relating to document fraud (I know that is nothing new for watermelons).

Someone who claims to be Heartland Insider sent documents to the DeSmogBlog(I am not going to link to that blog but you can get details from Watt’s Up with That if  you so desire. I think that the name Heartland Insider is the first clue about the trickery and fakery that is involved, but I will deal with that later. The blog that released the information and forwarded it to the usual suspects did not bother to confirm the content, which has left it open to a possible lawsuit. The point is that there is one document that Heartland Institute has stated is a fake. It was not written by them. In fact that document is a very clumsy attempt to smear Heartland Institute, Anthony Watts, Professor Bob Carter from Australia as well as some other individuals who have received minor funding from the Heartland Institute.

The poor little watermelon luvvies have been wetting themselves with glee, and have been farting for two days over this whole saga. You see the Koch brothers have provided a very small donation to the Heartland Institute, and using guilt by association that means that Anthony Watts for example has been a hypocrite because he has accepted funding from what is claimed to be Big Oil. Wait there is more because those evil beings at the Heartland Institute according to these fart-sniffing little luvvies are in the pay of the Tobacco Industry because they had the temerity to write an article against the notion that second-hand smoke causes lung cancer!!  Talk about guilt by association. According to the little watermelon luvvies it is evil to accept money from the libertarian Heartland think tank!!

First of all, I will address the research of Heartland Institute regarding second-hand smoke. I will address a couple of issues because I do in fact believe that second-hand smoke does affect peoples’ health, but I am not convinced that it causes lung cancer. The first point to make is that the initial research accepted by the EPA and the FDA was in fact flawed, yet this is an issue “there is consensus” and the “science is settled” despite the fact that the research involved samples that were too small. The result was extrapolated to the claim that at least 5000 people were dying of lung cancer as a result of second hand smoke. Unfortunately, there is no real proof to support this claim… and this is the point that was made by the Heartland Institute.   My second point is actually anecdotal because I have been personally affected by cigarette and cigar smoke to the point of not being able to breathe. It is not asthma but my upper air passages do block up and I have trouble breathing. At one point I even had a situation where my heart was racing and I started to grey out…. but that was resolved when I saw a heart specialist and he diagnosed a problem with the electrical system of my heart.  This is purely disclosure as to whyI do believe that second hand smoke does in fact influence other peoples’ health.

Second, I will address the Anthony Watts issue because Anthony approached the Heartland Institute in an effort to find finding for a new project that will help us to understand NOAA data which is published but not easily understood. Those who accuse Anthony Watts of hypocrisy are themselves being bypocrites in this matter. The project is not yet up and running and the disclosure regarding funding was to be made when the new site was ready…. this has been turned on its head.

Third, I want to address the fake document because I see this as a very grave issue. The claim within the document, which if you think about it looked like something that could only come from a leftist luvvie, was that the education project was to turn teachers off teaching science. It was an entirely false claim. Mr Bast from the Heartland Institute has a response relating to the document as does the scientist who proposed the education project in the first place. Whoever wrote the document was trying to slime the Heartland Institute as being anti-science, yet Dr. Woijack (sp) is a consultant for the EPA and he was proposing this project for a curricula that would be age appropriate.

Fourth, is the name of the alleged leaker, “Heartland Insider”. I thought about this name because I read White House Insider and I am aware of the fake who is goes by the moniker of “And Another Thing” but who puts up posts that looke like WhiteHouse Insider but they are not, and also writes the fake Palin Insider posts. It has crossed my mind that the person who stole the documents from the Heartland Institute and created the fake document is that same person. However, I could be wrong.

Fifth, DeSmogBlog is operated by the man who is the PR for David Suzuki. Can you see the connection? I will leave this point open for now.

Sixth, the real difference between Climategate and this new scandal is the way in which documents were made available. There is real evidence that the Heartland documents were obtained through fraud. In fact what seems to have happened is somebody contacted one of the secretaries and convinced her that he was a member of the board and got her to send documents to him via an unknown email address. She sent the documents. The fake document is based upon these underlying documents which means that the claims that the fact document is genuine are themselves false claims because of the way that the document itself was constructed. With Climategate the documents were uploaded onto a server, and then a link was provided so that the documents could be downloaded.  In this case I think that is someone from within UEA was responsible for the leaking of those documents.

Getting back to the sliming of the Heartland Institute, something else that indicates the document is fake which is a real standout in my view is that the author takes the view that being libertarian is being anti-science, and there is a hint that the person actually thinks that being libertarian somehow means being anti-evolution, even though this is not the case!!

Meanwhile, here in Australia, as the week dragged on and we have not gotten rid of the wicked red-haired witch who has been lying about her involvement in the Australia Day mini race riot…. we wait and wait and wait… and we want an election!!

 

 

Syria – a matter of concern

If you have observed, I have not said much about the situation in Syria. This is probably due to the fact that I still know very little about what is really happening, and have not been able to find out much about the opposition.

On the other hand, it is becoming clearing that the majority in the city where there has been the most violence, Homs, happens to be populated with Sunni Muslims. On top of that, there are the separate incidents of violence such as the car bombs as well as the assassination of a top military official that needs to be explained. Could it be that these people are backed by Al Qaeda? I am not sure that is actually the case, BUT, when there has been a blackout on the news it is extremely difficult to verify the facts.

There are a few things that have filtered through and none of them are good news. First of all, Iran provided its Quds force to suppress the protests. This is due to Iran having Syria as a sphere of influence.  Iran cannot afford to lose Syria as a satellite state. This means that Iran will continue to back the minority Alawite tribe in Syria.

Second, there is evidence that people from Iraq have been hopping the border and in my view this spells trouble as well as an escalation of hostility. The news reports now talk of Syria sinking into civil war. I am not surprised that it has gone that far.

Third, and this involves the Russia and China veto in the UN. No one should have been surprised over the veto. They did not veto the no-fly zone issue in Libya, but they abstained from the vote, and then the criticism began as soon as the action began complete with the propaganda. There was quite a bit at stake for both China and Russia and they were the losers. 

It is this third point which is probably the most relevant because that veto will only prolong the civil strife in Syria. Russia lost a sphere of influence when the Gadhafi regime fell. This was a political blow for them. I am not sure what it meant in terms of oil and gas contracts, but it must have had some result. It also meant an end to the sale of arms to Libya, and through Libya the sale of arms to African governments. China, of course is seeking stronger influence in the Middle East, and so it is not surprise that China goes along with Russia.  Russia and China both sell arms to Asshat in Syria. This means that they had to veto any UN action because the loss of Syria as a sphere of influence would be a major blow to them politically and economically.

We can do nothing to prevent all out civil war in Syria. The people there are determined to rid themselves of the Assad regime. They have had enough of the brutality of that regime. It is not clear to me whether or not Al Qaeda is in any way influential, yet there is that element of Sunni vs. Alawite to be considered. It simply does not necessarily translate into the introduction of a Salafist regime.  The people behind the revolution have gone underground, and they seem to think that they are ok because they are using the mobile phones of those who have already been killed. In one report that I read via Der Spiegel, I note that there is also a tendency to assume the identity of people who have been killed… as the doctors and orderlies work underground on the wounded. In that report it was noted that the wounded who went to the hospitals were dragged out and killed… which is why the underground hospitals have been created to treat the wounded.  What I note is that the people seem to think that by assuming the identity of someone who was killed that they are safe to continue their work…. but is that necessarily true?

Bradley Manning for court martial

Big Peace is running an article on Bradley Manning that indicates at last there has been progress and he will face a court martial.

Personally I do not buy any of the defense arguments regarding Manning because he knew exactly what he was doing when he joined up in the first place. He also knew that it was probable that he would be sent on deployment to Iraq.

Since this is a court case then it is sub-judice and there is not much more that I can add at this stage. I would expect that Manning will end up being found guilty of the charges, and in all likelihood that will include aiding the enemy.

 

Green plus Red = ?

Here is a little experiment regarding the mixing of colours, and it is one that you should know from doing art at school. What do you get when you mix green and red together?  The logical answer to this question is Watermelon. The Green Party aka Van Jones, the Australian Bob Brown, Lee Rhiannon and various other individuals all have certain traits which is the reason that we call them watermelons. The Australian Lee Rhiannon is typical for this trait, since she was a member of the Communist Party in Australia before she was a member of the Green Party. Now start to think about the actual colours involved here and that mixture of Green plus Red comes up Brown.

Yes, I am implying what you think that I am implying and the reason is related to this article relating to the growth of the neo-Nazis in Germany. According to the article it is the Neo-Nazis who are infiltrating the Green Movement in Germany. However, is that the correct order? Nazi thought is still Marxist thought. Nazis have many traits in common with the Marxists in Communist Russia.  The Green movement was started by a pair of Marxists. At the heart of the whole movement is the desire to control other individuals. I think that this is a truth that is current in other countries of the world.

I am not up with everything in the USA but I am aware of people like Holdren who have a constant desire to control the population. Then there is the eugenics movement, and in this movement I include Scientology. You might not be aware of everything there is to know about Scientology, and I would suggest that you quietly investigate some of the not so nice aspects of that organization. It is a movement that has no time for anyone with a disability and yes, they covertly advocate euthanasia etc. Yet there is more than scientology at work because it is the whole euthanasia movement that has been advocating the killing of anyone with a brain injury, and who openly advocate aborting babies found to be trisomy 21 and trisomy 18. The trisomy 21 is in fact Down’s Syndrome. Rick Santorum’s daughter was diagnosed as trisomy 18 and she has some profound disabilities.  As you are aware there are many people who hate Sarah Palin because she did not abort her son who has Down’s Syndrome.

However, back to Germany and the issues at hand concerning the Watermelons and those alleged infiltrators. The author mentions some very interesting points regarding this whole movement. The focus is on the more radical East Germans, and on their anti-Americanism. There is focus on the anti-coal movement, and of course on the fact that these are your organic farmers (you know the ones whose methods kill people).