China actually gained tremendous face due to the Covid Lockdowns Unlike Trudeau who had protestors beaten and arrested or unlike even Modi who allowed Protests to tie down a Nation for almost a year or unlike Trump who allowed riots, arson and robbery and invasion of a capital building China solved the problem in 24–48 hours The West didnt expect this. They expected China to dig down and firmly insist on Zero Covid and hoped the protests would go on for weeks Instead China promptly implemented limited removal of restrictions and ended the protests in one fell swoop and also... ...also put the fear of god in every Western Journalist in China Now if Covid Cases rise - China shrugs and says “You were the ones who protested, are you happy now"? The Protests delivered China a superb "off ramp". China looks reasonable for actually listening to their Public protesting and giving in. Isnt that what Democracies do?
Big Geo-political changes.
Going on.
NOW!
All of which is going to further isolate and restrict the United States; tying it’s hands so that it cannot fight wars, and create trouble. You can watch the videos, sit back and smile.
But, before we do that, there are two colors revolutions in progress right now, right immediately after the collapse of the attempted (and failed) Chinese “color revolution” last week.
So there was (by the USA) the making for three (x3) color revolutions in December 2022.
An urgent matter… it seems.
Brazil which is a BRICS+ nation, and Iran which is an SCO nation. Both are key nations in the “Global South” alignment against the uni-polar American-led world.
I am including the articles here.
But…
You can skim through the articles if they get too detailed and dry for your tastes, but the videos that follow the articles are what you should watch. The videos pretty much all say the same thing. The USA is in deep collapse in one form or the other.
OK. Here’s the summary to keep youse all from falling sleepy…
Summary: The Geo-political situation is moving greatly in favor to the Global South, and the USA is about ready to go into free-fall collapse. It is, however grasping at trying to hold on to what it has, and thus creating discord and color revolutions where possible. Iran, Brazil and Ukraine are the three fundamental pillars to this control tower.
Let’s start with Iran… remember, you can skim it if you wanna.
Iran against the West’s hybrid warfare
Western countries, above all the United States, are seeking to replicate Afghanistan and Iraq scenario in Iran, creating chaos to destroy the country and loot its resources, Scott Bennett, a former US Army Special Operations Officer, said honestly and truthfully. “The West is fully committed to an absolute chaotic breakdown of Iranian government, religious, and military sectors in Iran, as they did in Afghanistan and then Iraq, in order for chaos to be created and Iran be divided up into regions for national resources theft,” Scott Bennett told the Tehran Times. He also stressed that Israel is the main instigator of Western hostility and maneuvers against Iran, using these tensions to carry out its attacks in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.
It is becoming increasingly clear that a campaign of domestic terrorism is being unleashed against Iran under the guise of fake protests allegedly in defense of “human rights,” as has been done in Syria by the United States, Israel and NATO. The same powers are using similar methods and the same mercenaries to participate in the attempted color revolution, the operation to change the Iranian regime. Most likely, these terrorists are a combination of Wahhabi fanatics, Israeli Mossad, Likud party supporters, supported by the US CIA, British MI6 intelligence and some elements in Iraq, terrorists from al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, not destroyed ISIS (that is, the three banned in the Russian Federation), other mercenaries and thugs hired and paid for by the West.
The plan is for foreign terrorists to infiltrate Iran and cause internal strife, tribal and sectarian enmity, conflict between Shia, Sunnis, Alawites, Christians, Jews and Kurds living in Iran. The main areas targeted for fomenting unrest, conflict and violence are precisely in those parts of Iran where there is a mixed population. Mobile phones, social media and Western media are heavily used in the process. The beginning was the emergence of a women’s protest movement over a false allegation that a woman had allegedly died under police torture, when in fact she had died of medical complications caused by a previous serious illness.
The specifics of hybrid warfare, as Scott Bennett argues, are a combination of small-scale operations that take the form of diplomatic, information, military and economic action against Iran to create leverage that can then be used to destabilize the government and create chaos in Iran. On the diplomatic front, hostile statements in the United Nations, various NATO and European Union structures will increasingly be used to spread propaganda and disinformation to other countries about Iran, about alleged abuses of “human rights,” about nuclear programs aimed at undermining Western hegemony and security.
Numerous analysts acknowledge that NATO and the EU are strengthening their defense capabilities not only in Europe, but also abroad, including in the Gulf region. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen recently outlined elements of a new European security doctrine, the EU and NATO approach to security in the Persian Gulf. Her remarks at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain on November 18 reflect what is widely seen as a new and aggressive approach aimed at further escalating tensions in the region, taking advantage of the extremely hostile attitude of many countries there towards Iran.
One can also see how Israel under the Netanyahu regime is stepping up aggressive air attacks against Syria and continuing to invade Iraqi and Persian Gulf airspace as probing maneuvers against Iran. The Israeli and US air forces will conduct their biggest joint air exercise in years, simulating strikes against Iran. Fighter aircraft from both countries will simulate long-range flights and strikes against distant targets, enhancing readiness for combat scenarios with Iran. In recent years, the Israel Defense Forces and US Central Command have already conducted several joint exercises, practicing strikes against Iran.
In July this year, President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed a joint declaration on the US-Israeli strategic partnership, also known as the Jerusalem Declaration. It emphasizes the US commitment “never to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, and that it is prepared to use all elements of its national power to ensure that.” Subsequent joint exercises were the subject of meetings in Washington between IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Aviv Kochavi and US officials, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and CENTCOM Commander General Michael Kurilla.
Some NIS 3.5 billion ($1 billion) has been allocated from the IDF’s NIS 58 billion ($17 billion) defense budget for military activities next year related to alleged strikes on Iran. Outgoing Minister of Defense Benny Gantz had earlier warned newly appointed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “consider issue very carefully” before launching a strike on Iran. “Israel has the ability to act in Iran. We have the readiness, development capabilities, and long-term plans we are managing. We need to prepare for this possibility, and we will also need to consider this issue very carefully before carrying it out,” he said.
All of the above quite clearly supports the argument that it is Israel that is the main source of Western hostility and maneuvering against Iran and is using these tensions to carry out attacks in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq.
Color revolutions are usually the target of aggressive campaigns by the West, and hybrid wars are smoke and fire to create cover and distractions to create conditions, chaos and tensions to launch these color revolutions. Hybrid wars include the conflict the US has created in Iraq between various tribes and religious sects, and in Libya and Syria, where foreign mercenaries from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel and Turkey were hired, funded and trained by the CIA and Pentagon under General Lloyd Austin, now Secretary of Defense. The aim of these operations was to create tension, chaos, conflict and enmity between peoples in the regions so that natural wealth could be stolen. Suffice it to look at the history of these operations over the past 20 years: Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen. And now Ukraine and Iran of course represent the next target of this Western program of color revolutions, and therefore an international coalition is needed to counter such hostile actions.
Viktor Mikhin, corresponding member of RANS, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”
Now, for Brazil. Also. You can also skim though it if you wanna…
Political Violence During Brazil’s 2022 Presidential Runoff
7 December 2022
Following his victory in the presidential runoff election on 30 October, President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva described Brazil as “one country, one people, one great nation.” While this speech may indicate the incoming president’s willingness to seek unity, it comes at a time of heightened political polarization in Brazil. Inflammatory rhetoric around the elections and spikes in political violence throughout the election period have raised concerns over the potential for further outbreaks of unrest, even beyond the aftermath of the runoff. The contestation of the election results and calls for military intervention by supporters of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro present an ongoing challenge to the “peace and unity” promoted by President-elect Lula in his victory speech (Folha de S.Paulo, 31 October 2022).
Electoral Violence and Voter Intimidation Before and During the Runoff
The lead-up to the first round of voting on 2 October saw higher levels of political violence involving political party representatives and supporters than the 2018 election (for more on electoral violence in Brazil, see ACLED’s Election Watch report on the first round of voting). These heightened levels continued in the lead-up to the runoff, with violence further surging on voting day (see graph below). Between 3 and 30 October, ACLED records at least 13 political violence events involving party representatives and supporters, which led to six reported fatalities, a figure twice as high as during the same period in 2018.
Runoff election violence primarily consisted of direct armed attacks, which largely targeted members and supporters of Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT). There were at least seven violent incidents targeting PT supporters, six of which occurred on voting day. The use of direct attacks contrasts with the 2018 elections, which mainly experienced clashes between pro-Bolsonaro and pro-PT party supporters during the runoff. Violence during the runoff occurred mostly in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states, where Bolsonaro led in the results. At the national level, the incidence of political violence in states won by Lula was half of that recorded in the states won by Bolsonaro.
While the perpetrators of election-related violence were not systematically identified, ACLED records the participation of state forces in at least three events. Notably, on election day, six military officers beat a man with a stick and used pepper spray on Lula supporters celebrating election results in a bar in Anápolis. Through different policies favoring members of the armed forces, Bolsonaro has courted members of the military police. In return, some have shown their support to the Liberal Party (PL) candidate, including on social network platforms (Forum Segurança, 2 September 2021). Similar to the violence preceding the first round, PL supporters engaged in armed attacks on civilians, reportedly killing at least three people. Notably, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais state, a PL supporter opened fire at a party celebrating Lula’s victory, reportedly killing two people, including a 12-year-old Black girl, and injuring four others.
In addition to physical violence, the runoff was also marked by other forms of coercion ahead of the voting. On election day, the director of the Federal Highway Police defied a Supreme Electoral Court ruling and ordered officers to carry out controls, leading to the stalling of buses carrying voters in the pro-Lula northeast and other key PT areas of support (The Washington Post, 30 October 2022). In Tocantins and Pará states, local businesses, mayors, and ranchers allegedly threatened members of Indigenous groups and offered benefits in exchange for abstention or a vote in favor of Bolsonaro (Brasil de Fato, 29 October 2022). Meanwhile, in Paraná state, an agribusiness company pressured its employees to vote for Bolsonaro (Brasil de Fato, 25 October 2022).
Organized crime groups were also reported to have occasionally directed votes in areas under gang control (Globo Extra, 9 September 2022; Informe Agora, 19 November 2022). In the North zone of Rio de Janeiro, the Public Prosecutor’s Office requested the protection of voters following reports that drug traffickers were pressuring residents to vote for a specific candidate (Brasil de Fato, 25 October 2022). In Rio das Ostras, members of the Red Command coerced voters and circulated warnings against voting for Bolsonaro (Crimes News RJ, 11 October 2022).
Unrest and Violence after the Elections
Violence and unrest stemming from the electoral process continued well after the results were announced. Following Lula’s narrow victory, PL supporters staged roadblocks across the country to contest the election result and called on military forces to take power. Demonstrations began on 30 October and culminated on 1 November with at least 524 events recorded that day, fueled by Bolsonaro’s failure to immediately recognize the victory of his opponent and his previous criticisms of the integrity of Brazil’s voting system.
While the majority of pro-Bolsonaro demonstrations remained peaceful, violent demonstrations accounted for about 11% of the total mobilization between 30 October and 30 November. In contrast, anti-Bolsonaro mobilization before and after the 2018 presidential runoff did not lead to notable outbreaks of violence, and protests were met with limited state intervention. Demonstrators set fire to barricades and interacted with state forces attempting to disperse roadblocks in over 20 instances. The roadblocks exacerbated tensions between Bolsonaro supporters and passersby. Demonstrators targeted civilians with violence during at least 10 events, including drivers trying to pass through roadblocks. Yet, there were also reports of violence directed at pro-Bolsonaro demonstrators, with opponents opening fire near roadblocks, trying to drive over barricades, and engaging in physical fights in at least six events.
ACLED data show that between 30 October and 30 November, the highest number of demonstration events organized by PL supporters took place in states where Bolsonaro won the popular vote, such as São Paulo, Paraná, Mato Grosso, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, and Rondônia. Heightened levels of demonstrations were also reported in Minas Gerais and Pará states, where Bolsonaro received a large number of votes, despite losing to Lula. Similarly, over half of all pro-Bolsonaro violent demonstrations were reported in São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, and Goiás states…
In the weeks following the runoff, violence targeting party members and supporters decreased. Instead, other forms of violence have emerged, including targeted destruction of property. Since 30 October, ACLED has recorded multiple such events, including shootings directed at the PT headquarters and party supporters’ houses, vandalism to water pipes, and arson. Far-right groups have also spread boycott lists of pro-Lula businesses in Rondônia and São Paulo, allegedly leading to a shooting of a pizzeria in Ji-Paraná, Rondônia (G1, 4 November 2022). Journalists have also been the victims of targeted attacks after the runoff. On 2 November, Bolsonaro supporters attacked and destroyed the equipment of journalists covering demonstrations against the result of the elections in Porto Alegre in Rio Grande do Sul and Cuiabá in Mato Grosso. Another journalist was beaten in Itajai, Santa Caterina for uploading videos of Bolsonaro supporters on social media. Meanwhile, in Porto Velho, Rondônia, armed men opened fire at the headquarters of the Rondoniaovivo newspaper. The newspaper was allegedly targeted because of its critical coverage of pro-Bolsonaro demonstrations (Committee to Protect Journalists, 17 November 2022).
Even considering Brazil’s history of political violence around elections, the 2022 presidential elections were associated with heightened levels of violence. In the lead-up to the elections’ first round and the runoff, the targeting of political party representatives and supporters surpassed that of the 2018 election. While drug trafficking groups continue to be responsible for a number of violent events, the perpetration of violence by supporters of political parties has increased, especially among Bolsonaro’s support base. Moreover, in 2022, new forms of disorder have emerged, including a spike in pro-Bolsonaro demonstrations contesting the election results and non-direct attacks targeting the property of rival party supporters.
Despite measures to address weaknesses in Brazil’s voting system as well as the endorsement of the elections’ results by international bodies and Brazilian institutions, including the Ministry of Defense, ACLED has continued to observe demonstrations, sometimes violent, contesting the election nearly a month after the results. Ongoing moves by state institutions to reinforce the validity of the election results continue to be rejected by a large number of Bolsonaro supporters. Starting on 15 November, pro-Bolsonaro demonstrators set up additional roadblocks, triggered by a Supreme Federal Court order to freeze the bank accounts of alleged organizers of the mobilizations (Gazeta do Povo, 18 November 2022). The ruling out of Bolsonaro’s request to annul votes from several electronic voting machines and the decision to issue a fine against the PL for filing the complaint “in bad faith” also sparked outrage among Bolsonaro’s supporters (Brasil de Fato, 23 November 2022; Congresso em Foco, 23 November 2022). The ongoing unrest and stark polarization thus raise difficult prospects for reconciliation of the Brazilian electorate as President-elect Lula approaches the start of his mandate on 1 January 2023.
Is China bound to surpass the USA as the world’s greatest power? Or can the USA prevent its decline and remain as the worlds greatest power?
The US will not be able to stop it’s decline. The reason is fundamental.
The structure of the US economy has changed. It was changed intentionally by the people running the US for easier wealth extraction.
If you haven’t noticed. Everything has a fee attached.
US uses these financial instruments that no one except for the brokers understand what their purpose is. These instruments was what caused the financial crash of 2008. Today, there is even more of these things.
No one outside of Wall Street uses these things.
So for the US to compete in manufacturing, the US would have to go back to the way it was in the 50s. Which the wealthy elite is NOT going to do.
They control the entire US economy now.
Why would they give up the power that was slowly accrued over the last 5 decades?
On the other hand China is getting stronger and stronger. There is no one that can shake their manufacturing industry. Right now their per capita income is around $11,000 USD. Which means that if they catch up to the US of $60,000 per person their economy would be 6 times larger than it is today.
They already have a larger economy, PPP, than the US. If they even grow to twice as large as now, they would dwarf the US. Never mind if they grow to just $40k per person.
China is a monster that is only going to get bigger and bigger.
So there is no way for the US to catch up.
An Aussie and a Maori walk into a bakery.
…The Aussie steals three pastries and slips them into his pocket. He turns to the Maori and says, “Pretty slick aye, bro? The owner didn’t even see me.”
Unimpressed, the Maori replies, “Typical dishonest Aussie, bro. I’m gonna show you the honest way and still get the same result.”
The Maori calls out to the owner of the shop and says, “Bro, I want to show you a magic trick.” Intrigued, the owner comes over. The Maori asks him for a pastry, which the owner gives him, and the Maori eats it. He asks for another and eats that, too. He asks for a third and eats it as well.
The owner says, “C’mon, mate. Where’s the magic trick?”
The Maori points to the Aussie and says, “Check his pockets.”
China & Saudi Arabia, massive realignment. A new power rises in the Middle East
I think Alexander hit the nail on the head when he said the Saudi/ Chinese relationship doesn’t come with strings attached as the “Stick and Carrot” approach simply doesn’t work with some countries anymore (just look at Hungary’s pushback on EU).
Also on an industrial infrastructure and consumer product front, China can deliver BIG time.
As an example when conflict broke out in Ukraine one of the German Car Manufacturers, Ukrainian “Wiring Loom” suppliers were unable to fulfil deliveries.
Car company signed a deal with a Chinese company and within 4 months (from the ground up), new factory built, staffed and producing wiring looms to the required quality.
What’s the cleverest cheating you’ve ever seen as a teacher or student?
In my opinion…
It wasn’t really cheating, it was genius, and the teacher allowed it, because of the wording used.
The Chemistry teacher wrote that everything the student could cram on a standard sheet of paper, was okay to use as a reference, but no books. It had to fit on one piece of paper…
So the student in question brought in one piece of paper, set it beside his desk, and had his dad, a Chemist at the local Chemical Plant, stand on the paper.
The teacher gave him extra credit for ingenuity.
Greatest thing about telepathy…
If you sat next to a famous celebrity in a restaurant, would you start a conversation? What would you say?
In the early 70s we were with friends in an exclusive restaurant in Montreal that only had 10 tables. There was no sign on the door, just a house number. You had to know it was there. A movie star at that time named Robert Ryan was seated at the next table with three other people. I admired his work but didn’t want to intrude on his private dinner. I asked my friends if they had seen movie XYZ that he starred in that had just been released. I went in to say how amazing Robert Ryan was in that role. I’d made my point and changed the subject. He smiled and gave me a little wink and salute. He said thanks for the compliments as he left the restaurant. A round of drinks was delivered to our table paid for by him. I never said a word directly to him.
Fresh Homemade Salsa for Canning
“A unique blend of peppers, onions and cilantro give this homemade pico de gallo type salsa it’s deliciously fresh taste. Serve fresh or bottle to preserve.”
Ingredients
- 30 -40 tomatoes
- 2 lbs onions (1/2 yellow, 1/2 red, I usually add 1-2 additional onions)
- 5 assorted red bell peppers, green bell peppers or 5 yellow bell peppers
- 3 -4 chili peppers
- 2 -3 jalapeno peppers or 2 -3 other hot peppers like serrano peppers, habanera peppers etc
- 1 cup bottled lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 3 tablespoons salt
- 4 teaspoons pepper
- 5 tablespoons chopped cilantro, to taste
Directions
- Wash all jars, lids etc in the dishwasher.
- Always wear gloves while preparing salsa!
- Prepare tomatoes by soaking tomatoes in boiling water for 2-3 minutes to split and loosen skins. Peel and chop all tomatoes, drain excess juices off in a strainer or colander before adding to extra large bowl. (I half or quarter the tomatoes, then process briefly in a food processor before draining off juices, I like the tomatoes kind of chunky).
- Dice or cube all onions and peppers into the same bowl. Add chopped cilantro. (I do all the onions, peppers and cilantro in a food processor – I keep them kind of chunky also).
- Once all the vegies are in the bowl, stir in the lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Taste to see if it is as hot as you would like it – if not add 1-2 more hot peppers tasting after each addition. Keep in mind as it sits for a while it will get a little bit hotter.
- Bring all ingredients to a boil in large pot & simmer for 15 minutes. Stir often to prevent sticking.
- Fill jars leaving about 3/4 inch at the top. Wipe off tops of the jars before putting lids on. Screw lids tight then turn back about 1/4 turn.
- Process in steam canner (not pressure cooker / steamer) or boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
- Cool jars.
- Before storing, test each jar to be sure it has sealed by pressing down on lid, it should not move.
Have you ever tried to annoy a scammer who called you? If so, what happened?
One day at lunch we were discussing scam calls when my phone rang. I looked and it was labeled something like “Possible scam”. So I answered (on speakerphone) and it went something like this (paraphrased a bit)…
“Hello?”
“Hello. There is a problem with your credit card. Press 1 to talk to someone about it.”
1
(some delay)
(heavily accented) “Hello. Your credit card has problem. What is your name please?”
“Hi. I am David Smith, an agent with the Minnesota State Attorney General Office of Fraud Investigation. How are are today?”
(quiet)
“Who is it that I am talking to?”
“I LOVE Minnesota!”
“What is your name?”
“I LOVE Minnesota!”
“Where are you located?”
“I LOVE Minnesota!”
“What company do you work for?”
(click)
I think I broke him!
Putin could DEVASTATE the West with this ONE move, and Biden knows it
China ,Russia, and Saudi Arabia are taking over the currency, happening right now.
https://youtu.be/5R0hM37ayHo
A great way to loose a little weight Who could resist that face…
Amateur Fossil Hunters Find a ‘Rosetta Stone’ for Paleontology
Paleontologists affiliated with the Queensland Museum Network in Australia have unearthed both the head and body of a 100-million-year-old marine reptile known as an elasmosaur. This astonishing creature lived in the shallow sea that covered Queensland during the early Cretaceous period (145 million to 65 million years ago). This is an extraordinary and important find, since this is the first time the fossilized head and body of an elasmosaur have been found together in Queensland, and the fact that all the fossilized bones were in excellent condition is an amazing bonus.
Rancher Alerts Authorities to Huge Discovery
The unusual fossils were excavated on remote ranchland in the farthest western reaches of Queensland, near the small outback town of McKinlay. The Queensland Museum Network paleontologists were alerted to the presence of the fossils by the ranch’s owner, who sent images of the only partially covered elasmosaur remains to the researchers for further analysis.
The experts recognized the images they received as the fossilized head of a huge marine reptile of some type. They rushed to the location to dig out the ancient remains completely, and that’s when they realized they’d recovered something special.
“We were extremely excited when we saw this fossil – it is like the Rosetta Stone of marine paleontology, as it may hold the key to unravelling the diversity and evolution of long-necked plesiosaurs in Cretaceous Australia,” stated Queensland Museum Network’s Curator of Paleontology Dr. Espen Knutsen, who organized the recovery of the elasmosaur fossils, in a Queensland Museum press release . “We have never found a body and a head together and this could hold the key to future research in this field.
The Rosetta Stone of Australian Fossils
The three-dimensionally preserved state of the elasmosaur fossil is what gives it its value. Its condition will let paleontologists make new discoveries about elasmosaur anatomy, and with that knowledge they will be better able to identify the true identity and purpose of other elasmosaur bones currently held in museum collections.
The elasmosaur is a type of plesiosaur , and like others of this order it had a long, extended neck and flippers on the side similar to those of a turtle.
Scientists have been curious about whether prehistoric plesiosaurs and other large marine reptiles used their long necks and teeth to reach down and filter crustaceans and other bottom-feeding lifeforms from the ocean floor, scooping them out and consuming them in large quantities. They’ve also wondered whether such creatures used their gigantic flippers to cruise along established migration trails, in the same manner as modern whales.
Answers to questions like these might be more easily forthcoming, thanks to the discovery of this “ Rosetta Stone ” fossil that can be used to interpret other finds and determine the true anatomical functions of various elasmosaur body parts.
“We will be able to unravel all that taxonomy that has eluded us up until now,” Knutsen said, summing up the transformational meaning of the find.
The Rock Chicks Got There First
One additional fascinating aspect of this discovery is the identity of the discoverers. The landowner who sent the images to Dr. Knutsen and his fellow researchers was Cassandra Prince, who along with her sister Cynthia and cousin Sally like to spend their spare time hunting fossils in the outback Queensland region where they all live. The three amateur paleontologists have dubbed themselves the ‘Rock Chicks,’ and this is not the first time they’ve found fossilized bones on Prince’s sprawling western Queensland cattle station. In fact the trio had already found fossilized plesiosaur remains a few weeks earlier, so they were quite aware of the possibilities.
In this instance what Cassandra Prince saw was a fossilized skeletal head staring up at her from the dry desert earth.
“I’m like, no, you know, this is not real,” Prince told the Guardian. “And then I look down again and I’m like, holy hell, I think that’s a skull looking up at me.”
Prince took pictures of the skull and then immediately sent them to Dr. Knutsen, who she’d been in contact with frequently reporting other fossil finds on her land. The paleontologist quickly identified the skull as belonging to a plesiosaur, and from its superior condition he knew right away it was something unique. But he and the other Queensland Museum Network paleontologists didn’t realize just how unique it was, until they dug it out and found both the head and body were intact.
A closer examination revealed the fossils had come from a elasmosaur juvenile, which would have been 16-23 feet (five-to-seven meters) long at the time of its death. The fossil will be removed and displayed at the Queensland Museum, and it has been given the name ‘Little Prince’ in honor of its actual discoverer.
An Unusual Death Made the Difference
As Dr. Knutsen noted, the anatomical features of plesiosaurs explains why it is so difficult to find fossilized skulls still connected to the rest of the body.
“Because these plesiosaurs were two-thirds neck, often the head would be separated from the body after death,” he said.
When an elasmosaur living in the ancient Queensland sea would die, its decomposing body would float to the surface. From there it would be picked apart by scavengers and bounced about by waves and tides, which could easily separate the head from the neck and the body. Even if the head remained attached, when the body eventually sunk to the ocean bottom the head could be several meters away from the body in the mud, and over time the decay of organic matter would create a separation between the skeleton of the body and the skeleton of the head.
For these reasons, it would be hard for paleontologists working 100 million years in the future to recover the entire skeleton together.
This newly discovered elasmosaur had its skull, neck and front half of the body preserved. However, the back half of its body had been bitten away, possibly during an attack by a much larger marine predator. Dr. Knutsen believes the offender would have been a massive kronosaur, and he noted that a elasmosaur killed by this type of attack would have sunk to the bottom of the ocean instantly. In this unusual state, perhaps it was less vulnerable to the natural forces that would have normally separated the head from the rest of the body.
Over the next few years, paleontologists will be studying the elasmosaur skeleton very closely, to see what can be discovered about its life, death and anatomical and behavioral characteristics. What they discover could help answer many questions about all the giant marine creatures that occupied the long-extinct Queensland Ocean in the impossibly distant past.
Don’t make me…oops …
What is something you saw your father do while you were growing up that made you want to be more like him?
My two siblings and I gathered with the minister to discuss our father’s funeral. We exchanged ideas then the conversation lapsed for a few seconds, and I said, “Dad was the finest man I ever knew.” My siblings nodded. He was the finest man they ever knew as well.
What made him the finest man?
Dad taught us the power of listening closely to what the other person was saying. You can see in this (very bad) photo below. Dad is “hanging on” to every word Mother is saying.
Dad taught us the power of giving and serving.
Every Sunday morning before church, Dad sat down at his desk and wrote a check, then placed it inside the offering envelope. He didn’t wait until all of us were watching. It’s just the time he chose to write the check. But it made a big impact on us.
Dad taught us the power of service. He and Mother volunteered many times in many different venues. They worked at hurricane sites cleaning up the devastation. Dad brought Habitat to Humanity to their county and worked tirelessly repairing homes of those who could not afford to repair their homes themselves.
For a number of years, Dad and Mother drove from Indiana to New Windsor, Maryland to the Heifer Project International Headquarters. They ran other charitable services as well, but the Heifer Project was just one of them. Another terrible photo below but this is the best editing job I am capable of doing.
Dad was an expert at repairing things and could often be found in the shop in New Windsor working on something that was broken.
I could write a book about the positive role model Dad was, but I think you can understand what kind of human being he was from what I’ve written.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it…
Giraffes have a wierd and morbid obsession with carcasses.
On several occasions groups of giraffes were observed biting, throwing and carrying around the bones of dead animals. While scientists believe that they likely lick and chew on the bones to add calcium to their herbivore diet, the fact that they enjoy it is all on them.
Fearmongering Pentagon steps up its threat inflation of China
- Scare tactics about a manufactured foreign menace are the easiest way to gain support of public in a nation that is almost never intimidated
I was reading a mental health website the other day and came across an article about the toll taken on people living in constant fear. Apparently, fear can narrow our physical vision, turn us colour blind, weaken our depth perception and distort our sense of time.
But, perhaps more importantly, it can affect our ability to process information and react rationally based on available data. When people are scared, it’s often difficult for them to assess what’s best in their own interests; they may even act against them.
It’s no surprise, then, that incessant fearmongering is the easiest and cheapest way for politicians, whether democratic or authoritarian, to secure public compliance. American politicians have an instinctive understanding of the psychology of fear.
Senator Arthur Vandenberg, for example, famously advised US president Harry Truman and his secretary of state Dean Acheson to “scare the hell out of the American people” by, in Acheson’s words, painting a picture “clearer than the truth” about the emerging Soviet menace.
Otherwise, it might be difficult to get public support for the enormous defence increases, at the dawn of the global hegemonic role the Washington establishment perceived to be in America’s interest.
The United States is again gunning for enormous defence increases, no pun intended. According to Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs, “2023 is likely to stand as the most transformative year in US force posture in the region in a generation”.
He was, of course, referring to the Asia-Pacific region, in which the US military presence will be “more lethal, more mobile, more resilient and exactly reinforcing that kind of deterrence that we were talking about that make some of these rapid, low-cost invasions nearly impossible”.
This is to deter a Taiwan invasion, which Washington now admits may not happen any time soon; confront China’s assertive and “coercive” behaviour; and challenge its alleged nuclear build-up. That’s based on the newly released China Military Power Report, according to which China is America’s greatest military “pacing challenge”.
It’s estimated the US has 5,248 nuclear warheads while China has about 350. It’s unclear how the Pentagon has estimated Beijing wants to have 1,500 warheads by the middle of the next decade.
But even if it did, the US would still far outnumber China’s, if it did nothing to increase its own nuclear stockpile from the current level.
The US House of Representatives has just voted for a defence budget that will hit a record US$858 billion next year, US$45 billion more than proposed by President Joe Biden. But the budget on paper is actually misleading, as the Pentagon has what is known as “budgetary resources”, which could easily match the budget.
For example, for the current financial year, the US Department of Defence actually had US$1.64 trillion available for distribution to its different armed branches.
The China threat is just history repeating itself. Throughout the Cold War, hyperbolic estimates of the Soviet threat shaped US foreign policy as its citizens were constantly warned about the nuclear Armageddon.
As the late Colin Powell once explained: “One of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced was when the Cold War ended. … We lost our best enemy at that time … Our whole structure depended on there being a Soviet Union that might attack us, and it was gone.”
What he said points to an inherent structure at the intersection of US foreign and domestic politics: there is always a need for an enemy. After 9/11, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and Islamic terrorism became the threat for a decade or two. Enough lives and money had been wasted. Now China, (in)conveniently, is made to fit the threat bill in the coming decades.
However, unlike the Soviet Union, Hussein, al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Iran, China still doesn’t consider the US the great Satan or want to fight it as an enemy.
Most of the war talk, if you cut through the mainstream news media propaganda, comes from Washington.
Human eating turtles?
There are human eating turtles in the ganges. The sacred river ganges in India has long been a place where families bring their deceased loved ones for their final resting place.
However, the amount of dead humans rotting in the water became extremely dangerous from a public health point of view.
So, since 1990, 24,000 specially trained snapping turtles have been released into the river specifically to eat the rotting corpses, costing around $32 million.
It’s time to take the next step to stop unwanted…
Xi, the dollar slayer
Russian television is talking up a storm about Xi’s visit to Saudi Arabia and the enormously significant agreement to denominate Chinese purchases of oil in Yuan. In this regard, Russian commentators are running well ahead of the more cautious description of ‘agreements under discussion’ and ‘partial payments in Yuan’ that we find in yesterday’s Global Times, an English language semi-official Chinese newspaper.
However, there is every reason to believe that the Russians know more than the Chinese or Saudis are willing to say publicly. After all, there are now news leaks to the effect that the Chinese have for months been sending many planeloads of military gear to Russia each week in support of its Ukraine campaign, in violation of their supposed neutrality on the issue. That by itself is subject to a news blackout that Washington, for obvious reasons, does not violate. To do so would accelerate the economic decoupling with China in a way that would leave all U.S. retail shelves bare in a very few months. Replacement of the Chinese global factory in supply chains is still several years away.
Let us recall that China is the world’s biggest petroleum importer and trade in their currency instead of the dollar is the landmark event that dooms the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Creation of the Petroyuan will, in a very few years, end the U.S. Treasury’s free ride on the global bond market. Interest rates in the States on government bonds will rise from their present phony levels to match those of others in the industrialized world, with the consequence that U.S. taxpayers will see the advent of ‘pay as you go’ financing of America’s wars abroad. With some luck, if we make it through the present fraught confrontation with Russia over Ukraine, Peace on Earth may become a year-long theme song and not just a tune for one or two days at the end of each year.
And whom do we have to thank for this oncoming development that is plain as the wart on Uncle Sam’s face? It is Vladimir Putin and his David stand versus the US-NATO Goliath now proceeding on the territory of Ukraine.
It is patently obvious that the change of direction in the Middle East against the United States and towards the rising world power, China, as well as towards its close ally Russia, was prompted precisely by the U.S. sanctions on Russia, by the freezing of 350 billion dollars of Russian assets on deposit in the West. These exceptional and unprecedented punishments could just as easily be applied to Riyadh at any time for a multitude of reasons. And, unlike Russia, the Saudis could not possibly resist an economic and financial assault from the West.
So, I say, thank you, thank you again to Vladimir Vladimirovich for setting the world well on its way to peaceful multipolarity and balance of powers.
What is the biggest scam an auto mechanic ever tried on you?
No me but an older lady in my neighborhood. Her heater stop working a dealership told her she needed a new heater coil.. in her case this intitled taking of her right front fender. They quoted her a cost of 800 dollar.being on a fixed income she couldn’t afford that. She took it to a local garage know for working with seniors on fixed income.she told the owner of the garage her problem. He walk out open the hood took off the radiator cap added about gallon and a half of water . He told her to turn on the heater after a few minutes the heater was blowing out hot air. The water level was too low to circulate through the heater coil. There was no charge for the service.
I mean come on…
What is the most important life lesson you’ve learned so far?
1. One Day or Day One, you decide.
2. Maturity is when you treat your birthday as a normal day.
3. Dream until it’s your reality.
4. No response is a response and it’s a powerful one.
5. Sunsets are proof that endings can be beautiful.
6. Hope, but never expect. Look forward, but never wait.
7. It may be a bad day, but never bad life.
8. Don’t make permanent decisions on temporary emotions.
9. Not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear your path.
10. Enjoy little things. Little things make big things happen.
This reporter VANISHED after covering the Pelosi story
Disappearing journalists is a clear indication of a free society.
Say what?
What was a loophole that you found and exploited the hell out of?
Our boat was stolen about a year ago. A beautiful boat. A sea-ray, older, but well kept and spunky. I was heartbroken. My husband was as well. We called the insurance company. They gave us 12000 for the boat. they refused to pay us for the trailer though, We had replaced the old trailer with a new one, and, silly me, never called the insurance company to switch coverage over to new trailer. I was irritated, but it was on me. we had paid 13000 for the boat, so I felt okay about it and moved on.
6 months ago, my husband received a call from the police dept. they had found the boat, and trailer. It had been impounded about 70 miles away. My husband went to pick it up. And was told he had to pay impound fees on boat and trailer.
we were hoping to get the trailer back and sell it. I call the insurance company and tell them where there boat us, I tell them we can pick it up but we would like reimbursed for the boat fees. They responded that they didn’t want the boat, we could have it and then sent us the title we had recently signed over to them. It was signed back over to us. So. We received 12,000 and our boat and trailer. Thanks! I felt kind of guilty, but, we had done nothing wrong.
Sweet-Heat Bread & Butter Pickles
“Recipe courtesy of Virginia Willis. Sweet and sour bread and butter pickles will sass up a sandwich, punch up potato salad or make a burger, dog or chop hop. The addition of a Scotch Bonnet pepper in this recipe takes this classic to a new level. Be careful when handling the peppers: Wear gloves or be very certain not to touch your eyes or nose.”
Ingredients
- 3 lbs pickling cucumbers, under 5 inches long (see Cook’s Note)
- 1 large sweet onion, peeled and thinly sliced into rounds
- 2 tablespoons pickling salt
- 1 tablespoon coriander seed
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 3 cups apple cider vinegar
- 2 1⁄2 cups brown sugar
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper, stem removed and quartered
Directions
- Special equipment: Boiling-water canner with a rack, canning tongs, canning funnel, 4-pint canning jars.
- Place a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet or line it with a clean towel. Set aside.
- Trim the ends of the cucumbers, peel and cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Combine the cucumbers, onions and salt in a large non-reactive bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to overnight. Drain, rinse the vegetables under cold water and drain again. Repeat the rinsing and draining process and set aside.
- Combine the coriander, mustard and celery seeds, turmeric, vinegar and brown sugar in a large non-reactive saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the reserved cucumbers and onions and stir to combine.
- Place 4 clean pint jars (see Cook’s Notes) on the prepared baking sheet. (This will help contain any dribbles or spills and prevent the jars from directly touching the metal.) For each jar, insert a canning funnel and place a quarter Scotch Bonnet pepper in each. Carefully ladle in the hot vegetables and liquid, allowing at least 1/2 inch of headroom. Clean the rims of the jars with a clean, damp towel and tightly secure the lids.
- Place the canning rack in the canner and fill the pot with water; bring to a boil over high heat.
- Using tongs, place the jars on the rack in the canner. The water should cover the jars by at least 1 inch. Cover the canner. Return the water to a boil and boil gently for 15 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the jars to a towel to cool. If the seal works and fits properly, the metal lid will be slightly concave within 24 hours of processing. Store the unopened jars at room temperature for up to 1 year. Once opened, store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
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Cook’s Notes:
- Pickling cucumbers are often smaller than the traditional slicing cucumbers and have slightly thinner skins.
- High-acid foods such as fruits, pickles, sauerkraut, jams, jellies, marmalades and fruit butters with a pH level of 4.6 or lower can be preserved by boiling water canning (low-acid foods, such as canned meats and fish, require a pressure cooker).
- Boiling water canning makes use of a large pot that’s tall enough to fully submerge canning jars by at least an inch of water. The pot is used for both sterilization of jars prior to filling and for boiling the jars once they are filled. You don’t necessarily need to purchase a boiling water bath canner if you don’t already have one. Any large, deep stockpot equipped with a lid and a rack can double as a boiling water canner. Keep in mind: The pot must be large enough to fully surround and immerse the jars in water by 1 to 2 inches and allow for the water to boil rapidly with the lid on.
- It is not necessary to sterilize jars beforehand if processing jars in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes or longer. The jars should instead be freshly cleaned and well washed in hot soapy water. Any jars processed less than 10 minutes must be pre-sterilized and the lids and rings placed into simmering, not boiling, water. Rings can be reused, but lids should be new and used only once for boiling water canning.
- This recipe has been updated and may differ from what was originally published or broadcast.
- Properly handled sterilized equipment will keep canned foods in good condition for one year. Making sure hands, equipment and surfaces in your canning area are clean is the first step in canning. Tips: Jars should be made from glass and free of any chips or cracks. Preserving or canning jars are topped with glass, plastic or metal lids that have a rubberlike seal. Two-piece metal lids are most common. To prepare jars before filling: Wash jars with hot, soapy water, rinse them well and arrange them open-side up, without touching, on a tray. Jars have to be sterilized only if the food to be preserved will be processed for less than 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath or pressure canner. To sterilize jars, boil them in a large saucepan, covered with water, for 10 minutes. Follow manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning and preparing lids and bands. Use tongs or jar lifters to remove hot sterilized jars from the boiling water. Be sure the tongs are sterilized too: Dip the tong ends in boiling water for a few minutes before using them. All items used in making jams, jellies, preserves and pickles must be clean, including any towels and especially your hands. After the jars are prepared, you can preserve the food. It is important to follow any canning and processing instructions included in the recipe and refer to USDA guidelines about the sterilization of canned products. Find information on canning at the National Center for Home Food Preservation website.
Now that’s good advice…
The Mafia, CIA & Jeffrey Epstein Worked TOGETHER To Traffic Minors
Absolutely mind-blowing! Thousand thumbs-up for this. Jimmy, you’re punching way above your weight in exposing all the fuckery that goes on in the world. Excellent work, especially by Whitney.
A 70-year-old married a 20-year-old.
A year after the wedding the couple arrives at the delivery room.
A male boy weighing 3.5 kg was born, healthy and beautiful.
The nurse asks the old man “Yours?”
“Yes,” the old man replies proudly.
“Congratulations,” the nurse replies.
“Well…” says the old man, “the old engine still runs!”
Two years later the duo arrives at the delivery room again. A 3.5 kg girl was born, healthy and beautiful. The nurse asks the old man: “Yours?”.
“Yes” the old man answers.
“Well done” the nurse answers.
“The engine still runs!” said the old man.
After two more years, they come to the delivery room again. A 3.5-year-old male son is born, healthy and beautiful. The nurse asks the old man: “Yours?”.
“Yes,” the old man replies.
“Congratulations,” the nurse says, “that’s really impressive.”
“Well…” says the old man, “the engine is STILL running!”
“Well… says the nurse, “you may want to change the oil, the last one came out black.”
My daughter said…
Koalas
Koalas have one opening to urinate, defecate and reproduce called the ‘cloaca’. They eat eucalyptus, though when they are young they are unable to digest the poisonous leaves. So instead they eat it second hand through a form of feces from their mother. Oh… and almost all Koalas have chlamydia. This disease is passed on sexually, and through infected mothers feeding their young. It is closer to HIV in the Koala community, and while it is different from human chlamidya, we can still catch the koala STD from exposure to their infected urine. Because of this, and the widespread devastation of the disease (which has already caused an 80% reduction in Koala numbers), some experts are calling for a cull to stop the further spread, similar to the badger tuberculosis scenario in Britain.
What is the least intelligent thing you’ve ever seen a tourist do?
My husband and I took our kids to visit Transylvania County in NC. The area is famous for its 250 waterfalls, some with 400 ft drops & others no more than 10 ft. At the very popular Sliding Rock waterfall, people wait in long lines to slide down a 60 ft flat boulder into a pool of really really cold water. We were checking into the nearest Inn & in front of us was a woman with several children clutching inner tubes & towels. She was asking the desk clerk general questions about the area. Her final question, “What time do they turn on the waterfalls?” The clerk didn’t bat an eye & replied, “They’re on 24/7 all year, even holidays.” As she left, we stood there slack jawed. The clerk just shrugged & said it happens all the time.
Apocalyptic Apocrypha: What was Removed from the Bible – and Why?
‘Biblical Apocrypha’ sounds like something out of a conspiracy theorist’s darkest dreams. Books that have been hidden away from us. Books that contain secret information on the origins of Christianity. As is so often the case, this isn’t exactly true. The history of the Apocrypha isn’t quite as shadowy as some writers would have us believe. However, the Apocrypha do offer us a fascinating glimpse into the early origins of Christianity, and the power wielded by a handful of theologians that died centuries ago.
What are the Biblical Apocrypha?
Put simply, the biblical Apocrypha are texts that have been left out of the Biblical canon. Some Christian sects leave them out completely, while others may include them in their Bibles, but make it clear they are non-canonical.
The biblical canon is the set of texts which a specific Jewish or Christian community regards as part of the Bible. There are many different Christian and Jewish sects, with different biblical canons. For example, one of the big differences between Catholicism and Protestantism is their biblical canons. While Catholics tend to include the Apocrypha in their Old Testament, canonizing them, modern Protestant Bibles tend to eliminate the Apocrypha altogether.
Protocanonical Vs. Deuterocanonical
A prime example of differences in the biblical canon is the protocanonical and deuterocanonical texts. The protocanonical books are the books of the Old Testament which are also included in the Hebrew Bible ( Tanakh). These are the books that the very early Christians (who were the precursors to Orthodox Christians ) believed to be canon.
On the other hand, the deuterocanonical texts are the “second canon”. They are considered canon by the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, and a handful of others as canonical representations of the Old Testament. However, Protestants disagree, regarding these texts as Apocrypha.
Different Bible; Different Apocrypha
This just scratches the surface of differences in biblical canon. Throughout history, as different versions of the Bible have been published, the issue has only gotten more confusing. Each Bible handles the issue of the Apocrypha differently.
The Gutenberg Bible of 1455 doesn’t have a section for Apocrypha. Instead, its Old Testament simply included the texts that many thought to be apocryphal. Pope Clement VIII would later move these to the index with the 1592 edition of the Clementine Vulgate.
In comparison, when Martin Luther released his German translation, the Lutheran Bible , in 1534, he included a whole section dedicated to Apocrypha. Furthermore, he had his doubts about the veracity of four of the New Testaments books, and so he moved them to the back of the Bible. The King James Bible of 1611 followed in Luther’s footsteps, adding an Apocrypha section. Today, when we talk about Apocrypha, in general we are normally referring to the books listed within the King James Version’s Apocrypha section.
The Gutenberg, Lutheran, and King James Bibles are the most well-known versions of ‘the Bible’, but of course, there are many, many more. Some include all books of the Apocrypha, others only include some, and each orders it in a different way. More commonly, most modern editions of the Bible leave it out altogether, but we’ll discuss that later.
Apocrypha vs Pseudepigrapha
To add to the confusion about what counts as biblical canon, we also have pseudepigrapha to contend with. As mentioned, Apocrypha are the books outside of the canon. These were usually books that were not included when the New Testament became official, after Constantine I of Rome converted to Christianity.
Pseudepigrapha translates as “false writing”. For the most part, these were forgeries written in a biblical style. They were often written in the name of famous people from the past, to lend them credibility.
Sometimes the pseudepigrapha sought to answer questions early Christians may have had about the Bible. For example, what was Jesus like as a child? Others simply sought to entertain early Christians using characters they were already familiar with. This led to weird combinations, like romantic biblical stories.
Canon or Apocrypha: Who Decided?
Today, deciding which stories are Apocrypha should be relatively simple. Does it appear in the Apocrypha section of the Bible, especially in the King James Bible? Then it’s Apocrypha. Anything else is more than likely pseudepigrapha.
But who decided what was canon and what wasn’t? When asking these questions as historians, we have to be careful not to offend. When examining the Bible as a historic text, the simple fact is, much of what its writers claimed took place can’t be verified.
The Bible may mention some people from throughout history, but it has a habit of embellishing the truth. Take King Herod , for example: we know he was 100% real, and it is likely he had three of his sons executed. However, besides the Bible, there is no other evidence stating that he had everyone’s infant sons executed.
So, who decided what went in the Bible? How did they decide “this miraculous story happened, but this other one didn’t”? This is where early Christian theologians played an important role.
These theologians were largely responsible for shaping early Christianity. It should be no surprise that they tailored the religion to fit their own beliefs. If an early Bible story had a strong pagan influence, for example, it became heretical and therefore pseudepigrapha. Was it more focused on entertaining, rather than teaching an important lesson? Then again, it was generally labelled heretical, and / or pseudepigrapha.
The men who wrote the Bible were human beings with their own biases, motivations, and agendas. For example, how did Martin Luther choose which texts went into the Apocrypha? How could he be sure which biblical stories were ‘true’ and which weren’t? He used his faith. Luther was unhappy with many of the teachings of the Catholic Church, so he created his form of Christianity, Lutheranism, which largely led to the Protestant Reformation .
When Luther created his Apocrypha, he took the parts of the Catholic Old Testament which didn’t fully support his new religion and put them in the Apocrypha. He interpreted the Bible in a way that supported his beliefs, and then made sure his Lutheran Bible reflected those beliefs.
The King James Bible did something similar. While it is broadly similar to the Lutheran Bible, its Apocrypha does vary slightly. Why? Because King James, a leader with his own goals, ordered that the Bible be translated in such a way that it reflected the teachings of the Church of England. A church that, as monarch, he was the head of.
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas: A Different Jesus
Perhaps the best example of why a Bible story might find itself labeled as pseudepigrapha is the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Early Christians wanted to know more about the early life of Jesus. The canon stories jump straight from the birth of Jesus to his life as a young man.
The Infancy reads very much like a superhero or supervillain origin story. In it, Jesus reads like a spoiled, psychotic brat. He misuses his powers for personal gain, tortures his tutor, and even kills another boy who he doesn’t like. By the end of the story, Jesus has learned to control his powers and resembles the canon Jesus to an extent, but it’s a rough road there.
The Jesus of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas resembles the gods of the old pagan myths. Spoiled, rash, and with little regard for the lives of mortals. It is easy to see why early theologians would look at this depiction of their martyr and deem it heretical. It did not fit with the religious narrative they were trying to sell.
Why Did the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha Disappear?
The conspiracy theorists out there like to point at the Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha as proof of grand sweeping conspiracies. They like to question why it is that so many people hailing from predominantly Christian countries have never heard of many of these biblical tales. Surely this is proof of the Illuminati, or the Knights Templar , or someone else controlling what we believe. What don’t they want us to know?!?
As is so often the case, the reality isn’t quite as exciting. It is interesting though! The first ‘disappearance’ of the Apocrypha occurred in revolutionary Britain during the 1600s. The Puritans were dogmatic, following the Sola Scriptura standard (Scripture Alone). This means they only cared about and were interested in the biblical canon. Everything in the Apocrypha was worse than useless to them; it was borderline offensive. The Westminster Confession of Faith excluded the Apocrypha from the canon, and so most British publishers stopped printing it during this period.
Eventually, the Apocrypha was banned by those offended by it. This time, it really stuck, and was likely the reason so many people today are unfamiliar with the Apocrypha and tend to sensationalize it.
In 1826, the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) announced that they would no longer fund any printing of the Apocrypha, anywhere. The National Bible Society of Scotland had petitioned them on the matter, and the BFBS agreed. This ban lasted until 1964 in the United States and 1966 in the UK. The result is most modern Bibles, including reprints of the King James and non-Catholic reprints of the Clementine Vulgate, omit the Apocrypha. Even reprints of even older, more obscure Bibles skip the Apocrypha.
The reason the Apocrypha was seemingly hidden from millions of Christians? Simple economics. The more pages you print, the more expensive the book is to produce and transport. By this point, most Christians (except Catholics) were of the mind that the Apocrypha was non-canonical. So why waste money printing it?
The more cheap, readily available Bibles that Christians distributed, the more minds the Bible was able to reach. Hopefully, meaning more Christians. It was a simple cost-benefit analysis.
There it is: no big secret. The only reason the apocalyptic apocrypha seemed to disappear for such a long period is that printing it wasn’t deemed financially prudent. However, the pseudepigrapha is a slightly different story.
An argument can be made that efforts were made to hide pseudepigrapha from early Christians. Most pseudepigraphical stories were deemed heretical by early religious leaders. These men were trying to shape a young religion, and so they simply banned whatever contradicted their teachings.
Many pseudepigrapha disappeared and were largely lost to history. This is not uncommon; anyone familiar with ancient history is used to lost sources. Unfortunately, this has led to huge gaps in our understanding of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian religion, because so many sources didn’t survive.
In more modern times, archaeologists and historians have begun re-discovering pseudepigrapha that had been thought lost to time. These often give us a fascinating insight into the very early days of both Christianity and Judaism. No one is hiding them; a quick Google search will bring up lots of examples.
Apocalyptic Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
In recent years, society has become a little obsessed with the apocalypse. Anything apocalypse-related sells big. Many are also a little fixated on conspiracy theories. Unsurprisingly, this means that in recent years, the idea of the Apocrypha being ‘hidden’ has gone hand in hand with conspiracy theories regarding the apocalypse. So, how apocalyptic is the Apocrypha?
In truth, only one of the texts usually attributed as Apocrypha even deals with an apocalypse: 2 Esdras. In it, Ezra, a scribe, has four visions relating to the apocalypse. There is nothing particularly inflammatory in it.
The Pseudepigrapha, however, deal more with the apocalypses. The Apocalypse of Abraham, the Apocalypse of Moses , the Apocalypse of Paul, and the Apocalypse of Peter all offer more sensationalized versions of the apocalypse than what is included in the Bible. The Apocalypse of Peter in particular has survived in many ancient manuscripts. It gives us a slightly more detailed depiction of what life is like in heaven.
There is nothing in any of these texts which would make one think there is a reason they were hidden away. Instead, the texts simply don’t fit the canon laid out by earlier biblical scholars. Anyone hoping for DaVinci Code-level revelations when reading them is bound to be sorely disappointed.
Conclusion
Studying the Apocrypha can be unsatisfying for anyone expecting a grand revelation that would turn the established church on its head. It is simply just a collection of ‘extra’ stories that didn’t make it into the canon and then were largely cut altogether because of financial constraints.
In fact, most of the Apocrypha appear in the Old Testament of Catholic Bibles, so they’re really not very well hidden at all. The pseudepigrapha are perhaps more interesting. They offer raunchy, sensationalized versions of characters already established in the Bible. A psycho Jesus who kills little boys and tortures people? That story will sell. And it is easy to see why people might wonder what else was hidden from them.
However, in fact, the pseudepigrapha are little more than fan-fiction: stories written to entertain people whose lives largely revolved around their religion, while filling in gaps in the established canon.
Say what?
Dolphins rape.
Not only do dolphins coerce and assault other dolphins, but there have been many cases of dolphins attempting to initiate sex on humans.
They have also been known to assault and kill baby porpoises, and even their own infants.
Sex is a dominant part of dolphin culture, and it is used, like many other animals, as a show of power.
How messed up is the American proxy Sweden?
Check out this…
Now, take note of this…
Stranger than fiction
For those who read my posts before, I have mentioned Von Der Leyen for like 100 times, including how she cheated on her doctor’s degree, her dad arranged her into politics, she went from babysitting family to being a defense minister for 6 years, and she basically outsourced national security to Mckinsey and claimed “she didn’t know”, and her picture literately needs to be in every post, and etc.
Here is one more update: both Macron and Scholz recently threw some tough words on the US’s inflation reduction which is 100% against European interests, likewise on the gas price, though I doubt they can implement those given the fragile state they are in right now.
I back tracked Von Der Leyen’s activity and statements. Once again, she didn’t even say a single word about it, as if either she wasn’t the President of EU Commission or she was “busy” on chatting with students or attending some BS award ceremonies.
Once again, this is what happens when you have a de facto American running a non-American political system.
The “Americans” apparently are very patriotic to the US of America.
(Von Der Leyen is very “smart”, like how she obtained Von from her husband and insisted on using it to kep reminding others about the title. She is, like many trojans in the EU, NATO, a Pan-Atlantist).
So, is there anyone out in MM land that doubts that Europe is an American proxy? -MM
What is your most interesting encounter with the police?
I was hitchhiking. A guy picked me up. A few miles down the road we were pulled over by a Washington State trooper.
The trooper was taking his time getting out of his cruiser. My driver was getting upset – glancing nervously in the rear view mirror.
“Look at this guy! What the hell is he doing? Talking on the radio, looking out the window – Fucking cops!”
The trooper has finally emerged from his cruiser and is now adjusting his Smokey Bear hat while checking his look in the driver’s door glass.
“Jesus H Christ, what next?” My driver furiously rolled down his window and yelled back at the trooper “Hey pig! Did you forget your lint roller or some goddamn thing?”
At ‘pig,’ the trooper straightened up, gazed up and down the empty highway and unsnapped the leather safety strap on his pistol. He began to walk up to the driver’s side of our car.
He had his right hand firmly on his weapon. I had my hand on the door handle, ready to jump out and run. The driver was halfway out the window, almost screaming .
“So tell me, pig, just what do you want? Why the hell did you pull me over?”
The trooper crouched down so his face was even with the driver’s. His face showed no emotion. I was jammed up tight to passenger side door, eyes wide, hands up, trying to make it clear I’m Not With This Guy.
The trooper held the driver in a steady gaze. Finally, he spoke:
“What time are we supposed to be at Mom’s house tonight? I’ve got her birthday cake back at the office.”
Life Lesson
I am from the Iranian Diaspora.
So to see the US mercilessly attack Iran (yet again) by attempting a color revolution and employing Hybrid Warfare is severely disheartening. I have family over there, and they’re affected by the spuriously noble-hearted wolves-in-sheeps-clothing that start riots and discord by perpetrating insidious rhetoric. They’ve been pulling shit like this since the Iran Contra and the CIA-instigated revolution of 79.
Here in NYC, I see Iranian protestors shouting aloud and prancing about, holding placards related to this fake, CIA-backed attempt at an uprising, and it’s so embarrassing I can barely even look in their general direction. Yes, the government in Iran is not perfect, but these guys have no idea what type of bullshit they are being propagandized to tout as real.
My own relatives believe in a bunch of the Swill these Western news outlets peddle to them liberally (pun intended).
I live in Hawaii and I can confirm that loud laughter is allowed. In fact, Hawaiians tend to laugh loudly and joke a lot. They also allow a lo ha, lots of it.