If there’s going to be a “Council”… where’s the Preparations?

Patrick Henry Reardon: “Not so long ago, the OCA appeared to be in dire shape. Now, on the other hand, there is a general impression that the situation is much better”. It’s amazing what human beings can believe, isn’t it?

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It’s time to put down a scurrilous little tale circulating in some circles. Supposedly, there’s rumoured to be a great and stupendous “Pan-Orthodox Council” set for 2013. Let’s use the good sense that the Good Lord gave us all… if there was going to be such a great event, it stands to reason that preparations would begin long before the first session. Indeed, the preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympics have gone on since 2006, and they’ve been very public. Well… there’s no talk, even speculative, in the usual Russian media sources on any notional “Grand Council”. It wasn’t part of the communiqué issued by His Nibs and Bart in Peredelkino. There’s no proposed location, there’s no proposed agenda, there’s no proposed budget, and there’s no list of proposed participants. There’s been no organised PR campaign in either Russia or Greece, nor are there any preparations to house, feed, and entertain the not inconsiderable number of participants, observers, and journalists (let alone provide the extensive technical support needed). To further cement this chain of logic, the EP Centre at Chambésy in Switzerland is now shut down, the Greek government cut off its funding.

I’m supposed to believe Fathausen’s claim of a “Grand Council” in ’13. Sure… pigs will fly, first. Let’s get real… the detail planning for such a massive Dixie Fry takes at least five years, no less. It took six years to negotiate the terms of the Reconciliation of the MP and ROCOR, and that only involved two very closely related bodies. Chambésy has been nothing but a massive wind generator over its existence, there’s no concrete and specific planning in place for any “Council”. That is to say, any preparations for such an event would generate not only official press releases, but also a great deal of speculation and rumour, and I’ve seen none of that in reputable Russian press sources. If for no other reason, the different factions within the participants would leak this or that in the usual game of one-upmanship.

Besides this, some sources are more veracious than others are… Archbishop Mark Golovkov is the gold standard, Fr Vsevolod Chaplin is almost as good, Archdeacon Andrei Kuraev can get hot-headed and shoot off his mouth (but usually fairly accurate), whilst “Metropolitan” Hilarion Alfeyev (actually, only a Vicar of the Patriarch) is an ambitious little weasel with a penchant of issuing his own personal opinions as official statements (which has led to more than one trip to the woodshed for a personal consultation with Big Daddy KMG), and Vanya Behr and JP are drooling idiots without any cred whatsoever.

In short, there’s going to be no Grandiloquent and Definitive Pan-Orthodox Council in 2013… where is it going to be held, anyway? On an ice floe in Antarctica alongside the penguins? In a yurt in the midst of the Gobi Desert? In August 2013 in a Motel Six with busted-down AC in Albuquerque NM? Get real, all of you… the OCA is trying to deflect attention from its payola to Bobby and the investigation of Storheim. It has as much reality as an unhinged statement issued recently by Patrick Reardon, to wit, “Not so long ago, the OCA appeared to be in dire shape. Now, on the other hand, there is a general impression that the situation is much better”. Yes, Mr Reardon, it’s “much better”… after paying 250 Gs to Bobby, covering up the Iliff affair, trying to cover up Storheim, refusing to discipline Ray Velencia, signing a crank agreement with a TEC seminary, “losing” the financial records of the Diocese of NY & Washington, and kissing Rowan Williams’ bum for all to see… if that’s “much better” in your book, sir, I’d hate to see what you mean by “dire”.

Oh, excuse me, sir, your neighbours are at the door… why, it’s the Jabberwocky and Alice! How nice to see you, again! How’s Pat doin’?

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Friday 22 October 2010

Albany NY

HMOs Confirmed as Tea Party Sugar Daddies… Tea Partiers Defend Corporations Firing Workers for Off-the-Job Speech…

“But I was off work… and not on company property!” “That doesn’t matter… we own you… the Tea Party said so!” THIS is why you must vote… the Tea Party wants a corporatist dictatorship… DON’T be fooled by their “patriotic” façade and smarmy religiosity. THIS is the “freedom” of the Tea Party…

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Look at these two:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101022/ap_on_bi_ge/us_campaign_health_insurers

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20101022/bs_ac/7021856_following_juan_williams_employees_should_watch_their_mouths__even_off_the_job;_ylt=AifVemdtDWEaqewhovWLw8m9F4l4;_ylu=X3oDMTVpY3V2NHV2BGFzc2V0Ay9zL2FjLzIwMTAxMDIyL2JzX2FjLzcwMjE4NTZfZm9sbG93aW5nX2p1YW5fd2lsbGlhbXNfZW1wbG95ZWVzX3Nob3VsZF93YXRjaF90aGVpcl9tb3V0aHNfX2V2ZW5fb2ZmX3RoZV9qb2IEY2NvZGUDbXBfZWNfOF8xMARjcG9zAzUEcG9zAzUEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNlbXBsb3llZXNzaG8-

A journalist experienced on the legal beat didn’t write the second one, an ignorant Tea Partier without any legal education whatsoever wrote it. Apparently, Yahoo is allowing unqualified “yahoos” to post on whatever strikes their fancy! I NEVER give legal advice… I’m no lawyer. However, since Mr Gallagher is a pro-corporate teabagger, apparently, it doesn’t matter to Yahoo that he’s a total ignoramus on the law… he’s spouting the corporate line… that corporations have the right to fire anyone for speech out of working hours or off company property. These two articles tell us that the HMOs are funnelling much cash to the Tea Party (no surprise) and that the Tea Party supports arbitrary and oppressive control by employers of their employees, even off the job.

As for me, I know what to stick to… I don’t give medical, legal, or any other kind of professional advice… I’m not qualified to give it. Normally, I shy away from “professional theology”, as I’m not trained in it (don’t you wish that “John”, Orr, and Owen the Ochlophobist were similarly reticent?). You hear konvertsy gas about this canon, and that Father, and this position paper, yadda, yadda, yadda. Hand me the Excedrin… the ignorance is getting to me. I do know the Russian media sources, and I mine those for your benefit.

That’s what I am… an internet journalist with expertise in a limited area, and I do my best to stay within my competence. If you have legal questions, see a lawyer… if your tooth hurts, see a dentist… if you have a “soul problem”, talk to a friend or a trusted clergyman or monastic… not me.

Be warned by these two articles… the HMOs are pouring money into the campaigns of the far right, and corporations are demanding the right to control people’s speech even off the company property and after hours (reflect well on the fact that the Tea Party grins an idiot grin of approval at this).

Do you want free speech? Vote AGAINST the Tea Party in November! Otherwise, they’ll have the right to fire you for any reason and you’ll have no protections… that’s what the teabaggers call “freedom!”

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Friday 22 October 2010

Albany NY

A Photo Essay. The August Events of ’91: All Glory to the Memory of Dmitri Komar, Vladimir Usov, and Ilya Krichevsky

Editor’s Foreword:

In reflecting upon Fathausen’s boastful lies in Salt Lake City, the heroic sacrifice of the Three Young Men during the August Events of ’91 came to mind. Yes… the  apparatchiki and goodthinkers appear entrenched and immovable today… as did the KPSU on 19 August 1991… think on that!

BMD

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Here is the funeral procession for the three fallen heroes: Dmitri Komar, Vladimir Usov, and Ilya Krichevsky

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Here are the Three Young Men whose sacrifice made it all possible:

Dmitri Komar (1968-91)

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Vladimir Usov (1954-91)

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Ilya Krichevsky (1963-91)

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There was nothing special about the people in these snaps… after all, normal life was going on in most of the capital. The Three Young Men were nothing special, either. However… their sacrifice brought forth change, changes that are still working themselves out at present. I remember vividly how Patriarch Aleksei spoke of them on the television (it was available in the USA). I also remember watching the funeral procession… both Orthodox priests and Jewish rabbis marched together to the cemetery (Dmitri Komar was Jewish, Vladimir Usov and Ilya Krichevsky were Orthodox)… with the full blessing of the Church.

As I say, this came to mind in contrast to Fathausen’s gaseous rumblings from Salt Lake City. Another comparison came to mind… in contrast to the Three Young Heroes, I thought of the Three Gaseous Ortho-Nerds (I didn’t think that one up… a friend did… thank you!). Owen the Ochlophobist, Christopher Orr, and Oliver Herbel… I’ve rarely seen three more ignorant poseurs. Truly, they should stop posting… they’ve nothing to say at present. Their lack of both knowledge and maturity is evident in their every post. All of them should concentrate on living… Owen and Orr are redeemable, whereas Herbel has sold out, both to the SVS apparatchiki and to Suburban American Therapeutese (every one of his posts is contaminated with psychobabble). The first two should get some more experience in life; the last one should be ignored (he’s nothing but a Modernist Lutheran in Orthodox drag).

We have a choice… we can follow the Three Young Heroes, or, we can follow the Three Gaseous Ortho-Nerds… I don’t think that it’s a hard choice, is it?

BMD

Questions that Demand a Response

Walter Isaacson (1952- ), Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, formerly, he was CEO of CNN and Managing Editor of Time (therefore, a hoary veteran of “spinning” the news).

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The behaviour of the so-called “free” press in the West makes one wonder if the “Cold War” is a thing of the past…

Is the Cold War safely in the past? According to Walter Isaacson, the Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and other international broadcasting efforts of the US government, the answer is “no”. Speaking in Washington a few days ago, Mr Isaacson didn’t hesitate to describe Russia as an enemy of the USA. What’s particularly disappointing and perplexing about his remarks is that they’re at odds with the foreign policy of the Obama administration, yet, they come from a high-ranking official. Mr Isaacson’s declaration isn’t limited to political statements, he’s asking for a hard-to-believe ten billion dollars (303.704 billion Roubles 7.178 billion Euros 6.381 billion UK Pounds) for his agency.

The institutional “cultural bias” of the BBG against Russia became clear from the truly shameful and disgraceful behaviour of American radio and television in August 2008 [at the time of the Georgian aggression against South Ossetia]. When Georgia fired artillery rockets at civilian areas in Tskhinvali, killing many defenceless people, for twenty-four hours, the US media was silent, leaving the audience completely in the dark and unaware as to what was going on. A day later, after Russian troops came in to eject the aggressors, American TV viewers and radio listeners were barraged by an avalanche of lies saying, “Big Russia attacked small and helpless Georgia”. You’re naïve if you believe that the hush-up on the destruction caused by the bombardment of Tskhinvali and the barrage of anti-Russian propaganda were purely coincidental. American television and radio reporters accredited to work in Russia appear to be as “blind as bats!” They do their utmost to portray Russia in a bad light, and, just as at the height of the Cold War, they put a consistently negative one-sided spin on their reports concerning Russian domestic events. Even stories about the ordinary lives of typical Russians never have a positive slant in the media outlets under Mr Isaacson’s domain; they always have a negative connotation. In any case, generally, news from Russia and about Russia is rare and clearly “under the radar” for American television and radio broadcasters.

Mr Isaacson’s unexpected and unusually candid statement that he considers Russia to be an enemy of America clarified the editorial policies of those who shape American public opinion. His revelations reminded me of the frank expression of another pillar of the American “free” press, Arthur Sulzberger, the owner and publisher of the New York Times. When I interviewed him in his office some time ago, Mr Sulzberger dwelt at length about the advantages of a free press; he said that journalists at the Times were free to write what they pleased, they could freely express their opinion in their reports. I ventured to ask him, “Well, what if their opinion clashes with yours?” His reply was, “In that case, they’ll have to express it somewhere else”. Born into a family of millionaires, himself a billionaire, Arthur Sulzberger Jr could afford to use such cynical frankness. Other media moguls cannot be so open about their bias. None of them dares to admit that they are part of an informational Cold War against Russia. The surprising and frank remarks by the BBG chairman openly and vociferously calling Russia an enemy of the USA ran counter to the rules of political conduct accepted in present-day official Washington. Such an announcement by a US administration official puts the country’s leaders in a pretty pickle as they dwell about a “reboot” in US-Russian relations.

All this cannot help but trigger an array of questions that demand a response.

21 October 2010

Valentin Zorin

A View from Moscow

Voice of Russia World Service

http://rus.ruvr.ru/2010/10/21/27441478.html

Editor’s Note:

Here’s some more detail:

[Mr Isaacson said,] “We can’t let ourselves be out-communicated by our enemies. Autocratic leaders are investing billions of dollars in media resources to influence global opinion. You’ve got Russia Today, Iran’s Press TV, Venezuela’s Telesur, and of course, China is launching an international broadcasting 24-hour news channel with correspondents around the world… spends …partly set aside 6 to 10 billion dollars (182.222 to 303.704 billion Roubles 4.307 to 7.178 billion Euros 3.829 to 6.381 billion UK Pounds)…we’ve gotta go to Capitol Hill with that number”.

RT America [asked Mr Isaacson] to elaborate on his “enemies” remark in a telephone interview. Isaacson said, “I do not think of Russia or RT as an enemy, and certainly did not mean to imply that they’re an enemy, so that’s just not right”. According to Russia Today, the budgets of RT, Telesur, and Press TV combined do not match the BBG’s Congressional-funded annual 757 million dollar (22.991 billion Roubles 543.375 million Euros 483.042 million UK Pounds) operating budget. Mr Isaacson’s remarks were also clarified by a BBG press release affirming that his “enemies” remarks were about America’s terror-plotting adversaries in Afghanistan, not Russia and China. When asked to comment on the controversy, Josh Rogin, a staff writer for the online edition of Foreign Policy magazine said, “They [the BBG] have two conflicting missions. One is to report the news objectively and the other is to be a tool of American foreign policy”. He said that overall, the conflict does not speak well for the “objectivity and credibility of the news organisations”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Isaacson

This bias is so pervasive that even slight deviations from the “institutional culture” are punished with dismissal. Just look at the present brouhaha over Juan Williams at NPR (don’t forget that Freddie Matthews-Greene is a goodthinker at that outlet):

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101022/ap_on_en_tv/us_npr_analyst_fired

Get a load of:

[NPR CEO Vivian] Schiller said [that Mr William’s] comments violated NPR’s code of ethics, which says journalists should not participate in media “that encourage punditry and speculation rather than fact-based analysis”.

Then, she should tell her journalists not to write for the New York Times or appear on CNN! Indeed, she should fire the lot of ‘em… punditry is all that they engage in at NPR… Juan Williams committed two sins:

• He was paid more than all his colleagues (perhaps, more so than Ms Schiller), and he received more publicity (again, more so than Ms Schiller) than all of ‘em put together (how dare he!)
• He expressed his opinions on a Hard Right outlet… c’mon, everyone knows that NPR is Hard Left in orientation

Mr Isaacson’s remarks were an attempt to pander to Tea Party sensibilities… but he found himself soon under attack… and he was a coward, abandoning his positions without even a show of resistance. Why? DeMint, Gingrich, Palin, Limbaugh, Beck, and Paul woulda backed him to the max! They’re screaming about defunding NPR, but NPR only gets about 2 percent of its budget from the Feds. Just you watch… the Feds would cut off NPR… then, NPR would go to daft donors (look at Freddie Matthews-Greene… gowan, it won’t hurt you… that’s a typical NPR donor… silly and dense suburban affluent effluent trash), and they would raise twice as much for being “martyrs”. That shows that Ms Schiller has brains and the teabaggers are in need of a brain transplant.

Nevertheless, most Americans only know what the Corporate Media feeds them. God have mercy on ‘em…

BMD