New Trove of Kennedy Files Offers Few Revelations So Far

A tranche of documents tied in some way to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was released late Tuesday. No major new details were found immediately, but scholars said it would take time to sift through them all.

Published March 18, 2025

Updated March 19, 2025, 12:29 a.m. ET

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ImagePresident John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy riding in the back of a convertible wearing a suit and pink dress.

President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy moments before the assassination of the president in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.Credit...Dallas Morning News

Here’s what to know. (Oswald still did it.)

A new trove of government files about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was released to the public late Tuesday under an order from President Trump. Scholars hope the flood of papers will resolve — or at least shed light on — the final questions about an event that traumatized a nation and remains the subject of conspiracy theories six decades later.

The release, which came in the early evening, consisted of 1,123 PDF documents, according to the National Archives, including typewritten reports and handwritten notes. Most of them were shorter than 10 pages. Mr. Trump, in teasing the release on Monday, said there would be no redactions — but an early review found that some information appeared to have been blocked out.

Historians have said they do not expect major new revelations, and no information that would contradict the basic circumstances of the case: that Kennedy was killed as he traveled in an open-car motorcade through Dallas by a single gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, on Nov. 22, 1963.

Mr. Trump said on Monday that the documents would be released on Tuesday afternoon, apparently catching some archivists by surprise. Scholars said it would take time to go through all the documents in search of any new historical revelations.

“This dump is profoundly more impenetrable than all the previous more annotated ones,” said David J. Garrow, a historian who has written extensively about the intelligence agencies.

The documents were, in many cases, blurred and difficult to read, no doubt reflecting their age — many of them were typed or written a half-century ago — and because they are photocopies.

Tim Naftali, an adjunct professor at the school of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, said what he found on Tuesday night convinced him that the information had been kept secret all these decades not because it included inflammatory information about the assassination, but rather to mask highly sensitive details about C.I.A. intelligence-gathering.

“I’ve always been wary that there was a smoking gun in this collection because Trump would have released it in 2017,” he said. “What they were protecting was sources and methods.”

Here’s what to know:

Second time around: This is the second release of Kennedy papers under Mr. Trump, who wanted to put them all out during his first term. He ultimately agreed to some redactions to protect sensitive intelligence-gathering information. But Mr. Trump has said he no longer considers those redactions necessary.

Document dump: Unlike previous releases of records related to the Kennedy assassination, these documents were not categorized or presented in any organized way. Some appeared to have been versions of papers already released to the public. Others had no obvious connection to the assassination. It is also possible that Tuesday’s initial release did not include all the documents covered by Mr. Trump’s order.

What’s left to uncover? About 99 percent of the roughly 320,000 known Kennedy papers have been publicly disclosed since Congress passed a law in 1992 requiring their release, according to the National Archives. But more than 2,100 documents remain fully or partially withheld as a result of redactions, and another 2,500 remain under court-ordered seals and other restrictions.

Jennifer Schuessler

March 18, 2025, 9:58 p.m. ET

Jennifer Schuessler

Historians adopt a wait-and-see stance toward latest trove of Kennedy documents.

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The Washington headquarters of the National Archives, which maintains the Kennedy assassination documents at a facility in College Park, Md.Credit...Eric Lee/The New York Times

The promise of a “final” release of all government secrets relating to the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy has whetted the appetite of many Americans, including the current occupant of the Oval Office. But many historians are taking a measured, wait-and-see approach to the latest documents, which the National Archives released on Tuesday.

“I doubt that these releases are going to overturn our understanding of what happened on that terrible day in Dallas,” Fredrik Logevall, a historian at Harvard who is working on a multivolume biography of President Kennedy, said before the release.

But still, he added, “we should prepare to be surprised.”

It could take months, if not longer, for scholars to parse and digest the more than 1,110 PDFs posted online Tuesday evening. In previous Kennedy assassination releases, documents were labeled with serial numbers, according to the originating agency’s filing system. The documents in the latest release appeared to come with even less identifying information.

Some may turn out to be full versions of documents previously available with only light redactions, adding a name or two to the record. Others, scholars say, are likely to be duplicates or variants of memos and reports that have long been available from other sources.

David J. Garrow, the author of “The F.B.I. and Martin Luther King” and numerous articles about the intelligence agencies, predicted that the release would probably be a “a big nothingburger” when it comes to the assassination itself.

But that doesn’t mean it won’t be interesting, particularly for scholars of the byzantine workings of the intelligence agencies.

In 1992, responding to a surge of interest in conspiracy theories after the Oliver Stone film “J.F.K.,” Congress passed a law directing the National Archives and Records Administration to gather in one place all known U.S. government records relating to the Kennedy assassination.

The law required all documents to be released within 25 years. In 2017, during his first term, Mr. Trump ordered the release of all outstanding documents, setting the stage for what became four document releases. After the last release, in 2023, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. issued a “final certification,” though roughly 5,000 documents remained unavailable, in part or in full.

Among the previously released documents that have drawn serious attention are those related to Lee Harvey Oswald’s visit in September 1963 to Mexico City, where he visited the Soviet and Cuban embassies.

“We know he met with Cuban diplomats and with Soviet diplomats, and had a plan to defect,” Professor Logevall said. “If the documents include more concrete knowledge about what was said, to whom he said it and what was said in response, that would be historically both interesting and important.”

It would also be helpful, he said, to know more about what the C.I.A. knew about Oswald — and how much of that information it shared, or failed to share, with the F.B.I.

Judging by past releases, much of the new information will most likely be previously redacted names of low-level organized crime figures who served as informants or other bit players.

“Most of what remains, and what the agency and bureau have fought to keep closed, deals with human informants,” Mr. Garrow said.

The new documents could shed light on why the intelligence agencies have been keen to keep many of these documents partly redacted, or entirely secret, for so long.

Past releases have opened useful windows on agency operations. The 2018 release, for example, contained material related to Cointelpro, the secret program that the F.B.I. director, J. Edgar Hoover, began in 1956 to undermine the domestic Communist Party and later expanded to include civil rights groups, anti-Vietnam War organizers and other “subversives.” (It ended in 1971 after it was publicly exposed.)

Some of those documents, the Yale historian Beverly Gage said, suggested that presidents, starting with Dwight D. Eisenhower, and members of key congressional committees knew about the program and had seen parts of Hoover’s off-the-record testimony about it.

The new Kennedy releases could also yield more information on matters only tangentially related to the assassination but of great interest to scholars and the public, such as the F.B.I.’s infamous wiretapping of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Those wiretaps were installed in King’s office, home and hotel rooms, and sometimes recorded him with sexual partners. Associates of King have sued to keep the material private, and much of it is now under a court seal until 2027, but some has seeped out through the Kennedy assassination records.

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Key Locations in the Kennedy Assassination

Texas School Book Depository

Lee Harvey Oswald

fired from this window

N. Houston St.

Elm St.

Motorcade route

President Kennedy

shot in back

S. Houston St.

President Kennedy

fatally shot

Sources: Imagery from Google Earth and 1964 Warren Commission report By Junho Lee

Jenny Schuessler

March 18, 2025, 9:52 p.m. ET

Jenny SchuesslerCovering history and archives

We may partly have the director Oliver Stone to thank for tonight’s document dump. In 1992, less than a year after the release of his movie “JFK” sparked a resurgence of conspiracy theories related to the Kennedy assassination, Congress passed a law directing that all records relating to the assassination should gathered at the National Archives, and released within 25 years.

Jenny Schuessler

March 18, 2025, 9:52 p.m. ET

Jenny SchuesslerCovering history and archives

Today, the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection holds more than 6 million pages of documents. Most came from the Church Committee, a 1975 Senate committee that investigated abuses of the intelligence agencies, and a 1976 House committee that was charged with reinvestigating the assassinations of President Kennedy and the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Tyler Pager

Maggie Haberman

March 18, 2025, 9:52 p.m. ET

Tyler Pager and Maggie HabermanReporting from Washington

Trump set off a 24-hour scramble among national security officials to release the documents.

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For decades, historians and conspiracy theorists alike have clamored for more information on President John F. Kennedy’s death. Credit...Associated Press

President Trump’s national security team was stunned and forced to scramble after he announced on Monday that he would release 80,000 pages of documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy with only 24 hours’ notice.

Administration officials had been working on releasing the records since January, when Mr. Trump signed an executive order mandating it. But that process was still underway on Monday afternoon when Mr. Trump, during a visit to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, said the files would be made available the next day.

By the time the files were made public on Tuesday evening, some of the country’s top national security officials had spent hours trying to assess any possible security hazards under extreme deadline pressure.

John Ratcliffe, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, had been emphasizing to senior administration officials that some documents had nothing to do with Mr. Kennedy and were developed decades after the assassination, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions. He wanted to make sure that other officials were fully aware of what the files contained and would not be caught off guard, but he was clear that he would not seek to impede any files from being released, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations.

Soon after Mr. Trump spoke on Monday afternoon, officials at the National Security Council quickly convened a call to map out a plan to take stock of which documents still needed to be unredacted. The release had to be coordinated with the National Archives and Records Administration. Some officials raised concerns about unintended consequences of rushing the release of the files, including the disclosure of sensitive personal information like the Social Security numbers of people who were still alive, the people said.

Officials involved in the process of declassification said the number of files had expanded greatly over many decades because, with each investigation into Kennedy-related material, information that had nothing to do with the assassinated president has come under that umbrella. In some cases, that includes documents created decades after his death, according to one person with knowledge of the process.

“President Trump made a promise to release all of the J.F.K. files — and he is delivering on that promise,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said in a statement. “Anyone surprised by this hasn’t been paying attention or has been willfully ignorant.”

When asked on Monday whether he knew what was in the files, Mr. Trump said that he had “heard about them” but that he had not received an executive summary.

“I’m not doing summaries,” he said.

Spokesmen for the N.S.C. and C.I.A. declined to comment. A National Archives spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

For decades, historians and conspiracy theorists alike have clamored for more information on Kennedy’s death. A 1992 law required the government to release documents related to the killing within 25 years, except documents that could harm national security.

In 2017, Mr. Trump released some additional documents, but he also gave the intelligence agencies more time to assess the files and include redactions. Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News personality and associate of Mr. Trump, said the president came to regret that decision, and Mr. Trump has cast his effort to release the documents as the fulfillment of a long-held promise to the American people.

Just a few years ago, Mr. Trump said he did not have much interest in the files, which historians and many of his associates have wanted to see for decades. In an interview with a New York Times reporter in September 2021, Mr. Trump said that he was “not that curious” about the papers.

“The reason I did that was because I thought it was appropriate,” he said, explaining why he sought to declassify the files during his first term. “When you have something that’s so sacredly secret, it really makes it sound very bad. I think they maybe got it right, probably got it right. Let people examine it.”

But many people in Mr. Trump’s orbit, including Mr. Carlson and Mr. Trump’s longest-serving political adviser, Roger J. Stone Jr., have lobbied the president for years to order the release of all the files.

“The guy who sat at his desk was murdered, and every subsequent president has hidden why and by whom,” Mr. Carlson said in an interview on Tuesday. “How could you live like that?”

Kennedy’s assassination has long fueled conspiracy theories, including some that Mr. Trump himself has indulged. He has also used the interest around the assassination when it was politically expedient.

When Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose father was also assassinated, endorsed Mr. Trump in August, Mr. Trump renewed his promise to release all the documents related to the killings of both Kennedys and to set up an independent commission to study assassination attempts, including the one on Mr. Trump in Butler, Pa., last year.

“This is a tribute in honor of Bobby,” Mr. Trump said.

He added: “I have never had more people ask me, ‘Please sir, release the documents on the Kennedy assassination,’ and we’re going to do that.”

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Mr. Trump at one point alleged that the father of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas had been with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before President Kennedy was killed.

“You know, his father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald’s being — you know, shot,” Mr. Trump told Fox News in an interview in May 2016, as he was running against Mr. Cruz for the Republican nomination. “I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous. What is this, right? Prior to his being shot, and nobody brings it up. They don’t even talk about that. That was reported and nobody talks about it. But I think it’s horrible.”

On Monday, Mr. Trump attended a board meeting at the Kennedy Center, an institution he overhauled by making himself chairman and installing loyalists, including Richard Grenell, who briefly served as acting director of national intelligence in the final year of Mr. Trump’s first term. As he was leaving, Mr. Trump said that he had a “big announcement to make.”

“While we’re here, I thought it would be appropriate,” he said. “We are tomorrow announcing and giving all of the Kennedy files. So — people have been waiting for decades for this.”

Adam Nagourney

March 18, 2025, 9:28 p.m. ET

Adam NagourneyNational political reporter

Tim Naftali, an adjunct professor at the school of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, said that his review of the documents convinced him that some previously redacted information had not been classified to protect details that cast doubt on what happened to Kennedy but for a much simpler and more sensitive reason: to protect the C.I.A.’s sources and methods.

Adam Nagourney

March 18, 2025, 9:48 p.m. ET

Adam NagourneyNational political reporter

Naftali, a former director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, said that he had found in these latest documents details that had been omitted in earlier ones, including, for example, that the U.S. had been intercepting communications in Egypt, an ally.

Scott Shane

March 18, 2025, 9:15 p.m. ET

Scott ShaneScott Shane was a reporter in the Washington bureau until 2023, writing about national security and other topics.

The 2017 files included a memo by J. Edgar Hoover after Oswald was shot.

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Lee Harvey Oswald on Nov. 23, 1963, the day after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He denied shooting the president before news cameras.Credit...Associated Press

Some of the Kennedy assassination documents released in 2017 convey the drama and chaos of the days immediately after the murder of the president. Among them is a memo apparently dictated by J. Edgar Hoover, the F.B.I. director, on Nov. 24, 1963, shortly after Jack Ruby fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald.

“There is nothing further on the Oswald case except that he is dead,” the memo begins laconically before reciting the events of that day, when the presidential assassin was killed as he was moved from one jail to another.

In the memo, Mr. Hoover expresses anxiety that the killing of the suspected assassin of John F. Kennedy might spur doubts among Americans.

“The thing I am concerned about, and so is Mr. Katzenbach, is having something issued so that we can convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin,” Mr. Hoover says, referring to Nicholas Katzenbach, then the deputy attorney general.

Image

The F.B.I. director discussed his agents’ early findings — a call Oswald had made to the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City and a letter he had sent to the Soviet Embassy in Washington — and says they could “complicate our foreign relations.”

Mr. Hoover calls the killing of Oswald “inexcusable” in light of “our warnings to the Dallas Police Department” and hints at Ruby’s mob connections, which would soon spawn an industry of research and speculation: “We have no information on Ruby that is firm, although there are some rumors of underworld activity in Chicago.”

More than three years later, Mr. Hoover would send another memo to the White House summarizing information in the F.B.I.’s files about how the Soviet government responded to Kennedy’s death. One passage notes that President Lyndon B. Johnson was virtually unknown to Soviet leaders, and that their intelligence agencies suspected his involvement in the assassination.

The intelligence, some of which was gathered by a source who was inside Russia when Kennedy was assassinated, details how Communist Party leaders believed the killing was part of an “ultraright” conspiracy to “effect a ‘coup.’” Soviet officials also claimed not to have a connection with Oswald.

Audra Burch

March 18, 2025, 9:05 p.m. ET

Audra Burch

Jonathan Eig, the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of the Martin Luther King Jr. biography, “King: A Life,” began reviewing the batch of documents Tuesday. He was doubtful the papers would reveal new insights into the civil rights leader’s assassination. “I would be very surprised if there was some kind of smoking gun, or revelation of an alternate assassin.”

Image

Credit...Peter Hoffman for The New York Times

Tyler Pager

Maggie Haberman

March 18, 2025, 8:55 p.m. ET

Tyler Pager and Maggie HabermanReporting from Washington

Trump once said he’s ‘not that curious’ about the J.F.K. files.

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President Trump at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington on Monday.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

President Trump has cast Tuesday’s expected release of newly unsealed documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as his latest effort to fulfill long-held promises to the American people.

But just a few years ago, Mr. Trump conceded he did not have much interest in the files, which many historians and his associates have wanted for decades.

In an interview with a New York Times reporter in 2021, Mr. Trump said he was “not that curious” about the papers.

But many people in Mr. Trump’s orbit, including Roger Stone and Tucker Carlson, have long lobbied the president to order the release of all the files.

“The guy who sat at his desk was murdered, and every subsequent president has hidden why and by whom,” Mr. Carlson said in an interview Tuesday. “How could you live like that?”

In 2017, Mr. Stone made the case directly to the president, and Mr. Trump said he would release the remaining documents. He eventually agreed to some redactions after intelligence agencies raised concerns, but Mr. Carlson said the president came to regret that decision.

President Kennedy’s assassination has long fueled conspiracy theories, including some that Mr. Trump himself has indulged. He has also used the interest around the assassination when it was politically expedient.

“This is a tribute in honor of Bobby,” Mr. Trump said.

He added: “I have never had more people ask me, ‘Please sir, release the documents on the Kennedy assassination,’ and we’re going to do that.”

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Mr. Trump at one point alleged that the father of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas had been with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before President Kennedy was killed.

Jenny Schuessler

March 18, 2025, 8:44 p.m. ET

Jenny SchuesslerCovering history and archives

Historians with deep experience sorting through intelligence agency files emphasized to me that many — perhaps even most — of the documents released this evening will have been seen previously in one form or another. Some may have made public in previous releases of Kennedy papers, with redactions. Others may have been available from other sources. So far, we and the experts we’ve talked to aren’t finding a lot new.

Isabelle Taft

March 18, 2025, 8:40 p.m. ET

Isabelle Taft

Socks, suits and slippers: The Kennedy archive holds more than just documents.

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Lee Harvey Oswald, center, grimaces as he is shot by Jack Ruby on Nov. 24, 1963.Credit...Bob Jackson/The Dallas Times Herald, via United Press International

To try to understand the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, you could pore over six million pages at the National Archives. Or you could ask to see the socks Lee Harvey Oswald wore when Jack Ruby shot him.

The socks are among dozens of objects that the National Archives holds related to the Kennedy assassination. Some are iconic, like Jackie Kennedy’s blood-spattered pink Chanel suit, to which access is strictly limited until 2103. Some are evidence, like bullets and a chunk of curb with lead markings, cut away from the street near Dealey Plaza in Dallas.

Others have a more obscure connection to the crime: There’s a blue handbag that Oswald carried on a trip to Mexico, a contraption used for abdominal exercises and a set of curtain rods.

The archives, of course, are better known as the home of hundreds of thousands of documents — some of which are now being released in full for the first time. But the catalog of objects gathered by investigators seems to reflect the nation’s obsession with an event that remains mysterious — no matter how many times one might squint at Oswald’s bath slippers.

While the National Archives has published photographs of many of the objects online, it generally requires researchers who wish to see the actual items to submit a written request, explaining why viewing pictures or descriptions isn’t enough for their needs.

To professional archivists, it’s no surprise that the collection includes such materials. Objects can tell a story in a way that documents alone cannot.

“You’re able to interpret it in a different way and kind of visualize and place yourself at that scene,” said Derek Mosley, the president of the Society of American Archivists and an archivist at a research library in Atlanta.

Objects can also help people think about the historic event on a personal level, said Yvonne Eadon, an assistant professor in the School of Information Science at the University of Kentucky. Professor Eadon has researched how people responded when a cache of documents about Kennedy’s death was declassified in 2017, which incited a host of new questions and frustrations over redactions and poor scanning.

Like many Americans, she has watched the video of the assassination again and again, and was particularly affected by the image of Mrs. Kennedy crawling to the back of the car after her husband is shot.

“I’ve found myself wondering, what does the suit look like? What does it feel like?” she said. “There’s so much information that is contained in tactility around these objects.”

Jenny Schuessler

March 18, 2025, 8:20 p.m. ET

Jenny SchuesslerCovering history and archives

It’s going to take a while to figure out if there’s anything new in this document tranche. David J. Garrow, a historian who has written extensively about U.S. intelligence agencies, told me that the more than 1,100 separate PDFs released this evening lack any of the annotations — agency of origin, file number, etc. — from previous releases, which themselves took months to sort through.

Jenny Schuessler

March 18, 2025, 8:22 p.m. ET

Jenny SchuesslerCovering history and archives

“This dump is profoundly more impenetrable than all the previous more annotated ones,” he said. Garrow estimated that it would take two days even to open all of the documents. He told me he clicked on the last one on the archives site, which he described as discussing “random Cuban stuff from 1965.”

Jennifer Schuessler

March 18, 2025, 8:20 p.m. ET

Jennifer Schuessler

What are the National Archives, where the Kennedy files are stored?

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The Washington headquarters of the National Archives, which maintains the Kennedy assassination documents at a facility in College Park, Md.Credit...Eric Lee/The New York Times

In the grand headquarters of the National Archives and Records Administration on the National Mall in Washington, visitors can see the original parchment copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, all displayed in high-security cases that lower into a vault every evening.

But some of the most intriguing documents, including the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection, are stored at the agency’s facility in College Park, Md., where researchers are welcome to page through the files in search of another tidbit, another nugget about a killing that still fascinates much of America.

NARA, as the agency is known, maintains more than 13.5 billion paper records, 40 million photographs, 448 million feet of film and 837 terabytes of digital records in 17 federal records centers across the country, as well as 13 presidential libraries and museums that are operated in partnership with private presidential foundations.

The agency was founded in 1934 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with the mission of gathering, caring for and providing access to federal records deemed to be of enduring value. But it hasn’t been immune to the shake-ups rattling Washington in the early months of the second Trump administration.

In February, President Trump fired Colleen J. Shogan, the archivist of the United States, who was in charge of the agency. Dr. Shogan, a former official at the Library of Congress and the White House Historical Association, was appointed in 2023 by President Biden.

While no reason for her dismissal was given, under her predecessor, Mr. Trump had engaged in a protracted battle with the archives over its demand that he return classified documents taken from the White House when he left office in 2021.

After dismissing Dr. Shogan, Mr. Trump appointed Marco Rubio, his secretary of state, as acting archivist, and named James Byron, the chief executive of the Richard Nixon Foundation, as a senior adviser responsible for day-to-day operations at the archives.

In a letter to archives staff last month, Mr. Byron said the release of remaining Kennedy assassination records, as well as any files related to the killings of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was in keeping with the agency’s core mission of making records available to the public.

“We will soon have the opportunity to exercise maximum transparency thanks to President Trump’s executive order,” he said.

Robert Draper

March 18, 2025, 8:16 p.m. ET

Robert Draper

President Trump also ordered documents released related to the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. From tonight’s tranche, only about 50 pages seem to relate to King, and none sheds any light on his assassination by James Earl Ray.

Robert Draper

March 18, 2025, 8:18 p.m. ET

Robert Draper

Many of those documents pertain to efforts by the C.I.A. to monitor King’s meetings with leftist leaders in Italy in 1964. Other memos characterize Cuba’s reaction to King’s assassination, while a 1966 F.B.I. document appears to describe the surveillance of a hotel phone conversation.

Adam Nagourney

March 18, 2025, 8:14 p.m. ET

Adam NagourneyNational political reporter

Tim Naftali, a Nixon historian and research scholar at Columbia, said that he had begun sifting through this latest trove of papers looking for uncensored versions of documents that he had found in the past with redactions. He said he had not had much luck so far. “I am trying to find stuff that has been re-reviewed and re-released,” he said. “Some have and some have not.”

Scott Dodd

March 18, 2025, 8:08 p.m. ET

Scott Dodd

Here’s where you can read the fresh trove of Kennedy documents at the National Archives website.

Talya Minsberg

March 18, 2025, 8:05 p.m. ET

Talya Minsberg

What are the mysteries and conspiracies surrounding J.F.K.’s assassination?

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The Dallas County Administration Building, which formerly housed the Texas School Book Depository.Credit...Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Every government agency that has investigated the death of President John F. Kennedy has reached the same conclusion: He was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald.

Oswald, a lone gunman, fired three shots from the sixth floor of a warehouse in Dealey Plaza as Kennedy rode in a motorcade through Dallas in 1963. Kennedy and Gov. John B. Connally Jr. of Texas, who was riding in the same car, were both struck by bullets.

Oswald was arrested hours after the shooting. Two days later, he was shot and killed by a man named Jack Ruby.

But those findings have long been disputed by many Americans, and unsubstantiated claims about the involvement of the C.I.A., the mob and even Kennedy’s vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, have circulated. Many people have questioned whether Oswald acted alone, and whether the assassination was a plot by Cuba or the Soviet Union.

In 2016, President Trump suggested that the father of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas was somehow involved in the killing. And in 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now the health and human services secretary, claimed there was “overwhelming evidence” that the C.I.A. had a role in his uncle’s murder.

According to the National Archives and Records Administration, about 99 percent of the Kennedy assassination records have already been unsealed. Still, the latest trove to be released may hold clues for conspiracy theorists.

Here are some of the topics they may be hoping to learn more about.

The Magic Bullet

The Warren Commission, which was established in 1963 to investigate the assassination, found that one of the bullets fired by Oswald struck the president, exited his throat and then hit Governor Connally, injuring his thigh, back, chest and wrist. That single bullet — called the “magic bullet” by those who found this chain of events implausible — was found on the stretcher that held the governor, the commission found.

Recently, Paul Landis, a Secret Service agent who was feet away from Kennedy when he was struck, added another layer of doubt to that story.

In a September 2023 interview with The New York Times, Landis said that he was the one who found the bullet, and it was not on a stretcher but lodged in the back of the limousine where Kennedy had been sitting.

Landis, who was not interviewed by the Warren Commission, stressed that he was not hoping to push a conspiracy theory. He had long believed Oswald was the lone gunman, he said, but “at this point, I’m beginning to doubt myself.”

Multiple Shooters and the Grassy Knoll

In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations released a report saying that conspirators were “likely” involved in Kennedy’s murder.

According to that committee, which based its findings on acoustic tests of Dallas police tapes, Oswald fired three shots from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository and one more shot was fired from a grassy knoll in front of the president’s limousine. The report did not shed light on who those conspirators could have been.

The reliability of the acoustic findings has since been questioned, and the findings of the report have been largely undermined.

Mystery Around Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby

While investigations have found that both Oswald and Ruby acted alone, many conspiracy theories have flourished around the back stories of the two men.

Theorists have long contended that Oswald had ties to a foreign government or internal agencies in the United States. Many also questioned Oswald’s trip to Mexico City, and his visit to the Soviet and Cuban missions there, just weeks before the assassination. Oswald said he had traveled to Mexico to get visas from both embassies, but little is known about his time there.

Oswald, a former Marine, said he did not shoot the president and called himself a “patsy” set up by those who did.

He was shot dead by Ruby at close range while in police custody two days after the assassination. The Warren Commission found that Ruby did not know Oswald before killing him, but many still question Ruby’s motive, and whether or not there was a connection between the men.

Ruby was found guilty of murder in 1964. He appealed the ruling in 1966, but died the following year from a pulmonary embolism before his next trial began.

Chris Cameron

March 18, 2025, 7:55 p.m. ET

Chris CameronPolitics reporter

Some of the documents made public this evening are very heavily redacted, despite President Trump’s insistence on Monday that he told officials “no redactions.” One C.I.A. case file, for example, “is a copy of a rundown of the [REDACTED] case.” It says the document will be used by a person, whose name is redacted, “to joint further development of [REDACTED].”

Chris Cameron

March 18, 2025, 7:56 p.m. ET

Chris CameronPolitics reporter

Other documents posted to the National Archives website are completely illegible or extremely difficult to read because they have been poorly preserved or badly photocopied, perhaps not surprising for documents that date back as much as six decades.

Image

Credit...National Archives, via Reuters

Adam Nagourney

March 18, 2025, 7:48 p.m. ET

Adam NagourneyNational political reporter

The release of assassination-related papers this evening consists of 1,123 documents, according to the National Archives, including typewritten reports and handwritten notes. Most of them were shorter than 10 pages. It’s unclear how many of them are new or what they pertain to specifically.

Image

Credit...Carlos Barria/Reuters

Peter Baker

Scott Shane

March 18, 2025, 7:47 p.m. ET

Peter Baker and Scott Shane

Here are some tantalizing details revealed in a 2017 document release.

Image

The limousine carrying President Kennedy racing toward the hospital seconds after he was shot, with a Secret Service agent, Clint Hill, riding on the back of the car.Credit...Justin Newman/Associated Press

Documents on the Kennedy assassination that have previously been disclosed by government agencies have been a treasure trove for investigators, historians and conspiracy theorists who have spent half a century searching for clues to what really happened in Dallas on that fateful day in 1963.

While incomplete, the 2,800 documents released in 2017 during President Trump’s first term included tantalizing talk of mobsters and Cubans and spies, Kremlin suspicions that Lyndon B. Johnson was behind the killing of his predecessor, and fear among the authorities that the public would not accept the official version of events.

Perusing those Kennedy papers can feel a little like exploring a box of random documents found in an attic. There are fuzzy images of C.I.A. surveillance photos from the early 1960s; a log from December 1963 of visitors, including a C.I.A. officer, to President Johnson’s ranch in Texas; and reports that Lee Harvey Oswald had obtained ammunition from a right-wing militia group.

The files convey some of the drama and chaos of the days immediately after the murder of President John F. Kennedy. Among them is a memo apparently dictated by J. Edgar Hoover, the F.B.I. director, on Nov. 24, 1963, shortly after Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald as he was being moved from police headquarters to a local jail.

“There is nothing further on the Oswald case except that he is dead,” the memo begins laconically, before reciting the day’s events.

The papers range widely, and while many are not directly related to the assassination, others add context. One recounted the reaction of the Soviet Union to the killing, reporting that some in Moscow assumed it was a “coup” by the “ultraright” that would be blamed on the Soviet Union. An unnamed informant told American spies that the K.G.B. had proof that “President Johnson was responsible for the assassination.”

An F.B.I. cable from April 1964 reconstructed Oswald’s bus trip to Mexico weeks before the assassination, including the names of the people sitting around him and even what he was wearing: “a short-sleeved light colored sport shirt and no coat.”

In Hoover’s memo two days after the assassination, he expressed anxiety that Oswald’s killing would generate doubts among Americans. “The thing I am concerned about,” he wrote, “is having something issued so that we can convince the public that Oswald is the real assassin.”

Hoover also fretted that discoveries that Oswald had contacted the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City and sent a letter to the Soviet Embassy in Washington could “complicate our foreign relations.”

He called the Oswald killing “inexcusable” in light of “our warnings to the Dallas Police Department” and hinted at Ruby’s mob connections, which would soon spawn an industry of research and speculation. “We have no information on Ruby that is firm, although there are some rumors of underworld activity in Chicago,” Hoover wrote.

The 2017 releases, like other document revelations, did not end the debate or speculation — and some only added to the questions. In a 1975 deposition disclosed in 2017, for example, Richard Helms, the former C.I.A. director, was asked: “Is there any information involved with the assassination of President Kennedy which in any way shows that Lee Harvey Oswald was in some way a CIA agent or an agen…”

But the document ends there, and Helms’s answer is missing.

Talya Minsberg

March 18, 2025, 7:23 p.m. ET

Talya Minsberg

R.F.K. Jr. celebrated Trump’s order to declassify the documents.

Image

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Washington this month.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York Times

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health and human services secretary, has long believed in conspiracy theories about the assassinations of his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, who died in 1963, and his father, Robert F. Kennedy, who was shot while campaigning for president in 1968.

He has also long called for the release of all records surrounding President Kennedy’s death, telling Politico in 2021 that the government’s delay in releasing the documents was “an outrage against American democracy.”

On Tuesday, his call was answered when the National Archive declassified a new trove of documents in response to an executive order issued by President Trump on Jan. 23.

But those files may not answer many lingering questions about the assassination of President Kennedy, as most of the government records surrounding the event have already been released. In 2023, the National Archives estimated that more than 99 percent of the records in its collection of approximately five million pages had been made available to the public.

Still, in January Mr. Kennedy celebrated the executive order demanding the release of more documents and thanked Mr. Trump.

“The 60-year strategy of lies and secrecy, disinformation, censorship, and defamation employed by Intel officials to obscure and suppress troubling facts about J.F.K.’s assassination has provided the playbook for a series of subsequent crises,” Mr. Kennedy posted on X.

Mr. Kennedy has cast doubts on the findings of the Warren Commission, which was established in 1963 to investigate the assassination of President Kennedy. The investigation found that Lee Harvey Oswald, who was arrested after the crime, acted alone.

In an interview in 2013, Mr. Kennedy said his father had believed the report to be “a shoddy piece of craftmanship.”

“He publicly supported the Warren Commission report but privately he was dismissive of it,” he said of his father.

“The evidence at this point I think is very, very convincing that it was not a lone gunman,” he added. He did not elaborate on what he believed had happened.

Over the years, the findings of the Warren Commission have been questioned in some circles as conspiracy theories about the assassination gained a foothold in America’s collective psyche and popular culture.

Mr. Kennedy repeated those claims about the commission when he ran as an independent in the 2024 presidential race. In a 2023 radio interview, Mr. Kennedy claimed there was “overwhelming evidence” that the C.I.A. was involved in his uncle’s murder.

“I think it’s beyond a reasonable doubt at this point,” he said.

And in a May 2023 interview with Fox News, he claimed that Allen W. Dulles, a C.I.A. director fired by President Kennedy, helped cover up evidence of the organization’s involvement when he served on the Warren Commission.

“It was my father’s first instinct that the agency had killed his brother,” he said.

Most members of the extended Kennedy family have not publicly expressed doubts about investigation of the assassination.

But Jack Schlossberg, a grandson of President Kennedy, offered his view of the executive order.

“JFK conspiracy theories — The truth is alot sadder than the myth — a tragedy that didn’t need to happen. Not part of an inevitable grand scheme,” he posted on X, hours after Mr. Trump signed the order in January.

“Declassification is using JFK as a political prop, when he’s not here to punch back,” he said. “There’s nothing heroic about it.”

Tom Wicker

March 18, 2025, 7:22 p.m. ET

Tom WickerTom Wicker, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, was riding in the presidential motorcade and dictated parts of this story from a phone booth. He died in 2011.

Read The Times’s 1963 coverage of the Kennedy assassination.

Image

Credit...The New York Times

DALLAS, Nov. 22 — President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot and killed by an assassin today.

He died of a wound in the brain caused by a rifle bullet that was fired at him as he was riding through downtown Dallas in a motorcade.

Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who was riding in the third car behind Mr. Kennedy’s, was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States 99 minutes after Mr. Kennedy’s death.

Mr. Johnson is 55 years old; Mr. Kennedy was 46.

Shortly after the assassination, Lee H. Oswald, who once defected to the Soviet Union and who has been active in the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, was arrested by the Dallas police. Tonight he was accused of the killing.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03/18/us/jfk-mlk-rfk-assassination-files

Friends, Tourists, Countrymen, See Where Julius Caesar Was Killed

The site where Caesar was assassinated by a group of senators in 44 B.C., nestled among four ancient temples, has been opened to the public for the first time in a century.

Ancient, ruined columns rise from an archaeological site with visitors looking at the remains from walkways.

The Sacred Area of Largo di Torre Argentina, the site in Rome where Julius Caesar was believed to have been assassinated.Credit...Domenico Stinellis/Associated Press

By Elisabetta Povoledo

Reporting from Rome

June 20, 2023

For nearly a century, only cats (and presumably the rats they kept at bay) had free rein over an ancient archaeological site in the heart of central Rome. They would prowl among the ruins and preen for the tourists who gathered along the balustrades above, cellphones and cameras in hand.

But as of Tuesday, human visitors were allowed for the first time to descend and get a better glimpse of the site, believed to be where Julius Caesar was brutally assassinated by a group of senators in 44 B.C. The spot is nestled in an area with four temples, rare remnants of the Roman Republic, dating from the fourth to the first centuries B.C.

The full site, called the Sacred Area of Largo di Torre Argentina, is the latest addition to Rome’s rich archaeological offerings. The Italian capital’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, said at the inauguration on Monday that the attraction would add “tremendous value to a city that never ceases to amaze with its treasures and wonders.” Rome was discovering “its history to the fullest,” he added.

There is no X-marks-the-spot where Julius Caesar met his bloody end on — as tradition and the Shakespeare play “Julius Caesar” would have it — the Ides of March, about the 15th day of the month. The spot contains just a jumble of limestone rocks, bricks and tufts of grass.

That might surprise some, said the archaeologist Monica Ceci, who oversees the site.

Visitors “may have a hard time imagining this, because the Shakespearean drama induces you to think that the murder was in the forum,” she said.

Caesar was actually assassinated at the Curia of Pompey, a large rectangular meeting hall where the Senate of Rome met occasionally. The emperor Augustus later declared the hall a “locus sceleratus,” or “cursed place,” and it was walled up.

But Shakespeare “could get away with” a little artistic license, Ms. Ceci laughed.

On the opposite side of the site, marble decorations and sculptures, for decades stored unseen in Rome’s archaeological warehouses, have been displayed in a long hall under the modern-day street. “It’s one thing to keep them in order on shelves, quite another to tell the history of this site through these fragments,” Ms. Ceci said.

Irina Lumsden, a data engineer visiting Rome from Melbourne, Australia, said that the site was transporting. “It’s amazing, you get such a feeling of ancient time here,” she said “They’ve done a great job of conserving the site.”

The area was rediscovered during excavations from 1926 to 1929, when the square was being demolished to make way for new buildings. The four temples unearthed were initially labeled with the first four letters of the alphabet because archaeologists were unsure which temples they had uncovered. Now they have been tentatively identified, though there is still scholarly debate: the Temple of Juturna, after a goddess of fountains, wells and springs, dating from the mid-third century B.C.; the Temple of Fortuna Huiusce Diei, or Fortune of the Present Day, built in the second century B.C.; the Temple of Feronia, a goddess of fertility, built about the end of the fourth century B.C.; and the Temple of Lares Permarini, dedicated to the protectors of navigation, or according to others to the Nymphs, and constructed in the early second century B.C.

The Curia of Pompey was erected a little later, in the first century B.C.

After a fire devastated this part of Rome in A.D. 80, the emperor Domitian restored the temples and a travertine slab floor, still visible, was built on top of the surrounding rubble.

Over the centuries, the area underwent various further transformations, remaining buried until the excavations in the 1920s. City officials at the time immediately understood the value of the archaeological find, and the site was closed off, to be admired only from above.

Monica Baraschi, a volunteer with a cat sanctuary that abuts one corner of the ancient site, said that even the feline residents — there were 86, she said — would feel some benefits from the opening up of the spot and the arrival of visitors.

“They’ll get cuddled and caressed — the cats will be happy,” she said.

In the past, there has been friction between archaeologists and the sanctuary. Ms. Ceci, the archaeologist, said that the cats had been “good workmates” during the two years that the site was undergoing work to prepare for the opening.

Visitors on the first day also seemed glad to see a bit of ancient Rome up close. Simeon Peebler, a software engineer from Chicago, said, “In a world of virtual-reality experiences, to have a real reality experience is amazing.”

Romans were equally delighted. Sandro Lubattelli, a retired computer engineer and his wife, Rossana Cipressi, a retired teacher, said that they had spent a lifetime looking at the site from above and were thrilled to finally be able to go in.

“We always wondered why it was closed,” Mr. Lubattelli said. “We’re in seventh heaven.”

A correction was made on June 20, 2023: Because of an editing error, a capsule summary with an earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the role of Julius Caesar. He was a general and a political leader, but not emperor.

When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at nytnews@nytimes.com.Learn more

Elisabetta Povoledo is a reporter based in Rome and has been writing about Italy for more than three decades. More about Elisabetta Povoledo

A version of this article appears in print on June 21, 2023, Section A, Page 8 of the New York edition with the headline: A Tourist Site Rises From Where Caesar Fell. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/20/world/europe/rome-julius-caesar-assassination.html

Mythology

In the Baal Cycle, Ba'al Hadad is challenged by and defeats Yam using two magical weapons (called "Driver" and "Chaser") made for him by Kothar-wa-Khasis. Afterward, with the help of Athirat and Anat, Ba'al persuades El to allow him a palace. El approves, and the palace is built by Kothar-wa-Khasis. After the palace is constructed, Ba'al gives forth a thunderous roar out of the palace window and challenges Mot. Mot enters through the window and swallows Ba'al, sending him to the underworld. With no one to give rain, there is a terrible drought in Ba'al's absence. The other deities, especially El and Anat, are distraught that Ba'al had been taken to the underworld. Anat goes to the underworld, attacks Mot with a knife, grinds him up into pieces, and scatters him far and wide. With Mot defeated, Ba'al is able to return and refresh the Earth with rain.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaanite_religion

Frontal Headshot Trajectory Through JFK, Dallas, 1963 #644

Jesuit Temporal Coadjutor Robert Groden’s accurate reproduction of President Kennedy’s head wounds reveals evidence of two bullet trajectories fired at the same time by two separate shooters from two distinct locations. According to Paul O’Connor who was present at JFK’s head during the “autopsy” conducted at Bethesda Naval Hospital, JFK was shot twice in the head;* according to Jim Marrs, JFK was hit in the head by two shots “almost simultaneously.”** The shot illustrated above leads to the driver, William Greer, who fired his explosive round blowing out the right flap along with brain and skull from the right rear area of the head—a virtual impossibility coming from the alleged Grassy Knoll or storm sewer. It is a fact admitted by all parties that Greer was facing JFK at the moment of the fatal headshot(s) and that the limousine was nearly stopped. On the top of the head notice the missing portions of skull and scalp: this wound was the result of the shot coming from Johnny Roselli, the storm sewer shooter who fired at ground level from the right-front, blowing skull and tissue back and to the left into the grass, just beyond the curb on the south side of Elm street, to the left of the limousine. Clearly both fatal headshots were fired at close range.

JFK: A Case for Conspiracy, Video, Robert Groden, 1993.

* High Treason 2: The Great Cover-up: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Harrison Edward Livingstone, (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 1992) p. 259. ** Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy, Jim Marrs, (New York: Carroll & Graf Pubs., Inc., 1989) p. 570.

Vatican Assassins:

“Wounded In The House Of My Friends”

Third Edition

by Eric Jon Phelps

https://ia802505.us.archive.org/28/items/EricJonPhelpsVaticanAssassins3rdEdition/Eric%20Jon%20Phelps%20-%20Vatican%20Assassins%203rd%20Edition.pdf

Dealey Plaza /ˈdiːliː/ is a city park in the West End Historic District of downtown Dallas, Texas. It is sometimes called the "birthplace of Dallas". It was also the location of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. The Dealey Plaza Historic District was named a National Historic Landmark on the 30th anniversary of the assassination, to preserve Dealey Plaza, street rights-of-way, buildings, and structures by the plaza visible from the assassination site, that have been identified as witness locations or as possible locations for the assassin.[2][3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dealey_Plaza

Don't forget, folks, Monday, March 15th, 8pm, LaFayette Hotel, 2223 El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego. I'll be there, I'll be giving a three-hour presentation, entitled The Sacrificed King: On the Assassination of John F. Kennedy. In it, I will directly connect to the occult worship of Mystery Babylon, the secret societies, and specifically to the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, which really is just the outward form of the old Knights Templar. And I also believe, have reason to believe, that the sovereign and military order of the Knights of Malta was involved, which is just another branch of the old Templar order. So make sure that you're there. Forty dollars is the admission fee unless you're a CAJI member, then the admission fee if thirty dollars. I managed to negotiate a 25% discount with the people who are putting this on and who have invited me to speak. If you're not a CAJI member, you can purchase advance tickets at the Controversial Bookstore in San Diego. If you are a CAJI member, you must buy your tickets at the event. That's the only way, uh, that we can get you the discount. If you would like information on this whole conference that lasts the whole weekend, there's a whole lot of Looney Tunes stuff going on there. There are some good speakers. Uh, my workshop is, uh, Monday night, the last one of the whole conference, and it's not a workshop ticket, so it's a separate event altogether. But you can call and find out about the whole thing in case you want to spend the whole weekend. Call (619)492-8588, that's (619)492-8588, and we still donations to pay for this airtime, folks. C'mon, get out your checkbooks and money orders and help us out here. Send your donation to Stan and make your checks and money orders to WWCR, not to me, I don't want your money. It goes to pay for airtime, that's it, period. Send them to Stan, P.O. Box 889, Camp Verde, Arizona, 86322. That's Stan, P.O. Box 889, Camp Verde, Arizona, 86322. Tell him Bill sent you (laughs), and while you're at it, and even if you don't send a donation, write to Stan or call him and tell him you'd like to receive a packet of information. He'd be glad to send it to you. If you'd like to call him, his number is (602)567-6109. That's (602)567-6109. Please call him during normal waking hours. Stan's getting up there and he likes his sleep, and I don't blame him, so please don't call him, uh, late in the evening or late at night. Let him have some, some of his own time. Call him during the day, during waking hours or early evening, please. Thank you very much for those of you who are doing that. Those of you who are not, please start. Well, let's continue where we left off and, uh, this is about the society in the Middle East known as the Assassins, and we've covered quite a bit of their history already:

[Reading from A History of Secret Societies]:

But this secret society, [the] most successful of secret societies showed that its strength ultimately depended upon a powerful leader. [Well,] Kia Mohammed was no such [leader]. [And] little by little it became obvious that his son, Hasan the Hated, was the stronger personality. [Now remember, Kia Mohammed was the Old Man of the Mountain, and the mountain lair was called: The Eagle's Nest.] Now Hasan, through some magnetic power, was able to capture the imagination of the Assassins, soon having it believed that he himself was none other than the Power of All Powers, the Hidden Imam, who had been mentioned by the first Grand Master; an incarnation of all greatness. So important was [Hasan] that he was the fountain of power, and others only held a [very small] measure of authority because he allowed them to have it [and for no other reason].

This final absurdity was lapped up by members who had been conditioned to believe in things which were not, shall we say, exactly self-evident to the ordinary man. The doctrine of the all-powerful Invisible Imam was a part of Ismailism; and Hasan was ready even during his early manhood to assume the role. But, since his father was able to assert himself by having some two hundred and fifty of Hasan' followers murdered, he thought it wiser to hold his hand. In 1163 his chance came. Mohammed died, and Hasan II issued an order to all Ismailis to collect below the castle of Alamut.

Never before had such an assembly of killers, fanatics and dedicated perverters of the truth been seen. Hasan, probably in a state of megalomania, assured them that he had received a message from the Almighty that as from now, all the bond of religion were loosed: everyone might do as he liked. [Later, in the modern age, we would hear that again as: “The whole of the Law shall be: do as thou wilt.”] It was not necessary [he said] to keep up pretences. And, furthermore, he, Hasan, was none other than the Hidden Imam. His word was law; and he was a form of the divinity, not merely relaying instructions from above [but the divinity].

Hour 12: The Templars and the Assassins (aired March 2nd, 1993)

https://viefag.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/transcripts-of-william-cooper-s-mystery-babylon-series.pdf

The History and Legend of Scottish Rite Origins

The Story Unfolds…

Like much of early Masonic history, the origins of the Scottish Rite are uncertain. This is primarily due to the lack of historic documentation prior to the early 1700’s and not to any great veiled mystery. The few records kept were subject to loss, fire, weather and aging. So we can at best only speculate on many of our origins by looking at the few documents, historical references and legends that remain.

What We Know

In 1754, near Paris, Chevalier de Bonneville established the Chapter of Clermont. The Chapter resided in the College of Jesuits of Clermont, hence the name. It is said to have been created to honor the Duc de Clermont, then Grand Master of the English Grand Lodge of France.

The Chapter of Clermont was a “Chapter of the Advanced Degrees” and initially entailed six degrees and was later extended to 25 known degrees. The six initial degrees were 1˚, 2˚ and 3˚ St John’s Masonry, 4˚ Knight of the Eagle, 5˚ Illustrious Knight or Templar, 6˚ Sublime Illustrious Knight.

Interestingly enough historically, prior to the time of the Rite’s creation, James II had been in residence at Clermont in exile from Britain from 1688 to his death in 1701. As noted by German Masonic historian, Lenning… “whilst in exile, James II residing at the Jesuit College of Clermont in France, allowed his closest associates to fabricate certain degrees in order to extend their political views.” Lenning believed this to have been an attempt on the part of James and his associates to regain control of the British throne for the House of Stuart. If Lenning is right, this places the origins of the “Rite of Perfection” in the hands of James II and the Jacobite (Stuart) Freemasons who at the time were in exile from Great Britain throughout France and Italy. Lenning also contends that these degrees were introduced into French Freemasonry under the name of the Clermont System.

James II died in exile in 1701. His son James III is said to have continued his father’s Masonic legacy and later created further higher degrees.

Perhaps James II saw in the Jesuit morality plays of the College of Clermont a vessel for passing on a set of moral lessons. Some of the world’s greatest playwrights had emerged from Clermont. Jesuit tutelage had previously produced great writers such as Lope de Vega, Moliere, Racine, and the Corneille brothers. Ensconced in exile, I believe James II did find the inspiration and the training to help produce what would later become the first six degrees. From out of the darkness… comes light.

To be continued… (Author’s note… An in depth look at the Templar influence in Scottish Rite masonry’s origins can be found by visiting the Rosslyn Templars’ website.)"

https://web.archive.org/web/20190615041607/http://www.traversecityscottishrite.com/scottish-rite-history.html

PART VI 1THE PERSONAL LIFE OF THOSE ALREADY ADMITTED AND INCORPORATED INTO THE BODY OF THE SOCIETY

SECTION 1: THE APOSTOLIC CHARACTER OF OUR VOWS IN GENERAL

143 §1. Our consecration by profession of the evangelical counsels, by which we respond to a divine vocation, is at one and the same time the following of Christ poor, virginal, and obedient and a rejection of those idols that the world is always prepared to adore, especially wealth, pleasure, prestige, and power. Hence, our poverty, chastity, and obedience ought visibly and efficaciously to bear witness to this attitude, whereby we proclaim the evangelical possibility of a certain communion among men and women that is a foretaste of the future kingdom of God.[1]

§2. Our religious vows, while binding us, also set us free:

free, by our vow of poverty, to share the life of the poor and to use whatever resources we may have, not for our own security and comfort, but for service;

free, by our vow of chastity, to be men for others, in friendship and communion with all, but especially with those who share our mission of service;

free, by our vow of obedience, to respond to the call of Christ as made known to us by him whom the Spirit has placed over the Church, and to follow the lead of all our superiors.[2] [1] See GC 32, d. 4, no. 16; see GC 31, d. 16, no. 4; d. 17, no. 2; d. 18, no. 3. [2] GC 32, d. 2, no. 20. 215

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

I began by attending Fordham University in the Bronx, mostly because I wanted to be close to home. I got along very well with the Jesuits who ran the school, but after two years, I decided that as long as I had to be in college, I might as well test myself against the best. I applied to the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania and I got in. At the time, if you were going to make a career in business, Wharton was the place to go. Harvard Business School may produce a lot of CEOs—guys who manage public companies— but the real entrepreneurs all seemed to go to Wharton: Saul Steinberg, Leonard Lauder, Ron Perelman—the list goes on and on."

Donald Trump The Art of the Deal

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DLcbnLrl6moQT7nGj1JitG6AiQ6qgK0y/view?usp=sharing

University of Scranton welcomes President Biden

The university has illuminated its Class of 2020 Gateway in red and blue lights.

Author: WNEP Web Staff

Published: 10:52 PM EDT October 19, 2021

Updated: 10:52 PM EDT October 19, 2021

SCRANTON, Pa. — In preparation for President Joe Biden's visit, a university lit up their lights in his honor.

The University of Scranton has illuminated its Class of 2020 Gateway in blue and red with the number 46 prominently displayed to welcome the 46th president."

University of Scranton welcomes President Biden | wnep.com

https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/university-of-scranton-welcomes-president-biden-gateway-lights/523-cdba68b1-822b-4747-94be-4cd7e4de9d67

Trump International, Scotland

@TrumpScotland

Donald J Trump, 45th President of the United States, announced today the start of a new golf venture in Scotland: the MacLeod course, to be built at Trump International Scotland in Aberdeenshire in honor of his late mother Mary Anne MacLeod.

10:47 AM · May 1, 2023

https://x.com/TrumpScotland/status/1653093764271857666

James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 1688 – 1 January 1766) [a] was the House of Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1701 until his death in 1766. The only son of James II of England and his second wife, Mary of Modena, he was Prince of Wales and heir until his Catholic father was deposed and exiled in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. His Protestant half-sister Mary II and her husband William III became co-monarchs. As a Catholic, he was subsequently excluded from the succession by the Act of Settlement 1701.

Raised primarily in France and Italy, when his father died in September 1701 James claimed the thrones. As part of the War of the Spanish Succession, in 1708 Louis XIV of France backed a landing in Scotland on his behalf. This failed, as did further attempts in 1715 and 1719. Led by his elder son Charles Edward Stuart, the 1745 Rising was the last serious effort to restore the House of Stuart.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Francis_Edward_Stuart

Note 370.—"Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret. The 32nd degree of the Ancient and Accepted rite, and for many years, or until the institution of the 33d degree, this was the highest degree, or ne plus ultra of Masonry. The body is styled a Consistory, and should be held in a building of two stories. The officers are, a Thrice Illustrious Commander, First and Second Lieutenants, a Minister of State, a Grand Chancellor, a Grand Treasurer, a Grand Secretary, and a Grand Captain of the Guard. In the East a throne, elevated on seven steps, which is the seat of the Thrice Illustrious Commander, who wears a robe of royal purple, and he and the Lieutenants, wear swords. The collar of this degree is black, lined with scarlet, and in the center, at the point, a double-headed eagle, of silver or gold, on a red Teutonic cross. The apron is of white satin, with a border of gold lace, one inch wide, lined with scarlet; on the flap is a double-headed eagle, on each side of which is the flag of the country in which the body is located, the flag of Prussia and the Beause- -ant of the Kadosh degree; on the apron is the camp of the Crusaders, , which is thus explained; it is composed of an enneagon, within which is ' inscribed a heptagon, within that a pentagon, and in the center an equilateral triangle, within which is a circle. Between the heptagon and pentagon are placed five standards, in the designs of whigjl are five letters, which form a particular word. The first standard is purple, on which is emblazoned the ark of the covenant, with a palm, tree on each side; the ark has the motto Laus Deo. The second is blue, on which is a lion, of gold, couchant, holding in his mouth a golden key, with a collar of the same metal on his neck, and on it is the device, Ad majorem Dei gloriam. The third is white, and displays a heart in flames, with two wings; it is surmounted by a crown of laurels. The fourth is green, and bears a double-headed black eagle, crowned, holding a sword in his right claw, and a bleeding heart in his left. The fifth bears a black ox. on a field of gold. On the sides of the enneagon are nine tents, with flags, representing the divisions of the Masonic army; on the angles are nine pinions, of the same color as the flag of the tent that precedes it. The hall of the Consistory is hung with black, strewed with tears of silver. The jewel is a double-headed white and black eagle, resting on a Teutonic cross, of gold, worn attached to the collar or ribbon. ^The members are called Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret. The moral of the degree teaches opposition to bigotry, superstition, and all the passions and vices which disgrace human nature."—Macoy's Encyclopaedia and Pictionary of Freemasonry, Article Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret

MISSIONS FROM THE SUPREME PONTIFF

252 §1. To be truly Christian, our service to the Church must be anchored in fidelity to Christ, who makes all things new; to be proper to the Society, it must be done in union with the successors of Peter[32]

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts

THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES SAINT LOUIS, 1996

https://web.archive.org/web/20200211182223/https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

Newly added to Digital Collections: Harry S. Truman Letters

July 14, 2020

A2019_001_016DS_webDid you know that President Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) was in correspondence with Melvin Maynard Johnson (1871-1957), the head of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction's Supreme Council during the 1940s and 1950s? A number of recently digitized letters, written from Truman to Johnson on White House stationery are available through the Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives Digital Collections website. They reveal a friendly relationship, with President Truman beginning his letters to Johnson by addressing him "Dear Mel."

Truman became a Freemason in 1909. By 1940, he was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Missouri. In 1945, Truman was created a 33rd degree Sovereign Grand Inspector General in the Scottish Rite's Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction. That same year, the Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, awarded Truman its first Gourgas Medal, the Supreme Council's highest honor.

The letters in this collection include both those from Harry Truman as well as one written by his wife, Bess Truman (1885-1982). The majority of the correspondence in this collection consists of letters written by President Harry S. Truman to his friend and fellow Freemason, Melvin Maynard Johnson (1871-1957). Johnson served as the Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction's Sovereign Grand Commander from 1933 to 1953.

For more about the friendship between Truman and Johnson, have a look at one of our earlier blog posts, A Mason Answers His Country's Call and Receives the Scottish Rite's Highest Award.

There are now over 750 items in the Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives Digital Collections website. Be sure to visit and check them all out!

Caption:

Letter from President Harry S. Truman to Melvin M. Johnson, 1948 August 3. Collection of Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, Lexington, Massachusetts. SC069.

Posted at 09:00 AM in American History - 20th Century, Digital Collections, Freemasonry, Freemasonry and U.S. Presidents, Gourgas Medal, Harry S. Truman, Melvin M. Johnson, Posts by Jeff Croteau, Presidential history, Scottish Rite Freemasonry, Supreme Council, NMJ

https://nationalheritagemuseum.typepad.com/library_and_archives/harry-s-truman/

President John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, 1962 ##2*

Here we have the President leaving the Jesuit Order’s St. Francis Xavier Church at Hyannis after attending Mass. The Chief Executive was spending the weekend at the family summer home in nearby Hyannis Port. On the far right is Secret Service Agent Roy Kellerman who would be chosen to be the coordinator of the Secret Service’s Assassination Team while it carried out its “Executive Action” in Dallas on November 22, 1963. The President, a Knight of Columbus and son of one of Francis Cardinal Spellman’s most powerful Knights of Malta—Joseph P. Kennedy—was educated at Harvard University, with its strong Jesuit presence, while Jackie gave birth to JFK, Jr., at Georgetown University Hospital. Aided by the Mafia, the Order had installed its first Irish Roman Catholic into the high office of the American Presidency. But John F. Kennedy turned on the Temporal Power of Rome’s Papal Caesar by refusing to enforce the Pope’s claim to rule all the governments of the world. Kennedy sought to break the power of the Black Pope’s continuation of the Order’s Nazi SS—the Central Intelligence Agency; attacked the Order’s Federal Reserve Bank by printing “United States Notes” in lieu of “Federal Reserve Notes;” sought to end Cardinal Spellman’s War in Vietnam; sought to return Cuba to the exiled Cuban people of Miami via a full fledged military invasion of the island on December 1, 1963; and attempted to end Rome’s Cold War by which the Order was creating fascism in the US. For these reasons and more, the Jesuit Order coldly carried out its regicidal “crime of the century.” Boston Record American, Monday, July 16, 1962, p. 26.

Vatican Assassins:

“Wounded In The House Of My Friends”

Third Edition

by Eric Jon Phelps

https://ia802505.us.archive.org/28/items/EricJonPhelpsVaticanAssassins3rdEdition/Eric%20Jon%20Phelps%20-%20Vatican%20Assassins%203rd%20Edition.pdf

Spaniard becomes Jesuits' new "black pope"

By Reuters

January 19, 20085:07 AM PSTUpdated 17 years ago

By Stephen Brown

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Spaniard Adolfo Nicolas was elected the Jesuits' "black pope", as the head of the largest and perhaps most influential, controversial and prestigious Catholic order is known, in a secret conclave on Saturday.

Nicolas, 71, has run Jesuit operations in east Asia and Oceania since 2004 and spent most of his career in the Far East after being ordained in Tokyo in 1967.

The order said in a statement that Nicolas had been elected to succeed Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, who received permission from Pope Benedict to retire as head of the order formally known as the Society of Jesus at the age of 79.

Jesuit superior generals are known as "black popes" because, like the pontiff, they wield worldwide influence and usually keep their position for life -- and because their simple cassock is black, in contrast to the pope who dresses in white.

The 468-year history of the Jesuit order has often included stormy relations with the Vatican. Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul, believed the order had become too independent, leftist and political, particularly in Latin America.

Soft-spoken, white-haired Dutchman Kolvenbach won widespread praise for mending relations with the Vatican during his years in the post, after conflicts between his charismatic Basque predecessor and Pope John Paul.

Kolvenbach also had to deal with declining vocations and the future of the order founded by St Ignatius Loyola in 1540.

In the 1960s, the all-male order peaked with some 36,000 members worldwide. It now has about 19,200 members involved in education, refugee help and other social services.

The general congregation that elected Nicolas gathered 217 electors from all over the world at Jesuit headquarters, a block from the Vatican.

They spent four days in prayer and what is known in Latin as "murmuratio", or murmurings, about who should be elected. It is strictly forbidden to lobby for the post and anyone actively seeking the job must be 'turned in' by the other delegates.

The election is by secret ballot and delegates are not allowed to leave the room until Pope Benedict is informed who has won, in keeping with a tradition that the "white pope" is first to know who is the new "black pope".

But unlike a conclave to elect the pontiff, a Jesuit general congregation can continue for weeks or even months after the election to discuss future challenges and priorities.

https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyle/spaniard-becomes-jesuits-new-black-pope-idUSL19414053/

Operation Mockingbird is an alleged large-scale program of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that began in the early years of the Cold War and attempted to manipulate domestic American news media organizations for propaganda purposes. According to author Deborah Davis, Operation Mockingbird recruited leading American journalists into a propaganda network and influenced the operations of front groups. CIA support of front groups was exposed when an April 1967 Ramparts article reported that the National Student Association received funding from the CIA.[1] In 1975, Church Committee Congressional investigations revealed Agency connections with journalists and civic groups.

In 1973, a document referred to as the "Family Jewels"[2] was published by the CIA containing a reference to "Project Mockingbird", which was the name of an operation in 1963 which wiretapped two journalists who had published articles based on classified material.[3] The document does not contain references to "Operation Mockingbird".[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was created under the National Security Act of 1947, which President Truman signed on July 26, 1947. The CIA officially came into existence on September 18th that same year, which is when we celebrate our birthday.

With the passage of the 1947 Act, Truman achieved his goals of modernizing and unifying America’s armed services, and, by creating a centralized intelligence agency, reformed our intelligence capabilities. To protect American’s civil liberties, he made sure to clearly divide intelligence roles between domestic and foreign: FBI would handle anything domestic, while CIA was limited to foreign intelligence only. Furthermore, the Act specified that CIA would have no police, subpoena, or law enforcement powers.

President Truman appointed Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter as the first CIA director, known as the Director of Central Intelligence. He had been the Director of one of our immediate “ancestors,” called the Central Intelligence Group. The CIG was a bureaucratic anomaly with no independent budget, no statutory mandate, and staffers assigned from other departments of the government. America needed a peacetime, centralized intelligence agency with its own budget and mandate. That’s why Truman replaced the CIG and created the CIA.

The 1947 Act loosely defined CIA’s mission into four broad tasks:

The 1947 Act was relatively unchanged until 2004. President Bush, after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, made major updates to the 1947 act, including the creation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

If you’re interested, you can find out more about what is called “the National Security Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of December 2004” on the DNI’s website.

The importance of the 1947 National Security Act cannot be overstated. It created our Nation’s first peacetime intelligence agency, reflected America’s acceptance of its position as a world leader, and it remained a cornerstone of our national security policy for 75 years… and counting.

~ Molly

https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/ask-molly-the-national-security-act-of-1947/

Molly

fem. proper name, a diminutive of Moll, which is a familiar form of Mary.

molly (n.1)

a common 18c. colloquial term for "homosexual man" or "man who is deemed effeminate, a sissy," by 1707, perhaps 1690s. The fem. proper name Molly or Moll served as a type-name of a low-class girl or prostitute in old songs and ballads (perhaps in part for the sake of the easy rhymes).

But the colloquial word also resembles Latin mollis "soft," which also had been used classically in a specific pejorative sense in reference to men, "soft, effeminate, unmanly, weak," in Cicero, Livy, etc. A 1629 publication from the Catholic-Protestant theological disputes, "Truth's triumph ouer Trent," written in English with swerves into Latin, at one point describes the denizens of Hell as fideles fornicarios, adulteros, molles, and so forth, and molles is translated parenthetically in the text as "effeminate." Molly House as a term for a brothel frequented by gay men is attested in a court case from 1726.

also from 18c.

molly (n.2)

seabird, 1857, short for mollymawk, mallemuck, from Dutch mallemok, from mal "foolish" + mok "gull."

also from 1857

https://www.etymonline.com/word/molly

Canonizing Pope Paul VI, CIA Collaborator

Mark Tooley on February 7, 2018

Apparently the canonization of Pope Paul VI may culminate this year. He was pontiff from 1963 to 1978, presiding over the latter part of the Second Vatican Council and issuing Humanae Vitae, which defended Catholic opposition to artificial contraception.

Less recalled is his role across 30 years in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State under Pope Pius XII, which included his apparent collaboration with the CIA in covertly opposing the Communists in Italy’s dicey 1948 election. A new biography of CIA legend James Angleton, an Episcopalian whose mother was Catholic, recounts he reportedly was close to and met regularly with the future Pope, then Monsignor Giovanni Montini, to synchronize support for Italy’s Christian Democratic Party. (The Matt Damon character in the 2006 film The Good Shepherd is partly based on Angleton.)

It was widely feared Italian Communism, backed by the Soviet Union, could prevail in post-WWII Italy, which was impoverished, chaotic and still recovering from Fascist rule. The Christian Democrats, who hearkened to Catholic social teaching, were the best hope for a democratic, pro-Western and free market Italy that could prosper. A Communist Italy would have been a huge addition to Stalin’s growing slave empire behind the Iron Curtain. At the same time Greece’s royalist government was in virtual civil war with a communist insurrection. The new Truman Doctrine in 1947 announced USA support for Greece and Turkey in their resistance to Soviet expansionism.

American support for Italy’s Christian Democrats was not so public, and possibly millions of dollars were channeled to them, sometimes cooperatively with the Catholic Church. Mythology recalls satchels of lira transmitted quietly. The new Angleton biography claims Monsignor Montini was given control of a CIA subsidized slush fund at the Vatican Bank for campaign purposes.

With or without CIA help, the Christian Democrats won a big victory in 1948 and governed Italy for the rest of the Cold War, with the opposition Communists remaining unacceptable to still mostly Catholic Italy. To the extent future Pope Pope Paul VI assisted this campaign in 1948 and afterwards to keep Italy democratic, good for him. Presumably his role will not be cited in his canonization, any more than Pope John Paul II’s collaboration with the Reagan Administration against Polish and East European Communism was cited in his canonization. But their opposition to totalitarian enslavement of their native lands, respectively Italy and Poland, and beyond, further exemplifies their service to God and humanity.

IRD emeritus board member George Weigel notes that when the Catholic Church self-protectively tried to reach accommodations with vicious dictatorships, the results were shameful, whether with Italy’s Fascists, the Third Reich, or East European Communism. Now he warns against an apparent Vatican accommodation of China’s repressive regime, which seeks to preempt the Catholic Church in China.

Christian political witness has always been more heroic when it sided against tyranny and in favor of lawful freedom not just for Christians but for all people. In 1948 that entailed future Pope Paul VI secretly collaborating with James Angleton and the CIA against Italian Communism and for Christian Democracy. We can be grateful.

https://juicyecumenism.com/2018/02/07/canonizing-pope-paul-vi-cia-collaborator/

https://www.facebook.com/billy.dunn.50767/posts/pfbid0UjycUE1Sk7ufVegcbGg4dtG6qGDcRq3cVEhrxSBtnxcwckh3HdToWjDVaTd3yuW5l

Project 2025 (also known as the 2025 Presidential Transition Project[3]) is a political initiative published by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation in 2022. The project aims to promote conservative and right-wing policies to reshape the United States federal government and consolidate executive power, under the premise that Donald Trump wins the 2024 presidential election.[4][5]

The project asserts a controversial interpretation of the unitary executive theory, according to which the entire executive branch is under the complete control of the president.[6][7][8] It proposes reclassifying tens of thousands of federal civil service workers as political appointees in order to replace them with people loyal to the president.[9] Proponents of the project argue it would dismantle what they view as a vast, unaccountable, and mostly liberal government bureaucracy.[10] The project also seeks to infuse the government and society with conservative Christian values.[11][12] Critics have characterized Project 2025 as an authoritarian, Christian nationalist plan to steer the U.S. toward autocracy.[11][13][14][15] Legal experts have said it would undermine the rule of law,[16] separation of powers,[5] separation of church and state,[17] and civil liberties.[5][16][18]

Project 2025 envisions widespread changes to economic and social policies and the federal government and its agencies. The plan proposes taking partisan control of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Commerce, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Federal Trade Commission (FTC), dismantling the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and reducing environmental and climate change regulations to favor fossil fuels.[16][19] The blueprint seeks to institute tax cuts,[20] but its writers disagree on protectionism.[21] It recommends abolishing the Department of Education, whose programs would be transferred or terminated.[22][23] Funding for climate research would be cut,[24] and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) would be made less independent, stopped from funding research with embryonic stem cells or using quotas to promote equal participation by women.[25][26] The project seeks to cut Medicare and Medicaid,[27][28] and urges the government to explicitly reject abortion as health care.[29][30] The project seeks to eliminate coverage of emergency contraception[27] and use the Comstock Act to prosecute those who send and receive contraceptives and abortion pills.[30][31] It proposes criminalizing pornography,[32][33] removing legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,[33][34] and terminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs[5][34] and affirmative action[35] by having the DOJ prosecute "anti-white racism".[36] The Project recommends the arrest, detention, and deportation of illegal immigrants living in the country.[37][38][39] It proposes deploying the military for domestic law enforcement.[40] It promotes capital punishment and the speedy "finality" of those sentences.[41][42] It hopes to undo "[al]most everything implemented" by the Biden Administration.[43]

Although Project 2025 cannot legally promote a presidential candidate without endangering its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, many contributors are associated with Trump and his campaign.[44][45][46][47] The Heritage Foundation employs many people closely aligned with Trump,[48][49][50] including members of his 2017–2021 administration,[51] and coordinates the initiative with conservative groups run by Trump allies.[11] Trump campaign officials have had regular contact with Project 2025, and told Politico in 2023 that the project aligned well with their Agenda 47 program, though they have said that the project does not speak for Trump or his campaign.[10][52][53][54] The project's controversial proposals led Trump and his campaign to distance themselves from the project in 2024—saying he knows "nothing about it" and calling unspecified parts of it "ridiculous and abysmal".[48][55][56][57] Some critics have dismissed Trump's claims, pointing to various people close to Trump who helped draft the project, the many contributors who are expected to get leadership roles in a future Trump administration, his endorsement of the Heritage Foundation's plans for his administration in 2022, and the 300 times Trump is mentioned in the plans.[58][59][60][61] Heritage president Kevin Roberts said no one at Project 2025 bore hard feelings against Trump because they knew "he's making a political tactical decision there."[62]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_2025

Donald Trump The Art of the Deal

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DLcbnLrl6moQT7nGj1JitG6AiQ6qgK0y/view?usp=sharing

University of Scranton welcomes President Biden

The university has illuminated its Class of 2020 Gateway in red and blue lights.

Author: WNEP Web Staff

Published: 10:52 PM EDT October 19, 2021

Updated: 10:52 PM EDT October 19, 2021

SCRANTON, Pa. — In preparation for President Joe Biden's visit, a university lit up their lights in his honor.

The University of Scranton has illuminated its Class of 2020 Gateway in blue and red with the number 46 prominently displayed to welcome the 46th president."

University of Scranton welcomes President Biden | wnep.com

https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/lackawanna-county/university-of-scranton-welcomes-president-biden-gateway-lights/523-cdba68b1-822b-4747-94be-4cd7e4de9d67

"His son, Hunter Biden, 38, is a longtime federal lobbyist for the Jesuit university located in his father's hometown, Scranton PA. According to federal disclosures, Hunter Biden has been earning about $80,000 a year since 2006 to lobby for this university. Senator Biden himself has lectured at the Jesuit University of Scranton, and received an honorary degree from the same university, in 1976."

Codeword Barbelon

by P.D. Stuart

New restaurant in Dayton called "Good time Charlie" first ...

Nextdoor

https://nextdoor.com › ask-neighbors › dayton--nv › ne...

Very nice all around, They have a karaoke stage, Games , Nice seating , Clean, Very friendly, Good service, And delicious burgers, we had a Swiss mushroom ...

Good Time Charlie's

801 Overland Loop, Suite 103

DAYTON, NV 89403

Phone: (775) 241-2025

https://nextdoor.com/city/dayton--nv/

Duke-Burger is the second level of The Birth in Duke Nukem 3D.

Secrets

Secret 1: Above the drive-through window

The first secret is outside the restaurant, above the drive-through window. There are two ways to reach this secret.

The first way to reach this secret is from outside the restaurant. On the outer edge of the cement column that separates the drive-through lane from the main street, there is an invisible opening about two-thirds up the column. The opening can be reached by jumping in a straight line from the barrel on the opposite side of the street, or it can be reached by jumping from the nearby cement wall and changing directions while mid-air. It can also be reached using the Jetpack.

The second way to reach this secret is from inside the kitchen. There is an invisible opening near the ceiling in the wall above the light switch in the kitchen. It is possible to reach this opening by jumping diagonally from the counter-top beneath the misspelled "Employies (sic) Must Wash Hands!" sign.

Secret 2: Desk switch

Inside the office past the kitchen, there is a switch on the backside of the desk with the Red Access Card. Activating the switch will temporarily open a compartment above the stack of boxes in the adjacent corner. This secret is unlocked by reaching the compartment before it closes.

Secret 3: Light switch in the slaughtering room

In the slaughtering room with the dog anatomy poster, there is a light switch beside the opening that leads to the conveyor belts below. Flipping this switch reveals a hidden door; the adjacent corner of the room will rotate. Following the rotating walls will lead to a hidden control room with an RPG inside. It is easy to become accidentally squished in the doorway, so caution is warranted.

Secret 4: Dog kennel

The fourth secret is inside the dog kennel. Go to the side of the kennel that has a dog in one of the cages, and use explosives to blast through the door of the top-left cage. The back wall inside this cage can be opened to reveal a secret compartment with Pipe Bombs inside.

https://dukenukem.fandom.com/wiki/Duke-Burger

New restaurant in Dayton called "Good time Charlie" first ...

Nextdoor

https://nextdoor.com › ask-neighbors › dayton--nv › ne...

Very nice all around, They have a karaoke stage, Games , Nice seating , Clean, Very friendly, Good service, And delicious burgers, we had a Swiss mushroom ...

https://nextdoor.com/city/dayton--nv/

Duke-Burger is the second level of The Birth in Duke Nukem 3D.

Secrets

Secret 1: Above the drive-through window

The first secret is outside the restaurant, above the drive-through window. There are two ways to reach this secret.

Secret 2: Desk switch

Secret 3: Light switch in the slaughtering room

Secret 4: Dog kennel

https://dukenukem.fandom.com/wiki/Duke-Burger

King Clovis [Louis], and King Charles [Charlemagne].

Where's Merovech in these royal bloodline names? Clovis and Charlesmagne, no Merovech in any of the names as a continuation of the Merovingian bloodline.

The Carolingian dynasty (/ˌkærəˈlɪndʒiən/ KARR-ə-LIN-jee-ən;[1] known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD.[2] The dynasty consolidated its power in the 8th century, eventually making the offices of mayor of the palace and dux et princeps Francorum hereditary, and becoming the de facto rulers of the Franks as the real powers behind the Merovingian throne. In 751 the Merovingian dynasty which had ruled the Franks was overthrown with the consent of the Papacy and the aristocracy, and Pepin the Short, son of Martel, was crowned King of the Franks. The Carolingian dynasty reached its peak in 800 with the crowning of Charlemagne as the first Emperor of the Romans in the West in over three centuries. Nearly every monarch of France from Charlemagne's son Louis the Pious till the penultimate monarch of France Louis Philippe have been his descendants. His death in 814 began an extended period of fragmentation of the Carolingian Empire and decline that would eventually lead to the evolution of the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire.

Name

The Carolingian dynasty takes its name from Carolus, the Latinised name of multiple Frankish kings including Charlemagne and Charles Martel.[3] The name originates from a common Germanic word, rendered in Old High German as Karl or Kerl,[4] meaning 'man', 'husband', or 'freeman'.[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_dynasty

Carolina's Mexican Food is dedicated to making your dining experience enjoyable. Please take a moment to let us know how we are doing. It is only through your comments that we are able to continually improve.

https://www.carolinasfastfood.com/contact-us.html

Charles V[c][d] (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy from 1506 to 1555. He was heir to and then head of the rising House of Habsburg. His dominions in Europe included the Holy Roman Empire, extending from Germany to northern Italy with rule over the Austrian hereditary lands and Burgundian Low Countries, and Spain with its possessions of the southern Italian kingdoms of Naples, Sicily and Sardinia. In the Americas, he oversaw the continuation of Spanish colonization and a short-lived German colonization. The personal union of the European and American territories he ruled was the first collection of realms labelled "the empire on which the sun never sets".[9]

Charles was born in Flanders to Habsburg Archduke Philip the Handsome, son of Emperor Maximilian I and Mary of Burgundy, and Joanna of Castile, younger child of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain. Heir of his grandparents, Charles inherited his family dominions at a young age. After his father's death in 1506, he inherited the Low Countries.[10] In 1516 he became King of Spain as co-monarch of Castile and Aragon with his mother. Spain's possessions included the Castilian colonies of the West Indies and the Spanish Main, as well as Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia. At the death of his grandfather Maximilian in 1519, he inherited the Austrian hereditary lands and was elected as Holy Roman Emperor. He adopted the Imperial name of Charles V as his main title, and styled himself as a new Charlemagne.[11]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_V,_Holy_Roman_Emperor

King Charles III Shares He Lost His Sense of Taste During Cancer Treatment

By Kaitlin Simpson May 13, 2024

King Charles III opened up about a cancer treatment side effect while chatting with veterans on Monday, May 13.

Charles, 75, made a royal visit to the Army Flying Museum in Middle Wallop, Hampshire, and had a conversation with army veteran Aaron Mapplebeck who underwent chemotherapy for testicular cancer last year, per the Daily Mail.

According to the outlet, the veteran told Charles he lost his sense of taste after receiving the treatment. Charles revealed that he experienced the same thing, but didn’t elaborate any further.

News broke in February that Charles was diagnosed with an unspecified type of cancer that was discovered following a planned prostate procedure. After a brief break from royal duties, Charles returned to his scheduled appearances last month.

In addition to his visit to the museum on Monday, Charles also appeared at the Army Aviation Centre in Stockbridge, Hampshire, England with his son Prince William. During the joint outing, Charles officially passed the Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps role to William, 41.

Charles gave his son the air corps’ belt and light blue beret for his new title before the pair posed in front of a military helicopter and with veterans.

Late last month, Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, visited a cancer treatment center and met with patients. The appearance was Charles’ first official royal outing following his diagnosis.

“His Majesty The King will shortly return to public-facing duties after a period of treatment and recuperation following his recent cancer diagnosis,” read an April statement from Buckingham Palace. “To help mark this milestone, The King and Queen will make a joint visit to a cancer treatment center next Tuesday, where they will meet medical specialists and patients.”

During his conversation with the patrons, Charles gave an update on how he was faring with his treatment process.

“Not too bad,” Charles responded to a person who asked how he was doing, adding he was also going to undergo “treatment this afternoon as well.”

Before Charles returned to his duties, William had been making appearances on his father’s behalf. However, William took a brief break from his duties as well as his wife, Princess Kate Middleton, was also diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer.

“After William’s dad and Kate’s diagnoses, he shut down for a couple of days,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly of William in April. “He canceled all meetings and spent time with Kate. Then he picked himself back up again because he knew it was up to him to be strong for the whole family.”

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/king-charles-has-lost-his-sense-of-taste-amid-cancer-treatment/

[251] 5. 1While eating they should be careful to observe temperance, decorum, and propriety both interior and exterior in everything. 2A blessing should precede the meal, and it should be followed by a thanksgiving which all should recite with proper devotion and reverence. 3While the meal is being eaten, food should be given also to the soul, through the reading of a book[4] which is devotional rather than difficult so that all can understand it and draw profit from it, or through having someone preach during that time according to what the superiors may order, or through doing something similar for the glory of God our Lord [E].

The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus and Their Complementary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

The Province of Carolina was a province of the Kingdom of England (1663–1707) and later the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America and the Caribbean from 1663 until the Carolinas were partitioned into North and South on January 24, 1712.

The North American Carolina province consisted of all or parts of present-day Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.[2]

Etymology

"Carolina" is taken from the Latin word for "Charles" (Carolus), honoring King Charles I.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Carolina

Louisiana was named after Louis XIV, King of France from 1643 to 1715. When René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the territory drained by the Mississippi River for France, he named it La Louisiane.[26] The suffix –ana (or –ane) is a Latin suffix that can refer to "information relating to a particular individual, subject, or place." Thus, roughly, Louis + ana carries the idea of "related to Louis." Once part of the French colonial empire, the Louisiana Territory stretched from present-day Mobile Bay to just north of the present-day Canada–United States border, including a small part of what are now the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana

CHAPTER THE TWENTY-SECOND. OMINOUS CHARACTER OF THE COLOUR “WHITE” TO ENGLISH ROYALTY.

WE beg to premise that the following fears are not our belief, but that they are educed from old traditions—old as England. It is a very ancient idea, derived from the highest antiquity, that the colour “white”—which, considered in the mystic and occult sense, is feminine in its origin—is fateful in its effects sometimes; and that, as a particular instance of its unfortunate character, it is an unlucky colour for the royal house of England—at all events, for the king or queen of England personally— singular as the notion would appear to be. We are not aware whether this sinister effct of the ominous colour white is supposed to extend to the nation generally. It is limited, we believe, to the prince or sovereign of England, and to his immediate belongings. The name John, which comes from Iona, a remote feminine root, has also been reckoned unfortunate from the king’s name both in England and in France. The reason of this does not appear to be anywhere stated. The origin of the prophecy, also, as to the formidable character of the colour white to England is unknown; but it is imaginged to be at least as old as the time of Merlin. Thomas de Quincey, who takes notice of the prophecy of the “White King,” says of King Charles the First, that the foreboding of the misfortunes of this “White King” were supposed to have been fulfilled in his instance, because he was by accident clothed in white at his coronation; it being remembered afterwards that white was the ancient colour for a victim. This, in itself, was sufficiently formidable an omen. De Quincey’s particular expressions are, “That when King Charles the First came to be crowned, it was found that, by some oversight, all the store in London was insufficient to furnish the purple velvet necessary for the robes of the king and for the furniture of the throne. It was too late to send to Genoa for a supply; and through this accidental deficiency it happened that the king was attired in white velvet at the solemnity of his coronation, and not in red or purple robes, as consisted with the proper usage.” As an earlier instance of this singular superstition, the story of that ill-fated royal White Ship occurs to memory, as the vessel was called wherein Prince William, the son of King Henry the First, the heir-apparent, with his natural sister, the Countess of Perche, and a large company of the young nobility, embarked on their return to England from Normandy. It might be supposed that the misfortunes of King Charles the First, which were accepted, at that time of monarchical dismay, as the reading (and the exhaustion) of this evil-boding prophecy, were enough; but there are some reasons for imagining that the effects are not—even in our day—altogether expended. The fatalities of the colour “white” to English royalty certainly found their consummation, or seemed so to do, in the execution of King Charles the First, who was brought out to suffer before his own palace of “Whitehall”—where, again, we find “white” introduced in connection with royalty and tragical events. Whitehall is the Royal “White” Palace of England. The “White Rose” was the unfortunate rose (and the conquered one) of the contending two Roses in this country. This is again a singular fact, little as it has been remarked. We will pursue this strange inquiry just a little further, and see if the lights of Rosicrucianism will not afford us a measure of help; for it is one of the doctrines of the Rosicrucians that the signatures, as they call them, of objects have a magical marking-up and a preternatural effect, through hidden spiritual reasons, of which we have no idea in this mortal state,—in other words, that magic and charming, through talismans, is possible; common sense being not all sense. The colour white is esteemed both of good and of bad augury, according to the circumstances and the periods of its presentation. However (to speak a few strange words), in relation to the use of the name “Albert Edward,” in a possible future time, which every loyal subject will hope to be remote enough, we would advise (supposing so humble a voice as ours should reach, or could attain, to the quarters where such a change might be effected) a variation of our future king’s name, and an avoidance of this supposedly unfortunate prefix “Albert” in favour of “Edward” only. This name of Edward is an historical, triumphant, and auspicious name; for all our Edwards, except the weak King Edward the Second, have been powerful or noteworthy men. Now, very few people have had occasion to remark, or have recalled the fact as significant and ominous in the way we mean, that the word “Albert” itself means “White.” The root of “Albert” is, in most languages, to be found in “white:” albus, white; alp, white; Albania, the “white” country. We here recall the “snowy camese,” to which Byron makes reference as worn in Albania. “Albion” (of the “white” cliffs), Alb, Al, El, Æl, all mean “white.” Examples might be multiplied. Alfoj, alsi, albus, “white,” are derived from the Celtic alp; and from thence came the word “Alps,” which are mountains always white, as being covered with snow. “Albus,” white, certainly comes from the Celtic alp, or alb,” says the historian Pezron; “for in that language, as well as in many others, the b and the p frequently interchange; from whence the ancient Latins, and the Sabines themselves, said Alpus for white. I consider it therefore as certain,” continues Pezron, “that from Alpus the word Alps came, because the mountains are always white, as being covered with snow; the words ‘Alp’ or ‘Alb,’ and their compounds, meaning white everywhere. I conclude, also, that from the Pen of the Celtæ, Umbrians, and Sabines, which signifies a ‘head,’ ‘top,’ or ‘high place,’ they made Penninus Mons, the Apennines, vast mountains in Italy. Thus these celebrated words proceed certainly from the Gaulish tongue, and are older by several ages than the city of Rome.” The following are all Teutonic or German words: alb, alf (Qy. Alfred?), and alp,—which all signify “white,” as their original root. Thus much for white. White is also a colour not auspicious to the Prussian royal family, although, again, in a contradictory way, the ensigns of Prussia (Borussia, or “of the Borussi”) are, as armorists well know, the original “white and black” of the Egyptians, which were adopted by the Teutons and the Templars. These white and black tinctures are heraldically argent and sable: Luna, or pearl, for “tears;” Saturn, or diamond, for “sadness, penance, and ashes.” In these strange senses, the Rosicrucians accepted colours as in themselves talismanic, powerfully operative through their planetary “efficients,” or “signatures,” as the astrologers call them. These ideas, more or less pronounced, have prevailed in all ages and in all countries, and they lurk largely in suspicion through our own land. We are all aware, in England, of the objection to the colour “green” in certain cases. It is the spirit-colour, a magic colour, the colour of the “fairies,” as the cabalistic, tutelary, miniature spirits are called, who are supposed to be very jealous of its use. In Ireland, green is universally regarded with distrust; but with veneration, in the spiritual sense. It is the national colour; for the Patroness of Ireland is the female deity, the Mother of Nature, known in the classic mythology as Venus,—equally Venus the graceful and Venus the terrible, as the Goddess of Life and of Death. The various verts, or greens, are the “colour-rulers” in the emblazonry of the Emerald Isle. The presiding deity of the Land of Ierna, or of Ireland, is the mythic “Woman” born out of the fecundity of nature, or out of the “Great Deep.” This is the genius (with certain sinister, terrible aspects, marked out grandly in the oldforms) who is “impaled” or “crucified”—in its real, hidden meaning-upon the stock, or “Tree of Life,” indicated by the Irish Harp. Her hair, in the moment of agony, streams Daphne-like, as “when about to be transformed into the tree,” behind her in the wind, and twines, in the mortal, mythical stress, into the seven strings of the magic Irish Harp, whose music is the music of the spheres, or of the Rosicrucian, assumed penitential, visible world. These seven strings stand for the seven vowels, by means of which came speech to man, when the “new being,” man (this is cabalistic again, and therefore difficult of comprehension), “opened his mouth and spake.” The seven strings of the Irish Harp, it will be remembered, are blazoned “Luna,” or the “Moon”—the feminine moon—according to the practice of the old heralds, in regard to all royal or ruling achievements, which are blazoned by the names of the planets. The seven strings of the Irish harp mean also the seven pure tones in music; these, again, stand for the seven prismatic colours; which, again, describe the seven vowels; and these, again, represent their seven rulers, or the seven planets, which have their seven spirits, or “Celestial Flames,” which are the seven Angels or Spirits of God, who keep the way round about “the Throne of the Ancient of Days.” There is in most countries an objection to Friday, although it is the Mohammedan sacred day or Sabbath. Friday is the day of the “Green.” Emeralds, or smaragds, are proper to be worn on Friday, and bring good fortune, as exercising occult influences on this particular day.* This is the day on which all green gems, and the colour green, should be universally used. Friday is the “woman's day” of the sevenfold weekly period; and therefore, as some illnatured people might say, it is the unlucky day. Certain it is, however, that although it presents the exact contradiction of being especially the woman's day, few or no marriages would be celebrated on this day, as popularly bearing the mark of ill-luck, which supposition few would like openly to defy, or, according to the familiar expression, “fly in the face of.” May is also forbidden for marriages, although it is the “woman's month,” or month in which “May-day” occurs, and in which “May-poles” used to be set up everywhere. (See figures of May-poles later in our book.) But to return to the ill-omened colour to England, white, and to the important (in this sense, formidable) shape in which we find it to appear in the name borne by our Prince of Wales—“Albert Edward;” inheriting his name “Albert” from perhaps the most lovable prince whom this country has ever known as casting in his destinies, by marriage, with it, but whose end—in the prime of life, and in the fulness of his influence—was surely unfortunate enough, when the eyes of hope of all Europe, in various respects, were fixed upon him! Let us, then, suggest that the name “Albert” be passed over in the person of the Heir to the Throne as a name laid aside; and let us hope that by and by (in distant days we trust) he will be known as king by the name—the propitious name—of Edward only, “Edward the Seventh,”—a period whose oncome, because of the royal disappearance which it will imply, we most earnestly and religiously deprecate. But the time must come; and we may be forgiven the thought sometimes obtruding. For it is of England and of her destinies we speak,—fanciful and strange as our unexpected allusions, and remote, legendary speculations, may appear; far off the beaten tracks of this hard, common-sense, mechanical, every-day world, in which the lot of thinkers, if of unusual bent, really seems most injuriously cast, and even cruelly cast. But men are men, and thoughts are thoughts: whether the thoughts of the “Conquest,” or of those of the reign of Victoria, all are alike in their reality at the time that they arise in the mind. The “White Lady of Berlin,” and her mysterious appearances from time to time, are well known to the writers of modern romantic biographical story. Whom she is supposed to represent seems to be unknown to all. Those who have recorded her fitful revelations of herself venture no surmise; but she is considered in some way the evil genius of the Hohenzollern family, much in the same manner as the unaccounted-for figure might have been regarded who revealed himself to Brutus on the Plains of Philippi, and who announced the crowning misfortunes of the next day. The Irish have a name for this supernatural appearance in the “banshee,” or the speaker, or exponent, of fate. The “White Lady of Berlin” is supposed to be seen by some person in the palace before any pre-eminent disaster supervenes, occurring to a member of the royal house. The glimpses of this White Lady are only momentary and delusive,—so vague, indeed, as to be readily contradicted or explained away (perhaps willingly) even by the supposed seers themselves. It is also a fact not a little curious, when we come to consider it by the side-glance, as it were, that the colour white (the English unfortunate colour), besides being that of the “White Rose” and of “Whitehall,” is that white of the unlucky Stuarts, whose history through centuries, both in Scotland and in England, was but one long catalogue of mishaps, woes, and disasters. Prince Charles Edward and his famous “white cockade,” and the evil fortunes of all his followers and of the Jacobite cause in general in 1715 and 1745, emblemed in the virgin, holy colour white, supply a touching—nay, tragical—page in public and in private history. Lastly, we may adduce as a supposed exemplification of the terrible general effects.of this evil-boding name albus, and colour white, in France, the history of all the Bourbons, whose colour is white in particular, from the first of that name who displayed his snowy banner, and who fell by the dagger of an assassin, to the last Bourbon in modern history, whose fate we will not attempt to forecast, nor in any manner to seem to bespeak. Merlin, whose prophecy of the dangers, at some time, of “white” to the kingdom of England was supposed to refer to the invasion of this country by the pale Saxons, whose device or token was the “white horse,” until further associations of white and misfortune in England came to dispel the idea, may even still have his original prophetic forecast unfulfilled. The colour white, or some strange, at present unimagined, associations of “white,” may yet lie, like a dream, perdu in the future (of the chances of which no man can speak), to justify Merlin at once, and to astonish and bewilder, by the long-delayed evolvement of the centuries in which at last the realisation and the misfortune become simultaneously apparent: for which, and for the possibilities of which, we will terminate in the adjuration of the sublime Romans, those masters in the art of augury and of divination, “Absit omen!” But thus much we have chosen to explain about the colour white, in justification of the ideas of the Rosicrucians as to the supernatural power of colours; and as to the magical qualities of those occult influences which they determined, in their philosophical vocabularies, strangely and mysteriously to call the “signatures of things."" The Rosicrucians Their Rites and Mysteries by Hargrave Jennings

https://ia800904.us.archive.org/31/items/rosicruciansthei00jenn/rosicruciansthei00jenn.pdf

The Crowns of America

So often one hears politicians quoting the British Constitution as if it actually exists by way of adocumentary privilege — but it does not. It is simply an accumulation of old customs and precedents concerning parliamentary sanctions, together with a number of specific laws defining certain aspects. Since Scotland's 1320 Declaration of Arbroath was nullified by England's Treaty of Union in 1707, the oldest Written Constitution now in force is that of the United States of America. It was adopted in 1787, ratified in 1788, and effected in 1789. In that same year began the French Revolution, which abolished feudalism and ‘absolute’ monarchy in France, thereby influencing politics in much of Europe. In close to 200 years since the Revolution, France and other European States (with Britain as a noticeable exception) have adopted Written Constitutions to protect the rights and liberties of individuals — but who champions these Constitutions on behalf of the people? A popular alternative to absolute monarchy or dictatorship has been found in Republicanism. The Republic of the United States was created primarily to free the emergent nation from the despotism of Britain’s House of Hanover. Yet its citizens tend still to be fascinated by the concept of monarchy. No matter how Republican the spirit, the need for a central symbol remains. Neither a flag nor a president can fulfil this unifying role, for by virtue of the ‘party system’ presidents are always politically motivated. Republicanism was devised on the principle of fraternal status, yet an ideally classless society can never exist in an environment that promotes displays of eminence and superiority by degrees of wealth and possession. For the most part, those responsible for the United States’ morally inspired Constitution were Rosicrucians and Freemasons, notable characters such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Charles Thompson. The last, who designed the Great Seal of the United States of America, was a member of Franklin’s American Philosophical Society — a counterpart of Britain’s Invisible College. The imagery of the Seal is directly related to alchemical tradition, inherited from the allegory of the ancient Egyptian Therapeutate. The eagle, the olive branch, the arrows, and the pentagrams are all occult symbols of opposites: good and evil, male and female, war and peace, darkness and light. On the reverse (as repeated on the dollar bill) is the truncated pyramid, indicating the loss of the Old Wisdom, severed and forced underground by the Church establishment. But above this are the rays of ever-hopeful light, incorporating the ‘all-seeing eye’, used as a symbol during the French Revolution.

In establishing their Republic, the Americans could still not escape the ideal of a parallel monarchy — a central focus of non-political, patriotic attachment. George Washington was actually offered kingship, but declined because he had no immediately qualifying heritage. Instead he turned to the Royal House of Stuart. In November 1782 four Americans arrived at the San Clemente Palazzo in Florence, the residence of Charles III Stuart in exile. They were Mr Galloway of Maryland, two brothers named Sylvester from Pennsylvania, and Mr Fish, a lawyer from New York. They were taken to Charles Edward by his secretary, John Stewart. Also present was the Hon Charles Hervey-Townshend (later Britain’s ambassador to The Hague) and the Prince's future wife, Marguerite, Comtesse de Massillan. The interview — which revolved around the contemporary transatlantic dilemma — is doctimented in the US Senate archives and in the Manorwater Papers. Writers such as Sir Compton Mackenzie and Sir Charles Petrie have also described the occasion when Charles Edward Stuart was invited to become ‘King of the Americans’. Some years earlier, Charles had been similarly approached by the men of Boston, but once the War of Independence was over George Washington sent his own envoys. It would have been a great irony for the House of Hanover to lose the North American colonies to the Stuarts. But Charles declined the offer for a number of reasons, not the least of which was his lack of a legitimate male heir at the time. He knew that without a due successor the United States could easily fall to Hanover again at his death, thereby defeating the whole Independence effort. Since those days, many other radical events have taken place: the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, two major World Wars, and a host of changes as countries have swapped one style of government for another. Meanwhile, civil and international disputes continue just as they did in the Middle Ages. They are motivated by trade, politics, religion, and whatever other banners are flown to justify the constant struggle for territorial and economic control. The Holy Roman Empire has disappeared, the German Reichs have failed, and the British Empire has collapsed. The Russian Empire fell to Communism, which has itself been disgraced and crumbled to ruin, while Capitalism teeters on the very brink of acceptability. With the Cold War now ended, America faces a new threat to her superpower status from the Pacific countries. In the meantime, the nations of Europe band together in what was once a seemingly well conceived economic community, but which is already suffering from the same pressures of individual custom and national sovereignty that beset the Holy Roman Empire. Whether nations are governed by military-style regimes or elected parliaments, by autocrats or democrats, and whether formally described as monarchist, socialist or republican, the net product is always the same: the few control the fate of the many. In situations of dictatorship this is a natural experience — but it should not be the case in a democratic institution based on the principle of majority vote. True democracy is government by the people for the people, in either direct or representative form, ignoring class distinctions and tolerating minority views. The American Constitution sets out an ideal for this form of democracy ... but, in line with other nations, there is always a large sector of the community that is not represented by the party in power. Because presidents and prime ministers are politically tied, and because political parties take their respective turns at individual helms, the inevitable result is a lack of continuity for the nations concerned. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but there is no reliable ongoing institution to champion the civil rights and liberties of people in such conditions of ever-changing leadership. Britain does, at least, retain a monarchy, but it is a politically constrained monarchy, and as such is ineffectual in performing its role as guardian of the nation. The United States, unlike Britain, has a Written Constitution — but has no one with the power to uphold its principles against successive governments who determinedly pursue their own politically vested interests. Is there an answer to the anomaly — an answer that could bring not just a ray of hope but a shining light for the future? There certainly is, but its energy relies on those in governmental service appreciating their roles as ‘representatives’ of society rather than presuming to stand at the head of society. Alongside the political administration, an appointed Constitutional champion would be empowered to keep check on any potential disparities and infringements of the Constitution that might occur. This can be achieved in the manner first envisaged by George Washington and the American Fathers. Their original plan was for a democratic Parliament combined with a working Constitutional Monarchy bound not to Parliament or the Church but to the people and their Written Constitution. In such an environment, sovereignty would ultimately rest with the people, while the monarch (as an operative Guardian of the Realm) would pledge an ‘Oath of Fealty to the Nation’ — not the reverse, as in Britain’s case, whereby the nation pays homage to the sovereignty of Parliament and the monarchy. The unfulfilled ambition of the American Fathers was that government ministers should be elected by the majority vote of the people, but that their actions be directed within the boundaries of the Constitution. Because that Constitution belongs to the people, its champion — as George Washington perceived — should be a monarch whose obligation is not to politics or religion but to the sovereign nation. Through the natural system of heredity (being born and bred to the task), such a Constitutional guardian would provide an ‘ongoing continuity’ of public representation through successive governments. In this regard both monarchs and ministers would be servants of the Constitution on behalf of the Community of the Realm. Such a concept of moral government lies at the very heart of the Grail Code, and it remains within the bounds of possibility for every civilized Nation State. A leading British politician recently claimed that it was not his job to be popular! Not so—a popular minister is a trusted minister, and holding a deserved electoral trust facilitates the democratic process. No minister can honestly expound an ideal of equality in society when that minister is deemed to possess some form of prior lordship over society. Class structure is always decided from above, never from below. It is therefore for those on self-made pedestals to be seen to kick them aside in the interests of harmony and unity. Jesus was not in the least humbled when he washed his Apostles’ feet; he was raised to the realm of a true Grail King — the realm of equality and princely service. This is the eternal ‘Precept of the Sangréal’, and it is expressed in Grail lore with the utmost clarity: only by asking ‘Whom does the Grail serve?’ will the wound of the Fisher King be healed, and the Wasteland returned to fertility.

pages 438-443 "The Sangreal Today"

Bloodline of the Holy Grail by Laurence Gardner

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zsH4O_ls0IgWEYXLXWCo7I3IUi32FJhq/view?usp=sharing

The surname Dunn comes from the Gaelic word donn, which means "brown" The Gaelic form O'Duinn (the descendant of donn) is most commonly anglicized as Dunn, but is also written as Dunne. The Dunn family is of the same Celtic stock as the O'Connors and O'Dempseys-clans who trace their descendants from Rossa Failgeach, eldest son of Cathaoir Mor, king of Ireland in the second century. The Dunn sept stems from Riagan, tenth in lineal descent from Failgeach, the district ruled over by Riagan, located in County Leix, which became the ancestral home of the Dunns. In later times, their chieftains were known as Lords of Iregan. Irish bards praise the martial prowess and commanding stature of the Dunn warriors. They were undoubtedly conspicuous in history for their doughty resistance to the encroachment of Anglo-Norman invaders who held lands in the pale boarding their territory. The Dunns were in the forefront of every battle for Irish nationalism. They suffered heavily in the bitter and prolonged struggle against Cromwell. In the next generation, they espoused the Stuart cause, and the head of the family was killed in the Battle of Aughrim. With the fall of the Stuarts, the lands of the Dunns were confiscated, and their fighting men who survived followed Sarsfield and the "wild geese" to fight in the ranks of the Irish Brigade in France. Many of them served with distinction in the regiments of O'Donnell, Lord Clare, and Walsh up to the days of the French Revolution. The name Dunn is twenty-seventh in the list of commonest surnames in Ireland. It is widespread in the United States also. Representatives of the family have achieved prominence in the literary, political, and religious life of our country.

https://www.amazon.com/This-Me-Edward-Dunn-Jr/dp/1493179608

Jacob Rothschild, Banker Who Broke From His Fabled Family, Dies at 87

The fourth Baron Rothschild, he left the family banking dynasty to start his own company, becoming a powerful financier, patron of the arts and philanthropist.

Mr. Rothschild retired as head of RIT Capital Partners in 2019. That year, his personal wealth was estimated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index to be more than $1 billion.

Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild was born in Berkshire, England, on April 29, 1936, to Victor Rothschild, the third Baron Rothschild, and his first wife, Barbara Judith (Hutchinson) Rothschild.

Mr. Rothschild studied history at Oxford before joining the family bank. After he resigned to head RIT, he became involved in a series of ventures, including an unsuccessful bid in 1989 with other investors to take over British American Tobacco for $21 billion.

He maintained a wide network of international connections, acting as deputy chairman of Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB Television, and as an adviser to then-Prince Charles. He was a member of the International Advisory Board of the Blackstone Group, a leading private equity group, and co-founded the J. Rothschild Assurance Group in 1991, a wealth management company now known as St. James’s Place.

Not all his maneuvers were free of controversy. In 2003, British media reports said he had struck a trusteeship deal with Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, a Russian oil tycoon and Putin foe, to transfer Mr. Khodorkovsky’s stake in the Yukos oil company to Mr. Rothschild in the event of his arrest. Mr. Khodorkovsky was arrested in October 2003 and later exiled. Mr. Rothschild did not confirm the reports.

Alongside his career as a high-powered financier, Mr. Rothschild played an energetic if sometimes secretive role in Israel, overseeing his family’s long-running philanthropic activities there as head of the Yad Hanadiv foundation.

Over the decades, the Rothschilds quietly sponsored major projects, including the construction of Israel’s Parliament, Supreme Court and National Library, none of which bear the family’s name. “We’ve tried not to be in the headlines,” Mr. Rothschild told The Jerusalem Report in 2012, adding, “Our tradition has been that we don’t shout from the rooftops what we are doing.”

He took over Yad Hanadiv after the death in 1988 of Dorothy de Rothschild, the foundation’s chairwoman and an aunt of his. She bequeathed him estates in Buckinghamshire, England.

Image

An aerial view of sprawling stone manor house built in the ornate style of a French chateau. A highly manicured garden the length of the house can be seen in the background.

Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild built Waddesdon Manor in the 1880s. It is now overseen by Britain’s National Trust, but Mr. Rothschild struck a deal in which the building would house the family’s enormous collection of art.Credit...David Goddard/Getty Images

The ownership of one of the properties, Waddesdon Manor, built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in the 1880s in the style of a French chateau, had already been transferred to the nonprofit National Trust in 1957. But Mr. Rothschild struck an unusual deal with the trust to administer the manor as a home for the Rothschilds’ collection of an estimated 15,000 works of art and objects, and for his personal collection of Rothschild wines, mainly from the Bordeaux region of France.

Mr. Rothschild was a principal benefactor of the manor’s restoration and played a part in other ambitious projects, including the regeneration of Somerset House, an 18th-century building overlooking the River Thames in London. Among many arts-related positions in Britain and elsewhere, he chaired the trustees of London’s National Gallery from 1985 to 1991.

Mr. Rothschild married Serena Dunn, a racehorse owner, in 1961; she died in 2019. He had four children, Hannah, Beth, Emily and Nathaniel, and a number of grandchildren. Complete information on his survivors was not immediately available.

For all his standing among the world’s wealthy elite, Mr. Rothschild was openly critical of some of his peers in the international financial system. In 2012, four years after the economic crisis of 2008, he told The Jerusalem Report that he had “a lot of sympathy with people who protested about some of the excesses in the world of finance.”

“After all, here are characters who have made great fortunes, who have been in charge of a system which has been very damaging to many interests in the last five to 10 years,” he said. “They have had enormous benefits, but the banking system as a whole has had a crippling effect in a number of areas throughout the world.”

Victor Mather contributed reporting.

After a long career as a foreign correspondent for The New York Times based in Africa, the Middle East and Europe, Alan Cowell became a freelance contributor in 2015, based in London.

More about Alan Cowell

See more on: Rothschild Family

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/business/jacob-rothschild-dead.html

The Union Générale.

Meanwhile the Nationalist and Reactionary parties in France desired to counterbalance the "Semitic" influence of the Rothschilds by establishing a banking concern which should be essentially Catholic. Accordingly in 1876 the Union Générale was founded with a capital of 4,000,000 francs, increased to 25,000, 000 fraces in 1878 under the direction of a certain Bontoux. After various vicissitudes, graphically described by Zola in his novel "L'Argent," the Union failed, and brought many of the Catholic nobility of France to ruin, leaving the Rothschilds still more absolutely the undisputed leaders of French finance, but leaving also a legacy of hatred which had much influence on the growth of the anti-Semitic movement in France. Something analogous occurred in England when the century-long competition of the Barings and the Rothschilds culminated in the failure of the former in 1893; but in this case the Rothschilds came to the rescue of their rivals and prevented a universal financial catastrophe. It is a somewhat curious sequel to the attempt to set up a Catholic competitor to the Roths-childs that at the present time the latter are the guardians of the papal treasure.

Of recent years the Rothschilds have consistently refused to have anything to do with loans to Russia, owing to the anti-Jewish legislation of that empire, though on one occasion the members of the Paris house joined in a loan to demonstrate their patriotism as Frenchmen."

ROTHSCHILD - JewishEncyclopedia.com

https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12909

When were the Jesuits restored?

August 7, 1814

Pressured by the royal courts of Portugal, France and Spain, Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society, causing Jesuits throughout the world to renounce their vows and go into exile. Pope Pius VII, a Benedictine, restored the Society on August 7, 1814."

"The Capetian dynasty (/kəˈpiːʃən/; French: Capétiens), also known as the House of France, is a dynasty of Frankish origin, and a branch of the Robertians. It is among the largest and oldest royal houses in Europe and the world, and consists of Hugh Capet, the founder of the dynasty, and his male-line descendants, who ruled in France without interruption from 987 to 1792, and again from 1814 to 1848. The senior line ruled in France as the House of Capet from the election of Hugh Capet in 987 until the death of Charles IV in 1328. That line was succeeded by cadet branches, the Houses of Valois and then Bourbon, which ruled without interruption until the French Revolution abolished the monarchy in 1792. The Bourbons were restored in 1814 in the aftermath of Napoleon's defeat, but had to vacate the throne again in 1830 in favor of the last Capetian monarch of France, Louis Philippe I, who belonged to the House of Orléans. Cadet branches of the Capetian House of Bourbon house are still ruling over Spain and Luxembourg."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capetian_dynasty

Pope Alexander VI[Note 2] (born Rodrigo de Borja;[Note 3] 1 January 1431 – 18 August 1503) (epithet: Valentinus ("The Valencian"))[6] was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into the prominent Borgia family in Xàtiva in the Kingdom of Valencia under the Crown of Aragon (now Spain), Rodrigo studied law at the University of Bologna. He was ordained deacon and made a cardinal in 1456 after the election of his uncle as Pope Callixtus III, and a year later he became vice-chancellor of the Catholic Church. He proceeded to serve in the Curia under the next four popes, acquiring significant influence and wealth in the process. In 1492, Rodrigo was elected pope, taking the name Alexander VI.

Alexander's papal bulls of 1493 confirmed or reconfirmed the rights of the Spanish crown in the New World following the finds of Christopher Columbus in 1492. During the second Italian war, Alexander VI supported his son Cesare Borgia as a condottiero for the French king. The scope of his foreign policy was to gain the most advantageous terms for his family.[7][8]

Alexander is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, partly because he acknowledged fathering several children by his mistresses. As a result, his Italianized Valencian surname, Borgia, became a byword for libertinism and nepotism, which are traditionally considered as characterizing his pontificate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Alexander_VI

Francis Borgia SJ (Valencian: Francesc de Borja; Spanish: Francisco de Borja; 28 October 1510 – 30 September 1572) was a Spanish Jesuit priest. The great-grandson of both Pope Alexander VI and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, he was Duke of Gandía and a grandee of Spain. After the death of his wife, Borgia renounced his titles and became a priest in the Society of Jesus, later serving as its third superior general. He was canonized on 20 June 1670 by Pope Clement X.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Borgia

Pope Paul V (Latin: Paulus V; Italian: Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a member of the papal Accademia dei Lincei and supported his discoveries.[2] In 1616, Pope Paul V instructed Cardinal Robert Bellarmine to inform Galileo that the Copernican theory could not be taught as fact, but Bellarmine's certificate allowed Galileo to continue his studies in search for evidence and use the geocentric model as a theoretical device. That same year Paul V assured Galileo that he was safe from persecution so long as he, the Pope, should live. Bellarmine's certificate was used by Galileo for his defense at the trial of 1633.[3]

Trained in jurisprudence, Borghese was made Cardinal-Priest of Sant'Eusebio and the Cardinal Vicar of Rome by Pope Clement VIII. He was elected as Pope in 1605, following the death of Pope Leo XI. Pope Paul V was known for being stern and unyielding, defending the privileges of the Church. He met with Galileo Galilei in 1616 and was involved in the controversy over heliocentrism. He canonized and beatified several individuals during his papacy and created 60 cardinals in ten consistories.

His insistence on ecclesiastical jurisdiction led to conflicts with secular governments, notably with Venice, which resulted in an interdict on the city in 1606. This disagreement was eventually mediated by France and Spain in 1607. Pope Paul V's diplomacy also strained relations with England, as his actions were perceived as undermining moderate Catholics in the country.

In Rome, he financed the completion of St. Peter's Basilica, improved the Vatican Library, and restored the ancient Roman aqueduct Aqua Traiana. Pope Paul V established the Banco di Santo Spirito in 1605 and is also known for fostering the rise of the Borghese family through nepotism. He died on 28 January 1621, after suffering from a series of strokes and was succeeded by Pope Gregory XV.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Paul_V

Borg

From Old Norse borg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold, city”), cognate with German Burg (“castle”) and English borough. The Germanic noun is derived from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“to rise”), which is also the source of Danish bjerg (“mountain”).

Noun

borg c (singular definite borgen, plural indefinite borge)

castle, stronghold

From Old Norse borg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold, city”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“fort”). Related to berg (“mountain”), bjørg (“mountain side”).

Noun

borg f (genitive singular borgar, plural borgir)

castle, stronghold

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/borg

Nothingburger, sometimes spelled as nothing-burger or nothing burger, is a term used to describe a situation that receives a lot of attention, but which, upon closer examination, reveals to be of little to no real significance.

The phrase refers to the notion that a regular hamburger should have different flavorful ingredients, but if the meat were to be removed, all that would be left would be a "nothingburger", thus many ingredients might be on the outside, but upon further inspection on the inside, nothing remains.

The term "nothingburger" was first coined in the 1950s by Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons,[1][2][3] and has a history of use in American political circles, especially within the Washington, D.C. beltway. The term reached its peak usage, especially among United States political circles in the late 2010s.[4] In 2017, United States Senator Ted Cruz used the word in response to questions around then–United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying: "The underlying meeting is a nothingburger. It's what senators do every day, meeting with foreign ambassadors. That's part of the job."[3] Later in the same year, CNN commentator Van Jones described the allegations of collusion between Russia and Donald Trump as a "nothingburger" in a covertly recorded conversation.[5]

The Oxford English Dictionary was reported by the BBC to have added "nothingburger" as a valid word to its dictionary as recently as 2018. It defined the word thus: "Nothingburger is a way of describing someone or something seen to have little importance."[6] As of 2023, the Merriam-Webster dictionary, which focuses on American English usage, had not yet included nothingburger as a valid word to be defined in its dictionaries, but has a page dedicated to monitoring the word and is considering the word for inclusion potentially in the future.[7]

Spelling variations also exist, with no apparent consensus regarding spelling. All variants, including "Nothingburger", "Nothing burger", "no thing burger", or the hyphenated "Nothing-burger", have appeared in press and in social media usage by popular and political figures.[8]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothingburger

Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the Western Allies' name for the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War (1947–1991),[1] becoming a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of East and West.

East German leader Walter Ulbricht agitated and manoeuvred to get the Soviet Union's permission to construct the Berlin Wall in 1961 to prevent emigration and defection from East Berlin and the wider German Democratic Republic into West Berlin.

Soviet and American tanks briefly faced each other at the location during the Berlin Crisis of 1961. On 26 June 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy visited Checkpoint Charlie and looked from a platform onto the Berlin Wall and into East Berlin, the same day he gave his famous Ich bin ein Berliner speech.[2]

After the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc and the reunification of Germany, the American guard house at Checkpoint Charlie became a tourist attraction. It is now located in the Allied Museum in the Dahlem neighborhood of Berlin.

Background

Sign at Checkpoint Charlie on the way into West Berlin, as it appeared in 1981

Emigration restrictions, the Inner German border and Berlin

Further information: Eastern Bloc emigration and defection and Inner German border

Between 1949 and 1961, over 2½ million East Germans fled to the West.[3] The numbers increased during the three years before the Berlin Wall was erected,[3] with 144,000 in 1959, 199,000 in 1960 and 207,000 in the first seven months of 1961 alone.[3][4] The 3.5 million East Germans who had left by 1961 totaled approximately 20% of the entire East German population.[5]

The emigrants tended to be young and well educated,[6] including many professionals — engineers, technicians, physicians, teachers, lawyers and skilled workers.[5]The brain drain became damaging to the political credibility and economic viability of East Germany. [7]

By the early 1950s, the Soviet method of restricting emigration was emulated by most of the rest of the Eastern Bloc, including East Germany.[8] However, in occupied Germany, until 1952, the lines between East Germany and the western occupied zones remained easily crossed in most places.[9] Subsequently, the inner German border between the two German states was closed and a barbed-wire fence erected.

Even after closing of the inner German border officially in 1952,[10] the city sector border in between East Berlin and West Berlin remained considerably more accessible than the rest of the border because it was administered by all four occupying powers,[9] so Berlin became the main route by which East Germans left for the West.[11]

Berlin Wall constructed

Main articles: Eastern Bloc emigration and defection and Berlin Wall

On 13 August 1961, a barbed-wire barrier that would become the Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin was erected by the East Germans.[7] Two days later, police and army engineers began to construct a more permanent concrete wall.[12] Along with the wall, the 830-mile (1336 km) zonal border became 3.5 miles (5.6 km) wide on its East German side in some parts of Germany with a tall steel-mesh fence running along a "death strip" bordered by mines, as well as channels of ploughed earth, to slow escapees and more easily reveal their footprints.[13]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkpoint_Charlie

[529] C. 1The entire purport of this fourth vow of obedience to the pope was and is with regard to missions; 2and this is how the bulls should be understood where they speak of this obedience in all that the sovereign pontiff may command and wherever he may send one, and so on."

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complementary Norms

https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

Francis Cardinal Spellman Visiting American Troops Around the World During Peacetime and Wartime, 1960s #552

Spellman, in obedience to his Jesuit masters at Fordham, continued to “beat” his anti-communist “drum” knowing all the while that “the Cold War” was a hoax. Rome’s Papal Caesar ruled both sides while the Black Pope, in control of both the CIA and the KGB, continued to mass-murder “heretics” and true nationalists. The American Pope, John Cooney, (New York: Times Books, 1984).

Vatican Assassins:

“Wounded In The House Of My Friends”

Third Edition

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uQl1CmWeLL87RWVtzKttGFKm0frSNR8D/view?usp=sharing

AI Overview

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In the Roman numeral system, "VI" represents the number 6.

Here's a breakdown:

V: represents 5.

I: represents 1.

Since "I" follows "V", we add their values: 5 + 1 = 6.

Generative AI is experimental.

AI Overview

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In Latin, "et" is a conjunction that means "and". It's used to connect words, phrases, or clauses, similar to how "and" functions in English.

Here's a more detailed explanation:

Meaning:

"Et" translates to "and" in English.

Function:

It's a coordinating conjunction, meaning it connects words, phrases, or clauses of equal grammatical rank.

Examples:

"Carthago et Roma" means "Carthage and Rome".

"Veni, vidi, et vici" means "I came, I saw, and I conquered".

Other Latin phrases using "et":

"Et cetera" (etc.) means "and the rest" or "and so forth".

"Et alii" (et al.) means "and others".

"Et tu, Brute?" means "And you, Brutus?".

Generative AI is experimental.

Unam Sanctam

One God, One Faith, One Spiritual Authority

Pope Boniface VIII - 1302

Bull of Pope Boniface VIII promulgated November 18, 1302

Urged by faith, we are obliged to believe and to maintain that the Church is one, holy, catholic, and also apostolic. We believe in her firmly and we confess with simplicity that outside of her there is neither salvation nor the remission of sins, as the Spouse in the Canticles [Sgs 6:8] proclaims: ‘One is my dove, my perfect one. She is the only one, the chosen of her who bore her,‘ and she represents one sole mystical body whose Head is Christ and the head of Christ is God [1 Cor 11:3]. In her then is one Lord, one faith, one baptism [Eph 4:5]. There had been at the time of the deluge only one ark of Noah, prefiguring the one Church, which ark, having been finished to a single cubit, had only one pilot and guide, i.e., Noah, and we read that, outside of this ark, all that subsisted on the earth was destroyed.

We venerate this Church as one, the Lord having said by the mouth of the prophet: ‘Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword and my only one from the hand of the dog.’ [Ps 21:20] He has prayed for his soul, that is for himself, heart and body; and this body, that is to say, the Church, He has called one because of the unity of the Spouse, of the faith, of the sacraments, and of the charity of the Church. This is the tunic of the Lord, the seamless tunic, which was not rent but which was cast by lot [Jn 19:23- 24]. Therefore, of the one and only Church there is one body and one head, not two heads like a monster; that is, Christ and the Vicar of Christ, Peter and the successor of Peter, since the Lord speaking to Peter Himself said: ‘Feed my sheep‘ [Jn 21:17], meaning, my sheep in general, not these, nor those in particular, whence we understand that He entrusted all to him [Peter]. Therefore, if the Greeks or others should say that they are not confided to Peter and to his successors, they must confess not being the sheep of Christ, since Our Lord says in John ‘there is one sheepfold and one shepherd.’ We are informed by the texts of the gospels that in this Church and in its power are two swords; namely, the spiritual and the temporal. For when the Apostles say: ‘Behold, here are two swords‘ [Lk 22:38] that is to say, in the Church, since the Apostles were speaking, the Lord did not reply that there were too many, but sufficient. Certainly the one who denies that the temporal sword is in the power of Peter has not listened well to the word of the Lord commanding: ‘Put up thy sword into thy scabbard‘ [Mt 26:52]. Therefore, both are in the power of the Church, namely, the spiritual sword and the material. But indeed, the latter is to be exercised on behalf of the Church; and truly, the former is to be exercised by the Church. The former is of the priest; the latter is by the hand of kings and soldiers, but at the will and sufferance of the priest.

However, one sword ought to be subordinated to the other and temporal authority, subjected to spiritual power. For since the Apostle said: ‘There is no power except from God and the things that are, are ordained of God‘ [Rom 13:1-2], but they would not be ordained if one sword were not subordinated to the other and if the inferior one, as it were, were not led upwards by the other.

For, according to the Blessed Dionysius, it is a law of the divinity that the lowest things reach the highest place by intermediaries. Then, according to the order of the universe, all things are not led back to order equally and immediately, but the lowest by the intermediary, and the inferior by the superior. Hence we must recognize the more clearly that spiritual power surpasses in dignity and in nobility any temporal power whatever, as spiritual things surpass the temporal. This we see very clearly also by the payment, benediction, and consecration of the tithes, but the acceptance of power itself and by the government even of things. For with truth as our witness, it belongs to spiritual power to establish the terrestrial power and to pass judgement if it has not been good. Thus is accomplished the prophecy of Jeremias concerning the Church and the ecclesiastical power: ‘Behold to-day I have placed you over nations, and over kingdoms‘ and the rest. Therefore, if the terrestrial power err, it will be judged by the spiritual power; but if a minor spiritual power err, it will be judged by a superior spiritual power; but if the highest power of all err, it can be judged only by God, and not by man, according to the testimony of the Apostle: ‘The spiritual man judgeth of all things and he himself is judged by no man‘ [1 Cor 2:15]. This authority, however, (though it has been given to man and is exercised by man), is not human but rather divine, granted to Peter by a divine word and reaffirmed to him (Peter) and his successors by the One Whom Peter confessed, the Lord saying to Peter himself, ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound also in Heaven‘ etc., [Mt 16:19]. Therefore whoever resists this power thus ordained by God, resists the ordinance of God [Rom 13:2], unless he invent like Manicheus two beginnings, which is false and judged by us heretical, since according to the testimony of Moses, it is not in the beginnings but in the beginning that God created heaven and earth [Gen 1:1]. Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.

https://www.papalencyclicals.net/bon08/b8unam.htm

With regard to self-immolation, it should be pointed out that, unlike Jainism, Buddhism is generally against religious suicide350 and self-mutilation (Sheth, 2012: 73-74), but there are exceptions both in Theravada as well as in Mahāyāna. The Theravāda Jātaka tales relate several instances of religious suicide in some of the previous lives of Gautama Buddha. The Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra, the most important and well-known Mahāyāna Scriptural text and often referred to briefly as the Lotus Sutra, extols the case of the Bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyarāja, who previously, as the Bodhisattva Sarvasattvapriyadarśana, burnt his own body as an act of honor (pūjā) accorded to the Buddha Candrasūryavimalaprabhāsaśri and to the Lotus Sutra. It also mentions that youth who burn some part of their body at the relic chambers of the Buddhas gain immense merit (Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra, ch. 22, pp. 237, 240). Such examples are adduced in order to justify exceptional cases of heroic, altruistic and sublime self-sacrifice of one’s life. For Thich Nhat Hahn self-immolation is neither good nor bad. It transcends the question whether self-immolation is good strategy in peace activism. But we must make an effort to put ourselves in the shoes of the immolators and try to see things with their eyes. They intend to enkindle the awareness of people and awaken them (Nhat Hahn 1975: 62). We had begun our social justice trip in India. Even though we now move on to Tibet, yet, in consonance with the cyclic worldview of Buddhism, we actually return to India: the reason is that the Dalai Lama has established a Tibetan Government in Exile in India.

The Buddha & Jesus

An Anthology of Articles by Jesuits engaged in

Buddhist Studies and Inter-religious Dialogue

Edited by

Cyril Veliath, SJ

Faculty of Global Studies

Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan

https://web.archive.org/web/20220929093250/https://jcapsj.org/the-buddha-jesus/

On 11 June 1963, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc self-immolated outside the Cambodian embassy in the city of Saigon in Vietnam. Journalists were notified in advance to show up, but had not been told what would happen. The US journalist Malcolm Browne photographed the scene. His photograph became an enduring worldwide image of Buddhist protest.

Many in the US assume that the self-immolation was a protest against the war in Vietnam, paralleling anti-war protestors at home. This idea fits nicely into the popular association of Buddhism with peace. It is, however, wrong. Quang Duc’s self-immolation and the others that followed were a protest against the South Vietnamese Ngo Dinh Diem administration and its allies in the West. Vietnamese Buddhists felt persecuted by the Vietnamese administration’s pro-Catholic stance. Their self-immolations were acts to defend Buddhism.

Buddhists have always been involved in civil disobedience movements and peace-making agendas, such as the Sarvodaya movement in Sri Lanka. Further, Buddhist meditations have proven incredibly helpful in the rehabilitation of criminals. In short, Buddhism, to its practitioners, is not an ‘accoutrement’ to life or ‘just’ a philosophy – it is a full-bodied religion whose adherents are eager to protect. The myth of Buddhism as a wholly peaceful religion ignores Buddhists’ agency and diversity – and the fact that they will go to great lengths to defend their religion, whether by way of pistol-bearing monks or self-immolating protesters.

Recently, Buddhists in Myanmar and Sri Lanka have also called for violence. In 2013, Time magazine placed the Burmese Buddhist monk U Wirathu on their cover with the headline ‘The Face of Buddhist Terror’. U Wirathu has been a fiery critic of Burmese Muslims, particularly those who identify as Rohingya. The 2014 Myanmar census found that Buddhists make up 89 per cent of the population, compared with Muslims at 4.3 per cent. Nevertheless, U Wirathu and his counterparts argue that both Burmese Buddhism and Myanmar itself are threatened by the ‘Islamification of Asia’. In well-attended sermons, U Wirathu has repeatedly derided Muslims and Islam, accusing them of seeking to destroy Burmese culture and the future of Buddhism. In one sermon, he likened Muslims to the African carp, explaining that they are inherently violent, prone to breed quickly, and want to eat their own kind.

U Wirathu is a member of the 969 movement. This movement and the Ma Ba Tha (the Patriotic Association of Myanmar) retain significant influence over the Buddhists of Myanmar. They distribute pamphlets and taped sermons that warn about the threat of Islam. Their work to foment fear of Muslims helps to propel Burmese Buddhists toward violence, as in the murderous anti-Muslim riots in the central city of Meiktila in 2013, where at least 40 people died. Before these, there were powerful precursors from the western Rakhine state. Since 2012, nearly 140,000 Rohingya have been displaced from their homes in Rakhine. Most of these Rohingya have been deported from homes into special internment camps. Due to the terrible conditions in these camps, journalists such as Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times argue that the Buddhist treatment of the Rohingya constitutes genocide.

In 2015, the two Burmese Buddhist organisations successfully lobbied for the passage of pro-Buddhist legislation. Many international human-rights groups argue that these new laws are discriminatory against minority groups, particularly Muslims. U Wirathu continues to develop connections not only with Thailand’s Buddhist monks, but also with Sri Lankan Buddhist monks.

The Buddhist organisation ran an incendiary campaign, calling for a boycott on stores selling halal-certified meat

From 1983, Sri Lanka was engaged in a civil war. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fought to separate and form their own independent state of Tamil Eelam. The Sri Lankan government opposed this, both through secular language and Buddhist rhetoric. Buddhist monks fiercely argued against negotiations, and for fighting to keep Sri Lanka ‘whole’. For these monks, Sri Lanka is the true land of Buddhism and it was under attack. Monks were straightforward political players, delivering incendiary speeches, joining political parties (such as the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna), and taking part in violent clashes.

The civil war ended in 2009, but Sri Lankan Buddhist monks have continued to push their political agendas. Since 2011, there have been further escalations in violent rhetoric by Sri Lankan Buddhist nationalist organisations such as the Sinhala Ravaya (The Roar of the Sinhalese), the Ravana Balaya (Ravana’s Force) and the Bodu Bala Sena (The Army of Buddhist Power). Often, the rhetoric is directed at businesses, for example against halal provision for Muslims. In early 2013, the Bodu Bala Sena ran an incendiary campaign, calling for a boycott against stores that provided halal-certified meat. The Buddhist organisation falsely alleged that Muslims were slaughtering young calves (an illegal practice), and accused the governing body for halal-certification, the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama, of taking steps to bring about Sharia law in Sri Lanka.

Similar to their counterparts in Myanmar, these Sri Lankan Buddhist groups have incited anti-Muslim riots, as in Aluthgama in 2014. Buddhist groups have been implicated in the assassination of politicians and peace activists. The growing influence of these hyper-nationalist Buddhist organisations, together with the Sri Lankan government’s tacit support (through a lack of response) has spurred NGOs and local communities to protest. In November 2016, 367 Sri Lankan citizens submitted a collective complaint about the inaction of the police to protect minorities from the persistence of Buddhist monk-led attacks.

No religion has a monopoly on ‘violent people’, nor does any one religion have a greater propensity for violence. Rather, social conditions such as poverty and societal upheavals generate violent behaviour, regardless of religion. It is no coincidence that poorer regions and neighbourhoods suffer higher crime rates. When people find the world changing around them, they turn to their religion to make sense of things. Some look to religion as a means to preserve what they have, and religion provides a way of understanding one’s place in the world and, more importantly, one’s duty.

In order to comprehend such people’s justifications for violence, it is important to explore their worldview, namely, the way in which Buddhists understand and protect what is sacred to them. Although Buddhism is incredibly diverse, all Buddhists venerate the Triple Jewels: Buddha, Dharma (doctrine) and Sangha (monastic community). As long as these jewels remain in the world, humanity still has a way of escaping the vicious cycle of rebirth. Buddhists, along with Hindus, Jains and Sikhs, believe that time is cyclical, and that there is a decline before the end of each great cycle.

According to Buddhists, their doctrine provides rulers with justice, societies with equilibrium, and individuals with a path to salvation. Its attenuation, therefore, is one sign of the decline. Another is the absence, or dwindling numbers, of the sangha. When there are no more monks, Buddhist End Times will begin.

Buddhist scriptures measure internal time by how many breaths you take, and external (cosmic) time through the rotation of four kalpas, or aeons. Unlike in Abrahamic religions, time in Buddhism has no beginning. It is a constant cycle. There is no definitive amount of time given for each kalpa, but Buddhist scriptures provide suggestive analogies. In the Prajnaparamita Sutra, one kalpa lasts longer than the time required to wear away an 18,000-square-metre rock by brushing it with a piece of cloth once every 100 years.

The first kalpa is a formative and chaotic period. In the second kalpa, the chaos continues to unfold. It is only in the third kalpa in which the chaos declines, and the world enters into a rapid stage of evolution. The fourth and final kalpa is called the Age of Destruction. It ends with an apocalyptic rainfall that destroys all life and sparks the beginning of the first kalpa. Buddhists believe that we are living in the fourth and final section of the last kalpa. The end of the kalpa will inevitably come and, when it does, a new Buddha will emerge: Maitreya, the Buddha-to-be. But Buddhists can forestall the end. The longer the Buddhist monks and their doctrine remain strong, then the slower the pace toward the end of the kalpa.

Buddhist traditions have different ways of identifying the signs of deterioration. According to legend, on the eve of the Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) becoming awakened, he was tempted by Mara, the embodiment of desire, death and rebirth. Although he conquered his desires and vanquished Mara, many Buddhists have believed that the re-appearance of Mara is a sign that the End Times have arrived. Others think that the erosion of their sacred Three Jewels signals the beginning of the end. In order to forestall the quickening of the End Times, Buddhists have fought against the manifestations of Mara and to preserve the integrity of their practices and doctrine.

For instance, in sixth-century China, the Buddhist monk Faqing led a revolt and declared the arrival of a new Buddha. He marshalled 50,000 men to fight, promising them that, with each kill, they would reach a higher stage in the bodhisattva path. In ninth-century Tibet, Emperor Langdarma was assassinated by a Tibetan lama. According to Tibetan sources, Langdarma had become possessed by demonic forces (gdon). He destroyed monasteries and began to attack the Buddhist establishment. Things were changing and not in the right direction. The murder of Langdarma ‘saved’ Buddhism in Tibet. It has become such an important event that the Tibetans commemorate the murder in their Cham dance, which offers moral instructions through performance.

Japanese fighter planes carried images of the Buddhist embodiment of compassion, Avalokiteshvara

During the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese emperor strengthened support for Shintoism, and began to dismantle Buddhist institutions that were not favourable to the state. Buddhist monks had a choice of either complying with the state, or leaving the monkhood. Many remained and supported the onset of Japanese imperialism. During the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05, Rinzai Buddhist monks spoke out in favour of the military campaign. For them, the war was a fight for the preservation of civilisation and the Buddhist doctrine – a fight for the world.

The Buddhist call-to-arms reoccurred throughout the Second World War. Japanese fighter planes carried images of the Buddhist embodiment of compassion, Avalokiteshvara. Zen and Pure Land Buddhist monks argued that the Second World War was justified in order to preserve ‘true’ Buddhism. The Buddhist traditions in places such as China, Korea and Singapore had become corrupt and faulty. It was a sign of decay.

As humanity moves closer to the Buddhist End Times, the Buddhist doctrine explains that it will become harder for a person to become enlightened. In recent years, many Buddhists have turned to Pure Land Buddhism. These Buddhists believe that our world is now fraught with a multitude of obstacles to becoming fully awakened. To avoid this, a follower practices uttering Amitabh’s name (nianfo) and visualizing him. In this way, the follower ensures a rebirth in Pure Land, where he can receive the teachings from the Bodhisattva Amitabha to reach enlightenment. Pure Land Buddhism is one of the largest populated traditions in East Asia, and is quickly expanding its numbers globally. While some Buddhists turn to traditions such as Pure Land Buddhism, others fight to preserve what they believe is true Buddhism, such as in southern Thailand, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

Over the centuries, there have been tremendous changes to Buddhism. Indeed, change is one of the foundational principles in Buddhism: all is impermanent. Some changes are in concert with modernity, others are in reaction. Each Buddhist tradition has transformed with the times – and the times are always changing. But there are persistent patterns that keep pace with these changes. Buddhist monks in the early sixth-century China led revolts to defend Buddhism. Today, monks in Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka continue to fight – violently – for their religion and to call their followers to action. The cycle of violence continues in this final stage of the cycle of time: the Kali Yuga, the Age of Destruction.

Monks with guns

Westerners think that Buddhism is about peace and non-violence. So how come Buddhist monks are in arms against Islam?

https://aeon.co/essays/buddhism-can-be-as-violent-as-any-other-religion

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The alumbrados of Castile were a movement that caused much trouble during the first three decades of the sixteenth century. Their ideas were represented by the “Big Three” beatas who, under noble patronage, for at least a decade previous to the arrest in 1524 of the “mother” of the movement (Isabel de la Cruz) had successfully proselytized and spread their ideas throughout Old and New Castile.1

The alumbrados certainly were a charismatic bunch; they enjoyed success with the elites of Castilian society, comuneros, but above all with women and conversos. As a religious movement led by women the alumbrados were part of a growing trend of individual, charismatic female piety. By the time of Cardinal Cisneros’s death in 1517, however, the era of the alumbrados and their grassroots converso spirituality was nearing its end. While the actual heyday of their movement was short-lived the alumbrados made a huge impact upon the minds Prospering in the environment of Catholic spiritual exploration fostered by the personal theological interests of the Archbishop of Toledo Cardinal Ximenez de Cisneros the alumbrados presented an interiorized approach to Christianity. Equipped with the meditational practice of dejamiento the alumbrados stressed the importance of an individual, pseudo-mystical “abandonment” to God and His will. They also emphasized the insignificance of external rituals and works, calling them ataduras or “shackles” to the material world, ties that only served to hinder one’s abandonment to God.

of the Inquisitors who prosecuted them and upon the Spanish religious imagination, an impact that would last across seas and time."

EL SABOR DE HEREJIA: THE EDICT OF 1525, THE ALUMBRADOS

AND THE INQUISITORS’ USAGE OF LOCURA

JAVIER A. MONTOYA

http://etd.fcla.edu/UF/UFE0041385/montoya_j.pdf

Alumbrado, (Spanish: “Enlightened”, ) Italian Illuminato, plural Illuminati, a follower of a mystical movement in Spain during the 16th and 17th centuries. Its adherents claimed that the human soul, having attained a certain degree of perfection, was permitted a vision of the divine and entered into direct communication with the Holy Spirit. From this state the soul could neither advance nor retrogress. Consequently, participation in the liturgy, good works, and observance of the exterior forms of religious life were unnecessary for those who had received the “light.” The Alumbrados came primarily from among the reformed Franciscans and the Jesuits, but their doctrines seem to have influenced all classes of people. The extravagant claims made for their visions and revelations caused them to be relentlessly persecuted. The Inquisition issued edicts against them on three occasions (1568, 1574, and 1623)."

https://www.britannica.com/event/Alumbrado

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Pali Buddha (“the Awakened One, the Enlightened One”), from buddha (“awakened, enlightened”), from Sanskrit बुद्ध (buddha, “awakened, enlightened”), past participle of बोधति (bodhati, “to wake, to awaken”). Distantly related to English bid and bede. Also cognate with Russian будить (buditʹ, “to wake up”)."

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Buddha

Gautama

surname of the Buddha, from Sanskrit Gotamah, properly a patronymic, literally "descendant of the greatest ox," from superlative of gauh "ox, bull, cow."

https://www.etymonline.com/word/buddha

Unam Sanctam

One God, One Faith, One Spiritual Authority

Pope Boniface VIII - 1302

Bull of Pope Boniface VIII promulgated November 18, 1302

https://www.papalencyclicals.net/bon08/b8unam.htm

THE CONFLICT: PRIORY OF SION VERSUS KNIGHTS TEMPLAR

Secret societies by virtue of their very secrecy have often kept historians at bay, and the historians, reluctant to confess their ignorance, prefer to diminish the consequence of their subject. Freemasonry.. is of vital importance to any social, psychological, cultural or political history of eighteenth-century Europe, and even to the founding of the United States; but most history books don't even mention it. It is almost as if an implicit policy obtained: If something cannot be exhaustively documented, it must be irrelevant and thereby not worth discussing I at all. Investigators of the Holy Grail' Freemasonry, French and English, as we know it today, finds its loots in two organizations of the Middle Ages - the Priory of Sion and the Order of the Knights Templar. What follows is the fascinating, if sometimes complicated and obscure history, of how these two modern, anti-Christian secular secret societies - English and French Freemasonry - developed from two groups that themselves had roots in the occult. We will see how the Priory of Sion desired to rule the world from the throne of David in Jerusalem through its counterfeit Jewish Merovingian bloodline, and how its own creation, the Knights Templar, moved beyond its role as police and protector of Sion to financial masters of medieval Europe. We will trace the alliance of Sion and the Templars, their dispute over the discovery of Solomon's treasures, and the terrible intrigues which followed that led to the undoing of the Templars in their struggle over wealth, power, and politics. We will reveal the beliefs of these two groups: that Jesus fathered children by Mary Magdalene; that a spiritual god of good (Satan) battles a material god of evil; that Lucifer, not Jesus, deserves worship; that a "Spear of Destiny" (later sought and possessed by Hitler) allows the holder to rule the world. We will also present data about the whereabouts of King Solomon's wealth, the plan to one day return it to Jerusalem, and reveal that the ultimate goal of these two groups is world government, and that their descendants, English and French Freemasonry, desire the same. The Historical Trail: The Priory of Sion and the Holy Grail In 1982 and 1986 three secular revisionist authors, Michael Baigent~ Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln published Holy Blood, Holy Grail followed by The Messianic Legacy. These two books dramatically reveal a secret order structured in the manner of Freemasonry, and founded in Europe twelve centuries before the Grand Lodge was officially formed in 1717. This order protects both the Holy Grail and the Merovingian bloodline, which bloodline carried Mystery Babylon into the Catholic Church in 496 A.D. 56 The Holy Grail, of course, is the so-called cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper. The Merovingians, owners of the Holy Grail, teach that Jesus fathered children by Mary Magdalene. The Merovingians claim to be the offspring of that "holy" union, and as such, assert they are Jews of the Davidic line.

In Revelation 17:3-5 the apostle John describes a vision, which Rev. J. R. Church in Guardians of the Grail believes is fulfilled in the Grail legend. The Whore of Babylon is holding in her hand a golden cup full of blasphemy. Church believes the cup is the blasphemous Holy Grail Another element of the Grail legend is the spear supposed to have pierced the side of Jesus, also known as the Spear of Longinus or the Spear of Destiny. Whoever possesses this spear, so the legend goes, will rule the world. The Merovingians, whose descendants are the Habsburg pretenders to the Austrian throne today, are in possession of the spear. It is on display in the Habsburg museum in Vienna, Austria~ No one, however, knows the location of the Holy Grail. At least no one is telling. Although heretical, this secret society should not be discounted, for it is alive and well today. In fact, in 1956, an Order calling itself the Prieure de Sion, or Priory of Sion, registered itself publicly for the first time with the French government. (Sion is French for Zion.) It is from this Order that the legend of the Holy Grail originated five centuries after Christ's death. Rev. Church remarks of this organization: This mysterious group is presently made up of over 9,000 men, including Protestants, Roman Catholics, Jews, and Moslems. The members of this secret sect should be considered unfaithful to their respective beliefs, for in reality they are neither Christian nor Catholic, they are neither Jew nor Moslem. Their doctrine sidesteps the basic tenets of those beliefs and replaces them with the teachings of their greatest prophet - whom they believe to be Buddha.2 From this secret order J. R. Church believes will come the Anti-Christ, for he writes, "Their ultimate goal is world government!'"

Scarlet and the Beast

by John Daniel

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zCd0nFuvnM4OYWuVW5QUBCpsTfBv5bYx/view?usp=sharing

https://www.facebook.com/billy.dunn.50767/posts/pfbid0TQ119X8MtR1Nkszt1P7xjUtgdUEAvBW6ErDg3sGR8pjadD1cJKkva7PHkdPRKudDl

Red

Color of blood, fire, passion, gore, and anger. We say we “see red” when we are angry beyond maintaining composure; prostitution occurs in red light districts; we give red roses to those we are in love with, and “paint the town red” when we release all inhibitions and indulge our whims and passions. It can represent anything from war and bloodshed to health and vitality.

Red is also the color of Vulcan, or Tubal-Cain (see image), descendant of Cain, progenitor of civilization. It’s also noteworthy that the name Adam is akin to the word for red, and so the mythological first human is connected to the first chakra, and the first level of the hierarchy of needs.

The red chakra is usually associated with the most basic physical needs and drives, including money, sex, and health.In Masonry, red carries an association inherited from the ancient Egyptians, that of fire, which is the regenerator and purifier of souls.

https://www.universalfreemasonry.org/en/article/colors-freemasonry-part-i

Harry R. Truman (October 1896 – May 18, 1980) was an American businessman, bootlegger, and prospector. He lived near Mount St. Helens, an active volcano in the state of Washington, and was the owner and caretaker of Mount St. Helens Lodge at Spirit Lake near the base of the mountain. Truman came to fame as a folk hero in the weeks leading up to the volcano's 1980 eruption after refusing to leave his home despite repeated orders to evacuate. On May 18, 1980, Truman was killed in the cataclysmic eruption of Mount St. Helens by a pyroclastic flow that overtook his lodge and buried the site under 150 ft (46 m) of volcanic debris.

After Truman's death, his family and friends reflected on his love for the mountain. Actor Art Carney portrayed Truman in the docudrama film St. Helens (1981). Truman was commemorated in a book by his niece, and also in various pieces of music, including songs by Headgear, Billy Jonas, and Shawn Wright and the Brothers Band.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_R._Truman

The Old Man of the Mountain (Arabic: شيخ الجبل, romanized: Shaykh al-Jabal, Latin: Vetulus de Montanis),[1] is the expression used by Marco Polo in a passage from Book of the Marvels of the World, to indicate Muhammad III of Alamut,[2] the grand master of the Order of Assassins, who took refuge in Alamut Castle. It later became a common name used by the Crusaders.[3]

Subsequently, this nickname was given to various Isma'ili successors of Hassan, in Syria, particularly,[4] for example Rashid al-Din Sinan, the da'i (missionary)[5] and a leader of the Syrian branch of the Nizari Isma'ili state.[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Man_of_the_Mountain_(Assassin)

Appointing a Successor and Eating Habits

SUMMARY: The hadith is about Umar bin al Khattab's speech on the importance of appointing a successor and his warning against eating onion and garlic.

It was narrated from Ma'dan bin Abi Talhah that 'Umar bin al Khattab delivered a khutbah on Friday, and he mentioned the Prophet of Allah ﷺ and Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه . He said: I saw a dream that I can only interpret as meaning that my death is near; I saw as if a rooster pecked me twice, and I was told that it was a red rooster. I told this dream to Asma’ bint 'Umais, the wife of Abu Bakr , and she said: You will be killed by a Persian man. The people are asking me to appoint a successor, but Allah will not cause His religion and His caliphate, with which He sent His Prophet ﷺ to be lost. If death comes to me soon, then the caliphate is to be decided by these six men with whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was pleased when he died. Whichever of them you swear allegiance to, then listen to him and obey. I know that some people will object to this matter. I have fought them with my own hands in the defense of Islam. They are the enemies of Allah and misguided Kafirs. By Allah, I am not leaving behind anything that my Lord instructed me to do and I came to the position of caliphate on that basis that is more important to me than kalalah. By Allah, the Prophet of Allah ﷺ never emphasised any issue to me since I accompanied him more than the issue of kalalah, until he poked me in the chest with his finger and said: 'Is not Ayatas-saif (the verse of summer, ie, it was revealed in summer), which appears at the end of Sooratan Nisa', sufficient for you?' If I live I will issue a decree that will be so clear that those who read the Qur'an and those who do not read it will be able to make decisions concerning it. I call upon Allah to bear witness over the governors of the regions, for I only sent them to be just and to teach the people their religion and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ and to refer to me concerning any difficult matter. O people, you eat two plants which I find to be nothing but repugnant, this onion and garlic. I remember the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, if he noticed their smell coming from a man in the mosque, he would issue orders that he taken out from the mosque to al-Baqee'. Whoever must eat them, let him cook them to death". He said: He addressed the people on Friday and was attacked on Wednesday.

https://www.islamicity.org/hadith/search/index.php?q=33783&sss=1

Mythology

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaanite_religion

Benben

In the creation myth of the Heliopolitan form of ancient Egyptian religion, Benben was the mound that arose from the primordial waters Nu upon which the creator deity Atum settled. The Benben stone (also known as a pyramidion) is the top stone of the pyramid. It is also related to the obelisk.

Primeval mound

In the Pyramid Texts, e.g. Utterances 587 and 600, Atum himself is at times referred to as "mound". It was said to have turned into a small pyramid, located in Heliopolis (Egyptian: Annu or Iunu), within which Atum was said to dwell. Other cities developed their own myths of the primeval mound. At Memphis, the god Tatenen, an earth god and the origin of "all things in the shape of food and viands, divine offers, all good things", was the personification of the primeval mound.

Benben stone

The Benben stone, named after the mound, was a sacred stone in the temple of Ra at Heliopolis (Egyptian: Annu or Iunu). It was the location on which the first rays of the sun fell. It is thought to have been the prototype for later obelisks, and the capstones of the great pyramids were based on its design. The capstone (the tip of the pyramid) is also called a pyramidion. In ancient Egypt, these were probably gilded so they shone in sunlight.[citation needed]

Many Benben stones, often carved with images and inscriptions, are found in museums around the world.

The bird deity Bennu, which was probably the inspiration for the phoenix, was venerated at Heliopolis, where it was said to be living on the Benben stone or on the holy willow tree.

According to Barry Kemp, the connection between the benben, the phoenix, and the sun may well have been based on alliteration: the rising, weben, of the sun sending its rays towards the benben, on which the bennu bird lives. Utterance 600, § 1652 of the Pyramid Texts speaks of Atum as you rose up, as the benben, in the Mansion of the Bennu in Heliopolis.[1]

Historical development

From the earliest times, the portrayal of Benben was stylized in two ways; the first was as a pointed, pyramidal form, which was probably the model for pyramids and obelisks. The other form was round-topped; this was probably the origin of Benben as a free standing votive object and an object of veneration.[2]

During the Fifth Dynasty, the portrayal of benben was formalized as a squat obelisk. Later, during the Middle Kingdom, this became a long, thin obelisk.

In the Amarna Period tomb of Panehesy, the benben is seen as a large, round-topped stela standing on a raised platform.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benben

Egyptian Museum Hosts Temporary Exhibit on Ancient Egyptian Food

Running for three months in Hall 43 on the upper floor, the exhibit is accessible at no additional cost beyond the regular museum entry fee.

Mar 17, 2025

Egyptian Museum Hosts Temporary Exhibit on Ancient Egyptian Food

The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir has launched a new temporary exhibition, ‘Ancient Egyptian Food: Between Life, Death and Worship’, offering a glimpse into how food shaped daily life, religious practices, and funerary traditions in ancient Egypt. Running for three months in Hall 43 on the upper floor, the exhibit is accessible at no additional cost beyond the regular museum entry fee.

The collection showcases miniature models of ancient Egyptian bread, revealing the different shapes and varieties baked at the time, as well as kitchen models, food preparation tools, and offering trays used in rituals. The exhibition also highlights the agricultural techniques, hunting skills, and food preservation methods that sustained ancient Egyptian society.

Visitors can also explore depictions of religious feasts and celebrations, highlighting the deep connection between food and spirituality. Among the standout artifacts is the statue of the offering bearer, which symbolises the importance of food offerings in ancient Egyptian religious and funerary customs.

https://cairoscene.com/Buzz/Egyptian-Museum-Hosts-Temporary-Exhibit-on-Ancient-Egyptian-Food

The Constitutions of The Society of Jesus and Their Complimentary Norms

A Complete English Translation of the Official Latin Texts

THE INSTITUTE OF JESUIT SOURCES

SAINT LOUIS, 1996

https://web.archive.org/web/20200211182223/https://jesuitas.lat/uploads/the-constitutions-of-the-society-of-jesus-and-their-complementary-norms/Constitutions%20and%20Norms%20SJ%20ingls.pdf

A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher elevation on any surface. Artificial mounds have been created for a variety of reasons throughout history, including habitation (see Tell and Terp), ceremonial (platform mound), burial (tumulus), and commemorative purposes (e.g. Kościuszko Mound).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mound

Bennu /ˈbɛnuː/[1] is an ancient Egyptian deity linked with the Sun, creation, and rebirth. He may have been the original inspiration for the phoenix legends that developed in Greek mythology.

According to Egyptian mythology, Bennu was a self-created being said to have played a role in the creation of the world. He was said to be the ba (personality component of the soul) of the sun deity Ra, and to have enabled the creative actions of Atum.[2] The deity was said to have flown over the waters of Nun that existed before creation, landing on a rock and issuing a call that determined the nature of creation. He was also a symbol of rebirth and, therefore, was associated with Osiris.[3]

Some of the titles of Bennu were "He Who Came Into Being by Himself",[2] and "Lord of Jubilees"; the latter epithet referring to the belief that Bennu periodically renewed himself like the sun was thought to do.[3] His name is related to the Egyptian verb wbn, meaning "to rise in brilliance" or "to shine".[2]

Depiction

The Pyramid Texts, which date to the Old Kingdom, refer to the 'bnw' as a symbol of Atum, and it may have been the original form of Bennu. In this word the shape of a bird used is definitely not that of a heron, but a small singing bird. The German Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache (Dictionary of the Egyptian Language) surmised that this might have been a Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava), but no clear reason is given.[2] However, the same bird is used in the spelling of a word 'bn.t' in a painted limestone relief wall fragment from the suntemple of the Vth Dynasty Old Kingdom king Niuserre. This hieroglyph clearly shows traces of blue-grey paint on much of the bird body, indicating that it referenced a different bird species. The shape and colour seem to point rather to a (Mediterranean) Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) for which, however, another name was in use: 'hn.t<y' (lit. 'the one of the canal'). It could be surmised that a Kingfisher flying low over water and shrieking loudly would be a reasonable mythical basis for the creator deity Atum of Heliopolis as having risen from the first dark waters, called Nun, in order to start his creation of the world. If so, the Kingfisher 'bnw' or 'bn.t' is a good match for the mythical and cultic Nile goose (I.e. 'smn') of the creator deity Amun in later periods, imagined to have been honking loudly in the primeval dark above the still waters in order to bring forth all creation by its voice.[citation needed]

New Kingdom artwork shows Bennu as a huge grey heron with a long beak and a two-feathered crest. Sometimes Bennu is depicted as perched on a benben stone (representing Ra and the name of the top stone of a pyramid) or in a willow tree (representing Osiris). Because of the connection with Osiris, Bennu sometimes wears the Atef crown,[3] instead of the solar disk.

Possible animal model

Remains of a giant, human-sized heron species, thought to have gone extinct around 1500 BC, were discovered in the United Arab Emirates in 1977.[4][5] It lived on the Arabian Peninsula and shared many characteristics with Bennu, and scientists believe it may have been the animal model for the deity. In reference to this, archaeologist Dr. Ella Hoch from the Geological Museum at Copenhagen University named it the Bennu heron (Ardea bennuides).[6]

Worship

Like Atum and Ra, Bennu was probably worshipped in the deitys’ cult centre at Heliopolis.[3] Bennu also appears on funerary scarab amulets as a symbol of rebirth.[2]

Connection with the Greek phoenix

The Greek historian Herodotus, writing about Egyptian customs and traditions in the fifth century BC, wrote that the people at Heliopolis described the "phoenix" to him. They said it lived for 500 years before dying, resuscitating, building a funerary egg with myrrh for the paternal corpse, and carrying it to the temple of the Sun at Heliopolis.[7] His description of the phoenix likens it to an eagle with red and gold plumage, reminiscent of the sun.[3]

Long after Herodotus, the theme of the fire, pyre, and ashes of the dying bird, ultimately associated with the Greek phoenix, developed in Greek traditions.

The name "phoenix" could be derived from "Bennu", and its rebirth and connections with the sun resemble the beliefs about Bennu; however, Egyptian sources do not mention a death of the deity.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennu

Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster,[1][2] and, by extension, for the clock tower itself,[3] which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England.[4] Originally known simply as the Clock Tower, it was renamed Elizabeth Tower in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The clock is a striking clock with five bells.[5]

The tower was designed by Sir Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin in a Perpendicular Gothic Revival style and was completed in 1859. It is elaborately decorated with stone carvings and features symbols related to the four nations of the United Kingdom and the Anglo-Welsh Tudor dynasty. A Latin inscription celebrates Queen Victoria, in whose reign the palace was built.[6] The tower stands 316 feet (96 m) tall, and the climb from ground level to the belfry is 334 steps. Its base is square, measuring 40 feet (12 m) on each side. The dials of the clock are 22.5 feet (6.9 m) in diameter.

The clock uses its original mechanism and was the largest and most accurate four-faced striking and chiming clock in the world upon its completion.[7] It was designed by Edmund Beckett Denison and George Airy, the Astronomer Royal, and constructed by Edward John Dent and Frederick Dent. It is known for its reliability, and can be adjusted by adding or removing pre-decimal pennies from the pendulum. The Great Bell was cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry and weighs 13.5 long tons (13.7 tonnes; 15.1 short tons).[4] Its nickname is derived from that of Sir Benjamin Hall, who oversaw its installation, although it is sometimes attributed to heavyweight boxing champion Benjamin Caunt. There are four quarter bells, which chime on the quarter hours.

Big Ben is a British cultural icon. It is one of the most prominent symbols of the United Kingdom and parliamentary democracy,[8] and it is often used in the establishing shot of films set in London.[9] The clock tower has been part of a Grade I listed building since 1970 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.[10] The clock and tower were renovated between 2017 and 2021, during which the bells remained silent with few exceptions.[11]

Design

Completed in 1859, the tower is designed in Pugin's Gothic Revival style and is 316 feet (96.3 m) high, making it the third tallest clock tower in the UK. Its dials (at the centre) are 180 feet (54.9 m) above ground level. The tower's base is square, measuring 40 feet (12.2 m) on each side,[17] resting on concrete foundations 12 feet (3.7 m) thick.[18] It was constructed using bricks clad on the exterior with sand-coloured Anston limestone from South Yorkshire, topped by a spire covered in hundreds of cast iron rooftiles.[19] There is a spiral staircase with 290 stone steps up to the clock room, followed by 44 to reach the belfry, and an additional 59 to the top of the spire.[17]

Above the belfry and the Ayrton Light are 52 shields decorated with national emblems of the four countries of the UK: the red and white rose of England's Tudor dynasty, the thistle of Scotland, shamrock of Northern Ireland, and leek of Wales. They also feature the pomegranate of Catherine of Aragon, first wife of the Tudor king Henry VIII; the portcullis, symbolising both Houses of Parliament;[20] and fleurs-de-lis, a legacy from when English monarchs claimed to rule France.[21]

A ventilation shaft running from ground level up to the belfry, which measures 16 feet (4.9 m) by 8 feet (2.4 m), was designed by David Boswell Reid, known as "the grandfather of air-conditioning". It was intended to draw cool, fresh air into the Palace of Westminster; in practice this did not work and the shaft was repurposed as a chimney, until around 1914.[22] The 2017–2021 conservation works included the addition of a lift (or elevator) that was installed in the shaft.[23]

Its foundations rest on a layer of gravel, below which is London Clay.[18] Owing to this soft ground, the tower leans slightly to the north-west by roughly 230 mm (9.1 in) over 55 m height, giving an inclination of approximately 1⁄240. This includes a planned maximum of 22 mm increased tilt due to tunnelling for the Jubilee line extension.[24] In the 1990s, thousands of tons of concrete were pumped into the ground underneath the tower to stabilise it during construction of the Westminster section of the Jubilee line.[25] It leans by about 500 mm (20 in) at the finial. Experts believe the tower's lean will not be a problem for another 4,000 to 10,000 years.[26]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ben

phoenix

mythological bird

Phoenix, in ancient Egypt and in Classical antiquity, a fabulous bird associated with the worship of the sun. The Egyptian phoenix was said to be as large as an eagle, with brilliant scarlet and gold plumage and a melodious cry. Only one phoenix existed at any time, and it was very long-lived—no ancient authority gave it a life span of less than 500 years. As its end approached, the phoenix fashioned a nest of aromatic boughs and spices, set it on fire, and was consumed in the flames. From the pyre miraculously sprang a new phoenix, which, after embalming its father’s ashes in an egg of myrrh, flew with the ashes to Heliopolis (“City of the Sun”) in Egypt, where it deposited them on the altar in the temple of the Egyptian god of the sun, Re. A variant of the story made the dying phoenix fly to Heliopolis and immolate itself in the altar fire, from which the young phoenix then rose.

The Egyptians associated the phoenix with immortality, and that symbolism had a widespread appeal in late antiquity. The phoenix was compared to undying Rome, and it appears on the coinage of the late Roman Empire as a symbol of the Eternal City. It was also widely interpreted as an allegory of resurrection and life after death—ideas that also appealed to emergent Christianity.

In Islamic mythology the phoenix was identified with the ʿanqāʾ (Persian: sīmorgh), a huge mysterious bird (probably a heron) that was originally created by God with all perfections but thereafter became a plague and was killed."

https://www.britannica.com/topic/phoenix-mythological-bird

The Story of the Vatican Obelisk

Saint Peter’s Square in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican is one of the most famous landmarks in the world. Over 100,000 people have been known to squeeze into Saint Peter’s Square on occasions like Easter or midnight mass or after a conclave takes place and a new Pope makes his first appearance to the massive crowds on the square. However right in the center of Saint Peter’s Square, you will find a monument that is impossible to miss called an Egyptian Obelisk. These Obelisks were taken from Egypt by the Ancient Romans so it is rather ironic that right in the center of Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican is a stolen object. So what is an Egyptian Obelisk and why does the Vatican have one?

What is an Obelisk?

An Obelisk is a four-sided monument ending with a pyramid-like shape at the top which is traditionally carved out of one block of stone. Obelisks originally came from Ancient Egypt and were built to represent the immortality of the Pharaohs. They were usually placed in pairs at the entrance of Ancient Egyptian Temples. Although there are 28 ancient Obelisk’s in the world there are only six remaining in Egypt today. This is mainly because in Ancient Roman times the Roman Emperors ordered them to be taken from Egypt and brought back to Rome. Thirteen obelisks are scattered throughout Rome today where eight of them are originally from Ancient Egypt and five of them were built by the Ancient Romans with the largest being the Lateranense Obelisk in Piazza Di San Laterano in Rome. There are also Obelisks in New York, London, Istanbul, and most famously at the Place De La Concorde in Paris known as the Luxor Obelisk which was given as a gift in 1829 by the city of Rome.

The first obelisk that was taken from Egypt by the Ancient Romans is known as the Flaminian Obelisk and was placed on the Circus Maximus. The granite monument was taken from a temple in Heliopolis created in 1280 B.C under Ramses II. It was found buried at the Circus Maximus in 1587 and today stands in Piazza Del Popolo in Rome’s historic center.

The word “obelisk” is a Greek rather than an Egyptian word meaning a four-sided pillar. It was the Greek traveler Herodotus who was the first classical writer to describe these objects.

The Vatican Obelisk

The obelisk at the Vatican is right in the middle of Saint Peter’s Square and is said to be around 4,500 years old making it over 1,500 years older than the city of Rome. It is traditionally known as Caligula’s Obelisk as it was Caligula who in 37 A.D took the monument from Alexandria to have it placed in the Circus Caligula was constructing and which was later completed by Emperor Nero. The Circus was later known as the Circus of Nero where chariot races and many executions took place. In fact, it is in this area where the first Pope, Saint Peter, was crucified upsidedown in 64 A.D. under Nero’s reign. The Circus of Nero was built almost exactly where Saint Peter’s Basilica and Saint Peter’s Square are located today.

The Vatican Obelisk was moved to its current location between 1585 and 1586 under Pope Sixtus V and it is the only Obelisk that has remained standing since Ancient Roman times. Although the Obelisk was transported only a couple of hundred meters from its original location at the Circus of Nero to where it stands today it took 900 men and 140 horses five months to complete the task under the supervision of Domenico Fontana. The Vatican Obelisk is 83.6 feet (25.5 meters) tall and weighs 326 tonnes. The base is adorned with four lions and bronze eagles which were added in 1713.

St. Peter’s Square is free to visit so you can admire the obelisk at any time. If you want to see the original location of the Vatican obelisk and learn more about the Circus of Nero, you must take a Scavi Tour. This tour will bring you underneath Saint Peter’s Basilica and to the tomb of Saint Peter, passing by the center of the old circus along the way.

https://vaticantips.com/vatican-obelisk/

Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus II; Italian: Giovanni Paolo II; Polish: Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła [ˈkarɔl ˈjuzɛv vɔjˈtɨwa];[b] 18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his death in 2005.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II

As May 18 dawned, Mount St. Helens's activity did not show any change from the pattern of the preceding month. The rates of bulge movement and sulfur dioxide emission, and ground temperature readings did not reveal any changes indicating a catastrophic eruption. USGS volcanologist David A. Johnston was on duty at an observation post around 6 mi (10 km) north of the volcano: as of 6:00 am, Johnston's measurements did not indicate any unusual activity.[9]

At 8:32 am, a magnitude-5.1 earthquake centered directly below the north slope triggered that part of the volcano to slide,[31] approximately 7–20 seconds after the shock,[9] followed a few seconds later by the main volcanic blast. The landslide, the largest subaerial landslide in recorded history, traveled at 110 to 155 mph (177 to 249 km/h) and moved across Spirit Lake's west arm. Part of it hit a 1,150 ft-high (350 m) ridge about 6 mi (10 km) north.[9] Some of the slide spilled over the ridge, but most of it moved 13 mi (21 km) down the North Fork Toutle River, filling its valley up to 600 feet (180 m) deep with avalanche debris.[31] An area of about 24 sq mi (62 km2) was covered, and the total volume of the deposit was about 0.7 cu mi (2.9 km3).[9]

Scientists were able to reconstruct the motion of the landslide from a series of rapid photographs by Gary Rosenquist, who was camping 11 mi (18 km) away from the blast 46°18′49″N 122°02′12″W.[9] Rosenquist, his party, and his photographs survived because the blast was deflected by local topography 1 mi (1.6 km) short of his location.[32]

Sound of the eruption of Mount St. Helens, as heard from 140 miles away

Duration: 44 seconds.0:44

Amateur recording of a series of booms produced by the eruption, as heard from the town of Newport, Oregon (audio filtered and amplified).

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Most of St. Helens's former north side became a rubble deposit 17 mi (27 km) long, averaging 150 ft (46 m) thick; the slide was thickest at 1 mi (1.6 km) below Spirit Lake and thinnest at its western margin.[9] The landslide temporarily displaced the waters of Spirit Lake to the ridge north of the lake, in a giant wave about 600 ft (180 m) high.[33] This, in turn, created a 295 ft (90 m) avalanche of debris consisting of the returning waters and thousands of uprooted trees and stumps. Some of these remained intact with roots, but most had been sheared off at the stump seconds earlier by the blast of superheated volcanic gas and ash that had immediately followed and overtaken the initial landslide. The debris was transported along with the water as it returned to its basin, raising the surface level of Spirit Lake by about 200 ft (61 m).[9]

Four decades after the eruption, floating log mats persist on Spirit Lake and nearby St. Helens Lake, changing position with the wind. The rest of the trees, especially those that were not completely detached from their roots, were turned upright by their own weight and became waterlogged, sinking into the muddy sediments at the bottom where they are in the process of becoming petrified in the anaerobic and mineral-rich waters. This provides insight into other sites with a similar fossil record.[34]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Helens

Updated May 18, 2023 Defense Primer: Directed-Energy Weapons

Both the 2022 National Defense Strategy and the House Armed Services Committee’s bipartisan Future of Defense Task Force Report have identified directed energy as a technology that could have a significant impact on U.S. national security in the years to come. As the Department of Defense (DOD) continues to invest in directed-energy (DE) weapons, Congress may consider implications for defense authorizations, appropriations, and oversight. Overview DOD defines DE weapons as those using concentrated electromagnetic energy, rather than kinetic energy, to “incapacitate, damage, disable, or destroy enemy equipment, facilities, and/or personnel.” DE weapons include high-energy lasers (HEL) and high-powered microwave (HPM) weapons; other DE weapons, such as particle beam weapons, are outside the scope of this In Focus. HELs might be used by ground forces in short-range air defense (SHORAD), counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS), or counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar (C-RAM) missions. The weapons might be used to “dazzle” (i.e., temporarily disable) or damage satellites and sensors. This could in turn interfere with intelligence-gathering operations; military cmmunications; and positioning, navigation, and timing systems used for weapons targeting. In addition, HELs could theoretically provide options for boost-phase missile intercept, given their speed-of-light travel time; however, experts disagree on the affordability, technological feasibility, and utility of this application. In general, HELs might offer lower costs per shot and— assuming access to a sufficient power supply—deeper magazines compared with traditional munitions. (Although a number of different types of HELs exist, many of the United States’ current programs are solid state lasers, which are fueled by electrical power. As a result, the cost per shot is equivalent to the cost of the electrical power required to fire the shot.) This could in turn produce a favorable costexchange ratio for the defender, whose marginal costs would be significantly lower than those of the aggressor.

https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11882

https://www.facebook.com/billy.dunn.50767/posts/pfbid02QQKPJ8GadPDUKRL2nJhrpyZxr1TvbtT9JFzyyoZdfYPiXRDPuq8AbM513HXEkfhwl

On 13 May 1981, in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, Pope John Paul II was shot and wounded by Mehmet Ali Ağca while he was entering the square. The Pope was struck twice and suffered severe blood loss. Ağca was apprehended immediately and later sentenced to life in prison by an Italian court. The Pope forgave Ağca for the assassination attempt.[1] He was pardoned by Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi at the Pope's request and was deported to Turkey in June 2000. Ağca converted to Roman Catholicism in 2007.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_assassination_of_Pope_John_Paul_II

On 7 August 1981, after a long and tiring trip throughout the Far East, Arrupe suffered a stroke just after his plane landed at Rome's Fiumicino Airport. He was paralysed on his right side and was able to speak only a few words. This ability gradually deteriorated until he was completely mute. From that time on he lived in the infirmary at the Jesuit headquarters in Rome. He then became the first-ever Jesuit superior general to resign. Pope John Paul II appointed Paolo Dezza as his personal delegate and interim Father General of the Society, passing over Arrupe's own choice (his vicar general). Many Jesuits saw this as an unwarranted papal interference in Jesuit affairs. For his part, Arrupe never expressed any disagreement or resentment.[13] Jesuit disobedience to the pope that was expected by some at the Roman Curia never came about.[27] With new respect for the Jesuits, Pope John Paul allowed Dezza to call the thirty-third General Congregation and elect a successor to Arrupe, whose resignation was accepted on 3 September 1983 during the Congregation. He was succeeded by Peter Hans Kolvenbach. During the opening Session of the Congregation, Arrupe was wheeled into the hall, and a prayer which he had written was read aloud:

"More than ever I find myself in the hands of God. This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth. But now there is a difference; the initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experience to know and feel myself so totally in God's hands."[9]

During his ten years in the infirmary, Arrupe received many and frequent well-wishers, including Pope John Paul II. Arrupe had earlier expressed what some regard as the key to his life: "Nowadays the world does not need words but lives that cannot be explained except through faith and love for Christ's poor."[4]

Death and burial

Arrupe died at 7:45pm on 5 February 1991, the anniversary of the 26 Martyrs of Japan. His final words had been: "For the present, Amen; for the future, Alleluia."[28]

His funeral was held in the Church of the Gesu, Rome, on February 9 and was attended by crowds that filled the piazza outside the church. Also in attendance were 10 cardinals, 20 bishops, Giulio Andreotti (the Prime Minister of Italy), as well as other religious and civil dignitaries. His body, first interred in the Jesuit mausoleum at Campo Verano, was brought back into the Church of the Gesù where it currently lies in a side chapel.[29]

Beatification process

On 11 July 2018, the Father General of the Society of Jesus, Arturo Sosa, announced the beginning of Arrupe's beatification process by the Diocese of Rome.[30] On 14 November 2018, a website was established with testimonials and archival material on his life.[31] On 14 November 2024, Cardinal-elect Baldassare Reina presided over the diocesan tribunal's termination of its inquiry at the Lateran Palace. The Dicastery for the Causes of Saints will next determine whether Arrupe should be declared Venerable.[32]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Arrupe

Havana syndrome ’ and the mystery of the microwaves by Gordon Carera

"Doctors, scientists, intelligence agents and government officials have all been trying to find out what causes "Havana syndrome" - a mysterious illness that has struck American diplomats and spies. Some call it an act of war, others wonder if it is some new and secret form of surveillance - and some people believe it could even be all in the mind. So who or what is responsible? It often started with a sound, one that people struggled to describe. "Buzzing", "grinding metal", "piercing squeals", was the best they could manage. One woman described a low hum and intense pressure in her skull; another felt a pulse of pain. Those who did not hear a sound, felt heat or pressure. But for those who heard the sound, covering their ears made no difference. Some of the people who experienced the syndrome were left with dizziness and fatigue for months. Havana syndrome first emerged in Cuba in 2016. The first cases were CIA officers, which meant they were kept secret. But, eventually, word got out and anxiety spread. Twenty-six personnel and family members would report a wide variety of symptoms. There were whispers that some colleagues thought sufferers were crazy and it was "all in the mind". Five years on, reports now number in the hundreds and, the BBC has been told, span every continent, leaving a real impact on the US's ability to operate overseas. Uncovering the truth has now become a top US national security priority - one that an official has described as the most difficult intelligence challenge they have ever faced. Hard evidence has been elusive, making the syndrome a battleground for competing theories. Some see it as a psychological illness, others a secret weapon. But a growing trail of evidence has focused on microwaves as the most likely culprit. In 2015, diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba were restored after decades of hostility. But within two years, Havana syndrome almost shut the embassy down, as staff were withdrawn because of concerns for their welfare. Initially, there was speculation that the Cuban government - or a hard-line faction opposed to improving relations - might be responsible, having deployed some kind of sonic weapon. Cuba's security services, after all, had been nervous about an influx of US personnel and kept a tight grip on the capital. That theory would fade as cases spread around the world. But recently, another possibility has come into the frame - one whose roots lay in the darker recesses of the Cold War, and a place where science, medicine, espionage and geopolitics collide. When James Lin, a professor at the University of Illinois, read the first reports about the mysterious sounds in Havana, he immediately suspected that microwaves were responsible. His belief was based not just on theoretical research, but first-hand experience. Decades earlier, he had heard the sounds himself. Since its emergence around World War Two, there had been reports of people being able to hear something when a nearby radar was switched on and began sending microwaves into the sky. This was even though there was no external noise. In 1961, a paper by Dr Allen Frey argued the sounds were caused by microwaves interacting with the nervous system, leading to the term the "Frey Effect". But the exact causes - and implications - remained unclear. In the 1970s, Prof Lin set to work conducting his experiments at the University of Washington. He sat on a wooden chair in a small room lined with absorbent materials, an antenna aimed at the back of his head. In his hand he held a light switch. Outside, a colleague sent pulses of microwaves through the antenna at random intervals. If Prof Lin heard a sound, he pressed the switch. A single pulse sounded like a zip or a clicking finger. A series of pulses like a bird chirping. They were produced in his head rather than as sound waves coming from outside. Prof Lin believed the energy was absorbed by the soft brain tissue and converted to a pressure wave moving inside the head, which was interpreted by the brain as sound. This occurred when high-power microwaves were delivered as pulses rather than in the low-power continuous form you get from a modern microwave oven or other devices. Prof Lin recalls that he was careful not to dial it up too high. "I did not want to have my brain damaged," he told the BBC. In 1978, he found he was not alone in his interest, and received an unusual invitation to discuss his latest paper from a group of scientists who had been carrying out their own experiments. During the Cold War, science was the focus of intense super-power rivalry. Even areas like mind control were explored, amid fears of the other side getting an edge - and this included microwaves. Prof Lin was shown the Soviet approach at a centre of scientific research in the town of Pushchino, near Moscow. "They had a very elaborate, very well-equipped laboratory," Prof Lin recalls. But their experiment was cruder than his. The subject would sit in a drum of salty seawater with their head sticking out. Then microwaves would be fired at their brain. The scientists thought the microwaves interacted with the nervous system and wanted to question Prof Lin on his alternative view. Curiosity cut both ways, and US spies kept close track on Soviet research. A 1976 report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency, unearthed by the BBC, says it could find no proof of Communist-bloc microwave weapons, but says it had learnt of experiments where microwaves were pulsed at the throat of frogs until their hearts stopped. The report also reveals that the US was concerned Soviet microwaves could be used to impair brain function or induce sounds for psychological effect. "Their internal sound perception research has great potential for development into a system for disorienting or disrupting the behaviour patterns of military or diplomatic personnel." American interest was more than just defensive. James Lin would occasionally glimpse references to secret US work on weapons in the same field. And while Prof Lin was in Pushchino, another group of Americans not far away were worried that they were being zapped by microwaves - and that their own government had covered it up. For nearly a quarter of a century, the 10-storey US embassy in Moscow was bathed by a wide, invisible beam of low-level microwaves. It became known as "the Moscow signal". But for many years, most of those working inside knew nothing. The beam came from an antenna on the balcony of a nearby Soviet apartment and hit the upper floors of the embassy where the ambassador's office and more sensitive work was carried out. It had been first spotted in the 1950s and was later monitored from a room on the 10th floor. But its existence was a secret tightly held from all but a few working inside. "We were trying to figure out just what might be its purpose," explains Jack Matlock, number two at the embassy in the mid-70s. But a new ambassador, Walter Stoessel, arrived in 1974 and threatened to resign unless everyone was told. "That caused something like panic," recalls Mr Matlock. Embassy staff whose children were in a basement nursery were especially worried. But the State Department played down any risk. Then Ambassador Stoessel, himself, fell ill - with bleeding of the eyes as one of his symptoms. In a now declassified 1975 phone call to the Soviet ambassador to Washington, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger linked Stoessel's illness to microwaves, admitting "we are trying to keep the thing quiet". Stoessel died of leukaemia at the age of 66. "He decided to play the good soldier", and not make a fuss, his daughter told the BBC. From 1976 screens were installed to protect people. But many diplomats were angry, believing the State Department had first kept quiet, and then resisted acknowledging any possible health impact. This was a claim echoed decades later with Havana syndrome. What was the Moscow signal for? "I'm pretty sure that the Soviets had intentions other than damaging us," says Matlock. They were ahead of the US in surveillance technology and one theory was that they bounced microwaves off windows to pick up conversations, another that they were activating their own listening devices hidden inside the building or capturing information through microwaves hitting US electronic devices (known as "peek and poke"). The Soviets at one point told Matlock that the purpose was actually to jam American equipment on the embassy roof used to intercept Soviet communications in Moscow. This is the world of surveillance and counter-surveillance, one so secret that even within embassies and governments only a few people know the full picture. One theory is that Havana involved a much more targeted method to carry out some kind of surveillance with higher-power, directed microwaves. One former UK intelligence official told the BBC that microwaves could be used to "illuminate" electronic devices to extract signals or identify and track them. Others speculate that a device (even perhaps an American one) might have been poorly engineered or malfunctioned and caused a physical reaction in some people. However, US officials tell the BBC no device has been identified or recovered. After a lull, cases began to spread beyond Cuba. In December 2017, Marc Polymeropolous woke suddenly in a Moscow hotel room. A senior CIA officer, he was in town to meet Russian counterparts. "My ears were ringing, my head was spinning. I felt like I was going to vomit. I couldn't stand up," he told the BBC. "It was terrifying." It was a year after the first Havana cases, but the CIA medical office told him his symptoms didn't match the Cuban cases. A long battle for medical treatment began. The severe headaches never went away and in the summer of 2019 he was forced to retire. Mr Polymreopolous originally thought he had been hit by some kind of technical surveillance tool that had been "turned up too much". But when more cases emerged at the CIA which were all, he says, linked to people working on Russia, he came to believe he had been targeted with a weapon. But then came China, including at the consulate in Guangzhou in early 2018. Some of those affected in China contacted Beatrice Golomb, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, who has long researched the health effects of microwaves, as well as other unexplained illnesses. She told the BBC that she wrote to the State Department's medical team in January 2018 with a detailed account of why she thought microwaves were responsible. "This makes for interesting reading," was the non-committal response. Prof Golomb says high levels of radiation were recorded by family members of personnel in Guangzhou using commercially available equipment. "The needle went off the top of the available readings." But she says the State Department told its own employees that the measurements they had taken off their own back were classified. A host of problems plagued early investigations. There was a failure to collect consistent data. The State Department and CIA failed to communicate with each other, and the scepticism of their internal medical teams caused tension. Only one out of the nine cases from China was initially determined by the State Department to match the criteria for the syndrome based on Havana cases. That left others who experienced symptoms angry, and feeling as if they were being accused of making it up. They began a battle for equal treatment, which is still going on today. As frustration grew, some of those affected turned to Mark Zaid, a lawyer who specialises in national security cases. He now acts for around two dozen government personnel, half from the intelligence community. "This is not Havana syndrome. It's a misnomer," argues Mr Zaid, whose clients were affected in many locations. "What's been going on has been known by the United States government probably, based on evidence that I have seen, since the late 1960s." Since 2013, Mr Zaid has represented one employee of the US National Security Agency who believed they were damaged in 1996 in a location which remains classified. Mr Zaid questions why the US government has been so unwilling to acknowledge a longer history. One possibility, he says, is because it might open a Pandora's Box of incidents that have been ignored over the years. Another is because the US, too, has developed and perhaps even deployed microwaves itself and wants to keep it secret. The country's interest in weaponising microwaves extended beyond the end of the Cold War. Reports say from the 1990s, the US Air Force had a project codenamed "Hello" to see if microwaves could create disturbing sounds in people's heads, one called "Goodbye" to test their use for crowd control, and one codenamed "Goodnight" to see if they could be used to kill people. Reports from a decade ago suggested these had not proved successful. But the study of the mind and what can be done to it has been receiving increased focus within the military and security world. "The brain is being seen as the 21st Century battle-scape," argues James Giordano, an adviser to the Pentagon and Professor in Neurology and Biochemistry at Georgetown University, who was asked to look at the initial Havana cases. "Brain sciences are global. It is not just the province of what used to be known as the West." Ways to both augment and damage brain function are being worked on, he told the BBC. But it is a field with little transparency or rules. He says China and Russia have been engaged in microwave research and raises the possibility that tools developed for industrial and commercial uses - for instance to test the impact of microwaves on materials - could have been repurposed. But he also wonders if disruption and spreading fear were also the aim. This kind of technology may have been around for a while - and even have been used selectively. But that would still mean something changed in Cuba to get it noticed. Bill Evanina was a senior intelligence official when the Havana cases emerged, and stepped down as the head of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center this year. He has little doubt about what happened in Havana. "Was it an offensive weapon? I believe it was," he told the BBC. He believes microwaves may have been deployed in recent military conflicts, but points to specific circumstances to explain a shift. Cuba, 90 miles off the Florida coast, has long been an ideal site to collect "signals intelligence" by intercepting communications. During the Cold War, it was home to a major Soviet listening station. When Vladimir Putin visited in 2014, reports suggested it was being re-opened. China also opened two sites in recent years, according to one source, while the Russians sent in 30 additional intelligence officers. But from 2015, the US was back in town. With its newly opened embassy and a beefed-up presence, the US was just beginning to establish its footing, collecting intelligence and pushing back against Russian and Chinese spies. "We were in a ground fight," one person recalls. Then the sounds began. "Who had the most to benefit from the closing of the embassy in Havana?" asks Mr Evanina. "If the Russian government was increasing and promulgating their intelligence collection in Cuba, it was probably not good for them to have the US in Cuba." Russia has repeatedly dismissed accusations it is involved, or has "directed microwave weapons". "Such provocative, baseless speculation and fanciful hypotheses can't really be considered a serious matter for comment," its foreign ministry has said. And there have been sceptics about the very existence of Havana syndrome. They argue that the unique situation in Cuba supports their case.

Contagious Stress

Robert W Baloh, a Professor of Neurology at UCLA, has long studied unexplained health symptoms. When he saw the Havana syndrome reports, he concluded they were a mass psychogenic condition. He compares this to the way people feel sick when they are told they have eaten tainted food even if there was nothing wrong with it - the reverse of the placebo effect. "When you see mass psychogenic illness, there's usually some stressful underlying situation," he says. "In the case of Cuba and the mass of the embassy employees - particularly the CIA agents who first were affected - they certainly were in a stressful situation." In his view, every-day symptoms like brain fog and dizziness are reframed - by sufferers, media and health professionals - as the syndrome. "The symptoms are as real as any other symptoms," he says, arguing that individuals became hyper-aware and fearful as reports spread, especially within a closed community. This, he believes, then became contagious among other US officials serving abroad.

There remain many unexplained elements. Why did Canadian diplomats report symptoms in Havana? Were they collateral damage from targeting nearby Americans? And why have no UK officials reported symptoms? "The Russians have literally tried to kill people on British soil in recent years with radioactive materials, yet why are there no reported cases?" asks Mark Zaid. "I would probably put on pause the statement that no-one in the UK has experienced any symptoms," responds Bill Evanina, who says the US is now sharing details with allies to spot cases. Some instances may be unrelated. "We had a bunch of military folk in the Middle East who claimed to have this attack - turned out they had food poisoning," says one former official. "We need to separate the wheat from the chaff," reckons Mark Zaid, who says members of the public, some with mental health issues, approach him claiming to suffer from microwave attacks. One former official reckons around half the cases reported by US officials are possibly linked to attacks by an adversary. Others say the real number could be even smaller. A December 2020 report by the US National Academies of Sciences was a pivotal moment. Experts took evidence from scientists and clinicians as well as eight victims. "It was quite dramatic," recalls Professor David Relman of Stanford, who chaired the panel. "Some of these people literally were in hiding, for fear of further actions against them by whomever. There were actually precautions we had to take to ensure their safety." The panel looked at psychological and other causes, but concluded that directed, high energy, pulsed microwaves were most likely responsible for some of the cases, similar to the view of James Lin, who gave evidence. But even though the State Department sponsored the study, it still considers the conclusion only a plausible hypothesis and officials say they have not found further evidence to support it. The Biden administration has signalled it is taking the issue seriously. CIA and State Department officials are given advice on how to respond to incidents (including 'getting off the X' - meaning physically moving from a spot if they feel they are getting hit). The State Department has set up a task force to support staff over what are now called "unexplained health incidents". Previous attempts to categorise cases as to whether they met specific criteria have been abandoned. But without a definition, it becomes harder to count. This year, a new wave of cases arrived - including Berlin and a larger group in Vienna. In August, a trip by US Vice-President Kamala Harris to Vietnam was delayed three hours because of a reported case at the embassy in Hanoi. Worried diplomats are now asking questions before taking foreign assignments with their families. "This is a major distraction for us if we think that the Russians are doing things to our intelligence officers who are travelling," says former CIA officer Polymreopolous, who finally received the medical treatment he wanted this year. "That's going to put a crimp in our operational footprint." The CIA has taken over the hunt for a cause, with a veteran of the hunt for Osama bin Laden placed in charge.

Markers In The Blood

An accusation that another state has been harming US officials is a consequential one. "That's an act of war," says Mr Polymeropolous. That makes it a high bar to reach. Policymakers will demand hard evidence, which so far, officials say, is still lacking. Five years on, some US officials say little more is known other than when Havana syndrome started. But others disagree. They say the evidence for microwaves is much stronger now, if not yet conclusive. The BBC has learnt that new evidence is arriving as data is collected and analysed more systematically for the first time. Some of the cases this year showed specific markers in the blood, indicating brain injury. These markers fall away after a few days and previously too much time had elapsed to spot them. But now that people are being tested much more quickly after reporting symptoms, they have been seen for the first time. The debate remains divisive and it is possible the answer is complex. There may be a core of real cases, while others have been folded into the syndrome. Officials raise the possibility that the technology and the intent might have changed over time, perhaps shifting to try and unsettle the US. Some even worry one state may have piggy-backed on another's activities. "We like a simple label diagnosis," argues Professor Relman. "But sometimes it is tough to achieve. And when we can't, we have to be very careful not to simply throw up our hands and walk away." The mystery of Havana syndrome could be its real power. The ambiguity and fear it spreads act as a multiplier, making more and more people wonder if they are suffering, and making it harder for spies and diplomats to operate overseas. Even if it began as a tightly defined incident, Havana syndrome may have developed a life of its own."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-58396698

I want 5G, and even 6G, technology in the United States as soon as possible. It is far more powerful, faster, and smarter than the current standard. American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind. There is no reason that we should be lagging behind on.........

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2019

Space Fence surveillance radar site declared operational

The $1.5 billion Space Fence can track tiny objects in low Earth orbit as small as a marble.

Sandra Erwin

March 28, 2020

WASHINGTON — The space surveillance radar site known as the Space Fence is ready for use after five years in construction, the U.S. Space Force announced March 27.

The $1.5 billion Space Fence — located on Kwajalein Island in the Republic of the Marshall Islands — is a ground-based radar system that tracks satellites and space debris primarily in low Earth orbit. Lockheed Martin was selected as the prime contractor in 2014.

The Space Fence can track tiny objects as small as a marble. It also provides a search capability for objects at higher orbits. Data from the Space Fence will feed into the military’s Space Surveillance Network.

The Space Surveillance Network tracks about 26,000 objects. The addition of the Space Fence will increase the catalog size significantly over time, the Space Force said in a news release.

The Space Fence is operated by the 20th Space Control Squadron based in Huntsville, Alabama. The squadron provides data to the 18th Space Control Squadron located at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, the unit responsible for maintaining the space object catalog.

“Space Fence is revolutionizing the way we view space by providing timely, precise orbital data on objects that threaten both manned and unmanned military and commercial space assets,” said Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond.

The solid-state S-band radar will detect closely spaced objects, breakups, maneuvers, launches, conjunction assessments and depleted rocket boosters.

https://spacenews.com/space-fence-surveillance-radar-site-declared-operational/

Lyon County Sheriff's Office - Nevada

February 26, 2020 ·

Sixteen years ago today, the Serenko family lost a loved one and the Lyon County Sheriff's Office lost one of our brothers.

Deputy Mick Serenko was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey but lived most of his life in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The day after he graduated high school Mick joined the Navy and he always said it was the best move he ever made. The Navy gave him stability and focus in his life, it enabled him to see much of the world, and it helped him gain an education (majoring in Criminal Justice).

When Mick talked about retiring from the Navy it was always with the idea of becoming a law enforcement officer. He and his lovely wife, Sharon, checked out several areas around the country (including Texas and Washington State) but ultimately decided on Nevada as the place to plant their roots.

Mick went to work for the Lyon County Sheriff's Office and served there until the night he suffered a major heart attack on the job. He was hospitalized and passed away a couple days later on February 26, 2004.

Deputy Mick Serenko loved being a cop and he is sorely missed.

https://www.facebook.com/story.php/?story_fbid=1234461393427621&id=100064937010102

Alameda County Sheriff's Office

February 14, 2022 ·

DEATH OF ALAMEDA COUNTY DEPUTY SHERIFF AUBREY PHILLIPS

For Immediate Release:

It is with tremendous sadness we report the sudden and unexpected death of Deputy Sheriff Aubrey Phillips.

On Saturday, February 12, 2022, Deputy Phillips was assigned as a patrol officer to the City of Dublin, California a contract police service of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. About 1:46 am, Deputy Phillips conducted a traffic enforcement stop in which she arrested the driver of the vehicle. During the process of that arrest, while seated in her patrol vehicle, Deputy Phillips suffered a severe and acute medical emergency. Another officer noticed Deputy Phillips in distress and immediately began life saving efforts and called for emergency medical services. Deputy Phillips was rushed to Stanford Valley Care Hospital in Pleasanton, California and was listed in critical condition. She was transported to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek for life saving intervention. Tragically, medical professionals were unable to save her life and she passed away.

Deputy Phillips was a registered organ donor and she will donate her organs to others as a result of her death. Sheriff Gregory Ahern stated, “This tragic event has touched each member of this agency. Aubrey’s short life will live on even after her passing. Aubrey will continue to serve her community by giving the gift of life to others in need. She was truly a remarkable person and served this agency and Alameda County with dignity and honor.”

Deputy Phillips was 36 years old. She was a five year veteran of the Agency and assigned as a midnight shift patrol officer in the City of Dublin. Deputy Phillips is the daughter of an honorably retired Alameda County Deputy Sheriff and her husband is a current Deputy Sheriff for Alameda County. Deputy Phillips and her husband have three young children.

Our Agency is heartbroken over the sudden death of Deputy Phillips. We are providing counseling and peer support to our members impacted by her loss.

Further information regarding funeral services will be provided at a later date.

*Photographs of Aubrey Phillips are attached for media use.

Lt. Ray Kelly

Chief of Staff

Public Information officer

Alameda County Sheriff’s Office

1401 Lakeside Dr. 12th Floor

Oakland, CA 94612

https://www.facebook.com/ACSOSheriffs/posts/pfbid03FbGAv9eFcNaheypozH59kCLJkzHLwrL7qgUHbStiV9MtbcBU9pUt7KpTPk8Hbngl

Salvador Miranda (October 18, 1939 – June 1, 2024) was an American bibliographer, librarian and church historian.[1][2]

Biography

Miranda was born on October 18, 1939, in Havana, Cuba.[2] In 1958, he graduated from the Jesuit-run Colegio de Belén in Havana after which he attended the law school at the University of Havana.[2] After the Cuban Revolution in 1963, he moved to Puerto Rico to study humanities at the University of Puerto Rico.[2] As a young Cuban exile, he was a member of the Cuban-American expeditionary force in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.[1] He then returned to school graduating with a B.A. in History and Philosophy from Biscayne College; an M.A. in Modern European History in 1974 from Villanova University; and an M.S. in Library and Information Science in 1976 from Florida State University.[2] After graduating from Florida State, he accepted a position as the Latin American and Caribbean Bibliographer at the University of Florida Libraries in Gainesville.[2] In 1986, he served as assistant director for Collection Management at Florida International University Libraries in Miami.[2] On June 30, 2001, he retired.[2]

The title of his 319-page master's thesis in history was The Sacred College of Cardinals in the Twentieth Century (1903-1973): Developments, Documents and Biographies[2] which he expanded to include earlier cardinals and then digitized, making it available as an online resource.[1] In appreciation of his research, Bishop Cipriano Calderón Polo, the founding director of the Spanish edition of the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano and the vice president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, whom he corresponded with for years over the history of the episcopacy, invited him to present at the first continental meeting of bishops from Latin America in 1999.[1][3]

His research and expertise has been used as a resource by various publications including The New York Times,[4] The Cleveland Plain Dealer,[5] Religion News Service,[6] La Stampa,[7] and The Wall Street Journal.[8]

On 28 June 2023, Miranda posted on The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church's main page that he had been hospitalized with cardiac issues.[9] He died on June 1, 2024, at the age of 84.[10][11]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Miranda_(historian)

REMOTE CONTROL HEART ATTACK WEAPONS

"The brain is on the verge of becoming the next battlefield with weapons currently being designed to hack directly into your nervous system.

"Controlled Personnel Effects"

(see image, right) is one of the Air Force’s ambitious long-term challenges. It starts with better and more accurate bombs, but moves on to discuss devices that "make selected adversaries think or act according to our needs… By studying and modeling the human brain and nervous system, the ability to mentally influence or confuse personnel is also possible."

The first stage is technology to “remotely create physical sensations.”

They give the example of the Active Denial System "people zapper" which uses a high-frequency radiation similar to microwaves as a non-lethal means of crowd control.

Other weapons can affect the nervous system directly. The Pulsed Energy Projectile fires a short intense pulse of laser energy. This vaporizes the outer layer of the target, creating a rapidly-expanding expanding ball of plasma. At different power levels, those expanding plasmas could deliver a harmless warning, stun the target, or disable them – all with pinpoint laser precision from a mile away.

Early reports on the effects of PEPs mentioned temporary paralysis, then thought to be related to ultrasonic shockwaves. It later became apparent that the electromagnetic pulse caused by the expanding plasma was triggering nerve cells

Details of this emerged in a heavily-censored document released to Ed Hammond of the Sunshine Project under the Freedom if Information Act. Called “Sensory consequence of electromagnetic pulsed emitted by laser induced plasmas,” it described research on activating the nerve cells responsible for sensing unpleasant stimuli: heat, damage, pressure, cold. By selectively stimulating a particular nociceptor, a finely tuned PEP might sensations of say, being burned, frozen or dipped in acid — all without doing the slightest actual harm.

The skin is the easiest target for such stimulation. But, in principle, any sensory nerves could be triggered. The Controlled Effects document suggests “it may be possible to create synthetic images…to confuse an individual’ s visual sense or, in a similar manner, confuse his senses of sound, taste, touch, or smell.”

In other words, it may be possible to use electromagnetic means to create overwhelming ‘sound’ or ‘light’, or indeed ‘intolerable smell’ which would exist only in the brain of the person perceiving them.

There is another side as well. The “sensory consequences” document also notes that the nervous system which controls muscles could be influenced to cause what they call “Taser-like motor effects.” The stun gun’s ability to shock the muscles into malfunction is relatively crude; we might now be looking at are much more targeted effects.

The American military may want to attack the nervous system, with pain rays and laser plasma pulses. But they’re not the only ones.

The Russians have long studied such systems, too — including one weapon that could, in theory, remotely trigger heart attacks.

In 2003, at the 2nd European Symposium on Non-Lethal Weapons, Anatoly Korolev and his colleagues from Moscow State University presented a paper with the snappy title "Bioelectrodynamic Criterion of the NLW Effectiveness Estimation and the Interaction mechanisms of the multilayer Skin Tissues with electromagnetic Radiation." This is a study of how radio-frequency weapons — like the American Active Denial System — affect the skin. After wading through a mass of technical data showing how complex the interactions are we reach the punch line:

The sensations modality (pricking, touch, pressure, gooseflesh, touch, burning pain etc) depends on the field parameters and individual concrete human being factors. As a matter of fact, we can really choose the non-lethal bioeffect.

The effects include sensations similar to those discussed previously, and more besides. The paper discusses effects on cell membranes and affecting the body’s normal function, including "information transfer to the organs of control."

At the same conference, V Makukhin of the Trymas Engineering Center in Moscow described "Electronic equipment for complex influence on biological objects." And when he says "biological objects," he means you and me.

His laboratory apparatus uses a modulated beam of radio waves to produce what he terms "disorder of autonomic nervous system," put forward as a possible non-lethal weapon. Makhunin notes that there is no general agreement on how EM waves disrupt nerves – he mentions ion channels similar to those in the plasma paper – but he certainly seems to be seeing the same effects as American researchers.

But it need not be a non-lethal weapon. Makhunin also mentions the effects of "change of electrocardiogram" and what he calls "function break of heart muscle."

The vulnerability of the heart to electrical stimulation (including that produced by EM waves) is well documented.

A lethal device would interfere with the electrical potentials that keep the chambers of the heart synchronized, producing fibrillation and rapid death. A death ray doesn’t need to be a truck-sized laser that

reduces the target to smoking heap; a small device that stops the heart will do the job.

Little has been openly published in this area in the public domain, but this may be the tip of the iceberg. We are likely to be hearing more in future – especially if the Russians manage to find funding.

I don’t think we need tinfoil hats just yet. But a layer of conducting mesh built into body armor might save a lot of heartache in years to come."

REMOTE CONTROL HEART ATTACK WEAPONS

https://www.impactlab.com/2006/02/15/remote-control-heart-attack-weapons/

Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather in 2025

In 2025, US aerospace forces can own the weather by capitalizing on emerging technologies and focusing development of those technologies to war fighting applications. Such a capability offers the war fighter tools to shape the battlespace in ways never before possible. It provides opportunities to impact operations across the full spectrum of conflict and is pertinent to all possible futures. The purpose of this paper is to outline a strategy for the use of a future weather modification system to achieve military objectives rather than to provide a detailed technical road map. A high risk, high reward endeavor, weather modification offers a dilemma not unlike the splitting of the atom While some segments of society will always be reluctant to examine controversial issues such as weather modification, the tremendous military capabilities that could result from this field are ignored at our own peril. From enhancing friendly operations or disrupting those of the enemy via small scale tailoring of natural weather patterns to complete dominance of global communications and counterspace control, weather modification offers the war fighter a wide range of possible options to defeat or coerce an adversary. Some of the potential capabilities a weather modification system could provide to a war fighting commander in chief CINC are listed in table 1. Technology advancements in five major areas are necessary for an integrated weather modification capability 1 advanced nonlinear modeling techniques, 2 computational capability, 3 information gathering and transmission, 4 a global sensor array, and 5 weather intervention techniques. Some intervention tools exist today and others may be developed and refined in the future."

Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather in 2025 (dtic.mil)

As early as 1990, weather force specialists at the U.S. Air Force Academy were hard at work studying how to chemically mix and lay “aerial obscuration” they called “chemtrails.” Project Cloverleaf began quietly enough (as all classified projects do) with the 1994 Hughes Aircraft patent for Welsbach Seeding For Reduction of Global Warming. Welsbach seeding called for spreading highly reflective materials in the atmosphere to reflect back into space 1–2 percent of incoming sunlight and thus slow down “global warming.” However, it was also about beginning to create a more conductive atmosphere in preparation for Bernard Eastlund’s High-frequency Active Auroral Research Project (HAARP) already under construction in Alaska. The reflective material (~10 microns) to be added to jet auxiliary fuel tanks was the highly conductive compound aluminum oxide (Al2O3). The jet’s main tanks would be reserved for takeoff and landing, and the auxiliary loaded with Al2O3 for cruising altitude. Lawrence Livermore National Labs priced the program at US$1 billion per annum (in 1994 dollars). By the late 1990s, aerial grids were being laid over chosen regions and cities of the U.S. and other NATO nations. In 1996, the military went public with two documents that obliquely referenced what Cloverleaf was up to: the Pentagon paper “Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather in 2025” in Air Force 2025,1 which called the chemical whitening effect “cirrus shielding”; and U.S. Space Command’s Vision for 2020 calling for full spectrum dominance of space, land, sea, and air.2 Air traffic controllers (ATC) at major airports were coached to re-route commercial air traffic around military craft engaged in “classified aerial operations” at 37,000–40,000 feet. ATC radar revealed a haze of aluminum and barium—Al2O3 for solar radiation management (SRM) geoengineering, barium stearate Ba(C18H35O2)2 for lubrication, radar imaging, and highpowered RF-microwave beam weapons.

A wide range of particles could be released into the stratosphere to achieve the SRM objective of scattering sunlight back to space. Sulfates and nanoparticles currently favored for SRM include sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, carbonyl sulfide, black carbon, and specially engineered discs composed of metallic aluminum, aluminum oxide and barium titanate. In particular, engineered nanoparticles are considered very promising. The particles would utilize photophoretic and electromagnetic forces to self-levitate above the stratosphere. These nanoparticles would remain suspended longer than sulfate particles, would not interfere with stratospheric chemistry, and would not produce acid rain. However, while promising, the self-levitating nanodisc has not been tested to verify efficacy, may increase ocean acidification due to atmospheric CO2 entrapment, has uncharacterized human health and environmental impacts, and may be prohibitively expensive.3

The truth is that the 10 billion SRM discs 10 micrometers across and 50 nanometers thick are engineered with a core of aluminum, a top layer of aluminum oxide, and a bottom layer of barium titanate—aluminum to reflect heat up, heavier barium purportedly to push the discs up (photophoresis). Introduce a magnetic component, then spray, and the nanoparticles will follow the Earth’s magnetic field into the upper atmosphere. By 1998, the Ontario Ministry of Environment (Canada) found 7X the safe limit for aluminum in rainwater samples. More and more citizens complained of sudden headaches, joint pains, dizziness, fatigue, acute asthma, gastrointestinal pain, coughs, and feverless flu symptoms. In 2000, Cloverleaf went public in an offhand way with a comment from an anonymous airline executive to independent scientist Clifford Carnicom, then the most visible scientist collecting data on the aerosol fallout over northern New Mexico. According to this “Deep Throat,” the purpose of Cloverleaf was “to allow commercial airlines to assist in releasing these chemicals into the atmosphere.”4 Military jets simply could not keep up with the “global dimming” now called solar radiation management (SRM), so the entire airline industry was being drafted in the name of national security."

Under An Ionized Sky: From Chemtrails To Space Fence Lockdown by Elana Freeland

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oneu_kEMMH5AeAffiWOR_7NJ0HptHJrC/view?usp=sharing

Lightning bolt hit Vatican not once but TWICE hours after Pope's shock resignation

The lightning touched the roof of St. Peter's Basilica, one of the holiest Catholic churches, hours after Benedict XVI's shock announcement

By Paul Cockerton Mirror Deputy Editor (Live)

12:58, 12 Feb 2013 Updated 00:56, 13 Feb 2013

Lightning struck the Vatican not once but TWICE - hours after Pope Benedict XVI's shock resignation.

The spooky moment, believed by some, to be a sign from God, was caught on camera by AFP photographer Filippo Monteforte.

Today he described how he took the incredible image which has been beamed all over the world.

He said: "I took the picture from St. Peter’s Square while sheltered by the columns. It was icy cold and raining sheets. When the storm started, I thought that lightning might strike the rod, so I decided it was worth seeing whether – if it DID strike – I could get the shot at exactly the right moment.”

Filippo, armed with a 50mm lens, waited for more than two hours and was rewarded for his patience with not one but two bolts.

He added: “The first bolt was huge and lit up the sky, but unfortunately I missed it. I had better luck the second time, and was able to snap a couple of images of the dome illuminated by the bolt.”

The lightning touched the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, one of the holiest Catholic churches, after the Pope's shock admission he lacks strength to do the job.

The Vatican stressed that no specific medical condition prompted Benedict's decision to quit - the first pontiff to do so in 600 years.

The move surprised even his closest aides, even though Benedict, 85, had made clear in the past he would step down if he became too old or infirm.

In recent years, the Pope has slowed down significantly, cutting back his foreign travel and limiting his audiences.

He now goes to and from the altar in St Peter's Basilica on a moving platform, to spare him the long walk down the aisle. Occasionally he uses a cane.

His 89-year-old brother, Georg Ratzinger, said doctors had recently advised the Pope not to take any more trans-Atlantic trips.

"His age is weighing on him," Mr Ratzinger said. "At this age my brother wants more rest."

Benedict announced his resignation in Latin during a meeting of Vatican cardinals, calling it "a decision of great importance for the life of the church."

He emphasised that carrying out the duties of being pope requires "both strength of mind and body."

He told the cardinals: "I have come to the certainty that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry."

Click for Sound

The Vatican will hold a conclave before Easter to elect a new pope, with Benedict holding great sway over who should succeed him to lead the world's one billion Catholics.

Benedict has already hand-picked the bulk of the College of Cardinals - the princes of the church who will elect the next pope - to guarantee an equally-conservative legacy.

There are no obvious front-runners to replace him - the same situation when Benedict was elected in 2005 after the death of Pope John Paul II.

Given half of the world's Catholics live in the global south, there will once again be arguments for a pope to come from the developing world.

When Benedict was elected aged 78, he was the oldest pope chosen in nearly 300 years.

He raised the possibility of resigning if he were too old or sick to continue, when he was interviewed in 2010 for the book "Light of the World."

"If a pope clearly realises that he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right, and under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign," Benedict said.

The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had an intimate view as Pope John Paul II, with whom he had worked closely for nearly a quarter-century, suffered through the debilitating end of his papacy.

The Vatican said immediately after his resignation that Benedict would go to Castel Gandolfo, a summer retreat south of Rome, and then would live in a cloistered monastery.

Benedict said he would serve the church for the remainder of his days "through a life dedicated to prayer."

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/lightning-bolt-hit-vatican-not-1705156

Covid origins: Chinese scientists publish long-awaited data Published 7 April

By Victoria Gill Science correspondent, BBC News

A research team in China has published analysis of samples taken more than three years ago from the market linked to the outbreak of Covid-19. The Huanan seafood and wildlife market has been a focal point in the search for the origin of the coronavirus. But this is the first peer-reviewed study of biological evidence gathered from the market back in 2020. By linking the virus with animals sold in the market, it could open new lines of inquiry into how the outbreak began. The research reveals swabs that tested positive for the virus also contained genetic material from wild animals. Some scientists say this is further evidence that the disease was initially transmitted from an infected animal to a human. But others have urged caution in interpreting the findings and it remains unclear why it took three years for the genetic content of the samples to be made public. Another theory has centred on the suggestion that the virus accidentally leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan. No definitive proof The Chinese research team posted an early version of their study online back in February 2022, but they did not publish the full genetic information that was contained in the samples gathered from the market. In March this year, another international group of researchers shared their own assessment of what those crucial market swabs had revealed, after spotting that the genetic sequences had been posted on a scientific data-sharing website. This new analysis, which has been validated by other scientists before being published in the journal Nature, includes more important detail about the content of those samples, which were collected from stalls, surfaces, cages and machinery inside the market. The Chinese research team's paper showed that some samples - collected from areas where wildlife was being sold - had tested positive for the virus. Their analysis also showed that animals now known to be susceptible to the virus, particularly raccoon dogs, were being sold alive in those locations. But the Chinese researchers have pointed out that their discoveries fall short of definitive proof of how the outbreak started. "These environmental samples cannot prove that the animals were infected," the paper explains. The possibility remains, it adds, that the virus was brought into the market by an infected person, rather than an animal. Prof David Robertson, from the University of Glasgow, is a virologist who has been involved in the genetic investigation into the origin of SARS-CoV-2 since it emerged in 2020. He told BBC News: "The most important thing is that this very important dataset is now published and available for others to work on." But he added that the contents of the samples were "compelling evidence that animals there were probably infected with the virus". "It's the whole body of evidence that's important," he said. "When you bring this together with the fact that the early Covid-19 cases in Wuhan are linked to the market, it's strong evidence that this is where a spillover from an animal in the market occurred." The published findings come amid signs that the lab leak theory is gaining ground among authorities in the US. The Chinese government has strenuously denied suggestions that the virus originated in a scientific facility, but the FBI said it now believes that scenario is the "most likely", as does the US Department of Energy. Various US departments and agencies have investigated the mystery and produced differing conclusions, but on 1 March the FBI's director accused Beijing of "doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate", and disclosed the bureau had been convinced of the lab leak theory "for quite some time now". The FBI has not made their findings public, which has frustrated some scientists. The lead researcher of the new report, from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) in Beijing, has been contacted by the BBC for comment."

Covid origins: Chinese scientists publish long-awaited data - BBC News

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-65204169

A famous Jesuit General Michael Angelo Tambourini once boasted, in 1720, to the Duke of Brissac: " See, My Grace [my Lord], from this room, I govern not only Paris, but China; not only China, but the whole world, without anyone knowing how it is managed."

"Andrew Steinmetz, History of the Jesuits, Vol. 1 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Lea and Blanchard Publ.,/New York: Richard Bentley, 1848), pp.107, 168-169; see also, Constitution of the Jesuits, edited by Paris Paulin (1843); Eugene Sue (Marie Joseph), The Wandering Jew, (London: Chapman and Hall, 1844/ New York; Harper & Brothers,, 1845), Bk I, Chap. XV, P. 183; see also, p. 618, and Bk. II, p. 21; Abrige de I'Hist. Eccles. de Racine, Chap. xii. P. 77." page 129 Chapter XII

"Unhesitating Obedience: The General And The Holy Office"

Codeword Barbelon book One

by P.D. Stuart

Crown Plaza - Chinese restaurant 1 Tiyuguan Rd Wuchang District, Wuhan, Hubei China 430071

"Nowadays, everyone is aware of the word “corona” in the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic. “Corona” is a Latin word which means “crown or garland”. Coronaviruses have a crown or halo-like appearance of their envelope glycoproteins.[1] Few body structures and dermatoses also share the name corona. This article summarises all such structures and diseases." Coronavirus is Not the Only Corona We Know in Dermatology - PMC (nih.gov)

East Lake High-tech Zone is short for Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone, which is also known as Optics Valley of China (OVC). East Lake High-tech Zone was founded in 1988 and was approved by the State Council in succession as one of the first national high-tech zones, the second National Innovation Demonstration Zone, the China (Hubei) Pilot Free Trade Zone – Wuhan Area and the core area for the Hubei Cross-Straits Industrial Cooperation Zone. Optics Valley has also been recognized as a National Optoelectronic Information Industrial Base, a National Bio-industry Base, a talent base for central SOEs, a National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Demonstration Base, as well as a National Memory Base.

Developmental milestones Establishment of East Lake High-tech Development Zone (1988)

Approved as one of the first national high-tech zones (1991)

Recognized as National Optoelectronics Information Industrial Base, also known as Wuhan Optics Valley of China (2001)

Approved as National Bio-industry Base (2007)

Approved by the State Council as the second National Innovation Demonstration Zone (2009)

Wuhan Future City was set to be a talent base for central SOEs (2011)

Recognized as China (Hubei) Pilot Free Trade Zone Wuhan Area (2016)

Recognized as one of the national innovation and entrepreneurship demonstration bases (2016)

National Memory Base (2016)

Listed as one of the top 10 high-tech zones to receive prioritized support by Ministry of Science and Technology (2017)

The zone has a planned area of 518 square kilometers and a population of about 1.8 million. It has 42 institutes of higher learning, including Wuhan University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology. It also has 56 research institutes at the national, provincial and ministerial levels and more than 300,000 professional and technical personnel, making Optics Valley one of the three most talent-intensive areas in the country. The zone has eight sub-districts: Guandong, Fozuling, Baoxie, Jiufeng, Huashan, Zuoling, Longquan and Binhu. It has eight industrial parks: the Biolake, Wuhan Future City, Wuhan East Lake Free Trade Zone, Optics Valley Optoelectronic Information Industrial Park, Optics Valley Modern Service Industrial Park, Optics Valley Smart Manufacturing Industrial Park, Optics Valley Chinese Sci-tech City and Optics Valley Central City. To augment its industrial ecosystem, the zone is constructing two world-class trillion-yuan-level industry clusters – namely the "Optics, IC, Displays, Terminals and Internet" cluster and the biomedicines cluster. It is also vigorously developing industrial forms of new economy and advancing the layout of future industries such as artificial intelligence, to constantly upgrade its primacy. In accordance with a three-step strategy for its development as a World Optics Valley, the zone is adhering to international standards. It is vigorously implementing a three-year action for high-quality development and is accelerating its construction as an internationally innovative Optics Valley, a modern and prosperous Optics Valley and an environmentally beautiful Optics Valley. OVC is currently home to 144 enterprises recognized among the new group of little giant companies set by the Department of Economy and Information Technology of Hubei Province."

Profile (chinaopticsvalley.com)

http://www.chinaopticsvalley.com/2021-03/23/c_631197.htm

Russia and China's relationship may not be as strong as it seems, report says

February 28, 2025 4:54 PM

By Liam Scott

WASHINGTON —

On the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine earlier this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed Beijing's "no limits" partnership with Moscow in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to Chinese state media.

"China-Russia relations have strong internal driving force and unique strategic value," Xi said, according to the official readout from state media. He also called Russia a "true friend" and a "good neighbor."

The sentiment is not new. Moscow and Beijing have long touted the strength and long-term nature of their relationship.

But according to a new report from Filter Labs, a U.S.-based political research and analysis company, Russia and China's relationship may be weaker than they want the rest of the world to believe.

"Their partnership is vulnerable," Filter Labs founder Jonathan Teubner told VOA. "This 'no limits' partnership is much more complicated."

'Infused with doubt'

While the governments and state-run media from both countries work to project the image of a strong partnership, their relationship may be underpinned by more tension, mistrust and competing interests than previously thought, according to an extensive analysis of news media and social media posts by Filter Labs.

"The axis is infused with doubt, ripe for disruption," the report said.

Teubner added, "The monolith theory of the China-Russia relationship isn't necessarily the way it has to be."

But not all experts agree that the Russia-China relationship is fragile.

"The China-Russia relationship continues to deepen and widen, and occasional disagreements are dwarfed by the scale and momentum of their strategic cooperation," Robert Blackwill and Richard Fontaine wrote in a 2024 Council on Foreign Relations report.

From the Chinese perspective, according to the Filter Labs report, there are doubts over the true resilience of Russia's economy, whether Russia's military is as strong as it says it is, and what Russia's true intentions are in the long term.

Meanwhile, says Filter Labs, Russian doubts pertain to quality concerns about Chinese goods, how militarily committed China actually is to Russia, and whether Chinese investment in Russia is really that substantial.

Chinese state media is generally positive about the state of the Russian economy and often criticizes Western sanctions.

However, Chinese netizens are increasingly worried about the impact that secondary sanctions could have on China.

The United States has threatened to use secondary sanctions against Chinese businesses viewed as engaging with Russia, pushing some Chinese netizens to weigh the value of China's relationship with Russia against its ability to trade with the United States.

Once those sanctions are enforced on China, Teubner predicts, it will lead to changes in the Russia-China relationship.

"The sanctions on Russia actually have a pretty important countering Chinese effect, too," said Teubner, who thinks the sanctions are the biggest source of friction between Beijing and Moscow.

Quality concerns

Meanwhile, the most common doubt among Russians about China pertains to quality concerns about Chinese goods, according to the report. In Russia, Chinese goods have a reputation for being affordable but of poor quality.

"We see more persistent complaints about Chinese goods," Teubner said.

"That's paired with Russian anxiety over pairing itself so deeply to China," Teubner added. "That comes through very strongly in Russian anxieties toward being subordinated to the Chinese economy."

One consequence of Russia's war in Ukraine has been that it has pushed Russia and China closer together, prompting some governments to default to treating the autocratic duo as a bloc, according to Teubner.

"It will increasingly be that way unless we do something to keep them apart," Teubner said.

The report recommends that the United States and its allies and partners take advantage of the fault lines to drive a wedge between Russia and China.

https://www.voanews.com/a/russia-and-china-s-relationship-may-not-be-as-strong-as-it-seems-report-says-/7992996.html

The CORONA [1] program was a series of American strategic reconnaissance satellites produced and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Directorate of Science & Technology with substantial assistance from the U.S. Air Force. The CORONA satellites were used for photographic surveillance of the Soviet Union (USSR), China, and other areas beginning in June 1959 and ending in May 1972."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CORONA_(satellite)

Published: 10 October 1996

Russian documents Set out 'tectonic weapon' research

Carl Levitin

Moscow. The first official details have emerged in Moscow of ambitious research into 'tectonic warfare' carried out by the former Soviet Union and subsequently by the government of Russia, and involving atte mpts to stimulate 'artificial' earthquakes as weapons of destruction. According to documents obtained by the newspaper Moscow News, two research programmes, the first known as ' Mercury ' and the second as ' Volcano', were aimed at creating new earthquake epicentres by using underground nuclear explosions . Geophysicists are aware that impending earthquakes may be triggered by underground nuclear explosions . But Western geophysicists remain sceptical about tectonic warfare and have all but abandoned research after two unsuccessful phases of activity in the 1960s and 1980s, says Roger Clark, a lecturer in geophysics at the University of Leeds. Clark is not at all surprised that th e Russians tried to create earthquakes and control their location electromagnetically, however. "This sort of science is very much part of their heritage. We don't think it is impossible, or wrong , but past experience suggests it is very, very unlikely. "

The programme , which was secretly launched by the Communist rulers of the former Soviet Union in 1987, and has been unofficially known to Western geophysicists for several years, is now believed to have been abandoned. It would certainly contravene the terms of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which Russia signe d at the United Nations in Geneva last month . The Mercury project was launched in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, but came to a halt when the republic became independent. It was superseded by the Volcano project. Three underground nuclear tests are believed to have taken place at sites in Kyrgyzstan.

According to the documents, the Mercury project was launched by a secret decree of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union. The objective was to "develop a methodology for remote operation on an earthquake epicentre by using weak seismic fields and research possibilities of transferring the seismic energy of an explosion ".

The documents say that the Mercury project involved 22 scientific and industrial organizations, including the Geological Institute of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences in Baku. The remit extended to developing the electronic equipment to be installed aboard space satellites that would control the tectonic weapon. The scientists were given three years to complete research, with testing planned for 1990.

During the research phase, Azerbaijani scientists grew increasingly confident and, according to the documents, were sure that " after [a] nuclear explosion, subterranean energy may accumulate at huge distances from the epicentre and reach massive capacity, after which the next directed explosion can release it all ".

Underground testing began at the town of Batken in Kyrgyzstan, and was directed by lkram Ke rimov , of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences. The documents say that scientists detonated an underground nuclear charge and tried to control the direction of seismic energy release d using British-built equipment known as 'system 9690 ' .

A report prepared by the Mozhaisky Military Engineering Institute concluded that the test had been a success. But progress slowed considerably following Azerbaijan's independence from the Soviet Union. At about this time , Russia embarked on a more comprehensive tectonic warfare programme known as the Volcano project. The Earth Physics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) became the project headquarters .

Research was scheduled to be completed in 1992, with underground testing beginning the following year. The final test was carried out at a place code-named S36NZ-0Kh; Moscow News believes the letters 'NZ' refer to Novaya Zemlya, where Soviet nuclear testing began in the 1950s."

https://www.nature.com/articles/383471a0

It's hard to see how the fishing industry will pick itself up again. Takeshi is moving away from the coast as is his neighbor and fellow fisherman. His wife has refused to return here since the tsunami hit. At the age of 77, he is unlikely to be able to start from scratch. But he picks up any remnants of his fishing gear he can find, just in case. What is left intact barely fills one small basket. His neighbor finds his clock. It has stopped at 3:22pm -- the exact moment his life changed and countless others ended." Misplaced trust: 30-foot tsunami wall didn't save Japanese village by Paul Hancocks

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/31/japan.tsunami.village/index.html

Skull and Bones, The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut."

"There is a secret that binds the two men who would be the next leader of the free world. President George W Bush and Senator John Kerry both spent a portion of their youth laying bare their sex lives in Gothic rituals presided over by a human skull and the skeletal remains of various other animal species in a windowless building known as the Tomb. They also formed an unusual attachment to the number 322, which holds a special resonance for the club's members." Skeletons in the closet

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/may/20/usa.internationaleducationnews

"It is perhaps worth noting, in light of George W.'s controversial episode at Bob Jones University and the specter of anti-Catholicism, that at one point in the proceedings every initiate kisses the slippered toe of the "Pope." At last the initiate is formally dubbed a Knight of Eulogia. Amid more raucous ritual he is cast from the room into the waiting arms of the patriarchs."

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2000/05/george-w-knight-of-eulogia/304686/

A major landslide occurred 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Oso, Washington, United States, on March 22, 2014 (3/22/2014), at 10:37 a.m. local time. A portion of an unstable hill collapsed, sending mud and debris to the south across the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River, engulfing a rural neighborhood, and covering an area of approximately 1 square mile (2.6 km2). Forty-three people were killed and 49 homes and other structures destroyed."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Oso_mudslide

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird

The 1947 Act loosely defined CIA’s mission into four broad tasks:

If you’re interested, you can find out more about what is called “the National Security Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of December 2004” on the DNI’s website.

~ Molly

https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/ask-molly-the-national-security-act-of-1947/

Molly

fem. proper name, a diminutive of Moll, which is a familiar form of Mary.

molly (n.1)

also from 18c.

molly (n.2)

seabird, 1857, short for mollymawk, mallemuck, from Dutch mallemok, from mal "foolish" + mok "gull."

also from 1857

https://www.etymonline.com/word/molly

Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the U.S. and 33rd degree Freemason, in full occult regalia, in an official lodge portrait. Truman ordered the atomic incineration of two Japanese cities, killing at least 150,000 people, mostly women and children. Roosevelt's chief of staff, Admiral Leahy, admitted to Walter Trohan of the Chicago Tribune, that Japan was ready to surrender conditionally without an invasion by U.S. ground forces. It was Truman's insistence upon "unconditional surrender" that set the stage for Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare

by Michael A. Hoffman II

Extrusive (Volcanic) Rock Classification

Volcanic rocks are classified based on their chemical composition as determined by analytical techniques that identify the proportion of major elements found in them. Unlike for plutonic rocks, it is not possible to classify volcanic rocks based on the minerals found in them.

Some volcanic rocks contain some crystals (phenocrysts) that grew in the magma chamber prior to eruption, but others contain no crystals at all or are volcanic glass (obsidian).

In addition to the mafic (low silica) basalt, and the silicic rhyolite, several subdivisions exist between the two compositional end members.

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/igneous.htm

THE CONCLAVE OR CELESTIAL CITY

Containing an epitome of the twelve degrees of the Philosophic Chamber of the Ancient and Accepted Rite.

The twelve degrees preceding the Rose Croix are as we have shown, associated with the twelve signs of the Zodiac.

From these fixed signs, the Rite passes to the Sun, Moon and the Planets.

From these the Rite looks to the four elements or four components of man, etc., and from these it considers the spirit and matter, or infinite and finite of the Universe and of man.

In the Rose Croix Degree, we have seen the son of masonry and heard the promise of universal peace and joy. Now let us proceed to seek the methods of realization, and learn how to restore the lost Eden and reedify the Celestial City."

Scotch Rite Masonry Illustrated

THE COMPLETE RITUAL OF THE

Ancient AND Accepted Scottish Rite,

PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED.

Volume 2

https://dn790006.ca.archive.org/0/items/scotchritemasonr02blan/scotchritemasonr02blan.pdf

"Very soon now, it will no longer be a mystery of 'when' these events will take place; they will have become a terrible reality. Where then, will each of us stand on these issues, when the onslaught actually begins? Quickly it will be seen that the New Ager's counterfeit messiah, Lord #Maitreya, is also the same person as the #Pontifex Maximus pope of Rome, who then will take the reins of the New World Order. The deceptions will mesh wonderfully together, as the "World Harmonic Convergence" accomplishes new values for mankind in the cooperation, collaboration and unification on behalf of the "Spirit of the Earth." For those of you who read this book, be patient, it won't be long and you will know that it revealed to you the truth.

Also, it is only a matter of time when Pope John Paul II, old and tired, will succumb to his great age, and his mantle will then go to a more younger and aggressive pope. By him, a work will now be accomplished, known as the "Era of Reseeding" when major population areas will be 'thinned out' and the human population will be resettled. Finally, will come the "Era of the New Harmony" and the "Crystal Kingdom" of the earth will be set up. This is the glorious version of Rome's final victory and total conquest of humanity. But there is one last crowning act that is needed to make this masterpiece of deception complete.

FALSE MESSIAH OCCUPIES JERUSALEM

The counterfeit surpassing all other counterfeits, Rome has now fulfilled its grandest dreams. The entire world lays in shambles at its feet. "Order out of Chaos" ,was its beloved motto.

Now the 'great pretender' , the Pontifex Maximus pope declares himself to be God over all the earth! Not content with just being ruler of all the earth - but "is worshiped; so that he as God sitting in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."

Only a Luciferic mind could think like that.

After usurping the very exalted position of grandeur, magnificence, majesty and sovereignty of God Himself - what other place would he choose to locate his Crystal Kingdom headquarters - other than where the God of creation has placed His own Holy name Jerusalem; where else? Rome has always had its covetous eye set on Jerusalem. The Crusaders were sent there to conquer it, after which, the Knights Templar were named after its temple. And now the Pontifex Maximus pope, dripping in blood of the world's innocents, claims this city as his too; to be the headquarters for ruling his New World Order.

Does all of this sound like some grotesque farcy tale or the terror of some fearsome nightmare? Oh my friend, how I wish that could really be the case; that we could actually wake up and none of this would really be true, and I could be called a liar. What I wouldn't give, if I could make that be so. But for all the sadness and horror it brings, it must be acknowledged that it is the truth. Not because man says so, but because God's Word has declared it. There is only one way to face the onslaught that is just ahead. We must fully trust our life into the hands of God, and then resolve in our minds that we are going to be killed; forgetting entirely the thought that we might be fortunate enough to escape. That is how thoroughly God's people are going to be rooted out. Know for sure in your own mind - they can kill your body ever so dead, but they can never take your life - if it is in Christ Jesus. That belongs to God alone.

Very soon, God's people are going to be confronted with the exact same experience as our Lord and Saviour. To know and look straight into the face of death - and yes, by the very same executioner - Rome. But our Lord loved you, dear reader, and me, and all, that He gave up His own life for ours. We must now respond to that love and be resolved to die also for Him, standing firm for His truth, as He died for us. And Rome can not kill us so dead, that our mighty God can not raise us back up to life. Not the miserable life we know now but incorruptible life for eternity. A quick calculation will tell you, that if one third of the earth's population, or nearly two billion people, are going to be slaughtered, only a minuscule fraction of that amount are fundamentalist Christians . That means a huge amount of people are going to die that are not Christians. Sadly, beyond any comprehension, they will have died for a very lost cause.

From all the horror, misery, and bloodshed, people universally, will become utterly paralyzed from sheer shock.

And to the overwhelming majority of them, sadly, this life is their only world, as they watch it being ripped apart; everywhere, nothing but chaos and devastation. They are terrified. They just do not understand! But there are a people that do understand; as they watch now with solemn awe, events occurring that they had known about and anticipated for many many years. This is what gives to God's people "hope". They know that God does not lie. God has given to His people promises, predictions, and prophecies that have never ever failed. That, dear friend, is wonderful, unselfish, and abiding love! - that builds unswerving trust. And no other promise is so deeply embedded into their hearts, than the one given that

Christ will soon return and redeem His people out of this wretched world. It buoys their spirits, as it assures them precious

'hope'.

Five hundred years before Jesus Christ walked the earth, God revealed to His people that Rome's false messiah, in the very end times, would "plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain." In other words, Jerusalem. (Daniel 11:45) What an incredible God we have! But notice how God describes it. He calls Rome setting up its New World Order headquarters in Jerusalem the "abomination that maketh desolate." In fact, Christ Himself prophesied that Rome would invade Jerusalem soon after His departure from earth, which it did in A.D.70. And this first invasion was to become a "type" for when it would occur again, with vengeance, in the very end time."

CHAPTER 17 "TWO OCCULT POWERS UNITED FOR FINAL WORLD

CONTROL"

The Grand Design Exposed

by John Daniel

http://www.granddesignexposed.com/contents.html

Elon Musk breaks silence on Twitter, posts a picture with the pope

By Reuters

July 2, 20226:13 AM PDT Updated 2 years ago

July 2 (Reuters) - Elon Musk on Friday night broke his nine-day silence on Twitter, the social media platform he is trying to buy for $44 billion, posting a picture of him meeting Pope Francis on Thursday.

The world's richest person tweeted a picture where he can be seen standing next to the pope, captioning it: "Honored to meet @pontifex yesterday."

Musk's four teenage boys are also pictured, but not his 18-year-old transgender daughter who, on June 20 sought to change her name and sever ties with him. Musk has a total of eight children. read more

The purpose and location of Musk's meeting with the pope were not immediately clear.

Last month, Musk said there were "still a few unresolved matters" on the deal to buy Twitter, including the number of spam users on the system and the coming together of the debt portion of the deal.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/musk-breaks-silence-twitter-posts-picture-with-pope-2022-07-02/

Pontifex Maximus

Introduction

The head priest of the Roman state religion was the Pontifex Maximus, or the greatest of the college of pontifices. While an obviously important and prominent position within the ranks of the Roman system, the Pontifex Maximus was not considered a magistrate comparable to a Consul, Praetor, etc.

During the Republic, the Pontifex was elected by the Comitia Tributa and served for life, while during the Empire, the position was generally held by the Emperor himself.

Originally, the Ponifices were Patrician only, but the social conditions and changes during the late Republic allowed for Plebeian election as well. These men were responsible for the oversight of the state religious cult as a whole and didn't really oversee particular godly cults, though they could if necessary.

By the Imperial period there were 16 pontifices under the high priest, 15 flamines, who were special priests of the main deities, and the Rex Sacrorum (king of the sacrifices) who performed the religious acts that the king had usually done. Perhaps most importantly, he was he was also responsible for the 18 Vestal Virgins.

The main duty of the pontifices was to provide the pax deorum, or the 'peace with the gods'. Interpreting omens, sometimes through augures, controlling and keeping the official calendar, and the oversight of funerals all fell under the domain of the Pontifex Maximus.

He was responsible for an enormous collection of omens (annales maximi); that would be recorded and collected on a nearly constant basis. These heavenly signs would be written down along with accompanying events, and used to determine the divine favor of the gods. Doing so allowed following generations of priests and magistrates to understand the historic will of the gods and interpret future events against past patterns.

Today, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope, is still called the Pontifex Maximus. It's a political or governing office that has been in existence and in perpetual use for nearly 3,000 years.

Pontifex Maximus List

Roman Office of the Pontifex Maximus

Year

Pontifex

Notes

712 BC

Numa Pompilius

The office was said to begin during the tenure of the Kings of Rome. However, very little recorded evidence exists. This name has been recorded as Numa Marcius and it is difficult to determine if it was a different person, or the actual second king of Rome.

509 BC

Papirius