Why Do The War Mongers Want to 'Kill' Manning The Millennial Messenger?

Nazi defendants wait to be tried at Nuremberg. Why haven’t the Bushie terrorists who launched the unprovoked Iraq War met the same fate – as opposed to Pfc. Bradley Manning?

“A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people. “ - John Fitzgerald Kennedy


In an earlier blog I harped on the pathetic Milliennial Abby Huntsman who appeared on Bill Maher's REAL TIME show woefully unprepared and basically giving a good emulation of a moron. I also added that I didn't believe all Millennials fit this mold. Some undoubtedly had courage - lots of it- and were invested in the truth because they grasped this was what democracy was all about. This is also why Pfc. Bradley Manning, a Millennial (but not to be confused with Abby Huntsman) merits commendations for seeking to help his fellow citizens out as opposed to being kept in the dark - regarding the "wars" raging in their name.

Manning, as readers may know, is being tried on trumped up charges of "treason" and "aiding the enemy" which is about the biggest laugh there is given the fact Manning has released no more critical files than Beltway  Über hack Bob Woodward. As blogger-columnist Glenn Greenwald has pointed out  : "Let’s apply the government's theory in the Manning case to one of the most revered journalists in Washington: Bob Woodward, who has become one of America’s richest reporters, if not the richest, by obtaining and publishing classified information far more sensitive than anything WikiLeaks has ever published ". 

Greenwald also noted, parallel to the Army prosecutor's claim in the Manning case, that Osama Bin Laden was "one of Woodward's most enthusiastic readers."  But then Woodward is the darling of the Beltway's Neoliberal hacks and corporate -bankster warmongers so can't be touched. Not like a little 26-year old Millennial whose only shroud of protection is democracy or democratic principles. You remember those?

For clarity one may also invoke the proposition put forward earlier by blogger Amy Davidson to the effect that: "If it is aiding the enemy 'to expose war crimes committed by American forces or lies told by the American government,' then in reality 'who is aiding the enemy' -- the whistleblower or the perpetrators themselves?” The answer seems fairly obvious if one isn't brain dead.


When the deceptive operation of the warfare state can’t stand the light of day, truth-tellers are a constant threat and the powers-that-be will have a yen to squelch them. Thus, culpability must stay turned on its head. So now I can get this straight: Bushie vermin who launched a pre-emptive war (against Iraq) violating the war crimes article (VI) of the Nuremberg Laws walk away scot free while Manning gets prosecuted to the hilt? WTF is going on here? Has this nation totally lost its mind, moorings, moral ballast?

Truth be told Manning’s release of so-called classified files to do with clear criminal war crimes committed in Iraq, Afghanistan by U.S. troops was no worse than Daniel Ellsberg’'s release of the Pentagon Papers  and the hidden rot and abominations underscoring the Vietnam War. Those Ellsberg revelations set a moral tone about what a morally responsible nation does, as opposed to kowtowing to a crazed military culture that is all about waging perma-war. JFK himself warned in his June 4, 1963 speech at American University about the dangers of “Pax Americana” – that is, imposing an American version of peace on the world using American weapons of war.  Long before JFK's words, President John Quincy Adams  warned that America "goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy". Somehow that message has been lost as we're a nation burdened by military overstretch - the same syndrome that brought down Rome.

JFK  further understood that the war state also had to be controlled to secure any kind of future for ourselves and our offspring or it would control us and suck up everything of value.  This is why he did several notable things, including: signing the August, 1963 Nuclear Test Ban treaty, and initiating rapprochement with Castro’s Cuba in early 1963 as well as softening positions toward the then Soviet Union (mostly done with Nikita Khruschchev behind the scenes.)


Of course, the crazed warmongers – led by Gen. Curtis LeMay- weren’t able to handle this, so they saw to it Kennedy met an untimely demise. The violent head shot in the center of a major American city (Dallas) sending Kennedy’s bloody brains spattering all over Elm Street in Dealey Plaza sent a message to all future presidents to heave to, obey the war state – or suffer similar consequences. This is why all American presidents since Kennedy have demonstrated cowardly, compromised behavior that has enabled war mongering and virulent Pax Americana – whether Reagan in his war on the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, or Clinton in his cruise missile attack on a Sudanese pharmaceutical factory producing anti-malaria drugs (believed at the time to be an al Qaeda hangout) to Bush Jr. invading Iraq on false pretenses causing the deaths of 600,000 Iraqis, to Obama and his drone killings as well as continuing a U.S. presence in Afghanistan that is only causing more alienation and blowback.


While Obama promised transparency on being elected, he has gone after whistle blowers with ferocity, as well as clamping down on files with directed over-classification. One major example has to do with the JFK assassination files which the National Archives now has refused to release in this 50th anniversary year. Key among those files are the CIA activities of agent George Joannides – suspected in manipulating Lee Oswald to be the patsy. If we can’t see the files, how are we to ever assess the final truth? (See also: http://www.brane-space.blogspot.com/2012/06/national-archives-to-jfk-file-seekers.html )


But maybe we can't have the final truth because for one thing it would mean the U.S. gov’t finally admitting after 50 years that its relentless defense of the Warren Commission was all wrong.  Given the same government likely had major roles in altering files (as documented by John Newman in his 'Oswald and the CIA') as well as suppressing other evidence or altering it, why would they be invested in the truth now?


In terms of kowtowing to the military-industrial spy state many of us are still prepared to give Obama the benefit of the doubt- that he accedes to the secrecy wishes of the mammoth military state (including prosecuting Bradley Manning to the hilt) because of the fear of experiencing Kennedy’s end. Kennedy crossed the MIC with his National Security Action memorandum 263 to pull all personnel out of Vietnam by 1965, and look what happened to him. Perhaps Obama fears a similar end if he courageously ceases all drone strikes and pulls immediately out of Afghanistan – which would be no more detrimental than if we leave in another year and a half. At least if this is the case one can assuage doubts that a former constitutional law professor would deliberately prosecute a leaker and ignore the real war criminals – most of whom ought to have been hung by now.

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Manning is charged with crimes for sending hundreds of thousands of classified files, documents and videos, including the "Collateral Murder" video, the "Iraq War Logs," the "Afghan War Logs" and State Department cables to Wikileaks. Many of the things he transmitted contain evidence of war crimes.  The "Collateral Murder" video depicts a US Apache attack helicopter killing 12 civilians and wounding two children on the ground in Baghdad in 2007. The helicopter then fired on and killed the people trying to rescue the wounded. Finally, a US tank drove over one of the bodies, cutting the man in half. These acts constitute three separate war crimes.

Manning fulfilled his legal duty to report war crimes. He complied with his legal duty to obey lawful orders but also his legal duty to disobey unlawful orders. He also complied with Nuremburg Article VI to report war crimes, something the Nazis were tried for in Nuremburg (see photo).

Section 499 of the Army Field Manual states, "Every violation of the law of war is a war crime." The law of war is contained in the Geneva Conventions.

But perhaps, as in the case of the Senate post-hoc altering the wiretap surveillance laws to conform with lawlessness, after the Bushies broke them, we are no longer a nation of laws or morality. In that case Bradley Manning has not much to look forward to, other than a life sentence.

Germans: Tom Hanks Wasting His Time With His HBO Kennedy Assassination Propaganda Series

One of thousands of 'Wanted for Treason' posters retrieved from Dallas streets on the day of John F. Kennedy's assassination.

Another topic of conversation at the Gipfel Restaurant on the Zugspitze was the Kennedy Assassination- given this November 22 is the 50th anniversary of the event. All the Germans, when I introduced the topic, summarily rejected the notion that Lee Harvey Oswald had anything to do with it. As Heinrich and Maria put it (almost in unison): "Er war eine Marionette!"  Since there is no explicit term for 'patsy' in German they used the term 'Marionette' for a puppet on a string or manipulated by (unseen) strings.

In fact, they were spot on, since as Military Science Professor John Newman observed in his book, 'Oswald and the CIA', Oswald had been "sheepdipped" - which is the code word for being manipulated. He also provides other documents to show how the CIA used this ploy on others, including Eldon Henson. According to Newman (pp. 362-63):

"What the CIA Station in Mexico City did to Eldon Hensen in July, 1963 was to 'step into' his reality and direct it in a way designed to achieve the Agency's objectives- in this instance to see what he was up to. This CIA capability, to surreptitiously enter into someone's life to control or manipulate it, was made possible in this case by the use of  telephone taps."

Henson isn’t the only example, and author James Douglass ('JFK and the Unspeakable')  also shows that Thomas Arthur Vallee, who was to have been the Chicago assassin for Kennedy’s proposed visit on Nov. 2, 1963,  was also sheep-dipped, and likely selected for patsy-hood using a false defector program that the ONI  (Office of Naval Intelligence) set up in 1959.  Had JFK traveled to Chicago, we’d likely only have heard of  Vallee and never known a Lee Harvey Oswald. Vallee and Oswald were simply interchangeable pawns on the CIA’s chess board for executive action, yet a self-proclaimed expert like Vince Bugliosi professes to not have a single clue about it in his  'Reclaiming History'!


Reinhart chimed in that most Germans didn't buy the Warren Commission Report and were astounded that so many Americans still accepted it. When I mentioned that actor Tom Hanks planned to do a 13-part series based on the massive pro-Warrenite book ('Reclaiming History')  by Vince Bugliosi, he laughed then rolled his eyes. Translated from the German his response was roughly:

'Shade! (Shame!) So this fool will waste people's time and money putting out even more lies? That is an indictment of the American media if that happens!"

All the Germans, when asked about the plausibility of Hanks' HBO extravaganza coming out with the real truth of the assassination, responded:

“Unmöglich !”

"Impossible!"

What flabbergasted me was how much knowledge they already had of the particulars, vastly more than the average American. (Which is insightful, given some recent polls now show 59% of Americans reject the Warren Commission's fiction, compared to 73% barely 10 years ago. It appears the revisionists may actually be succeeding, along with the National Archives' refusal to release all salient documents this year - see e.g. http://www.brane-space.blogspot.com/2012/06/national-archives-to-jfk-file-seekers.html

But, incredibly, Reinhart, Heinrich, Maria and Elli all knew about the bullet-marked limo whisked away to be taken apart, as well as the destruction of JFK's suit coat (with bullet holes in it) and the disappearance of the brain. They also had seen the actual autopsy photos and Reinhart repeatedly said "Shade!" on recalling their horror. 

Heinrich put it clearly: "How could a man like Oswald have removed the brain? How could he himself have taken the suit coat and had it destroyed? How could he have ordered the limousine taken apart? None of that makes any sense which is why no German believes he did it!"

When I noted that Tom Hanks' mission was to prevent the American people from being "snookered" they all laughed. "Was bedeutet das 'snookered'?" they asked  (What does snookered mean?) And I had to use terms like  “täuschen”   for deceive. At this Heinrich howled with laughter. "Ach, but he ...Hanks ...is the one who deceives! So how can they show this?"

I then had to explain how Hanks had formidable connections in the media and especially with HBO, having done previous series such as 'The Pacific' and 'Band of Brothers'  so he gained a certain prestige. Also, from having won multiple Academy Awards. At which point Elli interjected: "Ah, Ja! Forrest Gump!"

And we all laughed. But on the serious side they wondered how such deception could be displayed as truth and I then went into the fact Hanks planned to use Bugliosi's monstrosity original  (2,646 page) book  -  now interestingly pared down to 634 pages and renamed: 'Four Days In November: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy".  Bugliosi evidently doesn't grasp that 5 pounds of bullshit distilled to 1 pound still equals bullshit!

Reinhart - following this revelation- fairly yelled: "But if this is also based on deceptions it is still all deception! Schlimm!"

Near the end the Germans all agreed that they hoped Americans wouldn't fall for Hanks' propaganda or any films that sought to portray Oswald as the JFK killer.

At the end, Heinrich perhaps put it best:

"We may never find the actual killers, but sensible people can agree it wasn't Oswald."

As to whether any would view Hanks' effort, all heads indicated a strong 'No'. It wasn't worth any investment of time, mental energy or credulity.

To which I heartily agreed.

Why Germany’s Carbon Footprint is only 60% of the U.S.' Footprint

During the course of our time in Germany it was easy to see first hand exactly why Germany’s carbon footprint is about three fifths the one for the U.S.A. (this is after correction for difference in population). The key words here: small scale spaces,  extreme attention to conservation and rigorous ecology. All of these are directed towards a sustainable living environment.

In terms of space scale, the average American would likely be shocked by the size of our room at the Art Hotel in Munich. Offhand, I would estimate it at roughly one half the size of a typical Days Inn room, and a bathroom perhaps one third the size of the Days Inn bathroom. Our room, indeed, had barely enough extra space by which to walk around the bed and the storage space (say for shelves, drawers, closet)  bordered on nil. We had to keep most of our clothing in suitcases, and only take out what we’d actually be wearing. The room was also furnished with only one small desk and chair, so the other person either had to sit on a bed –say to watch TV news or read the papers or go to the lobby to do it.

Air conditioning: All the hotels we stayed in whether in Germany or Austria advertised a/c. However, the dirty little secret is two fold: 1) the a/c would not work if the indoor temperature was even a half degree cooler than outside and 2) the a/c typically shut off automatically at night. This meant that for those like us, who desired cool temperatures to sleep (and non-stuffy rooms) we kept the windows open. Fortunately, this was possible even in cities like Munich and Innsbruck and there were no screams issuing from street corners…..say as I used to hear when I had an apt on Canal Street in New Orleans in 1967.


Conservation: is a big issue with both Germans and Austrians and they therefore don’t waste energy like we do in the States. If a supermarket is only a half mile a way you therefore “laufen” or walk to it, you don’t drive. Driving would be considered a minor crime. They also make large cloth handbags to carry groceries. Others use bicycles, and I’d say bikes easily out numbered autos in some parts of Munich and Innsbruck. Special bike lanes are provided on wide sidewalks and bicyclists speed up and down them easily. Using bikes or walking saves on petrol which is already extremely expensive because Germans, Austrians pay gasoline-fuel taxes unlike spoiled Americans.

Water is also rigorously conserved, and the toilets themselves are designed for minimal water use: e.g. on one side above the bowl  the flush button when pushed  releases 1 gal. for urine. On the other – the alternative button released 2 gals. This is compared to 4-6 gals. for the typical U.S. toilet flush. A scrub brush is thoughtfully provided in a corner bucket because, of course with such minimal water for flushing solid waste,  there's almost always a likelihood some residue adheres to the bowl. So ….you scrub it away! (No one in his right mind in Germany expected the maids to do this, btw!)

Oh, by the way, another observation: public 'WCs' (rest rooms) are available in most cities, e.g. Munich, Salzburg (Austria) , but one must pay a half euro (about 75 cents) to use them.

Re: watering lawns-  people must pay much more for the privilege. Lavish green, water -sucking lawns such as common in much of the U.S are rare.

Rigorous ecology-management: In a drive acompanying Reinhart and Elli to Schloss Linderhof, I commented at the enormous amount of dandelions in the fields including on the well-kept grounds of the Schloss. At one point I asked Reinhart: "Wait! Don't the grounds keepers spray these weeds, these dandelions and get rid of them?"

"Ach! Nein! Nein! These 'weeds' we call Löwenblumen and we love them for our yards and fields! Also they can be eaten (in salats) and the farmers let their herds feed on them!"

Wow! What a difference between two nations! Here in the U.S. I believe my neighbors are nearly ready to lynch me because after even a short absence dandelions have taken over the yard! Maybe I suggest people come over and pick them for unique salads!

Reinhart also noted that in Germany massive "spritzing" -spraying with weedicides and chemicals is verboten. No more than 11% of major grounds, such as at Schloss Linderhof for example, can have actual chemicals applied. The rest of the area must be managed using natural means, or manually. (Which, interestingly, is the method used in Boulder, Colo.)

On the issue of GMO foods, Germany saw massive demonstrations which made major headlines in the press - unlike here in the USA where the corporate media titans kept all news of global protests under wraps. Meanwhile, a new bill before the Reichstag will formally consider demanding labels on all GMO-foods, which 90% of Germans demand. In the USA, meanwhile, our Senate recently approved a despicable piece of legislation such that - if someone should become ill or diseased or harmed by a GMO-food, Monsanto can't be held accountable.

Did I once say this was a corporatocracy? You had better believe it!

Errrrrrr…If You Can’t Handle ‘Thrones’ Stick to Disney Cartoons!

Well, at least social media is good for one thing: sharing with cohorts assorted propensities to barf after watching an intense episode of Game of Thrones  – as televised last night.  Evidently, as reported on salon.com, much of the Twitter-sphere went nuts and many tweeters tried to outdo each other in the degree to which they were vomiting after the butchering of the Starks by Walder Frey. Some of the tweets that erupted after the show:


i hope satan comes to walder frey and lord bolton while they're asleep and drag them to hell


NOBODY WATCH GAME OF THRONES ITS HORRIBLE AND IT WILL MAKE YOUR SOUL CRUSH INTO PIECES AND YOU'LL BE FOREVER CRYING

Having a deep Game of Thrones-related depression and psychological distress-


i am 5000% done with game of thrones oh my god watching this series was the worst decision of my life


I wanted to tweet five minutes ago about watching this weeks game of thrones. BUT I COULDN'T BECAUSE I WAS SOBBING AN OCEAN OF TEARS


Game of Thrones literally just tore my heart out and stomped on it. I'm gonna throw up man.


Anyone else throw up after thrones? No just me?


IT'S BEEN HALF AN HOUR AND IM STILL THROWING UP


I'M SHAKING. I'M CRYING. I'M BROKEN NOW. ROBB STARK MY BABY



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Ohh, Boo Hoo Hoo, and BWAAAAAAAAHAHAH! Get over it, Tweeters! It’s a fantasy series for god’s sakes, not a documentary of the Holocaust (which reactions would be fully justified as proportional to the stimulus) showing women and kids gasping for breath in the Auschwitz gas chambers. Besides which, if you’d actually READ the book as opposed to tweeting and facebooking 24/7 you’d have known this massacre was coming! Hence, not have been surprised.


No, I didn’t read the book (wifey did) but when I watch a fantasy TV series, or even something like ‘The Walking Dead’, I don’t mistake story lines for reality nor do I get so attached to characters that when they’re killed off I want to ‘vomit” or go into a depression! You vomit after food poisoning or getting a serious flu, not after watching a TV episode! You go into depression after your dad, brother or mom dies or you lose a job, not after a character is offed. (Actually, in the book, Robb Stark’s head is taken off and the head of one of the dead wolves is sewn onto the body which is then displayed publicly)

Look, ‘Thrones’ is a violent series, not for juvenile minds - for which I also include those whose emotions are easily manipulated by fantasy writers. But then those of us grounded in the reality community who are aware of what’s really going on in the world – the REAL world- know this. We are shaken by real human butchery and disasters, such as the needless, brutal deaths of all those crushed in Bangladesh at a cheap clothing factory because profiteers turned their heads. Or. The dozens of Afghan kids slaughtered in drone strikes. But those whose lives revolve around solipsist confections and twitter feeds aren’t likely to see beyond their social mirror worlds so can’t distinguish real world reactions from those to fantasy creations.


This is sad and to me, one more reason we need to relieve people of their Twitter and Facebook addictions and reconnect them to the real world. At least then, if they do become depressed or experience a vomit episode it will be induced by revulsion to real events in the real world and the suffering of flesh and blood people. As opposed to chraracters inhabiting a fantasy realm!

A Visit To A Beautiful, Schizoid (and Forgetful) German Twin-Town

                   Rudolph Hess and Hitler inspect at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch

                         One of the posters announcing the 1936 Winter Games.

Arriving in the Bavarian Alps twinned villages of Garmisch-Partenkirchen from Munich, we beheld very little immigrant upheaval or in fact, immigrant presence. What we did see - from our hotel in Partenkirchen (http://www.hotel-schatten.de/ ), was a beautiful alpine scene of a bucolic, friendly village set amidst the grandeur of majestic mountains - including the Zugspitze, Germany's tallest peak.

We spent five days here, enjoying the incredible scenery and in the company of our German friends, Reinhart and Elli.  Assorted trips included forays not only to Zugspitze (which took some two hours to ascend, including via train, bus then cable car) but the roaring (actually defeaning) gorge known as "Partnachklamm" and hikes through the town centers of Partenkirchen and Garmisch. (Reinhart and Elli stayed in the Bavaria Hotel of Garmisch)

First, some basics - including of geography. Although mistakenly called "Garmisch" - or more commonly people carelessly referring to "going to Garmisch", there are actually two separate village entities: Garmisch and Partenkirchen. However, the two became yoked together in history as "Garmisch-Partenkirchen" once the bidding for the 1936 Winter Olympics arrived. This was because adequate facilities were needed, so Hitler decided to forcibly create one single site entity in order to provide the adequate resources, housing, etc. After this was done, and the Games awarded by the Olympic committee, construction began and ski jumps, skating rinks etc were completed. Then there appeared the many posters heralding the Games. (Which for reasons I will go into became known as the "Nazi Olympics" and also set up a propaganda preview for the more famous 1936 Summer Berlin Olympics- with which most Americans are familiar- perhaps because of sprinter Jesse Owens.)

At the "Gipfel" restaurant at the summit of Zugspitze, Reinhart, Elli, Janice and I sat down with a Bavarian couple - Heinrich and Maria. Over Lowenbrau and Schweinebraten (with red cabbage) we chatted for nearly an hour and at some point the conversation turned to the dark history of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Heinrich, whose father was involved in the Winter Games preparation, told us the villages were ferociously anti-Semitic even before Hitler forced the towns together for the Olympics. Signs rudely declaring "NO JEWS!" or "Jews Not Allowed!' were everywhere. It was only after the games were awarded that Hitler ordered all the signs be removed, lest the world receive a bad opinion of Germany and the Olympics' twin villages, and villagers.

To see  more image from these Olympics go to: http://www.olympic.org/garmisch-partenkirchen-1936-winter-olympics

Despite such attempts at trickery and propaganda, we learned from separate sources that Western journalists at the time did detect troop movements near Garmisch. Worse, Hitler had actually been photographed in February, 1936 inspecting a troop contingent in Garmisch. Heinrich informed us that despite this the level, intensity of anti-Semitic vitriol was barely recognized.  Indeed, he observed that for a long time the twin villages hostility had seen Jews leaving the region in droves so that few remained by the time of the Winter Games. Those that did remain kept a low profile.

Most irritating, to him: the memory of those times had been sanitized and wiped away over successive generations. In the first generation after the games, when he would express brief interest in how they were conducted and whether there was any Nazi influence, he was informed curtly: 'Nein! They were just games! Games! That's all!"  Over the next generations they became a "great Olympics" but all connections to Hitler or the Nazis were dissolved.

Today, no one wants to talk about Hitler, the treatment of the Jews in the twin villages, or the hostility experienced before and after the Olympics.  Heinrich did recount one incident in which a determined tourist - staying at a Gasthof- did manage somehow to excavate an old "NO JEWS!" sign from an attic some years ago. But so far as he could tell, that was the only evidence there'd ever been any anti-Semitism in the region.

For our part, in our separate comings and goings or with Reinhart, we found the townspeople of both villages to be friendly and hospitable, but were warned by Reinhart not to bring up the 1936 Olympics. This despite the fact Reinhart actually drove us past the still extant ski jump used then, as well as some of the Olympic buildings. (In effect, the towns sought to embrace the Winter Olympic Games of '36, but not the other political baggage attached to them- truly schizoid!)

When I asked Reinhart if any Jews remained anywhere in this region he replied he "didn't think so". His best guess is that most left long before the Olympics commenced.

Observing scenery in various places of interest, and even the restaurants, one might well see why. At each place or venue we beheld large, adorned crucifixes displayed on foyer walls or in dining areas. Even the summit of Zugspitze itself featured an immense cross of "the Savior crucified" (in Reinhart's words).  Well, ask yourself how might you feel if you were a Jew frequenting these places, establishments on encountering a large cross - many up to 3' long- with a bloodied Christ image hung from it - red paint generously applied to each nail wound.

Sensibly, if you were also aware of the "Christ-killer" meme replete in the German Völkisch tradition (which also gave rise to the Passion Play at Oberammagau) you'd be horrified. In effect, you'd be faced with constant reminders of your "role" in the slaying of Christianity's founder at every turn. Well, why would you need to put up a swastika in that case?

Sadly, those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it, to paraphrase George Santayana. The fact here is that the residents of Garmisch-Partenkirchen if they do have any knowledge of what transpired more than 77 years ago, don't wish it bruited about and they certainly won't repeat it.

That was fine with us, since we enjoyed our time there anyway, both the splendid scenery and the people. We only wished that when we did our various strolls around the twin villages we'd have seen slightly fewer large crosses hanging with bloodied Christs suspended on them! A hundred crosses in each town might be ok, but a thousand? Perhaps overkill! Or still transmitting too powerful a subliminal message to certain others.

Is Pope Francis an Atheist? Nope - But He Is a Universal Salvationist

Bill Maher suggested Pope Francis is really an atheist after his recent remarks about atheists also being saved

 This past week Pope Francis I made headlines around the world (we saw them in 50 pt. font in German papers) when on delivering a homily at the Chapel of the Domus Santa Marta he said:  

"The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! 'Father, the atheists?' Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class. We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all. And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: We need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. 'But I don't believe, Father, I am an atheist!' But do good: We will meet one another there."

Headlines across the world immediately proclaimed, "Even Atheists Can Go To Heaven.".
 
This prompted comedian Bill Maher-  a self-proclaimed atheist - on his 'Real Time' show last night to opine the new Pope "is really an atheist".  Actually, I wouldn't go so far. But the text and words do pretty well confirm to me that Francis accepts the doctrine of Universal Salvation. According to Wikipedia, Universal Reconciliation or Salvation is:

“the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls—because of divine love and mercy—will ultimately be reconciled to God."

I first became acquainted with Universal Salvation while debating an Anglican Priest in Barbados in 1982. At one point I mocked the concept of “Hell” as infantile, and basically “apartheid theology” based on gloating over the suffering of those unlike you, who don’t subscribe to your special beliefs- but whom you condemn to everlasting perdition. I also mocked the notion that the presumption of Hell meant every sect or Christian denomination could, in effect, pass judgment on every other sect or denomination. Fundies could hell bind Catholics, Catholics could hell bind Fundies, both could also consign Jews and Muslims to the everlasting pits as the Muslims could return the favor to Christians! It was an afterlife MUTUAL ANNIHILATION PACT!


The priest laughed and conceded the point, and I won the debate – scored by objective observers – based on that line of attack. After the debate, however, the priest confided to me that in the upper echelons of the Anglican hierarchy (recall here that King James, of King James Bible fame was an Anglican too) no one took Hell seriously and there was no doctrine of Hell or of exceptional salvation for the few. Instead all Anglican seminaries taught Universal Reconciliation – Salvation. The priest told me he didn’t teach it himself nor did any other Anglican padres he knew. They had to instead teach Heaven or Hell because that is what their parishioners expected. He told me that if they attempted to teach the actual doctrine of universal salvation most of the faithful would leave that Church because their skewed sense of moral right and wrong dictated the “evil” receive the ultimate punishment. But he said this dichotomy troubled him no end!


Evidently, it didn't trouble Pope Francis who was prepared to go on record with his views, to the chagrin of the Vatican's usual sock puppet mouth pieces who then tried their damnedest to walk it back.  A Vatican propagandist.....errrrr....spokesman, quickly intervened and interjected his "correction",  as if the pontiff was an untutored child who needed to be steered in the right direction by his parent. Father Thomas Rosica said: "people who know the Catholic Church cannot be saved if they refuse to enter or remain in her."

Actually, a more profound truth is that - assuming salvation is a viable concept at all - it's more likely that if they really know the Catholic Church and how it has historically distorted the truth to its own ends, they can't be saved if they DO remain in her!

Though this Vatican stooge did try his best to dampen the media hubbub, few people paid much attention as the 'cow had already escaped the barn' while the little know-nothing,  hierarchy hireling tried to shut the door too late. Besides that, the Pope himself never retracted his remarks and in addition, he'd previously said atheists can be "precious allies" in the building of a peaceful coexistence between peoples and in the careful protection of creation.

This means we can take Rosica's bollocks with a grain of salt (not that I believe a 'heaven' exists anyway or that 'salvation' really is an objective, realistic concept).   The point is that Rosica and his Vatican clowns were revealed for the arch-hypocrites they really are because - make no mistake- they'd have no qualms accepting the thousands of priest pedophiles who raped and sodomized children into their precious holy and saved flock while those of us who left the Church (seeing that more truth resided outside her walls than in ) are condemned. (After all, the priest pedophiles can just go to confession and do a five rosary  'penance'!)

But to reinforce the point the Church hierarchy is largely made of hypocrites, it's only been in the last two days another one of these gowned twits (a Cardinal George Pell of Australia) has proclaimed that of course "abortion is a much worse crime than sex abuse of children by priests".  See: http://www.salon.com/2013/05/28/cardinal_abortion_is_worse_scandal_than_priest_abuse/


Out of the mouths of maggots!  And sincerely, if Pell  really truly believes this then this pest needs to flush his and his church's natural law doctrines and their so-called canon law right down the toilet. Or at least a Vatican sewer.

What is almost as unseemly is the odious second- guessing of the putative leader of the faith.  A person who from all outward appearances and indications displays more sincerity and adherence to genuine Christian principles than the whole Vatican amongst all its pointy headed hacks, hangers-on and hypocrites.

A lot who still hasn't recovered from being schooled on sexual ethics by a nun, Sister Margaret Farley. See e.g.

http://www.brane-space.blogspot.com/2012/06/nun-articulates-sexual-ethics-for.html

What Are The New German Nazis Really Up To?

Nazi Beate Zschäpe as she appeared in a Munich court three weeks ago. She’s charged with butchering eight Turkish immigrants and a Greek, in a case that’s dredged up all the old Nazi horrors.

In 1985, two former Wehrmacht soldiers confided to me that they feared the Nazi horrors in Germany, during the Third Reich, had not been killed by time but had only gone 'underground'. Not long after we arrived in Munich for a stay in Germany we were reminded of this in a case that made national headlines. For unbeknownst to Germans, a number of immigrants - nine to be exact- had been murdered over 13 years in acts originally assigned to run- of- the- mill killers - but only recently exposed as being perpetrated by a National Socialist Undergound (NSU).

As we know, those of us who pay attention to history, "National Socialism" was spawned under Hitler’s NSDAP (National Socialist German Worker's party) which was in reality the farthest thing from being socialist. Indeed.. they would regularly beat Marxists, real socialists, or any people deemed leftists on the streets while holding up signs that read: “Tot dem Marxem” (Death to Marxists). They were also known for a venomous xenophobia - fearing any "foreigners" who might seed their alien customs and even foods into Germany.

Evidently it is this fanatic xenophobia that has reared it's head once more. At the center of it all, and dubbed the "Nazi Bride" by German media,  is  Beate Zschäpe, 38, charged with killing eight men of Turkish descent, a man of Greek descent and a policewoman. Also charged with carrying out two bombings and belonging to a terrorist group. They were described in one issue of Die Welt (May 14)  as "Rechts-Terroristen" or Right wing terrorists.


Zschäpe will be tried with four men who are charged with supporting the three-member group (Wolfgang Heer, Wolfgang Stahl and Anja Sturm) , which called itself the National Socialist Underground, or N.S.U., a play on the name for Hitler’s National Socialist Party, better known as the Nazis.

The case, to be sure,  has shaken the country’s security services - obviously as they'd been more focused on Islamic terrorists - as our own gov't has- and ignored the Right Wing variants. The case has also confronted Germans with uncomfortable questions about prejudice against the immigrants who make up an increasingly large part of society. (Turks now make up nearly 3 million of the German populace and one can find their shops and people congregating on nearly ever street corner in Munich).


The trial, was expected to last more than a year, and will be closely watched by the Turks and other immigrants who call Germany home. Many of the country’s partners abroad are also following it as a test of the Germans’ ability to come to terms with their modern multicultural identity. But it is also a test of coming to grips with the country's Nazi past, as Reinhart pointed out.  Mehmet Daimagüler, a lawyer representing several of the victims’ survivors, who are allowed to take part in the trial as co-plaintiffs, compared its political importance beyond the courtroom with the Allies’ prosecution of Nazis in 1945 and 1946 in the occupied German city of Nuremberg.

Six of the killings occurred between 2000 and 2006 and were initially known as the “döner murders,” a reference to the Turkish kebabs sold in stands across Germany, a tag that some found to be demeaning. The policewoman was killed in 2007.

For years, investigators suspected the killings were connected to organized crime. Only after two members of the neo-Nazi organization, Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Böhnhardt, killed themselves as police officers closed in on them after a bank robbery in 2011 did evidence — including video that spliced together bloody photographs of the victims taken at the crime scenes — emerge that led the authorities to focus on far-right hate groups.

On Monday, May 13, moments after the trial’s opening formalities, the presiding judge, Manfred Götzl, called a recess after Ms. Zschäpe’s lawyers challenged his neutrality on the grounds that he required her lawyers to go through security, arguing it was “open discrimination” against the defense.  The delay - according to Die Welt:

"...will entail an additional burden for the relatives of the victims. They had emotionally prepared themselves for the trial and now face organizational challenges: They will have to cancel their travel arrangements, reschedule their requested leave from work"

Meanwhile, Germans of all classes are being forced to face a past they thought had already been reformed and properly reconstructed. Amazingly also, the term in the press "NSU Prozess" has come to mean two things depending on who is doing the explaining. To the German media and most of the cognoscenti it has come to mean the judicial process of putting Zschäpe and the other co-conspirators on trial. However, Reinhart had a different take:

He explained to us that to these N.S.U. members and their supporters (which he estimated numbered far more than the press had portrayed) the "process" lay in the intent of the group - which was to eliminate all foreign immigrants living in Germany. Reinhart explained that to these neo-Nazi types Hitler was still the Fuhrer and they admired him as a dictator - also that he had no use for those who threatened German integrity. Thus, they clambored for a "strong hand' to return Germany to Germans and this group promised to do it in its "process".

For sure, the antipathy felt on the street for Turks was raw, open. Even our friends - in moments of excitement- let their guard down and referred to the unwillingness of most to learn the language and hence better themselves, and also for the men to "do nothing but congregate on street corners" - but "live off the hard work of the women".  From what we saw - even given the limited time there, this was apparent, but again we couldn't possibly see more than a small fraction while we were in Munich, for example. (We did enjoy the döner kebabs eaten from one Turkish shop near our hotel in Munich.)

What we learned is that in many ways the German problem with its influx with immigrants - especially on the Right, parallels similar problems in the U.S. One hopes that both countries can soon come to terms with them, as opposed to allowing their respective immigrant issues to fester, which bodes ill for both nations.