18 September 2012. Oddbod Nuns in Maryland May Have Jumped to Church of Georgia… That Be the Buzz

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Got this from one of my better contacts:

Heard this AM that the DC nuns were received by the Orthodox Church of Georgia, a Bishop Dimitri? Someone wrote that this was up on the ROCOR website.

I checked the main ROCOR site… NADA. Oh, well, let’s try the Eastern America Diocese site… ZERO there too. Firstly, since my contact reported this in all good faith, I did some quick shouts, and my interlocutors hadn’t heard of it either. The Church of Georgia doesn’t have any parishes here that I know of, and, trust me, the Centre wouldn’t be happy at their interference in what the Centre considers its canonical territory (the OCA‘s pretty much a dead letter and rotten borough). Of course, there’d be consequences back home… if this be true, the Centre could reverse its stance on the Church in Abkhazia. That would make the Georgians think twice!

There’s no official stamp on this one, so, I gotta say it may be kosher, it might not be. It’s a “maybe”… it’s what’s “out there”… but I advise all comers that I give it a strong caveat that it’s not official or substantiated… what I call “buzz”. I wonder if Freddy M-G, Dreher, and Fathausen had a hand in this? Now, that’s something worth digging into…

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Tuesday 18 September 2012

Albany NY

This Just In Department:

Apparently, there are four parishes and one monastery of the Georgians in the USA. Click here for confirmation. Trust me, they didn’t exist prior to the mid-90s. Indeed, they may even be post-millennial. It’s proof that the OCA’s days are numbered… everybody thinks that they can establish parishes here without telling Syosset.

BMD

Russia Without YouTube?

 

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The YouTube video hosting service may become unavailable to Russians. The reason is that the trailer to the notorious film Innocence of Muslims is available there. The Genprokuratura recognised the film as extremist and insulting to Muslims. However, Google, which owns YouTube, refused to restrict access to the clip. The Genprokuratura filed a case in court to forbid the circulation of the film in Russia. There’s been no decision taken on the matter yet, but the Genprokuratura already instructed the Public Oversight Commission to take the appropriate steps. The trailer, which appeared on YouTube, provoked a wave of anti-American protests in Muslim countries.

In spite of requests from governments around the world, Google declared that it wouldn’t delete the clip. Later, access to it was restricted, but not in all countries. For example, in Pakistan, the scandalous film wasn’t blocked. As a result, the local authorities ordered ISPs to close access to YouTube for all Pakistani users. The same could happen in Russia. Amendments to the law protecting children from harmful material come into effect on 1 November. If YouTube doesn’t delete the page containing the forbidden clip by that time, all Russian ISPs would have to restrict access to this site.

Ivan Zasursky, the Chairman of Communications Theory of the Journalism Department of Moscow State University believes, “Still, it’s unlikely that things would go that far, with YouTube being blocked. Even if the law allowed putting YouTube on the list of sites to be blocked, it isn’t obligatory to do so. YouTube is a law-abiding company in all countries where it broadcasts. In some Arab countries, the film is unavailable. I believe that in Russia it’d be unavailable too”.

Meanwhile, Terry Jones, the mastermind of the scandalous film, has become persona non grata in Europe. The American pastor was notorious even before Innocence of Muslims was posted online. He’s known for burning Qurans. Recently, when he wanted to visit Germany at the invitation of an ultra-right group, the German authorities declared that his presence in their country was undesirable. Washington also seems to realise what kind of genie it let out of the bottle. The American government admitted that the wave of protests in the Arab world could result in a long crisis with unpredictable consequences.

18 September 2012

Mikhail Aristov

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_09_18/Russia-without-YouTube/

 

Mitt Romney: No Wisdom Like Silence

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Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate in the upcoming American election, found himself in the spotlight of a scandal, which may well deny him victory. An American magazine released video footage of Romney meeting his rich sponsors. During this meeting, Romney said that Obama’s supporters were government dependents who saw themselves as victims. The Democrats are using this scandal to their maximum advantage. Until now, Romney hadn’t faced a scandal like this in the course of his presidential race. He faced accusations of closing factories and engineering bankruptcies for his personal profit, and there was a prize for the person who could prove that Romney was socking funds offshore to avoid taxes. Now, Romney bit himself. The video, taken by a hidden camera, appeared on the website of an American magazine that supports Obama. The footage came from a dinner where Romney met potential donors. Judging from what Romney said, the audience was affluent and was critical of the poor.

This was only a fragment of an ardent speech. Romney called Obama’s supporters dependents. When he spoke about Obama, probably, Romney decided to flatter his audience and said that he’d fight for the 5 to 7 percent who were independent voters who understood what was going on in the country and who were disappointed in Obama. The film was a bombshell. Obama’s camp called Romney’s words shocking and added that it was difficult to imagine a man who spoke about half of the nation in such a humiliating manner as President. Vilen Ivanov, Deputy Head of the Institute of Social Political Studies said, “The scandal will cost Romney votes. When one rival criticises the other, that’s normal, it’s within the boundaries of political discourse. However, when a presidential candidate criticises the voters who support his rival, this may stir a negative attitude towards him, even on the part of his own supporters”.

Romney’s camp said that their candidate would fight for prosperity for all voters. At a press conference held to explain this occasion, Romney regretted that his statements weren’t the most polished, but he didn’t apologise to the 47 percent of the population he’d insulted. Aleksandr Gusev, head of the Institute of Strategic Planning at the Higher School of Economics said, “The incident proves that Romney chose the wrong strategy. There are always two ways… either you present your own programme, or you condemn the programme of your rival. Romney chose the latter, which is bound to fail. He did his best to criticise Obama, and by doing so, he only raised Obama’s rating”. Many Republicans also condemned Romney’s words, showing discontent over their candidate’s callous opinion and indifferent attitude towards the retired, Latinos, and Afro-Americans. Romney’s mistakes only strengthen Obama’s position. Recent polls show that many Americans would vote for Obama not because they like his policies, but simply because they don’t like Romney.

18 September 2012

Roman Mamonov

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_09_18/Mitt-Romney-no-wisdom-like-silence/

18 September 2012. Sergei Yolkin’s World. Want to Lose Weight? Go to Bed!

Want to Lose Weight? Go to Bed!

Sergei Yolkin

2012

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An article by researchers in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that good sleep is an important part of weight-loss programmes and should be considered when planning a diet and increased physical activity.

18 September 2012

Sergei Yolkin

RIA-Novosti

http://www.ria.ru/caricature/20120918/753179130.html

One Year On: Quo Vadis “Occupy Wall Street?”

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Their opponents on the right paint them as a fifth column carrying out their liberal paymasters’ orders. Sceptics say they’ve squandered their political capital amidst internal squabbling. However, on the first anniversary of their inaugural protest in lower Manhattan, Occupy Wall Street activists say they aren’t going anywhere. Lacy MacAuley, 33, who marched in the Occupy Wall Street protest a year ago Monday, said, “There’s no sense at all that the energy’s dissipating. The energy’s, of course, more mature than it was a year ago. We all know each other now, and we all understand what it means to actually raise your voice amid intense police repression”. MacAuley was among the hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters Monday who descended on Zuccotti Park, the site of an encampment in the heart of the global financial empire that inspired similar protests across the United States and throughout the world. A New York City Police spokesman said that police arrested 146 activists during Monday’s protest, which aimed to disrupt the New York Stock exchange.

Occupy attracted a broad spectrum of political factions, including anarchists, environmentalists, and those upset with what they see as the American government’s subsidisation of the financial industry at the expense of the masses. Critics say the movement’s rejection of hierarchy and a unified political platform led to organisational paralysis. MacAuley, an organiser for the Occupy DC movement in the American capital, rejects this critique. She said that Occupy is about tactics… not policy, noting, “Occupy Wall Street has given an incredible amount of strength to a variety of movements, concerned citizens, and activists all over the country… and all over the world… that they didn’t have before”.

Occupy activist Suzanne Collado, who became active in the movement just days after the first Occupy protest on 17 September 2011, echoed MacAuley’s sentiment, saying the movement provided people of various political stripes with a vehicle to “come out of the shadows” to be heard. She thinks that critics are prematurely penning Occupy’s obituary, saying, “It’s only been a year. Look at the great movements that shaped history. They were never defined by where they ended up in a year”.

Ralph Young, a professor at Temple University and author of Dissent in America, said that Occupy Wall Street remains politically relevant in the United States. He believes that its most significant achievement was to propel the issue of social inequality to the forefront of the political dialogue in the United States, observing, “People have started talking about income equality, whereas before they were only talking about the [national] debt. They’ve opened up the political discussion. Even the Republicans have started talking about income inequality”.

Nina Eliasoph, a professor of sociology at the University of Southern California said that the movement made it possible for politicians and public figures to discuss “income and wealth in a way that was not possible a year ago, even though the movement itself has kind of disintegrated”. Professor Young added that social movements could, indeed, lose steam if aggressive organisational egalitarianism prevents them from forming coherent strategies for moving forward, saying, “If you look back at the civil rights movements, the early protests were spontaneous grassroots actions. There was Rosa Parks, and the Greensboro lunch counter. But then they got a cohesive centre and a charismatic speaker. Occupy Wall Street has the grassroots thing, but it hasn’t really gotten to the organisation thing yet. They don’t want that. But too much anarchy isn’t a good thing”. Professor Eliasoph thinks that one enduring achievement of the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon may be the export of the movement’s values to other venues for activism. For example, many of the group’s activists in California have moved on to pressing for reform of the public university system.

18 September 2012

Carl Schreck

RIA-Novosti

http://en.ria.ru/world/20120918/176021738.html

Coptic and Muslim Leaders Denounce Violence Over “Innocence of Muslims”

Dr Maher Hathout, senior adviser of the Muslim Public Affairs Council of Southern California, and Coptic Orthodox Bishop Serapion (1951- ) of Los Angeles at a news conference in Los Angeles CA USA condemning the violence surrounding the film Innocence of Muslims. Now, THIS is the real deal. THIS is what relations between REAL Orthodox and Muslims are like. God bless this.

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On Monday, Muslim and Coptic Orthodox leaders stood together to condemn the anti-American violence that broke out in several countries following the release of an anti-Muslim film allegedly made in Southern California. In a news conference at Los Angeles City Hall, they said that the creators of Innocence of Muslims need not fear retribution from them. The movie, whose trailer was posted on YouTube, is considered blasphemous by Muslims because it mocks the Prophet Muhammad. Maher Hathout, senior adviser of the Muslim Public Affairs Council of Southern California, called the movie “hate speech” and “instigation”, but added, “We don’t go after people for what they say. If he’s hiding from us, he’s wrong. Hide from somebody else. We aren’t interested”. Hathout was referring to Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, an Egyptian Coptic Christian and naturalised American citizen living in Cerritos purported to be one of the makers of the film.

The movie was linked to protests that resulted in the death of the American Ambassador in Libya, Chris Stevens, and three other State Department employees. Hathout condemned those behind the violence, saying, “Those are neither Muslims nor Copts… those are people who are psychologically diseased, with hearts full of hate, and minds full of ignorance. There should’ve been no bloodshed. As a matter of fact, there should’ve been no reaction to such an insignificant production”. Bishop Serapion, the spiritual leader of the Coptic Orthodox church in Los Angeles, said neither should the movie trigger violence against Copts, noting, “We find there’s no justification to make such a movie, so, there’s no justification to retaliate or attack the Coptic community”. He also released a statement, “The actions of a few ignorant individuals don’t represent the collective Copt diaspora, nor do they represent the collective Muslim community”. Both religious leaders said they hope recent events would draw the Muslim and Coptic communities of Los Angeles closer.

17 September 2012

Christina Villacorte

Press-Telegram (Long Beach CA)

http://www.presstelegram.com/rss/ci_21566608?source=rss

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On Monday, the spiritual leader of about 120 Coptic Christian families who live in the Portland OR metro area issued a statement critical of the film that’s sparked violent protests in Muslim countries. Fr Mekhail Hanna, pastor of St Antonious Coptic Orthodox Church in Southeast Portland, said the movie Innocence of Muslims is “inappropriate”. Also on Monday, The Los Angeles Times reported that the filmmaker, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who claims to be a Coptic Christian, is in hiding with his family.

According to Fr Mekhail, the film, which sparked a riot in Libya, in which four Americans were killed, and several other violent protests, doesn’t reflect the teaching of the Coptic Church, saying, “The Coptic Orthodox Church respects equally all religions and doesn’t agree or like to see any religion treated with disrespect. We’re commanded in the Bible to deal with others with love, kindness, and respect, and we adhere to that. The behaviour of an individual in our community doesn’t reflect the opinion of our Church, and we should deal with such individuals through the legal channels according to the current laws”. Fr Mekhail, who’s been pastor of the Portland congregation since 2006, said Coptic Christians “disagree with the killing of innocent people”, including those who “disagree” with freedom of speech or don’t know about the film, observing, “We hope that the sound of peace will cover the spark that was ignited by this inappropriate movie”.

17 September 2012

Nancy Haught

Oregon Live

http://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2012/09/portlands_coptic_christians_co.html

Editor’s Note:

With all the rightwing bloviation out there, THIS is refreshing. By the way, Dr Mathout said this:

Home is not where my grandparents are buried; home is where my grandchildren will be raised.

Hear, hear! This story wins the laurels as the story that I’ve most enjoyed covering in a long while. It DOES restore faith in humanity, doesn’t it?

BMD