Witnesses of the alleged chemical attack in Douma, including 11-year-old Hassan Diab and hospital staff, told reporters at The Hague that the White Helmets video used as a pretext for a US-led strike on Syria was, in fact, staged.
“We were at the basement and we heard people shouting that we needed to go to a hospital. We went through a tunnel. At the hospital they started pouring cold water on me,” the boy told the press conference, gathered by Russia’s mission at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.
While it will likely take the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons weeks or even months to issue their final report on the alleged gas attack in Douma (an attack for which journalists and other independent parties have failed to find any evidence), the organization's investigators have apparently spoken with Russian military officials after visiting the site of the Barzeh research center in Damascus - one of the three facilities targeted by the strikes.
If this were true, would not a lethal cloud have been released that would have taken the lives of far more people than claimed in the alleged Syrian chemical attack on Douma?
Would not the US missile attack be identical to a chemical weapons attack and thus place the US and its vassals in the same category as Washington is attempting to place Assad and Putin?
And now, according to Sputnik, the investigators, who spoke with Russian General Staff Col. Gen. Sergey Rudskoy, revealed that they had found no evidence of chemical weapons in the remains of research facilities that were supposedly integral to the Syrian Army's chemical weapons program. Of course, this shouldn't come as a surprise: After all, if the US, France and the UK really did bomb a building filled with chemical weapons, there would've been thousands - possibly tens of thousands - of bodies to show for it.
One of the best reports I witnessed was from independent journalist Pearson Sharp of One America News:
I am appealing the decision to cancel my March 9th interview with Kevin Barrett through the conflict management process. A happy outcome for me would be a big party, a debate between Kevin Barrett and Alexander Ross of Rose City Antifa who led the smear campaign against Dr. Barrett.
Interesting that KBOO staff thinks Ross is KBOO-ready when in fact he leads smear campaigns (hardly a Beloved Community value) and writes articles that have to be removed and apologized for because he smears reporters (such as Max Blumenthal) as anti-semites, white supremacists and what have you. He's a peach. But I see no reason to ban him or censor him from community radio. We should have a big party, a debate between Ross and Barrett. Bring out the cameras, the microphones, the band. Let's play Who's the fascist? It can be a KBOO fundraiser. I'm serious.
On second thought, I think I will ban Ross. Ani and Lyn, I hereby declare as a volunteer interpreter of KBOO values that Ross cannot be on your show on Friday. He is banned from KBOO. I have declared it. So it has been said. So it shall be done.
Alas, I have no power to ban. The keys to that kingdom belongeth not to me.
Beyond those tiresome spats and more crucial to the future of humanity, Barrett and Ross or Barrett and anyone else could debate what is happening in Syria and to our collective souls. On my March 9th show, Dr. Barrett and I had planned on discussing false flags. A false flag is doing something bad and blaming it on an enemy to rouse up one's own population toward war or some other goal. False flags have been raised for this purpose throughout history. It is a preferred method for the elite to engage the masses in wars that are against their own interests.
It is not always easy to determine what is and what is not a false flag. That is where Dr. Kevin Barrett, and others like him, have a crucial role in enabling humanity to be critical of official narratives. He even has a show specific to this topic, False Flag Weekly News.
If we don't like those questions, then we do not need alternative media. We turn on our televisions, eat our salty chips and watch the wars of aggression and human suffering escalate while the mainstream media reads the cue cards.
One might make the modest case that it would be good for us to hear an alternate point of view especially when so much is at stake. Banning and censoring are only done when those who ban and censor have something to hide and when the facts call into question the narrative provided by those who control the media.
Banning and censoring are not done by those who seek truth. Those who seek truth welcome debate. They welcome a variety of points of view and say, "Let's discuss. Present your case. I will present mine." Alternative media such as community radio should be a place that provides this platform.
Dr. Kevin Barrett is an expert in helping us understand false flags. We need his point of view, not because I think his view is "the truth." Agree or disagree, he has important information to share. An open sharing of information and a lively debate about it is the heart of a democracy.
So listen to Ross on KBOO with Ani and Lyn. Pledge money during their show. But when you do, ask KBOO to invite Dr. Kevin Barrett to provide an alternative to Ross's point of view.
I am excited and humbled to be on a panel to celebrate the life of Imam Husayn. The Husayniah Islamic Society of Seattle is sponsoring this event at the Bellevue, Washington Red Lion on Saturday, April 28th at 6 p.m. Here is its mission:
The mission of Husayniah is to build an interfaith community which goes beyond the rituals. Husayniah is a place where people come together to share and discuss ideas, become involved with the broader community and work on things they are passionate about. We share who we are and celebrate our diversity, not to convert or convince, but in realization of our common humanity.
It is an exciting panel. Two of the panelists I have had on my show, Mohammad Al-Nimr and Nicole Correri. Here is the flier:
And a video promotion.
Please share and if you are in the Seattle area on April 28th, do join us.
Tonight friends in the Tri-Cities area of Northeast Tennessee will celebrate the tenth anniversary of PFLAG Tri-Cities. I am honored to be a part of its founding when I was the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Elizabethton.
Here is the news story upon its founding ten years ago.
Going through this blog by searching PFLAG brought back emotional memories. Working for LGBTQ+ justice was one of the most rewarding aspects of my ministry. I wish I could be there tonight for their celebration, so I will be in spirit! Here is a note I wrote for the occasion.
Dear PFLAG TRI-CITIES,
Congratulations on ten years! I am pleased that the Presbyterian House at ETSU is hosting the meetings. I have so many fond memories of the people I met through PFLAG Tri-Cities and the groups that PFLAG Tri-Cities befriended on their own journey like LGBTieS and the Tennessee Equality Project Tri-Cities. The weddings and holy unions (before they were legally weddings), the parties, the vigils, the laughter, the anger, the tears, all shared.
My motivation to begin working on a chapter was when the cops busted the guys in the park and put photos and addresses of these men on the front page of the paper. It was the last straw. We knew change needed to happen and that we needed to advocate and let people know in the words of one of our members, "These are our mountains too." In January 2008 I put the word out on my blog if there might be anyone interested in starting a PFLAG chapter for the Tri-Cities, I would organize it. I was pleasantly surprised that many others were thinking along the same lines. I was introduced to Kerry Holland, John Moshier, Melanie Teegarden, and Pat Robertson at ETSU, who all shared my interest. The rest is history.
I would say one of the most meaningful ministries of my career has been with PFLAG Tri-Cities and I am so grateful you are still providing advocacy, education, and support. You have done your part to make it safe for my daughter, her wife, and their daughter to be thriving residents in Johnson City.
This deserves to be posted in full and shared widely.
"8. We call upon all churches in the countries that participated in the aggression, to fulfill their Christian duties, according to the teachings of the Gospel, and condemn this aggression and to call their governments to commit to the protection of international peace."
A Statement Issued by the Patriarchates of Antioch and all the East for the Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, and Greek-Melkite Catholic
Damascus, 14 April 2018
God is with us; Understand all ye nations and submit yourselves!
We, the Patriarchs: John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, Ignatius Aphrem II, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, and Joseph Absi, Melkite-Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem, condemn and denounce the brutal aggression that took place this morning against our precious country Syria by the USA, France and the UK, under the allegations that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons. We raise our voices to affirm the following:
This brutal aggression is a clear violation of the international laws and the UN Charter, because it is an unjustified assault on a sovereign country, member of the UN.
It causes us great pain that this assault comes from powerful countries to which Syria did not cause any harm in any way.
The allegations of the USA and other countries that the Syrian army is using chemical weapons and that Syria is a country that owns and uses this kind of weapon, is a claim that is unjustified and unsupported by sufficient and clear evidence.
The timing of this unjustified aggression against Syria, when the independent International Commission for Inquiry was about to start its work in Syria, undermines of the work of this commission.
This brutal aggression destroys the chances for a peaceful political solution and leads to escalation and more complications.
This unjust aggression encourages the terrorist organizations and gives them momentum to continue in their terrorism.
We call upon the Security Council of the United Nations to play its natural role in bringing peace rather than contribute to escalation of wars.
We call upon all churches in the countries that participated in the aggression, to fulfill their Christian duties, according to the teachings of the Gospel, and condemn this aggression and to call their governments to commit to the protection of international peace.
We salute the courage, heroism and sacrifices of the Syrian Arab Army which courageously protects Syria and provide security for its people. We pray for the souls of the martyrs and the recovery of the wounded. We are confident that the army will not bow before the external or internal terrorist aggressions; they will continue to fight courageously against terrorism until every inch of the Syrian land is cleansed from terrorism. We, likewise, commend the brave stand of countries which are friendly to the Syria and its people.
We offer our prayers for the safety, victory, and deliverance of Syria from all kinds of wars and terrorism. We also pray for peace in Syria and throughout the world, and call for strengthening the efforts of the national reconciliation for the sake of protecting the country and preserving the dignity of all Syrians.
F-3.0104 Truth and Goodness That truth is in order to goodness; and the great touchstone of truth, its tendency to promote holiness, according to our Savior’s rule, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” And that no opinion can either be more pernicious or more absurd than that which brings truth and falsehood upon a level, and represents it as of no consequence what a man’s opinions are. On the contrary, we are persuaded that there is an inseparable connection between faith and practice, truth and duty. Otherwise it would be of no consequence either to discover truth or to embrace it.
"US officials and the presstitutes tell us that the illegal US missile attack on Syria destroyed chemical weapons sites where chlorine and sarin are stored/manufactured. If this were true, would not a lethal cloud have been released that would have taken the lives of far more people than claimed in the alleged Syrian chemical attack on Douma? Would not the US missile attack be identical to a chemical weapons attack and thus place the US and its vassals in the same category as Washington is attempting to place Assad and Putin?
What about it, you chemical weapons experts? Do chemical weapons only release their elements when they explode from intended use but not when they explode from being militarily attacked?"
As faith leaders we are concerned about any threat to civil liberties. This legislation poses a grave threat to Oregonians’ and all Americans’ right to free speech. The American Civil Liberties Union has noted, “This bill would impose civil and criminal punishment on individuals solely because of their political beliefs…”Even if no one is prosecuted under this law it would have a chilling effect on dissent and would have ominous implications for any kind of direct political action that protests powerful interests.
Today we are nearly 20 years into the 21st century and America has been at war for nearly all of them. The endless cycle of wars that began with an invasion of Afghanistan — as a follow-up to the "9/11 terrorist attacks" at the World Trade Center and Pentagon — still continue. After Afghanistan, the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and then under the auspices of NATO, invaded Libya in 2011. Meanwhile, the U.S. is involved in proxy wars in Syria and Yemen and is actively threatening Iran, Venezuela and North Korea.
I didn't delete my Facebook account. I deactivated it. That is far less permanent. A friend who I love and trust called me a quitter when I made my announcement to leave Facebook. Well, s***. He might be right. I am not quitting my quest. I am upping the tension regarding it. In order to do that, I need to get out of the Facebook space. I am not creating anything there. I need to get away from all of those complicated, intertwined relationships, that big living room, at least for awhile.
I need to write some stuff with no concern of who is offended. I need a quiet on-line space. I need my old blog. Shuck and Jive. I don't want to upset my friends, family, and church folks as I continue my quest. I don't want people to worry. This quest freaks people out. It freaks me out. I need some space. Carry on in Facebook land. I'll be over here. Those who wish can find me.
I am going through some significant changes. A spiritual quest. A truth jihad. That is Kevin Barrett's phrase for his holy struggle. Kevin Barrett is part of this. It is really upsetting to me what happened to him at KBOO. He's a human being! Now I feel like a pariah there. It is like I have been "churched" as they say in the South. I am shunned. People avoid me. How dare I commit the unpardonable sin of trying to put [insert standard name-calling here] on the air? How could I think it might be a good idea for Portland to hear a viewpoint that might invite people to reconsider their worldview? On my one hour per month show!
The phrase "reconsider their worldview" sounds too academic. "Forsake their faith" or "Deny their Lord" captures the angst more clearly. Kevin Barrett, the Irish Muslim, messes up the neat distinction between the good and the bad. Management wrote that he is "diametrically opposed to KBOO's values." That is fear. Kevin is not the enemy. Nor am I. If you are really searching for what is true and not just what is true to your own particular tribe, you will break some taboos. You will begin to see that the taboos themselves are creations by the powerful to silence and shame. The powerful will smear you and do everything in their power to censor you. You have to find your heart. Being on the side of who you think are your "friends" cannot be more important than entertaining the thought that reality is far more messy. And far more sinister. Ultimately, far more beautiful.
It will take ten seconds to watch this video.
What do you see? What do you want to see? What do you not want to see?
There comes a time, if we are lucky, when we go through a dark night of the soul. It is dark, wrenching, and lonely. It shakes the foundations, as Paul Tillich puts it. We are so shaken that we are finally in a position to see what had been veiled. We can see that the neat narratives that have bolstered us as we protest the baddies and sing the praises of those who are on our team don't quite hold together so seamlessly. If we are lucky, we stop trying to patch the now tattered narratives and accept the truth that we have been deceived, duped, and fooled. Tillich would call that grace.
If we can accept that, if we can find the maturity to say yes to grace, we get life. We get heart. We find the heart to begin to pull the loose threads and then we watch with fear and amazement as the narratives begin to unravel. World Trade Center Seven is a lively loose thread to pull. But that is just the beginning. If I finally accept as true what is right before my eyes (and what obvious physics demonstrates), then there are many more questions. Why haven't we seen this? Who put that narrative together of 19 Arabs with boxcutters? Who does that narrative serve? Who is murdered by it?
If we can accept facts that shatter our beliefs, we can do anything. We are the lucky ones. We can be the leaders, the mystics, and the prophets who enable others to find their own liberation. We can be like Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad. But if we cannot allow the possibility that our narrative, our belief, our team, might be wrong, we end up being less than lucky. If we cannot bear being shunned and called "a conspiracy theorist" then the psyop worked (at least on us). We end up serving the master who created the false narrative and we do the dirty work of censorship for him.
But that is not us.
We can be the lucky ones.
(You can follow by subscribing on the sidebar or follow Twitter updates on Progressive Spirit).
I am deleting both my personal Facebook and Twitter accounts.
The radio show accounts will remain and exist simply to promote new episodes. Of course, Southminster accounts will remain.
I hope to do more of my own writing and research on issues critical to our survival as a species. Perhaps that writing will occur here. For now I am taking this first step to disconnect to some small degree from the vast disinformation psyop that is destroying my soul, and I believe our collective soul.
When I think of Facebook, I think of Hansel and Gretel, delighted with the house made of candy only to discover that its keeper created it in order to cook them for supper.
This will be a great loss in many respects as Facebook especially has been a way to connect with many people from my past. No longer will folks be able to communicate with me via these social media platforms. I also will no longer be posting pictures or information about my family.
There are many reasons for this change that has been brewing within me for some time.
Church members can as always connect with me via email, phone, and text.
