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!

Free Palestine from Hamas!

Frankly, when the UN continued to fund Gaza even though it became ruled by Hamas, it became an accessory to terrorism.

Raif Badawi, Saudi Arabia and the corruption that is UN

Frequent readers of my blog know that I have a strong opinion on the United Nations:  FIRE THEM ALL!!!

Un-elected, un-accountable, corrupt and arrogant beyond belief.

Frequent readers of my blog will also know that I was one of the first Western voices raising alarm over the horrific and unconscionable – frankly, inhuman – treatment Raif Badawi, the Saudi Liberal, had suffered simply for creating and running a website.

The fact remains that the corrupt and tyrannical theocracy that is Saudi Arabia has no business being accepted as an equal member in organizations that pretend to be a platform for civilized countries.

I mean – just try driving a car in SA while female!

Or sitting in a cafe without your owner (wali)!

Or being a 75-year-old widow and letting your nephew bring you bread…

Yeah…

Saudi Arabia is not exactly the bastion of ‘human rights’.

After much international outcry on behalf of Raif Badawi, he was permitted to appeal his sentence of 1000 lashes (that’s flogging, no ‘falsies’ here) and 5 years in prison just because his blogging ran afoul of the religious police and their fancy fetishes.

It is important to note that Raif is to be flogged in many instalments, because 1000 lashes at oncewould, effectively, remove the skin from the back part of his body and kill him long before the punishment could be carry out in full – which, of course, would spoil the whole ‘fun’.

So, instead, the punishment is given a bit at a time, giving the man time to at least partially heal and recover from it before the next instalment of torture.  This both extends the physical suffering and creates incredible psychological torture as one is awaiting the next torture session.

Of course, any ‘healing break’ is too short to allow complete healing.  This will lead to a progressively weaker and more sick Badawi at each ‘session’ – ensuring he will, eventually (but not too soon) die of his flogging.

The only good bit in this story is that his wife and babies are now safely in Canada – and I wish them all the best!

And, enough people have volunteered to take Raif’s place in each instalment of the floggings that, had the Saudis accepted the swap, he would be safe.  At least there is some moral support in knowing that people were willing to put their hides on the line for him!

So, no sooner had the Saudi courts ruled and upheld the 1000 lashes and 10 years in jail (upped from 5 by an in-between court, I presume) than…

…and I kid you not…

…than the UN, in its wisdom, decided to host a summit on Human Rights IN SAUDI ARABIA!!!

Please, please, PLEASE!!!

Contact your political masters and beg them to get out of the cesspool of corruption that is the UN!

Raif Badawi, a Saudi blogger, faces execution

Though his is not a household name, most people in the world have, by now, heard of the plight of Raif Badawithat Saudi Arabian blogger who is imprisoned for his words.

First, he was tried for having written things on the internet that the Saudi Government disapproved of – and he was sentenced to 600 lashes and 7 years in jail.

Unacceptable!

No man or woman ought to be penalized for stating their honestly held views.

Those who have visited my blog in the past know I am a bit of a free speech fundamentalist and would not place any limits on speech whatsoever, if it were my call.  And, I do mean all speech!

If we do not hold those who listen even to incitement to violence accountable for their actual deeds, then we are guilty of infantalizing them.  A responsible adult can hear all kinds of incitements to violence, and choose to ignore them. If one chooses to act upon incitement, then one is responsible for their actions!

It is one’s actions we must judge, not one’s words!

But, Raif Badawi situation gets worse!!!

Now, the Saudi court had recommended that he be also tried for apostasy.  In Saudi Arabia, this “crime” carries the death sentence!!!

Words cannot describe the outrage I feel.

We, all of us honest people in the world, must stand up and demand that Raif Badawi (and all other ‘blasphemy prisoners’) be set free and that countries that have blasphemy laws on their books and that imprison or even execute people for apostasy be immediately kicked out of the UN and all other organizations of civilized people!

Write, call or email your local legislators and demand they put pressure on the government to officially condemn this uncivilized behaviour and pressure these countries directly through diplomatic channels to alter their laws as well as indirectly through the UN.

And, if the UN refuses to take the side of the civilized countries on this issue, then the civilized countries MUST leave the UN in protest!

Anything less will make us complicit in their martyrdoom!!!

Telecom giants and repressive regimes are teaming up to use a little-known UN agency to make the Internet more expensive, surveilled, and censored.

From OpenMedia:

Wow. Telecom giants and repressive regimes are teaming up to use a little-known UN agency to make the Internet more expensive,1 surveilled,2 and censored.3

We need you to take a stand as part of a global community right now.

Internet freedom means connection with loved ones, open innovation, and free expression without interference by Big Telecom or repressive governments. All this is under threat right now, but you can make a difference in just a few seconds.

You are part of what’s shaping up to be the largest movement in history, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

We’re already working together globally to stop new Internet restrictions from being imposed through trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP),4 and we’ve taken massive strides in Canada to push back against Big Telecom’s price-gouging activities.5 This kind of success is unique and inspiring, and it’s something you should be proud of.

Please don’t let them take it away from you – raise your voice now.

Thank you so much for being a part of this,

Steve, on behalf of your OpenMedia Team

P.S. Whether it’s stopping Big Telecom price-gouging and online surveillance in Canada, or opening the secret negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to citizen comments, we’re bringing the pro-Internet community together to amplify your voice. Our community can only continue to be successful with stable support; you can help by becoming an Ally.

 

Footnotes

[1] See our blog, ITU proposals threaten Internet freedom and access, or the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Two Page Memo on Telecom Operators Proposal for New Internet Charging Scheme [PDF]

[2] See our blog, UN proposals threaten the Internet as we know it, or the Wired magazine article, The Kremlin’s New Internet Surveillance Plan Goes Live Today

[3] See GigaOM: Is the UN the next big threat to Internet freedom?

[4] See the successes with the StopTheTrap.net campaign so far listed in this recent letter to supporters: It’s time to amplify our voice against the TPP’s Internet trap

[5] See our infographic about the famous StopTheMeter.ca campaign here, or learn more about how we recently pushed for (and won) transparency around Big Telecom’s costs here.

Support OpenMedia.ca
OpenMedia.ca is a non-profit organization that relies on donations from people like you to operate. Our small but dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way to make your voice heard. Please donate today.

Here is a professor of international law, explaining the terms that regularly crop up with respect to Omar Khadr.

This is important, because legal terms are narrow in their scope and if we don’t understand them correctly, we cannot have a meaningful discussion on any topic these terms refer to.

“Democracy” in the EU – lol

One would laugh, if this were not so tragic!

EU bureaucrats are openly over-ruling the will of its member states!

Some European nation states have already passed national law that make ACTA and ACTA-like monstrosities illegal in their countries.

EU bureaucrats say that’s too bad, they trump any national laws…

And, if the EU courts decide that ACTA is illegal, they’ll find some way to change the laws.

This is a very, very dangerous precedent!

From TechDirt:

‘In other words, De Gucht won’t accept the idea that the European electorate, through their representatives in the European Parliament, might possibly want to reject something they were not allowed to know about until late in the negotiating process, and to which they were unable to provide any meaningful input. In his view, ACTA must be passed, and ACTA will be passed — whatever anyone else thinks about it.’

 

And don’t forget, the EU is UN’s mini-me.  As at the EU, so in the UN.

We will see this, more and more: bureaucrat-crafted ‘international agreements’ will be forced as laws on member nation states, whether they like it or not.    In the EU and UN both!

Remember, the UN, chock-full of dictators and tyrants, is not big on Western values and civil liberties – and its laws/treaties reflect this.  Even its Universal Declaration of Human Rights states clearly that human rights may only be enjoyed to the degree that local laws deem appropriate!!!

If you think this should not scare you, because you don’t live in the EU – don’t be so sure.  The UN is just using the EU to work out some of the ‘how to’ kinks on its way to regulating humanity into virtual extinction!

Sen. James Inhofe cites LOST anti-ratification letter from “33-star panel”

Not sure what is LOST?

‘Freedom of the Seas’ is lost, that is what…

‘Law of the Sea Treaty’ – LOST – is the set of invasive rules and regulations with which the UN has effectively replaced the ancient concept of ‘freedom of the seas’, which we have lived with for millenia.

Until now, that is.

It is hard to believe the implications of this thing, but if you read the treaty (and I have only read excerpts – it is not an easy read), it is beyond belief that any country would sign on to this lunacy!

In a nutshell, LOST is UN’s declaration that they and only they have full and unquestionable control over the world’s seas and oceans.

Any mining of any natural resources to be done in areas covered by seas – the UN must approve (and automatically owns the technology used in such mining) but also has the right to choose to develop it itself.  Yes – a mining company must present their full plans with projections to the UN which then uses that intelligence to decide to mine itself, to grant the company permission to mine (for a large royalty, of course) or deny it out of hand.

But, it goes far, far beyond that.

In the name of protecting the world seas and oceans, LOST gives the UN unconditional control over waterways that flow into seas and oceans (like, isn’t that almost all of them?).  As such, any development along rivers which might impact on the river (even hundreds of kilometers upstream) – and thus on the water flowing to the ocean – must be approved by the UN.

Exactly…

But, don’t take my word on it – check it out yourself. I could not possibly describe just how invasive LOST is…and, of course, we are going to see it applied incrementally, so that nobody would protest any single little tiny step along the way.

US military has, traditionally, supported LOST because it lets them use what other countries consider ‘internal water passages’ – but don’t really care about its other impacts.  That is so irresponsible as to be criminal negligence, in my never-humble-opinion…

Sorry – I’m rambling.  Here’s the video:

Is it even legal for Canada and the US to still be funding the UN?

OK – I’m a bit slow today, but…

Hamas is recognized by Canada and the USA as a terrorist organization, right?

And, unless I am mistaken, both USA and Canada have laws on the books that make it a criminal offense to support terrorist organizations, as well as it being illegal to fund terrorist organizations or those organizations that directly support terrorist organizations, yes?

But the UN, both financially and morally, supports Hamas!!!

Does this not mean that it is now illegal for Canada to hand any money over to the UN?

H/T:  BCF

Leaked Documents Show the U.N.’s Internet Power Grab…

As if we needed another reason to disband – utterly discredit, send the bureaucrats/delegates home and burn the buildings down, then dance on the ashes – the UN…

I never re-publish another blog’s post in its entirety and will not start now, but Nerfherder has a post which is short, sweet and informative about this issue.  It describes what UN’s agency called the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) plans are for restricting access to the internet and gaining  huge control over its content.  Plus, it is chock full of links!

I strongly recommend reading the short post in its entirety.  Here is a bit with key links:

‘ A pair of researchers from George Mason University created a website called WCITLeaks.org in the hopes that someone with access to the secretive proposals would leak them and make them available to the public.  Last Friday, that’s exactly what happened.  Someone leaked the 212-page planning document being used by governments to prepare for the December conference.  You can read it yourself here.’

We really need to start raising awareness about this.

Information is the best weapon in the preservation of freedom.

That is why the UN wants to disarm us.

We must not let them!