Chaos Spreads

Yes, chaos is spreading and I blame the US.

Alexander Lobodenko, a 34-year-old district court judge, was shot several times in the back by two assailants on a street near his home in central Ukraine late Tuesday night, the country’s Interior Ministry said. 

This is the judge that jailed protestors in the Ukraine. 

Why do I blame the US? It is not in dispute that the US is financing and controlling the protestors:

In the tapes, Nuland and Pyatt discuss the upheavals in Ukraine, and President Viktor Yanukovych’s offer last month to make opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk the new prime minister and Vitali Klitschko deputy prime minister. Both men turned the offer down.

Nuland, who in December went to Independence Square in Kiev in a sign of support for the demonstrators, adds that she has also been told that the UN chief, Ban Ki-moon, is about to appoint a former Dutch ambassador to Kiev, Robert Serry, as his representative to Ukraine.

“That would be great I think to help glue this thing and have the UN glue it and you know, fuck the EU,“ she says, in an apparent reference to differences over their policies. 

Yes they discuss the "upheavals," but they did more than that. In the call they planned out what the protestors will do in the future. In other words, the diplomats cannot tell the protestors what to do unless they control them. I do not watch network news anymore as I want to not be influenced by Babylon the Great, as I call it, so I am not sure how much play this intercepted call was given. But based on a google search, not much as much as it deserves; an obscure site like Zero Hedge is way too high in the rankings. 

The response of the US government was to be shocked, shocked that phone tapping was occurring. Do I really have to say how dumb this is? 

Note that the US supporting these protestors is in direct conflict with signed treaties. 

Sergei Glazyev, an adviser to President Vladimir Putin with responsibility for relations with Ukraine, told a newspaper that U.S. "interference" breached the 1994 treaty under which Washington and Moscow jointly guaranteed Ukraine's security and sovereignty after Kiev gave up its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal. 

The Ukrainian government is trying to keep things calm:

Under intense pressure from Ukraine’s political opposition, Yanukovych signed a bill declaring amnesty for protesters and canceling unpopular anti-demonstration laws on January 31. 

Call me a right-wing nut if you wish, but this will just encourage more protests. 

Ukraine is tightly balanced between two opposing groups, one in the west and north of the country, the other in the east and south. A likely outcome is a partition of the country. 

So if chaos does ensue in Ukraine, the one to blame lives on Pennsylvania Avenue in a big White House, the current seat of Babylon the Great.  

Are You A Gang Member? Part 1

I was reading an article that asked this question. One paragraph in particular jumped out. 

Ishmael Cisneros, a member of the notorious global crime syndicate, the Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, says that once you join a gang, “your mind closes off to the rest of the world and you’re capable of doing anything for the gang…don’t get caught up in the world of gangs, especially for those that think there’s something good in it. It’s all lies.”

I think the reason it jumped out at me was that I was embarrassed. I have been a gang member--many times. Oops. So I will give three rather embarrassing personal examples over the next week. The first of these is that I used to be a member of the gang called Republicans. 

There is great comfort in not having to think. Seriously. Thinking is hard. You know what the correct answer is already, no need for pesky things like facts to get in the way. You watch the correct news network, and condemn the incorrect news network. This reinforces what you already think. Charles Krauthammer is always right. 

When you see a news report, and the speaker has an (R) after their name, we already know almost everything we need to know, we will hear the truth. Our template, as I call it, is set. If someone from your gang is up for election, you will vote for them, even if you have to hold your nose to do so. 

Don't misunderstand. I have not joined the rival gang called Democrats. I see no reason to leave the Bloods to join the Crips. I find the competing gang just as amusing. Well, maybe a little more so as I used to be a Republican. Old templates die hard. 

The whole process is almost useless. Remember what Ishmael said in my quote, "It's all lies." 

Do what you think best, but as for me, I will no longer be a gang member. 

A Disquieting Thought

I have been thinking about the death of Jesus and thinking about watching The Passion. It has been in my Netflix queue for years, yet I never have seen it. His death is difficult to think about. 

Here is how the message describes His Death in Matthew 27

27-31 The soldiers assigned to the governor took Jesus into the governor’s palace and got the entire brigade together for some fun. They stripped him and dressed him in a red toga. They plaited a crown from branches of a thornbush and set it on his head. They put a stick in his right hand for a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mocking reverence: “Bravo, King of the Jews!” they said. “Bravo!” Then they spit on him and hit him on the head with the stick. When they had had their fun, they took off the toga and put his own clothes back on him. Then they proceeded out to the crucifixion. 

32-34 Along the way they came on a man from Cyrene named Simon and made him carry Jesus’ cross. Arriving at Golgotha, the place they call “Skull Hill,” they offered him a mild painkiller (a mixture of wine and myrrh), but when he tasted it he wouldn’t drink it.

35-40 After they had finished nailing him to the cross and were waiting for him to die, they whiled away the time by throwing dice for his clothes. Above his head they had posted the criminal charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. Along with him, they also crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: “You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you’re really God’s Son, come down from that cross!”

41-44 The high priests, along with the religion scholars and leaders, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: “He saved others—he can’t save himself! King of Israel, is he? Then let him get down from that cross. We’ll all become believers then! He was so sure of God—well, let him rescue his ‘Son’ now—if he wants him! He did claim to be God’s Son, didn’t he?” Even the two criminals crucified next to him joined in the mockery.

The disquieting thoughts of the crucifixion led me to other disquieting thoughts. The soldiers were just being soldiers. They were just following orders. Sure they killed people, but they were enemies of their country, they deserved to die. Didn't they? Can we really condemn them for doing their job, a necessary job, and enjoying it? Rome needed soldiers to protect the people in the empire, and such service in defense of one's country is honorable. 

These thoughts led to my final disquieting thought. When these heroes of the state returned home, did the people back home thank them for their service? 

College Loans

Are college loans a scam? This infographic is interesting. 

Know Your Rights

An interesting Infographic on your rights.