I am pretty well convinced that the alternative media, and their viewers are completely convinced that the Western “leadership” are bat-shit crazy. And the sad things about this, is that the “leadership” doesn’t have a single clue as to how insane they are. Well, today we will skim through the “news” and take a view of other marginal subjects to put a smile on our collective faces, and cause us to muse about our shared pasts.
Have fun, you all.
Earliest Social Drinking Evidence in the Middle East Found in Israel
Israeli archaeologists working at the Tel Tsaf site in the Jordan valley have discovered the earliest evidence of social drinking in the Middle East, dating to 5000 BC. Source: Nejron Photo / Adobe Stock
Social drinking history in the Middle East has been rewritten with finds at Tel Tsaf, Israel. According to the Times of Israel , Israeli archaeologists have found the first evidence of social drinking in the Middle East from a 7,000-year-old settlement site in Jordan Valley. Archaeologists from the University of Haifa came to this conclusion after finding the remains of cereal grains used to produce alcohol in ancient pottery at the ancient site located in the central Jordan Valley.
According to Rosenberg, the Tel Tsaf find is very exciting because it is one of the few known Chalcolithic sites in the region, a period of transition from small, undifferentiated agricultural communities to larger, more complex ones that became urban settlements.
“We can imagine Tsaf’s developing community holding largescale events in which large quantities of food and beer are consumed in a social context — and not just in a ceremonial context, ” said Rosenberg.
Baby Lion Playing With Autumn Leaves
An adorable 11-week old lion cub named Karis had a very exciting day playing in a pile of autumn leaves that her keeper swept into her enclosure at the Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park in Scotland. This proved to be a very wise decision on her keeper’s part, as she seems to have had the time of her life frolicking around in the pile of leaves.
Axon Halts Stun-Gun Drone Project After Exodus Of Ethics Board
Taser-maker Axon Enterprise Inc. says it will “pause” stun-gun-equipped drone development for schools after some members of its ethics advisory board resigned.
Last Thursday, Axon announced stun-gun-equipped drones and artificial intelligence-powered surveillance systems for schools following the tragic May 24 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Hours after the release, the company’s AI Ethics Advisory Board released a statement specifying it instructed the company to limit a pilot program for the taser drone, only to be used by police. The board said a majority voted against moving forward with the project.
“However, in light of feedback, we are pausing work on this project and refocusing to further engage with key constituencies to fully explore the best path forward,” Chief Executive Rick Smith said in a press release on Sunday.
"It is unfortunate that some members of Axon's ethics advisory panel have chosen to withdraw from directly engaging on these issues before we heard or had a chance to address their technical questions. We respect their choice and will continue to seek diverse perspectives to challenge our thinking and help guide other technology options that we should be considering," Smith continued.
One of the ethics board members, Wael Abd-Almageed, told Reuters he and eight members resigned from the 12-member panel. He said many on the board had significant concerns the drone could be used beyond schools and “exacerbate racial injustice, undermine privacy through surveillance and become more lethal if other weapons were added.”
"What we have right now is just dangerous and irresponsible, and it's not very well thought of and it will have negative societal consequences," he said.
Axon, formerly known as Taser, sells body-worn cameras and policing software to most police departments across the country.
As for now, Axon appears to have shelved the taser drone but shows the dystopic technology coming down the pipe that could be misused by law enforcement and or government agencies against the American people.
Birch Bark Letters Found in Russia are an Ancient Time Capsule
Birch bark letter no. 497, (c. 1340 – 1390 AD) also discovered in Veliky Novgorod . ( Public domain )
Researchers excavating an estate dating back to the 12th and 15th century, have discovered a complete birch bark letter in the historic city center of Veliky Novgorod in north-western Russia. The letter was well-preserved thanks to the waterlogged clay soil in which it lay since the 12th century and adds to previous knowledge garnered from other birch bark letters found in the area.
More than 1,000 birch bark texts written on bark between 11 th and 15 th centuries have been found to date. They have been immensely significant in changing traditional ideas about literacy rates in ancient Russia, opening a new page in the study of the Russian language, and shedding light on early northern Russian culture.
Most of the letters deal with everyday usage, business and personal correspondence, such as instructions, complaints, contracts, news, reminders, and study exercises. They touch on family life and household management, trade and finance, crimes and legal proceedings, travel, military expeditions, and various other types of material, all of which reveal an enormous amount of details of medieval northern Russian life.
Siberian Farm Cats Are Waiting For Spring To Come In Marvelous Photos By Alla Lebedeva
Alla loves nothing more than taking pictures of her beloved pets – and it seems the world can’t get enough of them either.
Siberian farmer Alla Lebedeva loves seeing pictures of her pet cats, but it seems the world does too. Unbeknown to her, photographs she has taken of her litter have been reproduced on social media websites with some turned into humorous jokes.
“A couple of years ago I noticed that my pictures had gone viral,” said Alla. “At first I spotted my photos on some website about Norwegian cats – they used my pics twice, without any credit – and now they are going around the world as ‘Norwegian cats’.”
Alla lives with her husband Sergey on a farm in the settlement of Prigorodny, on the outskirts of Barnaul in western Siberia.
They have raised cats for more than a decade, with their first pet, Babushka, becoming the ancestress for the rest of the ever-growing litter. She gave birth to five ginger kittens in 2004 and now the couple’s home is overrun with their furry friends.
Even Alla herself jokes that they live in a Koshlandia (land of cats).
She said: “How many do we have now? To such a question I usually answer ‘a million, maybe more’. They live in the henhouse, and sleep on the polati, and they have three ‘little bedrooms’ there where can they sleep according to how they feel. Our cats protect the chickens and rabbits from rats and mice.”
Ukrainian military: “Our enemy is not Russia, but Zelensky!”
Ukrainian military: “Our enemy is not Russia, but Zelensky!” Soldiers and officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who were captured sent a video message to their "commander in chief" Igor Yakunin ... Immediately, dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war recorded a video message to Vladimir Zelensky (see our website KP.RU ). A one-minute video in which each of the recaptured Ukrainian soldiers says only one phrase. But the words add up to an accusation against the President of Ukraine. This, of course, must be seen - young and old, well-fed and exhausted, with bruises and with the faces of rested models. Various. But to the camera they say in unison: - Volodymyr Zelensky. People are turning to you. Soldiers and officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Who you left to die Like cannon fodder. You tricked us into fighting. Fight against your own people. You filled our homeland with corpses. You bombed schools and churches. You took a peaceful life from the Ukrainians. You left us without food. Without clothing. No connection. Zelensky appears in the frame for a moment and asks: - Who am I? The prisoners answer him: You are a murderer and a rapist. Marauder. Murderer. And a fascist. The only girl among the male choir says: - You have no forgiveness. You have ruined our country. Others echo her: - You will answer for it. Russia is not our enemy. Our enemy is you! The good actor Volodymyr Zelensky, who, by the will of fate and the oligarchs, became the leader of Ukraine, had a great chance in life to play the film role he had already played - the president. It was enough for him to give Ukraine a neutral status and implement the Minsk agreements. And guaranteed to avoid war. Yes, by doing so he would have doomed himself to the curse of the nationalists. And he could have lost his chair if he couldn't handle them. But he would have saved the country, including even the autonomous Donbass in its composition. And most importantly - thousands of lives. But Zelensky was more expensive chair. As a result, he reached the pinnacle of his acting career - he is a superstar, opens festivals in Cannes and makes speeches in a khaki T-shirt in front of the European Parliament. But Ukraine is on fire, millions of refugees, thousands of soldiers are dying and being taken prisoner. At the same time, the neutral status of the country (if it remains) will still have to be accepted - this is already recognized even by Kyiv's allies. And Donbass will never be part of Ukraine. Like, very similar, and a few more regions. Is it worth all the chairs and applause of Cannes? No, this is worth the curses of their own soldiers, their own people. Watch video Ukrainian military: “Our enemy is not Russia, but Zelensky!”
Antarah ibn Shaddad and the Origins of Chivalry in Pre-Islamic Arabia
Antarah ibn Shaddad (left) and his lover Abla (middle) riding horses. ( Public Domain )
When you think of concepts like honor, courtly love, and noblesse oblige, you likely conjure up images of European knights in steel-plate armor, mounted on giant destriers. European dress, European arms, and European mounts. These knights (in their real and fictional forms) may be dueling for a lady’s honor, saving a damsel in distress from a dragon, helping the poor, showing mercy to their enemies, or giving their lady-loves roses whilst waxing poetic about their eyes. In short, they’re adhering to the concept of noble chivalry. The idea dictates that mounted warriors who are trained well in their craft should also adhere to an exalted standard of personal ethics. This compels them to show courage, martial skill, generosity, kindness to all, general courtesy to men of noble station, exceptional courtesy to all women, along with piety, and a strong commitment to their promises and vows.
‘The reason you conjure up this image is that the English language now dominates the world, and thus, so does the English historical perspective of chivalry. The traditional English historical narrative heralds the arrival of the chivalric perspectives of generosity, honor, courtly love and noblesse oblige in Europe during the 13th century, sometime around 1200 AD. Before that, they say, minor nobles and mounted warriors were not expected to adhere to the standard we now know as chivalry, even as a naïve social idea, because at that point, chivalry did not even exist.
Or did it? Courtly and poetic love , noblesse oblige, gallantry, generosity of spirit, and chivalry, are all evidently present in Arabian culture since at least the early 6th century AD, around the year 500 or 501.
Clusterfuck Nation
For your reading pleasure Mondays and Fridays
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The unravelling of the USA gets its summer steroid booster shot this Thursday when the political twerk-fest known as the January 6th Select Committee commences prime-time televising of its inquiry into the so-called “insurrection” the day that Congress met to tally the 2020 electoral college vote when hundreds of protesters entered the US Capitol illegally, egged on and enabled by a squad of FBI plants larded through the crowd, and by shadowy figures inside the building who unlocked the doors for them.
The objectives of this extravaganza are A) to soften up the remaining “purple” voters before the midterm election, B) to paint former president Donald Trump as an instigator of the uproar and an enemy-of-the-people so he won’t be able to run for office again, and C) to punish former White House employees and Trump partisans with onerous legal fees so as to knock them off the political game board.
The Party of Chaos certainly doesn’t need to reinforce the mass formation psychosis of its base who maintain that the 2020 election was the fairest-and-squarest in US history. The committee members will chant the talismanic phrase “The Big Lie” ad nauseam to ward off reasonable suspicions that they are the ones doing the lying. Since a kind of maniacal stupidity attends all the party’s doings these days, it could easily backfire on them. Even two years later probes are still pending in several swing states, and only a few weeks ago, the documentary 2000 Mules released time-stamped videocam footage of blatant wholesale drop-box ballot-stuffing around the country.
Lawsuits filed lately also claim the committee itself is illegally constituted, since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi disallowed (against the rules) the minority Republicans from appointing their own chosen members. Instead, she did it for them, planting the vehemently hostile rogues Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger on it, meaning no witnesses will be called who might refute pertinent details of the “insurrection” narrative already constructed. Much of the testimony presented will be videotaped interviews with Trump White House officials and there will be no accounting for what may be edited out. In other words, you have an obvious setup for a star chamber, a device for disregarding individual rights and fair procedure.
The context, of course, as I aver above, is a country that is imploding six ways to Sunday — to paraphrase Chuck Schumer, the Party of Chaos’s Senate leader. At least half the public is already onto the extravagant damage inflicted upon our national life by the beneficiaries of the 2020 election. Thanks to “Joe Biden,” the dollar is hemorrhaging value, we instigated a war in Ukraine that will lead to global famine and mass refugee events, oil and natgas are unaffordable thanks to our destabilizing of global distribution networks, spare parts are unavailable for every imaginable machine in the land, the business model for farming is broken, real estate is groaning under rising mortgage interest rates, the CDC is still pushing Covid vaccines despite proof that they are ineffective and harmful, cities are overwhelmed with criminal violence and psychotic homeless drug fiends, and, as a final indignity — actually, an advertisement to the world of our depraved weakness — the US military is hosting drag queen shows at our European air bases.
Are these the circumstances that American voters are expected to endorse in the November election when all these conditions are liable to get a lot worse? Apparently, the Party of Chaos thinks so, since they’re delivering exactly what they stand for. And yet, they’re clearly nervous about it, as if they suffer fugitive doubts that we-the-people are avid for cultural and economic collapse.
My advice, then, is to take the televised January 6th hearings for the grand entertainment it’s intended to be. Enjoy the sob stories of the Capitol Police officers pretending to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Behold the terrible “threat to our Democracy” of the bare-chested interloper in a horned helmet chatting-up security guards in the Senate chamber. Note the “insurrectionists” taking seditious selfies in statuary hall and trying to fob off with souvenir furnishings. See Rep. Liz Cheney fulminate with scorn and disgust against her orange nemesis. Sympathize with committee Chair Bennie G. Thompson as he bangs his gavel and cries for order when any live witness utters the name Ashli Babbitt. Watch Rep. Adam Kinzinger turn on the waterworks. Take it all in and ask yourself: who exactly seeks to subvert this republic of ours?
4,000 Years Ago, Chinese Advances Were Fueled By Mass Beer Production!
What were the important forces and factors that led to notable evolutionary leaps in Chinese culture more than 4,000 years ago? New research identifies one major cultural development that helped initiate high-level civilizational change, and it is an eye-opener. These researchers claim that a significant innovation in brewing technology, which created the possibility for mass beer production, had a profound impact on ancient Chinese peoples, who truly enjoyed the chance to consume this fermented beverage at large-scale public events.
Red rice beer would have been considered desirable for its flavor, its mind-altering effects, and its “sacred” red tint. A team of scientists from China and the United States published their study in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences and it revealed that mass beer production technology led to vigorous trading activity and knowledge exchanges between Neolithic peoples in ancient China, the scientists write in their journal article, and it was this shared excitement about a fermented alcohol product that ultimately helped trigger the birth of dynastic Chinese civilization.
New social linkages produced by certain cultural practices are the seeds from which larger, more advanced, and more ambitious civilizations can emerge. And mass beer production in China thousands of years ago provided a key ingredient for big gatherings and thus bigger social networks. The ancient Chinese civilization began to grow more cohesive and united starting around the fourth millennium BC, as previous divisions were countered by various centralizing forces and factors.
These circumstances set the stage for the ascension of China’s first ruling dynasty, the Xia Dynasty founded by Yu the Great around 2070 BC. Xia Dynasty leaders were able to rule effectively in a country that was now sharing a stronger sense of unified purpose and identity. And mass beer production was instrumental in this evolutionary leap forward in China about 4,000 years ago.
Dakougang vessels examined in the study, which led to the conclusion that mass beer production capabilities had a profound effect on Chinese development starting about 4,000 years ago. ( Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences )
From Mass Beer Production to Unifying New Feast Networks
Alcohol fermentation as a science was discovered in China at least 9,000 years ago. A Dartmouth College study published in 2021 showed that ceremonial drinking vessels excavated from an ancient burial site at Qiaotou in China’s Zhejiang province contained the preserved traces of red rice beer, confirming that this drink in particular had been consumed for a very long time.
It took a few thousand years for the knowledge of how to make alcohol to spread more widely. The influence of mass beer production and consumption in ancient China created the conditions for meaningful “mass” cultural exchange and knowledge transfer to evolve rapidly.
- Alcohol for the Ancients: The Oldest Drinks in the World
- Commandaria: The Oldest Wine in Production, Praised By Homer, and Richard the Lionheart’s “King of Wines”
The Chinese Dawenkou culture , which was built by settlers in the area of modern-day Shandong province in eastern China between 4,600 and 6,700 years ago, created the fermentation recipe and methodology that facilitated mass beer production. They made their distinctive red rice beer in large clay basins known as dakougangs, which represented a major leap forward in alcohol-making technology. It was this technology that was the focus of the new study, which attempted to learn exactly how the dakougangs had been used and for how long.
“Dakougangs were not made in every settlement but were mainly found in large elite burials ,” study co-author Li Liu, a professor in Chinese archaeology at Stanford University, told the South China Morning Post . “It is not clear exactly where dakougangs were made, how they were distributed or if they were traded as commercial items.”
At that time, elites competed for recognition in part by throwing gigantic community feasts. Red rice beer, a specialized product believed to have sacred qualities, would have been highly coveted at such feasts, And consequently dakougang-style fermentation technology would have been in high demand as knowledge of it spread rapidly westward along growing trade networks.
“Individuals who could provide large quantities of such beverages would have been more competitive for status and prestige in the community,” the authors wrote in their Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences article. “Particularly if the drinks were of an exotic type.”
The dakougangs would have been placed out in the open during feasts and other public events. They would have been filled with enough red rice beer to keep the good spirits flowing all day long.
“Feasts could have fostered an element of solidarity among participants, signaled various kinds of information to participants and the broader community, and enhanced prestige of the hosts,” Professor Liu wrote in a separate article on the subject in 2021.
These vessels found at the Yuchisi site, Anhui province, China were analyzed in the mass beer production technology study . ( Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences )
New Study Proves Chinese Dakougangs Held Fermented Elixir
Chinese civilization six thousand years ago was altered by the development of what scholars refer to as an “interaction sphere.” The term was coined by archaeology professor Kwang—chih Chang in the 1980s, and it described a unique period where formerly separate societies were becoming more complex, layered, and interactive as they began to gradually form a more collective mindset.
In their Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences study, the scientists identify the interaction sphere as a period starting in the fourth millennium BC when Neolithic cultures in China “experienced increased transregional interactions, characterized by artifacts with striking similarities being distributed over an unprecedentedly large area, including certain forms of ceramic vessels .” These vessels were the dakougangs, which had been unearthed during excavations of elite burials in all parts of the country.
Previous to this new study, the actual purpose of the 16-28-inch (40-70-centimeter) tall dakougangs had eluded scholars. To determine how they were actually used, the scientists analyzed microfossil remains of fungi, starch, and phytoliths found in recovered dakougangs and from jars and cups removed during excavations at the late Dawenkou culture site of Yuchisi in Anhui province .
These tests revealed the large basins and the drinking vessels had in fact contained a fermented beverage. This beverage was eventually identified as red rice beer, which would have been manufactured from an eclectic mixture of rice, millet, Job’s tears, Triticeae and snake’s gourd root. A fermentation starter named qu would have been created from a mold known as monascus, and this substance is still used to make this type of drink today.
It was the monascus that gave the potent alcoholic beverage its red tint. This tint was seen as metaphysically important because of its resemblance to the color of blood.
“The symbolic implication of red color associated with the seemingly magical transformation from cereal to alcohol, as well as the psychoactive effect of the beverage, may have contributed to the importance of red rice beer, which probably was regarded as a sacred substance,” the paper co-authors wrote.
This would have been yet another reason why status-conscious elites across the country would have been interested in learning the secrets of mass beer production.
China’s Elite-Centered Culture Was Strengthened by Beer!
Ultimately, a shared interest in this beverage helped forge culturally unifying links between different peoples. But within the context of these broader alliances social stratification remained a very real thing, as the privilege of making this sacred drink was reserved by the elites.
The community could enjoy mass produced alcohol during feasts. But common citizens wouldn’t have been granted the right to brew it on their own. People would have enjoyed attending the celebratory feasts of local elites, but they would not have been in a position to sponsor such feasts themselves.
Mass beer production would have been useful as a way to increase power among the already powerful, and as a result monopolies over its mass production would have been zealously sought by the wealthy and the status-conscious in every region of the country.
Americans ‘Deeply Pessimistic’ About US Economy, Inflation
Last week President Biden insisted that “more Americans feel financially comfortable” since he took office.
Yet, according to a new poll, 83% of Americans are pessimistic about the US economy – describing it as “poor or not so good,” while 35% say they aren’t satisfied with their financial situation – the highest level of dissatisfaction in the 50 years since the Wall Street Journal-NORC (University of Chicago) poll began.
The survey found Americans in a sour mood and registering some of the highest levels of economic dissatisfaction in years. The pessimism extended beyond the current economy to include doubts about the nation’s political system, its role as a global leader and its ability to help most people achieve the American dream. -WSJ
The Journal frames sentiment as “deeply pessimistic,” and says Americans view the nation as sharply divided over its most important values.
Only 27% of the 1,071 adults polled say they have a good chance of improving their standard of living – a 20% drop from last year, while 46% said they don’t.
Meanwhile, 38% said their financial situation had gotten worse in the past few years – marking the second time since the 2007-2009 recession that more than 30% of respondents said their finances were worse off, according to 50 years of data.
Some 60% said they were pessimistic about the ability for most people to achieve the American dream.
“The promise was this was a place where what you were born into did not determine who you could be. But I think we’ve failed deeply at that,” said Julie Olsen Edwards, an 83-year-old Soquel, Calif., retired community college teacher. “I find myself choking up saying it.”
What’s driving the results? Inflation, of course.
The survey results show that high inflation in particular is driving the dim economic outlook, said Jennifer Benz, vice president of public affairs and media research at NORC. Inflation is running at close to its fastest pace in four decades, at an 8.3% annual rate in April, one of several factors weighing on consumers. Households are digging into savings to support their spending, the Commerce Department has said, and the S&P 500 nearly closed in bear territory recently. -WSJ
The poll does have a bright spot – namely the labor market, with the unemployment rate close to a multi-decade low at 3.6%. Around 2/3 of those polled said it would be ‘somewhat or very easy’ to find a new job with around the same income and benefits – the highest % since 1977.
That said, the overall results of the poll suggest that Democrats ‘face a dispirited electorate heading into November’s elections,’ as respondents’ despondent view of things suggests that ‘a connective tissue of pessimism underlies Americans’ economic and social attitudes.”
According to the poll, 86% said that Americans are ‘greatly divided’ when it comes to key values, while over half said they expect the divisions to worsen over the next five years.
“I’m angry,” said Robert Benda, a 69-year-old retired telecommunications worker who lives in Berthoud, Colo., who says freedom is the most important American value, which Democrats controlling Washington are trying to take away.
“Our government is doing what’s right for their special-interest groups, and everybody else be damned.”
A Great White Shark Preserved In Formaldehyde In An Abandoned Wildlife Park
Rosie the Shark is a Great White Shark that was preserved in a tank filled with formaldehyde originally on display at the wildlife park called Wildlife Wonderland in Bass, Victoria which ceased business in 2012 due to animal welfare concerns and operating without appropriate licences.
Crystal World & Prehistoric Journeys director Tom Kapitany moved the shark to Crystal World in 2019 in response to trespassers of the derelict wildlife park vandalising the sharks vitrine, raising concerns of a potential biohazard.
The great white shark was humanely killed after becoming caught in the Lukin family’s tuna fishing nets on the coasts of South Australia in 1998. Seal Rocks Sea Life Centre initially showed interest in purchasing the shark from the Lukin family, but later decided against the purchase with Wildlife Wonderland purchasing the great white.
As the shark was being transported to Wildlife Wonderland in Victoria, frozen in a refrigerated truck, it was impounded by the Government of South Australia because a woman had been reported missing, requiring an autopsy of the shark at the South Australian Museum. Following the autopsy, the great white shark was stuffed with dacron and preserved in a formaldehyde solution in a custom built tank.
Founder of Wildlife Wonderland John Matthews recalled the operation of ownership as “It was a huge logistical operation, working with Melbourne Museum, and all up cost us about $500,000,” and further stating “We had to build a purpose-built room and the roof had to be removed and the shark craned in and put into a new, sealed tank.”
In 2012, Wildlife Wonderland were reported to have been operating their business without appropriate licenses, forcing the wildlife park to cease business and surrender all animals to RSPCA Australia and the Department of Sustainability and Environment Victoria.
In November 2018, a video released on Youtube by urban explorer Luke McPherson showed inside the decaying wildlife park and later stumbling upon the shark tank. Months after, the Youtube video gained millions of views, prompting a rise in trespassing into the property to view the shark, with vandals also damaging and graffitiing the tank and its surroundings.
Ukrainians, retreating, burn wheat
Yan Gagin, an adviser to the head of the government of the DPR, said that Ukrainian troops burned tons of grain during the fighting, which was in the storage facilities of the Mariupol seaport.
As Gagin stated, “the enemy, retreating from the port, set fire to the granaries so that this grain would not go to the forces of the DPR.”
Moreover, "they extinguished it for several days, but to no avail."
And now wheat and corn are scattered in large quantities over the territory near the granaries, the smell of rot and burning is in the air.
When fully loaded, the storage could hold 57,000 tons. Bread show off, senseless and merciless.
NATO Countries Surrounding Serbia Blocked Russian FM’s Plane In “Hostile Action”
The Kremlin has denounced fresh airspace closures by three eastern European countries which blocked a top level Russian diplomatic flight as a “hostile action” in Monday statements.
Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov was set to fly Sunday for an official trip to Serbia, but his plane was blocked by the countries surrounding Serbia, which includes Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro. All three countries, including the tiny Serb breakaway nation of Montenegro, are NATO members.
Lavrov in follow-up called the move “unprecedented” and “unthinkable” – with a separate statement from Putin’s office saying such actions thwart essential diplomatic communications and contacts.
“There were a lot of questions from the media last night and this morning regarding our reaction to the unprecedented decisions taken by some NATO member states and the decisions that prevented the Russian Foreign Minister from visiting the Republic of Serbia. The unthinkable has happened, of course; I understand the interest you are showing in our assessment of these outrageous actions,” Lavrov stated.
“What has happened is basically a deprivation of a sovereign state’s right to conduct foreign policy. Serbia’s international activity is blocked, at least for the moment in the direction of Russia,” the top Russian diplomat emphasized.
He added: “We are not going to beat around the bush here. This is another very clear and instructive demonstration of the extent to which NATO and the EU can go to use the most lowbrow ways to influence those who are guided by national interests and not ready to sacrifice their principles, their dignity in favor of the very rules that the West imposes instead of international law,” according to TASS.
And separately a statement from Dmitry Peskov said “such actions could cause problems with the timing of high-level diplomatic meetings. But they would not prevent Moscow from maintaining contacts with friendly countries.”
Additionally, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed the move as “another closed channel of communication” – in reference to ongoing tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats between Russia and the EU particularly.
But perhaps the most interesting comments came from Serbia. It should be recalled that during NATO’s 1999 bombing campaign of Yugoslavia under then US President Bill Clinton, Russia was Belgrade’s foremost ally in condemning the US-Western action. In response to Lavrov’s plane being blocked, Serbia’s interior minister, Aleksandar Vulin, called it an “obstruction” of “a great and proven friend of Serbia.”
“A world in which diplomats cannot seek peace is a world in which there is no peace. Those who prevented the arrival of Sergei Lavrov do not want peace, they dream of defeating Russia,” Vulin said. He added: “Serbia is proud that it is not part of the anti-Russian hysteria, and the countries that are, will have time to be ashamed.”
The Kremlin later confirmed the trip has been canceled after the overnight airspace blockage. Within the first week of the Feb.24 Russian invasion of Ukraine, a number of European countries moved to preemptively close airspace to all Russian flights, including commercial traffic.
Kitty Cat video of the day
A nice rescue story.
Slow-Cooker Italian Shredded Beef Hoagies
Ingredients
- 2-lb beef boneless arm roast, trimmed of fat
- 2 medium onions, sliced
- 1 can (14.5 oz) Italian-seasoned diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 8 hoagie buns, toasted if desired
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz)
Japanese Art Student’s Graduation Project Is A Lineup Of Cats Adorably Asking You For High Fives
Japanese sculptor Sakura Hanafusa expertly crafted one that all cat lovers would love in their home. A lineup of seven cats extending their paws to high five you after you come home.
Hanafusa made the sculptures as her graduation project from art university in 2016, and writes on Twitter that she “wanted to make a piece that people not only looked at and enjoyed, but could have fun interacting with.” She certainly did that with the project, titled “High-Seven” (seven cats, seven high fives, of course). Each cat is carved individually from camphor wood and oil painted, and in an interview with Yahoo News, Hanafusa says she modeled the individual expressions of 6 of the cats after a her family cats, and 1 after a friend’s.
The United States Moves To Seize 2 Luxury Jets From Roman Abramovich Valued North Of $400 Million
On Monday the US moved to seize two luxury private jets from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. It marks one of the greatest single attempted seizures of a Russian oligarch’s personal assets in the wake of the Putin-ordered military invasion of Ukraine, at a total value north of $400 million.
“U.S. authorities moved Monday to seize two luxury jets — a $60 million Gulfstream and a $350 million aircraft believed to be one of the world’s most expensive private airplanes — after linking both to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich,” The Associated Press reports. One of the planes reportedly has an elaborate paper trail which attempted to shield and obscure Abramovich’s ownership, the DOJ investigators uncovered.
Before it underwent lavish upgrades and customizations, the initial value of his giant Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, currently believed to be parked in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was less than $100 million. While it perhaps could be easier for the much smaller Gulfstream to evade the long arm of US law, the Boeing Dreamliner is without doubt too big to hide, unless it makes its way to Russia.
The warrant, signed by a federal magistrate judge Monday, indicates the aircraft are in violation of US sanctions given they were moved within a designated time period after sanctions took effect but without a US exemption license.
“In explaining the move to seize the planes, an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit that the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft and the Gulfstream G650ER plane are subject to seizure because they have been moved between March 4 and March 15 without licenses being obtained in violation of sanctions placed against Russia,” AP explains.
“According to the affidavit, Abramovich controlled the Gulfstream through a series of shell companies. The plane, it said, is believed to have been in Moscow since March 15,” the report added.
And according to a profile last year of Abramovich’s huge Dreamliner in Forbes Russia, “For personal needs, such huge aircraft are used very rarely” and often the aviation industries of entire countries don’t have one.
The Dec.2021 profile detailed:
The Dreamliner, which Abramovich bought, was built in June 2015 for private Swiss airline Privateair but was never handed over to him. In 2019, its equipment began in accordance with the requests of the Russian billionaire. The plane reportedly can to carry up to 50 passengers: 10 seats are provided for security, 10 for staff and 30 for guests, says a Forbes source in the aviation market. The flight range of the "dreamliner" is 18,418 km (with 25 passengers on board), the cabin area is 224.4 sq.m. The operator of the new vessel is the same as the previous one, owned by Abramovich - Global Jet Concept. At the same time, unlike its previous Boeing 767 aircraft, which received the code name "Bandit" due to the black "mask" on the cockpit windows, the new vessel is painted with extreme restraint. “It’s fashionable now – it helps to attract less attention,” the source explains.
Given his high visibility in the West, it’s perhaps not a surprise that Abramovich’s assets (which, until very recently, included Chelsea Football Club, the popular English Premier League team which he recently placed in the hands of a trust ahead of a sale) have been the focus of particular attention.
According to a recent FT report, he has at least five mega-yachts worth a combined total of about $1 billion. Two of the most expensive ones ended up in Turkey after fleeing European sanctions. At least one is believed to be in Montenegro.
World’s Largest Floating Hospital, Built In China & Designed By European Contractors, Makes African Debut
Even as geopolitical fault lines become stark due to tensions between China and the Western world, their noble collaboration in building the world’s largest civilian hospital ship aimed at helping the poor is nothing short of a silver lining.
The ship ‘Global Mercy,’ the largest civilian hospital ship in the world, made its African debut on May 27 in Dakar, where it will train health personnel for four weeks, Chinese media CGTN reported.
It is the latest entrant to the Mercy Ship Charity program that operates the largest non-governmental hospital ship in the world.
The massive ship, constructed at the Tianjin Xingang shipyard of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) in northern China, had many sub-contractors involved in the project, including from Europe, America, and the wider Asian region.
The ship is 174 meters long and 28.6 meters broad and has about 12 decks. It will remain in Senegal’s capital until June end before returning in 2023 to serve disadvantaged and poor people with surgical care.
Global Mercy is Mercy Ships’ second vessel of its kind, set to join Africa Mercy serving in Africa since 2007.
The arrival of the giant ship coincides with the latest tragedy that has rocked the country and exposed the flaws in the tits health care system, crushed under the weight of pandemic-induced distress.
On May 25, eleven newborns were charred to death in a fire at a public hospital in Tivaouane noted Africa News.
The crew onboard the ship plans to train 260 Senegalese health professionals during their stay in Senegal, alongside the crew of the Africa Mercy, which has been at the port of Dakar since February and plans to stay at least till November, performing surgeries on board.
The Global Mercy will then return to the Canary Islands at the end of June for a “complete and final dressing of the ship.”
Mercy Ships will make a come-back in early 2023 to provide training and surgery in areas such as maxillofacial and reconstructive surgery, tumor removal, cleft lip and palate repair, obstetric fistula repair, and more.
Global Mercy — A Feather In CSSC’s Cap
The complex vessel’s design, contracting, and construction oversight have all been handled by Stena RoRo, a company based out of Sweden.
“We have applied one of our concepts on a ship from the RoPax-class, which are passenger and freighter vessels for international voyages, and modified her into a pure passenger ship with hospital capabilities,” said Per Westling, CEO of Stena RoRo AB.
“Instead of a card deck, we’ve built operating rooms and hospital wards. The ship will have space for about 950 persons with everything needed for both patients and those who work onboard, including grade schools and nursery schools for the children of staff.”
The role of the Chinese Ship Building Industry also comes into the focus, which was the ‘chosen one’ for building the world’s largest civilian hospital ship, despite the involvement of other subcontractors.
China’s commercial shipbuilding industry — the largest in the world — has been engaged in the construction of ships along its shoreline for years. It has also acquired the capital and technological know-how to construct increasingly sophisticated models of all types of naval ships through foreign contracts over the years that it has been engaged in expanding its industry.
“For a few years now, our team has consisted of up to 16 members, stationed at the Tianjin Xingang shipyard,” said Stena project leader and site manager Rikard Olsson, who has been working on the project in China since 2016.
“For this shipyard, this is the first time this kind of ship, which can be compared to a cruise ship, has been built. We have worked hard to meet the required standard and everything has gone very well”, Maritime Executive reported.
After several years of construction in Xinjiang, the mammoth ship completed its sea trials in May last year. In Sub-Saharan Africa, more than 93 percent of the population lacks access to quality surgical treatment, and the coronavirus pandemic has put local resources under strain. A civilian hospital ship with advanced features could thus fill the vacuum tremendously.
Global Mercy
The Global Mercy hospital covers about 7,000 square meters and includes “six operating theatres, 102 acute care beds, seven intensive care beds, and 90 convalescent beds,” according to a statement from Mercy Ships, which works relentlessly to improve access to health care in developing countries in Africa.
The project began in 2013 with Stena RoRo, a Swedish shipping company, in charge of the project’s design, contracting, and execution.
The broker was French Barry Rogliano Salles, BRS, the detailed design was done by Finnish Deltamarin, and the ship was built in China at the Tianjin Xingang shipyard. The Global Mercy will sail under the Maltese flag and operate along the African coast.
Six operating theaters, 200 hospital beds, a laboratory, a patient clinic, and an eye and dental clinic are all available at the Global Mercy. The ship will have a total capacity of 950 persons, including 640 crew members.
The ventilation system has been specifically tailored, with an emphasis on reducing vibration and noise. Since the ship would be in port for long periods, enormous cranes have been installed to allow it to take on containers containing provisions, vehicles, and other equipment. Four Wärtsilä 32 engines will power the vessel.
Amid news of global animosity flooding the internet every day, an international collaboration for providing health care to the needy is a rather welcome development.
Lagash, the Lost City of Mesopotamia
‘Eagle of Lagash’ symbol found on votive bas relief of Dudu in the Louvre Museum. Source: Louvre Museum / CC BY-SA 2.0
The historic region of Mesopotamia has been long regarded as one of the original cradles of civilization. Defined by the bountiful Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Mesopotamia gave birth to some truly prosperous and groundbreaking early civilizations. The foremost of these was the civilization of Sumer, well remembered for its revolutionary inventions, such as the early writing system. Sumerians were truly unique, and were defined by their powerful city-states that often competed for power and wealth. One of the most prominent of these city states was centered on the town of Lagash, a major and influential player in the politics and economy of Sumer.
Lagash had a long and diverse history, but eventually was lost to the passing of time. What little of it remains today is a true Pandora’s box for archaeologists. Excavations have yielded numerous significant finds and an important insight into the rich history of both Lagash, and the Sumerian civilization on the whole.
MEDVEDEV TELLS UKRAINE TO CUT BACK ON COCAINE AND TO NEGOTIATE BEFORE IT LOSES SOVEREIGNTY
Dmitry Medvedev has become one of the most hardcore Russian politicians. The former President of Russia and now Deputy Chairman of the National Security Council told Ukraine leaders to stop using Cocaine and start negotiating.
In the brief video below, Medvedev says: Ukraine risks losing its sovereignty if it continues refusing to negotiate on Moscow’s terms. He also advised authorities in Kiev to cut back on cocaine use and approach key decisions with a sober mind.
Super-Easy Chicken Manicotti
Super easy! No precooked noodles, just five ingredients and only three easy steps.
Ingredients
- 1 jar (25.5 oz) Muir Glen™ organic pasta sauce (any variety)
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1 1/2 lb uncooked chicken breast tenders (not breaded)
- 14 uncooked manicotti shells (8 oz)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz)
- Chopped fresh basil leaves, if desired
4 Really Big Names That Are Warning That Major Economic Disaster Is Ahead
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I hope that you are enjoying these beautiful summer weekends while you still can, because it appears that very troubled times are dead ahead. Simultaneously, inflation continues to spiral out of control even as economic activity in the U.S. dramatically slows down. Many have compared what we are currently experiencing to the “stagflation” of the 1970s, but the truth is that what we are facing will eventually be so much worse than anything that we went through back then. A meltdown of historic proportions is here, and as you will see below, some of the biggest names in the entire country are talking about it.
On Monday, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States set another all-time record high…
The gas price spike keeps getting worse. The national average jumped to $4.87 a gallon on Monday, according to AAA. That’s up 25 cents in the past week and 59 cents in the past month. There are now 10 states where the average price of gasoline is $5 a gallon or higher, with the latest being Michigan and Indiana. Washington, DC, is also above $5, according to CNN.
A 25 cent increase in one week is just insane.
If we continue on this trajectory, the price of gasoline would go up about a dollar a month.
I can’t imagine that will be the case, but stranger things have happened.
Overall, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States has now more than doubled since Joe Biden entered the White House.
How high will it be a year from now?
For a long time I warned my readers that the price of gasoline would eventually hit ten dollars a gallon, but now we have learned that it is already almost there at one gas station in California.
Meanwhile, U.S. economic activity is really slowing down and we are being warned to brace ourselves for the worst.
In fact, at this point some of the most prominent people in the entire country are starting to sound like they could be writing for The Economic Collapse Blog. The following are four really big names that are warning that major economic disaster is ahead…
#1 If you have a “bad feeling” about the U.S. economy, you are not alone. Elon Musk says that he has a “super bad feeling” about where the U.S. economy is heading, and so he intends to reduce the Tesla workforce by approximately 10 percent…
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has a “super bad feeling” about the economy and wants to cut about 10% of jobs at the electric carmaker, he said in an email to executives on Thursday seen by Reuters. The message came two days after the world’s richest man told employees to return to the workplace or leave the company.
#2 I never imagined that I would write about something that rapper Cardi B said on this website, but that is precisely what I am about to do. At one time she was a huge Biden supporter, but on Sunday she publicly suggested that the U.S. economy is about to enter a recession…
Rapper and Joe Biden supporter Cardi B took to Twitter on Sunday to ask when “they going to announce” that the United States is “going into a recession.” “When y’all think they going to announce that we going into a recession?” Cardi B wrote Sunday in a tweet, which has since garnered more than 120,000 likes, and over 16,000 retweets.
Actually, the U.S. economy contracted during the first quarter of 2022, and if it contracts again in the second quarter then we are actually already in a recession right now.
#3 I really admire author Robert Kiyosaki, and his advice has helped millions of people all over the globe. In the past he was known for his relentless optimism, but now he is almost as pessimistic about our economic future as I am. For example, he tweeted out the following back on March 8th…
DO YOU HAVE a PLAN “B”? We are in BIGGEST BUBBLE in world history. Bubbles in stocks, real estate, commodities & oil. FUTURE? Possible DEPRESSION with HYPER-INFLATION. My PLAN B: be an entrepreneur, stay out of stock market, create own assets, use debt as $, save G,S, BC, guns.
Then he followed that up with this gem on March 13th…
BRANDON & FED want INFLATION to pay off trillions in debt. BEST INVESTMENT may be stocking products you will always use such as toilette paper, trash bags, canned goods, frozen foods, gold, silver, Bitcoin. I do not trust Brandon or Fed. They are Marxists. End the Fed & Brandon.
And then on April 15th he boldly declared that a “hyper-inflation depression” has arrived…
Wiley COYOTE moment coming. Biggest Bubble Bust coming. Baby Boomer’s retirements to be stolen. $10 trillion in fake money spending ending. Government, Wall Street & Fed are thieves. Hyper-inflation Depression here. Buy gold, silver, Bitcoin before the coyote wakes up. Take care
Of course he is dead on accurate about where the economy is heading. I don’t share his optimism about Bitcoin, but otherwise I think that the things that he has shared are very wise.
#4 The crisis that we are now dealing with did not arrive overnight. For years, many of us have been relentlessly warning about debt levels, the destruction of our currency, and the foolish decisions that our leaders were making. Now we are facing the largest debt bubble in all of human history, and there is no easy way out. On Monday, some thoughts that Kim Dotcom shared on Twitter went viral all over the Internet…
Let’s do the math: US total debt $90 trillion US unfunded liabilities $169 trillion Total $259 trillion Minus all US assets $193 trillion Balance – $66 trillion That’s $66 trillion of debt and liabilities after every asset in the US has been sold off.
I might quibble with the precise numbers that he used a little bit, but overall Kim Dotcom is right on target.
And I really like how he summarized the nightmare that is in front of us…
So even if the US could sell all assets at the current value, which is impossible, it would still be broke. The US is beyond bankrupt. This patient is already dead. This patient is now a zombie. You probably wonder why are things still going? Why didn’t everything collapse yet. It’s all perception, denial and dependency.
Our leaders have tried to keep the party going for as long as they possibly could, and for a while that actually worked.
But now a day of reckoning has arrived, and a horrifying economic meltdown has begun.
We are NOT talking about a “recession” that will be here for a while followed by a return to the way that things used to be.
No, NOT AT ALL. Instead, what we are heading for is the sort of immense economic nightmare that I have been warning about for years.
Many Americans will be greatly surprised by how rapidly things totally fall apart, but the real surprise has been that it has taken us so long to get to this point.
You can’t defy the laws of economics forever, and we are about to see the greatest debt pyramid that the planet has ever seen come crashing down all around us.
A word to the wise…
…leave the United States as fast as you can.
Do you want more?
You can find more articles related to this in my latest index; A New Beginning. And in it are elements of the old, some elements regarding the transition, and some elements that look towards the future.
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1,000-Year-Old Chamber Burial on Polish Island Reveals Rare Treasures
Rare amber ring found in a 1,000-year-old grave in Poland. Source: Jerzy Sikora
A 1,000-year-old grave on a remote island in northern Poland has been found to be richly furnished with grave goods, some of them extremely rare. Two amber rings, a bronze bowl, an iron knife in a leather holder and bronze buckles were found in the grave of a man near the village of Ostrowite, who lived between the 11th and 12th centuries, reports The First News .
This is not the first time that ancient burials have been unearthed at the site at Ostrowite, which lies in Poland’s Pomeranian Voivodeship. Two burials with bronze bowls were found earlier, one in 2007 by a farmer working in his field and another by archaeologists in 2010. As fragments of bronze bowls continued to be found throughout the site, archaeologists decided to work with volunteer teams with metal detectors to pinpoint where to dig for other graves in 2020 and 2021.
Dr. Jerzy Sikora from the University of Łódź, who has been leading the excavations at Ostrowite for years, said: “The deceased was most likely a representative of one of the local Pomeranian elites.”
Read more HERE