Conspiracy-mongering is not an analytic method. It is the refusal to evaluate conflicting information, to vet sources, to develop analytic skills based on what can be known for certain. Instead it invents & runs wild with speculations & suspicions. It is the paranoia of libertarians & has led to immense political problems. Most especially in understanding where justice stands.

If there is any conspiracy to the Orlando massacre, it is the twist from homophobia to Islamophobia. If the US government presents it as a homophobic attack, then the denial of civil rights to LGBT (except for marriage, toilets, & service in the military) all over the US are brought into the spotlight. And if there is one thing this massacre should highlight it is the right of LGBT people not to be fired, evicted, or persecuted for their sexuality.

The FBI has made it quite clear that Omar Mateen’s boasts about ties to al-Qaeda were macho blustering to intimidate & impress coworkers. His family, including his ex-wife, has made it clear he didn’t really have a religious bone in his body. That means investigators have hit a dead-end in any connection of Mateen to Islam or to terrorism.

So why is news reporting that Investigators are still looking into whether religious extremism motivated the attack? Why are they going after the FBI for not finding any links to terrorist groups–as if they bungled the investigation rather than eliminated that as a factor? Why is the narrative all about homeland security against Islamic extremism when it is clear Mateen was a psychotic, homophobic misfit, & according to some reports (including in the LA Times), possibly a shamed, self-hating homosexual?

There are a few memes circulating about Seddique Mateen, the Afghan-born father of the Orlando gunman, accusing him of having a nefarious relationship with the US government, especially the CIA. They even suggest Omar the shooter, may have been a CIA operative.

The accusations against the father are extremely serious but they become scurrilous if they are not true–& actually threatening to him. An Afghan friend claims the accusations are false & that the sources originating them are disreputable. The father may be no prize package politically but being ardent in your hatreds is a far cry from being a psychotic CIA operative.

An Afghan friend succinctly expresses the idiocies of US rightwing politics: “Some Americans are confused now whether to hate Muslims or gays.”

Every time there is a massacre in the US, condolences pour in from around the world. And that is right & proper. But Muslims are forced to take distance from the violence, even when someone with only tenuous ties to Islam is involved, & as if they had a damn thing to do with it. Though they are always blamed. The hijab has already entered the TV talkathons though the Orlando gunman didn’t wear one & appears to be more psychotic & homophobic than religious.

At what point will we in the US reciprocate by massively & publicly opposing US wars & bombing which have taken out millions of people? How long will we allow them to grieve alone for unspeakable war crimes committed in our names & with our tax money?

To those who have loved Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Turgenev, & so many other greats of Russian literature, it is a thrill to hear Vladimir Putin is publishing his collected writings in multi-volume editions. The first three-volume set went on sale last week, regrettably only in Russian, but for only $40 which is a bargain for the richness of thought & language he so often displays–mostly macho blustering & guttural war cries.

There are likely to be throngs lined up at bookstores in Moscow so it’s a mystery why the first run is only 1,000 copies–especially because state-owned Russian polling companies continue to claim his approval rate is 83 percent. That’s even higher than Stalin’s approval scores when the alternative to giving approval was the gulag. But then again, that’s the alternative now.

The horror of the Orlando massacre has become something we are too familiar with: people gunned down mercilessly by deranged, violent misfits. My heartfelt sympathies to the families & friends of those killed & injured & to those in the LGBT community who must feel very threatened by this event.

This isn’t the time to express outrage at how the massacre in Orlando is being used against Muslims & to justify US intervention in Iraq & Syria. But the culture of violence in the US derives from its culture of militarism & these shootouts will not end until we have ended that cause.

Those who live in London may want to attend this important educational event on Friday, July 8th, about the struggle in Kashmir against the Indian occupation & for self-determination.

As the organizers say: “Even though, the Kashmir conflict has resulted in deaths of over 70,000 people, disappearance of more than 8,000, countless stories of torture & rape & most importantly dehumanization of the Kashmiri people, nevertheless, it is one of the least known conflicts in the world.”

The Bhopal justice petition surpassed 100,000 signatures, coming in three days early (out of the one month allowed) at 106,493 signatures. Not just congratulations but deepest respect to Bhopal activists.

Those who have not yet signed it take advantage of the days remaining to sign on to this project which is part of their campaign to bring long-overdue justice to the victims of the 1984 Bhopal environmental & human health catastrophe caused by the recklessness of US corporation Union Carbide now owned by Dow Chemical.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/uphold-international-law-stop-shielding-dow-chemical-accountability-corporate-crimes-bhopal-india