Whoa...What Was That?
Between 0:35 and 0:39 of this video, watch the man in the black suit and sunglasses, then rewatch the clip but pay particular attention to his reflection.
Click for video: WHOA....watch the reflection or cut / paste https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAxW6rRl55k#t=38
**********
MH17 conspiracy theories: What happened to downed Malaysia Airlines plane?
Whenever there is a tragedy on such a scale as the downed Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane, there are bound to be conspiracy theories that follow as the world tries to understand and deal with the tragedy.
While there’s no doubt many are based simply on paranoia or speculation, they won’t be able to be dismissed until the black box is recovered and the world gets answers.
Here are six conspiracy theories about MH17, according to the Washington Post.
1. It was an HIV/AIDS cover up
The terrible news that the plane held prominent HIV/AIDS researchers sparked speculation that it was not a random target. One theory proposed that the attack was a cover-up for the so-called “man-made origins” of AIDS - which is another theory in itself. It has been pointed out that 16 years ago, AIDS patient advocate and World Health official Jonathan Mann was also killed in a plane crash that some still find suspicious.
2. It was an attempt to start WWIII
While it’s not yet clear exactly why the missile was fired at the plane, some believe it was an attempt to bring on the next world war.
“We can clearly see an attempted false flag to launch WWIII unfolding,” a commenter said on the website Before Its News. They also pointed to a Russian tweet predicting the deliberate downing of a plane full of people, as an instigation of a NATO invasion.
Translation: “Soon will be shot down over the ruins of the liner packed full of innocent Euro-tourists. It will be the occasion for the official invitation to NATO. So I see.”
Though this theory doesn’t make sense, as killing innocent people is not a very stratigic move for NATO.
3. It was an assasination attempt on Putin
Russia’s Interfax news agency claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was on board his personal jet and flying on the exact same route as MH17 at the same time. His plane was the same size and colour as the Malaysia Airlines flight.
The claim was debunked with the news that Putin’s plane hadn’t flown over the Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict.
4. The jet wasn’t actually shot down
A conspiracy blogger who’s popular on YouTube called DAHB0077 proposed that the plane was actually diverted into the area where it was blown up by explosives from onboard so it could appear to have been shot down. This could then be an excuse for an invasion.
He claims his suspicion was born from footage showing the plane exploding on the ground instead of in the air, but experts say this is actually possible upon the event of a mile-high missile strike.
5. MH17 is MH370
They’re both Boeing 777s, from the same airline, with a commenter from the forum Above Top Secret stating: “It could be the MH370 rigged with explosives” that has only just reappeared after vanishing for months. Why would they do this? To start WWIII.
6. Many were already dead before the plane took off
This bizarre theory comes from a top pro-Russian rebel commander in eastern Ukraine.
The pro-rebel website Russkaya Vesna quoted Igor Girkin as saying he was told by people at the crash site that “a significant number of the bodies weren’t fresh,” adding that he was told they were drained of blood and reeked of decomposition.
Ultimately, these theories wont’ be true, but the hunt for answers about what really happened to flight MH17 will continue. - news.au.com
**********
Thousands of women, accused of sorcery, tortured and executed in Indian witch hunts
If it began like the others, the first sign that Saraswati Devi would be murdered was an accusation delivered to a shaman. Perhaps she had offended someone. Perhaps someone had fallen sick and had wondered why. Perhaps a community well had suddenly dried and someone needed blaming. Perhaps they chose her because Devi was lower caste, because she was a woman, and because they’d probably get away with it.
The killers came for her on Saturday. Two of her sons tried to save her, but couldn’t and were beaten. Their punishment wouldn’t match Devi’s. Before the 14 villagers inflicted injuries so severe they would claim her life, they “forced her to consume human excreta,” police told the Hindustan Times.
Though shocking by nearly any standard, the murder was not unique. It was not even uncommon in pockets of rural India.
In places where superstition and vigilantism overlap and small rumors can turn deadly, nearly 2,100 people accused of witchcraft have been killed between 2000 and 2012, according to crime records gathered by the Indian newspaper Mint. Others placed the number at 2,500; others higher still. “Like the proverbial tip of a very deep iceberg, available data hides much of the reality of a problem that is deeply ingrained in society,” according to New Delhi-based Partners for Law in Development. “It is only the most gruesome cases that are reported — most cases of witch-hunting go unreported and unrecorded.”
It’s an issue that despite its prevalence is rarely covered outside of India, where it’s almost weekly newspaper fodder. Last week in Chandrapur, one man was lynched and his “woman accomplice thrashed by a mob for practicing black magic,” reported the Times of India, which said the man “was caught red-handed by the mob of over 500 villagers.” Another woman accused of witchcraft was grabbed by relatives carrying “traditional weapons” and beaten to death. Late last year, in Jharkhand, a 50-year-old woman and her daughter were hacked to death after they were accused of practicing witchcraft.
The forces driving the killings, which occur predominantly in Indian states with large tribal populations, are as much cultural as they are economic and caste-based, experts said. While the easiest explanation is that angered mobs confuse a sudden illness or crop failure with witchcraft and exact their revenge, it’s rarely that simple. Much more often, it isn’t superstition but gender and class discrimination. Those accused of sorcery often come from similar backgrounds: female, poor and of a low caste.
“Witch-hunting is essentially a legacy of violence against women in our society,” wrote Rakesh Singh of the Indian Social Institute. “For almost invariably, it is [low caste] women, who are branded as witches. By punishing those who are seen as vile and wild, oppressors perhaps want to send a not-so-subtle message to women: docility and domesticity get rewarded; anything else gets punished.”
The veil of superstition, others said, only hides the true motive behind the killings. “Superstition is only an excuse,” Pooja Singhal Purwar, a social welfare official, told The Washington Post’s Rama Lakshmi in 2005. “Often a woman is branded a witch so that you can throw her out of the village and grab her land, or to settle scores, family rivalry, or because powerful men want to punish her for spurning their sexual advances. Sometimes, it is used to punish women who question social norms.”
If there is a state most susceptible to witchcraft killings, it’s the eastern state of Jharkhand, a land pervaded by dense forest and tribes. In 2013, 54 witchcraft-accused women were killed there, reported the News Minute, the highest rate in the country. Despite local legislation to try and clamp down on the murders – no national law exists that addresses witchcraft killings – they have continued if not increased. And patterns there are worth examining to understand how the horror unfolds.
According to Mint, an Indian publication which has written extensively on the subject, a witch is identified through various methods. The person who suspects witchcraft will often consult a witch doctor called an “ojha.” The witch doctor, who uses medicinal herbs, in part learned their skills to counter the darker powers of the witches, called “daayan.”
The ojha then goes about the business of sussing out the witch. This involves incantations, Mint reports, and possibly the branches of a sal tree. The ojha writes the names of all those suspected of witchraft onto the branches of the tree, and the name that’s on the branch that withers is condemned as a witch. Other times, rice is wrapped in cloth emblazoned with names. Then the rice is placed inside a nest of white ants. Whichever bag the ants eat out identifies the witch. Another method: potions. One Indian shaman in 2011 forced 30 women to drink a potion to prove they weren’t witches. The concoction was made out of a poisonous herb, all women fell ill, and the shaman was arrested.
After a witch is chosen, they are either forced to do unspeakable things or tortured. “In many reported cases recently, women who are branded as witches were made to walk naked through the village, were gang-raped, had their breasts cut off, teeth broken or heads tonsured, apart from being ostracized from their village,” reported Live Mint. They “were forced to swallow urine and human feces, to eat human flesh, or drink the blood of a chicken.”
This, too, was the fate of Saraswati Devi, the latest woman, though likely not the last, to be accused of witchcraft, tortured and murdered. - TWP
**********
Leprechaun in the Desert?
About 15 years or so ago, my mom and I decided to go for a walk.
A little background--I live in the desert southwest and, at the time, there were few houses in my neighborhood. People were still building and moving in, and it wasn't uncommon to have streets with very few houses on them.
We went for a walk down the street around dusk. As we were walking and chatting, we notice an old man walking toward us. We nod and say something to the effect of "Good evening" and he does the same. It was a warm, friendly exchange.
He passes us and mom and I kind of give each other a look--This man was shorter than average, in dark shorts with suspenders and a hat with a feather in it. He had buckle shoes and white socks. He looked very out of place. For some reason I turned around, and he was gone. It was an almost empty street with dirt lots. There was nowhere he could have gone.
Mom and I like to joke we saw a leprechaun. Who knows. - Reddit.com
**********
TODAY'S TOP LINKS
The five biggest threats to human existence
Roswell, UFOs and Project Pandora
Witches, zombies and ghosts reported to police
Our Robot Past
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have
Waking the Immortal Within: Develop your Spiritual Presence, Awaken the Inner Master and Explore Hidden Realities
The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation
