View allAll Photos Tagged Origin
They say plants don't move.
Only some 120- hours ago these were all yellow dandelions.
And thye figured out haw to mix their males and females to fly far away without using any of their own energy,,
Parachutes come to mind.
Dog on the Tuckerbox
Like much of Australia's early folklore, the origins of the Dog on the Tuckerbox are clouded in mystery, uncertainty and controversy.
Yet, as with 'Waltzing Matilda', its origins lie firmly in the Australian bush and the early pioneers - who in this case forged west and south from the colonial headquarters in Sydney, following the explorers searching for the source of the Murrumbidgee River. Numbers of them took up holdings in the Gundagai district in the period 1830-50.
They were hard and hazardous times with supplies and stores having to be transported along makeshift tracks over rough terrain by bullock teams. To pass the time while often being bogged, or for the river level to fall at crossings such as Muttama Creek near Gundagai, 'bullockies' would recite doggerel and rhymes picked up on their travels - and, sometimes, even write a few lines. Often on such occasions the bullocky's dog would sit guarding its master's tuckerbox and possessions while he was away seeking help.
So was the legend of 'The Dog on the Tuckerbox' born in the 1850s. Whoever the author (using the pen name 'Bowyang Yorke'), the verse was amended some time later and promoted as a poem by Jack Moses. Its popularity quickly spread, capturing the imagination of Australians both in the bush and throughout the colony. Though the legend was also immortalised by Jack O'Hagan in 1937 in his popular song that put Gundagai on the world map, controversy continued over the exact location of the monument - 5 or 9 miles from the town - and later, on whether to move the famous monument in, or closer to, the town.
From The Dog On The Tuckerbox - Its Story by Lyn Scarff.
Volume 1 - Origin of Powerhouse: Issue #1
Flicker Fighters
It had been six months since Ben and his Mum had moved to Advent City. It was a big transition in both their lives moving from the Scottish countryside and into the big city. However, with his Mum being CEO of ‘Imagine’ he wasn’t surprised to hear she wanted to manage the company in person. Six months later, and Ben had only made one friend who he really liked, Connie. She was in the same college class as him studying Biomedical Sciences and she was also new to the city. They didn’t really have much in common other than that but, they both had the same personality and enjoyed one another’s company. They could talk about anything and always had a good laugh. Ben contemplated asking her out but he didn’t want to ruin such a good friendship and break the bond that they had, should anything happen. She was a total nerd for mech suits and it just so happened that the new branch opening in ‘Imagine’ was developing some. It was supposed to be kept a secret until their grand unveiling later in the year, but Ben knew Connie wasn’t exactly going to go around telling everyone. Therefore, he arranged to surprise her and set her up for a tour of his Mum’s company. She was more than excited for the day, and Ben struggled not to reveal the surprise. He planned to keep it for the end of the tour and then lead her through the storage facility, where the armoured suits are kept. Ben saw the suits and their designs, half of them were all ready to be showcased. However, his Mum planned to reveal them as a complete set on display once the others had been built. Ben was far too excited to show her the suits, so much so he was going to make her suspect something if he kept smiling like a lunatic.
Ben makes his way through the bustling crowd and is about to check his phone and ask where she is. She was supposed to be outside the main entrance. Although with the way he’s getting bumped about by the city crowd, he figures she got overwhelmed and went inside. She was probably chilling on her phone in a corner, the same thing he’d be doing to avoid the large crowds. He enters the building and there she is, exactly where he thought she’d be. As if she knows he’s watching, she looks up from her phone and smiles waving. They walk towards one another as she slips her phone back into her pocket.
Ben: “You ready for the best tour of your life?”
Connie: “Yeah, I got my camera ready like Peter Parker.”
Ben: “Well I can assure you there’s no radioactive spiders here. I asked my Mum to get some, but apparently it’s a ‘safety hazard’.”
The two shares a laugh and Ben begins to lead her through the tourist exhibits based on all of the new technology. Ben had heard about most of it when talking business with his Mum. Some of the projects were just frivolous crazy things for rich people with far too much money to purchase. Such as nanotechnology paint that allows you to decorate your room with micro robots. They can be remotely controlled to change colour, pattern, and even display images from the internet. Which meant you could paint a wall with these devices and have something different everyday. Then there were more useful pieces of technology for medicinal purposes. The kind of technology which would allow the replication of synthetic tissue and allow it to be ‘filled’ with a false but functional nervous system. It sounded like something from a Sci-Fi show. But that’s why the company was called, Imagine, they create technology that could only have been plucked from wildest of imaginations. Connie was overjoyed as Ben showed her some of the exhibits and the more excited she got the more he felt himself hurrying to show her the grand finale - the mech suits in storage.
Ben: “Come on, I got something cool to show you in the back. My Mum said as long as you keep it a secret and don’t take any pictures it’s okay.”
Connie: “Ooh, something top secret?”
Ben: “For the next year or so, yeah. Now come on, you’re going to love it.”
Ben leads her away from a bustling exhibit, he had to stop himself from pulling her to hurry. He knew she was going to love seeing these suits, she loved that sort of thing. She was a nerd just like him when it came to this stuff. As they are making their way through the crowd Ben turns, beaming a smile. However, someone in the building screams from just down the corridor. The overlapping conversation of the crowds around them fall silent. The scream echoes up the corridor, soon followed by other terrified shrieks. A large crashing sound causes a tremor to quake throughout the exhibit. People begin to murmur amongst themselves and others start to make their way to the exits.
Connie: “What the hell was that?”
Ben: “Um, I’m not sure. We should probably-“
An automated female voice blares from the speakers in the roof, “Emergency! Emergency! Everyone please evacuate the building in a calm and orderly fashion.”
Everyone begins pushing and shoving as they stampede towards the exits. Connie gets shoved to the ground by a larger man who doesn’t bother to look her way as she cries out. Ben yells in protest and struggles to make his way through the sea of panicked people to get to her. He loses sight of her as she’s engulfed by the mob. He knew she was on the floor, probably getting trampled on by all these people. They were scared but so was she, she was probably hurt as well. It was like the videos he had witnessed on Youtube of people going nuts over deals on Black Friday. Doing anything they can to be the first ones in the door - or in this case, out of the door. Eventually, the numbers of the crowd thin out and he sees Connie curled up in a ball on the floor, in a foetal position. Ben rushes towards her as the automated voice continues to repeat the order to evacuate. He kneels beside her and places his hand on her shoulder, she is trembling.
Ben: “Connie, we gotta get out of here.”
She doesn’t say anything and uncurls herself hesitantly. Ben’s heart sinks as he sees boot imprints on her hands and broken finger nails from being trampled on. Her cheek is red and swollen and her lip is busted in the centre. He forces a reassuring smile and lifts her to her feet pulling her towards the exit. Only to feel the building shudder with another tremor. Debris leaks from the ceiling and Ben looks up seeing a crack tear it’s way through the ceiling. His eyes widen and he continues to haul Connie to the exit. The building shakes one last time and the fracture in the ceiling pries apart. Chunks of rubble and debris rain down in front of him crashing against the ground, just inches away from them and blocking the exit. Ben begins to panic but remembers the emergency exit down the corridor. He turns and holds up Connie as she stumbles alongside him. As they make their way down to the corridor he hears something. At first he thinks it’s another tremor but no, it’s more structured with its sound - coordinated. They were footsteps. Loud, thundering footsteps from just one set of feet. Whoever it was, they were big or wearing steel boots and they were heading right for them.
Ben: “Something tells me that isn’t someone coming to help.”
Edward Nygma was a forensic investigator for the GCPD with a penchant for asking riddles, one of the few fond memories from his abusive household. He was viewed as a know-it-all and weird by most of his co-workers, especially when he began to develop a crush on his fellow forensic investigator Ms. Kirsten Kringle. At first, what Nygma was doing seemed harmless enough; Small, passing gifts left on her desk now and then. Ed eventually started buying bigger gifts for her, though he found he needed the money to do so. He elected to grab money from the stolen goods processing vault and use it. No one would miss it, right? He bought watches, necklaces, expensive tokens of his affection. One day, while raiding the vault as usual, he was caught by an officer. Scared that he’d be reported to the captain, Ed stabbed him, over and over. He had cut the cameras to the vault earlier, replacing it with previous footage of the room so the officers wouldn't discover his theft. He remained within the vault, along with the body, until most had gone home. Ed dragged the body into the morgue and placed it in one of the freezers. He got a bit of a thrill from not being caught, and decided to chase that thrill, leaving a riddle on the body to find the killer and locking the freezer, heading out to buy Ms. Kringle a bracelet. Of course, Ed was caught. It didn't cross his mind that he was the only one in the GCPD known for riddles at the time, and when he tried to pass it off as a framing, the internal affairs investigation discovered the knife he left in the vault. Along with that, they uncovered the robberies he had been periodically carrying out. Awestruck that someone could possibly outsmart him, Ed snapped. He admitted to the murder and was locked in Arkham, where he quickly began to devise an escape plan and a new identity: The Riddler.
Der derzeit bekannteste und international erfolgreichste Metall-Upcycling-Artist aus Zimbabwe ist Ray Chataira. Er wird seit einigen Jahren exklusiv durch SHONA-ART vertreten und ist jedes Jahr für mehrere Monate auf Schloss Steinhausen, Witten, um dort neue Skulpturen zu erschaffen.
Schrott aus Afrika und Europa in Form alter Ölfässer, Bleche und Maschinenteile dienen als Material für seine oft großformatigen Werke. In sorgfältiger Handarbeit entstehen dabei beeindruckende Objekte aus vielen tausend Einzelteilen unterschiedlicher Herkunft.
Ray Chataira is currently the best-known and internationally most successful metal upcycling artist from Zimbabwe. He has been exclusively represented by SHONA-ART for several years and spends several months each year at Schloss Steinhausen, Witten, where he creates new sculptures.
Scrap from Africa and Europe in the form of old oil drums, sheet metal and machine parts serve as material for his often large-scale works. Carefully crafted by hand, he creates impressive objects from many thousands of individual parts of different origins.
The Thackray Medical Museum has its origins in a small family-run chemist shop, opened in 1902 by Charles Thackray, in Great George Street, Leeds. Charles developed the business into a major medical supply firm, supplying drugs and medical instruments and equipment across the world.
The business was finally sold to a multi-national company in 1990 and Charles’s grandson Paul, a company director and major shareholder, established the museum to enable the wider public to learn more about the story of medicine.
The museum building has a long and chequered history.
It first opened in 1861 as the purpose-built Leeds Union Workhouse, a harsh and unwelcoming home for poor and homeless people with nowhere else to go. Over the years, new buildings were gradually added to the workhouse complex, including a separate infirmary.
More enlightened policies and the introduction of state support in the early twentieth century meant that workhouses were no longer needed, and in 1925 the Leeds Union Workhouse infirmary was renamed St James’s Hospital. By 1945, the rest of the workhouse had merged with the hospital and it became part of the NHS in 1948.
By the 1990s, the old Leeds Union Workhouse building was considered unfit for modern medicine. As a listed building, it could not be demolished and Parliament gave permission for it to house the Thackray Medical Museum, which opened in 1997.
skyrim.nexusmods.com/images/362459
Personally, I hate these bunch of ancient draugr lord.
They use Unrelenting force continuously,
and they always kill my character with just one hit, especially with their ebony bow >:(
Ah.. They pissed me off big times! :D
If I could say, I already repeat this game for 63 times >:D
only in Skuldafn.
I Quattro Canti, o piazza Villena, o Ottagono del Sole, o Teatro del Sole, è il nome di una piazza ottagonale all'incrocio dei due principali assi viari di Palermo: la via Maqueda e il Cassaro, oggi Via Vittorio Emanuele (antica via di origine fenicia, collegante l'acropoli e il Palazzo dei Normanni al mare), a metà circa della loro lunghezza.
Il nome esatto della piazza è Piazza Villena (in omaggio al Viceré il cui nome completo era marchese don Juan Fernandez Pacheco de Villena y Ascalon), ma le fonti antiche la ricordano come Ottangolo o Teatro del Sole perché durante le ore del giorno almeno una delle quinte architettoniche è illuminata dal sole.
I Quattro Canti propriamente detti sono i quattro apparati decorativi che delimitano lo spazio dell'incrocio. Realizzati tra il 1609 e il 1620[3] e sormontati dagli stemmi (in marmo bianco) reale senatorio e viceregio, i quattro prospetti presentano un'articolazione su più livelli, con una decorazione basata sull'uso degli ordini architettonici e di inserimenti figurativi che, dal basso in alto, si susseguono secondo un principio di ascensione dal mondo della natura a quello del cielo. I quattro piani di facciata risultano così decorati: al piano inferiore, fontane che rappresentano i fiumi della città antica (Oreto, Kemonia, Pannaria, Papireto); quindi, un ordine in stile dorico, contenente le allegorie dalle quattro stagioni (rappresentate da Eolo, Venere, Cerere e Bacco); l'ordine successivo, in stile ionico, ospita le statue di Carlo V, Filippo II, Filippo III e Filippo IV; infine, nell'ordine superiore, le quattro sante palermitane, Agata, Ninfa, Oliva e Cristina, patrone della città già prima dell'avvento di Santa Rosalia (1624) e di san Benedetto da San Fratello (1652).
Un antico detto che celebrava nei Quattro canti il centro virtuale di Palermo recitava "feste e forche a Piazza Villena" (pubbliche feste ed esecuzioni capitali). Assunto nel 1606 il governo della città e dell'isola, il viceré, due anni dopo, affidò all'architetto fiorentino Giulio Lasso la sistemazione urbanistica della piazza, alla quale si lavorò per molti anni. Il progetto era ispirato al crocevia delle Quattro Fontane di Roma, disegnato dagli urbanisti di Papa Sisto V in forme molto più dimesse della successiva versione palermitana.
Nel 1609 doveva già essere terminata la parte strutturale dei due cantoni poi detti di Santa Ninfa e di Sant'Agata, che portano gli stemmi del viceré Vigliena. Nel 1612 era completo il cantone di Santa Cristina, aderente a San Giuseppe, promosso dal viceré Ossuna. Nel 1615 Giulio Lasso è già morto e dal 1617 è direttore dei lavori Mariano Smiriglio, ingegnere del Senato e già sorvegliante del cantiere durante la direzione del Lasso.
Con Mariano Smiriglio si assiste ad un cambiamento del programma decorativo iniziale: nell'ordine superiore, che in origine avrebbe dovuto ospitare le statue dei sovrani, vengono sistemate le statue delle quattro sante vergini palermitane: Santa Cristina, Santa Ninfa, Sant'Oliva e Sant'Agata. Dei quattro simulacri regali, previsti originariamente in bronzo, da Scipione Li Volsi, vengono eseguiti soltanto quelli di Carlo V d'Asburgo, poi collocato in piazza dei Bologna e quello di Filippo IV, un tempo posto sopra una macchina marmorea nel piano del Palazzo dei Normanni e poi distrutto. Le attuali statue in marmo presenti ai Quattro Canti furono scolpite fra il 1661 ed il 1663 da Carlo D'Aprile.
Il 2 agosto 1630 vennero appaltati i lavori per la fabbrica delle quattro fontane con le statue delle Quattro Stagioni, anch'esse previste in bronzo e poi realizzate in marmo: la Primavera e l'Estate furono realizzate da Gregorio Tedeschi; l'Autunno e l'Inverno da Nunzio La Mattina. Le attuali conche inferiori delle quattro fontane sono ottocentesche e furono realizzate per compensare il dislivello creatosi nel piano di calpestio della piazza che era stato ribassato a causa del livellamento della via. Il "Quinto Canto" che si vede su via Vittorio Emanuele ed è parte della facciata destra della Chiesa di San Giuseppe dei Teatini fu decorato nel 1844.https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_in_italiano
The Quattro Canti, or piazza Villena, or Ottagono del Sole, or Teatro del Sole, is the name of an octagonal square at the intersection of the two main roads of Palermo: the Via Maqueda and the Cassaro, now Via Vittorio Emanuele (ancient via of Phoenician origin, connecting the acropolis and the Palazzo dei Normanni to the sea), about half of their length.
The exact name of the square is Piazza Villena (in homage to the Viceroy whose full name was Marquis don Juan Fernandez Pacheco de Villena y Ascalon), but the ancient sources remember it as Ottangolo or Teatro del Sole because during the hours of the day at least one of the architectural scenes is illuminated by the sun.
The Four Canti properly so-called are the four decorative apparatuses that delimit the space of the intersection. Created between 1609 and 1620 [3] and surmounted by the royal and white coat of arms (in white marble), the four façades present an articulation on several levels, with a decoration based on the use of architectural orders and figurative insertions , from bottom to top, follow one another according to a principle of ascension from the world of nature to that of heaven. The four floors of the façade are thus decorated: on the lower floor, fountains representing the rivers of the ancient city (Oreto, Kemonia, Pannaria, Papireto); therefore, a Doric style order, containing allegories from the four seasons (represented by Aeolus, Venus, Ceres and Bacchus); the next order, in Ionic style, houses the statues of Charles V, Philip II, Philip III and Philip IV; finally, in the higher order, the four saints of Palermo, Agata, Ninfa, Oliva and Cristina, patron of the city even before the advent of Santa Rosalia (1624) and of Saint Benedict of San Fratello (1652).
An ancient saying that celebrated the virtual center of Palermo in the Quattro cant recited "parties and forks in Piazza Villena" (public holidays and capital executions). Hired in 1606 the government of the city and the island, the viceroy, two years later, entrusted the Florentine architect Giulio Lasso with the urban layout of the square, which was worked on for many years. The project was inspired by the crossroads of the Four Fountains of Rome, designed by the urbanists of Pope Sixtus V in much slighter forms of the subsequent version of Palermo.
In 1609 the structural part of the two later cantons of Santa Ninfa and Sant'Agata had to be finished, bearing the coats of arms of the Viceroy Vigliena. In 1612 it was complete the canton of Santa Cristina, adherent to St. Joseph, promoted by the viceroy Ossuna. In 1615 Giulio Lasso is already dead and from 1617 is the director of the works Mariano Smiriglio, engineer of the Senate and former supervisor of the yard during the direction of Lasso.
With Mariano Smiriglio there is a change in the initial decorative program: in the higher order, which originally had to host the statues of the sovereigns, the statues of the four holy virgins of Palermo are placed: Santa Cristina, Santa Ninfa, Sant'Oliva and Sant 'Agate. Of the four regal simulacra, originally planned in bronze, by Scipio Li Volsi, only those of Charles V of Habsburg are executed, then placed in Piazza dei Bologna and that of Filippo IV, once placed on a marble machine in the floor of the Palazzo dei Normans and then destroyed. The current marble statues present at the Quattro Canti were carved between 1661 and 1663 by Carlo D'Aprile.
On August 2, 1630, works were commissioned for the factory of the four fountains with the statues of the Four Seasons, also provided in bronze and then made of marble: the Spring and Summer were made by Gregorio Tedeschi; Autumn and Winter by Nunzio La Mattina. The present lower basins of the four fountains date back to the nineteenth century and were built to compensate for the difference in height created by the level of the square which had been lowered due to the leveling of the road. The "Quinto Canto", which can be seen on Via Vittorio Emanuele and is part of the right façade of the Church of San Giuseppe dei Teatini, was decorated in 1844
The origin of the name dates back to the slums of the early twentieth century, when a devotee of Santa Marta took a picture of it to the top of the hill. In 1930, a chapel was built to house the image. The land belonged to the nearby College of St. Ignatius, which now allow some of their employees were living on the hillside, giving rise to the current slum.
The community is famous for having been the site of the clip They Do not Care About Us Michael Jackson, in 1996. At the time, the video crew had to ask permission to the local chief of drug trafficking, Marcio Amaro de Oliveira .
Todos os direitos reservados, sendo proibida qualquer reprodução ou divulgação das imagens para fins comerciais ou não, em qualquer mídia ou meio de comunicação inclusive na WEB, sem prévia consulta e aprovação, conforme LEI N° 96.610/1998, que rege sobre o Direito Autoral e Direito de Uso da Imagem.
Fonte:Wikipédia
Volume 1 - Origin of Powerhouse: Issue #10
Flicker Fighters
Firelighter begins to stir after being rammed through the door. For a brief moment Ben contemplates bringing his sword down on him but scolds himself for even contemplating it. Instead, he runs, seeing the ceiling beginning to crumble and crack. Ben makes his way to the window and uses the hilt of his blade to smash the glass. It explodes into glistening shards which sprinkle the ground outside. With a hesitant glance Ben looks down at the fire engines and crowd of onlookers. It must’ve been a 20ft drop down. With his weight in the armour it would be a fatal fall. The alternative, is to fight a Metahuman with flamethrower hands. Not to mention the fact they were in firefighter gear and well acclimated to the napalm environment around them both. Even with the fresh air and cool breeze from outside Ben was cooking inside his armour. He could feel his skin blistering and cracking under his armour. The heat was intense and his sweat was starting to sizzle against his skin. His lungs were being choked and his eyes were burning up. So much so his cheeks were streaming with tears. Leaving clean trails on his soot covered cheeks.
He notices Firelighter getting to his feet and his fingertips begin to dance with flames once more. Ben grimaces and looks back outside and at the drop. He could make out a few faces in the crowd, but couldn’t see his Mum. She wasn’t in her office. Luckily, she hadn’t bumped into Firelighter either as he too was approaching her door. There were other exits outside so he knew if she was still in the building she’d be able to make it safely out, as would the others. The only way out was to either fight Firelighter and make his way through a burning corridor or jump from the window.
Ben: “Goddamn it.”
Ben takes a sharp inhale, and steps one foot out the window. He clings to the side of the window frame. After mustering the courage to bring his other leg out, he lets go and falls from the building. Flames spray out from the window as he descends and Ben yells in a panic. He had an idea in mind before he jumped but it still didn’t stop him from being scared. Quickly, he grips both hands on the hilt of his blade and drives the metal into the side of building. Much to his luck, it cuts deep into the brick and tears through the foundation. Ben yells in pain, feeling the muscles of his arms stretch from the strain of holding onto sword. His sword continues to slice its way down as he comes to a slow stop. He hears people scream for him as he dangles from the hilt of his sword. Ben’s arms tremble from effort and his biceps spasm with pain. He looks down at the ground, just a 10ft drop. Thankfully, he sees firemen extending a ladder out towards him. He didn’t know what would happen to Firelighter but he didn’t really care at this point in time.
Another sharp one from the Arkham Origins wave 2 shoot. Full gallery at The Toyark here : news.toyark.com/2014/03/21/dc-collectibles-arkham-origins...
A blonde lady posing with a Plymouth on a cobbled road. She is wearing a knee-length skirt and a light-coloured sweater. The car is equipped with aftermarket driving lights and most likely registered with German or Belgian number plates.
Country of origin: unknown
Tuscany: a gallica rose of unknown origin, dating back to at least 1596. The Flowers are deep crimson to maroon when first open and take on black and purple tones as they age.
Le origini del Teatro risalgono all’inizio del XVIII secolo quando Vittorio Amedeo II decise di commissionare all’architetto Filippo Juvarra la progettazione e la costruzione di un nuovo grande teatro nell’ambito del più generale riassetto urbano della Piazza Castello.
L’intento venne però perfezionato solo qualche anno più tardi da Carlo Emanuele III (incoronato re nel 1730) il quale, in seguito alla morte di Juvarra, scelse di affidare il progetto all’architetto Benedetto Alfieri con la richiesta di progettare un teatro di grande prestigio. Il «Regio Teatro» di Torino, edificato nel tempo record di due anni, venne inaugurato il 26 dicembre del 1740 con l’Arsace di Francesco Feo, diventando subito un punto di riferimento internazionale per la capienza – circa 2.500 posti tra platea e cinque ordini di palchetti –, le magnifiche decorazioni della sala fra le quali spiccava la volta dipinta da Sebastiano Galeotti, gli imponenti scenari e le attrezzature tecniche, nonché la qualità delle rappresentazioni.
Ogni stagione aveva inizio il 26 dicembre, si concludeva con la fine del Carnevale e comprendeva due nuove opere serie composte appositamente per il Teatro: nel corso del XVIII secolo scrissero per il Regio celebri compositori italiani come Galuppi, Jommelli, Cimarosa, Paisiello e autori stranieri come Gluck, Johann Christian Bach e Hasse; vi cantarono inoltre i più celebri castrati e prime donne dell’epoca, contribuendo in modo determinante al successo degli spettacoli. Non minore interesse suscitavano i danzatori, che si esibivano nei due balli entr’acte e nell’azione coreografica finale che corredavano ogni opera.
1790-1814
Manfiesto della Fête de la St. Napoleon, 1813 Par ordre de S.A.I. le Prince Camilleur, Dimanche 15 Août Théâtre Imperial Entrée gratis TurinIn seguito a cinque anni di chiusura (1792/1797) il Regio cambia nome più volte, rispecchiando gli eventi storici: nel 1798 diviene Teatro Nazionale, nel 1801 Grand Théâtre des Arts e nel 1804 Théâtre Impérial.
Nel clima moralizzatore degli anni repubblicani è abolito il gioco d’azzardo e viene proibito l’ingaggio dei castrati (che torneranno in epoca imperiale). In repertorio continuano a esserci opere italiane, con libretti rimaneggiati più o meno superficialmente in senso giacobino. Napoleone presenzia agli spettacoli in tre occasioni e giungono a Torino interpreti di prima grandezza, come il soprano Isabella Colbran, il tenore Nicola Tacchinardi e il coreografo Salvatore Viganò.
1815-1870
Architettura neoclassicaCon la Restaurazione, il teatro rientra in possesso dei Savoia. All’epoca di Carlo Felice, grande appassionato di musica, calcano le scene del Regio virtuosi come Giuditta Pasta e Domenico Donzelli, ma nell’Ottocento Torino perde importanza rispetto a Milano, Napoli e Venezia.
Sotto Carlo Alberto la sala riceve un’impronta neoclassica (sottolineata dai lavori di rifacimento affidati a Ernesto Melano e Pelagio Palagi). Alla metà del secolo vengono introdotte alcune novità nella programmazione: si passa alla stagione di Carnevale-Quaresima, articolata in cinque o più opere, ora prevalentemente di repertorio (e non più scritte appositamente per il Teatro). Inoltre a partire dal Barbiere di Siviglia rossiniano (1855), il Regio si apre all’opera buffa.
Un nuovo restauro, realizzato da Angelo Moja nel 1861, cancella le modifiche palagiane conferendo alla sala una veste “neobarocca”.
1870-1936
Programma illustrato del decimottavo Concerto Popolare sotto la direzione del Maestro Cavalier Carlo Pedrotti, Teatro Vittorio Emanuele, 1876Nel 1870 la proprietà del Regio passa al Comune di Torino; in questi anni la storia del Teatro si intreccia con quella dell’Orchestra Civica e dei Concerti Popolari ideati da Carlo Pedrotti, il quale apporta forti innovazioni nel repertorio introducendo nella programmazione la musica di Wagner e Massenet. Nel nome di Wagner è pure l’esordio in Teatro di Arturo Toscanini, che collabora con l’Orchestra dal 1895 al 1898 e che il 26 dicembre 1905, dopo i lavori di ristrutturazione guidati da Ferdinando Cocito, inaugura la nuova sala con il Sigfrido.
Altri autori significativi nella storia del Regio sono Giacomo Puccini, che tiene a battesimo a Torino Manon Lescaut (1893) e La bohéme (1896), e Richard Strauss, che nel 1906 dirige Salome in “prima” italiana. L’ultima grande “prima” ospitata dal Regio antico è Francesca da Rimini di Riccardo Zandonai, su libretto di Gabriele D’Annunzio (1914). Dopo la chiusura nel periodo bellico, il Teatro si dedica a opere di repertorio.
Nella notte tra l’8 e il 9 febbraio 1936 il Teatro viene distrutto da un violento incendio: saranno necessari quasi quarant’anni per la sua ricostruzione.
1936-1973
ConcorsoDopo l’incendio del 1936, si pone il problema di stabilire a chi affidare il progetto di ricostruzione del Teatro. Il bando di concorso, pubblicato nel 1937, viene vinto dagli architetti Aldo Morbelli e Robaldo Morozzo della Rocca.
Il loro progetto, tuttavia, non si sarebbe mai concretizzato: nel 1965, infatti, l’amministrazione civica promuove una nuova soluzione con l’affidamento dell’incarico all’architetto Carlo Mollino e all’ingegner Marcello Zavelani Rossi. I lavori hanno inizio nel settembre 1967 per concludersi nei primissimi mesi del 1973.
Dal 1973 a oggi
Cancello Teatro Regio, OdisseaIl nuovo Teatro Regio viene inaugurato il 10 aprile 1973 con l’opera di Giuseppe Verdi I vespri siciliani, per la regia di Maria Callas e Giuseppe Di Stefano. Da quella data l’attività produttiva si è progressivamente incrementata, fino alle ricorrenze che hanno segnato la storia degli ultimi anni del Regio: nel 1990 il 250° anniversario dalla sua fondazione, nel 1996 il centenario dalla “prima” assoluta della Bohème in diretta tv, nel 1998 i 25 anni del nuovo teatro (con un importante restauro acustico), nel 2006 la straordinaria avventura dei XX Giochi Olimpici Invernali e delle Olimpiadi della Cultura.
Alla Stagione d’Opera e Balletto, che prevede almeno dieci titoli da ottobre a giugno, si affiancano molte altre attività: concerti sinfonico-corali e cameristici che vedono impegnati l’Orchestra e il Coro del Teatro Regio; una serie di spettacoli allestiti al Piccolo Regio e destinati al nuovo pubblico e alle famiglie; manifestazioni organizzate in collaborazione con le istituzioni locali come Torino Settembre Musica, Torinodanza, RegioneInTour, Punto Verde Giardini Reali e altre; La Scuola all’Opera, fitto calendario di attività e spettacoli destinati a bambini e ragazzi; e poi conferenze, visite guidate e mostre. Tutte manifestazioni che pongono il Teatro Regio al centro della vita culturale e artistica di Torino e del Piemonte ma non solo.
When I walk on the beach I reach a point where the condos end and there is nothing but trees on one side and endless ocean on the other. Sometimes I am the only person there and I can imagine how it was at the beginning of time when life first emerged from the sea.
To get this shot:
I was lying on my stomach getting shots of people walking by for this simple comp but not that easy shot. I needed to focus fast and get the shot as they were walking through my frame. Surprisingly, most people walked right on through a few feet from my lens. A few thoughtful people said excuse me coming through your shot or stepped politely behind me. :) But, it was the rude ones I wanted, the ones who walked through the frame without a pause. That gave me the natural looking stride I wanted.
Taken for our daily challenge - humanity
Ngan Cute
Binh Chanh, Saigon
04 Dec 2010
135mm f2@ f2
Special thanks to models and photography friends!
The origins of the name are uncertain. One claim is that it was coined in Portobello, Scotland, where Stefano Arcari who had opened a shop in 1922 at 99 Portobello High Street – would break a large "Flake" in half and stick it in an ice cream. The name derived from the shop's address. A Cadbury representative took the naming idea to his company. Another address-based claim for the "99" is made by the Dunkerleys in Gorton, Manchester, who operated a sweet shop at 99 Wellington Street.
Another naming possibility is that it was named by immigrant Italian ice-cream sellers, many of whom were from the mountainous areas in Veneto, especially in the Bellunes Alps, Trentino, and Friuli. The name was in honour of the final wave of Italian First World War conscripts, born in 1899 and referred to as "i Ragazzi del 99" ("the Boys of '99"). In Italy they were held in such high esteem that some streets were named in their honour. The chocolate flake may have reminded the ice cream sellers of the long dark feather cocked at an angle in the conscripts' Alpini Regiment hats.
The Cadbury website says that the reason behind the Flake being called a "99" has been "lost in the mists of time". However, the website also references an article from an old Cadbury works paper, which states that the name came from the guard of the Italian king, which consisted of 99 men and thus "anything really special or first class was known as 99.
As a note all of the 'Origins' posts will be in black in white. All posts after that will be in color or another filter. Unless you guys like the black and white filter.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annoyed yelling filled the small lobby of the Ace chemicals building as soon as Baker and Clock entered. Warren White, the Great White Shark, and another skinnier man in a green and yellow jacket seemed to be arguing. Baker was already annoyed. He had done many jobs such as heists, drug running, etc, and arguments almost certainly meant violence.
Wist-I don't care how many less guns Mask can afford! He's asking me to create a damn super human in a few months time! You have any idea how the he-
White-Easy for you to say Wist. Mask isn't breathing down your neck every couple weeks! I gotta take the shit for you not getting your act together and use the damn money he gave you. We could've done probably around fifty tests by now if you wouldn't stalling around working on that bel-
Clock-White! Wist!
*Clock gestured toward Baker. Baker looked at the man in the jacket and nodded to White nervously. He didn't wanna piss him off after an argument like that. White was classy, but unlike Mask, White didn't mind getting his own hands, or teeth, dirty. Also White obviously wasn't in a good mood at the moment.*
White-You! See Wist? I found you another guinea pig. One under one of my under bosses employment at that. So he meets all your damn 'qualifications.'
*Guinea pig? And they had been talking about super humans...what the hell kind of job had Baker got himself into? Didn't matter. Ask questions later. After you make sure your getting paid.*
Wist-Seems fine. A bit homely but as long as he works for you or Mask. If this works I don't want some random homeless man with magnetic powers running around, like you suggested.
White-Would'a been cheaper bet anyways lets get this trial going by now. Get the 'thing' on Wist.
Wist-It's not a 'thing' White. Honestly, I thought loan sharks were smarter.
White-What the hell you say?
Clock-Relax White, it's not like you could kill Wist anyways. Not until we get a successful trial patient.
*Another man, one cloaked in a blue cape with an steps out of the shadows in the corner of the room. Jacob could just make out his...his, head...his glass head?
The Man-You shhloud killll him Whhite. Then wee could shtlop haaavink to stlay in this damnn builldink wish hiiim.
Clock-Shut up Preston, your just the hired muscle.
White-You have a point Press, but, Clock's right, unfortunately, Mask wants him alive.
Wist-Yes listen to the pile of clay in a glass jar. I'm going to prepare the machine.
*Machine? The hell is this job? Didn't matter, just think of the money. Or he could stare in horror at...whatever the hell that man was. His 'head' was a glass dome with a hideous deformed face inside. The dome was stained with a flesh colored substance. Clay? Dirt? Worse yet, the face almost seemed melting. Like a scoop of ice cream. Sounded like his name was-
White-Preston! Keep an eye on Wist. I don't like him being alone with a machine that could blow us all to hell or reverse are 'magnetic fields' the hell that is.
Preston-Yesshh Whitche
*The man...Preston's mouth seemed to droop as he talked. His mouth, along with the rest of his face, was continuously...dripping.*
White-So you ready for this?
Baker-What the hell is 'this'?
White-Wist'll tell you. Has something to do with magnetism. Also, you better be ready cause we'll be strapping you in that chair either way.
Baker-Chair?
Wist-White it's ready. Bring the guinea pig, whatever his name is!
White-Showtime.
*Showtime?*
In origine era una cascina, da sempre ha rappresentato un punto di sosta e di ristoro per i viandanti e per i margari che salivano all'alpe. L'edificio, che ricalca caratteri semplici e privi di particolari pregi architettonici, si inserisce bene nell'ambiente montano. L'affresco nella nicchia, ridipinto nel 1948, raffigura la Madonna infante e Sant'Anna, particolarmente venerata a Camandona, in quanto patrona del vicino santuario del Mazzucco. Nel giorno della festa del Santuario, di mattino si celebrava la messa solenne di Sant'Anna, alla quale prendevano parte numerosi pellegrini giunti anche a piedi dai paesi vicini. Poi, tutti si spostavano alla locanda della 'Bunda Granda' per consumare il tradizionale pranzo sociale, al quale seguiva il canto dei vespri. La gente non scendeva che al far della sera.
Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Santes Creus
Monastery of Santa Maria de Santes Creus is a Cistercian monastery in the municipality of Aiguamúrcia, Catalonia, Spain.
The monastery's origins date to 1158, when the Lords of Montagut y de Albá donated the village of Santes Creus to the monks of Valdaura. The papal decree that was required to establish a monastery was made by Pope Alexander II, and construction of the monastery began in 1174. The complex was completed in 1225.
King Peter III of Aragon chose to be buried in the Monastery of Santes Creus, as did his son James II (1276–1285) and his wife, Blanche of Anjou. James II had a section of the abbey turned royal rooms, the original Romanesque cloister rebuilt in the Gothic style of the 13th century, and a dome added to the church's crossing. The walls were built under King Peter IV. From the time of Peter IV, the royal favour was transferred to the Monastery of Poblet.
The monastic complex continued to expand during the 17th and 18th century, until, following the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal in 1835, the Cistercians left and building activities ceased. The monastery was declared a national monument in 1921.
The complex, built in accordance with Cistercian principles, included a church, a cloister, chapter house and dormitory. There were also a refectory, parlor, and scriptorium (writing hall). The complex is built in honey coloured stone, and the main buildings, including the church, have rooflines finished with crenellations.
The church, started in 1174, was finished around 1225. It was consecrated in 1211. It has a Latin cross plan, with a nave and lower aisles of six bays. The arms of the transept, which are the same width as the nave, each end in an apsidal chapel which is barely visible from the exterior. The chancel is rectangular, ending in the presbytery. The crossing is surmounted by a dome raised on a tall octagonal drum in Gothic style, and topped by a Baroque lantern.
The main façade has a Romanesque portal from the 12th century, surmounted by a large Gothic stained glass window. The apse is characterized by a rose window and, below, three small ogival windows, which are now hidden behind the high altar in the interior.
Each bay of the interior has a quadripartite vault, between broad, slightly pointed arches rising from square piers.
As in many other Cistercian churches, the interior has no decoration, aside from the tombs and the altarpiece by Josep Tremulles, dating to 1640.
The sepulchre of King Peter III was executed from 1291 to 1307 by Bartomeu de Gerona, and looks richer than those of his son (and commissioner of the work), James II, and of the latter's wife, Blanche of Naples. It consists of an urn surrounded by the images of saints, placed over a red porphyry Roman bath brought here by admiral Roger de Lauria.
The mausoleum of James II and his wife Blanche was created by Bertrán Riquer in 1313-1315. The tombs are in marble, with portraits of the two monarchs, wearing Cistercian attires, lying on the two slopes of the sepulchre's top.
The original cloister was a Romanesque structure, dating to the late 12th-early 13th century. All that remains of the first cloister is a hexagonal central shrine, containing the laundry
By request of King James II, the original cloister was largely demolished and replaced by a Gothic cloister designed by the English master Reynard of Fonoll, whose work was continued by his disciple Guillem de Seguer. The style of tracery which fills the upper parts of each ogival opening in the cloister arcade varies from English Geometric to Catalan in design. The clustered columns have highly ornamented capitals with foliate, animal and human figures, as well as biblical scenes. Recesses in the walls house tombs of several Catalan noblemen, and show remains of paintings, one representing the Annunciation.
The cloister can be accessed from the monastery's external square through the Porta de l'Assumpta or Porta Reial ("Royal Gate"), a Romanesque portal.
The chapter house follows the typical design of the Cistercian monasteries, being located in the center of the cloister's eastern wing and separated from the sacristy by the end of the church's transept. The orientation of the room admits the morning light through three windows opening in the eastern wall. The entrance from the cloister is through a Romanesque portal framed on either side by a large mullioned window of equal height, the three openings forming a triple arcade. The hall has a square plan, divided into nine cross vaulted sections by four central columns.
The dormitory is a large (c. 46 x 11 m), undecorated hall without any partitions for the monks, who, initially slept on straw mattresses lying on the floor. The wooden rafters are supported on a series of ogival stone arches that spring from corbels in the side walls.
Poncey-lès-Athée est une commune française située dans le canton d'Auxonne du département de la Côte-d'Or, en région Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Poncey doit son nom au gentilice romain Pontius, d'origine osque ou ombrienne, qui lui-même le tient du nombre ordinal correspondant, soit Cinquième en français.
Selon l'époque et les scribes, Poncey est appelé Ponticiacus (xie), Poncey sur Soone (xive), Pontcey (xviie), et Poncey les Athée (à partir du xixe).
The origins of the Gargoyle Minifigure from Series 14 have been revealed :)
A simple one panel Brick Comic parody :)
Operator: Southern
Location: Watford Junction
Platform: 8
Class: 377
Number: 706
Type: Electric Multiple Unit
Origin: South Croydon
Destination: Milton Keynes Central
Date: 30th December 2014
Church of St. Petrox, Dartmouth stands next to the castle at the mouth of the Dart estuary. The church probably originated as a light positioned at the harbour entrance.
Built of local limestone and slatestone rubble, it probably is late 12c in origin , and was enlarged in 1641
.It now consists of chancel and aisled nave under a continuous wagon shaped plastered roof, t www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/Hf1t063DEL wo stage west tower housing 5 bells, with stair tower projecting from south side to embattled parapet and small lean-to heated vestry against west end of the south aisle
At the east end of the south aisle are three brasses; one in memory of John Roope 1609 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/659MY537Q6
The small centre brass is to Mr Dorothy Rouse 1617 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/3T8jTsYpNF
The third brass has a larger figure of Barbara wife of John Plumleigh who died in 1610 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/SbpS119B09
The red sandstone font is Norman, www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/Y2r8J30spz the pulpit is dated 1641 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/pyGXDHZUGy
The registers date: baptisms, 1652; marriages, 1653; burials, 1652.
S Warren www.google.co.uk/search?q=st+petrox+church+dartmouth&...
Assassin's Creed Origins
In Game Photo-Mode, Otis Tool for unlocking freecamera and ToD , Custom Resolution
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
Outline-body-aura.svg
General information[show]
Fringe medicine and science[show]
Conspiracy theories[hide]
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
Classifications[show]
Traditional medicine[show]
Diagnoses[show]
vte
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
[icon]
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...