Sir Edward Leigh, "We will end up with a list of tens of thousands of law-abiding, non-extremist groups, and Ofsted inspectors will try to justify their existence by picking on the occasional conservative religious group and brand them non-compliant with British values", Hansard, Westminster Hall (20 Jan 2016)
On Wednesday there was a debate in the UK Parliament on the government's mad and poorly-thought-out proposals to introduce a nationwide registration scheme for any "out-of-school education setting" providing instruction to under-nineteen-year-olds for more than six hours in any week... to counter extremism, of course. After all, if you want to check on a few, you have to check on everybody, don't you? So let's just hope that the really obnoxious groups bother to register...
While I have a healthy respect for the observations—though not all—of the good "Archbishop" and join with him in a sense of horror at the persecution of so many of our brothers and sisters in Christ across the globe, I note a subordinate clause in one of the Archbishop's sentences the significance of which, at least on this occasion, seems to have escaped him:
Senior Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Micah Zenko comments upon the US Military's addiction to the "kill-em’-all with airstrikes" approach to fighting ISIS, and helpfully tots up some of the numbers for us.
A recent bombing in the Turkish city of Istanbul has left at least 10 dead and 15 injured. The government in Ankara was quick to blame the so-called “Islamic State” (ISIS/ISIL/Daesh), claiming the bomber was “Syrian” and had crossed over from Syria into Turkey before carrying out the terrorist attack.
The French, who know much about intrigue, have a very useful expression, “an Italian scandal.” This means a scandal or plot that is so complex or tangled it defies understanding, and never gets solved. The death of 96-year old Masonic Grand Master Licio Gelli this week reopened the mystery of Italy’s greatest and most murky political scandals. I’ve been following this wonderful case since the 1980’s. Gelli, a lifelong Fascist, was what was known in the US as “one of our SOB’s.”
As I said in TMR 122, I don't mean to suggest that what's going on in the UK, or in the US, or in other Western nations, is directly parallel to what happened in Germany during the 1930s, but when I read this book by Milton Mayer, I cannot help but hear some chilling echoes. Authoritarianism needn't reveal itself in identical ways in different times and places, as Francis Schaeffer was very careful to point out in his books, but that makes it all the more insidious.
In a beautiful video, Martin Erdmann combines selections from the Book of Romans in the Bible with footage from Broad River at Chimney Rock, North Carolina. A particularly fitting presentation, I think, given what Paul (the writer of Romans) says about the Creation: that, through its very being, all human beings are able rationally to intuit the existence and nature of the One who created it - the Creator.
A great video compilation of eyewitness statements about the demise of the Twin Towers, clearly showing that many people suspected very early on that these building had been brought down, not just by aeroplane impacts plus fire, but also through the use of additional explosives.
I know it's a bit tangential to the kinds of media items I tend to flag up here at TMR, but the news of Pierre Boulez's death - probably France's greatest living composer (until yesterday) - is something of a landmark for me. As some of you know, I used to write music for a living... for a few years anyway. (Yes, I actually managed to get some commissions, and even had a BBC performance... once.) Anyway, one of the composers who significantly impacted my musical style was Pierre Boulez, and I've had a love of his music ever since. (I know it's not to most people's tastes, but... well, neither is blue cheese... and I wouldn't be without that either!)
I mentioned FiveRedPears in conversation with The Nephilim Boys, so I thought I'd share one of his videos. As I said, he's a Scotsman (at least his accent suggests so) and he comes over as competent in geometry. Anyway, I'd like to see a flat-earth theorist deal with this...
"In 2015, there were 385 terrorist incidents around the world according to Wikipedia. Of these, 94% were attributed to Muslim perpetrators or occurred in Muslim countries surrounding the world’s most resource-rich region. The geographic pattern behind these and previous attacks suggests that terrorism is more a function of the need to seize resources than it is about religious or political beliefs. The terrorist events of 2015 continue to fuel speculation that most terrorism is government-sponsored and focuses on achieving political objectives."
The good "Archbishop" often pens a wholesome homily for the Interweb, but this time "His Grace" excels himself. In a moving piece, "His Grace" reminds us that it is not just many of the elderly who will experience intense loneliness this Christmas, but also a large number of middle-aged and young people.
Please check out this documentary teaser by film-maker John Massaria. The video documents visual artist and 9/11 Truth activist Anthony Freda bravely presenting his artwork "Questions" to the curators of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, and samples the conversation that took place before the work was officially accepted into the collection.
My position on AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming) has always been agnosticism (perhaps an odd choice of word for a Christian); it's not that I positivelydisbelieve that human beings are significantly contributing to dangerous global warming, or climate change, or climate disruption, or climate weirding, or... but that I remain unconvinced by what's been presented to me in favour, and maintained in my scepticism by information that casts serious doubt on the truthfulness of alarmist pronouncements. So, here's a bit more doubt, thanks to James Corbett.
Many thanks to the talented John Massaria of UniBrowStudioVision YouTube channel for this engaging video version of our recent interview with Dr. Paul Craig Roberts on the Transatlatic and Transpacific Partnerships (TPP, TTIP & TiSA). John kindly produced the video in the hope that Dr. Roberts' important words might reach a wider audience, so please do share this video in any way you can. (I know everyone always says that, but this is actually a very important subject, and people do need to know about it.)
How can our "leaders" really be opposed to terrorism?, asks Chris Floyd.
"...Western leaders were specifically warned by their own experts that their actions would exacerbate extremism and violence. And again, with this knowledge, they decided that their geopolitical agendas were more important than these consequences."
