Friday, 17 June 2016

The shooting in Orlando – a few very basic thoughts

June 13, 2016
Frankly, I did not feel like commenting on this shooting.  Primarily, because I don’t believe that this event deserves the reaction it got.  Yes, sure, 50-100+ innocent people were shot/hurt, but that is more or less what happens on a daily basis in so many locations of our planet that I don’t see how the Orlando shooting would deserve some special attention (for example, just four days ago 19 Yazidi ladies were burned alive to death in a cage by Daesh for refusing to have sex with Daesh fighters). But then I got a ton of emails about that.  And, besides, since the homosexual lobby in the USA demands special protection for homosexuals, the massacre in Orlando is a big deal because it is a perfect illustration of how our masters want us to react.
Good victim
Homosexuals: “good” victims deserving sympathy
Check out this BBC article: “In pictures: LGBT parades across Europe“.  So “gay” pride is, apparently, a big deal to our rulers.  Which makes the massacre in Orlando a big deal too.  Clearly the powers that be are intensely preoccupied with the well-being and safety of homosexuals.  Fair enough.
But then, at the very least, let’s make darn sure that we keep in mind what this massacre has no relationship to:
1) Homosexuality.  Yes, the club where the massacre happened was known to be “gay friendly” and the presumed shooter apparently wanted to kill homosexuals.  But so what?  If he has chosen any other group, vegans, or Latinos, or soccer players or diabetics, this would really made no difference to the nature of the massacre or for the evaluation of the character of the shooter.  Innocent blood is innocent blood.  There are not subcategories for this.
2) Islam.  Yes, the shooter apparently call 911 to declare his allegiance to Daesh and Daesh has, according to reports, claimed responsibility for the massacre.  So what?  Anybody can claim responsibility for anything, including the Garden Gnome Liberation Front.  I would even argue that Daesh has nothing to do with Islam either because Daesh’s relationship to Islam is similar that of a tumor to a healthy tissue: a lot of common DNA, for sure, but with some absolutely crucial differences which makes them mortal enemies.
AR-15
The AR-15: the cause of all evil
3) Guns.  Turns out that the supposed perpetrator did have a legal firearm license.  But he should not have had it.  He was known to be awife beaterand he was reportedly mentally unstable.  Under Florida law, both of these conditions should have resulted in his firearms license been revoked.  In other words, even if this shooter purchased his guns legally, his license should have been revoked.  When an alcoholic continues to drive around in his car and ends up killing somebody, does anybody suggest that cars are to blame?  Of course not.  And yet in the case of mass shootings guns are inevitably blamed for the violence.  So what is the political agenda here?
So if this is not about homosexuality, Islam or guns, what is it about?
It is about making us believe that is is about homosexuality, Islam and guns, of course!
Not good victim
Yazidi ladies: “bad” victims
who do not deserve sympathy
Whether this is just a prefect opportunity or the latest in an apparently endless series of false flags does not really matter.  What is certain is that the Empire and its propaganda machine are making maximal use of this event to convince us that homosexuals deserve our heartfelt sympathy and that they need some kind of special protection and that guns and Islam are truly awful things.  Does that sound incredibly stupid to you?
Of course it does – and that is because it isincredibly stupid.
But we are talking about the country in which solving a basic math equation is enough to make you look like a terrorist.  So “incredibly stupid” is exactly what works best.
And then there is the upcoming election.  Sure, Trump comes across as more anti-Muslim than Hillary.  But Hillary is a rabid gun hater, and she is backed by Obama. Besides, last year there has been a long string of mass shooting which were not only rather bizarre, but which were used by the 1%ers to try to blame violence on guns and disarm law-abiding citizens.  Does this latest shooting not just look *perfect* for the Obama administration?
Muslim man prays
Islam: the other cause of all evil
We will probably never find out if Omar Mir Seddique Mateen was just a a “lone wolf” with some real sympathies for Daesh, whether he truly was an isolated psychopath, or whether he was lovingly nurtured by one of the other US 3 letter agencies and then carefully planted at the right time and place (he was a “person of interest” for the FBI).
The worst lie of them all is the one that is implied: if we get rid of all guns and if we get rid of all Muslims, then we will be much safer.  That is utter nonsense.  Not only because guns and Muslims are not the problem, but because it is simply impossible to be safe!  There have always been terrorist attack, and there will always be.  Today it was a Muslim with a gun.  Yesterday it was a Japanese with sarin gas.  Tomorrow it could be anybody anywhere, armed to the teeth by illegally purchased guns (like in the Charlie Hebdo attack – the French total ban on guns did not help one bit) or armed with a far more deadly weapon (say a common pathogen like E.coli, a legally available toxic agent like Cyanide or even a Water Hemlock extract to poison, say, a school’s cafeteria).  Explosives are very easy to manufacture and can be delivered anywhere a car can drive.  In terms of terrorism – where there is a will, there will be a means.
The Pulse
The Pulse: the club where it all happened
One more thing about guns: not only are homosexuals usually known to be easy victims (this is the reason why cowards love to attack them – they usually don’t fight back), but under Florida law it is illegal to bring a firearm into bar.  So bar, just as schools, are legal “gun free zones” which makes them ideal for mass shootings and makes it possible for one single shooter to shoot 50 or more people.  In Florida, these “gun free zones” are pretty much the only places where you can hope to shoot a lot of people safely, everywhere else the chances of somebody shooting right back at you are rather high as there are no less than 1,477,675 people legally licensed to carry a weapon in Florida (the highest figure in the USA).  
Concealed weapon carriers include all races, all age groups, males and females from any and all social groups.  
This is why it has become rather dangerous to start shooting people in Florida, because chances are somebody nearby will shoot right back at you.   That is a paradox – “gun free zones” have turned into honeypots for all sorts of mass shooters.  That is also something the imperial media will never tell you.
He is lying again
Do you really think that he cares?
By definition, terrorism is about terror.  About fear.  About emotions.  Those who use terrorism want us to freak out, to lose our ability to think logically.  They want us to listen to our emotions, and only some of our emotions.  So each time some atrocity occurs and the imperial propaganda machine starts to hammer us with ‘special news flashes’ you know that they are trying to freak you out.  Don’t let them do this to you.  Don’t let them disconnect your brain.  This latest atrocity in Orlando proves absolutely nothing and it only means something if you are willing to give it a meaning.  I categorically refuse to do so.  For me, 50+ innocent people died yesterday, and that is simply disgusting.  But it is also meaningless.  To “respond” to that pseudo-event with any kind of “policy” is the pinnacle of stupidity and hypocrisy.
Our resistance has to be first and foremost a resistance for our minds and souls.  We have to think and react as we do, not as “they” want us to.  If we pay attention to their non-events, then we will miss ourreal events, especially our victories over them!  And, make no mistake, they are getting weaker while we are getting stronger, even if their media says otherwise and if our victories are never reported.
My hope is that the next time when the imperial propaganda machine presents us all with a tear-jerker “outrage” or “terrorist attack” nobody will email me to ask my opinion about it because none of us will care very much (even if it happens close to our homes).  I hope that we will be focused on the real horrors of our times, like the 40 million Americans who have been victims of child sexual abuse or the 45 million of Americans who are currently living below the poverty line.  Terrorism is really an illusion created by our rulers to blind us to our condition.  Ignore it. Keep your attention focused on reality!

PS: for those interested in really understanding the reality of gun ownership in the USA, I recommend this excellent report: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2629704 (download the PDF!)

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

No comments: