Who's Pulling Whose String?

 

So what do Chechnya and Boston have in common? That'll even have some of the world's top analysts pulling their hair out. This incident raises more questions than answers. The US cannot come out of this clean and dry. They could be knee deep in this as well. After the event of 9-11 and the wiki leaks scandal, nothing can be discounted. What's puzzling is how could these two relatively average guys, whilst the older one was being watched, get hold of some serious armory in Boston. After all the gun rampages in the US, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was able to get hold of assault rifles and hand guns which held off the police for a considerable amount of time. Surely it couldn't have been that easy getting hold of these weapons. So how does the US benefit from an operation like this? See my entry on the Politics of Fear.

At the other end of the spectrum, an issue which raises questions is the history of FSB in operations like this. They've been known to employ Chechens to do their wet-work and in all-round criminality. Tsarnaevs may have not known they were working for the FSB. A case in point is that of Mehmet Ali Ağca. He attempted to assassinate the Pope John Paul II. He only realized his string was being pulled by Moscow years after the event.

What could the Kremlin have possibly capitalized from this event? Moscow has attempted to highlight the troubles in Chechnya as part of the worldwide threat of terrorism. This has so far fallen on deaf ears. However, Washington will now have to examine the threat in Russia as a worldwide terrorism threat. It seems like the Chechen cause has seen this coming and already issued a statement mentioning that 'our fight is with Russia and not with the US'. They seem to have realized that these bombings do nothing to further their cause. WHo knows what links are dug up between the Tsarnaevs and Chechen groups operating in Dagestan. 

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but everything is not what it seems. There's a lot more to significant events around the world than meets the eye and its never clear who's pulling whose string. 

Mind and Matter

" If you think you'll lose, you're lost
  for out in the world you'll find
  Success begins with a fellows will
  it's all in the state of mind"

Trying to develop the right mindset can always be worked on. I guess its always overlooked by many athletes.

Well how do you train the mind? Its similar to my earlier entry - Power of Belief.  Another way of training the mind is putting yourself in a stressful situation, a competition, a street fight (don't go picking fights) and trying to overcome the demons which whisper in your ear... "You aint going to win this", "Pull out now when you can", "You've dug yourself in a hole"...etc All these thoughts can be vanquished by constant positive thought, mental focus and end goal.

I remember a quote I heard a while back...

"Mind over matter, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter " 

Stay positive guys. Ain't no hurdle big enough or to difficult to overcome

Another Intervention

So a country in Sub-Saharan Africa has been run over by 'Islamists' who are bent upon enforcing 'Sharia Law'. A term which, unfortunately, justifies foreign intervention. At the cost of millions of pounds/euros (aren't we still in a recession?) and the inevitable destruction of property and loss of lives. Do we need another war and do we need more bloodshed? In the end, its the civilians that will pay the ultimate price. There seems to be no clear strategy in foreign intervention. Egypt are now run by an 'Islamist Goverment'. Does this justify another foreign intervention? There are groups all over Sub-Sahran Africa, Boko Haram, Al-Shabab and other of the like.

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” Sun Tzu

Power of Belief - Roger Gracie

“What do you think it is that makes you better than the average top level Jiu-Jitsu guy?” 

“Everything in life from martial arts to business. Why so many people do something and very few achieve the best? Because they are the ones who really believe.” 

Above are extracts from an interview with Roger Gracie, an athlete at the very top of his game. He also mentioned in the interview that training aids in becoming the best. Train with the best and always beat them on the mat. But the key thing he emphasizes is total belief in the winner and not having an ounce of doubt as to who the victorious one will be. I really need to get this engrained in me! 

Politics of Fear

"We make money till the world burns, for that to we need people to remain ignorant of the problems until its too late. That's why there are triggers like 9-11 etc. A population in fear don't ask questions. Our desire for war becomes its desire. Fear is justification, fear is control, fear is money"

I have a notebook where I generally write quotes which I find of interest. I cant remember where I got the one above, it was a long time ago but recent events around the world made me want to share this. The psychology of fear is really interesting as it makes people want to survive by any means necessary. 

So the key thing to remember, keep everyone in fear and you can manipulate them in any shape or form you want!

We Take, We Never Give... The Extradition Travesty

Picture Courtesy of Beata Zalewska

So the news making the headlines was dominated by a picture of a man with a hook along with 4 other men. This didn't help the case of the Babar Ahmed and Syed Talha Ahsan. British Citizens, born and bred in the UK. Their case was lumped together with another and it has deflected the issue off key points in Babar Ahmed's case. Why can British citizens be extradited while the US will never allow a similar pact? And the crux of the matter, no evidence against the defendants has ever been seen. For 8 years they have been sitting in a UK prison without any trial. A record in the British legal system. Well, why don't they just go to the US and face the heat? If they're guilty then do the time, if they're innocent then they'll be free. 8 years have passed , a sentence in itself, and now there will be another long stretch in the US prison system until they reach a verdict. And that leads on to another issue, the US prison system. Described as a 'clean version of hell' by a prison officer, the 'supermax' prison in Florence is where they will be held. Condemned internationally because of its abusive regime, inmates are allowed only 1 hour a day outside their cell and on some days are locked up 24 hours a day. Suicide attempts soar when inmates are sent to the facility and those that are sane do not remain so for long. The only inmate to have left the facility said, "It breaks down the human spirit. It breaks down the human psyche. It breaks your mind". Its chilling reading but a reality where 2 British Citizens are likely to be held. Citizens just like you and me, born here, raised here, but sent elsewhere to face trial for an alleged crime committed in the UK. An Extradition Travesty.

From thoughts to destiny

“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habit. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”

Taken from the movie The Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher surely was an iron lady. This quoteو taken from the movie, is something which her dad used to say to her at a young age. The sequence of ideas from thoughts to destiny is surely linked.