Photos of dead toddler, Aylan Kurdi, were staged (updated with retraction)

UPDATE:  The AG News report I had relied on for the report of the staging of little Aylan’s body has now retracted the story.  It is most important to keep the truth up front – I’d rather learn the truth before winning an argument any time.  The rest of my rant seems, at least for now, to be factually correct.

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By now, everyone in the world (with internet access or not) has seen the heart-tugging pictures of poor little Aylan Kurdi’s drowned body on the sandy beach, demonstrating the human tragedy that results from this mass migration into Europe.

And a human tragedy it is.

But, as so often happens with emotionally charged stories, the first victim becomes the truth:  especially if the narrative  can manipulate the audience into somehow feeling good about themselves.

How can a child’s tragic death be used to make millions of Westerners feel good about themselves?

I will get to it.

First, please indulge me in reporting some of the truths of this incident.

The little boy’s name is not, in fact, Aylan Kurdi.  His name is Aylan Shenu.  ‘Kurdi’ is a reference to the fact that he is of Kurdish background and would perhaps be best translated as ‘Aylan, the Kurd’.

But, since the ‘Kurdish cause’ is currently in vogue in The West, the ‘Kurdi’ nomiker evokes the proper emotions in the Western audience and therefore, even in death, the little boy is stripped of his individuality, his own identity, in favour of playing up group politics.

Please, do not mistake my identification of the Kurdish cause as being in vogue in The West as any comment as to its rightness or wrongness:  not in the least.  In this particular article, I refuse to examine the source of the conflict and my opinions about it because this post is not about that!

It is about how a young child death was unnecessary, preventable and senseless – and how even in death he is stripped of his dignity by being used as a theatrical prop on the world stage!!!

Ok, now that we have his correct name, let’s stick to it:  Aylan Shenu.

Wikipedia claims his first name is ‘Alan’, not ‘Aylan’, but they also claim his last name is ‘Kurdi’ and a lot of other factual errors can be found in their article, so I’m just noting this for completeness, not because I’m buying their version.

The next lie is that the family had tried to come to Canada and been turned down – and that is why they had to resort to this desperate boat ride.  The family had never applied for entry to Canada.

As per the family itself – not just some lame bureaucrat’s claim.

But the family was fleeing war, right?

Wrong!  The family had received free housing in Turkey of 3 years – the length of little Aylan Shenu’s life – and not been in any warn-torn, or even violence-threatened area.

Still, the conditions were so bad, they were escaping to save their lives, yes?

No!  The family was hoping to go to Finland because they wanted to get dental care paid for by the Finish State rather than using the $5,000 their aunt had sent them from Canada to get their teeth fixed up.  It was his parents’ greed – not war – that had caused the death of little Aylan Shenu!!!

And, to make sure his family had cut to the front of the line in the refugee application system, Abdullah, Aylan’s father, had sent his wife and children in first, alone, so that a lone mother and children would get help first.  Then, under ‘family reunification’ program, he’d join them…

That manipulative greedy pig of a father was never even on the boat!!!

But, ‘greedy father wants free dental care and sends wife and babies on risky journey to cut in the refugee cue’ is nowhere near as pretty a narrative as ‘babies drown trying to escape war’…

More importantly, even though the true account of the event might evoke anger towards that {insert expletives of choice here} father, it would have no way of making the Western audience feel good about themselves.  So, it would not sell nearly as many papers…and that’s before we get into the geo-political usefulness of the narrative over the truth.

Yet, if the media could spin this as a tragedy of those fleeing The Horrors of War – Westerners COULD be made feel better about themselves!

Just urge them to accept more migrants into their countries, welcome them, open their hearts and homes to them – then THEY will be DOING something ‘GOOD’.  And thus feel good about themselves!!!

So, this narrative sells!

Of course, the fact that the UN openly states that it wants to undermine national homogeneity of EU member states – they’ve been saying this for a while now.

Which is exactly what this massive invasion is doing:  who hasn’t seen the videos of migrants in Hungary chanting ‘Allahu Akhbar’ and ‘fuck you’ at the Hungarians as they destroy the food and water being distributed to them has not only failed to do their due diligence, they are guilty of wilful ignorance!

And Hungary is not the only place where the migrants are refusing donated food – videos from Germany where angry, young, able-bodied migrant are throwing it into garbage bins or pouring it on the ground in front of the very people who worked tirelessly to gather these donations for them abound!

Now, I speak as an immigrant:  I went through the UN refugee camp in Traiskirchen and it was a tough place, to say the least.  35 years later, I still get ‘immigrant dreams’ now and then and, to be honest, even my family has still not heard about all that I had experienced on my journey from my birthplace to my home in Canada.  So, I understand what immigrants go through, how dehumanizing the process can be.

Yet, never ever, in my wildest dreams, would we have behaved as these thugs do!

Yes, the food was not always the tastiest or according to what we were used to, but it was given to us out of the goodness of the heart of the givers – we were grateful for it!  Beggars cannot be choosers…but these beggars are turning into bullies!

But, I digress.  This is not my story – this is the story of little Aylan Kurdi Shenu.

So, the UN wants to erase the very thing that drove Europe into its technological and scientific progress:  the competition between its nation states, driven by the rivalry between the various nationalities.

The media, who buy in to the UN’s politics, can not only advance its ideological aim, they can also financially benefit from twisting the true facts of the death of poor little Aylan Shenu.

And if there ever was a doubt about this being anything else, please, consider this, most telling fact:  before the most heart-wrenching photos of little Aylan were taken, his body was specifically and intentionally posed!

Yes, original photos of him being found demonstrate that the widely published images are the results of the poor little tyke’s body being intentionally posed so as to evoke the most emotional response possible.

And it worked…

That truly is a human tragedy!

Living under terror is no life for children

A large number of the civilian casualties in Gaza did not die as a result of the Israeli response to the unprovoked acts of war by Hamas (both rocket fire and territorial invasion via underground tunnels):   they have died of the Hamas rockets themselves.

Do not be fooled into thinking these  rockets to be ‘mere firecrackers’:  without the Israeli defensive Iron Dome and the many bomb-shelters in Israel, the Israeli civilian casualties would be much, much higher.

This is no mere conjecture but a statement of fact.

How do I know this?

From the extensive deaths caused by these rockets when they accidentally land inside Gaza itself!

Certainly, non-Israeli reports of this are scarce because even though they don’t admit this, the reporters in Gaza are reporting under duress and thus act (willingly or not) as accomplices of Hamas:  repeating in their reports only the numbers and things that Hamas wants reported, showing only the images that Hamas wants shown.  Hardly ‘journalism’…

And if that is not enough, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia (hardly a Zionist source):

“The weapons, often generically referred to as Qassams, were initially crude and short-range, mainly affecting Sderot and other communities bordering the Gaza Strip. However, in 2006 more sophisticated rockets began to be deployed, reaching the larger coastal city of Ashkelon, and by early 2009 major cities Ashdod andBeersheba had been hit by Katyusha, WS-1B[8] and Grad rockets.[9] In 2012, Jerusalem and Israel’s commercial center Tel Aviv were targeted with locally made “M-75” and Iranian Fajr-5 rockets, respectively,[10] and in July 2014, the northern city of Haifa was targeted for the first time.[11] A few projectiles have contained white phosphorus.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]

Hardly ‘firecrackers’!

Estimates of PTSD among Israeli children living under constant threat of being targetted by these Qassam rockets is estimated at over 50% – yet these long-lasting scars are not included in the injuries incurred by Israeli civilians…

Of course, I pity the Gazan children no less – they suffer greatly and in more ways than the Israeli children…and will continue to suffer as long as Hamas is in power in Gaza and perhaps longer:  until religious hatred of ‘the other’ stops destroying their young lives before they have a chance to get started!!!

A week ago today, there was a pro-Israel rally in Ottawa.  I would really have liked to have attended, but, alas, I was out of town and out of internet reach, and thus did not get a word of it until after it happened.  During this rally, an Israeli mother describes the effect living under constant fear of rocket attacks has had on her young family:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9kJaqlpYvE  *

The world will not be a better place until we learn to set all dogmatic beliefs and irrational faiths aside and begin to live like moral human beings!

*sorry – WordPress just updated their ‘look’ and this seems to have broken the embedding mechanism – please, follow the link!

 

EDIT:  More evidence of Hamas rockets being the source of Gazan child casualties is here.

The evolving situation in the Ukraine

Everyone seems to have an opinion on the situation in Ukraine – but whom to believe?

In my never-humble-opinion, the best sources of information are not just the ‘usual media’, but also the people on the ground, who can tell you what their own experience is.  As I do not know anyone currently living in that part of the world, I did the next best thing:  I asked a lot of questions of someone who may live on Canada (and whose academic background specializes in how Russia exerts influence over Ukrainian political sphere through the use of Russian energy policy), but who has family members she is in touch with in the Ukraine, in Crimea – and even within the Ukrainian military forces.

The most important thing my source stresses that people there are afraid:  and when people are afraid, they will believe all kinds of transparent propaganda which could never trick them in their right state of mind.

This, of course, is true for all people in all kinds of situation – but it is important to keep this in mind while the various propagandists battle each other over the minds of the Ukrainian people.

The next important thing my source stressed was that while the Ukrainian troops have been ordered not to fire their weapons, the Ukrainian naval vessels are not under any such restriction and, even if someone tried to impose it on them, they would disobey.  Therefore, if the Russian forces show any aggressive moves against the Ukrainian Navy, regardless of what the chain of command may order, the Ukrainian  Navy WILL engage.

At least, that is the information my source has received.

In addition, the Ukrainian military forces stationed on the ground in Crimea (and currently surrounded by Russian troops firing into the air, neutralized and functionally disarmed) are being pressured into breaking their oath of loyalty to UKRAINIAN forces and instead declare themselves CRIMEAN military forces.  While we are hearing all about Russian versus Ukrainian military forces on the ground, we also ought to consider the possibility that a third military force may be created:  the Crimean military.
 
Nobody in the media is also talking about the referendum to be held in Crimea.
 
Referendum?  
 
What referendum?!?!?
 
The Ukraine does not recognize any legitimate Crimea referendum!
 
There certainly is no provision for it in the 1996 Ukraine Constitution currently ruling the country…
 
Yet, the Crimeans do plan to hold one:  originally scheduled to coincide with the Presidential elections to be held in May, it has been ‘bumped up’ to March 30th, 2014.  In this referendum, the Crimean people will vote on whether to be an autonomous Protectorate of Ukraine or an autonomous protectorate of Russia.
 
Funny word, ‘Protectorate’!  Sounds eerily like the Hitler’s ‘Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia’, right after he was forced to annex Sudetenland in order to protect the ethnic German nationals living there from persecution and oppression…  Yes, yes, reducto ad Hitlerum, but you can’t call Godwin’s law on me when the comparison is actually accurate!!!  
 
My most excellent source also stressed a few other very important factors that are not being spoken about.
 
Like the fact that Crimea has no natural source of fresh water – it is a mountainous desert region whose water is being piped in from Ukraine.  And just like Russia exercises control over Ukraine through energy supplies, Ukraine could exert considerable pressure on Crimea by controlling its water supply.  Russians could only ship water in by boats – very costly and not particularly practical.  And building a water de-salination plant takes time…
 
The Tatar population of Crimea is Muslim and has a strong support in Turkey.  If Putin feels the necessity of sending troops into Crimea to protect the ethnic Russians, then Turkey would be equally justified in sending in their troops to protect the 12% of the population who are ethnic Tatars. 
 
And Turkey IS a NATO country…
 
According to my source, this would be the best way for NATO to get their foot in the door and many Crimeans are hoping that this is what will happen, as Turkey is a NATO member.  
 
The Budapest Memorandum is also very important as it stipulated that if Ukraine gave up its defenses as part of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, Russia, Great Britain and the USA would be the guarantors of its territorial integrity.  And so it happened.
 
Now that Russia is in breech of the Budapest Memorandum, both the UK and USA are treaty bound to protect the Ukraine against Russia’s actions.  Will they be honourable enough to live up to their treaty obligations?
 
Well, Great Britain had a mutual defense treaty with Czechoslovakia – yet it failed to live up to it, letting Hitler have his ‘Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia’.  (Yet another nod to Godwin-law-nazis…)  So, I would not hold my breath there – Britain’s promises on defense are worth about as much as Nortel stocks…
 
And the once powerful, not to be trifled with United States of America?
 
Obama let his own people be slaughtered in Benghazi without lifting a finger to help them – so why would anyone expect him to inconvenience himself on behalf of a country he probably could not even find on a map?  He only selectively enforces laws in his own country, so why would anyone expect him to live up to his international legal obligations?
 
It sound a proper mess…
 
One last item of importance my source had stressed:  many people are acting as if the current government in the Ukraine were illegitimate, something similar to a military coup.  Nothing could be further from the truth!
 
Rather, the shift in the Ukrainian government is more accurately described as a shift in coalitions where properly elected representatives from various parties have shuffled around their allegiances and formed a different ruling coalition.  So don’t be fooled by the propaganda that this government is illegitimate…

 

John Stossel: Climate change and global greening

Also – beware the unprecedented ‘smart storms’!

Photo Fraud in Gaza

H/T:  BCF