This is huge.
Ordinarily, Your’s Truly does not break stories before going to church. Unfortunately, I must break this custom, simply because the news I am about to report warrants it: it’s now clear that the Russian Hacking Narrative is real.
I was wrong.
Every now and then one has to eat some crow. It’s distasteful but a little humiliation every and then is good for the soul. Now it’s my turn.
As you all know, Monomakhos has been very critical of those who have suggested that the Russian Hacking Narrative was real. To my mind, it has been nothing more than a conspiracy theory put out by disgruntled proglibs who are enraged by the fact that Trump was the presidency. There’s no way that he could have done it without assistance from the Russians and their vast intelligence networks, or so we were told.
This is very distasteful to me. The Russians actually did hack the 2016 election. Below is visual proof that Sergei Kislyak (or one of his subordinates) laced Hillary Clinton’s whiskey with Syrup of Ipecac.
I apologize for my criticism of Mrs Clinton and for my naivete about the Russians.
https://youtu.be/NkT5oVsNZ3s
Jou know, George, jou got a lotta nerve . . .
http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/26/trumps-budget-is-american-caesarism/
It never squarely hit me until I read the above column by Robert Kaplan over at Foreign Policy how the entire thing is best characterized. The United States and the EU, in their Progressive Liberalism and Secular Humanism – are polytheists.
At least that is how the Church Fathers would characterize them. They believe in the money god, the oil god, Fem-goddess, Perv-god(dess) the goddesses of progress and freedom – and they believe in the power of the war god and money god to impose their polytheism on others.
For the Church Fathers, polyarchy = polytheism – conscious advocacy of schizophrenic governance.
This is why monotheistic Russia and the Islamic world are both at odds with America, because of America’s polytheism. I’m not talking about hard core fundementalist Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox as I am about those inclined to democratic government, interest group politics, recognizing the legitimacy of government by herd-passions.
Interesting.
Alas, we are beholding Ragnarok.
Can’t tell if gallows humor based on the current headlines, or a weak attempt at spin coming off the ‘golf cart’ optics.
She probably hacked on some Russians while she was SoS.
Ask yourself why monastics and some people cross themselves when coughing or yawning.
The leader of Poland gets it:
http://silenceisconsent.net/polish-prime-minister-smashes-european-union-refuses-take-forced-migrants/
Ragnarok, Bonfire of the Vanities, whatever you want to call it. Hard rain is commencing.
God bless the Poles! Perhaps the enslaved nations of Europe can take from them yet another example, and remove the chains of the evil globalists who have invited the invaders into Europe! Will another John III
Sobieski arise?
George,
Brussels is getting ready to repackage the combined sovereign debt of EU countries. This will help them raise big funds, possibly offering Greece debt relief. Something big is about to happen:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-05-30/watershed-event-europe-unveils-plan-securitize-sovereign-debt
Joseph, I just read it. Interesting. However, I just saw The Big Short on Netflix. I can’t help but think that this isn’t some other financial boondoggle that will wind up screwing people over. Hopefully, the Germans saw that movie as well and have put in some safeguards.
I’m not so sanguine. I still think the EU was one of the most horrible ideas ever dreamt up.
George, without a doubt it will screw people over. The EU is desperate and taking desperate measures. None of this sounds good.
Greece seeks bailout deal that restores market access:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eus-moscovici-greek-lenders-act-responsibly-47745964
Somebody needs to do the math:
http://realmoney.thestreet.com/articles/05/31/2017/somebody-needs-do-math
Again, I’m getting the sense the EU is contemplating a federalist merger of Greece and Turkey. The Brussels Economic Forum last week suggested the vehicle for this, a “safe” securitizing of the combined sovereign debt from EU countries. They could raise the funds for this merger by combining sovereign debt from Turkey, Greece, and possibly Cyprus, into a singular bond that could be sold to China. The EU would see this as a solution to the current problem they have with Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus, and all three would be paid off.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/218959/article/ekathimerini/news/eu-mulling-secret-plan-b-for-greece-sources-say
George, the EU continues to play games with Greece. They are purposefully drawing out the Greek debt problem, getting hopes up, and then bringing disappointment. It won’t be much longer now when they offer their dreaded “solution”. It’s coming soon. The EU wants it to appear that they have no other alternative.
Greece is Germany’s de facto colony:
http://www.politico.eu/article/why-greece-is-germanys-de-facto-colony/
In the words of her great social guru. Sail Alinski, never let a good crisis (or cough) go to waste. She is most unpleasant to even look at, as she insists on more unborn children photos, which are exceedingly depressing to look at. She is one of the causes of these dismemberments, which she encompasses in spirit, having her human spirit dismember for her whole career. It is easy to see why the Holy God ordered the wages of sin. She cannot be around forever. Glory be to God.
Russia involved itself in our election, and while there is no publicly available evidence of collusion, which would require witting complicity of Donald Trump, it’s clear they have has been trying to infiltrate Trump’s inner circle by bringing those close to him under their influence.
Trump is too proud. If he had said initially that he welcomed the work of intelligence agencies to help him clean out his house, the public would have been forgiving. But he dug in his heels, and given what looks to be actions bordering on obstruction, it’s too late for that.
Mark,
He’ll survive it. If the worm hadn’t begun to turn I might agree with you, but it’s happening all over Europe too. The West’s immune system has finally kicked in against ideologies of death.
Well, that would make the Russians like…us! I really have to say that I am far more worried about our government than theirs, which is why, I suppose, our government and media is trying to tell us how bad Russia is. This stinks of distraction.
Dear Orthodox Friends,
Please check out this video our parish made as an appeal to the Sobor of ROCOR Bishops in Berlin next week, to restore our parish of more than 150 people, to restore our bank accounts of more than $20,000 that were seized, and to support a retired priest disabled with early onset altzeimers:
https://youtu.be/Nq1mdZhUD5g
And forgive me. I don’t mean to offend anyone. Please share this. Sunlight is often the best disinfectant.
This is a small commune of disobedient souls. Their last assigned priest was transferred over a year ago, so OF COURSE there are no Pascal services or Sunday Liturgies. They have been holding their own services not in compliance with their Bishop’s requests. They want to continue doing their own thing and unfortunately they’re not being obedient to the Church. The commune is closed. Period, end of sentence. They need to wait in obedience until their Bishop tells them otherwise. Unlike one of the parishioners says in the video, Orthodoxy is not a democracy. The church buildings will remain closed until the blessed day they house the monastic order. The fact that they are continuing to make demands and are continuing to act in defiance of their Bishop is incredibly sad. Let us all pray for the Holy Spirit to guide the Sobor and for these brethren to come back in obedience. They all have been given an extremely awesome opportunity to help the foundation of this monastery. They WILL be able to attend church there and visit the cemetery, etc., but as the Diocese has lovingly told them multiple times, they cannot live in the buildings they don’t own. May God have mercy.
The church is not a democracy, eh? Then why were two parishes of the OCA able to vote themselves into ROCOR in 1981 in order to preserve the Old Calender? In matters of faith, however, the church us not a democracy. Aren’t you the Reader Nectarios, son of Fr. Serge Lukianov?
BTW, if you are Reader Nectarios, I DO apologize for the uncharitable and un-Christian words I used with you last year.
Actually, in ROCOR’s defense, that’s exactly the point – the Church is not a democracy and can’t change the calendar willy nilly and still claim orthopraxis. The right thing is not local option so that Christians under the same bishop celebrate feasts on different days and the bishop has to keep two calendars as well as many laity. The right thing is to do what the two parishes did and leave the heteropraxis of the hybrid quasi-Uniate jurisdiction for one uniformly embracing Orthodox practice.
Ok, Big Man, I’m going to up the ante. Nobody has yet said anything about Fr. Michael Lillie who was the last ROCOR priest in House Springs. What is significant about him?
Well, if you turn to YouTube and type in his name, you get a list of his 39 favorite videos. Two of those videos are promoting yoga! I’m glad the priest is committed to staying in shape, but what business does any priest have in promoting yoga?
I wonder if Archbishop Peter knows about this? I don’t mean to slander the priest, but if be publicly posts such things, what are we to say? As long as that cleric publicly posts such things, surely that may call into question his conduct, no?
I’ve never taken the yoga thing seriously, myself. Also, I have a black belt in Chinese Kenpo so the whole “martial arts are pagan” is lost on me.
No doubt these things originated in pagan cultures and had certain pagan trappings associated with them. But neither exercise nor self-defense are problematic in and of themselves.
Yoga is women wanting to keep their bodies in shape and feel spiritual. Being a guy, I’m all for women keeping their figures healthy. I dare say that most of them do not practice it to the point that they can actually control their parasympathetic nervous system the way the real yogis can.
De minimis.
Yoga is not a martial art, it is a Hindu meditation technique. It is not about fitness, though that is how it has been marketed, it is about a religious practice. It is not comparable to martial arts and does not share the same purpose. The closest Martial arts comes to yoga is the use of Martial Arts by Shao Lin monks to achieve a level of physical fitness that allows them to practice Buddhist meditation without falling asleep. Seems to me that practicing Yoga without the religious component is like keeping Orthodox fasts and practicing prostrations for the purpose of physical fitness.
I have a better idea. Let them do the yoga postures and all the physical movements while Byzantine Chant is playing in the background and then tell them that the spiritual dimension can be further realized by using a chotki for set periods each day.
Then you have pretty girls with pretty souls.
So, there you go . . .
1) There never was a “commune.” There were rental properties available to parishioners. Your mis-characterization with a loaded word seems to imply some type of cult. You do know we will have to give account for every single idle word we speak, right?
2) No services were ever held when the parish was liquidated. Orthodox Christians are permitted, no commanded, to “pray always”, however. It is a natural thing for Orthodox to pray when they visit one another. None of this constitutes a “service.” I myself am a first-hand eye-witness. Are you?
3) The parish is dissolved and the chancellor informed them that they were not welcome in ROCOR churches. To what bishop, then, are they being disobedient? What bishop are they defying? The one who told them that they were no longer a part of ROCOR? (this community has this in writing, so thankfully, the other bishops will be able to review this as well– so much “lovingly told” to be opened to the light of day).
4) What demands were made in the video? I didn’t hear any. Are they permitted to ask for help? From bishops? From God? I refer you to the parable of the persistent widow.
This is going to sound harsh, but after watching that video I can see why your group has been asked to repent before coming back to church. The attitudes on display in the video (entitled, self-righteous, and even aggressive) are very unfortunate and you’re only doing disservice to your cause. And I hate the parts in the video about how the parish is threatening that their children may grow up to not believe in God simply because the Church Abroad didn’t send the priest they wanted or because the parish property was turned back into a monastery. There is no major conspiracy to uncover, no bishop who has acted contrary to the Church, no persecution happening, and no hidden “truth” that needs to be put on youtube.
Your hierarchs have been extremely loving and patient towards you for years. I refer all readers to the documents posted here under “Community Information”, especially the letter from Metropolitan Hilarion, with the other side of the story: http://russianorthodox-stl.org.
We love you and pray for you. This is a sad situation, and this video makes it worse. (And I am not Reader Nektarios.)
Dear Sir(or Ma’am, or Fr.);
I notice nothing was said about the two Pennsylvania parishes which voted themselves into ROCOR from the OCA. Try telling those Hunkies that the Church isn’t a democracy. They will laugh in your face. I’m not saying this is a good thing, just a reality.
Furthermore, these parishes came into ROCOR ONLY to preserve the Julian Calendar. Had Metropolitan Herman, as the then Diocesan bishop, shown more tact, he could have probably pulled off the change eventually. But he refused to allow the two churches use of the Old Style, even though Bishop Kirill of the Western PA Diocese allowed parishes to keep it, as is the case with most OCA parishes in Canada, and, I believe, all or most of Alaska.
Also, those parishes could have cared less about Ecumenism or the WCC, in fact, both churches had and maybe still have, many Freemasons. Mayfield, the larger of the two parishes, now a ROCOR Cathedral, has indeed prospered, since people from neighboring parishes joined. They voted with their feet and pocketbooks.
Anyways, I guess democracy in the parish is ok with ROCOR, so long as they are the beneficiaries of it.
Estonian Slovak
You do realize that this vote would not have mattered if ROCOR did not accept them and that would probably not have happened without the release of the OCA. This was in the early eighties, so there isn’t a whole lot about it. The OCA may never have released these parishes since many parishes owned their property and had since the Soviet controlled Russian Church tried a property grab way back when and the Metropolia? I think it was the metropolia back then, realized that if they officially owned the physical property, then American courts might actually hand over control of the properties to a Communist controlled court. It would have been legal, but uncanonical, for these parishes to vote themselves out of the OCA, but not into ROCOR. ROCOR actually had to accept them. This is not an example of pure democracy as the ROCOR bishop could easily have said no, even if the OCA bishops had no legal say. This is probably not an example of proper Church order. I haven’t been able to find if these parishes were released to ROCOR by their OCA bishop, but since this incident led to bad feelings between the two jurisdictions, probably not. This would have been highly irregular and uncanonical and an example of the chaos that communism caused throughout the Orthodox world. I suggest you should find another example to prove your point since this incident does not seem to be an example of good order within the Church.
I can’t do nuthun for ya, man
Flava Flav’s got problems of his own
More recently this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bWC5V4HaDQ
(Hillary needs to shop at Costco for “lozenges”)
Then more recently its those stylish geriatric blue glasses we like to wear outdoors.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/05/sick-hillary-wears-rumored-anti-seizure-sunglasses-chappaqua-memorial-day-parade-photo/
However Fake News N&N and all the rest of them they are mostly busy with this sort of thing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQim5pTG-Ik
Eventually, hopefully sooner rather than later, Trump is going to have to get his hands very dirty on the leak stuff. I predicted this long ago, last year, when I finally decided that Trump was the guy who might wake up America. But this will be brutal at the highest levels and I hope Trump is steeled for it.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/336178-the-memo-is-trump-a-victim-of-the-deep-state
You don’t prosecute deep state, you dispose of it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Felt
Also, we should assume, shouldn’t we, that if Islam is at war with us they would use all available intelligence tactics including infiltrators and double agents?
http://www.newstatesman.com/world/2017/06/inside-isis-social-network
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiraz_Maher
Even people who help us “fight terrorism” are still beholden to the underlying diabolical ideology undergirding al-Qaida, ISIS, etc.: i.e., Islam.
http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/on-display-in-russia-hearings-democrats-trump-hatred-is-worthy-of-captain-ahab/
Amazing, Comey’s left standing with his “you know what” in his hand, everybody else looking at him, each other, etc. . . .
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/buchanan/the-impeach-trump-conspiracy/
What they are avoiding isn’t just Trump’s election. They are avoiding what they know is coming, the deluge, the end of the Age of Apostasy – the age of Secular Humanism. They can’t believe that “political history ends this way”.
They’ve thrown every thing they have against Trump and they’re sure he will do his “unholy” worst in retaliation.
“We can’t lose.” “It’s not possible!” “Look at it again, check it again . . .”
Sheer terror. All they see is a bottomless pit.
That is because they lack faith:
“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God”
– Psalm 146:3-5
The Great Experiment called “The Enlightenment” is coming to an end.
This guy could end up being UK’s PM. He is a full dose indeed:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Johnson
aka: Борис Иванович
God may want him in there. It seems like this Theresa May debacle was constructed for that purpose.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/nationalism-donald-trump-boris-johnson-brexit-foreign-policy-xenophobia-isolationism-213995
Meanwhile, our Rightist in Chief probably has weathered the storm:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/06/11/russia-trump-campaign-collusion-probes-should-end-rnc-chairwoman-says.html
Really, Trump should line up Comey, Podesta and Brennan face down on the floor and put two in each of their heads for trying to do in America what was done in the Ukraine.
Recall that Chris Wallace is Mike Wallace’s son. He “crossed over” to Fox (allegedly). This thing runs deep with sleepers and murky loyalties abounding.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/10/opinion/sunday/its-the-olympics-for-trump-apologists.html?ref=opinion&mtrref=www.realclearpolitics.com&gwh=CCD10C6DFF769D7126C97FCE097E0F74&gwt=pay&assetType=opinion
I am truly grateful to God that I lived long enough to see liberal America’s “flagship” paper, “all the news that’s fit to print”, print the above editorial.
They have completely lost control, they know it and they can’t stand it.
Pat spun this off the other day:
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/06/09/the_impeach-trump_conspiracy_134146.html
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/06/10/saudi-arabia-destabilizing-world/ivMeb7TWGk1fQaVjZWWKGP/story.html
Misha, you realize your man Trump has thrown his lot in 100% with the Saudis in their current dispute with Qatar, and had nothing but praise for the Saudi agenda during his trip there, which was his first destination abroad? The Saudis didn’t like Obama at all by comparison. It’s a bit disingenuous to post that second article – but don’t let it cause you any cognitive dissonance.
Yeah, Matt, I’m not happy about the Saudi thing. I’m thinking however that there’s more to this than meets the eye, perhaps a paradigm shift among the Sunnis.
Still, in the grand scheme of things, I prefer the Indo-European/Shi’ite side of the equation. (This would include Sunni Moslems such as the Kurds, as well as non-Moslems such as the Yazidis all things being equal.) That’s where I see the shift developing.
Matt,
I look at Trump’s trip and speech before the Saudi’s a bit differently than you do. I saw it more as a throwing down of the guantlet and saying, “you must fight these people too or become personae non grata”. The military assistance, etc. I saw was a gesture of good faith that if they did so, he would consider them allies in the fight.
However, as far as I’m concerned, the whole thing is futile with the Muslims from top to bottom. They are mortal enemies of Christianity, all of them, every man, woman and child of the Islamic ummah, Sunni and Shiite – mortal enemies.
But how you fight them is the question. Public opinion prevents carpet bombing with thermonuclear or neutron weaponry. One method is to get them killing one another and keep them killing one another. Whether it is Sunnis or Shiites fighting ISIS or Sunnis fighting Shiites, regardless, if they’re killing one another they’re not killing Christians.
Yes, we should be that cynical. The other option is to send in missionaries, which I encourage, but that is slow going and perilous work as well and we don’t have time to rely on that exclusively being as how the barbarians are at the gates – literally – in Europe and are also settling here in America where they commit atrocities from time to time.
But this ignores the other enemy among us: The Progressive Liberals and their pseudo-conservative water boys. They poison Western minds with feminism and self-doubt, white guilt, and promotion of perversion. They are the enemy we may need to defeat before we can even make a concerted effort against the Muslims.
But, that is the map and mission before us as traditional Orthodox – as the mafioso say, “Dis is da life we have chosen”.
Glory to God.
Personality, people should have taken seriously Obama’s connection to Billy Ayers. Billy Ayers once wanted to killed more people than Timothy Mcveigh when he was in the weatherman underground. Ayers is involved in the training of the Antifa that appear at College campus and doing vandalism to drive out conservative speakers, Ayers stated that he will resist fascism and will targeted conservative and libertarian groups.
Putin offered Comey political asylum. He said that Comey reminded him more of Edward Snowden than the head of an intelligence service and that if his activities had caused him problems that he might seek refuge in the Russian Federation.
Sarcastic, acerbic, priceless.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/putin-russia-has-climbed-out-of-recession/2017/06/15/f7aa9bbc-51ac-11e7-b74e-0d2785d3083d_story.html?utm_term=.5b86a11afcc2
It is entirely possible that the Western Left is about to have a multi-continental meltdown of full-blown, unbridled hysteria and violent “acting out” en masse. You can kind of feel it in the air, like the planet’s become a kind of pressure cooker for them and something’s got to give.
In that event, I would recommend to Trump and everyone else who might have a say, that sharp objects be removed from their range of motion and that they be escorted to some type of “time out” to calm down and regain their senses.
Taming of the Shrew, as it were.
This sounds about right, the full allegation in print, that the Intelligence Services were trying to frame Trump for collusion with the Russians in electoral malfeasance:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/448674/trump-wanted-comey-refute-false-notion-he-was-suspect
Really, its treason, if you think about it. This and the immigration order thing.
Treason.
Attempting to overthrow the government of the United States and/or giving aid and comfort to its enemies by attempting a coup d’etat against the duly elected President of the United States and by illegally preventing him to fulfill his oath to “preserve and protect” by falsely claiming that his “animus” against Muslims should be a factor in assessing otherwise unobjectionable travel bans from countries already identified by the Obama administration as exporters of terrorism.
Treason. Right out in front of God and everybody for the world to see.
So we shall see if treason prospers in this instance.
Treason:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2381
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articleiii