Standard Operating Procedure

"Errol Morris investigates the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. Errol Morris investigates the U.S. for abuse and torture of suspected terrorists at Abu Ghraib." Directed by Errol Morris. 2008. 116 mins.

British Iraq War Inquiry

How is it that a country that was the largest Empire ever known, that still has a MONARCH, consistently puts our "world's oldest democracy" to shame on democratic standards over and over again?

The largest protest in world history, one million people showed up in London BEFORE the Iraq War began. This was the first time in world history that a war was protested BEFORE it actually began. Even in the unpopular Vietnam War, protests did not begin until the war was several years old. Furthermore, right until the end, only a minority of the population actually opposed our involvement in Vietnam at that time.

Legally, the legal right to take the U.K. into war lies soley with the crown. However, as a part of their "Oral Constitution" which means it's not written down and determined by precedence, the Crown then defers this right to the Prime Minister. As a result. NO legislative power determines the right to go to war. This ended up happening in the U.S. as well, despite our Constitution. My congresswoman at the time Barbara Lee was the SINGLE "no" vote on the abdication of congressional legal authority on the matter of war.

The British Ambassador to the U.S. 1997-2003 Christopher Meyer, author of "DC Confidential" was questioned about how the U.K. came to enter the Iraq War.

He points out the incredible hubris of the Bush Administration.

"British Committee of Inquiry into Iraq War"

First broadcast on c-span 11/26/09

Gnostic Gospels

I first came across Elaine Pagels probably over 10 years ago, and was intrigued. There's a separate set of gospels? As it turns out archaeology has revealed (by pure serendipity) both the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi manuscripts. The Essenes, the Gnostics, new groups of religious adherents new to me.

Then later I met a Coptic Christian from Egypt and also learned that one of the oldest traditions of Christianity is the Syriac Church. There is even a very interesting and ancient tradition of Christianity in the South Indian state of Kerala, purportedly started by doubting Thomas himself. Their rituals would be unrecognizable to us today but seem to reflect much more "pure" traditions of ancient Christ Cult practices.

Even the Armenians linked Christianity to State power before the European church (with the Roman Empire). In fact, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is still run by Armenian priests, as well as there are monastaries in continuous inhabitation by Armenians for many centuries in spite of the fact that there had been no Armenian state for most of that same time period!

Furthermore, the Ethiopians insist they possess the Ark of the Covenant. Indeed, the Ethiopian languages are Semitic languages and their lifestyles are closest to what we would consider the bibilical, nomadic lifestyles we read about in the bible.

Lastly, I most recently learned of the Mandeans located in Iraq. Today there are up to 100,000 adherents of this tradition and have been labeled by Orientalists as the only continuously practiced lived tradition of Gnostics! Since the glorious Bushkrieg of 2003, all of them have been dispersed to Jordan, Syria, the U.S. and other places outside of their homeland. These communities who had been tight lipped and secretive seem to be descendents of John the Baptist!