Disinformation photos on Flickr

Tik Tok and User Disinformation by Thomas Hawk

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Science In The Age Of Disinformation by Eric Thomas

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GLACKENS, L. M. The Yellow Press, Puck, 1910. by Halloween HJB

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Tab Hunter & Debbie Reynolds (1950s). by Leo Boudreau

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Tab Hunter made frequent trips to Palm Springs in the 1950s to promote his films in the company of other female stars, including Debbie Reynolds.

After Hunter was arrested at a “limp-wristed pajama party” in 1950, he thought his nascent movie career would end. He was wrong. He had signed an exclusive Warner Bros. contract and hadn’t counted on the potent power of the Hollywood studio system. Studio head Jack Warner waged a spirited disinformation campaign. Soon, Hunter was seen on very public dates with a bevy of starlets and co-stars – Natalie Wood, Debbie Reynolds, Gloria Gordon, Madlyn Wittlinger, Etchika Choureau, and more. It was enough to distract the Hollywood press.

The Treachery of Donald Trump by outtacontext

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Donald Trump keeps topping himself. On Tuesday, while Vladimir Putin was putting his final touches on his invasion of Ukraine, the former Narcissist-in-Chief praised the Russian autocrat. Trump told Clay Travis and Buck Sexton on their conservative podcast, “I went in yesterday, and there was a television screen, and I said, ‘This is genius.’ Putin declares a big portion of Ukraine—Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.”

In a predictable move he often uses when receiving pushback for his remarks, a few days later, Trump took one step back from his full-scale admiration of Putin and two steps forward. Calling the Russian President’s invasion of Ukraine “ruthless,” he then said, “The problem isn’t that Putin is smart. Of course, he’s smart. But the real problem is our leaders are dumb.”

He declared Putin wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine if he were still president. And, in part, this may be true, but not for the reasons Trump believes. It’s thought that Putin thought Trump was too unpredictable. Donald also seemed ignorant of all the missteps his administration took with the region, including encouraging President Zelensky to ignore talks with the breakaway areas of Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, as the Minsk Agreement (which diplomats created to de-escalate tensions in the region) required. Instead, as reported by the anti-war group, CodePink: “Trump began sending weapons to Ukraine... as if Ukraine could recover its lost territories by force.” So, instead of promoting détente, Trump raised tensions.

Once again, when people’s lives are at stake, Donald Trump couldn’t care less about the citizens of Ukraine—just like he didn’t care about Americans dying of COVID during his time in office.

Trump loves Putin. He served as an example of personal opportunities here at home: power, control, and personal wealth. As Mother Jones reported, Trump was grateful for Russia’s disinformation campaign in our 2016 elections. To him, Putin represented all Trump wanted to be: an authoritarian who amassed a fortune through his political prowess, unquestioned, and feared (and the Republican Party continues to be eager to oblige this twice-impeached president). In fact, he couldn’t stop saying nice things about the dictator.

In 2013, during Trump’s Miss Universe pageant held in Moscow, he was very interested in building another Trump Tower there. But to do so, he needed the blessings of Putin. That fell through when Russia invaded Crimea in 2014. Yet in 2015, while he was running for president (and unbeknownst to American voters), Trump once again wanted to build a tower in the Russian capital, making him hundreds of millions of dollars.

The lovefest continues. He spent his four years as President acting like a repressive authoritarian. And, even after being forced out of office, he continues to put his love of Putin ahead of democracy. His values have never represented the pillars our founders created for our country. And his allegiances don't either. As a former American President, that isn’t just heresy, it’s treachery.

Feel free to pass this poster on. It's free to download here (click on the down arrow just to the lower right of the image).

See the rest of the posters from the Chamomile Tea Party! Digital high res downloads are free here (click the down arrow on the lower right side of the image). Other options are available. And join our Facebook group.

Follow the history of our country's political intransigence from 2010-2020 through a seven-part exhibit of these posters on Google Arts & Culture.

Asserting public right of disinformation on private platforms by Rick Ele

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Unless your neighborhood has certain legally binding CC&Rs, your right to post signs on your own private property to protest discrimination against disseminating disinformation on privately-owned platform shall not be infringed.

Viva Umkhonto! by anjin-san

6

The Beaten Generation

During the course of 2015 I recommissioned my 21st birthday present from my father – a Micro Seiki MB-14ST that I brought over to the UK from my mom’s place in South Africa. I’ve also been slowly bringing over my collection of vinyl albums, meticulously selected and acquired, and lovingly cared for between the early-70’s and the late-80’s. They’ve also been stashed away at my mom’s place, protected from the elements in plastic sleeves and stored in bespoke cases holding about 50 albums apiece. Over the course of the past few months I’ve been playing some of the gems in my collection, and it’s been very rewarding to reconnect with my past. Both the good and the “interesting”.

On one of our trips to Europe in the late-80’s my future wife and I made our regular pilgrimage to the music stores, including WOM (World of Music) in Germany. It was here (in which city, I don’t recall) that I bought the LP "Viva Umkhonto!" a compilation of punk and hardcore music that featured previously unreleased material by European and US bands. The record was released in April 1987 as a collaborative effort by two independent labels, namely Mordam Records (USA) and De Konkurrent (Holland), both of whom were strong backers of the struggle against Apartheid. According to a statement on the back of the sleeve, “All money raised by this record goes to Umkhonto We Sizwe”. So this was a benefit album for the military wing of the ANC (African National Congress).

For context, allow me to turn to Wikipedia:

“Umkhonto We Sizwe (abbreviated as MK, Zulu for "Spear of the Nation") was the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), co-founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its founding represented the conviction in the face of the massacre that the ANC could no longer limit itself to nonviolent protest; its mission was to fight against the South African government. After warning the South African government in June 1961 of its intent to resist further acts of terror if the government did not take steps toward constitutional reform and increase political rights, MK launched its first attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961. It was subsequently classified as a terrorist organisation by the South African government and the United States, and banned”.

The album itself was definitely banned in South Africa and so possessing it was illegal. I took it into the country through Jan Smuts Airport (subsequently known as “Johannesburg International” and now, “O.R. Tambo International”) on my return from my trip to Europe and kept it safely tucked away in the belly of the beast in South Africa's capital city, Pretoria.

On the tenth anniversary of the Soweto uprising, the Nationalist regime declared State of Emergency in June 1986. It forbade any action that could undermine the Apartheid state, nationwide. Also forbidden were any kind of “subversive statements”, defined as statements that promoted unlawful strikes, boycotts or civil disobedience, attacked military conscription, promoted disinvestment or sanctions, or that “aggravated feelings of racial hostility”. The penalty for engaging in these actions was a maximum of ten years imprisonment. Ouch - I definitely did not want to be caught with this album!

Of the people detained under these draconian regulations (circa-8,000 in the first couple of months) no names were published with the exception of those released at the discretion of the South African Police. Throughout the State of Emergency, newspapers had to engage in self-censorship, at the risk of being closed down by the government, and many used to print disclaimers alongside their articles that read” “This report has been restricted to comply with the Emergency Regulations”. Some newspapers and magazines were not able to appear, and no news came out of the black townships, except through the state’s Bureau of Information. At the time I stuck stickers on the front of my television screen and computer monitor that read “SABC News is Biased” just to remind myself to be vigilant about government disinformation.

The music on the compilation album is okay, but it’s the packaging and presentation that I really enjoyed as a snapshot of the times, and as an interesting piece of social history. Along with the record were included a poster and a booklet filled with newspaper clippings and ANC propaganda about the armed struggle against Apartheid. It also highlights companies that were breaking economic sanctions by continuing to do business with South Africa. The “Throw Well – Throw Shell” slogan is parody of oil the giant’s official marketing tag-line at the time, namely “Go Well – Go Shell”. I have uploaded a scan of this booklet to my DropBox.

I’m not going to comment on the accuracy or veracity of the information in the booklet, but in those turbulent times – under a state of emergency, with broad media censorship and where owning certain music could earn you a jail sentence – it was thrilling to see what people abroad were thinking and to read material that was not towing the official National Party line. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s fascinating to see how right Matt Johnson was back in 1989 (The The – “Mind Bomb”). Although he wasn’t talking about South Africa, per se, when he sang that we were the “beaten generation, reared on a diet of prejudice and misinformation”, he pretty much hit the nail on the head. Prejudice and misinformation were weapons in the arsenal on both sides of the struggle in South Africa. I was one of the few pale South Africans to have the privilege of being exposed to both sides of that deformed coin.

The The - "The Beat(en) Generation" - YouTube Video Clip

When you cast your eyes upon the skylines

Of this once proud nation

Can you sense the fear and the hatred

Growing in the hearts of its population

And our youth, oh youth, are being seduced

By the greedy hands of politics and half truths

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Open your eyes, open your imagination

We're being sedated by the gasoline fumes

And hypnotized by the satellites

Into believing what is good and what is right

You may be worshiping the temples of mammon

Or lost in the prisons of religion

But can you still walk back to happiness

When you've nowhere left to run?

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Open your eyes, open your imagination

And if they send in the special police

To deliver us from liberty and keep us from peace

Then won't the words sit ill upon their tongues

When they tell us justice is being done

And that freedom lives in the barrels of a warm gun

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Open your eyes, open your imagination

If you'd like to take a listen to "Viva Umkhonto!" I've found a ripped copy of the LP available for download here.

Also take a look at my Blogger posting.

Cheers, 2016 ©

Disease X by ₡ґǘșϯγ Ɗᶏ Ⱪᶅṏⱳդ

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“The British Government has unveiled a new vaccine research facility, where scientists are working to prevent future pandemics. It’s located at Porton Down, a high security research facility best known for its work on chemical warfare. Experts are preparing for what is known as ‘Disease X’ or the next pandemic virus.”

Oh, the irony!

“Scientists have estimated that 1.67 million yet-to-be-discovered viruses exist in mammals and birds, and about half of them have the potential to spill to humans.”

Say it ain’t so!

“Rising global temperatures could unleash zombie viruses frozen for thousands of years in the permafrost.”

The zombie apocalypse…noOoo!

The next pandemic could spring from corporate farms (big farma), where millions of livestock come in close contact with one another. Thousands of animals are tightly crammed together in poor living conditions, which causes them great stress and anxiety. These unnatural conditions not only produce unhealthier animals, but they also create the perfect environment to foster disease. “If you actually want to create global pandemics, then build factory farms.” Experts warn that the next pandemic will likely be a zoonotic outbreak (a disease that transfers from animals to humans).

Disease X, the con artist formerly known as Twitter.

We must implement protocols to prepare for Pandemic X. We must work together with Big Pharma and Big Farma (what could go wrong?). We will vaccinate livestock with mRNA technology. We will make genetically modified mRNA plants. Genetically modified food genetically modifies those who eat it…the road to transhumanism…slowly modifying the population one step at a time! From real meat we will move on to genetically modified plant-based meat, then on to genetically modified insect-based meat, and finally on to a sustainable Soylent Green human-based meat diet. Go green, recycle!

To protect against the next plandemic we will need a more robust health-surveillance system than before…contact tracing anyone? We will use a global event-based surveillance system. This dystopian reporting network will be transparent and apolitical. Such a system, of course, will fall under the authority of the New World Order Health Organization.

We are currently working on new brain surveillance monitoring technology. With the Internet of Things, this cyber-physical system will connect billons of devices. 5G connectivity and AI technology will soon push us into the trillion-sensor age. This new trillion-sensor universe will span across the global ecosystem, and it will be used for the monitoring and control of humanity. This trillion-sensor Beast system will be an immensely complex techno-ecosystem. The pinnacle of this system will be the All-Seeing Smartchip, which will take humanity into the transhuman age. This smartchip technology is known as Brain Electrode Augmentation Signaling Technology (BEAST).

Many terrifying diseases have originated in labs *cough* *cough* I mean animals, including HIV/AIDS, Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19. These so-called zoonotic outbreaks are usually due to a lack of government oversight. Therefore, the W.H.O. must be able to respond to public health emergencies by overriding the sovereignty of nations. They must draft a new agreement under the Constitution of the World Health Organization to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. This new legally-binding pandemic accord must provide a comprehensive, complementary, and synergistic set of global health agreements to combat all inequality, environmental degradation and climate destabilization, as well as combat new surges in populism and white supremacy, misinformation and disinformation, economic uncertainty, and growing public health threats. It’s for your own safety!

Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light, so don’t be surprised if his servants do likewise. Therefore, humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee (for we are not ignorant of his schemes).

Breakfast by Rick Pineiro

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With my daughter. She is much older now, but I still find ways to be with her. She still finds ways, to make me laugh and smile.

At times, she calls me a Dork. I don't see it.

If you are overwhelmed by the Gaslighting, Corruption, Hate and Disinformation, our Government is throwing at us; don’t react with violence. React with knowledge, educate yourself. Our 3 branches of government are corrupt, maybe, beyond repair. It doesn’t matter which party, which branch; Americans, are not being represented. We are being lied too! We have to stop electing the same people, and types of people, back into office.

If you need a laugh, I hope you find one here: youtu.be/A1Sma0VpbUk

Thanks for visiting our photostream

World of misinformation by Philippe de Feluy - PdF

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Une femme élégante marche dans une rue de Tokyo remplie de néons lumineux et animés. Elle porte une veste en cuir noire, une longue robe rouge, et des bottes noires, et porte un sac à main noir. Elle porte des lunettes de soleil et du rouge à lèvres. Elle marche avec confiance et nonchalance. La rue est humide et réfléchissante, créant un effet miroir des lumières colorées. De nombreux piétons se promènent …

A stylish woman walks down a Tokyo street filled with warm glowing neon and animated city signage. She wears a black leather jacket, a long red dress, and black boots, and carries a black purse. She wears sunglasses and red lipstick. She walks confidently and casually. The street is damp and reflective, creating a mirror effect of the colorful lights. Many pedestrians walk about …

Les résultats sont plutôt impressionnants. Les boucles d'oreilles d'une femme se balancent naturellement avec sa démarche tandis que la lumière se reflète de manière réaliste sur ses lunettes et sur les rues détrempées de Tokyo.

The results are rather impressive. A woman's earrings sway naturally with her gait as light realistically reflects off her glasses and rain-soaked Tokyo streets.

___________________________________________PdF__

Si vous ne pouvez pas dire ce qui est réel (les vidéos générées par l'IA qui semblent réelles ainsi que les vraies vidéos que d'autres prétendent être fausses), rien n'est réel sauf ce que vous choisissez de croire. La dernière décennie nous a montré à l’échelle mondiale les dangers des chambres d’écho alimentées par les médias sociaux ; des faits sélectifs entraînent une réalité sélective et, en fin de compte, davantage de divisions et de préjudices pour la société.

Au-delà des craintes quant à ce que cela signifie pour les emplois créatifs (comme l'ont souligné les grèves des écrivains et acteurs hollywoodiens de 2023) ou sur ce que cela signifie pour notre compréhension de la photo et de la vidéo , la plus grande sonnette d'alarme concerne ce que cela signifie pour l'avenir de la vérité objective, et de la désinformation … 🤔

If you can't tell what is real (AI-generated videos that look real as well as real videos others claim are fake), nothing is real except what you choose to believe. The last decade has shown us globally the dangers of social media-fueled echo chambers; with selective facts come a selective reality and ultimately, further division and harm to society.

Beyond fears of what this means for creative jobs (as highlighted by 2023's Hollywood writer and actor strikes) or what it means for our understanding of photos and video, the biggest alarm bell is for what it means for the future of objective truth, disinformation and power… 🤔

__________PdF___________________________________

shame on you by Diney Pau

22

In late July and August 2024, far-right protesters rioted in various parts of England and Northern Ireland, following the mass stabbing of children in Southport on 29 July. The initial riot in Southport and subsequent riots elsewhere have been linked to disinformation on social media.

~

shame on those causing fear and destruction in the name of Britian.

Not all British have hate in their hearts or support these riots,or any riots that cause harm to others.

~

ai/gimp

Coronavirus disease 2019...Passive antibodies... immune systems... antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity...Sex differences...Gendered impact of the pandemic and mortality rates are different for men and women. by Hughes Songe

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).[8] The disease was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province, and has since spread globally, resulting in the ongoing 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.[9][10] As of 26 April 2020, more than 2.89 million cases have been reported across 185 countries and territories, resulting in more than 203,000 deaths. More than 822,000 people have recovered.[7]

Common symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath and loss of smell.[5][11][12] While the majority of cases result in mild symptoms, some progress to viral pneumonia, multi-organ failure, or cytokine storm.[13][9][14] More concerning symptoms include difficulty breathing, persistent chest pain, confusion, difficulty waking, and bluish skin.[5] The time from exposure to onset of symptoms is typically around five days but may range from two to fourteen days.[5][15]

The virus is primarily spread between people during close contact,[a] often via small droplets produced by coughing,[b] sneezing, or talking.[6][16][18] The droplets usually fall to the ground or onto surfaces rather than remaining in the air over long distances.[6][19][20] People may also become infected by touching a contaminated surface and then touching their face.[6][16] In experimental settings, the virus may survive on surfaces for up to 72 hours.[21][22][23] It is most contagious during the first three days after the onset of symptoms, although spread may be possible before symptoms appear and in later stages of the disease.[24] The standard method of diagnosis is by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) from a nasopharyngeal swab.[25] Chest CT imaging may also be helpful for diagnosis in individuals where there is a high suspicion of infection based on symptoms and risk factors; however, guidelines do not recommend using it for routine screening.[26][27]

Recommended measures to prevent infection include frequent hand washing, maintaining physical distance from others (especially from those with symptoms), covering coughs, and keeping unwashed hands away from the face.[28][29] In addition, the use of a face covering is recommended for those who suspect they have the virus and their caregivers.[30][31] Recommendations for face covering use by the general public vary, with some authorities recommending against their use, some recommending their use, and others requiring their use.[32][31][33] Currently, there is not enough evidence for or against the use of masks (medical or other) in healthy individuals in the wider community.[6] Also masks purchased by the public may impact availability for health care providers.

Currently, there is no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for COVID-19.[6] Management involves the treatment of symptoms, supportive care, isolation, and experimental measures.[34] The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)[35][36] on 30 January 2020 and a pandemic on 11 March 2020.[10] Local transmission of the disease has occurred in most countries across all six WHO regions.[37]

File:En.Wikipedia-VideoWiki-Coronavirus disease 2019.webm

Video summary (script)

Contents

1Signs and symptoms

2Cause

2.1Transmission

2.2Virology

3Pathophysiology

3.1Immunopathology

4Diagnosis

4.1Pathology

5Prevention

6Management

6.1Medications

6.2Protective equipment

6.3Mechanical ventilation

6.4Acute respiratory distress syndrome

6.5Experimental treatment

6.6Information technology

6.7Psychological support

7Prognosis

7.1Reinfection

8History

9Epidemiology

9.1Infection fatality rate

9.2Sex differences

10Society and culture

10.1Name

10.2Misinformation

10.3Protests

11Other animals

12Research

12.1Vaccine

12.2Medications

12.3Anti-cytokine storm

12.4Passive antibodies

13See also

14Notes

15References

16External links

16.1Health agencies

16.2Directories

16.3Medical journals

Signs and symptoms

Symptom[4]Range

Fever83–99%

Cough59–82%

Loss of Appetite40–84%

Fatigue44–70%

Shortness of breath31–40%

Coughing up sputum28–33%

Loss of smell15[38] to 30%[12][39]

Muscle aches and pains11–35%

Fever is the most common symptom, although some older people and those with other health problems experience fever later in the disease.[4][40] In one study, 44% of people had fever when they presented to the hospital, while 89% went on to develop fever at some point during their hospitalization.[4][41]

Other common symptoms include cough, loss of appetite, fatigue, shortness of breath, sputum production, and muscle and joint pains.[4][5][42][43] Symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea have been observed in varying percentages.[44][45][46] Less common symptoms include sneezing, runny nose, or sore throat.[47]

More serious symptoms include difficulty breathing, persistent chest pain or pressure, confusion, difficulty waking, and bluish face or lips. Immediate medical attention is advised if these symptoms are present.[5][48]

In some, the disease may progress to pneumonia, multi-organ failure, and death.[9][14] In those who develop severe symptoms, time from symptom onset to needing mechanical ventilation is typically eight days.[4] Some cases in China initially presented with only chest tightness and palpitations.[49]

Loss of smell was identified as a common symptom of COVID‑19 in March 2020,[12][39] although perhaps not as common as initially reported.[38] A decreased sense of smell and/or disturbances in taste have also been reported.[50] Estimates for loss of smell range from 15%[38] to 30%.[12][39]

As is common with infections, there is a delay between the moment a person is first infected and the time he or she develops symptoms. This is called the incubation period. The incubation period for COVID‑19 is typically five to six days but may range from two to 14 days,[51][52] although 97.5% of people who develop symptoms will do so within 11.5 days of infection.[53]

A minority of cases do not develop noticeable symptoms at any point in time.[54][55] These asymptomatic carriers tend not to get tested, and their role in transmission is not yet fully known.[56][57] However, preliminary evidence suggests they may contribute to the spread of the disease.[58][59] In March 2020, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported that 20% of confirmed cases remained asymptomatic during their hospital stay.[59][60]

A number of neurological symptoms has been reported including seizures, stroke, encephalitis and Guillain-Barre syndrome.[61] Cardiovascular related complications may include heart failure, irregular electrical activity, blood clots, and heart inflammation.[62]

Cause

See also: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

Transmission

Cough/sneeze droplets visualised in dark background using Tyndall scattering

Respiratory droplets produced when a man is sneezing visualised using Tyndall scattering

File:COVID19 in numbers- R0, the case fatality rate and why we need to flatten the curve.webm

A video discussing the basic reproduction number and case fatality rate in the context of the pandemic

Some details about how the disease is spread are still being determined.[16][18] The WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say it is primarily spread during close contact and by small droplets produced when people cough, sneeze or talk;[6][16] with close contact being within approximately 1–2 m (3–7 ft).[6][63] Both sputum and saliva can carry large viral loads.[64] Loud talking releases more droplets than normal talking.[65] A study in Singapore found that an uncovered cough can lead to droplets travelling up to 4.5 metres (15 feet).[66] An article published in March 2020 argued that advice on droplet distance might be based on 1930s research which ignored the effects of warm moist exhaled air surrounding the droplets and that an uncovered cough or sneeze can travel up to 8.2 metres (27 feet).[17]

Respiratory droplets may also be produced while breathing out, including when talking. Though the virus is not generally airborne,[6][67] the National Academy of Sciences has suggested that bioaerosol transmission may be possible.[68] In one study cited, air collectors positioned in the hallway outside of people's rooms yielded samples positive for viral RNA but finding infectious virus has proven elusive.[68] The droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs.[16] Some medical procedures such as intubation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) may cause respiratory secretions to be aerosolised and thus result in an airborne spread.[67] Initial studies suggested a doubling time of the number of infected persons of 6–7 days and a basic reproduction number (R0 ) of 2.2–2.7, but a study published on April 7, 2020, calculated a much higher median R0 value of 5.7 in Wuhan.[69]

It may also spread when one touches a contaminated surface, known as fomite transmission, and then touches one's eyes, nose or mouth.[6] While there are concerns it may spread via faeces, this risk is believed to be low.[6][16]

The virus is most contagious when people are symptomatic; though spread is may be possible before symptoms emerge and from those who never develop symptoms.[6][70] A portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms.[71] The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) says while it is not entirely clear how easily the disease spreads, one person generally infects two or three others.[18]

The virus survives for hours to days on surfaces.[6][18] Specifically, the virus was found to be detectable for one day on cardboard, for up to three days on plastic (polypropylene) and stainless steel (AISI 304), and for up to four hours on 99% copper.[21][23] This, however, varies depending on the humidity and temperature.[72][73] Surfaces may be decontaminated with many solutions (with one minute of exposure to the product achieving a 4 or more log reduction (99.99% reduction)), including 78–95% ethanol (alcohol used in spirits), 70–100% 2-propanol (isopropyl alcohol), the combination of 45% 2-propanol with 30% 1-propanol, 0.21% sodium hypochlorite (bleach), 0.5% hydrogen peroxide, or 0.23–7.5% povidone-iodine. Soap and detergent are also effective if correctly used; soap products degrade the virus' fatty protective layer, deactivating it, as well as freeing them from the skin and other surfaces.[74] Other solutions, such as benzalkonium chloride and chlorhexidine gluconate (a surgical disinfectant), are less effective.[75]

In a Hong Kong study, saliva samples were taken a median of two days after the start of hospitalization. In five of six patients, the first sample showed the highest viral load, and the sixth patient showed the highest viral load on the second day tested.[64]

Virology

Main article: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

Illustration of SARSr-CoV virion

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, first isolated from three people with pneumonia connected to the cluster of acute respiratory illness cases in Wuhan.[76] All features of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus occur in related coronaviruses in nature.[77] Outside the human body, the virus is killed by household soap, which bursts its protective bubble.[26]

SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to the original SARS-CoV.[78] It is thought to have a zoonotic origin. Genetic analysis has revealed that the coronavirus genetically clusters with the genus Betacoronavirus, in subgenus Sarbecovirus (lineage B) together with two bat-derived strains. It is 96% identical at the whole genome level to other bat coronavirus samples (BatCov RaTG13).[47] In February 2020, Chinese researchers found that there is only one amino acid difference in the binding domain of the S protein between the coronaviruses from pangolins and those from humans; however, whole-genome comparison to date found that at most 92% of genetic material was shared between pangolin coronavirus and SARS-CoV-2, which is insufficient to prove pangolins to be the intermediate host.[79]

Pathophysiology

The lungs are the organs most affected by COVID‑19 because the virus accesses host cells via the enzyme angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is most abundant in type II alveolar cells of the lungs. The virus uses a special surface glycoprotein called a "spike" (peplomer) to connect to ACE2 and enter the host cell.[80] The density of ACE2 in each tissue correlates with the severity of the disease in that tissue and some have suggested that decreasing ACE2 activity might be protective,[81][82] though another view is that increasing ACE2 using angiotensin II receptor blocker medications could be protective and these hypotheses need to be tested.[83] As the alveolar disease progresses, respiratory failure might develop and death may follow.[82]

The virus also affects gastrointestinal organs as ACE2 is abundantly expressed in the glandular cells of gastric, duodenal and rectal epithelium[84] as well as endothelial cells and enterocytes of the small intestine.[85]

ACE2 is present in the brain, and there is growing evidence of neurological manifestations in people with COVID‑19. It is not certain if the virus can directly infect the brain by crossing the barriers that separate the circulation of the brain and the general circulation. Other coronaviruses are able to infect the brain via a synaptic route to the respiratory centre in the medulla, through mechanoreceptors like pulmonary stretch receptors and chemoreceptors (primarily central chemoreceptors) within the lungs.[medical citation needed] It is possible that dysfunction within the respiratory centre further worsens the ARDS seen in COVID‑19 patients. Common neurological presentations include a loss of smell, headaches, nausea, and vomiting. Encephalopathy has been noted to occur in some patients (and confirmed with imaging), with some reports of detection of the virus after cerebrospinal fluid assays although the presence of oligoclonal bands seems to be a common denominator in these patients.[86]

The virus can cause acute myocardial injury and chronic damage to the cardiovascular system.[87] An acute cardiac injury was found in 12% of infected people admitted to the hospital in Wuhan, China,[88] and is more frequent in severe disease.[89] Rates of cardiovascular symptoms are high, owing to the systemic inflammatory response and immune system disorders during disease progression, but acute myocardial injuries may also be related to ACE2 receptors in the heart.[87] ACE2 receptors are highly expressed in the heart and are involved in heart function.[87][90] A high incidence of thrombosis (31%) and venous thromboembolism (25%) have been found in ICU patients with COVID‑19 infections and may be related to poor prognosis.[91][92] Blood vessel dysfunction and clot formation (as suggested by high D-dimer levels) are thought to play a significant role in mortality, incidences of clots leading to pulmonary embolisms, and ischaemic events within the brain have been noted as complications leading to death in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Infection appears to set off a chain of vasoconstrictive responses within the body, constriction of blood vessels within the pulmonary circulation has also been posited as a mechanism in which oxygenation decreases alongside with the presentation of viral pneumonia.[93]

Another common cause of death is complications related to the kidneys[93]—SARS-CoV-2 directly infects kidney cells, as confirmed in post-mortem studies. Acute kidney injury is a common complication and cause of death; this is more significant in patients with already compromised kidney function, especially in people with pre-existing chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes which specifically cause nephropathy in the long run.[94]

Autopsies of people who died of COVID‑19 have found diffuse alveolar damage (DAD), and lymphocyte-containing inflammatory infiltrates within the lung.[95]

Immunopathology

Although SARS-COV-2 has a tropism for ACE2-expressing epithelial cells of the respiratory tract, patients with severe COVID‑19 have symptoms of systemic hyperinflammation. Clinical laboratory findings of elevated IL-2, IL-7, IL-6, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interferon-γ inducible protein 10 (IP-10), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein 1-α (MIP-1α), and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) indicative of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) suggest an underlying immunopathology.[96]

Additionally, people with COVID‑19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have classical serum biomarkers of CRS, including elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), D-dimer, and ferritin.[97]

Systemic inflammation results in vasodilation, allowing inflammatory lymphocytic and monocytic infiltration of the lung and the heart. In particular, pathogenic GM-CSF-secreting T-cells were shown to correlate with the recruitment of inflammatory IL-6-secreting monocytes and severe lung pathology in COVID‑19 patients.[98] Lymphocytic infiltrates have also been reported at autopsy.[95]

Diagnosis

Main article: COVID-19 testing

Demonstration of a nasopharyngeal swab for COVID-19 testing

CDC rRT-PCR test kit for COVID-19[99]

The WHO has published several testing protocols for the disease.[100] The standard method of testing is real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR).[101] The test is typically done on respiratory samples obtained by a nasopharyngeal swab; however, a nasal swab or sputum sample may also be used.[25][102] Results are generally available within a few hours to two days.[103][104] Blood tests can be used, but these require two blood samples taken two weeks apart, and the results have little immediate value.[105] Chinese scientists were able to isolate a strain of the coronavirus and publish the genetic sequence so laboratories across the world could independently develop polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests to detect infection by the virus.[9][106][107] As of 4 April 2020, antibody tests (which may detect active infections and whether a person had been infected in the past) were in development, but not yet widely used.[108][109][110] The Chinese experience with testing has shown the accuracy is only 60 to 70%.[111] The FDA in the United States approved the first point-of-care test on 21 March 2020 for use at the end of that month.[112]

Diagnostic guidelines released by Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University suggested methods for detecting infections based upon clinical features and epidemiological risk. These involved identifying people who had at least two of the following symptoms in addition to a history of travel to Wuhan or contact with other infected people: fever, imaging features of pneumonia, normal or reduced white blood cell count, or reduced lymphocyte count.[113]

A study asked hospitalised COVID‑19 patients to cough into a sterile container, thus producing a saliva sample, and detected the virus in eleven of twelve patients using RT-PCR. This technique has the potential of being quicker than a swab and involving less risk to health care workers (collection at home or in the car).[64]

Along with laboratory testing, chest CT scans may be helpful to diagnose COVID-19 in individuals with a high clinical suspicion of infection but are not recommended for routine screening.[26][27] Bilateral multilobar ground-glass opacities with a peripheral, asymmetric, and posterior distribution are common in early infection.[26] Subpleural dominance, crazy paving (lobular septal thickening with variable alveolar filling), and consolidation may appear as the disease progresses.[26][114]

In late 2019, WHO assigned the emergency ICD-10 disease codes U07.1 for deaths from lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and U07.2 for deaths from clinically or epidemiologically diagnosed COVID‑19 without lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.[115]

Typical CT imaging findings

CT imaging of rapid progression stage

Pathology

Few data are available about microscopic lesions and the pathophysiology of COVID‑19.[116][117] The main pathological findings at autopsy are:

Macroscopy: pleurisy, pericarditis, lung consolidation and pulmonary oedema

Four types of severity of viral pneumonia can be observed:

minor pneumonia: minor serous exudation, minor fibrin exudation

mild pneumonia: pulmonary oedema, pneumocyte hyperplasia, large atypical pneumocytes, interstitial inflammation with lymphocytic infiltration and multinucleated giant cell formation

severe pneumonia: diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) with diffuse alveolar exudates. DAD is the cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and severe hypoxemia.

healing pneumonia: organisation of exudates in alveolar cavities and pulmonary interstitial fibrosis

plasmocytosis in BAL[118]

Blood: disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC);[119] leukoerythroblastic reaction[120]

Liver: microvesicular steatosis

Prevention

See also: 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic § Prevention, flatten the curve, and workplace hazard controls for COVID-19

Progressively stronger mitigation efforts to reduce the number of active cases at any given time—known as "flattening the curve"—allows healthcare services to better manage the same volume of patients.[121][122][123] Likewise, progressively greater increases in healthcare capacity—called raising the line—such as by increasing bed count, personnel, and equipment, helps to meet increased demand.[124]

Mitigation attempts that are inadequate in strictness or duration—such as premature relaxation of distancing rules or stay-at-home orders—can allow a resurgence after the initial surge and mitigation.[122][125]

Preventive measures to reduce the chances of infection include staying at home, avoiding crowded places, keeping distance from others, washing hands with soap and water often and for at least 20 seconds, practising good respiratory hygiene, and avoiding touching the eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.[126][127][128] The CDC recommends covering the mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and recommends using the inside of the elbow if no tissue is available.[126] Proper hand hygiene after any cough or sneeze is encouraged.[126] The CDC has recommended the use of cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, in part to limit transmission by asymptomatic individuals.[129] The U.S. National Institutes of Health guidelines do not recommend any medication for prevention of COVID‑19, before or after exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, outside of the setting of a clinical trial.[130]

Social distancing strategies aim to reduce contact of infected persons with large groups by closing schools and workplaces, restricting travel, and cancelling large public gatherings.[131] Distancing guidelines also include that people stay at least 6 feet (1.8 m) apart.[132] There is no medication known to be effective at preventing COVID‑19.[133] After the implementation of social distancing and stay-at-home orders, many regions have been able to sustain an effective transmission rate ("Rt") of less than one, meaning the disease is in remission in those areas.[134]

As a vaccine is not expected until 2021 at the earliest,[135] a key part of managing COVID‑19 is trying to decrease the epidemic peak, known as "flattening the curve".[122] This is done by slowing the infection rate to decrease the risk of health services being overwhelmed, allowing for better treatment of current cases, and delaying additional cases until effective treatments or a vaccine become available.[122][125]

According to the WHO, the use of masks is recommended only if a person is coughing or sneezing or when one is taking care of someone with a suspected infection.[136] For the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) face masks "... could be considered especially when visiting busy closed spaces ..." but "... only as a complementary measure ..."[137] Several countries have recommended that healthy individuals wear face masks or cloth face coverings (like scarves or bandanas) at least in certain public settings, including China,[138] Hong Kong,[139] Spain,[140] Italy (Lombardy region),[141] and the United States.[129]

Those diagnosed with COVID‑19 or who believe they may be infected are advised by the CDC to stay home except to get medical care, call ahead before visiting a healthcare provider, wear a face mask before entering the healthcare provider's office and when in any room or vehicle with another person, cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, regularly wash hands with soap and water and avoid sharing personal household items.[30][142] The CDC also recommends that individuals wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the toilet or when hands are visibly dirty, before eating and after blowing one's nose, coughing or sneezing. It further recommends using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol, but only when soap and water are not readily available.[126]

For areas where commercial hand sanitisers are not readily available, the WHO provides two formulations for local production. In these formulations, the antimicrobial activity arises from ethanol or isopropanol. Hydrogen peroxide is used to help eliminate bacterial spores in the alcohol; it is "not an active substance for hand antisepsis". Glycerol is added as a humectant.[143]

Prevention efforts are multiplicative, with effects far beyond that of a single spread. Each avoided case leads to more avoided cases down the line, which in turn can stop the outbreak in its tracks.

File:COVID19 W ENG.ogv

Handwashing instructions

Management

People are managed with supportive care, which may include fluid therapy, oxygen support, and supporting other affected vital organs.[144][145][146] The CDC recommends that those who suspect they carry the virus wear a simple face mask.[30] Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used to address the issue of respiratory failure, but its benefits are still under consideration.[41][147] Personal hygiene and a healthy lifestyle and diet have been recommended to improve immunity.[148] Supportive treatments may be useful in those with mild symptoms at the early stage of infection.[149]

The WHO, the Chinese National Health Commission, and the United States' National Institutes of Health have published recommendations for taking care of people who are hospitalised with COVID‑19.[130][150][151] Intensivists and pulmonologists in the U.S. have compiled treatment recommendations from various agencies into a free resource, the IBCC.[152][153]

Medications

See also: Coronavirus disease 2019 § Research

As of April 2020, there is no specific treatment for COVID‑19.[6][133] Research is, however, ongoing. For symptoms, some medical professionals recommend paracetamol (acetaminophen) over ibuprofen for first-line use.[154][155][156] The WHO and NIH do not oppose the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen for symptoms,[130][157] and the FDA says currently there is no evidence that NSAIDs worsen COVID‑19 symptoms.[158]

While theoretical concerns have been raised about ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers, as of 19 March 2020, these are not sufficient to justify stopping these medications.[130][159][160][161] Steroids, such as methylprednisolone, are not recommended unless the disease is complicated by acute respiratory distress syndrome.[162][163]

Medications to prevent blood clotting have been suggested for treatment,[91] and anticoagulant therapy with low molecular weight heparin appears to be associated with better outcomes in severe COVID‐19 showing signs of coagulopathy (elevated D-dimer).[164]

Protective equipment

See also: § Research

Research into potential treatments started in January 2020,[182] and several antiviral drugs are in clinical trials.[183][184] Remdesivir appears to be the most promising.[133] Although new medications may take until 2021 to develop,[185] several of the medications being tested are already approved for other uses or are already in advanced testing.[186] Antiviral medication may be tried in people with severe disease.[144] The WHO recommended volunteers take part in trials of the effectiveness and safety of potential treatments.[187]

The FDA has granted temporary authorisation to convalescent plasma as an experimental treatment in cases where the person's life is seriously or immediately threatened. It has not undergone the clinical studies needed to show it is safe and effective for the disease.[188][189][190]

Information technology

See also: Contact tracing and Government by algorithm

In February 2020, China launched a mobile app to deal with the disease outbreak.[191] Users are asked to enter their name and ID number. The app can detect 'close contact' using surveillance data and therefore a potential risk of infection. Every user can also check the status of three other users. If a potential risk is detected, the app not only recommends self-quarantine, it also alerts local health officials.[192]

Big data analytics on cellphone data, facial recognition technology, mobile phone tracking, and artificial intelligence are used to track infected people and people whom they contacted in South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore.[193][194] In March 2020, the Israeli government enabled security agencies to track mobile phone data of people supposed to have coronavirus. The measure was taken to enforce quarantine and protect those who may come into contact with infected citizens.[195] Also in March 2020, Deutsche Telekom shared aggregated phone location data with the German federal government agency, Robert Koch Institute, to research and prevent the spread of the virus.[196] Russia deployed facial recognition technology to detect quarantine breakers.[197] Italian regional health commissioner Giulio Gallera said he has been informed by mobile phone operators that "40% of people are continuing to move around anyway".[198] German government conducted a 48 hours weekend hackathon with more than 42.000 participants.[199][200] Two million people in the UK used an app developed in March 2020 by King's College London and Zoe to track people with COVID‑19 symptoms.[201] Also, the president of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid, made a global call for creative solutions against the spread of coronavirus.[202]

Psychological support

See also: Mental health during the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic

Individuals may experience distress from quarantine, travel restrictions, side effects of treatment, or fear of the infection itself. To address these concerns, the National Health Commission of China published a national guideline for psychological crisis intervention on 27 January 2020.[203][204]

The Lancet published a 14-page call for action focusing on the UK and stated conditions were such that a range of mental health issues was likely to become more common. BBC quoted Rory O'Connor in saying, "Increased social isolation, loneliness, health anxiety, stress and an economic downturn are a perfect storm to harm people's mental health and wellbeing."[205][206]

Prognosis

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The severity of diagnosed cases in China

The severity of diagnosed COVID-19 cases in China[207]

Case fatality rates for COVID-19 by age by country.

Case fatality rates by age group:

China, as of 11 February 2020[208]

South Korea, as of 15 April 2020[209]

Spain, as of 24 April 2020[210]

Italy, as of 23 April 2020[211]

Case fatality rate depending on other health problems

Case fatality rate in China depending on other health problems. Data through 11 February 2020.[208]

Case fatality rate by country and number of cases

The number of deaths vs total cases by country and approximate case fatality rate[212]

The severity of COVID‑19 varies. The disease may take a mild course with few or no symptoms, resembling other common upper respiratory diseases such as the common cold. Mild cases typically recover within two weeks, while those with severe or critical diseases may take three to six weeks to recover. Among those who have died, the time from symptom onset to death has ranged from two to eight weeks.[47]

Children make up a small proportion of reported cases, with about 1% of cases being under 10 years, and 4% aged 10-19 years.[22] They are likely to have milder symptoms and a lower chance of severe disease than adults; in those younger than 50 years, the risk of death is less than 0.5%, while in those older than 70 it is more than 8%.[213][214][215] Pregnant women may be at higher risk for severe infection with COVID-19 based on data from other similar viruses, like SARS and MERS, but data for COVID-19 is lacking.[216][217] In China, children acquired infections mainly through close contact with their parents or other family members who lived in Wuhan or had traveled there.[213]

In some people, COVID‑19 may affect the lungs causing pneumonia. In those most severely affected, COVID-19 may rapidly progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) causing respiratory failure, septic shock, or multi-organ failure.[218][219] Complications associated with COVID‑19 include sepsis, abnormal clotting, and damage to the heart, kidneys, and liver. Clotting abnormalities, specifically an increase in prothrombin time, have been described in 6% of those admitted to hospital with COVID-19, while abnormal kidney function is seen in 4% of this group.[220] Approximately 20-30% of people who present with COVID‑19 demonstrate elevated liver enzymes (transaminases).[133] Liver injury as shown by blood markers of liver damage is frequently seen in severe cases.[221]

Some studies have found that the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) may be helpful in early screening for severe illness.[222]

Most of those who die of COVID‑19 have pre-existing (underlying) conditions, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease.[223] The Istituto Superiore di Sanità reported that out of 8.8% of deaths where medical charts were available for review, 97.2% of sampled patients had at least one comorbidity with the average patient having 2.7 diseases.[224] According to the same report, the median time between the onset of symptoms and death was ten days, with five being spent hospitalised. However, patients transferred to an ICU had a median time of seven days between hospitalisation and death.[224] In a study of early cases, the median time from exhibiting initial symptoms to death was 14 days, with a full range of six to 41 days.[225] In a study by the National Health Commission (NHC) of China, men had a death rate of 2.8% while women had a death rate of 1.7%.[226] Histopathological examinations of post-mortem lung samples show diffuse alveolar damage with cellular fibromyxoid exudates in both lungs. Viral cytopathic changes were observed in the pneumocytes. The lung picture resembled acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).[47] In 11.8% of the deaths reported by the National Health Commission of China, heart damage was noted by elevated levels of troponin or cardiac arrest.[49] According to March data from the United States, 89% of those hospitalised had preexisting conditions.[227]

The availability of medical resources and the socioeconomics of a region may also affect mortality.[228] Estimates of the mortality from the condition vary because of those regional differences,[229] but also because of methodological difficulties. The under-counting of mild cases can cause the mortality rate to be overestimated.[230] However, the fact that deaths are the result of cases contracted in the past can mean the current mortality rate is underestimated.[231][232] Smokers were 1.4 times more likely to have severe symptoms of COVID‑19 and approximately 2.4 times more likely to require intensive care or die compared to non-smokers.[233]

Concerns have been raised about long-term sequelae of the disease. The Hong Kong Hospital Authority found a drop of 20% to 30% in lung capacity in some people who recovered from the disease, and lung scans suggested organ damage.[234] This may also lead to post-intensive care syndrome following recovery.[235]

Case fatality rates (%) by age and country

Age0–910–1920–2930–3940–4950–5960–6970–7980-8990+

China as of 11 February[208]0.00.20.20.20.41.33.68.014.8

Denmark as of 25 April[236]0.24.515.524.940.7

Italy as of 23 April[211]0.20.00.10.40.92.610.024.930.826.1

Netherlands as of 17 April[237]0.00.30.10.20.51.57.623.230.029.3

Portugal as of 24 April[238]0.00.00.00.00.30.62.88.516.5

S. Korea as of 15 April[209]0.00.00.00.10.20.72.59.722.2

Spain as of 24 April[210]0.30.40.30.30.61.34.413.220.320.1

Switzerland as of 25 April[239]0.90.00.00.10.00.52.710.124.0

Case fatality rates (%) by age in the United States

Age0–1920–4445–5455–6465–7475–8485+

United States as of 16 March[240]0.00.1–0.20.5–0.81.4–2.62.7–4.94.3–10.510.4–27.3

Note: The lower bound includes all cases. The upper bound excludes cases that were missing data.

Estimate of infection fatality rates and probability of severe disease course (%) by age based on cases from China[241]

0–910–1920–2930–3940–4950–5960–6970–7980+

Severe disease0.0

(0.0–0.0)0.04

(0.02–0.08)1.0

(0.62–2.1)3.4

(2.0–7.0)4.3

(2.5–8.7)8.2

(4.9–17)11

(7.0–24)17

(9.9–34)18

(11–38)

Death0.0016

(0.00016–0.025)0.0070

(0.0015–0.050)0.031

(0.014–0.092)0.084

(0.041–0.19)0.16

(0.076–0.32)0.60

(0.34–1.3)1.9

(1.1–3.9)4.3

(2.5–8.4)7.8

(3.8–13)

Total infection fatality rate is estimated to be 0.66% (0.39–1.3). Infection fatality rate is fatality per all infected individuals, regardless of whether they were diagnosed or had any symptoms. Numbers in parentheses are 95% credible intervals for the estimates.

Reinfection

As of March 2020, it was unknown if past infection provides effective and long-term immunity in people who recover from the disease.[242] Immunity is seen as likely, based on the behaviour of other coronaviruses,[243] but cases in which recovery from COVID‑19 have been followed by positive tests for coronavirus at a later date have been reported.[244][245][246][247] These cases are believed to be worsening of a lingering infection rather than re-infection.[247]

History

Main article: Timeline of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic

The virus is thought to be natural and has an animal origin,[77] through spillover infection.[248] The actual origin is unknown, but by December 2019 the spread of infection was almost entirely driven by human-to-human transmission.[208][249] A study of the first 41 cases of confirmed COVID‑19, published in January 2020 in The Lancet, revealed the earliest date of onset of symptoms as 1 December 2019.[250][251][252] Official publications from the WHO reported the earliest onset of symptoms as 8 December 2019.[253] Human-to-human transmission was confirmed by the WHO and Chinese authorities by 20 January 2020.[254][255]

Epidemiology

Main article: 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic

Several measures are commonly used to quantify mortality.[256] These numbers vary by region and over time and are influenced by the volume of testing, healthcare system quality, treatment options, time since the initial outbreak, and population characteristics such as age, sex, and overall health.[257]

The death-to-case ratio reflects the number of deaths divided by the number of diagnosed cases within a given time interval. Based on Johns Hopkins University statistics, the global death-to-case ratio is 7.0% (203,044/2,899,830) as of 26 April 2020.[7] The number varies by region.[258]

Other measures include the case fatality rate (CFR), which reflects the percent of diagnosed individuals who die from a disease, and the infection fatality rate (IFR), which reflects the percent of infected individuals (diagnosed and undiagnosed) who die from a disease. These statistics are not time-bound and follow a specific population from infection through case resolution. Many academics have attempted to calculate these numbers for specific populations.[259]

Total confirmed cases over time

Total deaths over time

Total confirmed cases of COVID‑19 per million people, 10 April 2020[260]

Total confirmed deaths due to COVID‑19 per million people, 10 April 2020[261]

Infection fatality rate

Our World in Data states that as of March 25, 2020, the infection fatality rate (IFR) cannot be accurately calculated.[262] In February, the World Health Organization estimated the IFR at 0.94%, with a confidence interval between 0.37 percent to 2.9 percent.[263] The University of Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) estimated a global CFR of 0.72 percent and IFR of 0.1 percent to 0.36 percent.[264] According to CEBM, random antibody testing in Germany suggested an IFR of 0.37 percent there.[264] Firm lower limits to local infection fatality rates were established, such as in Bergamo province, where 0.57% of the population has died, leading to a minimum IFR of 0.57% in the province. This population fatality rate (PFR) minimum increases as more people get infected and run through their disease.[265][266] Similarly, as of April 22 in the New York City area, there were 15,411 deaths confirmed from COVID-19, and 19,200 excess deaths.[267] Very recently, the first results of antibody testing have come in, but there are no valid scientific reports based on them available yet. A Bloomberg Opinion piece provides a survey.[268][269]

Sex differences

Main article: Gendered impact of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic

The impact of the pandemic and its mortality rate are different for men and women.[270] Mortality is higher in men in studies conducted in China and Italy.[271][272][273] The highest risk for men is in their 50s, with the gap between men and women closing only at 90.[273] In China, the death rate was 2.8 percent for men and 1.7 percent for women.[273] The exact reasons for this sex-difference are not known, but genetic and behavioural factors could be a reason.[270] Sex-based immunological differences, a lower prevalence of smoking in women, and men developing co-morbid conditions such as hypertension at a younger age than women could have contributed to the higher mortality in men.[273] In Europe, of those infected with COVID‑19, 57% were men; of those infected with COVID‑19 who also died, 72% were men.[274] As of April 2020, the U.S. government is not tracking sex-related data of COVID‑19 infections.[275] Research has shown that viral illnesses like Ebola, HIV, influenza, and SARS affect men and women differently.[275] A higher percentage of health workers, particularly nurses, are women, and they have a higher chance of being exposed to the virus.[276] School closures, lockdowns, and reduced access to healthcare following the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic may differentially affect the genders and possibly exaggerate existing gender disparity.[270][277]

Society and culture

Name

During the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China, the virus and disease were commonly referred to as "coronavirus" and "Wuhan coronavirus",[278][279][280] with the disease sometimes called "Wuhan pneumonia".[281][282] In the past, many diseases have been named after geographical locations, such as the Spanish flu,[283] Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and Zika virus.[284]

In January 2020, the World Health Organisation recommended 2019-nCov[285] and 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease[286] as interim names for the virus and disease per 2015 guidance and international guidelines against using geographical locations (e.g. Wuhan, China), animal species or groups of people in disease and virus names to prevent social stigma.[287][288][289]

The official names COVID‑19 and SARS-CoV-2 were issued by the WHO on 11 February 2020.[290] WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus explained: CO for corona, VI for virus, D for disease and 19 for when the outbreak was first identified (31 December 2019).[291] The WHO additionally uses "the COVID‑19 virus" and "the virus responsible for COVID‑19" in public communications.[290] Both the disease and virus are commonly referred to as "coronavirus" in the media and public discourse.

Misinformation

Main article: Misinformation related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic

After the initial outbreak of COVID‑19, conspiracy theories, misinformation, and disinformation emerged regarding the origin, scale, prevention, treatment, and other aspects of the disease and rapidly spread online.[292][293][294][295]

Protests

Beginning April 17, 2020, news media began reporting on a wave of demonstrations protesting against state-mandated quarantine restrictions in in Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky.[296][297]

Other animals

Humans appear to be capable of spreading the virus to some other animals. A domestic cat in Liège, Belgium, tested positive after it started showing symptoms (diarrhoea, vomiting, shortness of breath) a week later than its owner, who was also positive.[298] Tigers at the Bronx Zoo in New York, United States, tested positive for the virus and showed symptoms of COVID‑19, including a dry cough and loss of appetite.[299]

A study on domesticated animals inoculated with the virus found that cats and ferrets appear to be "highly susceptible" to the disease, while dogs appear to be less susceptible, with lower levels of viral replication. The study failed to find evidence of viral replication in pigs, ducks, and chickens.[300]

Research

Main article: COVID-19 drug development

No medication or vaccine is approved to treat the disease.[186] International research on vaccines and medicines in COVID‑19 is underway by government organisations, academic groups, and industry researchers.[301][302] In March, the World Health Organisation initiated the "SOLIDARITY Trial" to assess the treatment effects of four existing antiviral compounds with the most promise of efficacy.[303]

Vaccine

Main article: COVID-19 vaccine

There is no available vaccine, but various agencies are actively developing vaccine candidates. Previous work on SARS-CoV is being used because both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 use the ACE2 receptor to enter human cells.[304] Three vaccination strategies are being investigated. First, researchers aim to build a whole virus vaccine. The use of such a virus, be it inactive or dead, aims to elicit a prompt immune response of the human body to a new infection with COVID‑19. A second strategy, subunit vaccines, aims to create a vaccine that sensitises the immune system to certain subunits of the virus. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, such research focuses on the S-spike protein that helps the virus intrude the ACE2 enzyme receptor. A third strategy is that of the nucleic acid vaccines (DNA or RNA vaccines, a novel technique for creating a vaccination). Experimental vaccines from any of these strategies would have to be tested for safety and efficacy.[305]

On 16 March 2020, the first clinical trial of a vaccine started with four volunteers in Seattle, United States. The vaccine contains a harmless genetic code copied from the virus that causes the disease.[306]

Antibody-dependent enhancement has been suggested as a potential challenge for vaccine development for SARS-COV-2, but this is controversial.[307]

Medications

Main article: COVID-19 drug repurposing research

At least 29 phase II–IV efficacy trials in COVID‑19 were concluded in March 2020 or scheduled to provide results in April from hospitals in China.[308][309] There are more than 300 active clinical trials underway as of April 2020.[133] Seven trials were evaluating already approved treatments, including four studies on hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine.[309] Repurposed antiviral drugs make up most of the Chinese research, with nine phase III trials on remdesivir across several countries due to report by the end of April.[308][309] Other candidates in trials include vasodilators, corticosteroids, immune therapies, lipoic acid, bevacizumab, and recombinant angiotensin-converting enzyme 2.[309]

The COVID‑19 Clinical Research Coalition has goals to 1) facilitate rapid reviews of clinical trial proposals by ethics committees and national regulatory agencies, 2) fast-track approvals for the candidate therapeutic compounds, 3) ensure standardised and rapid analysis of emerging efficacy and safety data and 4) facilitate sharing of clinical trial outcomes before publication.[310][311]

Several existing medications are being evaluated for the treatment of COVID‑19,[186] including remdesivir, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir, and lopinavir/ritonavir combined with interferon beta.[303][312] There is tentative evidence for efficacy by remdesivir, as of March 2020.[313][314] Clinical improvement was observed in patients treated with compassionate-use remdesivir.[315] Remdesivir inhibits SARS-CoV-2 in vitro.[316] Phase III clinical trials are underway in the U.S., China, and Italy.[186][308][317]

In 2020, a trial found that lopinavir/ritonavir was ineffective in the treatment of severe illness.[318] Nitazoxanide has been recommended for further in vivo study after demonstrating low concentration inhibition of SARS-CoV-2.[316]

There are mixed results as of 3 April 2020 as to the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID‑19, with some studies showing little or no improvement.[319][320] The studies of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine with or without azithromycin have major limitations that have prevented the medical community from embracing these therapies without further study.[133]

Oseltamivir does not inhibit SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and has no known role in COVID‑19 treatment.[133]

Anti-cytokine storm

Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) can be a complication in the later stages of severe COVID‑19. There is preliminary evidence that hydroxychloroquine may have anti-cytokine storm properties.[321]

Tocilizumab has been included in treatment guidelines by China's National Health Commission after a small study was completed.[322][323] It is undergoing a phase 2 non-randomised trial at the national level in Italy after showing positive results in people with severe disease.[324][325] Combined with a serum ferritin blood test to identify cytokine storms, it is meant to counter such developments, which are thought to be the cause of death in some affected people.[326][327][328] The interleukin-6 receptor antagonist was approved by the FDA to undergo a phase III clinical trial assessing the medication's impact on COVID‑19 based on retrospective case studies for the treatment of steroid-refractory cytokine release syndrome induced by a different cause, CAR T cell therapy, in 2017.[329] To date, there is no randomised, controlled evidence that tocilizumab is an efficacious treatment for CRS. Prophylactic tocilizumab has been shown to increase serum IL-6 levels by saturating the IL-6R, driving IL-6 across the blood-brain barrier, and exacerbating neurotoxicity while having no impact on the incidence of CRS.[330]

Lenzilumab, an anti-GM-CSF monoclonal antibody, is protective in murine models for CAR T cell-induced CRS and neurotoxicity and is a viable therapeutic option due to the observed increase of pathogenic GM-CSF secreting T-cells in hospitalised patients with COVID‑19.[331]

The Feinstein Institute of Northwell Health announced in March a study on "a human antibody that may prevent the activity" of IL-6.[332]

Passive antibodies

Transferring purified and concentrated antibodies produced by the immune systems of those who have recovered from COVID‑19 to people who need them is being investigated as a non-vaccine method of passive immunisation.[333] This strategy was tried for SARS with inconclusive results.[333] Viral neutralisation is the anticipated mechanism of action by which passive antibody therapy can mediate defence against SARS-CoV-2. Other mechanisms, however, such as antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and/or phagocytosis, may be possible.[333] Other forms of passive antibody therapy, for example, using manufactured monoclonal antibodies, are in development.[333] Production of convalescent serum, which consists of the liquid portion of the blood from recovered patients and contains antibodies specific to this virus, could be increased for quicker deployment.[334]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus_disease_2019

The Clone Wars - Training and Shaping New Recruits by Daniel Arrhakis

24 5

The Clone Wars - Training and Shaping New Recruits by Daniel Arrhakis (2025)

With the music : Replicant Dream by Noise Textures

youtu.be/mUrwP2kB1nw

The Clone Wars - Training and Shaping New Recruits

The discrediting of institutional media with the infamous "Fake News" was the first step toward the isolationism necessary to create a horde of unconditional, uncritical followers - The New Extreme Right Digital Armies.

Meanwhile, new members are recruited daily through the manipulation of fake news, disinformation, and conspiracy theories to discredit institutions and erode democracy.

Recently, ultra nationalist groups, some with neonazi ideology, have been used to attract increasingly younger followers from soccer fan clubs, enticing them with patriotic ideas and the defense of race and blood.

Disinformation networks are growing, as is the shaping of ideological thinking, through massive sharing, comments in news media and personalities and abusive language from trolls to encourage sharing with the help of algorithms that boost hate speech.

[ - hi - ] by mijnheer TRONA

27 5

aka

[ - 4341053955_9866af0323_o_color_supersampler_random_remix - ]

[Description and tag information are suspiciously missing or incomplete, and could contain disinformation]

The Propaganda Army - White Is Beautiful by Daniel Arrhakis

30 4

The Propaganda Army - White Is Beautiful by Daniel Arrhakis (2025)

"The Clone Wars - Autocracy" a new series for an Exhibition project for 2026

A Guerra Dos Clones - Autocracia uma nova série para um projeto de exposição para 2026

The Propaganda Army - White Is Beautiful

The Propaganda Army - True digital armies or militias use social media as their primary means of warfare to shape thought using weapons such as mass disinformation, hate speech, and conspiracy theories.

White Is Beautiful ! - White is not a color – white is an Racist ideology

White supremacy is a form of racism centered on the belief that white people are superior in genetic and cultural terms to people of other racial backgrounds, and that, therefore, they should, by indisputable and generational right, rule nations and other races.

Network of Disinformation, 2013 by Jordan Pontell

11 5

DecoSketch. iColorama.

Facebook: You Don't Get To Profit From My Anger by outtacontext

9 2

Listening to Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s 60 Minutes interview in October 2021, the simplicity and impact of her allegation struck me: Facebook made its money from engagement (the more clicks and comments a post contained, the more money it made). And what caused the most engagement? Anger. Facebook was making millions of dollars financed by our anger. Haugen revealed that Facebook’s internal reports showed the company’s algorithms promoted political discord and anti-vaccination rhetoric, both domestically and internationally (in 2018, Myanmar’s military used Facebook to launch the Rohingya genocide). Company insiders warned Mark Zuckerberg, but he chose profit over the safety and well-being of its users. And despite numerous appearances before Congress, he consistently misled our legislators and us. I use Facebook to stay in contact with friends. I also moderate a cultural and political page as part of my work on the Chamomile Tea Party. I’ve created over 230 posters during the last decade that chronicle the devolution of American political discourse.

I don’t have to tell you, Americans are more polarized than ever. Donald Trump’s presidency and power were built on that divide. The Republican Party’s kowtowing to him, both during his tenure and even now, has created high levels of vigilance and anxiety. No matter where we stand on the political spectrum, we’ve had little power to do anything about it except to yell at each other. Our anger was and continues to be palatable. Trump’s defeat (even as he dangles a 2024 run for the presidency) has given us some room to breathe and to distance ourselves, if ever so slightly, from the precipice. But how have we fallen so far? How did we lose sight of what many believe is American Exceptionalism (a term I find a fabricated national myth)?

As parents of two young adults, my wife and I have found the “terrible twos” had nothing on the clueless early twenties. At 18, our daughters were legally adults. But they had little experience being adults. And with their prefrontal cortexes still developing, they rarely asked for help nor listened when we offered our expertise. Fair enough. I didn’t listen to my parents either at that age. But our challenge in helping them navigate adulthood is complicated because our twenties were so different from theirs. We cannot compare our pasts to their experiences as digital natives. As a technologist and a former teacher of technology, I never taught my students the philosophical and moral underpinnings of the net. In the late 1990s, teachers focused on using programs like Photoshop and PageMaker, not how to be good netizens. We didn’t have to. There was no need—yet.

At the beginning of the internet, the opportunity to meet new people to discuss ideas was a major attraction to me. As a teenager, I had pen pals in countries worldwide, and I saw the internet as an extension of that interest and my curiosity. As an artist, I saw the opportunity to bypass the impediments of gallery representation and the art market to convey my work to new audiences. But at a “town hall” back then, hastily organized to discuss a Washington Post article bemoaning DC’s lackluster arts community, I warned my fellow artists we needed to guard this new resource. If we didn’t make this concerted effort, companies and corporations would turn it into just another marketplace for their goods and services. I feel no pleasure in my prescience.

Enter social media. By the early 2000s, I was a technology strategist and frontend web designer at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, where I helped shepherd our mission to new online audiences. And, in 2002, I proposed doing a blog as a way of posting current information about exhibitions and lectures weekly. Until that time, websites were static. They presented the basics and were rarely updated. But as we recognized the value of engaging these new audiences, we needed to find ways to interact and inform on an ongoing basis. The introduction of content management systems allowed us to create that fresh content easily. In 2005, my idea gained enough traction to launch the first blog at the Smithsonian, Eye Level. Everybody was trying to find ways to engage these new communities. In 2006, Facebook opened its membership to everyone. And in 2008, Twitter did the same. Both of these platforms became part of our museum’s toolkit for social engagement.

These apps heralded a revolution in social interaction. As these platforms grew, they looked to differentiate themselves from one another. When coworkers wondered if Twitter would supplant blogging, I told them, “you tweet to react and blog to reflect.” But the business of social media was developing too. As access and bandwidth increased, these companies grew exponentially. So did their power and their share prices. My ’90s prediction that capital would supplant real societal change came to be. There was money to be made, and by the late 2000s, the net’s fate was set. Net cognoscenti have been advocating for net neutrality ever since.

The internet’s future demanded a robust infrastructure to secure its future. Money poured in from venture capitalists. In Silicon Valley, just about every idea was a good one, that is until the bubble burst in the late 1990s. The wild, wild West was gone, but that didn’t stop the capital from flowing in, albeit with a little more restraint. And it began to coalesce. Companies bought up other companies. And as Yuval Noah Harari, a historian, and author of Sapiens, recently stated on 60 Minutes, platforms like Instagram and What’s App sold for millions. These apps had no tangible assets, so why were they valued so highly? It was their data that made those acquisitions so valuable. Their data on you and me. I decided if others coveted my interests, I wanted a piece of that pie. So, in 1999, I auctioned my personal demographics on eBay. When my children were young, I never mentioned their names or showed photos of them online. I wanted to protect their personal information for as long as possible.

Knowing all about our habits, companies could target content to each of us. Chris Anderson, the former editor of WIRED, called this “the longtail strategy.” Amazon may make a lot of money from the sale of their best sellers, but it was the other 90% of their inventory that made them rich. The number of small sales from a long list of niche books surpassed the volume of more well-known fare. However, Wharton professor, Serguei Netessine, found just the opposite. He felt people overwhelmed with choices would gravitate to bestsellers. The key was personalization. Develop algorithms that use your past searches to create a profile of your interests so that search results could show you precisely what you were looking for (even if you didn’t know what you were looking for).

This is exactly what Facebook does. It knows everything about us. Everything. Harai told Anderson Cooper, “I came out as gay when I was 21. It should’ve been obvious to me when I was 15 that I’m gay. But something in the mind blocked it. Now, if you think about a teenager today, Facebook can know that they are gay or Amazon can know that they are gay long before they do just based on analyzing patterns.” To understand the consequences such knowledge could reveal, Harai asked us to consider what that would mean to LGBT+ communities in Iran, Russia, or any other homophobic country where “the police know that you are gay even before you know it.”

The dystopian message of the film, Minority Report, is coming true. Based loosely on Philip K. Dick’s novel, The Minority Report, a special division of the police called “Precrime” uses “precogs”—psychics—to identify and arrest people before they can commit a crime. Substitute precogs with algorithms, and you have Facebook. The key is, as always, will this power be used for good or evil? Despite Zuckerberg’s assurances he is only interested in the former, Haugen’s purloined documents tell another story.

Before Haugen revealed herself on 60 Minutes, The Wall Street Journal published an investigation of these documents in a series called The Facebook Files. Here are a couple of the takeaways.

Facebook Says Its Rules Apply to All. Company Documents Reveal a Secret Elite That’s Exempt. While Zuckerberg conveys Facebook’s role as neutrality-based, where the platform treats every user equally, the truth is just the opposite. A special class of high-profile users doesn’t always have to adhere to Facebook’s rules and algorithms. They are part of a program called “Cross Check” or “XCheck.” Facebook’s algorithms and content moderators can’t keep up with the abundance of user-generated content, so they wanted to give special attention to these very visible and vocal VIPs to ensure no PR problems for the company. Yet, many of these “special people” have used their privilege to harass and incite violence. As regular users, their posts would have been taken down and, as many of us have experienced for much lesser “crimes,” thrown into Facebook jail. This confidential review stated, “We are not actually doing what we say we do publicly,” and it called the company’s actions “a breach of trust.”

Facebook Tried to Make Its Platform a Healthier Place. It Got Angrier Instead. In 2018, the company changed its algorithm to make its platform kinder and gentler. Its goal was to emphasize sharing and resharing posts amongst friends and family. Instead, it had the opposite effect. Political parties and trolls used the algorithm to sensationalize content.

In March 2021, Mark Zuckerberg announced that he would use the platform to promote COVID vaccinations. His goal was to get 50 million people to get vaccinated. Despite this altruistic hope, his app’s formula stymied even his efforts by prioritizing resharing. Anti-vaxx comments and mis- and disinformation inundated pro-vaccination content. The Wall Street Journal stated that Facebook's problem was “its users create the content, but their comments, posts, and videos are hard to control.”

In the lead-up to the 2020 elections, Facebook attempted to address these issues by forming the Civic Integrity working group. When Haugen began working at Facebook, she was assigned to this group to help manage the misinformation. But after the election, the company decided to disband this unit. Haugen said, “They told us, ‘We're dissolving Civic Integrity.’ Like, they basically said, ‘Oh good, we made it through the election. There wasn't [sic] riots. We can get rid of Civic Integrity now.’ Fast forward a couple months, we got the insurrection. And when they got rid of Civic Integrity, it was the moment where I was like, ‘I don't trust that they're willing to actually invest what needs to be invested to keep Facebook from being dangerous.’”

As a moderator on a political page, I often bought ads to promote messages from the posters I designed. Defining my audiences for these ads, I wanted to get the word out without the back and forth animosity and name-calling that was so rampant in most social media “tit-for-tats.” To do that, Facebook allowed me to target my audiences extensively. Building an audience profile was an art form in and of itself. They provided very niche groups I could address. Combining these groups allowed me to pinpoint my messages. For example, I could focus on liberal or conservative movements and interests in many granular ways. However, after the 2020 election, this specificity disappeared. I was only allowed to target more general audiences (“interested in politics” instead of liberal or conservative issues). With the election over, they felt hostilities would cease or, at least, lessen. They have not. My ability to define my audience has taken a big hit. My messages must now be broadcasted to a more general group of people, just perfect for more anger and increased clicks. Sure, I’d like a larger following, but not at this cost. Instead, I’d like a more significant audience. Show me how I can accomplish that, Mark.

In 2017, Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook, stated, “The thought process that went into building these applications was all about: ‘How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?’ And that means that we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post. And that’s going to get you to contribute more content, and that’s going to get you more likes and comments [and more money for the company]. It’s a social-validation feedback loop, exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with because you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.”

I accept Parker’s reasoning. I know what I’m getting and giving up on the platform (and I’m constantly securing my data and watching what information I post). But it angers me that Zuckerberg et al. seem to have so much power with so little understanding and control over their platform. And I’m mad that he is misleading us, but not enough to yell and scream about it on Facebook. While everyone has a right to their opinion, no matter how distasteful or wrong I may think it is, no one has a right to spew that opinion on someone else. I live by that dictum. So I do most of my screaming into a pillow.

Above all, I will not let Facebook profit from my anger.

Feel free to pass this poster on. It's free to download here (click on the down arrow just to the lower right of the image).

See the rest of the posters from the Chamomile Tea Party! Digital high res downloads are free here (click the down arrow on the lower right side of the image). Other options are available. And join our Facebook group.

Follow the history of our country's political intransigence from 2010-2020 through a seven-part exhibit of these posters on Google Arts & Culture.

United States of Confusion and Disinformation by Wandering Dom

14

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq5yHdVKSQs

Nonsense by just.Luc

12

.

Old School Desktop by A Guy Named Nyal

4 15

A recent post by toddkeith533 made me a bit nostalgic for the "good old days", hence the reason for this shot. BTW, this is a screen capture which is a "shot" of my desktop.

Back in the days before Windows 1.0x (which was just a GUI shell for MS-DOS) it's quite possible that your computer screen would have looked like this. You would be running programs from the command line (Windows Key+R, type CMD) with all the information shown in a terminal window. That's right folks, no point -n- click and graphics would have been rudimentary at best.

There was no Youtube, no Flickr, and the only games available were Star Trek and Hunt The Wumpus (text only games).

You actually had to know what commands to enter to get the computer to do what you wanted and what it could do was pretty limited.

Things have come a long way since then and I\'m torn as to whether they\'re better or not. Today, anyone with a "smart phone" (which really isn't that smart) has access to the WWW and all the information (and disinformation) contained therein which in my opinion has brought the world into the state it's in today.

Maybe I'm an old fool but there's still a part of me that wishes we could go back to the old days. Ignorance is bliss and personally I could use a bit more bliss in my life.

RU Coach by George

27

A little bit of disinformation in the title I'm afraid; not a Seddon Pennine RU but an attractive, relatively uncommon LAG Galaxy bodied Volvo B10M of Harry Shaw, Bedworth. I believe this was new as C579VKV and ended its days as C173AWK with Fraser, Munlochy near Inverness.

DIG15008-112 by LBJ Library

4

Mark Updegrove, Stephen Mills, Oren Segal and Oni Blair

As part of Stephen Mills’ Light / The Holocaust & Humanity Project, Ballet Austin hosted a panel discussion on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, at the LBJ Presidential Library.

National leaders including Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, Oni Blair, executive director of ACLU Texas, and award-winning choreographer Stephen Mills, Ballet Austin’s Sarah & Ernest Butler Family Fund Artistic Director and creator of Light / The Holocaust & Humanity Project, discussed antisemitism and the role of disinformation and propaganda in dividing communities. Mark Updegrove, president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation, moderated the discussion.

LBJ Library photo by Jay Godwin

03/08/23

Crypto-fascism by ₡ґǘșϯγ Ɗᶏ Ⱪᶅṏⱳդ

102 43

Since cash is obsolete, we must reduce its carbon footprint! We must transition to a green economy! The dialectic tears down and recycles. It’s currently tearing down capitalism and recycling it into stakeholder capitalism (stakeholder [public–private partnership] fascism). There’s a blitzkrieg coming!

(IMF) International Monetary Fascism: Careful decisions must also ensure that new forms of digital money are environmentally sustainable—that the energy they require is kept in check. The path to digital money adoption must be guided by a clear and responsible vision of tomorrow’s broader payment, financial, economic, and environmental landscape.

(UN) United Nazis: Through the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, world leaders have given humanity a universal plan to transform our world for the better. Our task is to stay true to these agreements and take action on their implementation.

(WEF) World Economic Fascism: You’ll own nothing. And you’ll be happy.

Russia agrees to chair BRICS in 2024. BRICS represents 45% of the world’s population. BRICS produces 43% of the world’s oil. BRICS countries occupy 29% of the world’s land surface. 30 countries are prepared to Join BRICS in 2024. In 2023 about 20% of oil was bought with currencies other than the US dollar. America: Who cares about oil, we’re going green (broke). Chip…chip…chip away…the US dollar can only hold its position as the world’s reserve currency for so long.

130 countries are exploring CBDCs. These countries produce 98% of the world’s GDP. 64 of these countries are in the advanced stages of developing CBDCs. The United Arab Emirates and China have already made a cross-border payment using the Digital Dirham.

Roll in the Central Bank Digital Currencies! Roll in the deposit tokens! Good-bye cash! Good-bye freedom! See-ya later, Bitcoin! We will kill the middle class. We will kill small businesses. We will build back better with corrupt governments, intelligence agencies, multinational corporations, and centralized banking. As for the European farmer protests: Centralized corporate farms are the way of the future, so is starvation…eat ze bugz! Indeed, we will bankrupt everyone into authoritarianism. One day you will wake up in a fascist world order, where you will be enslaved by the state and corporate powers. We call it friendly fascism…fascism with a smile:)

Big Brother and AI will shape your reality. We will issue an internet ID. We will establish a United Nations regulatory body to oversee AI and the internet. End encryption! End privacy! We can’t have free speech in the new authoritarian world order.

Sidenote: Elon Musk bought X, so that he can data mine its users for his new artificial intelligence company xAI. But who cares about data mining if I can talk to Grok, Elon’s AI chat bot. Digital wokeness: We must understand reality through false reality. Ouch, that hurt my brain-computer interface! Indeed, Elon Musk is a grifter.

These Central Bank Digital Currencies will only be temporary. They will be further centralized into a one world currency. With the breakthrough of on-skin and under-skin computing technology, we will now tie a person’s digital ID and digital wallet to an AI-chip tattoo. Without this new on-skin and under-skin transhuman surveillance chip, you will not be able to be a part of this new one world monetary system. This microchip system will be implanted in the hand or the forehead of every human…changing their being.

Join the techno-evolution and become a part of the new Aryan techno-race. Join the techno-revolution and become a part of the new techno-transhuman race. Join the digital woke cult: You are trapped in the wrong body; therefore, you must become a born again transhuman. Then you must go out and preach the gospel of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability. Like a hoe, you can ride the seven-headed beast of linguistics (false doctrines) until your language is turned to Babel. Thank God, the Fourth Reich will not prevail!

Daniel 7:23 “He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it.’”

Daniel 12:10 “Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.”

Fear and Opportunity by JJFBbennett

7 1

The distress of the unknown

Tethered to aspiration

Our capacity to accommodate new experiences

To gain prosperity

The anxieties.

The fear

The panic

Empires employing strategic savagery

By whipping up emotions

Enabling political disinformation

To exploit with power

How the US Is Using Open-source Intel to Track Russia's War in Ukraine by Chic Bee

8

Analysts are moving beyond who-what-when-where to "really focusing on the why,” a senior defense intelligence official said.

LAUREN C. WILLIAMS | JULY 28, 2023

INTELLIGENCE RUSSIA UKRAINE

The Pentagon’s lead military intelligence agency has been relying on public and commercially available information to keep tabs on Russia’s movements in Ukraine.

The Defense Intelligence Agency recently invited a small cadre of reporters to view recovered remnants of unmanned aerial vehicles made in Iran and used by Russia in its war on Ukraine, noting that open-source intelligence has played “an outsized” and “critical” role.

“When we get a requirement, in this case, monitoring the Russian military and their aggression, the general public around the world is our source,” a senior defense intelligence official told reporters. “There's a lot more data outside in the world than there is that the IC’s collected, and so we're getting better organized to use it, and it's paying great dividends to understand what's happening.”

The White House has flagged increased defense ties between Iran and Russia, and DIA confirmed Russia was using Iran-made drones earlier this year. Iran admitted last year that it sent Russia drones before the war started, but denied continued involvement, despite reports and public accusations that it was sending materials and working with Russia to build a factory. The declassification is part of a broader push to reduce disinformation, officials said.

Analysts walked reporters through recovered drone parts from the Middle East and Ukraine that were known to be Iran-made, identified by things like device design, markers, materials, such as a distinct “honeycomb” lining found between the devices’ layers, and corroborated classified intel with information that had already been made public.

News reports in April 2022 were the first indication, defense intelligence officials said. But one of the key uses of open-source intelligence is inspiration.

Making such attributions is routine intelligence work, but for the DIA, stitching together data from open source intelligence is more novel.

“Almost everything…from Ukraine is open source, like we were picking that up off of social media...those pieces had come out in such a way the public had already seen them be attributed to them to Ukraine, and they knew where that they were. So it was hard to have disinformation against that,” the analyst said, referring to an unclassified visual report on Iran-made UAVs in Ukraine.

“We were able to then match up our classified photographs in the way that like, no one's going to look at that Shahed-136 in Kyiv and say, 'oh, that was somewhere else, that was Yemen'.”

The DIA stood up the Open Source Intelligence Center almost four years ago, and has since worked to craft open source intelligence, or OSINT, collection and analysis as a formal discipline. The data often comes from social media, news reports, and commercially available databases, among other sources with a focus on foreign military targets.

“This isn't a typical product for us. We don't normally come out and release this type of information,” the analyst said of the open-source report. “It was what social media, the press, that you guys were able to provide us, we were able to quickly match it with what we had in the classified side and come out with a product like this…There was a lot of unique value that just was not possible in an earlier era.”

In a way, social media platforms and news organizations provided credibility to the intelligence DIA and other government agencies were collecting—something that wasn’t possible more than a decade ago. But combining other types of intelligence, like human and signals, with open-source and AI algorithms, has also been crucial.

“It's been a game-changer for my analysts to go from…focusing on the who, what, when, and where, and really focusing on the why,” a senior defense intelligence official said. “All of this data that we try to pull together, the open source that brings in so much richness into the environment, but also all that exquisite intelligence that we pull together, combining that and really having the effect of AI to be actually able to aggregate and winnow the information that we need to focus on.”

Misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic..Mechanical Ventilation of Conspiracy theories have appeared both in social media and in mainstream news outlets, and are heavily influenced by geopolitics. by Hughes Songe

9

A missing filter... Picture or maybe in the air of the time that brews a little anguish, it grinds ideas by dint of filtering the words... the cunning life with a twist. Angel or mill?

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in conspiracy theories and misinformation about the scale of the pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease.[1][2][3] False information, including intentional disinformation, has been spread through social media,[2][4] text messages,[5] and mass media,[6] including the tabloid media,[7] conservative media,[8][9] state media of countries such as China,[10][11] Russia,[12][13] Iran,[14] and Turkmenistan.[2][15] It has also been spread by state-backed covert operations to generate panic and sow distrust in other countries.[16][17]

Misinformation has been propagated by celebrities, politicians[18][19] (including heads of state in countries such as the United States,[20][21] Iran,[22] and Brazil[23]), and other prominent public figures.[24] Commercial scams have claimed to offer at-home tests, supposed preventives, and "miracle" cures.[25][26] Politicians and leaders of some countries have promoted purported cures, while some religious groups said that the faith of their followers and God will protect them from the virus.[27][28][29] Others have claimed the virus is a lab-developed bio-weapon that was accidentally leaked,[30][31] or deliberately designed to target a country,[32] or one with a patented vaccine, a population control scheme, the result of a spy operation,[3][4] or linked to 5G networks.[33]

The World Health Organization has declared an "infodemic" of incorrect information about the virus, which poses risks to global health.[2]

Types and origin and effect

On January 30, the BBC reported about the increasing spread of conspiracy theories and false health advice in relation to COVID-19. Notable examples at the time included false health advice shared on social media and private chats, as well as conspiracy theories such as the origin in bat soup and the outbreak being planned with the participation of the Pirbright Institute.[1][34] On January 31, The Guardian listed seven instances of misinformation, adding the conspiracy theories about bioweapons and the link to 5G technology, and including varied false health advice.[35]

In an attempt to speed up research sharing, many researches have turned to preprint servers such as arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv or SSRN. Papers can be uploaded to these servers without peer review or any other editorial process that ensures research quality. Some of these papers have contributed to the spread of conspiracy theories. The most notable case was a preprint paper uploaded to bioRxiv which claimed that the virus contained HIV "insertions". Following the controversy, the paper was withdrawn.[36][37][38]

According to a study published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, most misinformation related to COVID-19 involves "various forms of reconfiguration, where existing and often true information is spun, twisted, recontextualised, or reworked". While less misinformation "was completely fabricated". The study found no deep fakes in the studied sample. The study also found that "top-down misinformation from politicians, celebrities, and other prominent public figures", while accounting for a minority of the samples, captured a majority of the social media engagement. According to their classification, the largest category of misinformation (39%) includes "misleading or false claims about the actions or policies of public authorities, including government and international bodies like the WHO or the UN".[39]

A natural experiment correlated coronavirus misinformation with increased infection and death; of two similar television news shows on the same network, one took coronavirus seriously about a month earlier than the other. People and groups exposed to the slow-response news show had higher infection and death rates.[40]

The misinformations have been used by politicians, interest groups, and state actors in many countries to scapegoat other countries for the mishandling of the domestic responses, as well as furthering political, financial agenda.[41][42][43]

Combative efforts

Further information: Impact of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic on journalism

File:ITU - AI for Good Webinar Series - COVID-19 Misinformation and Disinformation during COVID-19.webm

International Telecommunication Union

On February 2, the World Health Organization (WHO) described a "massive infodemic", citing an over-abundance of reported information, accurate and false, about the virus that "makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it". The WHO stated that the high demand for timely and trustworthy information has incentivised the creation of a direct WHO 24/7 myth-busting hotline where its communication and social media teams have been monitoring and responding to misinformation through its website and social media pages.[44][45][46] The WHO specifically debunked several claims as false, including the claim that a person can tell if they have the virus or not simply by holding their breath; the claim that drinking large amounts of water will protect against the virus; and the claim that gargling salt water prevents infection.[47]

In early February, Facebook, Twitter and Google said they were working with WHO to address "misinformation".[48] In a blogpost, Facebook stated they would remove content flagged by global health organizations and local authorities that violate its content policy on misinformation leading to "physical harm".[49] Facebook is also giving free advertising to WHO.[50] Nonetheless, a week after Trump's speculation that sunlight could kill the virus, the New York Times found "780 Facebook groups, 290 Facebook pages, nine Instagram accounts and thousands of tweets pushing UV light therapies," content which those companies declined to remove from their platforms.[51]

At the end of February, Amazon removed more than a million products claimed to cure or protect against coronavirus, and removed tens of thousands of listings for health products whose prices were "significantly higher than recent prices offered on or off Amazon", although numerous items were "still being sold at unusually high prices" as of February 28.[52]

Millions of instances of COVID-19 misinformation have occurred across a number of online platforms.[53] Other fake news researchers noted certain rumors started in China; many of them later spread to Korea and the United States, prompting several universities in Korea to start the multilingual Facts Before Rumors campaign to separate common claims seen online.[54][55][56][57]

The media has praised Wikipedia's coverage of COVID-19 and its combating the inclusion of misinformation through efforts led by the Wiki Project Med Foundation and the English-language Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine, among other groups.[58][59][60]

Many local newspapers have been severely affected by losses in advertising revenues from coronavirus; journalists have been laid off, and some have closed altogether.[61]

Many newspapers with paywalls lowered them for some or all their coronavirus coverage.[62][63] Many scientific publishers made scientific papers related to the outbreak open access.[64]

The Turkish Interior Ministry has been arresting social media users whose posts were "targeting officials and spreading panic and fear by suggesting the virus had spread widely in Turkey and that officials had taken insufficient measures".[65] Iran's military said 3600 people have been arrested for "spreading rumors" about coronavirus in the country.[66] In Cambodia, some individuals who expressed concerns about the spread of COVID-19 have been arrested on fake news charges.[67][68] Algerian lawmakers passed a law criminalising "fake news" deemed harmful to "public order and state security".[69] In the Philippines,[70] China,[71] India,[72][73] Egypt,[74] Bangladesh,[75] Morocco,[76] Pakistan,[77] Saudi Arabia,[78] Oman,[79] Iran,[80] Vietnam, Laos,[81] Indonesia,[73] Mongolia,[73] Sri Lanka,[73] Kenya, South Africa,[82] Somalia,[83] Thailand,[84] Kazakhstan,[85] Azerbaijan,[86] Malaysia[87] and Hong Kong, people have been arrested for allegedly spreading false information about the coronavirus pandemic.[88][73] The United Arab Emirates have introduced criminal penalties for the spread of misinformation and rumours related to the outbreak.[89]

Conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theories have appeared both in social media and in mainstream news outlets, and are heavily influenced by geopolitics.[90]

Accidental leakage

Virologist and immunologist Vincent R. Racaniello said that "accident theories – and the lab-made theories before them – reflect a lack of understanding of the genetic make-up of Sars-CoV-2."[91]

A number of allegations have emerged supposing a link between the virus and Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV); among these is that the virus was an accidental leakage from WIV.[92] In 2017, U.S. molecular biologist Richard H. Ebright expressed caution when the WIV was expanded to become mainland China's first biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory, noting previous escapes of the SARS virus at other Chinese laboratories.[93] While Ebright refuted several conspiracy theories regarding the WIV (e.g., bioweapons research, or that the virus was engineered), he told BBC China this did not represent the possibility that the virus can be "completely ruled out" from entering the population due to a laboratory accident.[92] Various researchers contacted by NPR concluded there was "virtually no chance" (in NPR's words) that the pandemic virus had accidentally escaped from a laboratory.[94] Disinformation researcher Nina Jankowicz from Wilson Center indicates the lab leakage claim entered mainstream media in United States during April, propagated by pro-Trump news outlet.[43]

On February 14, 2020, Chinese scientists explored the possibility of accidental leakage and published speculations on scientific social networking website ResearchGate. The paper was neither peer-reviewed nor presented any evidence for its claims.[95] On March 5, the author of paper told Wall Street Journal in an interview why he decided to withdrew the paper by the end of February, stating: "the speculation about the possible origins in the post was based on published papers and media, and was not supported by direct proofs."[96][97] Several newspapers have referenced the paper.[95] Scientific American reported that Shi Zhengli, the lead researcher at WIV, started investigation on mishandling of experimental materials in the lab records, especially during disposal. She also tried to cross-check the novel coronavirus genome with the genetic information of other bat coronaviruses her team had collected. The result showed none of the sequences matched those of the viruses her team had sampled from bat caves.[98]

In February, it was alleged that the first person infected may have been a researcher at the institute named Huang Yanling.[99] Rumours circulated on Chinese social media that the researcher had become infected and died, prompting a denial from WIV, saying she was a graduate student enrolled in the Institute until 2015 and is not the patient zero.[100][99] In April, the conspiracy theory started to circulate around on Youtube and got picked up by conservative media, National Review.[101][6]

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that one of the WIV's lead researchers, Shi Zhengli, was the particular focus of personal attacks in Chinese social media alleging that her work on bat-based viruses was the source of the virus; this led Shi to post: "I swear with my life, [the virus] has nothing to do with the lab". When asked by the SCMP to comment on the attacks, Shi responded: "My time must be spent on more important matters".[102] Caixin reported Shi made further public statements against "perceived tinfoil-hat theories about the new virus's source", quoting her as saying: "The novel 2019 coronavirus is nature punishing the human race for keeping uncivilized living habits. I, Shi Zhengli, swear on my life that it has nothing to do with our laboratory".[103] Immunologist Vincent Racaniello stated that virus leaking theory "reflect a lack of understanding of the genetic make-up of Sars-CoV-2 and its relationship to the bat virus". He says the bat virus researched in the institution "would not have been able to infect humans—the human Sars-CoV-2 has additional changes that allows it to infect humans."[91]

On April 14, the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, in response to questions about the virus being manufactured in a lab, said "... it's inconclusive, although the weight of evidence seems to indicate natural. But we don't know for certain."[104] On that same day, Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin detailed a leaked cable of a 2018 trip made to the WIV by scientists from the U.S. Embassy. The article was referenced and cited by conservative media to push the lab leakage theory.[43] Rogin's article went on to say that "What the U.S. officials learned during their visits concerned them so much that they dispatched two diplomatic cables categorized as Sensitive But Unclassified back to Washington. The cables warned about safety and management weaknesses at the WIV lab and proposed more attention and help. The first cable, which I obtained, also warns that the lab's work on bat coronaviruses and their potential human transmission represented a risk of a new SARS-like pandemic."[105] Rogin's article pointed out there was no evidence that the coronavirus was engineered, "But that is not the same as saying it didn't come from the lab, which spent years testing bat coronaviruses in animals."[105] The article went on to quote Xiao Qiang, a research scientist at the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley, "I don't think it's a conspiracy theory. I think it's a legitimate question that needs to be investigated and answered. To understand exactly how this originated is critical knowledge for preventing this from happening in the future."[105] Washington Post's article and subsequent broadcasts drew criticism from virologist Angela Rasmussen of Columbia University, which she states "It's irresponsible for political reporters like Rogin [to] uncritically regurgitate a secret 'cable' without asking a single virologist or ecologist or making any attempt to understand the scientific context."[43] Rasmussen later compared biosafety procedure concerns to "having the health inspector come to your restaurant. It could just be, ‘Oh, you need to keep your chemical showers better stocked.’ It doesn’t suggest, however, that there are tremendous problems.”[106]

Days later, multiple media outlets confirmed that U.S. intelligence officials were investigating the possibility that the virus started in the WIV.[107][108][109][110] On April 23, Vox presented disputed arguments on lab leakage claims from several scientists.[111] Scientists suggested that virus samples cultured in the lab have significant amount of difference compare to SARS-CoV-2. The virus institution sampled RaTG13 in Yunnan, the closest known relative of the novel coronavirus with 96% shared genome. Edward Holmes, SARS-CoV-2 researcher at the University of Sydney, explained 4% of difference "is equivalent to an average of 50 years (and at least 20 years) of evolutionary change."[111][112] Virologist Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance, which studies emerging infectious diseases, noted the estimation that 1–7 million people in Southeast Asia who live or work in proximity to bats are infected each year with bat coronaviruses. In the interview with Vox, he comments, "There are probably half a dozen people that do work in those labs. So let's compare 1 million to 7 million people a year to half a dozen people; it's just not logical."[94][111]

On April 30, The New York Times reported the Trump administration demanded intelligence agencies to find evidence linking WIV with the origin of SARS-Cov-2. Secretary of State and former Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A) director Mike Pompeo was reportedly leading the push on finding information regarding the virus origin. Analysts were concerned that pressure from senior officials could distort assessments from the intelligence community. Anthony Ruggiero, the head of the National Security Council which responsible for tracking weapons of mass destruction, expressed frustration during a video conference that C.I.A. was unable to form conclusive answer on the origin of the virus. According to current and former government officials, as of April 30, C.I.A has yet to gather any information beyond circumstantial evidence to bolster the lab theory.[113][114] US intelligence officers suggested that Chinese officials tried to conceal the severity of the outbreak in early days, but no evidence had shown China attempted to cover up a lab accident.[115] One day later, Trump claimed he has evidence of the lab theory, but offers no further details on it.[116][117] Jamie Metzl, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, claimed the SARS-CoV-2 virus "likely" came from a Wuhan virology testing laboratory, based on "circumstantial evidence". He was quoted as saying, "I have no definitive way of proving this thesis."[118]

On April 30, 2020, the U.S. intelligence and scientific communities issued a public statement dismissing the idea that the virus was not natural, while the investigation of the lab accident theory was ongoing.[119][120] The White House suggested an alternative explanation, along with a seemingly contradictory message, that the virus was man-made. In an interview with ABC News, Secretary of State Pompeo said he has no reason to disbelieve the intelligence community that the virus was natural. However, this contradicted the comment he made earlier in the same interview, in which he said "the best experts so far seem to think it was man-made. I have no reason to disbelieve that at this point."[121][122][123] On May 4, Australian tabloid The Daily Telegraph claimed a reportedly leaked dossier from Five Eyes, which alleged the probable outbreak was from the Wuhan lab.[124] Fox News and national security commentators in the US quickly followed up The Telegraph story,[125][126] rising the tension within international intelligence community.[127] Australian government, which is part of the Five Eyes nations, determined the leaked dossier was not a Five Eyes document, but a compilation of open-source materials that contained no information generated by intelligence gathering.[128] German intelligence community denied the claim of the leaked dossier, instead supported the probability of a natural cause.[129][130] Australian government sees the promotion of the lab theory from the United States counterproductive to Australia’s push for a more broad international-supported independent inquiry into the virus origins.[127] Senior officials in Australian government speculated the dossier was leaked by US embassy in Canberra to promote a narrative in Australia media that diverged from the mainstream belief of Australia.[127][128][125]

Beijing rejected the White House's claim, calling the claim "part of an election year strategy by President Donald Trump’s Republican Party".[131] Hua Chunying, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, urged Mike Pompeo to present evidence for his claim. "Mr. Pompeo cannot present any evidence because he does not have any," Hua told a journalist during a regular briefing, "This matter should be handled by scientists and professionals instead of politicians out of their domestic political needs."[131][132] The Chinese ambassador, in an opinion published in the Washington Post, called on the White House to end the "blame game" over the coronavirus.[133][134] As of May 5, assessments and internal sources from the Five Eyes nations indicated that the coronavirus outbreak was the result of a laboratory accident was "highly unlikely", since the human infection was "highly likely" a result of natural human and animal interaction. However, to reach such a conclusion with total certainty would still require greater cooperation and transparency from the Chinese side.[135]

Anti-Israeli and antisemitic

Further information: Antisemitic canard

Iran's Press TV asserted that "Zionist elements developed a deadlier strain of coronavirus against Iran".[14] Similarly, various Arab media outlets accused Israel and the United States of creating and spreading COVID-19, avian flu, and SARS.[136] Users on social media offered a variety of theories, including the supposition that Jews had manufactured COVID-19 to precipitate a global stock market collapse and thereby profit via insider trading,[137] while a guest on Turkish television posited a more ambitious scenario in which Jews and Zionists had created COVID-19, avian flu, and Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever to "design the world, seize countries, [and] neuter the world's population".[138]

Israeli attempts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine prompted mixed reactions. Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi denied initial reports that he had ruled that a Zionist-made vaccine would be halal,[139] and one Press TV journalist tweeted that "I'd rather take my chances with the virus than consume an Israeli vaccine".[140] A columnist for the Turkish Yeni Akit asserted that such a vaccine could be a ruse to carry out mass sterilization.[141]

An alert by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding the possible threat of far-right extremists intentionally spreading the coronavirus mentioned blame being assigned to Jews and Jewish leaders for causing the pandemic and several statewide shutdowns.[142]

Anti-Muslim

Further information: 2020 Tablighi Jamaat coronavirus hotspot in Delhi

In India, Muslims have been blamed for spreading infection following the emergence of cases linked to a Tablighi Jamaat religious gathering.[143] There are reports of vilification of Muslims on social media and attacks on individuals in India.[144] Claims have been made Muslims are selling food contaminated with coronavirus and that a mosque in Patna was sheltering people from Italy and Iran.[145] These claims were shown to be false.[146] In the UK, there are reports of far-right groups blaming Muslims for the coronavirus outbreak and falsely claiming that mosques remained open after the national ban on large gatherings.[147]

Bioengineered virus

It has been repeatedly claimed that the virus was deliberately created by humans.

Nature Medicine published an article arguing against the conspiracy theory that the virus was created artificially. The high-affinity binding of its peplomers to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) was shown to be "most likely the result of natural selection on a human or human-like ACE2 that permits another optimal binding solution to arise".[148] In case of genetic manipulation, one of the several reverse-genetic systems for betacoronaviruses would probably have been used, while the genetic data irrefutably showed that the virus is not derived from a previously used virus template.[148] The overall molecular structure of the virus was found to be distinct from the known coronaviruses and most closely resembles that of viruses of bats and pangolins that were little studied and never known to harm humans.[149]

In February 2020, the Financial Times quoted virus expert and global co-lead coronavirus investigator Trevor Bedford: "There is no evidence whatsoever of genetic engineering that we can find", and "The evidence we have is that the mutations [in the virus] are completely consistent with natural evolution".[150] Bedford further explained, "The most likely scenario, based on genetic analysis, was that the virus was transmitted by a bat to another mammal between 20–70 years ago. This intermediary animal—not yet identified—passed it on to its first human host in the city of Wuhan in late November or early December 2019".[150]

On February 19, 2020, The Lancet published a letter of a group of scientists condemning "conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin".[151]

Chinese biological weapon

India

Amidst a rise in Sinophobia, there have been conspiracy theories reported on India's social networks that the virus is "a bioweapon that went rogue" and also fake videos alleging that Chinese authorities are killing citizens to prevent its spread.[152]

Ukraine

According to the Kyiv Post, two common conspiracy theories online in Ukraine are that American author Dean Koontz predicted the pandemic in his 1981 novel The Eyes of Darkness, and that the coronavirus is a bioweapon leaked from a secret lab in Wuhan.[153]

United Kingdom

Tobias Ellwood said, "It would be irresponsible to suggest the source of this outbreak was an error in a Chinese military biological weapons programme ... But without greater Chinese transparency we cannot entirely completely sure."[154]

In February, Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Defence Select Committee of the UK House of Commons, publicly questioned the role of the Chinese Army's Wuhan Institute for Biological Products and called for the "greater transparency over the origins of the coronavirus".[154][non-primary source needed] The Daily Mail reported in early April 2020 that a member of COBRA (an ad-hoc government committee tasked with advising on crises[citation needed]) has stated while government intelligence does not dispute that the virus has a zoonotic origin, it also does not discount the idea of a leak from a Wuhan laboratory, saying "Perhaps it is no coincidence that there is that laboratory in Wuhan"; the Asia Times reported the story as if it were factual,[155] perhaps unaware of the reputation of the Daily Mail.

United States

Further information: Cyberwarfare in the United States and Propaganda in the United States

In January 2020, BBC News published an article about coronavirus misinformation, citing two January 24 articles from The Washington Times that said the virus was part of a Chinese biological weapons program, based at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).[1] The Washington Post later published an article debunking the conspiracy theory, citing U.S. experts who explained why the WIV was unsuitable for bioweapon research, that most countries had abandoned bioweapons as fruitless, and that there was no evidence the virus was genetically engineered.[156]

On January 29, financial news website and blog ZeroHedge suggested without evidence that a scientist at the WIV created the COVID-19 strain responsible for the coronavirus outbreak. Zerohedge listed the full contact details of the scientist supposedly responsible, a practice known as doxing, by including the scientist's name, photo, and phone number, suggesting to readers that they "pay [the Chinese scientist] a visit" if they wanted to know "what really caused the coronavirus pandemic".[157] Twitter later permanently suspended the blog's account for violating its platform-manipulation policy.[158]

Logo of the fictional Umbrella Corporation, which some internet rumours linked to the pandemic. The corporation was invented for the Resident Evil game series.

In January 2020, Buzzfeed News reported on an internet meme of a link between the logo of the WIV and "Umbrella Corporation", the agency that created the virus responsible for a zombie apocalypse in the Resident Evil franchise. Posts online noted that "Racoon [sic]" (the main city in Resident Evil) was an anagram of "Corona".[159] Snopes noted that the logo was not from the WIV, but a company named Shanghai Ruilan Bao Hu San Biotech Ltd (located some 500 miles (800 km) away in Shanghai), and that the correct name of the city in Resident Evil was "Raccoon City".[159]

In February 2020, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) suggested the virus may have originated in a Chinese bioweapon laboratory.[160] Francis Boyle, a law professor, also expressed support for the bioweapon theory suggesting it was the result of unintended leaks.[161] Cotton elaborated on Twitter that his opinion was only one of "at least four hypotheses". Multiple medical experts have indicated there is no evidence for these claims.[162] Conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh said on The Rush Limbaugh Show—the most popular radio show in the U.S.—that the virus was probably "a ChiCom laboratory experiment" and the Chinese government was using the virus and the media hysteria surrounding it to bring down Donald Trump.[163][164]

On February 6, the White House asked scientists and medical researchers to rapidly investigate the origins of the virus both to address the current spread and "to inform future outbreak preparation and better understand animal/human and environmental transmission aspects of coronaviruses".[165] American magazine Foreign Policy said Xi Jinping's "political agenda may turn out to be a root cause of the epidemic" and that his Belt and Road Initiative has "made it possible for a local disease to become a global menace".[90]

The Inverse reported that "Christopher Bouzy, the founder of Bot Sentinel, conducted a Twitter analysis for Inverse and found [online] bots and trollbots are making an array of false claims. These bots are claiming China intentionally created the virus, that it's a biological weapon, that Democrats are overstating the threat to hurt Donald Trump and more. While we can't confirm the origin of these bots, they are decidedly pro-Trump."[166]

Conservative commentator Josh Bernstein claimed that the Democratic Party and the "medical deep state" were collaborating with the Chinese government to create and release the coronavirus to bring down Donald Trump. Bernstein went on to suggest those responsible should be locked in a room with infected coronavirus patients as punishment.[167][168]

Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University, promoted a conspiracy theory on Fox News that North Korea and China conspired together to create the coronavirus.[169] He also said people were overreacting to the coronavirus outbreak and that Democrats were trying to use the situation to harm President Trump.[170]

Hospital ship attack

The hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) deployed to the Port of Los Angeles to provide backup medical services for the region. On March 31, 2020, a Pacific Harbor Line freight train was deliberately derailed by its onboard engineer in an attempt to crash into the ship, but the attack was unsuccessful and no one was injured.[171][172] According to U.S. federal prosecutors, the train's engineer "[...] was suspicious of the Mercy, believing it had an alternate purpose related to COVID-19 or a government takeover".[173]

Population control scheme

See also: List of conspiracy theories § RFID chips

According to the BBC, Jordan Sather, a conspiracy theory YouTuber supporting the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory and the anti-vax movement, has falsely claimed the outbreak was a population control scheme created by Pirbright Institute in England and by former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates. This belief is held mostly by right-wing libertarians, NWO conspiracy theorists, and Christian Fundamentalists.[1][174]

Spy operation

Some people have alleged that the coronavirus was stolen from a Canadian virus research lab by Chinese scientists. Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada said that conspiracy theory had "no factual basis".[175] The stories seem to have been derived[176] from a July 2019 news article[177] stating that some Chinese researchers had their security access to a Canadian Level 4 virology facility revoked in a federal police investigation; Canadian officials described this as an administrative matter and "there is absolutely no risk to the Canadian public."[177]

This article was published by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC);[176] responding to the conspiracy theories, the CBC later stated that "CBC reporting never claimed the two scientists were spies, or that they brought any version of the coronavirus to the lab in Wuhan". While pathogen samples were transferred from the lab in Winnipeg, Canada to Beijing, China, on March 31, 2019, neither of the samples was a coronavirus, the Public Health Agency of Canada says the shipment conformed to all federal policies, and there has not been any statement that the researchers under investigation were responsible for sending the shipment. The current location of the researchers under investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is not being released.[175][178][179]

In the midst of the coronavirus epidemic, a senior research associate and expert in biological warfare with the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, referring to a NATO press conference, identified suspicions of espionage as the reason behind the expulsions from the lab, but made no suggestion that coronavirus was taken from the Canadian lab or that it is the result of bioweapons defense research in China.[180]

U.S. biological weapon

Arab world

According to Washington DC-based nonprofit Middle East Media Research Institute, numerous writers in the Arabic press have promoted the conspiracy theory that COVID-19, as well as SARS and the swine flu virus, were deliberately created and spread to sell vaccines against these diseases, and it is "part of an economic and psychological war waged by the U.S. against China with the aim of weakening it and presenting it as a backward country and a source of diseases".[181] Iraqi political analyst Sabah Al-Akili on Al-Etejah TV, Saudi daily Al-Watan writer Sa'ud Al-Shehry, Syrian daily Al-Thawra columnist Hussein Saqer, and Egyptian journalist Ahmad Rif'at on Egyptian news website Vetogate, were some examples given by MEMRI as propagators of the U.S. biowarfare conspiracy theory in the Arabic world.[181]

China

Further information: Cyberwarfare by China, Propaganda in China, and Chinese information operations and information warfare

The Xinhua News Agency is among the news outlets that have published false information about COVID-19's origins.

According to London-based The Economist, plenty of conspiracy theories exist on China's internet about COVID-19 being the CIA's creation to keep China down.[182] NBC News however has noted that there have also been debunking efforts of U.S.-related conspiracy theories posted online, with a WeChat search of "Coronavirus is from the U.S." reported to mostly yield articles explaining why such claims are unreasonable.[183] According to an investigation by ProPublica, such conspiracy theories and disinformation have been propagated under the direction of China News Service, the country's second largest government-owned media outlet controlled by the United Front Work Department.[184] Global Times and Xinhua News Agency have similarly been implicated in propagating disinformation related to COVID-19's origins.[185][186]

Multiple conspiracy articles in Chinese from the SARS era resurfaced during the outbreak with altered details, claiming SARS is biological warfare. Some said BGI Group from China sold genetic information of the Chinese people to the U.S., which then specifically targeted the genome of Chinese individuals.[187]

On January 26, Chinese military enthusiast website Xilu published an article, claimed how the U.S. artificially combined the virus to "precisely target Chinese people".[188][189] The article was removed in early February. The article was further distorted on social media in Taiwan, which claimed "Top Chinese military website admitted novel coronavirus was Chinese-made bio-weapons".[190] Taiwan Fact-check center debunked the original article and its divergence, suggesting the original Xilu article distorted the conclusion from a legitimate research on Chinese scientific magazine Science China Life Sciences, which never mentioned the virus was engineered.[190] The fact-check center explained Xilu is a military enthusiastic tabloid established by a private company, thus it doesn't represent the voice of Chinese military.[190]

Some articles on popular sites in China have also cast suspicion on U.S. military athletes participating in the Wuhan 2019 Military World Games, which lasted until the end of October 2019, and have suggested they deployed the virus. They claim the inattentive attitude and disproportionately below-average results of American athletes in the games indicate they might have been there for other purposes and they might actually be bio-warfare operatives. Such posts stated that their place of residence during their stay in Wuhan was also close to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, where the first known cluster of cases occurred.[191]

In March 2020, this conspiracy theory was endorsed by Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China.[192][193][194][195] On March 13, the U.S. government summoned Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai to Washington over the coronavirus conspiracy theory.[196] Over the next month, conspiracy theorists narrowed their focus to one U.S. Army Reservist, a woman who participated in the games in Wuhan as a cyclist, claiming she is "patient zero". According to a CNN report, these theories have been spread by George Webb, who has nearly 100,000 followers on YouTube, and have been amplified by a report by CPC-owned newspaper Global Times.[197][198]

Iran

Further information: Propaganda in Iran

Reza Malekzadeh, deputy health minister, rejected bioterrorism theories.

According to Radio Farda, Iranian cleric Seyyed Mohammad Saeedi accused U.S. President Donald Trump of targeting Qom with coronavirus "to damage its culture and honor". Saeedi claimed that Trump is fulfilling his promise to hit Iranian cultural sites, if Iranians took revenge for the airstrike that killed of Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani.[199]

Iranian TV personality Ali Akbar Raefipour claimed the coronavirus was part of a "hybrid warfare" programme waged by the United States on Iran and China.[200] Brigadier General Gholam Reza Jalali, head of Iranian Civil Defense Organization, claimed the coronavirus is likely a biological attack on China and Iran with economic goals.[201][202]

Hossein Salami, the head of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed the coronavirus outbreak in Iran may be due to a U.S. "biological attack".[203] Several Iranian politicians, including Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Rasoul Falahati, Alireza Panahian, Abolfazl Hasanbeigi and Gholamali Jafarzadeh Imanabadi, also made similar remarks.[204] Iranian Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made similar suggestions.[205]

Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter to the United Nations on March 9, claiming that "it is clear to the world that the mutated coronavirus was produced in lab" and that COVID-19 is "a new weapon for establishing and/or maintaining political and economic upper hand in the global arena".[206]

The late[207] Ayatollah Hashem Bathaie Golpayegani claimed that "America is the source of coronavirus, because America went head to head with China and realised it cannot keep up with it economically or militarily."[208]

Reza Malekzadeh, Iran's deputy health minister and former Minister of Health, rejected claims that the virus was a biological weapon, pointing out that the U.S. would be suffering heavily from it. He said Iran was hard-hit because its close ties to China and reluctance to cut air ties introduced the virus, and because early cases had been mistaken for influenza.[205]

Philippines

In the Philippine Senate, Tito Sotto has promoted his belief that COVID-19 is a bioweapon.

A Filipino Senator, Tito Sotto, played a bioweapon conspiracy video in a February 2020 Senate hearing, suggesting the coronavirus is biowarfare waged against China.[209][210]

Russia

Further information: Cyberwarfare by Russia and Propaganda in the Russian Federation

On February 22, U.S. officials alleged that Russia is behind an ongoing disinformation campaign, using thousands of social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to deliberately promote unfounded conspiracy theories, claiming the virus is a biological weapon manufactured by the CIA and the U.S. is waging economic war on China using the virus.[211][12][212] The acting assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia, Philip Reeker, said "Russia's intent is to sow discord and undermine U.S. institutions and alliances from within" and "by spreading disinformation about coronavirus, Russian malign actors are once again choosing to threaten public safety by distracting from the global health response."[211] Russia denies the allegation, saying "this is a deliberately false story".[213]

According to U.S.-based The National Interest magazine, although official Russian channels had been muted on pushing the U.S. biowarfare conspiracy theory, other Russian media elements do not share the Kremlin's restraint.[214] Zvezda, a news outlet funded by the Russian Defense Ministry, published an article titled "Coronavirus: American biological warfare against Russia and China", claiming that the virus is intended to damage the Chinese economy, weakening its hand in the next round of trade negotiations.[214] Ultra-nationalist politician and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, claimed on a Moscow radio station that the virus was an experiment by the Pentagon and pharmaceutical companies. Politician Igor Nikulin made rounds on Russian television and news media, arguing that Wuhan was chosen for the attack because the presence of a BSL-4 virus lab provided a cover story for the Pentagon and CIA about a Chinese bio-experiment leak.[214] An EU-document claims 80 attempts by Russian media to spread disinformation related to the epidemic.[215]

According to the East StratCom Task Force, the Sputnik news agency was active publishing stories speculating that the virus could've been invented in Latvia, that it was used by Communist Party of China to curb protests in Hong Kong, that it was introduced intentionally to reduce the number of elder people in Italy, that it was targeted against the Yellow Vests movement, and making many other speculations. Sputnik branches in countries including Armenia, Belarus, Spain, and in the Middle East came up with versions of these stories.[216]

Venezuela

Constituent Assembly member Elvis Méndez declared that the coronavirus was a "bacteriological sickness created in '89, in '90 and historically" and that it was a sickness "inoculated by the gringos". Méndez theorized that the virus was a weapon against Latin America and China and that its purpose was "to demoralize the person, to weaken to install their system".[217]

COVID-19 recovery

It has been wrongly claimed that anyone infected with COVID-19 will have the virus in their bodies for life. While there is no curative treatment, infected individuals can recover from the disease, eliminating the virus from their bodies; getting supportive medical care early can help.[279]

COVID-19 xenophobic blaming by ethnicity and religion

Main article: List of incidents of xenophobia and racism related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic

File:IOM - Fighting Stigma and Discrimination against Migrants during COVID-19.webm

UN video warns that misinformation against groups may lower testing rates and increase transmission.

COVID-19-related xenophobic attacks have been made against people the attacker blamed for COVID-19 on the basis of their ethnicity. People who are considered to look Chinese have been subjected to COVID-19-related verbal and physical attacks in many other countries, often by people accusing them of transmitting the virus.[281][282][283] Within China, there has been discrimination (such as evictions and non-service in shops) against people from anywhere closer to Wuhan (where the pandemic started) and against anyone perceived as being non-Chinese (especially those considered African), as the Chinese government has blamed continuing cases on re-introductions of the virus from abroad (90% of reintroduced cases were by Chinese passport-holders). Neighbouring countries have also discriminated against people seen as Westerners.[284][285][286] People have also simply blamed other local groups along the lines of pre-existing social tensions and divisions, sometimes citing reporting of COVID-19 cases within that group. For instance, Muslims have been widely blamed, shunned, and discriminated against in India (including some violent attacks), amid unfounded claims that Muslims are deliberately spreading COVID-19, and a Muslim event at which the disease did spread has received far more public attention than many similar events run by other groups and the government.[287] White supremacist groups have blamed COVID-19 on non-whites and advocated deliberately infecting minorities they dislike, such as Jews.[288]

False causes

5G

5G towers have been burned by people wrongly blaming them for COVID-19.

Openreach engineers appealed on anti-5G Facebook groups, saying they aren't involved in mobile networks, and workplace abuse is making it difficult for them to maintain phonelines and broadband.

This article is part of a series on

Alternative and pseudo‑medicine

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Anti-fluoridation/Water fluoridation movement Anti-vaccination Vaccines causing autism Big Pharma conspiracy theory COVID-19 pandemic GMO conspiracy theories HIV/AIDS denialism Discredited HIV/AIDS origins theories OPV AIDS hypothesis

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In February 2020 BBC News reported that conspiracy theorists on social media groups alleged a link between coronavirus and 5G mobile networks, claiming that Wuhan and Diamond Princess outbreaks were directly caused by electromagnetic fields and by the introduction of 5G and wireless technologies. Some conspiracy theorists also alleged that the coronavirus outbreak was a cover-up for a 5G-related illness.[33] In March 2020, Thomas Cowan, a holistic medical practitioner who trained as a physician and operates on probation with Medical Board of California, alleged that coronavirus is caused by 5G, based on the claims that African countries were not affected significantly by the pandemic and Africa was not a 5G region.[289][290] Cowan also falsely alleged that the viruses were wastes from cells that are poisoned by electromagnetic fields and historical viral pandemics coincided with the major developments in radio technology.[290] The video of his claims went viral and was recirculated by celebrities including Woody Harrelson, John Cusack, and singer Keri Hilson.[291] The claims may also have been recirculated by an alleged "coordinated disinformation campaign", similar to campaigns used by the Internet Research Agency in Saint Petersburg, Russia.[292] The claims were criticized on social media and debunked by Reuters,[293] USA Today,[294] Full Fact[295] and American Public Health Association executive director Georges C. Benjamin.[289][296]

Professor Steve Powis, national medical director of NHS England, described theories linking 5G mobile phone networks to COVID-19 as the "worst kind of fake news".[297] Viruses cannot be transmitted by radio waves. COVID-19 has spread and continues to spread in many countries that do not have 5G networks.[279]

After telecommunications masts in several parts of the United Kingdom were the subject of arson attacks, British Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said the theory that COVID-19 virus may be spread by 5G wireless communication is "just nonsense, dangerous nonsense as well".[298] Vodafone announced that two Vodafone masts and two it shares with O2 had been targeted.[299][300]

By Monday April 6, 2020 at least 20 mobile phone masts in the UK had been vandalised since the previous Thursday.[301] Because of slow rollout of 5G in the UK, many of the damaged masts had only 3G and 4G equipment.[301] Mobile phone and home broadband operators estimated there were at least 30 incidents of confronting engineers maintaining equipment in the week up to April 6.[301] There have been eleven incidents of attempted arson at mobile phone masts in the Netherlands, including one case where "Fuck 5G" was written, as well as in Ireland and Cyprus.[302][303] Facebook has deleted multiple messages encouraging attacks on 5G equipment.[301]

Engineers working for Openreach posted pleas on anti-5G Facebook groups asking to be spared abuse as they are not involved with maintaining mobile networks.[304] Mobile UK said the incidents were affecting attempts to maintain networks that support home working and provide critical connections to vulnerable customers, emergency services and hospitals.[304] A widely circulated video shows people working for broadband company Community Fibre being abused by a woman who accuses them of installing 5G as part of a plan to kill the population.[304]

YouTube announced that it would reduce the amount of content claiming links between 5G and coronavirus.[299] Videos that are conspiratorial about 5G that do not mention coronavirus would not be removed, though they might be considered "borderline content", removed from search recommendations and losing advertising revenue.[299] The discredited claims had been circulated by British conspiracy theorist David Icke in videos (subsequently removed) on YouTube and Vimeo, and an interview by London Live TV network, prompting calls for action by Ofcom.[305][306]

On April 13, 2020, Gardaí were investigating fires at 5G masts in County Donegal, Ireland.[307] Gardaí and fire services had attended the fires the previous night in an attempt to put them out.[307] Although Gardaí were awaiting results of tests they were treating the fires as deliberate.[307]

There were 20 suspected arson attacks on phone masts in the UK over the Easter 2020 weekend.[297] These included an incident in Dagenham where three men were arrested on suspicion of arson, a fire in Huddersfield that affected a mast used by emergency services and a fire in a mast that provides mobile connectivity to the NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham.[297]

Ofcom issued guidance to ITV following comments by Eamonn Holmes after comments made by Holmes about 5G and coronavirus on This Morning.[308] Ofcom said the comments were "ambiguous" and "ill-judged" and they "risked undermining viewers' trust in advice from public authorities and scientific evidence".[308] Ofcom also local channel London Live in breach of standards for an interview it had with David Icke who it said had " expressed views which had the potential to cause significant harm to viewers in London during the pandemic".[308]

Some telecoms engineers have reported threats of violence, including threats to stab and murder them, by individuals who believe them to be working on 5G networks.[309] West Midlands Police said the crimes in question are being taken very seriously.[309]

On April 24, 2020 The Guardian revealed that an evangelical pastor from Luton had provided the male voice on a recording blaming 5G for deaths caused by coronavirus.[310] Jonathon James claimed to have formerly headed the largest business-unit at Vodafone, but insiders at the company said that he was hired for a sales position in 2014 when 5G was not a priority for the company and that 5G would not have been part of his job.[310] He left the company after less than a year.[310]

Mosquitoes

It has been claimed that mosquitoes transmit coronavirus. There is no evidence that this is true; coronavirus spreads through small droplets of saliva and mucus.[279]

Petrol pumps

A warning claiming to be from the Australia Department of Health said coronavirus spreads through petrol pumps and that everyone should wear gloves when filling up petrol in their cars.[311]

Shoe-wearing

There were claims that wearing shoes at one's home was the reason behind the spread of the coronavirus in Italy.[312]

Resistance/susceptibility based on ethnicity

There have been claims that specific ethnicities are more or less vulnerable to COVID-19. COVID-19 is a new zoonotic disease, so no population has yet had the time to develop population immunity.[medical citation needed]

Beginning on February 11, reports, quickly spread via Facebook, implied that a Cameroonian student in China had been completely cured of the virus due to his African genetics. While a student was successfully treated, other media sources have noted that no evidence implies Africans are more resistant to the virus and labeled such claims as false information.[313] Kenyan Secretary of Health Mutahi Kagwe explicitly refuted rumors that "those with black skin cannot get coronavirus", while announcing Kenya's first case on March 13.[314] This myth was cited as a contributing factor in the disproportionately high rates of infection and death observed among African Americans.[315][316]

There have been claims of "Indian immunity": that the people of India have more immunity to the COVID-19 virus due to living conditions in India. This idea was deemed "absolute drivel" by Anand Krishnan, professor at the Centre for Community Medicine of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He said there was no population immunity to the COVID-19 virus yet, as it is new, and it is not even clear whether people who have recovered from COVID-19 will have lasting immunity, as this happens with some viruses but not with others.[317]

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed the virus was genetically targeted at Iranians by the U.S., and this is why it is seriously affecting Iran. He did not offer any evidence.[318][22]

Religious protection

A number of religious groups have claimed protection due to their faith, some refusing to stop large religious gatherings. In Israel, some Ultra-Orthodox Jews initially refused to close synagogues and religious seminaries and disregarded government restrictions because "The Torah protects and saves",[319] which resulted in an 8 times faster rate of infection among some groups.[320] The Tablighi Jamaat movement organised mass gatherings in Malaysia, India, and Pakistan whose participants believed that God will protect them resulted the biggest rise in COVID-19 cases in a number of countries.[321][29][322] In Iran, the head of Fatima Masumeh Shrine encouraged pilgrims to visit the shrine despite calls to close the shrine, saying that they "consider this holy shrine to be a place of healing."[323] In South Korea the River of Grace Community Church in Gyeonggi Province spread the virus after spraying salt water into their members' mouths in the belief that it would kill the virus,[324] while the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu where a church leader claimed that no Shincheonji worshipers had caught the virus in February while hundreds died in Wuhan later caused in the biggest spread of the virus in the country.[325][326]

In Somalia, myths have spread claiming Muslims are immune to the virus.[327]

Unproven protective and aggravating factors

Vegetarian immunity

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This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2020)

Claims that vegetarians are immune to coronavirus spread online in India, causing "#NoMeat_NoCoronaVirus" to trend on Twitter.[328][better source needed] Eating meat does not have an effect on COVID-19 spread, except for people near where animals are slaughtered, said Anand Krishnan.[329] Fisheries, Dairying and Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh said the rumour had significantly affected industry, with the price of a chicken falling to a third of pre-pandemic levels. He also described efforts to improve the hygiene of the meat supply chain.[330]

Efficacy of hand sanitiser, "antibacterial" soaps

Washing in soap and water for at least 20 seconds is the best way to clean hands. Second-best is a hand sanitizer that is at least 60% alcohol.[331]

Claims that hand sanitiser is merely "antibacterial not antiviral", and therefore ineffective against COVID-19, have spread widely on Twitter and other social networks. While the effectiveness of sanitiser depends on the specific ingredients, most hand sanitiser sold commercially inactivates SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.[332][333] Hand sanitizer is recommended against COVID-19,[279] though unlike soap, it is not effective against all types of germs.[334] Washing in soap and water for at least 20 seconds is recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as the best way to clean hands in most situations. However, if soap and water are not available, a hand sanitizer that is at least 60% alcohol can be used instead, unless hands are visibly dirty or greasy.[331][335] The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration both recommend plain soap; there is no evidence that "antibacterial soaps" are any better, and limited evidence that they might be worse long-term.[336][337]

Alcohol (ethanol and poisonous methanol)

Contrary to some reports, drinking alcohol does not protect against COVID-19, and can increase health risks[279] (short term and long term). Drinking alcohol is ethanol; other alcohols, such as methanol, which causes methanol poisoning, are acutely poisonous, and may be present in badly-prepared alcoholic beverages.[338]

Iran has reported incidents of methanol poisoning, caused by the false belief that drinking alcohol would cure or protect against coronavirus;[339] alcohol is banned in Iran, and bootleg alcohol may contain methanol.[340] According to Iranian media in March 2020, nearly 300 people have died and more than a thousand have become ill due to methanol poisoning, while Associated Press gave figures of around 480 deaths with 2,850 others affected.[341] The number of deaths due to methanol poisoning in Iran reached over 700 by April.[342] Iranian social media had circulated a story from British tabloids that a British man and others had been cured of coronavirus with whiskey and honey,[339][343] which combined with the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers as disinfectants, led to the false belief that drinking high-proof alcohol can kill the virus.[339][340][341]

Similar incidents have occurred in Turkey, with 30 Turkmenistan citizens dying from methanol poisoning related to coronavirus cure claims.[344][345]

In Kenya, the Governor of Nairobi Mike Sonko has come under scrutiny for including small bottles of the cognac Hennessy in care packages, falsely claiming that alcohol serves as "throat sanitizer" and that, from research, it is believed that "alcohol plays a major role in killing the coronavirus."[346][347]

Cocaine

Cocaine does not protect against COVID-19. Several viral tweets purporting that snorting cocaine would sterilize one's nostrils of the coronavirus spread around Europe and Africa. In response, the French Ministry of Health released a public service announcement debunking this claim, saying "No, cocaine does NOT protect against COVID-19. It is an addictive drug that causes serious side effects and is harmful to people's health." The World Health Organisation also debunked the claim.[348]

Ibuprofen

A tweet from French health minister Olivier Véran, a bulletin from the French health ministry, and a small speculative study in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine raised concerns about ibuprofen worsening COVID-19, which spread extensively on social media. The European Medicines Agency[349] and the World Health Organization recommended COVID-19 patients keep taking ibuprofen as directed, citing lack of convincing evidence of any danger.[350]

Helicopter spraying

In some Asian countries, it has been claimed that one should stay at home on particular days when helicopters spray disinfectant over homes for killing off COVID-19; no such spraying is taking place.[351][352]

Cruise ships safety from infection

Main article: COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships

Claims by cruise-ship operators notwithstanding, there are many cases of coronaviruses in hot climates; some countries in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and the Persian Gulf are severely affected.

In March 2020, the Miami New Times reported that managers at Norwegian Cruise Line had prepared a set of responses intended to convince wary customers to book cruises, including "blatantly false" claims that the coronavirus "can only survive in cold temperatures, so the Caribbean is a fantastic choice for your next cruise", that "[s]cientists and medical professionals have confirmed that the warm weather of the spring will be the end of the [c]oronavirus", and that the virus "cannot live in the amazingly warm and tropical temperatures that your cruise will be sailing to".[353]

Flu is seasonal (becoming less frequent in the summer) in some countries, but not in others. While it is possible that the COVID-19 coronavirus will also show some seasonality, it is not yet known.[354][355][356][medical citation needed] The COVID-19 coronavirus spread along international air travel routes, including to tropical locations.[357] Outbreaks on cruise ships, where an older population lives in close quarters, frequently touching surfaces which others have touched, were common.[358][359]

It seems that COVID-19 can be transmitted in all climates.[279] It has seriously affected many warm-climate countries. For instance, Dubai, with an year-round average daily high of 28.0 Celsius (82.3°F) and the airport said to have the world's most international traffic, has had thousands of cases.

Vaccine pre-existence

It was reported that multiple social media posts have promoted a conspiracy theory claiming the virus was known and that a vaccine was already available. PolitiFact and FactCheck.org noted that no vaccine currently exists for COVID-19. The patents cited by various social media posts reference existing patents for genetic sequences and vaccines for other strains of coronavirus such as the SARS coronavirus.[360][4] The WHO reported as of February 5, 2020, that amid news reports of "breakthrough" drugs being discovered to treat people infected with the virus, there were no known effective treatments;[361] this included antibiotics and herbal remedies not being useful.[362] Scientists are working to develop a vaccine, but as of March 18, 2020, no vaccine candidates have completed Phase II clinical trials.[citation needed]

Miscellaneous

Name of the disease

Social media posts and internet memes claimed that COVID-19 means "Chinese Originated Viral Infectious Disease 19", or similar, as supposedly the "19th virus to come out of China".[477] In fact, the WHO named the disease as follows: CO stands for corona, VI for virus, D for disease and 19 for when the outbreak was first identified (31 December 2019).[478]

Bat soup

Some media outlets, including Daily Mail and RT, as well as individuals, disseminated a video showing a Chinese woman eating a bat, falsely suggesting it was filmed in Wuhan and connecting it to the outbreak.[479][480] However, the widely circulated video contains unrelated footage of a Chinese travel vlogger, Wang Mengyun, eating bat soup in the island country of Palau in 2016.[479][480][481][482] Wang posted an apology on Weibo,[481][482] in which she said she had been abused and threatened,[481] and that she had only wanted to showcase Palauan cuisine.[481][482] The spread of misinformation about bat consumption has been characterized by xenophobic and racist sentiment toward Asians.[90][483][484] In contrast, scientists suggest the virus originated in bats and migrated into an intermediary host animal before infecting people.[90][485]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misinformation_related_to_the_COVID...

Fake news by Jorge Franganillo

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Olivetti Studio 46

The Face of the Republican Party: Former Fox Corporation Chair Rupert Murdoch’s Money Bankrolls Lies, Hate, Misogyny, and Mistrust of American Institutions by outtacontext

7 3

Rupert Murdoch, former Chairman of the Fox Corporation, which includes Fox News, The New York Post, and The Wall Street Journal, hired people like Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and Bill O'Reilly to spread untruths about American society and elections. In April 2023, Fox News settled a lawsuit initiated by Dominion Voting Systems for $785 million for broadcasting disinformation about the security of Dominion's voting machines. Despite what Fox says, they should not be touted as "the most trusted name in news," as their tagline suggests.

Americans have lost confidence in their government. We no longer trust our legislators and the Supreme Court to solve our country’s problems: income inequality, affordable health care, a woman’s right to decide what’s best for her health, the economy, and climate change. Governance has become a series of battles. It’s no longer just political ideology. We are at war over cultural issues while our politicians ignore our basic needs. And we’ve lost faith in our country’s institutions when ersatz news organizations like Fox knew Donald Trump lost the election but promoted voter fraud to get ratings.

The morals of our GOP legislators and their sycophants are just as important as their economic policy. How can we trust a party that Alex Patton, a Florida-based Republican consultant, and pollster, has characterized as a party that “has become mean and driven by emotion on whom we dislike.”? “But,” he says, “that is the driving force in American politics right now.” That is the driving force of the GOP, not the Democrats. This is not an example of the equality of “bothsidesism.”

In my essay, “ It’s Time to Release Our Own Kraken!” I outlined the history of the Republican Party’s “below the belt” tactics. They continue to be underhanded to this day. But with the low level of civility in our present polarized country, many Republican legislators now in office have hit new ethical lows.

As a visual artist who has spent over a decade creating posters about the sorry state of American political discourse, this year I began a new series of portraits, “Faces of the Republican Party.” The men and women in this series deserve to be taken to task for their unwillingness to compromise, belief in conspiracy theories, and disdain for the LGBTQ+ community, women’s rights, and our children’s education. The purpose of our government is to solve our nation’s problems. It’s not a place for personal vendettas or manufactured cultural issues.

“Faces of the Republican Party” is not a partisan series of portraits. Merriam-Webster defines the word as “a firm adherent to a party, faction, cause, or person, especially one exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance.” The people depicted in these images are the partisans. Instead, my series is a documentary and op-ed showcasing the facts in 2022. All of them had a hand in trying to overthrow the government. These images are MAGA Republicans who put their blind allegiance to Donald Trump and their careers ahead of the needs of the American people.

The results of the 2022 midterm elections showed we are tired of autocratic and self-absorbed politicians. We would simply like our officials to do the jobs we elected them to do. Everyone deserves a piece of American Exceptionalism. As it stands, there is nothing exceptional about the tribalism these people promote.

Republicans are perfect examples of Patton’s “driving force.” This force is dirty, mean, misogynistic, selfish, and wastes our tax dollars. These people are just a small sampling of individuals responsible for the loss of credibility and faith in America’s institutions. And worse, they couldn’t care less.

Feel free to pass this poster on. It's free to download here (click on the down arrow just to the lower right of the image). Each has a special Creative Common's copyright that allows you to share these images as long as there is attribution, no derivatives, and you do not use these for commercial purposes.

See the rest of the posters from the Chamomile Tea Party! Digital high res downloads are free here (click the down arrow on the lower right side of the image). Other options are available. And join our Facebook group.

Follow the history of our country's political intransigence from 2010 to 2020 through a eight-part exhibit of these posters on Google Arts & Culture.

Finnish Stug III by Andrey Korchagin

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Parola. Finland.

The Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun was Germany's most produced armoured fighting vehicle during World War II. It was built on the chassis of the proven Panzer III tank. Initially intended as a mobile, armoured light gun for infantry support, the StuG was continually modified and was widely employed as a tank destroyer.

Development

The Sturmgeschütz III originated from German experiences in World War I when it was discovered that during the offensives on the western front the infantry lacked the means to effectively engage fortifications. The artillery of the time was heavy and not mobile enough to keep up with the advancing infantry to destroy bunkers, pillboxes, and other minor obstacles with direct-fire. Although the problem was well-known in the German army, it was General Erich von Manstein who is considered the father of the Sturmartillerie. This is because the initial proposal was from (then) Colonel Erich von Manstein and submitted to General Ludwig Beck in 1935, suggesting that Sturmartillerie ("assault artillery") units should be used in a direct-fire support role for infantry divisions. On June 15, 1936, Daimler-Benz AG received an order to develop an armoured infantry support vehicle capable of mounting a 75 mm (2.95 in) artillery piece. The gun was to have a limited traverse of a minimum of 25° and be mounted in an enclosed superstructure that provided overhead protection for the crew. The height of the vehicle was not to exceed that of the average man.

Daimler-Benz AG used the chassis and running gear of its recently designed Pz.Kpfw. III medium tank as a basis for the new vehicle. Prototype manufacture was passed over to Alkett, which produced five examples in 1937 of the experimental 0-series StuG based upon the Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. B. These prototypes featured a mild steel superstructure and Krupp’s short-barreled 75 mm StuK 37 L/24 cannon. This model was known as the Sturmgeschütz Ausführung A.

StuG III, Ausf. AWhile the StuG III was considered self-propelled artillery it was not initially clear which arm of the Wehrmacht would handle the new weapon. The Panzer arm, who was the natural user of tracked fighting vehicles, had no resources to spare for the formation of StuG units, and neither did the Infantry branch. It was therefore agreed, after a discussion, it would best be employed by becoming a part of the artillery arm.

The StuGs were organised into battalions (later renamed "brigades" for disinformation purposes) and followed their own specific doctrine. Infantry support using direct-fire was its intended role, and later there was also a strong emphasis on destroying enemy armour whenever encountered.

StuG III, Ausf. G, September 1944As the StuG III was designed to fill an infantry close support combat role, early models were fitted with a low-velocity 75 mm StuK 37 L/24 gun to destroy soft-skin targets and fortifications. After the Germans encountered the Soviet KV-1 and T-34 tanks, the StuG III was equipped with a high-velocity 75 mm StuK 40 L/43 main gun (Spring 1942) and later – the 75 mm StuK 40 L/48 (Autumn 1942) anti-tank gun. These versions were known as the Sturmgeschütz 40 Ausführung F, Ausf. F/8 and Ausf. G.

When the StuG IV entered production in late 1943, early 1944, the "III" was added to the name to separate them from the Panzer IV-based assault guns. All previous and following models were thereafter known as Sturmgeschütz III.

Beginning with the StuG III Ausf. E a 7.92 mm MG34 was mounted on the hull for added anti-infantry protection while some StuG III Ausf. G models were equipped with an additional coaxial 7.92 mm MG34.

The vehicles of the Sturmgeschütz series were cheaper and faster to build than contemporary German tanks; at 82,500 RM, a StuG III Ausf G was cheaper than a Panzer III Ausf. M which cost 103,163 RM to build. By the end of the war, 10,619 StuG III and StuH 42 had been built.[1] This was due to the omission of the turret, which greatly simplified manufacture and allowed the chassis to carry a larger gun than it could otherwise.

Operational history

Stug III in Sofia, BulgariaOverall, Sturmgeschütz series assault guns proved very successful and served on all fronts as assault guns and tank destroyers. Although Tigers and Panthers have earned a greater notoriety, assault guns collectively destroyed more tanks. Because of their low silhouette, StuG IIIs were easy to camouflage and a difficult target. Sturmgeschütz crews were considered to be the elite of the artillery units. Sturmgeschütz units held a very impressive record of tank kills – some 20,000 enemy tanks by the spring of 1944.[2] As of April 10 1945, there were 1,053 StuG IIIs and 277 StuH 42s in service. Approximately 9,500 StuG IIIs of various types were produced until March 1945 by Alkett and a small number by MIAG.

In terms of the resources expended in their construction, the StuG assault guns were extremely cost-effective compared to the heavier German tanks, though in the anti-tank role, it was best used defensively, as the lack of a turret would be a severe disadvantage out in the open. As the German military situation deteriorated later in the war, more and more StuG guns were constructed in comparison to tanks, in an effort to replace losses and bolster defences against the encroaching Allied forces.

In 1944 the Finnish Army received 59 StuG III Ausf. Gs from Germany (30 Stu 40 Ausf.G and 29 StuG III Ausf. G) and used them against the Soviet Union. These destroyed at least 87 enemy tanks for a loss of only 8 StuGs[2] (some of these were destroyed by their crews when they abandoned the vehicle to prevent capture). After the war, they were the main combat vehicles of the Finnish Army until the early 1960s. These StuGs gained the nickname "Sturmi" which can be found in some plastic kit models.

StuG IIIs were also exported to other nations like Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Romania, and Spain.

Many German Sturmgeschütz IIIs were captured by Yugoslav Partisans and after the war they were used by the Yugoslav Peoples Army until the 1950s.

After the Second World War, the Soviet Union donated some of their captured German vehicles to Syria, which continued to use them at least until the Six Days War (1967).

Wikipedia

Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) (Штурмгешутц III (Штуг III)— средняя по массе немецкая самоходно-артиллерийская установка класса штурмовых орудий времён Второй мировой войны на базе танка Pz Kpfw III. Серийно выпускалась в различных модификациях с 1940 по 1945 год и стала самым массовым по численности представителем бронетехники вермахта (выпущено 8636 самоходок с 75-мм орудиями).

StuG III — компоновка боевого подразделения и размещение в нем экипажаПолное официальное название машины — Gepanzerte Selbstfahrlafette fur Sturmgeschütz 7,5 cm Kanone. По ведомственному рубрикатору министерства вооружений нацистской Германии самоходка обозначалась как Sd Kfz 142. StuG III также обозначается как StuG 40, в советской литературе эту машину именовали как Артштурм. StuG III активно использовались на всех фронтах Второй мировой войны и в целом получили хорошие отзывы немецкого командования: к началу 1944 на счету StuG III было около 20,000 танков противника Захваченные Красной Армией StuG III переделывались в самоходки СУ-76И, вооружённые той же пушкой Ф-34, что и у танка Т-34.

[править] История

В 1935 Эрих фон Манштейн в письме к генералу Беку описал идею машин «штурмовой артиллерии», главной задачей которых должна была бы быть непосредственная поддержка атакующих подразделений пехоты. После проработки подробных запросов, 15 июня 1936 г. фирма «Даймлер-Бенц АГ» получила заказ на проектирование бронированных машин поддержки пехоты, вооруженных 75 мм пушкой, со свободой движения ствола в горизонтальной плоскости по крайней мере в 25°. Машина должна была быть полностью бронирована, тем самым защищая экипаж от прямого огня неприятеля, а полная высота транспортного средства не должна была превышать высоту типичного солдата. Для разработки новой самоходки «Даймлер-Бенц» решил использовать шасси нового среднего танка Панцеркампфваген III . Первые пять прототипов были произведены в 1937 г. на шасси Панцеркампфваген III Аусф. Б. Они были вооружены короткоствольной 75 мм пушкой Штурмканоне 37 Л/24 (со стволом в 24 калибра) с низкой начальной скоростью снаряда. После столкновения в России с танками Т-34 было решено переоборудовать ШТУГ III длинноствольной пушкой, пригодной для поражения брони советских танков. С весны 1942 г. стали использовать пушки 75 мм Штурмканоне 40 Л/43, а осенью этого года ещё более длинноствольные версии этой пушки — Л/48. Более поздние модели ШТУГа III также были оснащены пулеметом Мг34 калибром 7,92 мм, установленным перед командирским люком (так как другого способа установки пулемета не имелось). Все машины из серии Штурмгешутс были дешевле в производстве, чем танки на тех же шасси. ШТУГ III стоил 82,5 тысяч марок, в то время как Панцеркампфваген III стоил более 103 тысяч марок. По сравнению с этим, например, буксируемый вариант той же 75 мм пушки, используемой в Штуге, стоил 12 тыс. марок. До конца войны было произведено свыше 10500 экземпляров в разных модификациях.

Contortionist Li Yeng, "The Basket Lady of Weijing Province" by Tom Busillo

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This is a vintage photo of Li Yeng, “The Basket Lady of Weijing Province”, famed contortionist who dazzled and confounded countless amazed observers while touring the world from 1880-1910 with “The Circus of the Electric Antlers” – an avant-garde troupe of circus performers far, far ahead of their time not just for their performances, but for their heavy use of psychedelic mushrooms and the loudly amplified backwards tape loops of feedback-drenched electric guitar played during their shows (which is indeed impressive when one considers the electric guitar had yet to be invented).

At the time of her tragic death in 1910, when on one ill-fated evening she accidentally strangled herself on stage attempting to execute a new trick, she had become so highly skilled in her art that she would end most performances by completely disappearing into a 2-inch deep iron skillet.

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From images generously posted to Collage Images (not for posting art) pool.

Geisha girl by paper_pal

Baby in bassinet by xela66

Thanks for these great images!

this elegantly dressed trucker was protesting by showing the charter - was she right? -5807 by irina's

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What many convoy protesters get wrong about constitutional rights and the Governor General. cbc.ca/news/politics/charter-gg-disinformation-civic-awar...

youtu.be/y2OlAXDW7W0

Lucifer...THE LIBERATOR...The literal meaning of phosphorus (Phosp-Horus = Lucifer) is “Light-Bringer.”...The Tree of Life is one of the most pervasive and enduring legends in the history of religion. by Hughes Songe

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Lucifer (/ˈljuːsɪfər/ LEW-si-fər; "light-bringer") was a Latin name for the planet Venus as the morning star in the ancient Roman era, and is often used for mythological and religious figures associated with the planet. Due to the unique movements and discontinuous appearances of Venus in the sky, mythology surrounding these figures often involved a fall from the heavens to earth or the underworld. Interpretations of a similar term in the Hebrew Bible, translated in the King James Version as "Lucifer", led to a Christian tradition of applying the name Lucifer and its associated stories of a fall from heaven to Satan. Most modern scholarship regards these interpretations as questionable, and translate the term in the relevant Bible passage as "morning star" or "shining one" rather than as a proper name, "Lucifer".

Here is the definition that you will find on Wikipedia; Phosphorus (Greek Φωσφόρος Phōsphoros), a name meaning “Light-Bringer”, is the Morning Star, the planet Venus in its morning appearance. Another Greek name for the Morning Star is Ἑωσφόρος (Heōsphoros), which means “Dawn-Bringer”.

The Latin word corresponding to Greek Phosphorus is “Lucifer”. It is used in its astronomical sense both in prose and poetry. The Latin word lucifer, corresponding to, was used as a name for the morning star and thus appeared in the Vulgate translation of the Hebrew word הֵילֵל (helel) – meaning Venus as the brilliant, bright or shining one – in Isaiah 14:12, where the Septuagint Greek version uses, not Φωσφόρος, but Ἑωσφόρος. origins of freemasonry.As a name for the devil, the more common meaning in English, "Lucifer" is the rendering of the Hebrew word הֵילֵל‎ in Isaiah (Isaiah 14:12) given in the King James Version of the Bible. The translators of this version took the word from the Latin Vulgate,[1] which translated הֵילֵל by the Latin word lucifer (uncapitalized), meaning "the morning star, the planet Venus", or, as an adjective, "light-bringing".In classical mythology, Lucifer ("light-bringer" in Latin) was the name of the planet Venus, though it was often personified as a male figure bearing a torch. The Greek name for this planet was variously Phosphoros (also meaning "light-bringer") or Heosphoros (meaning "dawn-bringer"). Lucifer was said to be "the fabled son of Aurora and Cephalus, and father of Ceyx". He was often presented in poetry as heralding the dawn.

The second century Roman mythographer Pseudo-Hyginus said of the planet:

"The fourth star is that of Venus, Luciferus by name. Some say it is Juno's. In many tales it is recorded that it is called Hesperus, too. It seems to be the largest of all stars. Some have said it represents the son of Aurora and Cephalus, who surpassed many in beauty, so that he even vied with Venus, and, as Eratosthenes says, for this reason it is called the star of Venus. It is visible both at dawn and sunset, and so properly has been called both Luciferus and Hesperus."

Ovid, in his first century epic Metamorphoses, describes Lucifer as ordering the heavens:

"Aurora, watchful in the reddening dawn, threw wide her crimson doors and rose-filled halls; the Stellae took flight, in marshaled order set by Lucifer who left his station last."

In the classical Roman period, Lucifer was not typically regarded as a deity and had few, if any, myths,] though the planet was associated with various deities and often poetically personified. Cicero pointed out that "You say that Sol the Sun and Luna the Moon are deities, and the Greeks identify the former with Apollo and the latter with Diana. But if Luna (the Moon) is a goddess, then Lucifer (the Morning-Star) also and the rest of the Wandering Stars (Stellae Errantes) will have to be counted gods; and if so, then the Fixed Stars (Stellae Inerrantes) as well.

As a name for the morning star, "Lucifer" is a proper name and is capitalized in English. In Greco-Roman civilization the morning star was often personified and considered a god[5] and in some versions considered a son of Aurora (the Dawn).

Venus is the brightest morning “star” and is currently the focal point of the eastern dawn sky. This would be the reason why you will find that all Freemason Lodges face the north and south, but when you walk into the lodge room, you’re symbolically facing the East and all masonic rituals are performed while facing the East in preparation of the son of the morning via the dawn of a new day under the light of the morning star. The motif of a heavenly being striving for the highest seat of heaven only to be cast down to the underworld has its origins in the motions of the planet Venus, known as the morning star.

The Sumerian goddess Inanna (Babylonian Ishtar) is associated with the planet Venus. Inanna's actions in several of her myths, including Inanna and Shukaletuda and Inanna's Descent into the Underworld appear to parallel the motion of Venus as it progresses through its synodic cycle. For example, in Inanna's Descent to the Underworld, Inanna is able to descend into the netherworld, where she is killed, and then resurrected three days later to return to the heavens. The three-day disappearance of Inanna refers to the three-day planetary disappearance of Venus between its appearance as a morning and evening star.

A similar theme is present in the Babylonian myth of Etana. The Jewish Encyclopedia comments:

"The brilliancy of the morning star, which eclipses all other stars, but is not seen during the night, may easily have given rise to a myth such as was told of Ethana and Zu: he was led by his pride to strive for the highest seat among the star-gods on the northern mountain of the gods ... but was hurled down by the supreme ruler of the Babylonian Olympus."

The fall from heaven motif also has a parallel in Canaanite mythology. In ancient Canaanite religion, the morning star is personified as the god Attar, who attempted to occupy the throne of Ba'al and, finding he was unable to do so, descended and ruled the underworld. The original myth may have been about a lesser god Helel trying to dethrone the Canaanite high god El who lived on a mountain to the north. Hermann Gunkel's reconstruction of the myth told of a mighty warrior called Hêlal, whose ambition was to ascend higher than all the other stellar divinities, but who had to descend to the depths; it thus portrayed as a battle the process by which the bright morning star fails to reach the highest point in the sky before being faded out by the rising sun. Our story begins with the Lucifer Rebellion and the transporting of the Tree of Life to a high mountainous region by Van the leader of the loyalists. This region would become to be named Afghanistan. So ancient is the beginning of this story that we have no written record of these events. Or do we? It took a long long time to be written but it's there. It took the coming of the Andites and the culture they created to reveal this incredible legend. The Andites are legendary in their own right being from the bloodline of Adam and Eve and the Nodite remnants of the original fallen. And it is most appropriate that part of this story starts here in the wilds of Central Asia. For the Andites have the true first human aboriginal blood from creatures that looked upon the world with the first human eyes knowing they were different from all others. These first humans were Homo erectus by which the Urantia Book names them as the Andonites. Very near this place of epical significance is the beginning of the human race, but that is another story.

However, the Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible argues that no evidence has been found of any Canaanite myth or imagery of a god being forcibly thrown from heaven, as in the Book of Isaiah (see below). It argues that the closest parallels with Isaiah's description of the king of Babylon as a fallen morning star cast down from heaven are to be found not in Canaanite myths but in traditional ideas of the Jewish people, echoed in the Biblical account of the fall of Adam and Eve, cast out of God's presence for wishing to be as God, and the picture in Psalm 82 of the "gods" and "sons of the Most High" destined to die and fall. This Jewish tradition has echoes also in Jewish pseudepigrapha such as Enoch and the Life of Adam and Eve. The Life of Adam and Eve, in turn, shaped the idea of Iblis in the Quran. In the Book of Isaiah, chapter 14, the King of Babylon is condemned in a prophetic vision by the prophet Isaiah and is called הֵילֵל בֶּן-שָׁחַר (Helel ben Shachar, Hebrew for "shining one, son of the morning"). who is addressed as הילל בן שחר (Hêlêl ben Šāḥar),The title "Helel ben Shahar" may refer to the planet Venus as the morning star, but the text in Isaiah 14 gives no indication that Helel is the name of a star or planet. The Hebrew word transliterated as Hêlêl or Heylel (pron. as Hay-LALE),[35] occurs only once in the Hebrew Bible. The Septuagint renders הֵילֵל in Greek as Ἑωσφόρος (heōsphoros), "bringer of dawn", the Ancient Greek name for the morning star. According to the King James Bible-based Strong's Concordance, the original Hebrew word means "shining one, light-bearer", and the translation given in the King James text is the Latin name for the planet Venus, "Lucifer".

However, the translation of הֵילֵל as "Lucifer" has been abandoned in modern English translations of Isaiah 14:12. Present-day translations render הֵילֵל as "morning star" (New International Version, New Century Version, New American Standard Bible, Good News Translation, Holman Christian Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version, Common English Bible, Complete Jewish Bible), "daystar" (New Jerusalem Bible, The Message), "Day Star" (New Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version), "shining one" (New Life Version, New World Translation, JPS Tanakh), or "shining star" (New Living Translation).

In a modern translation from the original Hebrew, the passage in which the phrase "Lucifer" or "morning star" occurs begins with the statement: "On the day the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labour forced on you, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended!"[45] After describing the death of the king, the taunt continues:

"How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: 'Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a wilderness, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?'"

J. Carl Laney has pointed out that in the final verses here quoted, the king of Babylon is described not as a god or an angel but as a man; and that man may have been not Nebuchadnezzar II, but rather his son, Belshazzar. Nebuchadnezzar was gripped by a spiritual fervor to build a temple to the moon god Sin (possibly analogous with Hubal,[citation needed] the primary god of pre-Islamic Mecca), and his son ruled as regent. The Abrahamic scriptural texts could be interpreted as a weak usurping of true kingly power, and a taunt at the failed regency of Belshazzar.

For the unnamed "king of Babylon" a wide range of identifications have been proposed.They include a Babylonian ruler of the prophet Isaiah's own time the later Nebuchadnezzar II, under whom the Babylonian captivity of the Jews began, or Nabonidus,and the Assyrian kings Tiglath-Pileser, Sargon II and Sennacherib. Verse 20 says that this king of Babylon will not be "joined with them [all the kings of the nations] in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers shall not be named for ever", but rather be cast out of the grave, while "All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, every one in his own house", pointing to Nebuchadnezzar II as a possible interpretation.Herbert Wolf held that the "king of Babylon" was not a specific ruler but a generic representation of the whole line of rulers.

Isaiah 14:12 became a source for the popular conception of the fallen angel motif[56] seen later in 1 Enoch 86–90 and 2 Enoch 29:3–4. Rabbinical Judaism has rejected any belief in rebel or fallen angels. In the 11th century, the Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer illustrates the origin of the "fallen angel myth" by giving two accounts, one relates to the angel in the Garden of Eden who seduces Eve, and the other relates to the angels, the benei elohim who cohabit with the daughters of man (Genesis 6:1–4).[58] An association of Isaiah 14:12–18 with a personification of evil, called the devil developed outside of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism in pseudepigrapha and Christian writings, particularly with the apocalypses.

Manly P. Hall writes in his book, Initiates of the Flame: “It is said that in ancient times the Sphinx was the gateway of the Pyramid, and that there was an underground passage which led from the Sphinx to Cheops (Great Pyramid)” (Initiates of the Flame, p. 68).

The Sphinx symbolizes man. The Sphinx again symbolizes man, with the mind and spirit of the human rising out of the animal desires and emotions. It is the riddle of the ages, and man is once more the answer. The four fixed signs of which the Sphinx is a symbol are Taurus the Bull, Leo the Lion, Scorpio the Eagle, and Aquarius the Man, or the human head.

So, how can Lucifer be the the prince of darkness, when it has been established that Lucifer is really phosphorus, which a derived from a Greek name meaning “Light-Bringer?”

The facts are that is he is not the prince of darkness or Satan because Lucifer is really phosphorus that resides in our DNA. Once you understand this reality that is science based, you will then have one of the secret keys to the mysteries of the universe.

The light within each one of us humans is where we find Lucifer or Jesus, AKA the morning star.

sphynxeye

Hence, KNOW THYSELF and KNOW GOD. In ancient Egypt is was said; “The body is the house of God,” and one of the many proverbs is “Man, know thyself … and thou shalt know the gods,” and what Manly P. Hall called Aquarius the Man, or the human head represented by the Egyptian Sphinx.

When we KNOW THYSELF, we carry the water of Aquarius the Man and thus become Lion Kings of our own domain which the Egyptians had represented with the figure of a sphinx (Greek: Σφίγξ /sphinx, Bœotian: Φίξ /Phix) which is a mythical creature with, as a minimum, the body of a lion and the head of a human.

Unfortunately, with the advent of certain religions such as Christianity and Islam along with other government controls on the people, these ancient gnostic teachings were corrupted, modified or simply hidden from the multitudes of people because they are or were at one time very dangerous to the church and or government.

These authoritarian institutions operate primarily on the basis of having a master that is outside of you dictating your life, souls and spirit at every step, and they would rather “tell you who you are, where you come from and where you will be going,” rather than us humans being unique individuals who “know thyself … and thou shalt know the gods.”

The facts are that a person who KNOWS THYSELF and KNOWS GOD, is very hard to control by the powers that be because they loose their grip on this persons soul once they figure out “the game” which from day one has been an attempt to trick or steal us all out of our true beings, souls and spirits. Hence, the reason why there are all these lies and propaganda surrounding the name Lucifer.

Lucifer represents the angel of light with individual intellect who ‘rebels’ against the outside ‘dark authority’. This is why he is called the ‘fallen angel.’ The dark and outside authority can be attributed to our flesh and fleshly desires coupled with the outside material world that attempts to take us away from the true light within each one of us.

This darkness tries to fool us into looking without when we should have always been looking within the whole time. Hence, this is the whole illusion of the matrix in which Satan, the true prince of darkness that represents the flesh and free will is looking to control you, so you do not look within yourself for the “prince of light” or “the morning star.”

The reference to the Venus is the AS ABOVE of which Lucifer, AKA Phosphorus is the AS BELOW.

The facts are that we are made of stardust” or star debris and are therefore “one with the universe.” This is where we get the AS ABOVE, in the SO BELOW and the AS WITHIN , of the AS WITHOUT. It is that star dust hidden inside you in the form of Phosphorus, which I have already stated is essential for life. The phosphate is a component of DNA, RNA, ATP, and also the phospholipids that form all cell membranes. This is the ‘spark’ in our DNA that makes us human. Lucifer is in all of us in the form of Phosphorus.

This may be where our souls access our divine consciousness and thus we become divine like Saint John or a Christ like Jesus. Or is this what the church calls evil in Lucifer because a conscious soul and spirit is a dangerous one and maybe that is why Jesus was crucified?

What is the fall of Lucifer?

fall of lucifer

It is an allegory of the light that resides in us and the fall is simply the fall away from this light. With the advent of most religions, this caused the fall of mankind. A fall away from the light within us that was then exchanged or forced by a false light that that was to be found outside of ourselves within a book or church.

Hence, the fall of Lucifer is the fall that each one of us takes when we look outside for answers as opposed to looking within for the true light, that which will guide us to the promise land or own own personal heavens.

As I stated above, Lucifer and the Morning Star are references to Phosphorus which is essential for life. Without phosphorus, consciousness, energy and the creation of this article would simply not be happening. When we turn away from this light within, we too fall away from grace. Hence, we fall for lies and truth in which we then become one of Satan’s tools that is represented by the planet Saturn. However, that will be a new article in itself.

Whether you choose to believe what I AM stating here and by confirming what I have written and quoted above, is entirely up to you because this is your path where you have to decide truth from fiction or light from dark on your own. However, if you have not done your own research and you have already reached an ignorant conclusion based on heresay or lies, then you are what Mr. Pike calls intolerable blinds feeble sensual, or selfish souls, in which you are one of the billions of Satan’s weak human tools. A soul who chooses darkness rather than light and an unawakened human who worships lies over truth, where ignorance rules your actions over that of true wisdom.

Many people mistakenly think that Lucifer is Satan and vice versa, but the facts are that is simply not true. This misinformation, conspiracies and lies have been propagated to the people through many books and movies to the point today in this year 2013, that most people equate Lucifer with Satan or evil. Hopefully you have an open mind and will get past this propaganda like I did myself, in order for you to discover the truth. I AM sure this is the case or else most likely you wouldn’t be reading this website.Gnostics consider that the biblical myth of creation can be explained as follows: the creator satan of the world trapped Adam and Eve in his miserable world, and Lucifer, in the form of a serpent, offered them the forbidden fruit of saving Gnosis, and showed them that the creator was deceiving them. In other words, the creator said to man "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." On the other hand, the Serpent said "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." The bible continued: "And the eyes of both of them were opened". It doesn't say "they both died", it says "the eyes of both of them were opened", like the Serpent had said. Later, the creator says "And now man has become as one of us, to know good and evil". The creator lied. He said that man would die if he ate the fruit, but man did not die. The Serpent was telling the truth. The creator himself ended up agreeing that the Serpent was right. More precisely, Gnostics called the demiurge a liar as well as a plagiarizer. For them, the entire creation is a failed attempt by the demiurge to imitate the unknowable world. In this way, they think that the bible itself is a complete plagiarism, based principally on pre-biblical Babylonian and Egyptian texts.

If you are asking the question, “Who is Lucifer?,” the answer that you will find often depends on who you ask or where you perform your search. But the facts are that if you were to research the true meaning of Lucifer that is somewhat hidden in secret societies such as Freemasonry, you would find that some of the world’s most prolific 33rd Degree Freemasons have already established the meaning of Lucifer, that they have written about in their books on the occult. Some Christian writers have applied the name "Lucifer" as used in the Book of Isaiah, and the motif of a heavenly being cast down to the earth, to Satan. Sigve K Tonstad argues that the New Testament War in Heaven theme of Revelation 12:7–9, in which the dragon "who is called the devil and Satan … was thrown down to the earth", was derived from the passage about the Babylonian king in Isaiah 14.[61] Origen (184/185 – 253/254) interpreted such Old Testament passages as being about manifestations of the Devil; but writing in Greek, not Latin, he did not identify the devil with the name "Lucifer". Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 225), who wrote in Latin, also understood Isaiah 14:14 ("I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High") as spoken by the Devil,[666] but "Lucifer" is not among the numerous names and phrases he used to describe the devil.Even at the time of the Latin writer Augustine of Hippo (354–430), "Lucifer" had not yet become a common name for the Devil.

Some time later, the metaphor of the morning star that Isaiah 14:12 applied to a king of Babylon gave rise to the general use of the Latin word for "morning star", capitalized, as the original name of the devil before his fall from grace, linking Isaiah 14:12 with Luke 10:18 ("I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven") and interpreting the passage in Isaiah as an allegory of Satan's fall from heaven.

As a result, "Lucifer has become a byword for Satan or the Devil in the church and in popular literature", as in Dante Alighieri's Inferno, Joost van den Vondel's Lucifer, and John Milton's Paradise Lost. However, unlike the English word, the Latin word was not used exclusively in this way and was applied to others also, including Jesus.

Adherents of the King James Only movement and others who hold that Isaiah 14:12 does indeed refer to the devil have decried the modern translations. Jealousy of humans, created in the divine image and given authority over the world is the motive that a modern writer, who denies that there is any such person as Lucifer, says that Tertullian attributed to the devil, and, while he cited Tertullian and Augustine as giving envy as the motive for the fall, an 18th-century French Capuchin preacher himself described the rebel angel as jealous of Adam's exaltation, which he saw as a diminution of his own status.

However, the understanding of the morning star in Isaiah 14:12 as a metaphor referring to a king of Babylon continued also to exist among Christians. Theodoret of Cyrus (c. 393 – c. 457) wrote that Isaiah calls the king "morning star", not as being the star, but as having had the illusion of being it. The same understanding is shown in Christian translations of the passage, which in English generally use "morning star" rather than treating the word as a proper name, "Lucifer". So too in other languages, such as French,[79] German,[80] Portuguese,[81] and Spanish.[82] Even the Vulgate text in Latin is printed with lower-case lucifer (morning star), not upper-case Lucifer (proper name).

Calvin said: "The exposition of this passage, which some have given, as if it referred to Satan, has arisen from ignorance: for the context plainly shows these statements must be understood in reference to the king of the Babylonians." Luther also considered it a gross error to refer this verse to the devil.

When Carl Sagan had famously said that “we’re made of star stuff,” he wasn’t joking because the facts are that the cosmos are hidden within all of us humans. We are the SO BELOW here on earth in which the cosmos and heavens are the AS ABOVE.

Albert Pike, 33rd Degree Freemason and Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite said; “Lucifer the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light, and with its splendours intolerable blinds feeble sensual, or selfish souls? Doubt it not! ”

And one of Freemasonry’s greatest philosophers that has ever lived, 33rd Degree Freemason and master Rosicrucian Manly P. Hall said this about Lucifer in his book, All Seeing Eye; “Lucifer represents the individual intellect and will which rebels against the domination of Nature and attempts to maintain itself contrary to natural impulse. Lucifer, in the form of Venus, is the morning star spoken of in Revelation, which is to be given to those who overcome the world.”

Gnostic myths relate that Lucifer is the Messenger of the Unknowable God. We had said that this God, the greatest one, unreachable and unknowable, is unable to penetrate this limited universe of impure and satanic matter. But according to these myths, he can send someone, Lucifer. Only with a supreme sacrifice can an incredibly Spiritual and pure being of antimatter fire break through into the infernal world of this universe. According to Gnostic legends and myths, the great Unknowable God sent Lucifer, angel of indescribable fire and light, to show man the light and to help him wake up and see his true origin, the origin of his Spirit, which has been perversely imprisoned in this impure matter called body-soul. He is an uncreated being, who came to the created world to bring Light: Liberating Gnosis. The saving knowledge which can wake man up and help him free his imprisoned Spirit. The knowledge which allows him to know who he truly is, why he is here in this world and what he has to do to liberate himself and fulfil his Spirit, which belongs to another uncreated and unknowable plane.

We have said that Lucifer came to the world to wake man up, to help him remember his divine origin, the divine origin of his Spirit, and to help him free himself from the body-soul in which he is trapped, and from created time and matter.

Gnostics believe that this Serpent Lucifer is the liberator of man and the world. It is wisdom, the liberating Gnosis that wakes man up and saves him. Of course, this Messenger of the Unknowable God, Lucifer, is an opponent and an enemy of the creator of the world.

Gnosis states that the creator wants to keep man captive in this limited, inferior and impure sphere. He also forbade man contact with the higher world, represented in the biblical myth by the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But Lucifer, the Angel of Light, made a great sacrifice and descended into this satanic hell to give the forbidden fruit of Gnosis to man, and opened his eyes so that he would be able to remember his divine origin and his superiority in relation to the creator. Gnostics consider that before the arrival of the Serpent in paradise, man was in a state of ignorance and was blind to his true situation. They maintain that Adam and Eve were in a state of servitude until the Serpent Lucifer opened their eyes and fed them the fruit of knowledge, which made them remember their divine origin and become aware of the situation in which they found themselves.

Of course, the creator threw Adam and Eve out of this paradise in which he had placed them since he wanted them (and still does) to reflect him and be similar to him after his image and resemblance, and to carry out his precepts so as to be like him and not like the Unknowable God. He wants the Spirit to stay asleep so he can take advantage of Its energy, preventing It from manifesting Itself in man and the world.

Lucifer, liberator of man and the world, has also been called Abaddon, the Exterminator. But.exterminator of what? Exterminator of matter, because he abhors this created world of matter and time. He would behave like a hostile antimatter force, extremely aggressive, because he hates all that has been created as he also hates the body and soul of man, since he belongs to the uncreated plane of the unknowable. He is an exterminator, but an exterminator of matter, of the impure. Such is the Gnostic legend of Lucifer. In the occult, Lucifer is often referred to as the ‘morning star.’ In the Bible, you will find this same exact reference to Jesus as well who says in Revelation 22:16 – “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

You see, just as Lucifer is known as the morning star, Jesus also calls himself ‘the bright morning star’ and as I stated above, Manly P. Hall had said, “Lucifer, in the form of Venus, is the morning star spoken of in Revelation, which is to be given to those who overcome the world.” Hence, rest assured that Jesus and Lucifer are one and the same which will become clearly evident to those with an eye to see the true light amongst the darkness in which we live.

The reason that both Lucifer and Jesus can be considered one and the same is because of an often little understood chemical compound that is hidden within each of our own DNA called ‘Phosphorus.’ Phosphorus is essential for life and the phosphate is a component of DNA, RNA, ATP, and also the phospholipids that form all cell membranes.Simply put, without phosphorus, we humans would simply not be human because consciousness and our spiritual energy would not exist. It is through our DNA which contains phosphorus, that we become conscious to the world and who we are in order to live in the light. Hence, Lucifer is really just an allegory to describe ‘Phosphorus’ which resides in our DNA

Now we can go on to describe what uncreated entities exist in this created world.

Firstly, the Unknowable God, who is not in this world but who can infiltrate it with a tiny particle of Himself, a Messenger. This Messenger is also uncreated, not having been created by the creator.

Secondly, the imprisoned Spirits of men, which also belong to the unknowable World of the uncreated and the eternal. According to Gnosis all living beings have an uncreated Spiritual element enchained in their souls: the Spirit. The Spirit locked within man is totally superior to that of animals, plants and other living beings. The difference between man and the other living beings is very great, as is the difference between the Spirits imprisoned inside of them. The Spirits of human beings are in an elevated Spiritual category. The word “occult” simply means hidden, which is the whole point of the misinformation that you will find on the true meaning of Lucifer. In addition, if you know where to look, the true definition of Lucifer along with corresponding information is now common knowledge on Wikipedia. However, due to countless publications of misinformation via articles, books and videos all over Youtube; the truth is still buried beneath a pile of ignorance.

Therefor, for us smart researchers, we have come to understand this simple fact: That in order to find the light, we have to uncover the truth which is buried at the bottom of these lies and hundreds of years of church, government and ignorant human propaganda. The real story of Lucifer is no different. We have to perform some fact checking of our own like you are doing right now, so that we all can get to the bottom of this disinformation in order to get to the light of the truth.

The picture of Lucifer inside the Pyramid will do just that for you, by helping clear the lies in order for you to see the light of Lucifer for what he truly represents.

Thirdly, another uncreated entity placed on this created plane is the saving and divine knowledge of Gnosis. Knowledge that has come from outside, which has not been produced inside of this world.

In Occultism

Anthroposophy

Rudolf Steiner's writings, which formed the basis for Anthroposophy, characterised Lucifer as a spiritual opposite to Ahriman, with Christ between the two forces, mediating a balanced path for humanity. Lucifer represents an intellectual, imaginative, delusional, otherworldly force which might be associated with visions, subjectivity, psychosis and fantasy. He associated Lucifer with the religious/philosophical cultures of Egypt, Rome and Greece. Steiner believed that Lucifer, as a supersensible Being, had incarnated in China about 3000 years before the birth of Christ.

Luciferianism

Luciferianism is a belief system that venerates the essential characteristics that are affixed to Lucifer. The tradition, influenced by Gnosticism, usually reveres Lucifer not as the devil, but as a liberator, a guardian or guiding spirit or even the true god as opposed to Jehovah.

In Anton LaVey's The Satanic Bible, Lucifer is one of the four crown princes of hell, particularly that of the East, the 'lord of the air', and is called the bringer of light, the morning star, intellectualism, and enlightenment. The title 'lord of the air' is based upon Ephesians 2:2, which uses the phrase 'prince of the power of the air' to refer to the pagan god Zeus, but that phrase later became conflated with Satan.

Author Michael W. Ford has written on Lucifer as a "mask" of the adversary, a motivator and illuminating force of the mind and subconscious.

In Freemasonry

Léo Taxil (1854–1907) claimed that Freemasonry is associated with worshipping Lucifer. In what is known as the Taxil hoax, he alleged that leading Freemason Albert Pike had addressed "The 23 Supreme Confederated Councils of the world" (an invention of Taxil), instructing them that Lucifer was God, and was in opposition to the evil god Adonai. Supporters of Freemasonry contend that, when Albert Pike and other Masonic scholars spoke about the "Luciferian path," or the "energies of Lucifer," they were referring to the Morning Star, the light bearer,[104] the search for light; the very antithesis of dark, satanic evil. Taxil promoted a book by Diana Vaughan (actually written by himself, as he later confessed publicly) that purported to reveal a highly secret ruling body called the Palladium, which controlled the organization and had a satanic agenda. As described by Freemasonry Disclosed in 1897:

With frightening cynicism, the miserable person we shall not name here [Taxil] declared before an assembly especially convened for him that for twelve years he had prepared and carried out to the end the most sacrilegious of hoaxes. We have always been careful to publish special articles concerning Palladism and Diana Vaughan. We are now giving in this issue a complete list of these articles, which can now be considered as not having existed.

Taxil's work and Pike's address continue to be quoted by anti-masonic groups.

In Devil-Worship in France, Arthur Edward Waite compared Taxil's work to today's tabloid journalism, replete with logical and factual inconsistencies.

In Neopagan Witchcraft

In a collection of folklore and magical practices supposedly collected in Italy by Charles Godfrey Leland and published in his Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, the figure of Lucifer is featured prominently as both the brother and consort of the goddess Diana, and father of Aradia, at the center of an alleged Italian witch-cult. In Leland's mythology, Diana pursued her brother Lucifer across the sky as a cat pursues a mouse. According to Leland, after dividing herself into light and darkness:

"...Diana saw that the light was so beautiful, the light which was her other half, her brother Lucifer, she yearned for it with exceeding great desire. Wishing to receive the light again into her darkness, to swallow it up in rapture, in delight, she trembled with desire. This desire was the Dawn. But Lucifer, the light, fled from her, and would not yield to her wishes; he was the light which files into the most distant parts of heaven, the mouse which flies before the cat."

Here, the motions of Diana and Lucifer once again mirror the celestial motions of the moon and Venus, respectively. Though Leland's Lucifer is based on the classical personification of the planet Venus, he also incorporates elements from Christian tradition, as in the following passage:

"Diana greatly loved her brother Lucifer, the god of the Sun and of the Moon, the god of Light (Splendor), who was so proud of his beauty, and who for his pride was driven from Paradise."

In the several modern Wiccan traditions based in part on Leland's work, the figure of Lucifer is usually either omitted or replaced as Diana's consort with either the Etruscan god Tagni, or Dianus (Janus, following the work of folklorist James Frazer in The Golden Bough).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer

Viva Umkhonto! by anjin-san

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The Beaten Generation

During the course of 2015 I recommissioned my 21st birthday present from my father – a Micro Seiki MB-14ST that I brought over to the UK from my mom’s place in South Africa. I’ve also been slowly bringing over my collection of vinyl albums, meticulously selected and acquired, and lovingly cared for between the early-70’s and the late-80’s. They’ve also been stashed away at my mom’s place, protected from the elements in plastic sleeves and stored in bespoke cases holding about 50 albums apiece. Over the course of the past few months I’ve been playing some of the gems in my collection, and it’s been very rewarding to reconnect with my past. Both the good and the “interesting”.

On one of our trips to Europe in the late-80’s my future wife and I made our regular pilgrimage to the music stores, including WOM (World of Music) in Germany. It was here (in which city, I don’t recall) that I bought the LP "Viva Umkhonto!" a compilation of punk and hardcore music that featured previously unreleased material by European and US bands. The record was released in April 1987 as a collaborative effort by two independent labels, namely Mordam Records (USA) and De Konkurrent (Holland), both of whom were strong backers of the struggle against Apartheid. According to a statement on the back of the sleeve, “All money raised by this record goes to Umkhonto We Sizwe”. So this was a benefit album for the military wing of the ANC (African National Congress).

For context, allow me to turn to Wikipedia:

“Umkhonto We Sizwe (abbreviated as MK, Zulu for "Spear of the Nation") was the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), co-founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its founding represented the conviction in the face of the massacre that the ANC could no longer limit itself to nonviolent protest; its mission was to fight against the South African government. After warning the South African government in June 1961 of its intent to resist further acts of terror if the government did not take steps toward constitutional reform and increase political rights, MK launched its first attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961. It was subsequently classified as a terrorist organisation by the South African government and the United States, and banned”.

The album itself was definitely banned in South Africa and so possessing it was illegal. I took it into the country through Jan Smuts Airport (subsequently known as “Johannesburg International” and now, “O.R. Tambo International”) on my return from my trip to Europe and kept it safely tucked away in the belly of the beast in South Africa's capital city, Pretoria.

On the tenth anniversary of the Soweto uprising, the Nationalist regime declared State of Emergency in June 1986. It forbade any action that could undermine the Apartheid state, nationwide. Also forbidden were any kind of “subversive statements”, defined as statements that promoted unlawful strikes, boycotts or civil disobedience, attacked military conscription, promoted disinvestment or sanctions, or that “aggravated feelings of racial hostility”. The penalty for engaging in these actions was a maximum of ten years imprisonment. Ouch - I definitely did not want to be caught with this album!

Of the people detained under these draconian regulations (circa-8,000 in the first couple of months) no names were published with the exception of those released at the discretion of the South African Police. Throughout the State of Emergency, newspapers had to engage in self-censorship, at the risk of being closed down by the government, and many used to print disclaimers alongside their articles that read” “This report has been restricted to comply with the Emergency Regulations”. Some newspapers and magazines were not able to appear, and no news came out of the black townships, except through the state’s Bureau of Information. At the time I stuck stickers on the front of my television screen and computer monitor that read “SABC News is Biased” just to remind myself to be vigilant about government disinformation.

The music on the compilation album is okay, but it’s the packaging and presentation that I really enjoyed as a snapshot of the times, and as an interesting piece of social history. Along with the record were included a poster and a booklet filled with newspaper clippings and ANC propaganda about the armed struggle against Apartheid. It also highlights companies that were breaking economic sanctions by continuing to do business with South Africa. The “Throw Well – Throw Shell” slogan is parody of oil the giant’s official marketing tag-line at the time, namely “Go Well – Go Shell”. I have uploaded a scan of this booklet to my DropBox.

I’m not going to comment on the accuracy or veracity of the information in the booklet, but in those turbulent times – under a state of emergency, with broad media censorship and where owning certain music could earn you a jail sentence – it was thrilling to see what people abroad were thinking and to read material that was not towing the official National Party line. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s fascinating to see how right Matt Johnson was back in 1989 (The The – “Mind Bomb”). Although he wasn’t talking about South Africa, per se, when he sang that we were the “beaten generation, reared on a diet of prejudice and misinformation”, he pretty much hit the nail on the head. Prejudice and misinformation were weapons in the arsenal on both sides of the struggle in South Africa. I was one of the few pale South Africans to have the privilege of being exposed to both sides of that deformed coin.

The The - "The Beat(en) Generation" - YouTube Video Clip

When you cast your eyes upon the skylines

Of this once proud nation

Can you sense the fear and the hatred

Growing in the hearts of its population

And our youth, oh youth, are being seduced

By the greedy hands of politics and half truths

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Open your eyes, open your imagination

We're being sedated by the gasoline fumes

And hypnotized by the satellites

Into believing what is good and what is right

You may be worshiping the temples of mammon

Or lost in the prisons of religion

But can you still walk back to happiness

When you've nowhere left to run?

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Open your eyes, open your imagination

And if they send in the special police

To deliver us from liberty and keep us from peace

Then won't the words sit ill upon their tongues

When they tell us justice is being done

And that freedom lives in the barrels of a warm gun

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Open your eyes, open your imagination

If you'd like to take a listen to "Viva Umkhonto!" I've found a ripped copy of the LP available for download here.

Also take a look at my Blogger posting.

Cheers, 2016 ©

A Public Service Message by Nikki Kent

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Yes, it is another dress, but more importantly, in these days of COVID-19 when there is so much information and disinformation flying around, beware the scammers and hackers.

This morning I had an email from what was purportedly the UK Govt trying to get me to click a link related to COVID-19 ... and then later today I read this - www.euronews.com/2020/03/06/victims-of-coronavirus-scams-...

Be careful out there ... Coronavirus may be tricky but it isn't a trickster, that's a speciality of humans.

The Black Apple - The Extreme Right Social Media Techniques - Hate Speech Processes by Daniel Arrhakis

20 3

The Black Apple - The Extreme Right Social Media Techniques- Hate Speech Processes by Daniel Arrhakis (2025)

Extreme Right Social Media Techniques - Hate Speech Processes (*)

There is often talk of the use of many fake profiles that certain political forces use to give the impression of greater support for this or that political party.

The case has been more inflated in cases of far-right movements, but in general it has also been seen that it runs through several political quadrants, including the left.

With the rise of Bolsonaro and especially Trump in world politics and later with the acquisition of X (Twitter) by Elon Musk, the problem has taken on a projection and dimension that no one can ignore anymore. The proliferation of hate speech and racial, religious, social, sexual and/or gender segregation has reached proportions never seen before.

In the case of the Chega party in Portugal, it is estimated that half of the profiles supporting the populist/far-right party may be fake.

I wouldn't say most of them are fake, or made by AI. There are indeed the normal profiles of those who support Chega, but there are other groups linked to football fan clubs, to the group 1143, Habeas Corpus, Ergue-te and other so-called Nationalists and Patriots with multiple profiles, in which the same person creates several and whose main objective is to comment on competing political forces and articles in the press and television of the so-called public and/or private institutional media!

The multiple use of several profiles is planned in detail, even temporally, with a few Trolls at the forefront of the process, who post the so-called Information/Disinformation produced by the global, national or far-right partisan media, which is then voraciously repeated by their followers.

In Portugal, group 1143 and certain groups linked to football fan clubs as well as certain nationalist groups are experts in this and often include their significant others, who are also quite active.

The process is simple, the speech is always uncomfortable, made with an air of mockery, or sometimes with a violent, hateful character, and rude enough and without moral restrictions, it is made in order to scandalize audiences in search of a dynamic response! The more interactive it is, the more the message is passed on to others and therefore the possibility of reaching a wider range of web browsers; because it is also enhanced by the algorithms of social media platforms!

The propagation of hate and segregationist speech thus occurs in a multi-directional fractal way, expanding in all directions and to followers of followers, even those who did not even participate in the initial conversation! Rudeness, swearing, and lying are part of the process of promoting indignation and the natural impulse to respond!

The use of racialized violent videos, identified with a given religion or political spectrum and which can be associated with a given group, then serves to stigmatize that community in order to standardize the idea that we have of them, often dehumanizing them, even culturally bestializing them!

The choice is not made at random, videos with a high level of graphic content, criminal content, behavioral or cultural divergence, which have a strong impact on viewers, are chosen. Their origin is worldwide, what matters is that they are an incessant and permanent source, periodically renewed with others that emerge or are replenished, to shape the viewer's vision and perception in relation to their own perception of the world and their sense of security - Fear and the feeling of Insecurity is the ultimate goal!

Next comes the generalization and use of the superiority of a race, religion or political belief in order to justify both the right to segregation and even the duty of that so-called civilization " more evolved" to do so so that it does not run the risk of being invaded or simply disappearing.

The threat of a national and even international conspiracy that wants to end Western civilization, white, serious, hard-working, meritorious and civilizing, then serves the urgency of struggle and survival by all means to escape a programmed extinction!

And the fact of the matter is that there can only be one conclusion: to choose someone who meets the requirements of a strong leader, without fear of bringing back the natural order of things, who will rescue the country once again for its legitimate heirs against usurpers and external invaders.

A kind of Savior of the Nation, an Enlightened One who, like Ventura (the current president of Chega), or Trump himself, has already said that he was chosen by God. Dignification is thus an attempt to justify one's own right to ascend and exercise absolute power emanated by God or the heavens over common mortals in the light of a Messian Absolutism; which in the case of Trump and Elon take the form of an Absolutist Oligarchy.

In this conception, Democracy and the tolerant Left are the source of all evils, the cause of Social and Moral Disorder that must be defeated at all costs... and in the last instance, must be controlled or even replaced by a Universal Order of Single Thought, imposed by a strong and incontestable leader - which necessarily has to be a Totalitarian, Patriarchal and Dictatorial Order; and in Trump's case also Worldly.

And that is what we are walking towards while the people welcome them with applause!!

That is why our struggle is so important and increasingly urgent, dear Friends !

______________________________________________________

The Black Apple - As Técnicas da Extrema Direita nas Redes Sociais - Processos Do Discurso De Ódio

Fala-se muitas vezes da utilização de muitos perfis falsos que certas forças politicas usam para dar a sensação de um maior apoio a este ou aquele partido politico.

O caso tem sido mais empolado em casos de movimentos de Extrema Direita , mas no geral também já se percebeu que percorre vários quadrantes politicos, incluindo à esquerda.

Com a ascensão na politica mundial de Bolsonaro e principalmente de Trump e posteriormente com a aquisição do X (Twitter ) por Elon Musk, o problema tomou uma projeção e uma dimensão que já ninguém pode desprezar. A proliferação do discurso do ódio e da segregação racial, religiosa, social, sexual e ou de género atingiu proporções então até há pouco tempo nunca vistas.

No caso do partido Chega em Portugal, estima-se que metade dos perfis que apoiam o partido populista/de extrema-direita possam ser falsos.

Eu não diria que a maioria são falsos, ou feitos por AI. Há é sim os perfis normais de quem apoia o Chega mas há outros grupos ligados ás claques do futebol, ao grupo 1143, Habeas Corpus, Ergue-te e outros ditos Nacionalistas e Patriotas com perfis múltiplos, em que uma mesma pessoa cria vários e cujo principal objetivo é comentar junto das forças politicas concorrentes e os artigos da imprensa e televisão da dita média institucional publica e/ou privada!

A utilização múltipla de vários perfis é planeada com detalhe, mesmo temporal, com uns quantos Trolls á frente do processo, que postam a dita Informação / Desinformação produzida pela média mundial, nacional ou partidária de extrema direita que depois é então repetida vorazmente pelos seus seguidores.

Em Portugal o grupo 1143 e certos grupos ligados às claques futebolísticas bem como a certos grupos nacionalistas são nisso peritos e inclui muitas vezes as suas caras metade, aliás bastante ativas.

O processo é simples, o discurso sempre incómodo, feito com ar de gozo, ou por vezes com carácter violento, de ódio, e grosseiro o quanto baste e sem restrições morais, é feito de modo a escandalizar audiências na procura de uma dinâmica de resposta! Quanto mais interativo resultar, mais a mensagem passa para outros e portanto a possibilidade de atingir um leque alargado de navegadores da rede; pois é também potenciado pelos algoritmos das plataformas das redes sociais!

A propagação do discurso de ódio e segregacionista faz-se assim de forma fractal multidirecional, expandindo-se em todas as direções e para os seguidores dos seguidores, mesmo os que nem sequer entraram na conversa inicial ! A grosseria, o xingamento, a mentira faz parte do processo de promover a indignação e o impulso natural de resposta!

A utilização de vídeos violentos racializados, identificados com uma dada religião ou espectro politico e que podem ser associados a um dado grupo, servem então para estigmatizar essa comunidade de modo a padronizar a ideia que se quer dar deles, muitas vezes desumanizando-os, bestializando-os mesmo culturalmente!

A escolha não é feita ao acaso, escolhem-se videos com grande teor grafico, criminal, de divergencia comportamental ou cultural, que tenha forte impacto junto dos observadores. A sua origem é mundial, o que interessa é que sejam uma fonte incessante e permanente, renovada periodicamente com outros que vão surgindo ou repondo, para moldar a visão e a perceção do espectador em relação à sua própria perceção do mundo e do seu sentido de segurança - o Medo e a sensação de Insegurança é o objetivo final !

A seguir vem a generalização e a utilização da superioridade de uma raça, religião ou crença política de modo a justificar quer por um lado o direito á segregação como até o dever dessa dita civilização " mais evoluída" de o fazer para que não corra o risco de ser invadida ou desaparecer simplesmente.

A ameaça de uma conspiração nacional e até internacional que quer acabar com a civilização ocidental, branca, séria, trabalhadora, meritória e civilizadora serve então a urgência da luta e da sobrevivência por todos os meios para escapar a uma extinção programada!

E facto dos factos a constatação só pode ser uma, escolher alguém que reúne as condições de um líder forte, sem medo que traga de novo a ordem natural das coisas, que resgate o país de novo para os seus legítimos herdeiros contra os usurpadores e invasores externos.

Uma espécie de Salvador da Pátria, um Iluminado que, como Ventura (o actual presidente do Chega), ou o próprio Trump já teem dito terem sido escolhidos por Deus. A dignificação é assim uma tentativa de justificar o direito próprio a ascender e a exercer um poder absoluto emanado por Deus ou pelos céus sobre os comuns mortais à luz de um Absolutismo Messiano; que no caso de Trump e de Elon tomam a forma de um Oligarquismo Absolutista.

Nesta conceção, a Democracia e a Esquerda tolerante é a fonte de todos os males, a causa da Desordem Social e Moral que é preciso derrotar a todo o custo ... e em ultimo caso, deve ser controlada ou mesmo substituída por uma Ordem Universal de Pensamento Único, imposta por um líder, forte e incontestável - o que forçosamente tem que ser uma Ordem Totalitária, Patriarcal e Dictatorial; e no caso de Trump também Mundial.

E é para isso que caminhamos enquanto os povos os recebem em palmas !!

Por isso é que é tão importante e cada vez mais urgente a nossa luta Camaradas !!

(*) Text and image by Daniel Arrhakis (2025)

Who is Lucifer?.Lucifer represents the angel of light with individual intellect who ‘rebels’ against the outside ‘dark authority’. by Hughes Songe

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When Carl Sagan had famously said that “we’re made of star stuff,” he wasn’t joking because the facts are that the cosmos are hidden within all of us humans. We are the SO BELOW here on earth in which the cosmos and heavens are the AS ABOVE.

Albert Pike, 33rd Degree Freemason and Sovereign Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite said; “Lucifer the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light, and with its splendours intolerable blinds feeble sensual, or selfish souls? Doubt it not! ”

And one of Freemasonry’s greatest philosophers that has ever lived, 33rd Degree Freemason and master Rosicrucian Manly P. Hall said this about Lucifer in his book, All Seeing Eye; “Lucifer represents the individual intellect and will which rebels against the domination of Nature and attempts to maintain itself contrary to natural impulse. Lucifer, in the form of Venus, is the morning star spoken of in Revelation, which is to be given to those who overcome the world.”

Many people mistakenly think that Lucifer is Satan and vice versa, but the facts are that is simply not true. This misinformation, conspiracies and lies have been propagated to the people through many books and movies to the point today in this year 2013, that most people equate Lucifer with Satan or evil. Hopefully you have an open mind and will get past this propaganda like I did myself, in order for you to discover the truth. I AM sure this is the case or else most likely you wouldn’t be reading this website.

If you are asking the question, “Who is Lucifer?,” the answer that you will find often depends on who you ask or where you perform your search. But the facts are that if you were to research the true meaning of Lucifer that is somewhat hidden in secret societies such as Freemasonry, you would find that some of the world’s most prolific 33rd Degree Freemasons have already established the meaning of Lucifer, that they have written about in their books on the occult.

The word “occult” simply means hidden, which is the whole point of the misinformation that you will find on the true meaning of Lucifer. In addition, if you know where to look, the true definition of Lucifer along with corresponding information is now common knowledge on Wikipedia. However, due to countless publications of misinformation via articles, books and videos all over Youtube; the truth is still buried beneath a pile of ignorance.

Therefor, for us smart researchers, we have come to understand this simple fact: That in order to find the light, we have to uncover the truth which is buried at the bottom of these lies and hundreds of years of church, government and ignorant human propaganda. The real story of Lucifer is no different. We have to perform some fact checking of our own like you are doing right now, so that we all can get to the bottom of this disinformation in order to get to the light of the truth.

This article will do just that for you, by helping clear the lies in order for you to see the light of Lucifer for what he truly represents.

Jesus morning star

In the occult, Lucifer is often referred to as the ‘morning star.’ In the Bible, you will find this same exact reference to Jesus as well who says in Revelation 22:16 – “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

You see, just as Lucifer is known as the morning star, Jesus also calls himself ‘the bright morning star’ and as I stated above, Manly P. Hall had said, “Lucifer, in the form of Venus, is the morning star spoken of in Revelation, which is to be given to those who overcome the world.” Hence, rest assured that Jesus and Lucifer are one and the same which will become clearly evident to those with an eye to see the true light amongst the darkness in which we live.

The reason that both Lucifer and Jesus can be considered one and the same is because of an often little understood chemical compound that is hidden within each of our own DNA called ‘Phosphorus.’ Phosphorus is essential for life and the phosphate is a component of DNA, RNA, ATP, and also the phospholipids that form all cell membranes.

Simply put, without phosphorus, we humans would simply not be human because consciousness and our spiritual energy would not exist. It is through our DNA which contains phosphorus, that we become conscious to the world and who we are in order to live in the light. Hence, Lucifer is really just an allegory to describe ‘Phosphorus’ which resides in our DNA.

The literal meaning of phosphorus (Phosp-Horus = Lucifer) is “Light-Bringer.”

Horus winged sun

Here is the definition that you will find on Wikipedia; Phosphorus (Greek Φωσφόρος Phōsphoros), a name meaning “Light-Bringer”, is the Morning Star, the planet Venus in its morning appearance. Another Greek name for the Morning Star is Ἑωσφόρος (Heōsphoros), which means “Dawn-Bringer”.

The Latin word corresponding to Greek Phosphorus is “Lucifer”. It is used in its astronomical sense both in prose and poetry. The Latin word lucifer, corresponding to, was used as a name for the morning star and thus appeared in the Vulgate translation of the Hebrew word הֵילֵל (helel) – meaning Venus as the brilliant, bright or shining one – in Isaiah 14:12, where the Septuagint Greek version uses, not Φωσφόρος, but Ἑωσφόρος.

origins of freemasonry

Venus is the brightest morning “star” and is currently the focal point of the eastern dawn sky. This would be the reason why you will find that all Freemason Lodges face the north and south, but when you walk into the lodge room, you’re symbolically facing the East and all masonic rituals are performed while facing the East in preparation of the son of the morning via the dawn of a new day under the light of the morning star.

Manly P. Hall writes in his book, Initiates of the Flame: “It is said that in ancient times the Sphinx was the gateway of the Pyramid, and that there was an underground passage which led from the Sphinx to Cheops (Great Pyramid)” (Initiates of the Flame, p. 68).

The Sphinx symbolizes man. The Sphinx again symbolizes man, with the mind and spirit of the human rising out of the animal desires and emotions. It is the riddle of the ages, and man is once more the answer. The four fixed signs of which the Sphinx is a symbol are Taurus the Bull, Leo the Lion, Scorpio the Eagle, and Aquarius the Man, or the human head.

So, how can Lucifer be the the prince of darkness, when it has been established that Lucifer is really phosphorus, which a derived from a Greek name meaning “Light-Bringer?”

The facts are that is he is not the prince of darkness or Satan because Lucifer is really phosphorus that resides in our DNA. Once you understand this reality that is science based, you will then have one of the secret keys to the mysteries of the universe.

The light within each one of us humans is where we find Lucifer or Jesus, AKA the morning star.

sphynxeye

Hence, KNOW THYSELF and KNOW GOD. In ancient Egypt is was said; “The body is the house of God,” and one of the many proverbs is “Man, know thyself … and thou shalt know the gods,” and what Manly P. Hall called Aquarius the Man, or the human head represented by the Egyptian Sphinx.

When we KNOW THYSELF, we carry the water of Aquarius the Man and thus become Lion Kings of our own domain which the Egyptians had represented with the figure of a sphinx (Greek: Σφίγξ /sphinx, Bœotian: Φίξ /Phix) which is a mythical creature with, as a minimum, the body of a lion and the head of a human.

Unfortunately, with the advent of certain religions such as Christianity and Islam along with other government controls on the people, these ancient gnostic teachings were corrupted, modified or simply hidden from the multitudes of people because they are or were at one time very dangerous to the church and or government.

These authoritarian institutions operate primarily on the basis of having a master that is outside of you dictating your life, souls and spirit at every step, and they would rather “tell you who you are, where you come from and where you will be going,” rather than us humans being unique individuals who “know thyself … and thou shalt know the gods.”

The facts are that a person who KNOWS THYSELF and KNOWS GOD, is very hard to control by the powers that be because they loose their grip on this persons soul once they figure out “the game” which from day one has been an attempt to trick or steal us all out of our true beings, souls and spirits. Hence, the reason why there are all these lies and propaganda surrounding the name Lucifer.

lucifer 1

Lucifer represents the angel of light with individual intellect who ‘rebels’ against the outside ‘dark authority’. This is why he is called the ‘fallen angel.’ The dark and outside authority can be attributed to our flesh and fleshly desires coupled with the outside material world that attempts to take us away from the true light within each one of us.

This darkness tries to fool us into looking without when we should have always been looking within the whole time. Hence, this is the whole illusion of the matrix in which Satan, the true prince of darkness that represents the flesh and free will is looking to control you, so you do not look within yourself for the “prince of light” or “the morning star.”

The reference to the Venus is the AS ABOVE of which Lucifer, AKA Phosphorus is the AS BELOW.

The facts are that we are made of stardust” or star debris and are therefore “one with the universe.” This is where we get the AS ABOVE, in the SO BELOW and the AS WITHIN , of the AS WITHOUT. It is that star dust hidden inside you in the form of Phosphorus, which I have already stated is essential for life. The phosphate is a component of DNA, RNA, ATP, and also the phospholipids that form all cell membranes. This is the ‘spark’ in our DNA that makes us human. Lucifer is in all of us in the form of Phosphorus.

This may be where our souls access our divine consciousness and thus we become divine like Saint John or a Christ like Jesus. Or is this what the church calls evil in Lucifer because a conscious soul and spirit is a dangerous one and maybe that is why Jesus was crucified?

What is the fall of Lucifer?

fall of lucifer

It is an allegory of the light that resides in us and the fall is simply the fall away from this light. With the advent of most religions, this caused the fall of mankind. A fall away from the light within us that was then exchanged or forced by a false light that that was to be found outside of ourselves within a book or church.

Hence, the fall of Lucifer is the fall that each one of us takes when we look outside for answers as opposed to looking within for the true light, that which will guide us to the promise land or own own personal heavens.

As I stated above, Lucifer and the Morning Star are references to Phosphorus which is essential for life. Without phosphorus, consciousness, energy and the creation of this article would simply not be happening. When we turn away from this light within, we too fall away from grace. Hence, we fall for lies and truth in which we then become one of Satan’s tools that is represented by the planet Saturn. However, that will be a new article in itself.

Whether you choose to believe what I AM stating here and by confirming what I have written and quoted above, is entirely up to you because this is your path where you have to decide truth from fiction or light from dark on your own. However, if you have not done your own research and you have already reached an ignorant conclusion based on heresay or lies, then you are what Mr. Pike calls intolerable blinds feeble sensual, or selfish souls, in which you are one of the billions of Satan’s weak human tools. A soul who chooses darkness rather than light and an unawakened human who worships lies over truth, where ignorance rules your actions over that of true wisdom.

Hence, another brick in the wall…….

Albert Pike’s full quote of Lucifer in his famous book, Morals and Dogma on page 321;

albert-pike on lucifer

albert-pike

“The Apocalypse is, to those who receive the nineteenth degree, the Apotheosis of that Sublime Faith which aspires to God alone, and despises all the pomps and works of Lucifer. Lucifer. The Light Bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness! Lucifer the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light, and with its splendours intolerable blinds feeble sensual, or selfish souls? Doubt it not! For traditions are full of Divine Revelations and Inspirations: and Inspiration is not of one Age nor of one Creed Plato and Philo also, were also inspired.”

Moe

Moe is the founder of GnosticWarrior.com. A website dedicated to both the ancient and modern teachings of Gnosticism.

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68 Comments

Realist

Realist on January 25, 2019 at 11:24 am

Lucifer is the devil. The same one who was thrown down to earth with the other rebellious angels. Hence: how art thou fallen from heaven, oh lucifer (or horus, wotan, quetzalcoatl, shiva, jahbulon, e.t.c). If there was no devil, there would be no atlantis myth (Ezekiel’s Tyre), from where the so-called “aryans” and their global “all seeing eye” religion originated. And the dragon (reptilian) said to the woman: for if you eat of the fruit, your “eye” will be opened and you will become (equal) like a god, knowing (gnosis) good and evil.

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Thoth Al Khem

Thoth Al Khem on January 24, 2019 at 1:36 pm

The WORD Lucifer is a MISTRANSLATION by St. Jerome in 382 AD ! PERIOD !!!!!! In Hebrew the word is Heylel/Halal…Hey (Yod) Lamed Lamed. Isaiah 14 is about a MAN….READ IT. The ONLY Lucifer was St. Lucifer of Cagliari who died 10 years before St Jerome PURPOSELY Mistranslated Isaiah 14:12. Doesn’t ANYONE ACTUALLY read the Bible? KILL LIST from King James Bible. YHVH 2,476,633 NOT including the Flood or Sodom and Gomorrah…..SATAN? only 10. There is NO Devil………

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Moe

Moe on January 24, 2019 at 3:32 pm

The Hebrew word Hêlêl or Heylel is found just once in the Hebrew Bible. It means to shine or shining one, to flash. The Septuagint renders הֵילֵל in Greek as Ἑωσφόρος (heōsphoros), “bringer of dawn” and Lucifer is Latin for the Greek phosphorus.

The Church had labeled Simon Magus as Satan.

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Realist

Realist on January 21, 2019 at 12:13 pm

How art thou fallen from heaven, oh Lucifer, the deciever, together with his fellow reptilians. He is the one who will take his followers to the lake of fire. Jesus Christ is God and saviour to all who accept Him.

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Leonard

Leonard on January 18, 2019 at 1:39 am

Therefore, are you saying that Lucifer is Jesus? Most of all this piece of information are craps and they are produced to confuse, brainwash and deviate us from the only true God, Jesus Christ, the one who died on the cross of calvary in order to set us free from the grip of Satan, prince of peace, the only begotten son of God, the bright and morning star, the only way, the truth and life. Nobody cometh to the father except through him. Any book contradicting what is stated in the bible, the word of God is satanic. Satan is evil and what most occult worship is satan the ark enemy of the true living God, the creator of the universe.

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Love2ClearClouds (Cherokee Name)

Love2ClearClouds (Cherokee Name) on December 3, 2018 at 9:22 am

Who is Lucifer?

I was taught in the SDA religion that Lucifer was Satan’s name before he fell from heaven. Felt stupid even when I was 11 years old.

I now understand that the Bible is astrology and physiology, as above so below. “JESUS” was originally IESOUS, the Greek name for the sUn in the sky. Each of the 12 “disciples” are actually symbolic/allegories of the 12 constellations. Those aren’t “halos” around the head of “Jesus” and the disciples, those lit heads are hints to the true identities and the actual truth that they are literally the sUn and the primary stars of the 12 primary constellations.

Every culture and time period gave their own names to the heavenly bodies. The ancients were well aware that everything in our 3D reality is frequency and vibration.

“ if you want to know the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.”

-Nikola Tesla

This sUn emits codes through frequencies and scientists have recorded the sounds coming from the sun. The stars and planets are emiting their own frequencies and all frequencies affect us here as we are affecting everything out there.

In the book of Job, the oldest book in the Bible, there are several references to astrology…Mazzaroth, which is the Hebrew word for the 12 primary constellations/clock in the sky, and Zodiac is the Greek word. In the book of Job you read about the sweet influences of the Pleiades and about the mother bear and her cub/Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

TPTB KNOW and use this knowledge/science to their own benefit and to our detriment. Becoming educated in astrology and it’s effects on our physiology will finally break the chains that have held us in these man-made prisons for millennia.

Ultimately, what we can not live without is the SUN. The eternal SUN gives life, it triggers cell regeneration and can extend life, it heals and restores.

I am a sungazer as was Akhenaton in Egypt before the bloodline, that still rules today, killed him. Because of sungazing, I no longer have the eyeglass restriction on my drivers license. I began my son gazing practice for years ago. Two years ago, I had to go in person for my 20 year drivers license renewal. I passed the eye exam for the first time in my 43 years of driving. I had given up the practice but after passing that eye exam I have been back at it the past couple of months. I am hoping to get to the level of not needing to eat food anymore. No more hunger…isn’t that what “Jesus” promised?

🌞🌟

Reply

Love2ClearClouds

Love2ClearClouds on December 3, 2018 at 8:47 am

I was taught in the SDA religion that Lucifer was Satan’s name before he fell from heaven. Felt stupid even when I was 11 years old.

I now understand that the Bible is astrology and physiology, as above so below. “JESUS” was originally IESOUS, the Greek name for the sUn in the sky. Each of the 12 “disciples” are actually symbolic/allegories of the 12 constellations. Those aren’t “halos” around the head of “Jesus” and the disciples, those lit heads are hints to the true identities and the actual truth that they are literally the sUn and the primary stars of the 12 primary constellations.

Every culture and time period gave their own names to the heavenly bodies. The ancients were well aware that everything in our 3D reality is frequency and vibration.

“ if you want to know the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.”

-Nikola Tesla

This sUn emits codes through frequencies and scientists have recorded the sounds coming from the sun. The stars and planets are emiting their own frequencies and all frequencies affect us here as we are affecting everything out there.

In the book of Job, the oldest book in the Bible, there are several references to astrology…Mazzaroth, which is the Hebrew word for the 12 primary constellations/clock in the sky, and Zodiac is the Greek word. In the book of Job you read about the sweet influences of the Pleiades and about the mother bear and her cub/Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

TPTB KNOW and use this knowledge/science to their own benefit and to our detriment. Becoming educated in astrology and it’s effects on our physiology will finally break the chains that have held us in these man-made prisons for millennia.

Reply

Jen

Jen on November 24, 2018 at 6:45 pm

Lovely work, as usual.

Lucifer can also relate to Samael, the Archangel. Fixed Zodiacal signs were Angels (Angels) of the Arch. The most crucial of the four fixed signs were depicted through most variations of the Sphynx, which was usually seen as a half lion and half human. In particular, an upper half woman with one breast exposed. This brings Aquarius and Leo into significance as gaurdians of the gateway of the Archs. (Think Zenith/vernal Equinox and Nadir, it’s opposition). Our most profound (and cataclysmic) events of history tend to happen when the Platonic year hits the 0 degree Pisces mark (beginning of the Age of Aquarius) and 0 degree Virgo (Beginning of the Age of Leo). The light will return during the Great Conjunction of winter 2020, the official beginning of the Age of Aquarius, by the Western systems. Strap on your seatbelts, folks. It’s going to be a wild ride! : )

Reply

Gene

Gene on November 18, 2016 at 5:18 pm

People/ mankind want to see these 2 as a person/s or creatures. Lucifer, some form of being and Jesus the man. When all of this is astrology/ astronomy personified.

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Kirk Nyman

Kirk Nyman on October 21, 2016 at 4:28 am

I was taught in church growing up that Lucifer was Satan before his fall from grace due to his pride so he lost his once great name meaning light bearer to Satan meaning enemy opposer and slanderer. Just a thought, could it be that beings he was no longer the bright and morning star that Jesus came in to claim that title?

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Bhsas

Bhsas on August 31, 2016 at 3:00 pm

then who is it that the occultists are sacrificing animals, babies, and children to in the rituals if Lucifer the angel, the prince of the darkness?

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Lawrence clay rogers

Lawrence clay rogers on October 11, 2016 at 10:00 am

These are all ways they who are trying to prevent what must happen establish confusion for our people, they have failed

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John lester anoya duo

John lester anoya duo on August 25, 2016 at 10:16 pm

I know who is lucifer

Reply

Lawrence clay rogers

Lawrence clay rogers on October 11, 2016 at 10:00 am

Do you?

Reply

ishi

ishi on July 15, 2016 at 10:23 pm

..i love how you write..it is good to see truth being spoken again..i will join as soon as it is financially possible to do so

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angela frost

angela frost on May 31, 2016 at 4:28 pm

fantastic stuff moe,,,its great to see it put in the right context for me ,,something i have felt alone with for so long ,,i am not a scholar or a scientist of the enforced + restricted denied false truth seekers ,,,,,i just saw the real truth at the age of 5 yrs old before adults tricked me into their strange denying deliberately blinkered world of dellusional safety ,,,when my cat died ,,i watched all the elements join together to my cat more alive than his cold empty body lying in front of me ,,,it was normal to me …i knew there was no death ,,but only constant renewal ,,,but its a lonely world when you clearly see what everyone else prefers not to simply through fear of majority brain-washed acceptance

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Joseph

Joseph on February 9, 2016 at 5:35 am

This is an excellent article. However I contend that the ‘fall’ of Lucifer was not a bad thing, but a good thing. The ‘fall’ of Christ and the ‘fall’ we must individually go through to knock us from a sensual/individual type of pride and give us true humility to be able to handle the power of ‘being as a God’ is what the ‘fall’ was really about. The single biggest problem in this material existence is power/control and individuals inability to handle it. The reason this is so is because people see themselves as ‘individuals’ and not part of the One. There is a veil placed in front of their faces. That is the deception Satan/Yaldabaoth placed upon mankind in order to rule them fully. Gnostic teaching states Satan is the God/Creator of this world and the Serpent came to show us ‘the way’. He took a ‘fall’ for that. Lucifer/Prometheus took a ‘fall’ to help us, Jesus took a ‘fall’ to help us…and if you have truly lived in this material existence…it is a requirement to take a ‘fall’ to do truly good.

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Joseph

Joseph on February 8, 2016 at 5:55 am

Very good article. Something you must experience before you read and learn about. I have one comment I’d like to point out however. I believe the ‘fall’ that we take, as did Lucifer is not a bad thing or a falling away, but rather a necessary thing and a falling towards. If we are to follow true Gnostic teaching which basically teaches that Satan/The Demiurge is the God of this creation and material world, then to ‘fall’ away from it would truly be a blessing. It is described as a ‘fall’ in the sense that it is all about humility. Christ himself learned it as we must before we inherit the power of a God. Just look around. Power/Control is the single issue among separated beings. When one ‘falls’ one experiences a sense of powerlessness and helplessness. It is then true unity is infused and the individual, now realizing they are not an ‘individual’, but part of the One…can now rise up, with TRUE power, and go in and out of this material existence with relative ease and comfort. Just a thought.

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KRISTA

KRISTA on January 15, 2016 at 5:43 pm

I am one of the original Starchildren God made in the beginning. I am the Evening Star. No joking whats so ever.

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stacy

stacy on June 4, 2016 at 7:59 pm

me too are you rh neg?

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Jecht

Jecht on December 31, 2015 at 1:42 pm

Good content. Very well laid out.

Wish you would go more deeply into the light. Our stardust deep inside us.

How do you determine your purpose?

Reply

ishi

ishi on July 15, 2016 at 10:32 pm

…sometimes….our ‘purpose’…is late in coming to us…sometimes..it is just one thing, one act….get to Know yourself & do what you are best at..wait patiently..when it is time for you, you will then know what to do

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Jakob Albert

Jakob Albert on November 29, 2015 at 1:01 am

TheCloning of God

Godhad an inner compulsion to externalise himself: to make aconsciousness outside and beyond himself, and through this othernessto come to full consciousness.

Hegel,one of the greatest grandmasters of the Illuminati, said, “Thedivine Idea is just this: to disclose itself, to posit the Otheroutside itself and to take it back again into itself in order to besubjectivity and mind/spirit.”

Consciousness,including that of God, requires interaction with otherness if it isto develop. God is compelled to create otherness – to externalisehimself – and through a study of that otherness we can gain sureknowledge of God.

Hegelcriticised conventional Western religion on the grounds that itseparates God from the universe, and makes all of his attributesindependent of the universe. God, according to the traditional view,would be exactly the same whether or not anything else existed. Hisnature wouldn’t alter in the slightest even if there were no universeand no other creatures. Hegel fiercely attacks this view. If God hadno inner need to create anything else then why did he? Is hecapricious? Was he bored? Curious? None of these make any sense inrelation to a perfect God without deficiency. God is entirelyself-sufficient and needs nothing else according to the tenets ofmainstream Western religion. Hegel said, “If God is allsufficient and lacks nothing, how does he come to release Himselfinto something so clearly unequal to him?”

NoChristian, Jew or Muslim can answer why God creates the world when hehas no need to do so. If he does it for a reason such as wanting tospread his love then it implies that he has a need to do that, yetGod, by definition, needs nothing. If he does it because he wants tobe obeyed and worshipped then that also indicates deficiency on hispart. If God is truly self-sufficient, it is impossible that he wouldever have felt the need to create anything. Therefore God is notself-sufficient. Therefore a God of whom it is claimed that he isself-sufficient cannot exist. God creates otherness because he must.He has no choice. He is compelled. Creation is an act of innernecessity. God needs others as much as they need him. Anyone whodoesn’t understand that single truth can never understand God. Theywill always believe in a fantasy.

Godcreated many things as he evolved – a dazzling realm fashioned fromlight – but none of them gave him what he needed: an othernesscomparable to himself. Eventually, after endless experiments, Godsucceeded in cloning himself. The clone was the being that is nowknown as Lucifer, Son of God, the Angel of Light, the Morning Star,Lux Mundi, the Light of the World.

God,through his interaction with Lucifer, became fully self-conscious, asdid Lucifer. Between them, they created the first language, thedivine language. Then Lucifer wanted a brother as a companion and Godgranted his wish. The second son of God was a fateful being. Hisoriginal name was Paracletus, meaning “the Comforter” or”one called to help” because he was to be Lucifer’s brotherand friend. But religion knows him by his later name of Satanel, thensimply Satan. Satan means “accuser/adversary”. It will beexplained below why Paracletus, second son of God and beloved brotherof Lucifer, became the sworn enemy of his father and brother andacquired his dread new name.

Satan’sfatal flaw was “hyperephania” – extreme pride. Afflicted bydoubts about himself, lacking self-esteem, in awe of his father,envious of his radiant brother, unsure of his identity, Satancompensated by cultivating an exaggerated ego. After an age, hebelieved himself superior to Lucifer and even God. He resented theirrelationship and was jealous of it. He resented being the youngestand least powerful. Resentment became hate. Hate became action. Thataction was rebellion. He stood as the adversary of God and Lucifer.He accused them of plotting against him. He opposed all of theirplans.

Havingcreated Lucifer and Paracletus, God provided his sons with the secretof how to clone themselves. The clones of the two sons were thebeings now known as angels. The realm of light became populated bymany beings of light: God, his two sons and the choirs of angels. Butthe angels were loyal to their respective creators and reflectedtheir natures. Satan’s angels were infected with his discontent.

Satanand his army of angels rebelled against God, Lucifer and their loyalangels. The struggle was long and furious, but Satan and hisfollowers lost and fell. They were banished from God’s realm, beingcast out into darkness where the light of God never penetrated.

Satanwanted his own realm where he was the sole master. He discovered thesecret of matter and fashioned a rival universe of matter rather thanlight. This was the universe of the Big Bang – our universe. “Letthere be light,” Satan announced as he brought this universeinto existence: a mockery of God’s light. Satan is the creator andruler of our universe of the Big Bang, and he’s assisted by his rebelangels – called the archons, groups of whom were given regions of theuniverse to rule on Satan’s behalf. 144 archons are assigned toearth. They are responsible for most of the secret history of earth.They are opposed by two groups within that secret history: theIlluminati (consisting of approximately 6,000 people i.e. a similarnumber to that of the Old World Order), and the small group thatcreated the Illuminati but stands outside of the society, just as thearchons stand outside the Old World Order. That small group consistsof 36 angels of Lucifer.

TheIlluminati and the Old World Order are mirror images. Both groupsknow the secret history of earth, and the strange and fatefulstruggle that takes place behind the scenes and to which the rest ofhumanity is mostly oblivious.

Satanwas almost as bright as Lucifer in his earliest days, but he grewrepelled by light and made himself dark. He became “darknessvisible” to use John Milton’s immortal phrase. He is truly theprince of darkness, yet it must never be forgotten that he is the Sonof God and contains the divine spark.

ThroughSatan, evil entered the universe. The birth of evil is not difficultto understand. It is a product of a damaged self-consciousness, oflow self esteem finding a way to overcompensate. It is exactly thesort of situation with which Freud and Jung would be familiar. Whyshould gods be any different from humans? We are made in their image.

Self-consciousnessis a prerequisite for distinguishing good from evil. Animals cannotcommit acts of evil. Evil can be defined according to three levels:strong, medium and weak. Strong evil is the voluntary commission ofmalicious, harmful and even fatal acts towards others, to suit theselfish desires of the perpetrator. Medium evil is the voluntarycommission of acts to promote a selfish agenda, regardless of theimpact on others. Weak evil is captured by Burke’s famous aphorism:”The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for goodmen to do nothing.”

Goodness,likewise, comes in three strengths. Strong goodness is the voluntarycommission of benevolent, helpful acts towards others to promotecooperative, altruistic ends. Medium goodness is the commission ofacts that are intended not to have any ill impact on others. Weakgoodness is where someone does nothing to stand in the way of goodacts by others.

Only a self-consciousness is capable of making achoice between good and evil acts. The Tree of Knowledge of good andevil is a metaphor for that choice. Knowledge, arising fromself-consciousness, allows the commission of moral or immoral acts.Without knowledge, without choice, without self-consciousness, goodand evil would not exist.

Thereason that evil triumphs is simple: most people are evil.

The meaning of life, by Jakob Albert Boor, Johannesburg SA 2011

This Poem I write to you, are you troubled by silent questions?

Still aware, that spoken questions deserve answers, followed by actions?

The biggest question we have, deserves the world, the worth, to put it in words?

Again some week answer? And hide away, silently remembering historical hurts?

Did life won the feared battle from us individually, and us all?

In the ‘’flock of sheep’’ we feel save, with courage so small.

Standing alone in silence, self decision making seems rough?

Just make the decision, in the end you will feel tough enough.

Visualizing the wall so high, the border so far, even to scared while imagining!

Imagining building inner trust, strength and pride that will be never ending!

Where the trigger does should come from, something needed to start,

Will we be waiting for the bomb, as that power provides, will awaken our hart?

The world showed his errors, examples, way too big or too small.

Everything what states ’too’’ will be a too big responsibility? Again excusing us weakened all?

The mindset we are having, the excuses from weakness we’ll make.

Not teaching us to stand strong while we are forced on steps to take.

Humans think often, the world is too much to take.

Do we use survival instinct, when that world is at stake?

Now with some details, I will show the irony in this.

Walking by, around real essentials, and leave them as it is….

We must look different to needed changes, cultures and mindsets heading for the cliffs and loose.

The roots of the problem measured, we’ll brainstorm for solutions from which together! we will choose.

Troubleshooting, attitude and believes, core reactors make it happen, you’ll see.

Opens different kinds of doors, for the lonely life changer the entrance to be?

As stepping out of the box at first, loneliness is part of the challenge.

Need an example? You will find in the movies, visuals will help with the balance.

As you may choose the right, but difficult path

You‘ll be tested mentally, trust will recognize the value in it, you should now that.

Believing is the keyword; you don’t need a religion for that?

Believing is you! That pure feeling inside! No world war started from that.

Can we stand still, could a simple poem stand a difference..?

No! It will be the reader who breaks down his offence.

Important is that it is able to trigger what’s already there!

It’s already in everybody’s hart; yes, you will get the credits! That would only be fair.

Isaiah: 64…

”Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountain would tremble before you!

As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil,

come down to make your name known to your enemies

and cause the nations to quake before you”

Isaiah 64:7-8

No one calls on your name

or strives to lay hold of you:

For you have hidden your face from us

and makes us waste away because of our sins.

Yet O Lord, You are our Father.

We are the clay, you are the Potter:

We are all the work of your hand.

Isaiah: 63;16-17 !!

BUT YOU ARE OUR FATHER,

THOUGH ABRAHAM DOES NOT KNOW US,

OR ISRAEL ACKNOWLEDGE US:

YOU OUR LORD, ARE OUR FATHER,

OUR REDEEMER FROM OF OLD IS YOUR NAME.

WHY OUR LORD, MAKE US WANDER FROM YOUR WAYS

AND HARDEN OUR HEARTS SO WE DO NOT REFER YOU?

RETURN FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR SERVANTS

THE TRIBES THAT ARE YOUR INHERITANCE…..

ISAIAH 52:6

THEREFORE MY PEOPLE WILL KNOW MY NAME;

THEREFORE IN THAT DAY THEY WILL KNOW

THAT IT IS I WHO FORETOLD IT,

YES, IT IS I…

ISAIAH: 49;5 😉

Reply

James

James on November 9, 2015 at 2:53 pm

This is about having strength within, and showing why strength within is important, because there is always one testing your inner strength. When you try to be strong externally, sometimes in a moment of anger or argument, you’re giving up your inner strength.

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jessu beluang

jessu beluang on October 30, 2015 at 5:52 am

any idea about lucifer?

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farang

farang on October 20, 2015 at 7:51 am

Lucifer is a king. A very real king, not an abstract concept and certainly not Istar/Venus. His son is “Satan.” I suppose one could label me a 34th degree realist, I read and gain knowledge. His name “Lucifer” is the French way of saying his name, much like Lazerus. Hint: Lazerus is “The Blue”…azure…same as the statue of Osiris found in Tut’s tomb. You are welcome…She asked me to spread the truth for those with ears to hear. What I am saying is from mainstream evidence easily found for those that will bother to look. User Fau was his actual name, Moe. User means “crown Prince.”

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Daniel

Daniel on June 27, 2015 at 2:28 am

I believe that all religions were created for balancing purposes and the only true creator is what everyone knows as god in which most pray to as god ,created all so god is the love and sin of all, also it is stated in the bible that we were all made perfect which we were we all chose this life we live now and the reason for this is to learn unique lessons that we have chosen, xenu/Lucifer etc were all real entities brought upon by personal belief produced by the reptilians on to man and other species and in which many beings have conquered this world single headedly, also this world has been inhabited many times over by us and different beings like us which we have ultimately destroyed ourselves in the end thanks to the help of other beings, now a systematic person who has no psychic awareness will disregard this as crap well that is ok your just not evolved enough to realise the truth and most likely have been suppressed by society all your life which is ok you will learn maybe in the next life as you have already started looking into these things in this one, but a true psychic who can communicate with the cross dimensional reptilians like I and see them in there dimension know other whys, now belief creates all and belief comes from the source I have shape shifted into what you could call Lucifer and felt his power I have also been gang stalked for the last five years and live with a spy for the last two who is my girlfriend, I have spotted many military people hiding in close quarters of the house to and get tested daily even by young kids which the government promotes, the truth is we all can be whatever we want to be but because we are evolving to quickly we are suppressed by other beings because we are very dangerous to them also here’s a few things that you should know, if you know the real truth you are a target, the reason why they presented the bali 9 all over tv was for historical purposes, the government will set up something catastrophic to enforce a new law that will take more of our rights away and cause the presentation subliminally of a coming war/ hostility or for the benefit of a new historical purpose, all crime syndicates are run by the government for the preservation of balance now non surpressed people will know this as true but it is harder to find people like I as I are killed of for we are truth

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The Quantumologist

The Quantumologist on June 2, 2015 at 6:21 am

Isaiah Chapter 14 is the ONLY direct reference in the Old Testament to Lucifer, and it’s here: www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Isaiah-Chapter-14/

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lallala

lallala on May 6, 2015 at 5:24 pm

lucifer is the light in darkness. He paves our way towards fully becoming a human being once again.

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jv

jv on May 2, 2015 at 1:19 am

The first references of Lucifer come from the HOLY Word of God. Lucifer was cast out of Heaven for wanting to be above the one true HOLY God. There is NO other place in the entire world that the truth about Lucifer is spoken. Satan means fallen angel and deceiver. The reason why some say Luciferian is because they believe he is like God, whom is actually the roaring lion, seeking to devour and to destroy people, God’s creation. It is truly sad that I come to these sites and find people who seek the easier way, which the Bible clearly calls the wide road, of which many find, but leads to destruction. You cannot take things out of context and pick and choose verses, when the Bible is literally God’s Holy Word spoken spiritually to followers all that time ago. Lucifer and Satan ARE proven the same. The Bible is complete, and cannot be separated. Many new versions have come out with the intention to change or leave out scripture. This is also blasphemy and heresy. Jesus Christ IS God whom came to save the world from being lost and helpless.

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Cruise4

Cruise4 on December 25, 2015 at 6:31 pm

Christ, Christos is the oil produced when the Kundalini hits a gland in the brain. It sits there for 3 days and then flows over the pineal gland. I think this may equate to enlightenment. Jesus is an allegory of the Sun, and also each of us. Whether he actually existed or not is moot. Do what he says or you are no christian, and he taught the above, as is quite clear in various parables such as the Bride and Groom. This is what ‘they’ suppress in us by all means possible.

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Deb

Deb on February 8, 2015 at 4:48 pm

I agree with some of this and much of it makes sense. However, there are, in my opinion, some holes in your logic. For example, intellect is not always contrary to nature, nor is nature evil. Nature is loving and brutal, nurturing and deadly, just as is the human archetype of the divine, in whatever form. I think that you are perhaps equating nature with the feminine and maybe that is where the misogynistic tone of your other articles is coming from if you consider nature evil. Nature itself has a vast intelligence. There would be no intellect without it and certainly no avenue of expression for that intellect. Also, you say that we all have to walk our own paths and not be lead by others, which I absolutely agree with 100%. However, you also take a very condescending tone with those who disagree with you and accuse them of being blind, refusing to see the truth, etc. I would gently remind you that you are human and fallible and therefore you should take care not to sound so much like the very authorities you rightfully accuse of deceiving the people. As for Lucifer, I see him as neither perfect light or perfect darkness. He is, in my opinion, an archetype with strengths and weaknesses. He is the symbol of an truth that, as Cliff pointed out below, must be balanced with love. That love is often expressed in feminine terms as women are the great nurturers. I am reminded of nothing so much as the blind men and the elephant, all accusing each other of lies while simply looking at the same thing in a different way.

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Moe

Moe on February 9, 2015 at 5:27 am

Do you think you know it all? Do you think you are going to insult me on my blog, great work and I’m going to be Mr. Nice to you? It is clear to me you have took the new age information hook line and sinker like 99.9% of the people who have not done their own independent research which is expected so don’t feel bad. Lucifer is simply Latin for the alchemical element known in Greek as phosphorus in which Lucifer is from the morning star known a Jupiter. The feminine aspect is portrayed as the goddess Isis (Cybele, Rhea, the Magna Mater etc) who represents sulfur from the planet Venus. You are making this about men and women or into a gender battle as if Isis was a real and Lucifer was some dude who fell from heaven. They are ancient memes for the profane and ignorant like you who are truly the blind and zombified.

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Francine Stroman

Francine Stroman on April 5, 2015 at 4:02 pm

Moe- I found this article to be very “materialistic” in nature. This experience that you are having right now isn’t actually about anything, in human terms anyway. It’s just hyper intelligent light shining forth and even that is saying too much. On another note it might not be such a bad thing for to learn to acept some constructive critism..

That’s ok I love ya anyway;)

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Guest

Guest on September 28, 2015 at 1:13 pm

I have to say More, I love how you take no crap from people on here. If anyone who did their research would know your right. Opinions are like butt-holes we all have one. This people are profane. And you are sharing very guarded secret s. Which I do not agree with, but that’s out of my control. It was planned long ago, and is designed to happen. Anyways stay strong, stay a warrior

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sinner

sinner on November 15, 2015 at 7:20 pm

Lucifer means The Anti Christ, by the way u idiot Moe why u insist anti christ evil calling Lucifer, ok u have ur belief , don,t u worry ur messiah will not survive except for few years, stop pretending being good guy and inventor of white magic . Have spell on me idiot, if u practice magic I hope u know what does exist to counter magic and ur messiah Lucifer ,

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Cruise4

Cruise4 on December 25, 2015 at 6:09 pm

ISIS can be conversed with, as a feminine aspect/spirit, by taking Ayahuasca. So can Lucifer who apparently comes across as somewhat arrogant. As above so below, As within so without may allow sulpher and phosphorous to be synonomous, same as planets (stars).

I’m seeing an X formation… Lucifer (Red,love of the self), Satan (Blue, love of the mother), as the left and right in this X. Whats on the other ends? We have the woman and the whore in the Bible. Inversion, tops and bottoms. Middles (balance,heart) as green. The whole construction is being prised open, the black and the white of the papersea (papacy) and represents the left and right hemispheres of the brain. This is behaviour of Light, see Goethe. Some of this information is encoded in ‘Jupiter Rising’ and ‘How to train your Dragon 2’.

Very hard to convey in such a short space. ISIS is a real something though. Confirmed and certain, and it’s why they are trying to demonise the name at present with ‘terrorist’ association etc. She is also an illusionist, I’m thinking. Spiders from Ma’s… Ma Sons?

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Cruise4

Cruise4 on December 25, 2015 at 6:16 pm

One other very interesting thing… On one of the Jeff Rense shows dealing with reverse speech (approx. January ish 2015), Obama said ‘There will be no pursuit of the woman’. They had no clue what it meant but it was one of the clearest reverses I’ve ever heard.

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Cliff

Cliff on February 6, 2015 at 9:26 am

Lucifer does indeed represent the light, that is to say the pure light of the rational intellect, and just the intellect. It is the cold light of pure reason unmitigated by the warm light of the heart and thus unbalanced. It is the light that allows the means to justify the end, as pure reason would demand it do so. The Christ you quote also said that ‘by their works you shall know them’ . Your Albert Pike stated that three world wars would be required to bring in the Masonic Age, The Masons have been major players in creating two of them and are on the cusp of igniting the third, so please do not equate your luciferian objectives with that of the light of the Gnostic Christ self. Notwithstanding this, there are many truths still contained in your article, however it seems that these are very cleverly placed to capture those who seek for the light within, an imitation of the path of the seeker after truth, two paths that appear to be subtlely similar and yet ultimately lead to devastating different results. ‘My kingdom is not of this world’ , Albert Pike’s and the Mason’s very definately is.

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Larry

Larry on March 12, 2016 at 10:16 pm

Quite an interesting point: ‘those who seek for the light within, an imitation of the path of the seeker after truth, two paths that appear to be subtlely similar and yet ultimately lead to devastating different results.’

Reply

THE ALL

THE ALL on December 4, 2014 at 5:14 pm

there are several important points which need to be understood…Christianity does not have a monopoly on the term “Lucifer” nor on its definition. The Christian concept and definition of the term “Lucifer” is merely the latest in a long line of definitions and interpretations of this pre-Christian term.

The word “Lucifer” occurs only once in the entire Bible. This is in Isaiah 14:12, which says: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” Those who read this verse in its actual context will clearly see that the sentence is applied specifically to a certain Babylonian king who was an enemy in war of the Israelites. The original Hebrew text uses the word הֵילֵל which literally means “bright star” or “shining one,” a term applied sarcastically or mockingly by the Israelites to this particular enemy of theirs. The translators of the King James Version of the Bible – one of the chief of whom was the well known Rosicrucian initiate Dr Robert Fludd, a fact which will no doubt shock and horrify many Christians – chose to translate this word with the Latin word “Lucifer.” .“Lucifer” literally means Lightbringer, Lightbearer, Bringer of Dawn, Shining One, or Morning Star. The word has no other meaning. Historically and astronomically, the term “Morning Star” has always been applied to the planet Venus. Since the only occurrence of the word “Lucifer” in the Bible is that one verse in Isaiah, there is absolutely nothing in the Bible which says that Lucifer is Satan or the devil. It was Pope Gregory the Great (540-604 AD) who was the first person to apply that passage of scripture to Satan and thus to equate Lucifer with Satan. But even then this notion didn’t catch on in a big way until the much more recent popularisation of John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” in which Lucifer is used as another name for Satan, the evil adversary of God. Also, such luminaries of the Christian world as Martin Luther and John Calvin considered it “a gross error” to apply Isaiah 14:12 to the devil, “for the context plainly shows these statements must be understood in reference to the king of the Babylonians.”

Thus the Christians who claim that Lucifer is the devil actually have no Biblical basis or authority for such a belief. Though they may claim to be “Bible believing Christians” whose faith is built solely on “the Word of God” they are actually followers – in this and many other respects – of Christian religious tradition and not of the Christian Bible. Or have they quietly conferred divine infallibility upon the Pope and Milton without informing the rest of the world?

H.P. Blavatsky was never at any point in her life a Christian, gave no credence to Christian theology and did not believe in any type of personal or anthropomorphic God nor in any type of personal or anthropomorphic devil. She believed and taught that there is but ONE Infinite Divine Life which is everything and in everything and that It has no adversary or enemy, since there is nothing but That – the boundless, impersonal, omnipresent Principle of Absolute Existence Itself. She was against the notion of worshipping or praying to anyone or anything. She taught that evil is really imperfection, which is the automatic and inevitable byproduct of the existence of matter.

Now let us take a look at some of the statements HPB made about Lucifer in “The Secret Doctrine”…

* “Esoteric philosophy admits neither good nor evil per se, as existing independently in nature. The cause for both is found, as regards the Kosmos, in the necessity of contraries or contrasts, and with respect to man, in his human nature, his ignorance and passions. There is no devil or the utterly depraved, as there are no Angels absolutely perfect, though there may be spirits of Light and of Darkness; thus LUCIFER – the spirit of Intellectual Enlightenment and Freedom of Thought – is metaphorically the guiding beacon, which helps man to find his way through the rocks and sandbanks of Life, for Lucifer is the LOGOS in his highest, and the “Adversary” in his lowest aspect – both of which are reflected in our Ego.” (Vol. 2, p. 162)

* “In antiquity and reality, Lucifer, or Luciferus, is the name of the angelic Entity presiding over the light of truth as over the light of the day. In the great Valentinian gospel Pistis Sophia it is taught that of the three Powers emanating from the Holy names of the Three Tριδυνάμεις, that of Sophia (the Holy Ghost according to these gnostics – the most cultured of all) resides in the planet Venus or Lucifer.” (Vol. 2, p. 512)

* “It is but natural – even from the dead letter standpoint – to view Satan, the Serpent of Genesis, as the real creator and benefactor, the Father of Spiritual mankind. For it is he who was the “Harbinger of Light,” bright radiant Lucifer, who opened the eyes of the automaton created by Jehovah, as alleged; and he who was the first to whisper: “in the day ye eat thereof ye shall be as Elohim, knowing good and evil” – can only be regarded in the light of a Saviour. An “adversary” to Jehovah the “personating spirit,” he still remains in esoteric truth the ever-loving “Messenger” (the angel), the Seraphim and Cherubim who both knew well, and loved still more, and who conferred on us spiritual, instead of physical immortality – the latter a kind of static immortality that would have transformed man into an undying “Wandering Jew”.” (Vol. 2, p. 243)

* “The Fall was the result of man’s knowledge, for his “eyes were opened.” Indeed, he was taught Wisdom and the hidden knowledge by the “Fallen Angel,” for the latter had become from that day his Manas, Mind and Self-consciousness. In each of us that golden thread of continuous life – periodically broken into active and passive cycles of sensuous existence on Earth, and super-sensuous in Devachan – is from the beginning of our appearance upon this earth. It is the Sutratma, the luminous thread of immortal impersonal monadship, on which our earthly lives or evanescent Egos are strung as so many beads – according to the beautiful expression of Vedantic philosophy.

“And now it stands proven that Satan, or the Red Fiery Dragon, the “Lord of Phosphorus” (brimstone was a theological improvement), and Lucifer, or “Light-Bearer,” is in us: it is our Mind – our tempter and Redeemer, our intelligent liberator and Saviour from pure animalism. Without this principle – the emanation of the very essence of the pure divine principle Mahat (Intelligence), which radiates direct from the Divine mind – we would be surely no better than animals.” (Vol. 2, p. 513)

So we see that in the teachings of Theosophy – which are at times deliberately symbolical, allegorical, and esoteric – the Lightbringer or Bringer of Dawn (Lucifer in Latin) is our Mind Principle, our individual self-consciousness and spark of intelligence, which was awakened in mankind around the middle period of the Third Root Race, also known as the Lemurian Epoch. Our mind can either be our adversary (which is what the word “satan” literally means) or it can be the lightbearer (the Lucifer) of spiritual Truth to us, the knowledge of which brings about our liberation from ignorance, including spiritual self-ignorance. Jose M. Herrou Aragon, in his book “Primordial Gnosis: The Forbidden Religion,” writes…“According to Gnostic legends and myths, the great Unknowable God sent Lucifer, angel of indescribable fire and light, to show man the light and to help him wake up and see his true origin, the origin of his Spirit, which has been perversely imprisoned in this impure matter called body-soul. He is an uncreated being, who came to the created world to bring Light: Liberating Gnosis. The saving knowledge which can wake man up and help him free his imprisoned Spirit. The knowledge which allows him to know who he truly is, why he is here in this world and what he has to do to liberate himself and fulfil his Spirit, which belongs to another uncreated and unknowable plane. “We have said that Lucifer came to the world to wake man up, to help him remember his divine origin, the divine origin of his Spirit, and to help him free himself from the body-soul in which he is trapped, and from created time and matter.” Theosophy interprets all these allegorical Gnostic teachings as referring to “the lighting up of Manas” (Manas is the Sanskrit word for Mind) which we mentioned above. When we bear in mind that “The Secret Doctrine” teaches that the Lemurian Root Race was born under the influence of Venus and received its “light and life” from the Planetary Spirit of Venus, it all becomes clearer, since Lucifer has been an accepted synonym for Venus – the bright and morning star – since long before the days of Christian theology and millennia before Lucifer was first ignorantly equated with the devil. In “The Secret Doctrine” we read that “Venus, or Lucifer (also Sukra and Usanas) the planet, is the Light-Bearer of our Earth, in both its physical and mystic sense.” Venus is said to be the “spiritual prototype” of Earth and “the Guardian Spirit of the Earth and Men.” It is “the most occult, powerful, and mysterious of all the planets; the one whose influence upon, and relation to the Earth is most prominent” and every change that takes place on Venus “is felt on, and reflected by, the Earth.” Since it would take too long and also be out of place here to try to explain all of this to the reader unfamiliar with Theosophy, we can sum up by saying that what H.P. Blavatsky has to say about Lucifer is entirely esoteric, symbolical, and philosophical. Those four excerpts quoted above are virtually the only specific statements and explanations she ever made about Lucifer, although fanatical Christians and half-crazed conspiracy theorists like to give the impression that she spent almost all her time ranting and raving about Lucifer, which is simply not true. As for the reason her magazine was named “Lucifer,” she wrote in its very first article – titled “What’s in a Name?” – that “the first and most important, if not the sole object of the magazine, is expressed in the line from the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, on its title page. It is to bring light to “the hidden things of darkness,” (iv. 5); to show in their true aspect and their original real meaning things and names, men and their doings and customs; it is finally to fight prejudice, hypocrisy and shams in every nation, in every class of Society, as in every department of life. The task is a laborious one but it is neither impracticable nor useless, if even as an experiment. Thus, for an attempt of such nature, no better title could ever be found than the one chosen. … No fitter symbol exists for the proposed work – that of throwing a ray of truth on everything hidden by the darkness of prejudice, by social or religious misconceptions; especially by that idiotic routine in life, which, once that a certain action, a thing, a name, has been branded by slanderous inventions, however unjust, makes respectable people, so called, turn away shiveringly, refusing to even look at it from any other aspect than the one sanctioned by public opinion. Such an endeavour then, to force the weak-hearted to look truth straight in the face, is helped most efficaciously by a title belonging to the category of branded names.” But as she was later to remark, the ignorant and erroneous belief that Lucifer = Satan “has struck its roots too deep in the soil of blind faith” to allow many people to bravely, boldly, and unashamedly reveal the true origins and true nature of what the so-called Lucifer actually is. Those who attempt to do so are always bound to be immediately labelled as “satanists” and “devil worshippers” by a certain class of Christian, those whose trademark characteristics invariably tend to be wilful ignorance and mental laziness. It has indeed become a “branded name,” one which still automatically conjures up the image of an anthropomorphic devil even in the minds of the most hardened atheists. Yet who can deny that even Jesus is portrayed as boldly proclaiming his identity with Venus the Lightbringer in Revelation 22:16, where he says “I, Jesus, am the bright and morning star.” If the translators had chosen to translate this verse using Latin just as they did with Isaiah 14:12, it would read “I, Jesus, am Lucifer.” Theosophists are not afraid of public opinion or misguided prejudice, nor of the claims and threats of Christianity, that most arrogant, ignorant, and impudent of all the world’s religions. “There is no religion higher than Truth” – and eventually, as always, the Truth will prevail.

Phosphorus? How did the ancients know about, and zero in on this single element? Also, what was the mystery secret that was imparted to Alexander the great by his Greek mentor that enabled him to defeat a million man Persian army with only 35.000 of his men?

Before it was known by the word Phosphorus which is a word given to us by the Greeks, and the Latin Lucifer, it was simply known as the Elixir of Life or the Flower of Life. Often it was called by the plant names they used for the Elixir of Life or the Flower of Life that were high in Phosphorus such as Mandrake, the Lotus and Red Barley of the Gods.

Our thoughts are words,words are sounds,sounds vibrates,vibration is energy, energy glows and that glowing is LIGHT.Everything is Light.Even our thoughts.>> “It is through our DNA which contains phosphorus, that we become conscious to the world and who we are in order to live in the light.” Wrong. “live in the light” suggests you and I are separate from this universe of light ,that there is a “we” somehow not attached .EVERYTHING IS LIGHT.You and me and everything inbetween all made up of the same light energy . Light is a LIE ,there is nothing there. 99.9999999 EMPTY SPACE (potential).Lucifer =Bringer of LIGHT.

It is not correct that Lucifer equals Jesus, as Yourself also quote.

“Lucifer represents the individual intellect and will which rebels against the domination of Nature and attempts to maintain itself contrary to natural impulse. Lucifer, in the form of Venus, is the morning star spoken of in Revelation, which is to be given to those who overcome the world.”

Lucifer from Madam Blavatsky and Freemasonry has highjacked Jesus’ title, for evil, not for good.

The Christian mystic Rudolf Steiner says Lucifer and Satan (The Devil) is two different spiritual entities, but to compare ANY of the two as Jesus is way off target.

“Rudolf Steiner taught that the two great demons, Lucifer and Ahriman, offer mankind gifts — from Lucifer, we receive the gift of intellectual thought; from Ahriman, mastery of the physical realm. These gifts are beneficial and even necessary at our current stage of evolution, but they also entail great risks, temptations that can lead us badly astray. According to Steiner, Christ — the Intelligence of the Sun — needs to interpose between Lucifer and Ahriman, balancing them so that we may receive their influences in the proper, beneficial proportions”.

gnosticwarrior.com/lucifer.html

La omisión del Estado y la administración de la tragedia | The omission of the State and the administration of the tragedy #19S by jpazkual [OFM]

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Los acontecimientos alrededor del sismo del pasado 19 de septiembre ponen a la vista la estrategia que adoptó el Estado mexicano para administrar la tragedia en su beneficio, ocultar su negligencia, lucrar con ella y aprovechar la oportunidad que se viene para engrosar los bolsillos de quienes más tienen. Es esto lo que convierte un desastre natural en una tragedia.

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La omisión del Estado y la administración de la tragedia | Por Tejiendo Organización Revolucionaria | 25 de septiembre de 2017 - tejiendorevolucion.org/190917.html

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Quien protagoniza la tragedia es la negligencia, no el temblor; evidencia de ello es que éste fue presentado como inesperado, aunque es por demás sabido que se dio en zona sísmica; evidencia son los más de treinta años en que no se avanzó en la prevención: las revisiones fallidas después del temblor del 7 de septiembre no arrojaron datos de que hubiera escuelas mal construidas o con daños estructurales; evidencia es que los reglamentos de construcción son letra muerta, asesinada por la corrupción de los diversos niveles de gobierno y los negocios inmobiliarios.

La urgencia de la tragedia convocó a la solidaridad inmediata y la presión del tiempo urgente ocultó un hecho fundamental: el Estado sí cuenta con los recursos materiales y humanos para enfrentar la catástrofe; cuenta con maquinaria pesada, equipo y personal especializado, infraestructura de comunicación, dinero, etc., si no los ocupó fue porque deicidio no hacerlo, no porque se viera rebasado.

El Estado mexicano tiene recursos de alta tecnología para espiarnos, por ejemplo, pero no los puso al servicio de los rescatistas para localizar vida dentro de los escombros. Tampoco se usó la estructura estatal para proporcionar información fidedigna y pronta que pudiera salvar vidas y canalizar la ayuda. Es más, ni los rescatistas internacionales fueron bien aprovechados, aunque los había.

La participación del Estado en las zonas más afectadas fue bajo la lógica de contener y controlar. Así actuaron sus efectivos castrenses, la milicia y la marina, al presentarse con armas de alto calibre a establecer perímetros de seguridad, que no sólo obstaculizaban el pronto rescate de vidas humanas, sino que pretendían cohibir la organización de la gente. Es importante mencionar que hubo elementos del ejército y policía custodiando las tiendas trasnacionales de supuestos intentos de rapiña. No es difícil concluir que su plan era lavarle la cara al ejército, cuya presencia fue más evidente en aquellos puntos que mediáticamente eran más explotables. Todo esto bajo una lógica de guerra y de barrer de manera pronta con los escombros.

El Estado permitió y fomentó que se le pidiera a la población gastar su salario en acopios individuales, que luego buscó administrar de forma clientelar y asistencialista, mientras, los impuestos que de por si paga el pueblo fueron a parar al fideicomiso “Fuerza México”, fideicomiso que canalizará los recursos públicos y privados generando una acumulación de capital nada desdeñable para quienes lo administran: las grandes empresas; esas, que brillaron por su ausencia cuando se hizo el llamado general a la solidaridad y que ahora piden donaciones como si fuesen la víctimas de la tragedia.

Para el Estado y los grandes capitalistas, a quienes realmente representa, el territorio de la tragedia –Oaxaca, Guerrero, Tlaxcala, Morelos, Puebla, Ciudad de México– es visto como un espacio para generar ganancias, invirtiendo y especulando con las vidas de la gente.

Lo único que podrá detenerlos es la organización de los afectados por el sismo, la organización de la gente solidaria que desbordó las calles y acudió segura de que su ayuda era indispensable, porque sabíamos que el gobierno no haría nada.

El triple propósito de la estrategia estatal fue primero, ponernos a resolver la situación como pudiéramos y así canalizar la energía social, segundo, aparecer codo a codo con la gente para lavar su imagen y, tercero, aumentar las ventas de las grandes empresas.

Si algo aprenden los que insisten en dominarnos es que abajo siempre nos organizamos en su contra, así sucedió con el terremoto de 1985, así sucede ahora. Eso es lo que temen los de arriba y lo que intentaran contener a cualquier costo. El caos que han fomentado en forma de vacío institucional, desinformación, tragedia y muerte tiene por primer objetivo ese: imposibilitar la organización. Después de largos años atacando las múltiples formas de organización popular y social han dejado a una sociedad aislada, dividida, individualizada; no obstante, esta sociedad ahora intenta restablecer los lazos, buscamos reconocernos como compañeros de los mismos problemas.

Junto a la desorganización hay un segundo objetivo del Estado, encauzar nuestra indignación y nuestra solidaridad. Dejar que la “sociedad civil” tenga que resolver lo urgente y vital de la tragedia para así impedir que lo denunciemos; con estas formas el Estado nos desgasta, nos va quitando esperanzas y evita que nos organicemos para cambiarlo en el futuro. Nos quieren dejar la carga de la tragedia, quieren que seamos los responsables del fracaso.

La apuesta desde arriba es que no vamos a ser capaces de organizarnos pero están equivocados, nosotros, desde abajo, vamos a demostrarlo porque nos va la vida en ello.

Por eso llamamos a la organización solidaria y no sólo a la solidaridad. Hay que organizarnos que esto va pa' largo, hay que reconocernos con un enemigo en común: el sistema capitalista al que defiende y representa el Estado. Pero además, y más importante, hay que reconocernos con una causa común: tener una vida digna, digna porque podemos organizarnos para salvar vidas sin que ninguna instancia autoritaria nos lo impida; digna porque podemos participar y garantizar que la reconstrucción de las viviendas afectadas se haga con los requerimientos necesarios. Denunciemos la omisión, la negligencia y la administración que el Estado hace de la tragedia. Impulsemos la autoorganización de los de abajo para la reconstrucción del país desde los escombros.

Tejiendo Organización Revolucionaria

25 de septiembre de 2017

___

The events surrounding the September 19 earthquake expose the Mexican state's strategy to manage the tragedy on its behalf, to hide its negligence, to profit from it and to seize the opportunity that has come to swell the pockets of those who have. This is what turns a natural disaster into a tragedy.

----

The omission of the State and the administration of the tragedy | By Tejiendo Revolutionary Organization | September 25, 2017

----

The protagonist of the tragedy is negligence, not trembling; Evidence of this is that it was presented as unexpected, although it is well known that it occurred in seismic zone; evidence is more than thirty years in which there was no progress in prevention: failed reviews after the earthquake of September 7 did not report that there were poorly constructed or structurally damaged schools; evidence is that building regulations are dead letter, murdered by the corruption of various levels of government and real estate business.

The urgency of the tragedy called for immediate solidarity and the urgent pressure of time concealed a fundamental fact: the State does have the material and human resources to face the catastrophe; has heavy machinery, equipment and specialized personnel, communication infrastructure, money, etc., if not occupied was because deicide not to do it, not because it was exceeded.

The Mexican state has high-tech resources to spy on us, for example, but did not put them at the service of rescuers to locate life inside the rubble. Nor was the state structure used to provide reliable and timely information that could save lives and channel aid. Moreover, not even the international rescuers were well exploited, although there were.

The participation of the State in the most affected areas was under the logic of containing and controlling. This was how their military officers, the militia and the navy acted, by introducing themselves with high-caliber weapons to establish security perimeters, which not only hindered the prompt rescue of human lives, but also sought to restrain the organization of the people. It is important to mention that there were elements of the army and police guarding the transnational tents of alleged predatory attempts. It is not difficult to conclude that his plan was to wash the face to the army, whose presence was more evident in those points that mediatically were more exploitable. All this under a logic of war and sweep quickly with the rubble.

The state allowed and encouraged that the population be asked to spend their salary in individual stores, which later sought to manage clientele and welfare, while the taxes paid by the people went to the trust "Fuerza México" trust that will channel the public and private resources generating a capital accumulation not negligible for those who administer it: large companies; those that shone by their absence when the general call for solidarity was made and now ask for donations as if they were the victims of the tragedy.

For the state and the great capitalists it represents, the territory of the tragedy - Oaxaca, Guerrero, Tlaxcala, Morelos, Puebla, Mexico City - is seen as a space to generate profits, investing and speculating with the lives of people.

The only thing that can stop them is the organization of those affected by the earthquake, the organization of the people of solidarity who overflowed the streets and came safe that their help was indispensable, because we knew that the government would do nothing.

The threefold purpose of the state strategy was first, to resolve the situation as we could and thus channel social energy, second, to appear side by side with people to wash their image and, thirdly, to increase the sales of large companies.

If there is something learned by those who insist on dominating us, it is that below we always organize against him, so it happened with the earthquake of 1985, this is what happens now. That's what they fear from above and what they try to contain at any cost. The chaos that they have fomented in the form of institutional vacuum, disinformation, tragedy and death has the first objective that: to prevent the organization. After many years attacking the multiple forms of popular and social organization have left an isolated, divided, individualized society; nevertheless, this society now tries to reestablish the bonds, we seek to recognize ourselves as companions of the same problems.

Along with the disorganization there is a second objective of the State, to channel our indignation and our solidarity. Let the "civil society" have to solve the urgent and vital of the tragedy in order to prevent denouncing it; with these forms the State wears us, takes away our hopes and prevents us to organize to change it in the future. They want to leave us the burden of tragedy, they want us to be responsible for the failure. The bet from above is that we will not be able to organize but they are wrong, we, from below, we are going to prove it because we are going to live in it.

That's why we call solidarity organization and not just solidarity. We have to organize that this goes for long, we have to recognize ourselves with a common enemy: the capitalist system that defends and represents the State. But more importantly, we must recognize ourselves with a common cause: having a dignified, dignified life because we can organize ourselves to save lives without any authoritarian instance preventing us; dignified because we can participate and ensure that the reconstruction of affected housing is made with the necessary requirements. Let us denounce the omission, neglect and administration that the State makes of the tragedy. Let us encourage the self-organization of those below for the reconstruction of the country from the rubble.

Tejiendo Organización Revolucionaria

25 September 2017

Jen (Circle Back) Psaki by Marc Langsam

4 4

Disinformation Secretary

Viva Umkhonto! by anjin-san

2

The Beaten Generation

During the course of 2015 I recommissioned my 21st birthday present from my father – a Micro Seiki MB-14ST that I brought over to the UK from my mom’s place in South Africa. I’ve also been slowly bringing over my collection of vinyl albums, meticulously selected and acquired, and lovingly cared for between the early-70’s and the late-80’s. They’ve also been stashed away at my mom’s place, protected from the elements in plastic sleeves and stored in bespoke cases holding about 50 albums apiece. Over the course of the past few months I’ve been playing some of the gems in my collection, and it’s been very rewarding to reconnect with my past. Both the good and the “interesting”.

On one of our trips to Europe in the late-80’s my future wife and I made our regular pilgrimage to the music stores, including WOM (World of Music) in Germany. It was here (in which city, I don’t recall) that I bought the LP "Viva Umkhonto!" a compilation of punk and hardcore music that featured previously unreleased material by European and US bands. The record was released in April 1987 as a collaborative effort by two independent labels, namely Mordam Records (USA) and De Konkurrent (Holland), both of whom were strong backers of the struggle against Apartheid. According to a statement on the back of the sleeve, “All money raised by this record goes to Umkhonto We Sizwe”. So this was a benefit album for the military wing of the ANC (African National Congress).

For context, allow me to turn to Wikipedia:

“Umkhonto We Sizwe (abbreviated as MK, Zulu for "Spear of the Nation") was the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), co-founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its founding represented the conviction in the face of the massacre that the ANC could no longer limit itself to nonviolent protest; its mission was to fight against the South African government. After warning the South African government in June 1961 of its intent to resist further acts of terror if the government did not take steps toward constitutional reform and increase political rights, MK launched its first attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961. It was subsequently classified as a terrorist organisation by the South African government and the United States, and banned”.

The album itself was definitely banned in South Africa and so possessing it was illegal. I took it into the country through Jan Smuts Airport (subsequently known as “Johannesburg International” and now, “O.R. Tambo International”) on my return from my trip to Europe and kept it safely tucked away in the belly of the beast in South Africa's capital city, Pretoria.

On the tenth anniversary of the Soweto uprising, the Nationalist regime declared State of Emergency in June 1986. It forbade any action that could undermine the Apartheid state, nationwide. Also forbidden were any kind of “subversive statements”, defined as statements that promoted unlawful strikes, boycotts or civil disobedience, attacked military conscription, promoted disinvestment or sanctions, or that “aggravated feelings of racial hostility”. The penalty for engaging in these actions was a maximum of ten years imprisonment. Ouch - I definitely did not want to be caught with this album!

Of the people detained under these draconian regulations (circa-8,000 in the first couple of months) no names were published with the exception of those released at the discretion of the South African Police. Throughout the State of Emergency, newspapers had to engage in self-censorship, at the risk of being closed down by the government, and many used to print disclaimers alongside their articles that read” “This report has been restricted to comply with the Emergency Regulations”. Some newspapers and magazines were not able to appear, and no news came out of the black townships, except through the state’s Bureau of Information. At the time I stuck stickers on the front of my television screen and computer monitor that read “SABC News is Biased” just to remind myself to be vigilant about government disinformation.

The music on the compilation album is okay, but it’s the packaging and presentation that I really enjoyed as a snapshot of the times, and as an interesting piece of social history. Along with the record were included a poster and a booklet filled with newspaper clippings and ANC propaganda about the armed struggle against Apartheid. It also highlights companies that were breaking economic sanctions by continuing to do business with South Africa. The “Throw Well – Throw Shell” slogan is parody of oil the giant’s official marketing tag-line at the time, namely “Go Well – Go Shell”. I have uploaded a scan of this booklet to my DropBox.

I’m not going to comment on the accuracy or veracity of the information in the booklet, but in those turbulent times – under a state of emergency, with broad media censorship and where owning certain music could earn you a jail sentence – it was thrilling to see what people abroad were thinking and to read material that was not towing the official National Party line. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s fascinating to see how right Matt Johnson was back in 1989 (The The – “Mind Bomb”). Although he wasn’t talking about South Africa, per se, when he sang that we were the “beaten generation, reared on a diet of prejudice and misinformation”, he pretty much hit the nail on the head. Prejudice and misinformation were weapons in the arsenal on both sides of the struggle in South Africa. I was one of the few pale South Africans to have the privilege of being exposed to both sides of that deformed coin.

The The - "The Beat(en) Generation" - YouTube Video Clip

When you cast your eyes upon the skylines

Of this once proud nation

Can you sense the fear and the hatred

Growing in the hearts of its population

And our youth, oh youth, are being seduced

By the greedy hands of politics and half truths

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Open your eyes, open your imagination

We're being sedated by the gasoline fumes

And hypnotized by the satellites

Into believing what is good and what is right

You may be worshiping the temples of mammon

Or lost in the prisons of religion

But can you still walk back to happiness

When you've nowhere left to run?

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Open your eyes, open your imagination

And if they send in the special police

To deliver us from liberty and keep us from peace

Then won't the words sit ill upon their tongues

When they tell us justice is being done

And that freedom lives in the barrels of a warm gun

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Open your eyes, open your imagination

If you'd like to take a listen to "Viva Umkhonto!" I've found a ripped copy of the LP available for download here.

Also take a look at my Blogger posting.

Language A Key Mechanism of Control by Robert Goldstein

11 6

The Art of the Smear: Language, A Key Mechanism of Control by Newt Gingrich: wp.me/p47Ymh-yq

Screenshot from: users.wfu.edu/zulick/454/gopac.html

Blond Selfie from My Vienna Studio Room close up MushroomBrain photography by Danny Hennesy

7

Yes that is me, a selfie from my tiny room in Vienna, I look sober but I don´t know why I am wearing på outdoor coat inside :)

Peace and Noise!

/ MushroomBrain aka. M aus L

...........................................................................

Café Frequenters Episode 155

----------------------------------------------------------

...Jimmy thought silently inside his head for a while and then replied:

- Well I have mostly been working and sleeping, actually not sleeping that much, since there is always work to do in the world of spies...

- No, Good, Pal, you Must life Live too! Not just worket, but enjoy, have fun, too!

then there was loads of other words coming from his mouth, Jimmy put a auto-record on while he worked in his brain by cleaning up some faulty systems, since he believed that nuch much of Gorans words was of any importance any way, mostly he was just filling the air with random bits of irrelevant information...

Then all the sudden there was a word that made him, stop his brain-choirs for a wile and again be present in the conversation!

C. Goran said:

- Butt Jimmy, Might you have Girlfriend met?

Or are you one of those, I mean peder, what is the word in your lingual? YES! are you perhaps one of the Happy and Jolly ones, nothing bad about that, I have many friends back in balkan who confess do that male look better than femmales, actually many have asked me to have intersection with them while we been partying, drinking to much, or so...

Jimmy thought a moment and replied: no I have not mat any man or woman, at the service they tell us not to get to social, actually avoiding all but short encounters with love, and only if we have to, if we just need, yeah you get what I mean...

- YESS! Yess! I know Jimmy, I Know, I too much busi here, not time for love between serving drinks and beer for costumers, no time!

- Crni, I actually think that you could work on the disinformation unit, you really have a wonderful way of talking much that makes no sense and still you are totally in control...

-YesS, Yess! Jimmy, I was in army once, we foughted hard against enemy, then I had big black beard, commander said, Goran you good at shooting enemy, and he said, you are the most premium man when it comes to shooting lead and talking at the same time...

- Oh Goran you were in the war on which side?

- Yess, Yess, I was on number two! doing Number two war, I fight for the Monarchy enemy did not want monarchy, but now I left that old war crap in my head, I took wooden plank and nails and hammered head shut, That part I mean...

- You are a wise man Goran...

- Yess, Yess I know, I have done a lot of things before I started serving folk and people in bar...

at that moment another costumer entered the room, Goran excused himself, jimmy returned to his whiskey lit a fag to fill the room in tobacco smoke just the way he wanted it, as he always remembered those happy days in the past...

Hello Tanja! do you think this small rewrite of this chapter is better than the old, is my Jogo-history right, I mean since you are from the area, do Goran feel right? hope to take a coffee with you soon again!

Hugs!

/ Jonny at work!

Viva Umkhonto! by anjin-san

4

The Beaten Generation

During the course of 2015 I recommissioned my 21st birthday present from my father – a Micro Seiki MB-14ST that I brought over to the UK from my mom’s place in South Africa. I’ve also been slowly bringing over my collection of vinyl albums, meticulously selected and acquired, and lovingly cared for between the early-70’s and the late-80’s. They’ve also been stashed away at my mom’s place, protected from the elements in plastic sleeves and stored in bespoke cases holding about 50 albums apiece. Over the course of the past few months I’ve been playing some of the gems in my collection, and it’s been very rewarding to reconnect with my past. Both the good and the “interesting”.

On one of our trips to Europe in the late-80’s my future wife and I made our regular pilgrimage to the music stores, including WOM (World of Music) in Germany. It was here (in which city, I don’t recall) that I bought the LP "Viva Umkhonto!" a compilation of punk and hardcore music that featured previously unreleased material by European and US bands. The record was released in April 1987 as a collaborative effort by two independent labels, namely Mordam Records (USA) and De Konkurrent (Holland), both of whom were strong backers of the struggle against Apartheid. According to a statement on the back of the sleeve, “All money raised by this record goes to Umkhonto We Sizwe”. So this was a benefit album for the military wing of the ANC (African National Congress).

For context, allow me to turn to Wikipedia:

“Umkhonto We Sizwe (abbreviated as MK, Zulu for "Spear of the Nation") was the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), co-founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its founding represented the conviction in the face of the massacre that the ANC could no longer limit itself to nonviolent protest; its mission was to fight against the South African government. After warning the South African government in June 1961 of its intent to resist further acts of terror if the government did not take steps toward constitutional reform and increase political rights, MK launched its first attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961. It was subsequently classified as a terrorist organisation by the South African government and the United States, and banned”.

The album itself was definitely banned in South Africa and so possessing it was illegal. I took it into the country through Jan Smuts Airport (subsequently known as “Johannesburg International” and now, “O.R. Tambo International”) on my return from my trip to Europe and kept it safely tucked away in the belly of the beast in South Africa's capital city, Pretoria.

On the tenth anniversary of the Soweto uprising, the Nationalist regime declared State of Emergency in June 1986. It forbade any action that could undermine the Apartheid state, nationwide. Also forbidden were any kind of “subversive statements”, defined as statements that promoted unlawful strikes, boycotts or civil disobedience, attacked military conscription, promoted disinvestment or sanctions, or that “aggravated feelings of racial hostility”. The penalty for engaging in these actions was a maximum of ten years imprisonment. Ouch - I definitely did not want to be caught with this album!

Of the people detained under these draconian regulations (circa-8,000 in the first couple of months) no names were published with the exception of those released at the discretion of the South African Police. Throughout the State of Emergency, newspapers had to engage in self-censorship, at the risk of being closed down by the government, and many used to print disclaimers alongside their articles that read” “This report has been restricted to comply with the Emergency Regulations”. Some newspapers and magazines were not able to appear, and no news came out of the black townships, except through the state’s Bureau of Information. At the time I stuck stickers on the front of my television screen and computer monitor that read “SABC News is Biased” just to remind myself to be vigilant about government disinformation.

The music on the compilation album is okay, but it’s the packaging and presentation that I really enjoyed as a snapshot of the times, and as an interesting piece of social history. Along with the record were included a poster and a booklet filled with newspaper clippings and ANC propaganda about the armed struggle against Apartheid. It also highlights companies that were breaking economic sanctions by continuing to do business with South Africa. The “Throw Well – Throw Shell” slogan is parody of oil the giant’s official marketing tag-line at the time, namely “Go Well – Go Shell”. I have uploaded a scan of this booklet to my DropBox.

I’m not going to comment on the accuracy or veracity of the information in the booklet, but in those turbulent times – under a state of emergency, with broad media censorship and where owning certain music could earn you a jail sentence – it was thrilling to see what people abroad were thinking and to read material that was not towing the official National Party line. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s fascinating to see how right Matt Johnson was back in 1989 (The The – “Mind Bomb”). Although he wasn’t talking about South Africa, per se, when he sang that we were the “beaten generation, reared on a diet of prejudice and misinformation”, he pretty much hit the nail on the head. Prejudice and misinformation were weapons in the arsenal on both sides of the struggle in South Africa. I was one of the few pale South Africans to have the privilege of being exposed to both sides of that deformed coin.

The The - "The Beat(en) Generation" - YouTube Video Clip

When you cast your eyes upon the skylines

Of this once proud nation

Can you sense the fear and the hatred

Growing in the hearts of its population

And our youth, oh youth, are being seduced

By the greedy hands of politics and half truths

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Open your eyes, open your imagination

We're being sedated by the gasoline fumes

And hypnotized by the satellites

Into believing what is good and what is right

You may be worshiping the temples of mammon

Or lost in the prisons of religion

But can you still walk back to happiness

When you've nowhere left to run?

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Open your eyes, open your imagination

And if they send in the special police

To deliver us from liberty and keep us from peace

Then won't the words sit ill upon their tongues

When they tell us justice is being done

And that freedom lives in the barrels of a warm gun

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Open your eyes, open your imagination

If you'd like to take a listen to "Viva Umkhonto!" I've found a ripped copy of the LP available for download here.

Also take a look at my Blogger posting.

Flip that peach state by Dana L. Brown

9

Make no mistake, we all deserve a pat on the back. The GOP is making a janky attempt at a coup, but it is in vain. Biden won. A stellar outcome.

It was a heroic effort on the part of ordinary American voters and poll watchers and administrators at the local level. Every single county. We pulled off (in the middle of a pandemic) a free and fair and relatively frictionless election. And one, that if you believe in democracy, revealed that Trump has many many voters. To us* who have been reviled by Trump and who were hoping for a landslide, the results of the votes are that Trump has not been repudiated in a landslide---there are lots and lots and lots of Trump voters in this country. If you accept election as reality, you have to accept that reality too.

Which leads me to this question. How did one of the two major parties in a rich, functioning democracy become such an unrepentantly illiberal and extremist party? How did this happen?

And what exactly, is the future, of disinformation?

How did MAGA succeed so wildly? We now have a huge swath of the US population radicalized against any form of ordinary European social welfare of the kind that our peers enjoy.

If McConnell holds on to the senate, because we're not successful in winning both runoff races in Georgia, the number of things that can happen for Biden legislatively is sadly, tragically, infinitesimal.

And McConnell won't care. Unemployment can go up. The pandemic can rage. The deficit can get out of control. Senior administration officials and even cabinet positions not being filled––he doesn't care. He just doesn't care.

So we have to make moves. Please volunteer an hour of your time, if you can. The site below will help you reach out to voters (some of them first time voters) directly via text or call.

The experience of living in America in 2020 is of living in two completely distinct countries with two different sets of facts and realities that are geographically coincident. Not entirely maybe (cities are more blue, rural areas are more red) but, you know, you can live cheek by jowl with people who have just a completely different apprehension of what is going on in the world and what is true.

It is most distressing, but there is only one way to steer the ship in the direction of progress (think human rights, climate policy) and that my friends, is to act.

fairfight.com/

"Stop The Steal" rally courtesy disinformation campaign, origins Roger Stone:

youtu.be/mc7_GzMOodY

*Us, as in those of us who condemn Trump's myriad abuses of power but also recognize that a federal prosecution case against him is a bad idea. It will further martyr him amongst his base, and bring yet more media coverage to Trump, a subject none of us wants to endure more of frankly.

And to make things fair, here’s just another take:

www.nytimes.com/2020/11/16/opinion/liberal-media-censorin...

Viva Umkhonto! by anjin-san

The Beaten Generation

During the course of 2015 I recommissioned my 21st birthday present from my father – a Micro Seiki MB-14ST that I brought over to the UK from my mom’s place in South Africa. I’ve also been slowly bringing over my collection of vinyl albums, meticulously selected and acquired, and lovingly cared for between the early-70’s and the late-80’s. They’ve also been stashed away at my mom’s place, protected from the elements in plastic sleeves and stored in bespoke cases holding about 50 albums apiece. Over the course of the past few months I’ve been playing some of the gems in my collection, and it’s been very rewarding to reconnect with my past. Both the good and the “interesting”.

On one of our trips to Europe in the late-80’s my future wife and I made our regular pilgrimage to the music stores, including WOM (World of Music) in Germany. It was here (in which city, I don’t recall) that I bought the LP "Viva Umkhonto!" a compilation of punk and hardcore music that featured previously unreleased material by European and US bands. The record was released in April 1987 as a collaborative effort by two independent labels, namely Mordam Records (USA) and De Konkurrent (Holland), both of whom were strong backers of the struggle against Apartheid. According to a statement on the back of the sleeve, “All money raised by this record goes to Umkhonto We Sizwe”. So this was a benefit album for the military wing of the ANC (African National Congress).

For context, allow me to turn to Wikipedia:

“Umkhonto We Sizwe (abbreviated as MK, Zulu for "Spear of the Nation") was the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), co-founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its founding represented the conviction in the face of the massacre that the ANC could no longer limit itself to nonviolent protest; its mission was to fight against the South African government. After warning the South African government in June 1961 of its intent to resist further acts of terror if the government did not take steps toward constitutional reform and increase political rights, MK launched its first attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961. It was subsequently classified as a terrorist organisation by the South African government and the United States, and banned”.

The album itself was definitely banned in South Africa and so possessing it was illegal. I took it into the country through Jan Smuts Airport (subsequently known as “Johannesburg International” and now, “O.R. Tambo International”) on my return from my trip to Europe and kept it safely tucked away in the belly of the beast in South Africa's capital city, Pretoria.

On the tenth anniversary of the Soweto uprising, the Nationalist regime declared State of Emergency in June 1986. It forbade any action that could undermine the Apartheid state, nationwide. Also forbidden were any kind of “subversive statements”, defined as statements that promoted unlawful strikes, boycotts or civil disobedience, attacked military conscription, promoted disinvestment or sanctions, or that “aggravated feelings of racial hostility”. The penalty for engaging in these actions was a maximum of ten years imprisonment. Ouch - I definitely did not want to be caught with this album!

Of the people detained under these draconian regulations (circa-8,000 in the first couple of months) no names were published with the exception of those released at the discretion of the South African Police. Throughout the State of Emergency, newspapers had to engage in self-censorship, at the risk of being closed down by the government, and many used to print disclaimers alongside their articles that read” “This report has been restricted to comply with the Emergency Regulations”. Some newspapers and magazines were not able to appear, and no news came out of the black townships, except through the state’s Bureau of Information. At the time I stuck stickers on the front of my television screen and computer monitor that read “SABC News is Biased” just to remind myself to be vigilant about government disinformation.

The music on the compilation album is okay, but it’s the packaging and presentation that I really enjoyed as a snapshot of the times, and as an interesting piece of social history. Along with the record were included a poster and a booklet filled with newspaper clippings and ANC propaganda about the armed struggle against Apartheid. It also highlights companies that were breaking economic sanctions by continuing to do business with South Africa. The “Throw Well – Throw Shell” slogan is parody of oil the giant’s official marketing tag-line at the time, namely “Go Well – Go Shell”. I have uploaded a scan of this booklet to my DropBox.

I’m not going to comment on the accuracy or veracity of the information in the booklet, but in those turbulent times – under a state of emergency, with broad media censorship and where owning certain music could earn you a jail sentence – it was thrilling to see what people abroad were thinking and to read material that was not towing the official National Party line. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s fascinating to see how right Matt Johnson was back in 1989 (The The – “Mind Bomb”). Although he wasn’t talking about South Africa, per se, when he sang that we were the “beaten generation, reared on a diet of prejudice and misinformation”, he pretty much hit the nail on the head. Prejudice and misinformation were weapons in the arsenal on both sides of the struggle in South Africa. I was one of the few pale South Africans to have the privilege of being exposed to both sides of that deformed coin.

The The - "The Beat(en) Generation" - YouTube Video Clip

When you cast your eyes upon the skylines

Of this once proud nation

Can you sense the fear and the hatred

Growing in the hearts of its population

And our youth, oh youth, are being seduced

By the greedy hands of politics and half truths

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Open your eyes, open your imagination

We're being sedated by the gasoline fumes

And hypnotized by the satellites

Into believing what is good and what is right

You may be worshiping the temples of mammon

Or lost in the prisons of religion

But can you still walk back to happiness

When you've nowhere left to run?

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Open your eyes, open your imagination

And if they send in the special police

To deliver us from liberty and keep us from peace

Then won't the words sit ill upon their tongues

When they tell us justice is being done

And that freedom lives in the barrels of a warm gun

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Reared on a diet of prejudice and mis-information

The beaten generation, the beaten generation

Open your eyes, open your imagination

If you'd like to take a listen to "Viva Umkhonto!" I've found a ripped copy of the LP available for download here.

Also take a look at my Blogger posting.

Dressing Redmond #33 by Greenstone Girl

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The statue of Redmond Barry was dressed in various finery for the Climate Justice Alliance protest outside the State Library of Victoria yesterday. Not a large group but the climate choir sang, speakers were impassioned and the crowd of >2000 were basking in the beautiful sunshine. It is rather noticeable that the Newspaper hat Redmond is adorned with has the Herald Sun and Australian mastheads - indicative of the Murdoch Press disinformation campaign against the realities of climate change.

For those still doubting mankind is causing the climate change all I can say is read widely and think what effect 8 billion of us have on this planet! Australian Climate 2019 from the Bureau of Meterology. Climate Justice Rally

1:72 Bell XP-68A „Airagator“ (a.k.a. “Barrelcobra”), second prototype; USAAF s/n 42-228878; Muroc Dry Lake during flight test and evaluation, April 1944 (Whif/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu

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+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The Bell XP-68A owed its existence to the manufacturer’s rather disappointing outcome of its first jet fighter design, the XP-59A Airacomet. The Airacomet was a twin jet-engined fighter aircraft, designed and built during World War II after Major General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold became aware of the United Kingdom's jet program when he attended a demonstration of the Gloster E.28/39 in April 1941. He requested, and was given, the plans for the aircraft's powerplant, the Power Jets W.1, which he took back to the U.S. He also arranged for an example of the engine, the Whittle W.1X turbojet, to be flown to the U.S., along with drawings for the more powerful W.2B/23 engine and a small team of Power Jets engineers. On 4 September 1941, he offered the U.S. company General Electric a contract to produce an American version of the engine, which subsequently became the General Electric I-A. On the following day, he approached Lawrence Dale Bell, head of Bell Aircraft Corporation, to build a fighter to utilize it. As a disinformation tactic, the USAAF gave the project the designation "P-59A", to suggest it was a development of the unrelated, canceled Bell XP-59 fighter project. The P-59A was the first design fighter to have its turbojet engine and air inlet nacelles integrated within the main fuselage. The jet aircraft’s design was finalized on 9 January 1942 and the first prototype flew in October of the same year.

The following 13 service test YP-59As had a more powerful engine than their predecessor, the General Electric J31, but the improvement in performance was negligible, with top speed increased by only 5 mph and a slight reduction in the time they could be used before an overhaul was needed. One of these aircraft, the third YP-59A, was supplied to the Royal Air Force, in exchange for the first production Gloster Meteor I for evaluation and flight-offs with domestic alternatives.
British pilots found that the YP-59A compared very unfavorably with the jets that they were already flying. The United States Army Air Forces were not impressed by its performance either and cancelled the contract when fewer than half of the originally ordered aircraft had been produced. No P-59s entered combat, but the type paved the way for the next design generation of U.S. turbojet-powered aircraft and helped to develop appropriate maintenance structures and procedures.

In the meantime, a new, more powerful jet engine had been developed in Great Britain, the Halford H-1, which became later better known as the De Havilland Goblin. It was another centrifugal compressor design, but it produced almost twice as much thrust as the XP-59A’s J31 engines. Impressed by the British Gloster Meteor during the USAAF tests at Muroc Dry Lake - performance-wise as well as by the aircraft’s simplicity and ruggedness - Bell reacted promptly and proposed an alternative fighter with wing-mounted engine nacelles, since the XP-59A’s layout had proven to be aerodynamically sub-optimal and unsuited for the installation of H-1 engines. In order to save development time and because the aircraft was rather regarded as a proof-of-concept demonstrator instead of a true fighter prototype, the new aircraft was structurally based on Bell’s current piston-engine P-63 “Kingcobra”. The proposal was accepted and, in order to maintain secrecy, the new jet aircraft inherited once more a designation of a recently cancelled project, this time from the Vultee XP-68 “Tornado” fighter. Similar to the Airacomet two years before, just a simple “A” suffix was added.

Bell’s development contract covered only three XP-68A aircraft. The H-1 units were directly imported from Great Britain in secrecy, suspended in the bomb bays of B-24 Liberator bombers. A pair of these engines was mounted in mid-wing nacelles, very similar to the Gloster Meteor’s arrangement. The tailplane was given a 5° dihedral to move it out of the engine exhaust. In order to bear the new engines and their power, the wing main spars were strengthened and the main landing gear wells were moved towards the aircraft’s centerline, effectively narrowing track width. The landing gear wells now occupied the space of the former radiator ducts for the P-63’s omitted Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled V12 engine. Its former compartment behind the cockpit was used for a new fuel tank and test equipment. Having lost the propeller and its long drive shaft, the nose section was also redesigned: the front fuselage became deeper and the additional space there was used for another fuel tank in front of the cockpit and a bigger weapon bay. Different armament arrangements were envisioned, one of each was to be tested on the three prototypes: one machine would be armed with six 0.5” machine guns, another with four 20mm Hispano M2 cannon, and the third with two 37mm M10 cannon and two 0.5” machine guns. Provisions for a ventral hardpoint for a single drop tank or a 1.000 lb (550 kg) bomb were made, but this was never fitted on any of the prototypes. Additional hardpoints under the outer wings for smaller bombs or unguided missiles followed the same fate.

The three XP-68As were built at Bell’s Atlanta plant in the course of early 1944 and semi-officially christened “Airagator”. After their clandestine transfer to Muroc Dry Lake for flight tests and evaluations, the machines were quickly nicknamed “Barrelcobra” by the test staff – not only because of the characteristic shape of the engine nacelles, but also due to the sheer weight of the machines and their resulting sluggish handling on the ground and in the air. “Cadillac” was another nickname, due to the very soft acceleration through the new jet engines and the lack of vibrations that were typical for piston-engine- and propeller-driven aircraft.

Due to the structural reinforcements and modifications, the XP-68A had become a heavy aircraft with an empty weight of 4 tons and a MTOW of almost 8 tons – the same as the big P-47 Thunderbolt piston fighter, while the P-63 had an MTOW of only 10,700 lb (4,900 kg). The result was, among other flaws, a very long take-off distance, especially in the hot desert climate of the Mojave Desert (which precluded any external ordnance) and an inherent unwillingness to change direction, its turning radius was immense. More than once the brakes overheated during landing, so that extra water cooling for the main landing gear was retrofitted.
Once in the air, the aircraft proved to be quite fast – as long as it was flying in a straight line, though. Only the roll characteristics were acceptable, but flying the XP-68A remained hazardous, esp. after the loss of one of the H-1s engines: This resulted in heavily asymmetrical propulsion, making the XP-68A hard to control at all and prone to spin in level flight.

After trials and direct comparison, the XP-68A turned out not to be as fast and, even worse, much less agile than the Meteor Mk III (the RAF’s then current, operational fighter version), which even had weaker Derwent engines. The operational range was insufficient, too, esp. in regard of the planned Pacific theatre of operations, and the high overall weight precluded any considerable external load like drop tanks.

However, compared with the XP-59A, the XP-68A was a considerable step forward, but it had become quickly clear that the XP-68A and its outfit-a-propeller-design-with jet-engines approach did not bear the potential for any service fighter development: it was already outdated when the prototypes were starting their test program. No further XP-68A was ordered or built, and the three prototypes fulfilled their test and evaluation program until May 1945. During these tests, the first prototype was lost on the ground due to an engine fire. After the program’s completion, the two remaining machines were handed over to the US Navy and used for research at the NATC Patuxent River Test Centre, where they were operated until 1949 and finally scrapped.

General characteristics.

Crew: 1

Length: 33 ft 9 in (10.36 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft 4 in (11.7 m)

Height: 13 ft (3.96 m)

Wing area: 248 sq ft (23 m²)

Empty weight: 8,799 lb (3,995 kg)

Loaded weight: 15,138 lb (6,873 kg)

Max. take-off weight: 17,246 lb (7,830 kg)

Powerplant:

2× Halford H-1 (De Havilland Goblin) turbojets, rated at 3,500 lbf (15.6 kN) each

Performance:

Maximum speed: 559 mph (900 km/h)

Range: 500 mi (444 nmi, 805 km)

Service ceiling: 37,565 ft (11,450 m)

Rate of climb: 3.930 ft/min (20 m/s)

Wing loading: 44.9 lb/ft² (218.97 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 0.45

Time to altitude: 5.0 min to 30,000 ft (9,145 m)

Armament:

4× Hispano M2 20 mm cannon with 150 rounds

One ventral hardpoint for a single drop tank or a 1.000 lb (550 kg) bomb

6× 60 lb (30 kg) rockets or 2× 500 lb (227 kg) bombs under the outer wings

The kit and its assembly:

This whiffy Kingcobra conversion was spawned by a post by fellow user nighthunter in January 2019 at whatifmodelers.com about a potential jet-powered variant. In found the idea charming, since the XP-59 had turned out to be a dud and the Gloster Meteor had been tested by the USAAF. Why not combine both into a fictional, late WWII Bell prototype?

The basic idea was simple: take a P-63 and add a Meteor’s engine nacelles, while keeping the Kingcobra’s original proportions. This sounds pretty easy but was more challenging than the first look at the outcome might suggest.

The donor kits are a vintage Airfix 1:72 Gloster Meteor Mk.III, since it has the proper, small nacelles, and an Eastern Express P-63 Kingcobra. The latter looked promising, since this kit comes with very good surface and cockpit details (even with a clear dashboard) as well as parts for several P-63 variants, including the A, C and even the exotic “pinball” manned target version. However, anything comes at a price, and the kit’s low price point is compensated by soft plastic (which turned out to be hard to sand), some flash and mediocre fit of any of the major components like fuselage halves, the wings or the clear parts. It feels a lot like a typical short-run kit. Nevertheless, I feel inclined to build another one in a more conventional fashion some day.

Work started with the H-1 nacelles, which had to be cut out from the Meteor wings. Since they come OOB only with a well-visible vertical plate and a main wing spar dummy in the air intake, I added some fine mesh to the plate – normally, you can see directly onto the engine behind the wing spar. Another issue was the fact that the Meteor’s wings are much thicker and deeper than the P-63s, so that lots of PSR work was necessary.

Simply cutting the P-63 OOB wings up and inserting the Meteor nacelles was also not possible: the P-63 has a very wide main landing gear, due to the ventral radiators and oil coolers, which were originally buried in the wing roots and under the piston engine. The only solution: move the complete landing gear (including the wells) inward, so that the nacelles could be placed as close as possible to the fuselage in a mid-span position. Furthermore, the - now useless - radiator openings had to disappear, resulting in a major redesign of the wing root sections. All of this became a major surgery task, followed by similarly messy work on the outer wings during the integration of the Meteor nacelles. LOTS of PSR, even though the outcome looks surprisingly plausible and balanced.

Work on the fuselage started in parallel. It was built mainly OOB, using the optional ventral fin for a P-63C. The exhaust stubs as well as the dorsal carburetor intake had to disappear (the latter made easy thanks to suitable optional parts for the manned target version). Since the P-63 had a conventional low stabilizer arrangement (unlike the Meteor with its cruciform tail), I gave them a slight dihedral to move them out of the engine efflux, a trick Sukhoi engineers did on the Su-11 prototype with afterburner engines in 1947, too.

Furthermore, the whole nose ahead of the cockpit was heavily re-designed, because I wanted the “new” aircraft to lose its propeller heritage and the P-63’s round and rather pointed nose. Somewhat inspired by the P-59 and the P-80, I omitted the propeller parts altogether and re-sculpted the nose with 2C putty, creating a deeper shape with a tall, oval diameter, so that the lower fuselage line was horizontally extended forward. In a profile view the aircraft now looks much more massive and P-80esque. The front landing gear was retained, just its side walls were extended downwards with the help of 0.5mm styrene sheet material, so that the original stance could be kept. Lots of lead in the nose ensured that the model would properly stand on its three wheels.

Once the rhinoplasty was done I drilled four holes into the nose and used hollow steel needles as gun barrels, with a look reminiscent of the Douglas A-20G.

Adding the (perfectly) clear parts of the canopy as a final assembly step also turned out to be a major fight against the elements.

Painting and markings:

With an USAAF WWII prototype in mind, there were only two options: either an NMF machine, or a camouflage in Olive Drab and Neutral Grey. I went for the latter and used Tamiya XF-62 for the upper surfaces and Humbrol 156 (Dark Camouflage Grey) underneath. The kit received a light black ink wash and some post shading in order to emphasize panels. A little dry-brushing with silver around the leading edges and the cockpit was done, too.

The cockpit interior became chromate green (I used Humbrol 150, Forest Green) while the landing gear wells were painted with zinc chromate yellow (Humbrol 81). The landing gear itself was painted in aluminum (Humbrol 56).

Markings/decals became minimal, puzzled together from various sources – only some “Stars and Bars” insignia and the serial number.

Somehow this conversion ended up looking a lot like the contemporary Soviet Sukhoi Su-9 and -11 (Samolyet K and LK) jet fighter prototype – unintentionally, though. But I am happy with the outcome – the P-63 ancestry is there, and the Meteor engines are recognizable, too. But everything blends into each other well, the whole affair looks very balanced and believable. This is IMHO furthermore emphasized by the simple paint scheme. A jet-powered Kingcobra? Why not…?

Umberto Eco, Art & Language, Disinformation + Marc Quinn at Kettle’s Yard gallery, Cambridge, 2000 by disinformation

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Full page advertisement for the “Noise” exhibition at Kettle’s Yard gallery, Cambridge, Jan to March 2000. “Noise” was curated by (the artist and conservator) Adam Lowe and by (the historian of science) Prof. Simon Schaffer, and featured the “National Grid” sound installation by Disinformation, in the 13th century chapel adjacent to Kettle’s Yard, plus “The Analysis of Beauty” by Disinformation, in the Kettle’s Yard gallery itself.

“The Analysis of Beauty” was exhibited next to a video by the artist Marc Quinn, and directly opposite one of Francis Crick and James Watson’s original working models of DNA. “The Analysis of Beauty” was described as “visually sophisticated’ and “distinctive and intelligent” by Laura Moffat, writing in Art Monthly magazine, and as “particularly sensuous” by Rob Young, writing in The Wire. A short video about (a later version of) “The Analysis of Beauty” installation, as exhibited in the Georgian Gallery at Talbot Rice, Edinburgh, in Nov 2014, can be viewed here…

aestheticamagazine.com/disinformation-analysis-beauty-tal...

“Noise” featured exhibits by Tabatha Andrews, Art & Language, Charles Babbage, Stephen Baker, Joe Banks (Disinformation), Richard Barbrook and HRC, William Bateson, Evgen Bavcar, Patrick Blackett, Jerry Brotton, Soraya de Chadarevian, Adrian Cussins, John Dee, Umberto Eco, Manuel Franquelo, Peter Galison, Joy Garnett, Merrill Garnett, Joseph Grigley, Roger Guillemin, Sebastian Guillié, Mercurius van Helmont, Lynn Hershmann, Jeff Hughes, Margaret Watts Hughes, Lisa Jardine, Bill Jones, Athanasius Kircher, Bruno Latour, Malcolm Longair, Mike Lynch, Paul Miller (DJ Spooky), Gracie Ngale Morton, Iwan Morus, Sven Nebel, Joseph Nechvatal, Ben Neill, Roy Porter, Marc Quinn, Jonathan Ree, Michael Rees, Giles Revell, Kathleen Rogers, Romandson (Antirom), Brian Rotman, Tom van Sant, Lillian Schwartz, Nicola Schwartz, Robert Shannon, Ludwig van Siegen, Julian Simmonds, Paddy Japaljarri Sims, Bessie Nakamarra Sims, Brian Cantwell Smith, Luc Steels, Bruce Sterling, Josue Tanaka, John Tchalenko, Dave Tovee, John Tresch, Burhan Tufail, Stan Vanderbeek, Catherine Wagner, Piers Wardle, Peter Weibel (the director of ZKM), CTR Wilson and John Wilkins.

“Noise” exhibitions ran simultaneously at 4 different venues - at Kettle’s Yard, at the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, and at the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, all in Cambridge, and at the Wellcome Collection gallery on the Euston Road in London. The exhibition was supported by the Wellcome Trust, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Henry Moore Foundation and the University of Cambridge.

The advertisement above was designed by Joe Banks, featuring a photomontage that later re-appeared on cover artwork for the Disinformation “Sense Data & Perception” CD. This advertisement was printed on page 7 of Mute magazine, issue 15, Jan 2000, alongside features by Hari Kunzru and Tom McCarthy. Thanks to Colin Banks, Georgina Brett and Simon Worthington. Umberto Eco, Piers Wardle, Paddy and Bessie Sims, and Michael Harrison (RIP).

High resolution scan - click on the image to enlarge

2022 EP journalism prize awarded to film about Russian influence in Africa by European Parliament

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Two journalists, Clément Di Roma and Carol Valade, have been awarded the 2022 Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for their documentary “The Central African Republic under Russian influence”

This documentary is a Découpages/Arte G.E.I.E co-production, initially broadcast on Arte Reportage in French, German and English. It was also broadcast on France 24 and published in the French newspaper Le Monde.

Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, Pina Picierno, Vice-President responsible for the Prize, and Anthony Bellanger, Secretary General of the International Federation of Journalists and representative of the 29 members of the independent European-wide Jury, opened the award ceremony held in the Daphne Caruana Galizia Press Room of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

President Metsola said: "The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism sends a strong message. The European Parliament is on the side of truth and justice, of independent journalism.

A strong democracy needs a strong press. And there is no democracy without freedom of the press. In Europe, rights and liberties are goals we fight for, not obstacles."

Between the 3rd May and 1st August 2022, more than 200 journalists from the 27 EU countries submitted their stories for consideration. 11 of these submissions were shortlisted by the jury before the overall winner was decided.

About the winning story

This film is Clément Di Roma and Carol Valade’s first documentary and the culmination of their work as correspondents in the Central African Republic in 2020. The country was going through a wave of violence and abuses triggered by a new rebellion, partly fought by Wagner, a shadow army serving the Kremlin's interests. They investigated, filmed and continued their correspondence for several international media despite the surveillance of Russian mercenaries and the prevailing hostility against the French media. It was also a question of continuing the work of their three Russian colleagues, Orhan Djemal, Kirill Radchenko, and Alexander Rasstorguyev, murdered in the Central African Republic while investigating Wagner in 2018. Their main concern has been the protection of their sources, especially those who denounce the crimes of mercenaries, in a country where disappearances of opponents are common. After several months of investigation, they gained the trust of Russian propaganda actors in the Central African Republic. Their voices had never been heard before. Without bias, their documentary gives a voice to the victims of the mercenaries, but also to their supporters, to better understand the methods of this takeover, facilitated by a resentment towards France. They wanted to make all voices heard in this other front of the conflict with Russia that is now spreading to the Sahel on both military and disinformation fields.

This photo is free to use under Creative Commons license CC-BY-4.0 and must be credited: "CC-BY-4.0: © European Union 2022– Source: EP". (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) No model release form if applicable. For bigger HR files please contact: webcom-flickr(AT)europarl.europa.eu

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