by Mary W Maxwell, LLB
Two persons indisputably died as a result of the 2013 Marathon bombing: Tamerlan Tsarnaev, age 24 and Ibraghim Todashev, 27. Another four reportedly died: Sean Collier, 27, Martin Richards, 8, Lingzi Lu, age 23, and Krystle Campbell. Jahar Tsarvaev was convicted of the murder of each of those four. He is currently on Death Row.
I own up to being a partial conspiracy theorist (there are some I don’t buy; I don’t buy that the Sandy Hook shooting was fake, or that the 1969 moon landing was a no-show.)
As to the “Marathon bombing, ”I’m full-on conspiracy theorist regarding the court case of Jahar (money can’t but a faker court case than that one), but I reserve judgment about the four deaths.
Until this week, I had never so much as read a newsclip about Lu Lingzi and I still have not read one word about Ms Campbell. They may be genuine fatalities or not, I have no idea.
The other day I saw an ad for a mini-Marathon to be run on Saturday August 11 at 8.30am. It’s hosted by a foundation in China to honor Lingzi Lu, who was a student at Boston University.
I decided I would run in that mini-Marathon. It’s as hot as Hades here this summer but 3 miles never killed anybody, and at that race I could see who Lingzi’s friends are, and get the feel of it all. The run costs $35 to register (and you get an electronic ‘bib’ to track your progress).
The race starts at the corner of Beacon and Charles St, with rego opening at 7.30am on August 11, 2018. Or you could register today (Friday) at 1 A St, near Fort Point. I decided to register today, so if there were any fuss over my reputation (assuming I even have a reputation) I would rather the fuss occur on Friday and not on the day I am supposed to run.
My Chinese Driver
Arriving at Boston’s South Station I hopped a taxi. I boasted to the driver “I’m going to run in a mini-Marathon tomorrow.” He said – apparently sincerely — “How much money do you get if you win first prize?” I thought “Is this guy Blind Freddy? Doesn’t he notice my corpulence?” I told him “There’s no money, it’s in honor of someone who died at the Marathon in 2013.”
This driver, who is Chinese, said “I was driving near Copley Square that day and I heard “Boooom” — and then again “Booooooom,” and saw people running. I said “Have you heard it was fake?” He said “There was a Chinese boy – they kidnapped him. They took him to a gas station. He looked for an opportunity to escape.”’
I said “That is what the media told you, but that doesn’t mean it is true.” He said “They also killed the security at MIT.” He also gave many other details, always speaking in a loud, stern voice. He could put Cheryl Dean to shame with his knowledge of the event, five years on.
When he got to “one brother running over the other” I said “Come on, you must not just accept whatever ludicrous garbage the Boston Globe gives you.”
He said “The boy put the backpack on the ground, we all saw him.” I said “No, we didn’t.” He then asked a good question: “If the boy didn’t do it, why would the police arrest him, instead of you or me?” I said “Because he’s Muslim.” “And how were they able to find a Muslim so fast?” I said “It was all planned years in advance.”
After some more noisy sparring, he said “If those boys didn’t bomb Copley Square, who did?” Naturally, Yours Truly said “the FBI.” “How do you know that?” “Because they have done similar things and got caught. Twenty-five years ago they did a sting, bombing the Basement of the World Trade Center and they had to admit it.”
Now the driver’s voice comes down a few decibels. “Then the government is like all other governments around the world. Have you heard of Falun Gong?”
I said “Sure, the Chinese government invented the Falun Gong religion a few years ago to create divisiveness, and also to punish the Falun Gongers so severely that it would scare everybody else into obedience.”
He said “Not exactly. The Chinese government invented Falun Gong so that even if you only mention ‘Falun Gong’ they can arrest you, when what they really want is your kidney or your heart.”
Whew! He was a conspiracy theorist all along! A Cheryl Dean in sheep’s clothing!
Made my day.
Sad Experience at the Boston Public Library
Then I needed to pop into the BPL (to borrow the computer to check on GumshoeNews). I entered thru the lobby door that opens into the huge Newsfeed Café. The décor is “newsfeed,” as in electronic messages running as surtitles over the barista.
I had been there before, but not at a midday session of live broadcasting. The emcees were (I think) a man from WGBH-TV and a woman from National Public Radio, NPR.
There was a very substantial audience of nicely-attired people. The first comment I heard said from the stage was that Sarah Huckabee Sanders should have distanced herself from Trump’s statement “The media is the enemy of the people.”
Later, the woman emcee said – and this is a verbatim quote – “How is it possible that it took so long for Facebook to pull Alex Jones — and I mean that not in regard to his conservative views, but to his hate speech. And how is it possible that they still haven’t pulled the Alex Jones’ app, which, I’m told, is skyrocketing?”
I wanted to yell, “Excuse me, Lady, this is a library. Pulling someone off the Internet is equivalent to book burning. Are you in favour of book burning? Do you want to drop Tom Paine down the Memory Hole?”
But first I looked around to see if anyone else was distressed — any facial twitching, shoe-throwing, etc. Nope, everybody seemed happy as Larry. This is really, really sad, Folks.
The BPL, the bibliothèque, the place where the life of the mind means something.
Walking from Newbury St to Tremont St
I had to meet a friend at the swan boats at 2pm and then proceeded in the direction of the race-to-be. I walked the walk that I am supposed to run tomorrow but when I realized it was hilly — Boston Common, after all, leads to Beacon Hill, and it was sweltering by then, I got quittish.
I justified my decision not to register for the mini-Marathon on the grounds that heat stroke can be fatal and it would be nice to finish writing the 2019 Adelaide Fringe.
I then came back to my digs in NH and looked up the early reports of the death of Lingzi Lu. Definitely will require a closer look.
If you go to the race meet, please let me know. For the first 5 runners who ask me to shout them the rego, I will do so.
Hilary in Haiti
Oh, and one more thing, because I’d like to get all the sadness of today out of my system. On the way to South Station I hailed another cab, the driver was Haitian.
I said, “Sir, I apologize for what Hilary Clinton did to your country.” He said “Both Bill and Hilary. They took everything, Haiti has nothing left.”
He added — to my shock — “They came in and bought up the businesses, only to close them, so now there are no jobs. There is nothing.”
I had never heard of such a thing. I know big business buy out small ones to eliminate competition, but not just to shut down all livelihoods.
Bottom line: the media is the enemy of the people.
— Mary W Maxwell, LLB, is author of Marathon Bombing: Indicting the Players
Mary, I am glad you had second thoughts about entering the mini race, at any temperature. Running is not your thing, but writing is. We don’t want to lose a good editor yet.
Dear Return-to-Sender,
Thank you for challenging me. I’ll now take up weight-lifting. Start with the half-pound barbell and graduate to shoulder-held missile.
And believe me, in New Hampshire you can have all the shoulder-held missiles you want. (Probably even the concealed-carry type.) The state motto here is: “Live free or die.”
I’m gonna do it, do it, do it.
Dee, please take this up. The Boston Globe has asked ALL OTHER NEWS MEDIA to take a stand against Trump’s “dirty war.”
BOSTON, MA — The Boston Globe is proposing a coordinated editorial response from publications across the U.S. to President Donald Trump’s frequent attacks on the news media.
“We are not the enemy of the people,” said Marjorie Pritchard, deputy managing editor for the editorial page…. The president, who contends he has largely been covered unfairly by the press, also employs the term “fake news” often when describing the media.
The Globe has reached out to editorial boards nationwide to write and publish editorials on Aug. 16 denouncing what the newspaper called a “dirty war against the free press.”
DEE, WILL GUMSHOE COMMIT?
The newspaper’s request was being promoted by industry groups such as the American Society of News Editors and regional groups like the New England Newspaper and Press Association.
Yes. We will ADD our VOICE to the “DIRTY WAR” — that the media is the enemy of the people.
The charter documents of Thomson Reuters Corporation require Thomson Reuters Directors, in the performance of their duties, to have due regard to the Trust Principles, by the proper exercise of their powers and in accordance with their other duties as Directors.
The Trust Principles are:
That Thomson Reuters shall at no time pass into the hands of any one interest, group, or faction;
That the integrity, independence, and freedom from bias of Thomson Reuters shall at all times be fully preserved;
That Thomson Reuters shall supply unbiased and reliable news services to newspapers, news agencies, broadcasters, and other media subscribers and to businesses, governments, institutions, individuals, and others with whom Thomson Reuters has or may have contracts;
That Thomson Reuters shall pay due regard to the many interests which it serves in addition to those of the media; and
That no effort shall be spared to expand, develop, and adapt the news and other services and products so as to maintain its leading position in the international news and information business.
Unbiased and reliable?
The most dangerous idea is that the truth about anything can be delivered in a neutral vacuum.
Belief isn’t created by journalists; it’s simply something they trade on.So long as there’s a market for a nice tidy digestible package there’s always going to be a seller.
Berry, if you are saying that Reuters (and similar) should not put forth any claim that looks like “ethics”, I agree.
They could admit to following a “Standard of Catering to Idiots.”
But do you imply that they are selling a product for the purpose of making a profit? Edward Bernays would not agree.
“There’s work to be done.”
As demonstrated by my Chinese cabbie’s “knowledge” of the 2013 Marathon, the Globe does the work assiduously.
I take it back! I take it back, Berry. I just found this statement by The Guardian [retch]:
“Our journalism is free from the influence of billionaire owners or politicians No one edits our editor. No one steers our opinion. [swearda God]
“We need our readers to support our investigative reporting… from as little as $1.”
The pseudo-morality goes to the fact that the sole aspiration is being on the team that appears to be winning: the need to rally support goes to the inherit insecurity there-of.
My hero, South Australian Dean Lukin, starts at 3 minutes:
.
Some thoughts and advice from M S (Mike) King
http://tomatobubble.com/id196.html
A couple of excerpts:
“I don’t have every missing piece of this puzzle but I have enough pieces to KNOW that the government-media version is false!
Imagine if I gave you a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle and told you that the image is of a beach in Hawaii. But after snapping 30 pieces together, you notice polar bears, snow-capped mountains, and men covered in furs. Although there are still 70 missing pieces, you already have enough to KNOW that the image is NOT that of a beach in Hawaii.
It’s the same with solving conspiracies. I may not have all of the details, but I have laid out enough pieces to know that the official story is a lie.”
…
“You don’t believe it? Or You don’t WANT to believe it? There’s a big difference between the two. The human mind is filled with complexes, one of which is the desire to shield itself from unpleasant truths. You’re AFRAID that if you look into this, you might see that it’s true. And you’re especially afraid that if you come to agree with me, you too will then become marginalized as a “conspiracy theorist.”
It is FEAR that is causing you to close your mind and act like a sheep …”
…
The performances by Robbie Parker or the statements by Don Pettit (NASA astronaut), Kelly Smith (NASA Engineer for Orion) et al just don’t seem to fit the puzzle.
… and who WAS the first man to take one small step on Devon Island?
Dear Fish,
Your mention of “one small step for mankind” and of Robbie Parker, makes me think you are referring to my proclaimed rejection of some of the conspiracy theories.
I do indeed fail to accept those two – moon-landing and Sandy Hook – but that does not mean I “rule against them.” I may accept them at some point when I get enough data to persuade me.
“Enough data” re the moon landings could consist of me finding one trustworthy scientist to say that the Van Allen Belt would deliver lethal radiation to any human zipping through that area in a spaceship.
You will recall how feisty Sir Mark Oliphant was. He was a true expert on radiation and the van allen belts, yet in 1969 he did not say “How the hell did those American astronauts pass thru it and survive?” So I wait it out.
The fact is we all use people we trust as a guidepost. This morning I looked up “Voodoo doughnuts” on Google, as I wanted to see if my Spoliatorum article was there. No, it isn’t on the first 6 pages anyway, but there are many articles on the first 6 pages mocking the interpretation of the donut shop as a pedophile thing. As I passed over them, I thought How lucky we are to have Fiona Barnett. For me, her word on that subject is Gospel.
As for Robbie Parker doing that smile-and-frown routine, that surely does not form a sufficient basis for me to say “the Sandy Hook children did not die.” It is quite possible for them to have died and for Robbie Parker (for some unknown reason) to have done the smile-and-frown thing.
Well spotted Mary –
Let me rephrase the quote …
“I don’t have every missing piece of this puzzle but I have enough pieces to BE HIGHLY SUSPICOUS OF the government-media version!”
I do not not rule against them 😊
Thank you, Fish. I am of course highly suspicious of the Sandy Hook event; I think it is one of the many scripted horrors carried out by, or with full connivance of, the authorities.
Surely Adam Lanza didn’t go to his mother’s house first and kill her. etc. Neither (I claim) did Charles Whitman do that before shooting from the Texas Tower in the 1960s.
But I think the Sandy Hook children nevertheless died. You can have a person being set up for the media story (e.g., Sirhan Sirhan, lady in polka dot dress, etc.) and yet have the death actually occur — surely RFK was assassinated.
Fish, no one can accuse me of shying away from the label “conspiracy theorist.” As far as I know i am the only person that says senator Jeannie Ferris of SA was murdered (albeit via cancer) and so was her husband (in a one-car crash), and that the autism epidemic was deliberately caused, and that all hoof-and-mouth disease in livestock is economic sabotage, and that the Lindt Cafe incident was staged, and that Monica Lewinski did NOT do anything in the Oval office, (nope, didn’t even flash a thong).
Bostonians may be amazed to hear that I believe the Coconut Grove fire was set (in 1942), probably to promote the new antibiotics. I also go way, way out on a limb in speculating that the earthquake in Ascuncion Paraguay in 1845-ish was manmade.
I’m not married to any of that and will gladly change my story if someone shows me I’m wrong.
Mary – let me clarify something immediately -the quoted section “You don’t believe it? … It is FEAR that is causing you to close your mind and act like a sheep …” was not directed at YOU.
It is a quote credited to Mike King in the attached link – which offers some responses to people (family/friends/acquaintances) who are either oblivious to or in wilful denial of the truth and whose only ‘defence’ is to resort to hateful name calling.
Thank you for all that you do and bring for our collective enlightenment … truly awesome.
I know we are O/T but from around 3:37 – three more highly trained astronauts/experts that are still trying to “science the sh*t” out of this Van Allen belt problem
• https://youtu.be/DpPMoIv1lxI?t=217
Here’s a simple explanation
• The Van Allen Belts Are Lethal, This Is How Astronauts Fly Through Them
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEwMM0REZJQ
By the way – I have always used the same principle for running through rain so fast as to not get wet – I had already figured out that nuking the clouds might not be a good idea. 😊
As for the Tsarnaev stitch-up:
Thank you, Berry. I traced the blogger and found such items as the following two. But then they called for a rally as the solution. I think rallies only increase the portrait of citizens as supplicants. They should see themselves as the law enforcers, no?
Jessica L. Says:
April 10, 2011 at 8:01 am
Thanks Cary you for all the great work that you do. If not for your help, I would have been shredded and torn to pieces by the courts and the corrupt system in santa clara. He’s not as bad as Carr but DA Jeff Rosen turned out to be a flake and full of lies who would say anything to get elected. He is losing his supporters fast and a lot of people are disappointed in him. Thank you for fearlessly sticking up for and defending people like me
reportcorruption Says:
April 11, 2011 at 12:18 am
I believe that the biggest rats’ nest is at the Santa Clara County Public Guardian’s office at 2851 Junction Avenue in San Jose. Many People believe that the Public Guardian’s office is abusing elder & dependent adults under “county care” and embezzling large sums of money from the estates if conservatees. There are many horror stories about elder abuse and families being torn apart and seniors & dependent adults being traumatized and their lives being destroyed.
” It is better to be rich and guilty than poor and innocent “.
Explains everything .
[…] Maxwell reported from Boston yesterday that the media is feeling hurt by Trump’s remark that “the media is the enemy of the public.” […]
Hey Mary, apart from the MSM monopoly, where’s the evidence that the Sandy Hook Hoax was not a hoax ?