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Wednesday 2 December 2015
Friday 6 November 2015
Blessed
and Seasons Greetings To All Of Goodwill Worldwide
At
a time of the year when Forbes, Time Magazine, CNN, Fox and all the
mainstream media are publishing their 'Persons Of The Year' I didn't
want you to be left out with my 'take' on this event (at least, not
for this year!)
Rather
than add another horror from a year of turbulence, please find below a
reprint of my chosen external article of the year.
[This
is the only one I could find which reflects the true spirit of the
Christian Season and of this year so for this reason alone I encourage you to
visit the website (and its related links and named individuals) over
the Festive Season.]
Patrick
Emek
(November
2015)
(Below is a reprint.
Please visit the website and related links over the Festive Season)
© 1999–2015 OrthoChristian.com
При перепечатке ссылка на Православие.Ru обязательна
При перепечатке ссылка на Православие.Ru обязательна
| Coptic Church Canonizes The 21 Christians Murdered By Isis In LibyaCoptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II said that the names of the 21 martyrs beheaded by ISIS on February 14 will be inserted into the Coptic Synaxarium, the Oriental Church’s official list of Martyrs, a procedure similar to canonization in the Latin Church. An icon of the 21 martyrs, drawn by Tony Rezk, will be the official image to commemorate their supreme witness (accompanying photo). The Islamic State terror group released a video on February 15 showing the brutal beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians who had previously been kidnapped in Libya. The Egyptian Christians were lined up along a beach and abruptly beheaded in the graphic five-minute video. The Islamic State’s Al Hayat Media produced the Libya video titled, “A Message Signed with Blood to the Nation of the Cross.” Pope Francis denounced the murders and called the Christians “martyrs” who were “killed simply because they were Christians.” The Pope also remarked that their last words were: “Jesus, help me!” “The blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a witness that cries out to be heard,” the Pope said. “It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants,” the Pope continued. “They are Christians! Their blood is one and the same. Their blood confesses Christ.” The recent murders in Libya have driven home to Europeans the proximity of the Islamic State to Europe, moving them to high alert and the mobilization of security forces. At the same time, the heroic witness of those who died has also strengthened the faith of many. Beshir Kamel, brother of two of the Coptic martyrs, said that he was proud of his brothers Bishoy and Samuel, and said that their martyrdom was “a badge of honor to Christianity.” Kamel went so far as to thank the Islamic State for including their Christian witness in the videos before beheading them. “ISIS gave us more than we asked when they didn’t edit out the part where they declared their faith and called upon Jesus Christ. ISIS helped us strengthen our faith,” he said. Kamel said these words in an interview with SAT 7-ARABIC. The interview went viral, receiving over 100,000 views within hours of its release. The interviewer asked Kamel what his reaction would be if he were to encounter an Islamic State militant, to which Kamel recalled his mother’s response: “My mother, an uneducated woman in her sixties, said she would ask [him] to enter her house and ask God to open his eyes because he was the reason her son entered the kingdom of heaven,” Kamel said.
27 / 02 / 2015
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Friday 30 October 2015
CNN
Reports:
U.S.
To Deploy Special Forces Into Syria
On
Whose Authority?
Ignoring
the legitimate government of Syria, ignoring the United Nations,
and
under the cover of 'peace negotiations' in Vienna, America has
embarked on a strategy of supporting 'terrorists' which could have
profound implications for its perception and for the rule of
international law for many decades to come.
In
actual fact, we might as well tear up all international agreements
with regard to the United Nations as it now has no legitimacy in
international peacekeeping nor as a forum for the consent of nations
as established in the post-Second World War era.
Humiliation
Apart
from anything else, because such a force lacks all legitimacy –
other than an agenda to overthrow the government of Syria - America is
going down a very dangerous road it probably, out of hubris (see my
earlier blogs) has not thought through the full extent of the
ramifications.
Should
such 'mercenaries' (Special Operations Personnel) be captured and,
operating without the consent of the government in Damascus, despite
the false presentation and (justification) by CNN as a 'legitimate'
operation. God forbid such mercenaries are 'captured' then 'sold on'
to another 'terrorist' group (a very common practice during warfare
through the centuries in this part of the world) their status and
fate will only be determined by the extent of ransom the U.S.
government will be prepared to pay to 'release' each captured
individual, alive.
[Qualification: The assumption here is that Special Forces Personnel would not be captured by ISIL/Daesh and 'bartered' between terrorist groups so that one would attempt to secure ransom rather than the U.S. government see one of its Personnel handed over to ISIL.
In summary placing 30 even 50 even 200 Special Forces into such a chaotic environment, having been advance publicly declared, without appropriate support, is akin to a suicide mission, in my opinion.]
(Qualification added on 1st November, 2015)
[Qualification: The assumption here is that Special Forces Personnel would not be captured by ISIL/Daesh and 'bartered' between terrorist groups so that one would attempt to secure ransom rather than the U.S. government see one of its Personnel handed over to ISIL.
In summary placing 30 even 50 even 200 Special Forces into such a chaotic environment, having been advance publicly declared, without appropriate support, is akin to a suicide mission, in my opinion.]
(Qualification added on 1st November, 2015)
America
is digging itself into a deeper and deeper hole in a region where
already too much chaos, death, bloodshed and misery has touched the
lives of both civilians and combatants.
Let
me tell you exactly what these Special Operations Teams have
(probably) already been told by their commanding officers: I
paraphrase the (likely) scenario:
''In
the event of your capture, beyond attempted rescue and extraction, the U.S.
government will not negotiate for your release.''
So
these highly trained specialists are, in effect, being used
kamikaze-like as (expendable) assets, more akin to an unpatriotic act
on behalf of the government they swore to serve than to the expected
role of honor for a just and righteous cause.
'Only
Following Orders'
Before
You Blame The U.S. Military, Look To See Who Really Benefits From
Their Deployment Into Syria
Being
shamelessly
used as 'political fodder' to satisfy (mainly Republican Party)
extremists who regard, with contempt, anything and everything
in the employ of the Federal government of the United States and
it's armed forces, is a dishonor not just to the armed forces of the
United States but also to its international allies, who may well also
be ordered into mission-supportive roles.
We
are reaching the point where someone has to call out these U.S.
politicians and their supporters, from the ranks of the Republican
Party and those from corporate America, who would put American
military lives at risk without legitimate authority - and I would not
call Republican Party overt nor covert support for such insurgents –
clones of the very individuals who caused 9/11 - 'legitimate'
authority - for what they really are, which, at the very least,
would be called 'misguided'.
CNN
and FOX Networks Both Now Openly Support The Perpetrators of 9/11
Under The Guise of Syrian 'Moderates'
CNN
is a national disgrace – and anyone who has any common sense can
see this.
It
is now propping up support through its networks in the U.S. and
worldwide for Islamic fanatics, under the guise of 'Syrian moderates'
which, I told you two years ago here, did not exist.
Far
worse, these 'moderate' Syrian opposition forces the U.S. now openly
backs are the most evil groups to emerge from the hell which American
decoherent foreign policy, having been hijacked by religious
fanatics and extremists in the United States, has created over the
past two decades.
The
United States government is now openly in support of Islamic fanatics
linked to Al Qaeda and ISIL. Even if they are not directly, almost
without exception, they are individuals whose Salafist and Wahhabist
agendas praise and glorify the perpetrators of 9/11 and Osama Bin
Laden.
How
Could American Foreign Policy Sink To Such Low Depths?; Future
Historians May Well Ask
With
regard to the non-existent 'moderate' rebels in Syria, the murder and
rape of children, of babies, of women and men is now totally
permissible by these Republicans in the American Congress and their
supporters in civil and corporate American society - as long as it
ultimately leads to the overthrowing of President Assad. Anyone, even
the devil itself, is regarded as an ally, provided it is prepared to
work with the United States for the overthrowing of the Syrian
President.
I
never was a fan of Assad and in my wildest dreams I could never have
seen myself saying a good word in his defense. But if you ask me to
choose between Gadhafi, Saddam Hussein and Bashar al-Assad – none
of whom ever committed any act of terrorism on the mainland of the
United States and all of whom opposed Al Qaeda and their heinous
affiliates, had nothing to do with 9/11, I will evocate support of the
legitimate Syrian government any day of the year rather than
with an evil entity which was directly responsible for 9/11 but has
been given a 'free pass' to wreak havoc and reshape the Middle East
into its own tyrannical image and liking – all in the interests of
Mammon.
.
Emerging
New World Orders (BRICS)
I
do not believe that the United States administration as yet realises
the full international extent of the ramifications of its decision to
deploy special forces with no legitimacy (other than that, perhaps, of the
American Congress or Presidential executive action) outside the 'bubble world' of Western Christendom
(including Australia and New Zealand) and NATO.
Let
me give you just one example of a likely ramification of such rule of
'jungle' law in the case of Africa: America ceases to have any
legitimate relevance to all but its 'client' countries in Africa –
and will become increasing reliant on tyrannies, intellectual and
primitive pygmies, as those countries which should have been its
strongest allies on the continent – such as South Africa –
gravitate even further into a new economic, political and military
structure which denies access to America, at all levels, as an
influential leader on the continent. This is an inevitable outcome
as it (the United States) relies more and more on the 'law of the
jungle' for legitimacy to determine foreign policy and in the conduct
of military operations abroad.
Secondly,
such extremists (again mainly from within Republican Party circles)
have always held the United Nations in contempt and have now decided
to use their influence to simply bypass it in favor of direct
(unlawful by all international laws the world subscribes to)
military action in a part of the world where the danger of global
conflagration lurks around every political, religious and tribal imbalance
created.
The
message such U.S doctrine and policy sends to emerging nations
yearning leadership and power is that might is right, to hell with
international laws and diplomacy (where diplomacy is now simply a
cover for illegal acts of war not sanctioned by any international
authority.)
''Rome
Was Not Built In A Day''
(Neither
Did the Empire Collapse Overnight)
The
Unthinkable May Also Be Much Nearer At Hand Than I Had Ever Imagined
When
and where the United States fails to provide leadership and uphold
the frameworks of international law and diplomacy, for sure, some
other superpower will move in to fill the vacuum.
Let
me explain to you what I mean.
Many
decades
ago I said, rather jokingly to the number 2 or number 3 at the Chinese
Embassy that perhaps, one day, the United Nations and
other international bodies, might 'decamp' from New York and Geneva to
China – but I
reckoned it would not be for about a thousand or more years – at a
future time when China was more 'open' to the world such as is the
United States today. (I was very careful and polite not to use the
word 'democracy' in my predictive analysis.)
As
America squanders its leadership and exceptional destiny in favor of
ignorant, bigoted and short-sighted corporate agendas - all developed
by individuals who appear oblivious to the fact that the rest of the
world can see through their real motives as one can see through clear
glass - another nation or superpower, for sure, will step up, and
step in, to fill this void.
It
will be a genuine tragedy for the world because no nation has been
better endowed in the past two thousand years to provide global
leadership, than has, through quirks of history, the United States.
Sadly,
this is the direction in which events are being inexorably moved.
More
and more, there are to be found remarkable parallels between the fall
of the Roman Empire and American policy at home and abroad.
The
greatest tragedy, in my opinion, is that the ordinary folk are
oblivious to the 'Fall of Rome' and will only realise what is
happening as the barbarians and 'contractors', with the aid of
collaborators and traitors, ransack and pillage the 'Eternal City' -
in favor of their own very narrow agendas.
©Patrick
Emek, 31st October 2015
addendum: 1st November, 2015
Wednesday 14 October 2015
MH-17
The Agony
For The Victims' Relatives Is Prolonged as
The Mystery
Continues
Matryoshka
Having
watched the Dutch Safety Board and the BUK Manufacturers both hold
their rival Press Conferences on the same day, you could be forgiven
for being totally confused about what was actually being said.
I won't
dwell on either conference which I encourage you to view on line by
clicking on the references below.
What I would
like to do is pick out threads from selected redacted (deleted)
internet posts over the past year and, from what the experts (Dutch
Safety Board and Buk Manufacturers) are now telling us, in a jigsaw
manner, try to fit them all together.
There is at
present no foregone conclusion - just a fragile string of leads,
explicit and implicit statements on all sides, which may point to a
scenario.
The
Jigsaw
What was
redacted:
I
The BBC were
quick to pull Olga
Ivshina's Report from You
Tube-only to (much later) reinsert it (after an international outcry)
on an alternative BBC website.
What was in
her report which caused such concerns?
It would now
appear that it was the eye witnesses reports of the presence of a
Ukrainian fighter plane which was the main issue. This was at a time,
you need to remember, when the Ukrainian Government was categorically
denying any of it's military aircraft were in the vicinity of the
MH-17 tragedy. So the BBC took a political decision not to embarrass
the Ukrainian government and to immediately accept it's version of
events as opposed to those of (suspect?) on the ground local
eye-witnesses reports.
II
The second
redacted (removed) report was a You Tube interview from a month
before the fatal downing of MH17 with an Eastern Region Separatist
fighter named 'Elena' from Sloviansk who said on that You Tube Video
Report that it was 'routine' for Ukrainian fighter planes to 'hide'
alongside/behind civilian airlines knowing that the rebels would not
fire on a civilian aircraft and thus give them 'cover' for attacks on
rebel positions.
This You
Tube interview was also quickly removed by You Tube.
No reasons
were given for its removal so you need to draw your own conclusions.
One likely
possibility would be a complaint from the Ukrainian government that
You Tube was promoting the rebels in a civil a war in Eastern Ukraine
by giving a platform to such 'untrue' 'propaganda'.
Such a
complaint, in the light of current international politics, would
certainly be enough to have the interview removed from You Tube with
little to no explanation.
III
Next are
credible independent eye-witness reports of Ukrainian fighter planes
in the immediate vicinity of the MH-17 airplane at the time of the
tragedy.
IV
I was sent a
video of raw footage which I was never able to elicit any further
information about so I put it on the site for others to investigate
as the implications of a potential War Crime are very serious.
V
Then there
is the BUK surface-to-air missile which DSB experts now confirm brought down
Malaysian flight MH-17.
The DSB
appeared to give a frank and honest assessment – especially as to
what must have been a very traumatic conclusion for the relatives
about how the victims on board died 90 seconds after the
kill-missile impact.
VI
I would like
to stay on the issue of trauma for a moment.
Many
ordinary people in the immediate vicinity of the tragedy witnessed
carnage persons outside war zones are not usually exposed to.
I recall
when I visited Sri Lanka at Easter, after the Boxing Day Tsunami of
2004.
I listened
to harrowing stories from ordinary folk who pulled the bodies of dead
adults and children out of water and entanglements after devastation
engulfed parts of this tropical island. Even at the time of
listening I could not but help feeling sorry for these ordinary folk
who will never have access to bereavement counselling nor other
support for the trauma they were clearly re-living as they told me
about their personal experiences as part of voluntary relief teams.
I listened patiently as they told me their individual stories, never
interrupting, as I was aware that this was the only therapy they will
ever have to retain their sanity.
There is no
doubt that the impact of loss on the victims families of the MH-17
tragedy will continue every day such events are relived in the media
and no amount of bereavement counselling nor recompense can prepare
anyone for such future flashbacks.
Such facts
in themselves should motivate the investigators to attempt to give
some immediate closure to this tragic event as quickly as possible.
VII
Then there
was the BUK manufacturers conference (on the same day as the DSB
Conference) where the technical experts presented their case for the
missile not being from current BUK stock but from a batch which was
decommissioned and prohibited from use several years ago.
Their Report
was so highly technical it could not have been staged-managed as
nobody in their right minds would put people on public stage who
quite clearly were unused to dealing with the general public and
explaining things in a (down-to-earth) language the masses could
understand(!)
What was
quite evident was they had done little preparation for the
(proverbial) 6-year-old trying to interpret their data:
“If you
can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it
yourself.” (Albert Einstein)
So what are
we left with?
Lets leave
aside the issue of the flight corridor, liability and the criminal
investigation, for the time being.
1.MH17 was,
more likely than not, brought down by a Russian-made BUK missile.
2.There were
Ukrainian fighter plane(s) in the vicinity of the MH17 shooting down
at the immediate time of disaster.
3.the
Ukrainian government emphatically denies it had fighter planes in the
vicinity of the tragedy.
4.No
satellite data from the U.S. has been presented to the DSB which
refutes the Russian Federation's claim that it was a version of BUK
long discontinued for approved use by Russian armed forces and that
the BUK missile which brought down MH-17 was not fired from a
rebel-controlled location. We only have a Ukrainian government
report, based on hearsay, to confirm the rebels are guilty of this
crime but we are told (asked to accept by Ukrainian authorities) that
'evidence exists' but is 'too secret' to be given – even to the
Dutch Safety Inquiry Board.
[There is of
course always the possibility that such satellite evidence may be
presented to the criminal investigation for analysis in the near
future.]
5.Ukrainian
fighter planes regularly used civilian airlines overflying rebel-held
territory as 'cover' when attacking rebel positions in Eastern
Ukraine.
6.That the
Russian Federation had Special Forces in the Eastern region at that
time to assist local rebels.
7.That
Russia had supplied the Ukrainian rebels with sophisticated surface
to air missiles for self-defense purposes – to protect town and
villages being attacked and shelled by ground and from the air by
Ukrainian government forces.
Was this
just a tragic accident or premeditated murder?
The criminal
investigation continues.
©Patrick
Emek, October 2015
Erratum October 2015: Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004
Saturday 10 October 2015
EBOLA:
What
The Government Failed To Reveal
I
always begin any topic of such magnitude by stating that I am not a
medical professional but my background in technical analysis and
research has provided me with certain skills which I bring to bear in
these situations.
The
advantage here is that, other than occasional self-censorship, I am
not blogging for financial gain nor dependant on a media organisation
for my existence, salary, nor promotion.
As
a Scottish Nurse who contracted Ebola in West Africa (Sierra Leone)
is suddenly rushed to hospital having suffered a relapse, the British
government had no option but to come partially clean with some more
truths about the dormancy period and polymorphic aspects for this deadly virus.
If
you want to know what they (Western governments) are or may still not
be revealing about this potential pandemic, please refer to my
earlier blogs for some guidance.
Why
The Secrecy?
So
as not to create panic amongst the general population of course.
Most
people these days have little access to anything other than
mainstream news. Successful sophisticated propaganda and
technologies of political, technical and psychological control mean
that many are anxious not to be 'seen' as 'unpatriotic' by
'searching' for a genuine alternative viewpoint beyond the defined
social parameters as laid down by the State.
It
is ironic that in a world of information overload many are concerned
about what effect expressing an opinion contrary to the accepted
norm will have on their life and careers. Their fears are quite
justified.
I
am probably amongst the last of the Riefenstahl generation to
appreciate the value of propaganda whilst staying borderline to the
'system'.
(I
had
the opportunity, many decades ago, to meet with Leni Riefenstahl on one
occasion, but due to other activities and my own work at that
time, I was unable to attend the Reception.)
It
should never be forgotten that while Riefenstahl was a pariah
for decades after The Second World War in the West, her works were standard (if not seminal influences) on
U.S. and Allied information specialists (including psychologists and
psychiatrists) and were designated or required as study for appreciation,
emulation and further development at military colleges, academies and other institutions and learned houses.
The
Stuff Of Nightmares
Let's
get back to the issue at hand.
The
prospect of a pandemic plagues the nightmares of anyone with a
modicum of understanding about what is out there – but not in the
public domain. If Hollywood has made one positive contribution, it
is the therapeutic effect which bringing the visual impact of such
scenarios to life has in order to prepare the populace for situations
where their compliance might be, at some future point, prerequisite
by the State.
I
can say for certain that I personally am more fearful of a major
pandemic in the future than I am of nuclear warfare.
Virology
and Bacteriology are subjects more prone to unique loners than their
individual potential capability and capacity exists to develop a
nuclear device.
As
society becomes increasingly even more complex and its controls more subtle and obscurely rigid, the
likelihood is that so too the sophistication with which a terrorist
biowarfare strategy is developed, will be the likely response.
The
popular scenarios played out by Hollywood bear some limited
relationship to bioterror scenarios and potential for mass infection
and, at least, they give the public an appreciation of the draconian
response by authorities in the event of such an emergency as it is
impossible to protect whole populations with any meaningful response
other than monitoring, containment, isolation, disinfection and
termination.
Why
Lie To the General Public?
If
you read my earlier blog you will see that an incubation period of
(initially) 24-28 days was more for public consumption and to allay
fears than bearing any logical relationship to what was actually
happening.
The
fact that 99% of the general public was prepared to accept this
explanation should give Western governments (and indeed most
worldwide) some relief that, in the event of a real emergency, the
situation can be easily explained and contained with little to no
questioning of the scientific community (eminent members) and public
relations statements on behalf of the health and other government
departments.
In
Israel, for example, as in many other parts of the world, in the
event of a major terrorist attack leaving carnage in it's wake, the
important thing is to 'clean up' – remove the body parts, wreckage,
etc as quickly (and as dignified and humanely, under the
circumstances) as possible so that 'normalcy' is perceived as
continuity.
The
ideal scenario, after rapid forensics, is to have everything looking
exactly as it was prior to the bloody carnage within hours as opposed
to days.
An
ideal situation would be within 3 hours but it currently runs between
18 hours to 3 days, as minimum, in many developed countries.
The
longer the carnage remains in view the more likely it is to create a
lasting imprint on the masses. So the prime objective is to remove
all traces of a trauma – thus thwarting the terrorists – since
all traces of 'shock and awe' have been completely removed and
substituted with their antithesis.
I
have some confidence that most of the major global viruses which have
the potential for pandemics have been identified. My fear is the
ability of an individual to create a synthetic virus about which we
know next to nothing. Far fetched? Maybe? Maybe not so far
fetched. Only time will tell.
The
equally worrisome antithesis is the ability (and willingness) of a
State or State body (plausible deniability) to develop such for a
strategic or targeted population control purpose, as yet to be
determined.
Which
pose the greater danger depends on whether you see the glass as 'half
full or half empty.'
Expect
more revelations about Ebola to be 'coughed up' only as their
concealments are no longer viable options.
©Patrick
Emek, October 2015
http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/photography/all/02605/facts.leni_riefenstahl_africa.htm
http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Nuba-Leni-Riefenstahl/dp/0312136420/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1YSPTKV6ZAZGFPXEV7HH&dpID=41NPW24P5EL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR107%2C160_
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leni_Riefenstahl
Thursday 8 October 2015
Why
Russia Will Not 'Offer' To Conduct Military Operations In Iraq
(Lessons
Learned From American Failures)
There
is increasing speculation that the Iraqi Premier's recent statement
about Russian assistance may herald Russian forces joining the
campaign against ISIL/ISIS Daesh in Iraq. Such, however, is unlikely
to happen.
Chasing
Straws In the Wind
Why,
in my opinion, it will not happen in the manner envisaged by the
Iraqi Premier, is outlined below.
One
of the lessons learnt from American disasters in Libya, Iraq, Syria
and now even in Afghanistan (as the promised additional military
assistance and resources have not been forthcoming in time to hold
back the Taliban, Al Qaeda and Daesh) is that you cannot conduct a
military operational campaign when it is being micromanaged by
politicians. Yes of course, it is political agendas which set the
framework and it is to such that the military officers are ultimately
accountable.
Political
paralysis in the United States has meant that a unified coherent
foreign policy has been impossible to achieve – especially in the
conduct of military operations in Syria.
As
with Libya and Iraq in the past, such means that the Republican and
Democrat Representatives have different outcome agendas and neither
appear to have the expertise nor vision to provide blueprints beyond
military campaigns and occupation, with very limited strategic
objectives, almost oblivious to the masses (local populace) who are
perceived as available for micromanagement by U.S. trained military, paramilitary
and police units – something similar to what might take place in
the United States to control urban civic unrest.
For
example it took the brutal murder of many U.S. troops - in many
instances by female suicide bombers - in Iraq - for the U.S. forces
to appreciate that men do not 'frisk' Muslim women in alien (i.e.
their own Muslim) lands. Iraq, it was then appreciated, is not the United States.
The
Enemy Within
In
the lead up to a U.S. election year all such divided House members
will pivot for maximum advantage and all demand not just being kept
'in the loop' but in micromanaging operations to such an extent that
if the military commanders are perceived as not reflecting each sides
public policy electorate-winning emotive agenda policies, leakages
(of operational failures, cooperation with Russian forces, betrayal
of U.S.
'patriotic' values) to the mass media in order to discredit
political opponents will be both the order of the day – and turn
any coherent unified strategy into a fiasco.
The
Lone Ranger
It
is for such reasons that any offer along the lines of the Iraqi
Premier is a 'poisoned chalice' – even more since the White House
has rejected (or spurned) any cooperation with Russia's military
campaign in Syria.
The
Empire Strikes Back
The
only time when the Russian Federation will, in my opinion, consider
assisting Iraq would occur should the Iraq government formally
request assistance from the Federation – with no conditions
attached which might hinder of impede Russian Allied operational
issues.
Iraq
is not in the same desperate situation which President Assad is.
The
new regime in power does not want a return of the Ba'athist Officers
who have, by and large, defected to ISIS.
The
Kurdish region is heavily dependant on U.S. support whilst the
Sadarists in the South dependant on Iran.
The
failure, however, of the United States to offer anything other than
words of sympathy for the Kurds in what is developing as an
(internal) outright civil war against the Salafist-controlled
government in Turkey and the paucity of the grade of weapons being
supplied to their forces, notwithstanding air support against ISIL
forces (to protect oilfields rather than Kurdish forces and territory
per se) could well persuade the Kurds that they too have little to
loose and everything to gain with a joint request for assistance to
Moscow.
There
is no doubt that if such a request was made and the mistakes of both
Russia in Afghanistan and the United States more recently in Iraq,
Libya and Syria unlikely to be repeated, under such circumstances
such a joint request would be favorably considered by the Russian
parliament.
The
Framework Shifts
At
such a stage, China, already on good terms with both Iran and the Shia
political and spiritual leadership in Iraq, seeing how the export of
such chaos could be motivated by external elements to destabilize its
own fragile Muslim regions, may well decide, having witnessed the
terrible destructive potential which this movement (ISIL) poses, that
it is in its own longer-term security interest, to join the battle in
Iraq against ISIL rather than having to combat these fanatics with
military campaigns for decades - or even longer - in its own
backyard.
If
the above scenario plays out, it would no doubt be a decisive game
changer.
There
are, again, longer term implications of having both Russia and China
as significant regional players in the region.
Check
(Mate?)
Apart
from Baghdad, the Iraqi State (or what is left of it) is partially
surrounded by patchworks of ISIL-controlled regions – in spite of
American bombing strategies and the presence of limited advisors to
support Iraqi government's military initiatives, there is just not
the confidence that America has the political will to 'get the job
done'. There is no evidence in Washington that such a unified
strategy exists – indeed quite the opposite appears to be the case
in an election lead-up year where its every political party for
itself – power is the name of the game.
Deja
Vu
As
in an earlier war which ended in a fiasco and betrayal – Vietnam –
the Iraqi government, is, I have no doubt, beginning to ponder as to
whether it is now nearing time to contemplate the unthinkable -
jumping ship - before it, also, is too late.
[The symbolism of the launch of Russian Cruise Missiles against ISIL targets in Syria from it's fleet in the Caspian Sea, an area the U.S. and Allies intend as the next area of influence, is lost upon the general media. Please read my earlier blogs for further clarity on this matter.]
©Patrick
Emek, October 2015
Wednesday 30 September 2015
Introduction
The implications of a recent discovery by scientists working at the National Institute of Health and published today in 'Science Translational Medicine' are so profound that I am including it as a separate article from the usual Public Information Content page.
For those of you reading who have a scientific background, I hope you agree that this exciting breakthrough could well be the discovery of the year and one of the most profound of the decade.
(As to a joint Nobel Prize for the scientists, if it was my decision, they would now be, at the very least, on the shortlist for next year!)
Patrick Emek
now read on.....................
Dormant viral genes may awaken to cause ALS
NIH human and mouse study may open an unexplored path for finding treatments
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health discovered that
reactivation of ancient viral genes embedded in the human genome may
cause the destruction of neurons in some forms of amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS). The results, published in Science Translational
Medicine, suggest a link between human endogenous retroviral genes
(HERVs) and ALS. The findings also raise the question of whether
antiretroviral drugs, similar to those used for suppressing HIV, may
help some ALS patients.
For generations, humans have been passing on genetic
remnants of HERV infections that may have happened millions of years
ago. Although nearly eight percent of the normal human genome is made
up of these genes, very little is known about their role in health and
disease.
“People call the genes for these viruses junk DNA. Our
results suggest they may become activated during ALS,” said Avindra
Nath, M.D., clinical director at the NIH’s National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and a senior author of the
study. “Ultimately we hope the results will lead to effective
treatments for a heartbreaking disorder.”
Currently, there is no effective treatment for the more
than 12,000 Americans who live with ALS. This fatal disorder destroys
neurons that control movements, including speaking, walking, breathing
and swallowing. On rare occasions, HIV-infected, AIDS patients develop
ALS-like symptoms. In many of these patients, the symptoms can be
reversed by treatment with antiretroviral drugs. Previous studies found
reverse transcriptase, a protein encoded by retroviral genes, in the
blood of some ALS patients but its role in the disorder is unknown.
These observations prompted Dr. Nath and his team to
explore the possible link between retroviruses and ALS. Unexpectedly
they found that endogenous, or inherited, retroviruses may be involved
with ALS.
Initially, they showed that brain samples from ALS
patients had higher than normal levels of messenger RNA (mRNA) encoded
by genes of the human endogenous retrovirus K (HERV-K). A protein
encoded by a critical HERV-K gene, called env, was found in brain
samples from ALS patients but not from healthy individuals or patients
with Alzheimer’s disease. They also showed that activation of HERV-K
genes killed healthy human neurons grown in petri dishes.
To test the role of HERVs in ALS, the scientists
genetically modified mice so that their neurons activated the HERV-K
env gene. The mice died earlier than normal and had problems with
balance and walking that progressively worsened with age. When the
scientists inspected the brains, spinal cords and muscles of these mice
they found that only motor neurons, the cells that control movements
and die in ALS, were damaged. Cells in other parts of the nervous
system remained healthy.
“We showed that motor neurons may be susceptible to activation of these genes during ALS,” said Dr. Nath.
Finally the scientists showed that activation of HERV-K
genes may be controlled by TDP-43, a gene-regulating protein that has
been strongly linked to ALS and known to control HIV production.
Genetically enhancing TDP-43 in human neurons increased the cells’
production of HERV-K mRNA and proteins whereas genetically blocking
TDP-43 in other cells reduced HERV-K reverse transcriptase activity.
Dr. Nath and his team are now collaborating with the ALS
center at Johns Hopkins University to study whether antiretroviral
treatments are effective at controlling HERV-K replication in a subset
of patients with ALS.
“We may have discovered a precision medicine solution for treating a neurodegenerative disorder,” said Dr. Nath.
This work was supported by intramural research programs
at the NINDS, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal
and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD).
For more information, visit:
www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/amyotrophiclateralsclerosis/ALS.htm
www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/motor_neuron_diseases/motor_neuron_diseases.htm
neuroscience.nih.gov/ninds/Home.aspx
www.niams.nih.gov/Research/Ongoing_Research/default.asp
www.nichd.nih.gov/about/org/dir/Pages/index.aspx
www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/amyotrophiclateralsclerosis/ALS.htm
www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/motor_neuron_diseases/motor_neuron_diseases.htm
neuroscience.nih.gov/ninds/Home.aspx
www.niams.nih.gov/Research/Ongoing_Research/default.asp
www.nichd.nih.gov/about/org/dir/Pages/index.aspx
NINDS
is the nation’s leading funder of research on the brain and nervous
system. The mission of NINDS is to seek fundamental knowledge about the
brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the
burden of neurological disease.
The mission of the NIAMS, a part of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health, is to
support research into the causes, treatment and prevention of arthritis
and musculoskeletal and skin diseases; the training of basic and
clinical scientists to carry out this research; and the dissemination
of information on research progress in these diseases. For more
information about the NIAMS, call the information clearinghouse at
(301) 495-4484 or (877) 22-NIAMS (free call) or visit the NIAMS website
at http://www.niams.nih.gov.
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD),
sponsors research on development, before and after birth; maternal,
child, and family health; reproductive biology and population issues;
and medical rehabilitation.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and
Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting
basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is
investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare
diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health®
References
Li et al. "Human endogenous retrovirus-K induces motor neuron
disease," Science Translational Medicine, September 30, 2015. DOI:
10.1126/scitranslmed.aac8201
###
Tuesday 22 September 2015
British Politics:
The World Is Not Enough
(A Very British Coup)
(A Very British Coup)
As one of the richest men in the United Kingdom and former Deputy Chairman of The Conservative Party, Lord Ashcroft, takes revenge on his former sponsor and mentor for not providing him with a privileged position which he believes his wealth entitled him to possess (a noted feature of wealth and power in the United Kingdom and, of course, in many other countries throughout the world.)
Rather than treat this as a separate unrelated new article, I resurrected an earlier blog which I think is apt for the occasion.
I would place Ashcroft within the list of 'disgruntled' and 'embittered' individuals hell-bent on revenge - for being, in his own mind, 'spurned' by those institutions he thought he 'bought' or had a 'right' to 'own' by virtue of his wealth and power.
When one steps back and reflects, it appears that, for those like Ashcroft, wealth has certainly not brought them happiness - neither in their private nor public life. As for power, the world is simply not enough, neither to satisfy lust nor greed and far from freeing them, all those fabulous riches have provided are 'golden cages' for such loft to sing, like a canary, from within.
They appear to be caught somewhere between limbo and purgatory, destined never to experience heaven nor hell. In this particular instance, one might include the pen - as the last-resort 'weapon of mass distruction' before 'Dante's Inferno'; with the scribe and author, in this particular instance, being guided, by a 'thrifty' newspaper (of enigmatic scruples, proffering to be acting in the best, the highest and the finest British spirit of the 'public interest') though the Asphodel Medows, before twilight takes it's full eternal and all-embracing hold.
Lets assume this is yet another very British Coup, who benefits? Boris?;waiting in the wings;or maybe even George?;away in China as it all hits the fan; or another Dark Horse, somewhere in the background?
To the more distant and remote, in its totality, it all appears to be pearls before swine.
Lets assume this is yet another very British Coup, who benefits? Boris?;waiting in the wings;or maybe even George?;away in China as it all hits the fan; or another Dark Horse, somewhere in the background?
To the more distant and remote, in its totality, it all appears to be pearls before swine.
...............Sic transit gloria mundi..............
©Patrick
Emek, September 2015
References
References
http://www.scriptonitedaily.com/2015/09/21/those-pig-allegations-about-david-cameron-and-the-fabulously-british-twitter-reactions/
https://dantesthedivinecomedy.wordpress.com/divine-study/inferno-study-guide/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_underworld
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sang+like+a+canary
http://www.scriptonitedaily.com/2015/09/21/those-pig-allegations-about-david-cameron-and-the-fabulously-british-twitter-reactions/
now read on
'No Sex Please! - We're Anglo-Saxon!'
You can't help but
notice in the Anglo-Saxon media world the number of 'sex claims'
against prominent individuals.
I am not talking about
under-age sex but claims by adults who were adults at the time that the
alleged offences took place and should, by all accounts, have known
better.
(The normal response
in my time was a severe slap across the face or even worse, kick in
the groin, by the offended adult which usually removed any
(unwanted!) hand from any female private area – and at the speed of
light!)
I am now talking about
ditched girlfriends, former wives, embittered semi-geriatric
ex-lovers, 'privately maintained women' or acquaintances or ex-employees now accusing prominent
individuals of 'molesting' them when they were 18+ years old – or
bottom pinching them as adults (when they were above the age of
consent) thirty or forty or even fifty years ago.
I have to invoke my
own (lapsed) profession now and say that, from a psychiatric and
psychological viewpoint, it would appear that the availability of
mass media instant personal communications have produced a new type
of sociopath which my (latent ) profession has not yet been prepared
(or simply is not courageous enough) to acknowledge.
The Embittered
Sociopath with Obsessive-Compulsive Neurotic Dysfunctionalities
Without
revealing my own background and training, I have, by accident, met
and listened in public forums to some of the stories of these individuals and am of the
opinion (I cannot say 'professional' because I am not a practicing
psychologist nor practicing psychiatrist) drawing on my studies and
training, that such individuals have indeed suffered. Their
'suffering' however clearly appears to be the results of failed
relationships, unfulfilled ambitions, and broken or embittered dreams
rather than any culpability on the part of the individual being
accused of 'molesting' or 'assaulting' them whilst they were clearly
in a consensual (and sometimes clearly and evidentially, financially
beneficial) relationship 30 or 40 years ago.
It
also appears to be the result of resentments - 'Die Hard' and 'Death
Wish' - revenge checklists bubbling underground, like dormant
volcanoes, for decades.
So
if you want to call this psychological trauma, then clearly they have
suffered.
Perhaps
they have been quietly 'stalking' their former partner for decades,
watched him (it's usually him) raise a happy loving family and have
waited in time, in the darkness, for their revenge, before expiry.
False Claim
Syndromes The Role of The Internet and Social Media
The
internet, social media and perceived changes in societal values have
now provided the mediums for such grievances to be exploited.
The
fascinating thing about Witch Hunts is that every opportunistic
character can 'get in on the act' - from charities seeking a new
funding frontier, to politicians seeking a new 'fear' with which to
swing votes in their favor, to those with more sinister objectives –
such as the dismantlement of credibility in the institutions of the
State (part of insurgency strategy which political and religious
extremists use to undermine society) all jump on board for the ride.
The rest of the horrified general public just cower back in terror.
And it can be a very lucrative ride – the charity gets enormous
publicity 'taking down' prominent individuals (and, as an intended
consequence, it's coffers swell), the politicians are overwhelmingly
re-elected with the promise to keep civil society 'safe and secure',
extremists are very happy because credibility in institutions of the
State have been grievously undermined.
Under
Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence. the embittered individuals have had their
former lovers or acquaintances or 'sugar daddy' publicly humiliated
-and have even been rewarded financially 'for psychological damage'.
So it's a win-win situation for everyone – no proof required just
enough individuals to jump on the band waggon to ensure the public
can 'see' that, there can't be smoke without fire. Right? Right?
Right?
It
does not matter that no proof of alleged offences taking place 30 or 40 or 50
years ago has been produced. When you have Witch hunts no proof is
required - only public confessions, and recantations of sorrow (such
recantations used to be elicited by the Inquisition Friars with
last-minute pleas to the condemned that, at the very least, they
should attempt to save their immortal souls from eternal damnation
with a public acknowledgement of heresy, witchcraft and wrongdoing.)
Today such are elicited by lawyers acting for the 'victims'. That
this all take place in a public arena before the public 'burning at
the stake' – which today is the feeding of the accused as 'dinner'
to the 'starving' mass media wolves, bereft as they are of anything
worthwhile to gossip about since the departure of Rupert Murdoch.
[Some
even (privately) suggest a relationship between the ignominious
departure of Mr Murdoch from the United Kingdom, the conviction and jailing of his close
associates, and the mass and velocity of the availability of material
about sex scandal revelations implicating prominent individuals, to
long-enquiring bodies. Remember folks, you read it here first!]
Prince Andrew - Britain's (One time) Most Eligible Bachelor
Prince Andrew - Britain's (One time) Most Eligible Bachelor
The
embittered already, triumphantly, have Prince Andrew's 'head' 'in a
bag', so to speak.
(Again
allegations - but of a different nature than those being addressed
above - and again strenuously denied by the Prince - with the usual 'no
evidence required' by his accuser to fulfill today's criteria for
'guilt by association'.)
I
expect the next ones on their 'hit list' to be The Queen or The Duke
of Edinburgh.
Already
the demented and retarded claim that She is a lizard, has webbed feet
and a tail and that both of Them are aliens - and I don't mean the
ones coming in via Lampedusa (!) You think that I'm joking? Not in
the least! As Will Smith said in the film 'Independence Day' when
the alien spacecraft hatch opened: ''Welcome to [Planet] Earth!''
©
Patrick Emek, 2015
'The
Queen Is An Alien' – the 'evidence' so far:
He
once claimed he's the Son of God and the world is run by alien
lizards, but the story of David Icke's marriage breakdown is almost
as weird By
Natalie Clarke for MailOnline
Updated: 08:11, 9 January 2012
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2083287/David-Ickes-marriage-breakdown-He-claimed-hes-Son-God-world-run-alien-lizards-story-marriage-breakdown-weird.html#ixzz3NlS5Lh9p
and
now back to the sane world(!):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_%281996_film%29
and by request:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfPWpEKhgfk
..........and just to end on a more serious note:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceballs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juXCX3dhz8Y
and by request:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfPWpEKhgfk
..........and just to end on a more serious note:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceballs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juXCX3dhz8Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfkNvOOiZ_8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD516OENN7s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEEwAvlJOcI
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