theduran--2020-04-22--In Whose Best Interest?

In Whose Best Interest?

This April 24th a conference will be held commemorating the 75th Anniversary of Elbe Day organised by Dr. Edward Lozansky , founder and president of the American University of Moscow .
The conference will consist of a round-table discussion with focus on the lessons of WWII and how to resume U.S.-E.U.-Russia dialogue .
Among the numerous prominent participants at the Round Table will be Col. Gen. Valery Baranov , former deputy commander of Russian Internal Troops Academy ; Gen. Kevin Ryan , former defense attache , U.S. Embassy in Moscow , Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Michigan State University ; and dozens of other historians and scholars .
The round-table discussion ’ s aim , among others , is to emphasize the rising dangers and costs of an uncontrolled nuclear arms race .
To stress the need for both bilateral negotiations between the United States and Russia and multilateral discussions among the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council .
The Rising Tide Foundation has been invited to be a contributor to this discussion , the following is what Cynthia Chung will be discussing at the conference : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of distrust of another , whether it be an individual or a nation , lies in our regard towards the other as holding a dissimilarity in value and morals , that for whatever reason , this divide is considered unbridgeable and even in opposition to our own welfare .
There , thus , inevitably comes a point where the consideration of the other ’ s prosperity must also imply the endangerment and/or sacrifice of our own .
When we reach this state of affairs in the realm of international politics it is extremely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stepped into a technological age with such tremendous power for destruction that any further advancements in this field start to embark into the absurd .
Advancements in nuclear annihilation , which before could occur over the course of a few days can now be accomplished in mere hours , even minutes before the entire world is snuffed out .
And there is no end to such a war game scenario , since a second can be infinitely broken down and the obsession over a ‘ first strike advantage ’ thus has no end @ @ @ @ @ @ @ held hostage , their fate held in the hands of a small group who are supposed to deter from war and uphold peace .
What a capricious situation for us to subject ourselves to !
That we have chained our fate to the whims of fortune , and whether we are lucky enough to have the number of wise outnumber the unwise in deciding such matters .
Despite the fact that since the dawn of human history , no state or grouping of states has ever been able to securely ensure the stability @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a small group .
And therefore this state of affairs can not be continued , for certain .
Yet , how are we to turn away from such a level of hostility that has been inherited for generations against one another ?
Though it is popular to quote nowadays “ Nothing unites humans like a common enemy ” , or as Condoleeza Rice put it , “ We need a common enemy to unite us ” , I would argue that the much older adage by Aristotle rings more of truth , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bitterest of enemies.
” What is this danger ?
Well , simply put , it is the threat to the survival of the entire human species .
For if these war games continue that is exactly what we are all faced with .
Nothing puts this into a more clear perspective than our embarking into space .
Where astronauts , no matter what country they were born and raised in , recognise that the common danger is the ongoing threat to their survival in an entirely unforgiving environment .
Differences in culture and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your fate , regardless of these differences , directly depends on the other and vice versa .
It is understood that the only way you are to come out of this alive , is if you work as a solid group and problem solve in the most efficient capacity .
If one of your members fails to accomplish this , the entire team will likely also fail .
I think this is an invaluable lesson to what humanity faces on earth today .
We need to understand that our fate on earth is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We are brought together today to commemorate Elbe Day , which was a victory that would mark the beginning of the end of WWII .
Where East and West , Russians and Americans , met for the first time in the war , and felt towards the other as a blood brother united in the long fought battle against fascism .
It is important that we remember that it was the efforts of both the United States and Russia that made the end of WWII a reality .
That is , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ longer if either side had not taken up arms to end it .
In fact , this would not be the first time that the Americans and Russians were united as brothers in combating tyranny .
The period I am referencing is the civil war of the United States .
Britain and France were ready to commit a direct military support for the Confederates , their argument being that it was within the right of the South to claim independence .
At the time , Cassius Clay , possibly the greatest US Ambassador @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was very much instrumental in the communication between Lincoln and Czar Alexander II , who would both go down in history as among the greatest emancipators against slavery .
Lincoln had requested the support of Russia in the case that Britain and France should decide to intervene in favour of the South .
And by the summer of 1863 , Lincoln had cause to believe this a real threat .
Russia would show one of the greatest displays of support for the sovereignty of another country to ever occur in modern history , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Navy to both the eastern and western coastlines of the United States late September and early October 1863 to defend Lincoln ’ s Union .
The timing was highly coordinated due to intelligence reports of when Britain and France were intending their military action .
The Russian navy would stay along the US coastline in support of the Union for 7 months !
They never intervened in the American civil war but rather remained in its waters at the behest of Lincoln in the case of a foreign power ’ s interference .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States , the Russians were treated as family by the American people in the North .
Czar Alexander II , who held sole power to declare war for Russia stated in an interview to the American banker Wharton Barker on Aug. 17 , 1879 ( Published inThe IndependentMarch 24 , 1904 ) : “ In the Autumn of 1862 , the governments of France and Great Britain proposed to Russia , in a formal but not in an official way , the joint recognition by European powers of the independence of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ answer was : ` I will not cooperate in such action ; and I will not acquiesce .
On the contrary , I shall accept the recognition of the independence of the Confederate States by France and Great Britain as a casus belli for Russia .
And in order that the governments of France and Great Britain may understand that this is no idle threat ; I will send a Pacific fleet to San Francisco and an Atlantic fleet to New York .
…All this I did because of love for my own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the American Republic .
I acted thus because I understood that Russia would have a more serious task to perform if the American Republic , with advanced industrial development were broken up and Great Britain should be left in control of most branches of modern industrial development.
” It was therefore very much due to Russia ’ s dedicated display of solidarity with Lincoln ’ s Union that Britain and France did not intervene and the country was able to piece itself together .
Lincoln referred to the Russian support in his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bounties of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate the heart.
” Both President Lincoln and Czar Alexander II recognised that the sovereignty of the individual and of a nation were intertwined and that Russia and the United States had become united in this cause .
That for an individual to be truly free , there needed to be a system that could ensure access to a basic standard of living , for which industry and education are imperative .
The Need for a Comprehensive Education and an International @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mind that expresses the potential for a curriculum in an international comprehensive education better than the present approach to the education of astronauts , which is one of the most competitive and universal fields of ‘ training ’ .
Because space exploration is done by a consortium of countries , astronauts receive cultural training as well as language courses , it is typically mandatory to have a function in the Russian language in particular .
There are different specialisations , but at the core of this training are very intensive high stress scenarios @ @ @ @ @ @ @ skills .
There is an endless array of things that could go wrong when you are out in space and it is impossible to have direct training on every possible scenario , therefore , the training rather focuses on the recognition that a problem will indeed occur and to train one ’ s mind to be creative and fluid during these ‘ crisis ’ situations .
An essential part of the problem solving training is the ability to work as a unit with your team , even if you only have a few @ @ @ @ @ @ @ efficient and constructive communication is vital .
I am not stating that everyone should be expected to meet such a high standard , but I do think there is something in this approach to education that is applicable to what education could be on earth if we are serious about solving these conflicts .
Namely , that there should be a dialogue amongst leading nations , such as the United States and Russia , in forming the start of an international comprehensive education program .
Key elements to this program would include the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a cultural education of these countries .
This would be further facilitated by a student exchange program , such that every student would be expected to spend at least one year within another country that was diverse to what they were familiar with .
Wilhelm von Humboldt ’ s reforms of the Prussian school system were revolutionary and led to the founding of the University of Berlin , which became the most prestigious model for universities throughout the Western world in the Nineteenth century .
This educational reform was for all levels of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ At the core of this educational reform was Humboldt ’ s recognition of the universal role of language in the development of the human mind .
Philology , in whose Greek root means “ love of words , ” pertains to the study of comparative language , which is the study of the relationship between languages .
Humboldt wrote , in a letter to his wife Caroline , “ It is only through the study of language that there comes into the soul , out of the source of all thoughts and feelings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everything that concerns mankind , above all and beyond everything else , even beauty and art.
” Humboldt held that “ Language is deeply entwined in the intellectual development of humanity itself , it accompanies the latter upon every step of its localized progression or regression ; moreover , the pertinent cultural level in each case is recognizable in it… .
Language is , as it were , the external manifestation of the minds of peoples .
Their language is their soul , and their soul is their language… The creation of language @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It is not a mere external vehicle , designed to sustain social intercourse , but an indispensable factor for the development of human intellectual powers.
” In a world where we have accumulated a bounty of information in the form of data , I fear we may have lost sight as to the importance of language in its most rich form of expression and in all its wonderful diversity .
The breakdown of communication and ability to solve problems on a global scale , is most certainly greatly impacted by our growing deficiency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cultures but including our own .
That during times of crisis such as today , we have been shown that we are unable to coordinate , share knowledge and problem solve in a timely fashion , and I am afraid if our priorities continue to be thus skewed the situation will only get worst .
There is a reason why Shelley ’ s words continue to echo in our ears to this day , that it is indeed the “ poets who are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.
” Thus I think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entire thought that Shelley was conveying in stating this : “ The most unfailing herald , companion , and follower of the awakening of a great people to work a beneficial change in opinion or institution , is poetry .
At such periods there is an accumulation of the power of communicating and receiving intense and impassioned conceptions respecting man and nature .
The person in whom this power resides , may often , as far as regards many portions of their nature , have little apparent correspondence with that spirit of good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But even whilst they deny and abjure , they are yet compelled to serve , that power which is seated on the throne of their own soul .
It is impossible to read the compositions of the most celebrated writers of the present day without being startled with the electric life which burns within their words .
They measure the circumference and sound the depths of human nature with a comprehensive and all-penetrating spirit , and they are themselves perhaps the most sincerely astonished at its manifestations ; for it is less their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Poets are the hierophants of an unapprehended inspiration ; the mirrors of the gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon the present ; the words which express what they understand not ; the trumpets which sing to battle , and feel not what they inspire ; the influence which is moved not , but moves .
[ And thus ] Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world ” .
See US-Russia.org for more details

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Submitted by Cynthia Chung…
This April 24th a conference will be held commemorating the 75th Anniversary of Elbe Day organised by Dr. Edward Lozansky, founder and president of the American University of Moscow. The conference will consist of a round-table discussion with focus on the lessons of WWII and how to resume U.S.-E.U.-Russia dialogue.
Among the numerous prominent participants at the Round Table will be Col. Gen. Valery Baranov, former deputy commander of Russian Internal Troops Academy; Gen. Kevin Ryan, former defense attache, U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Bruce Bean, professor emeritus Michigan State University; and dozens of other historians and scholars.
The round-table discussion’s aim, among others, is to emphasize the rising dangers and costs of an uncontrolled nuclear arms race. To stress the need for both bilateral negotiations between the United States and Russia and multilateral discussions among the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
The Rising Tide Foundation has been invited to be a contributor to this discussion, the following is what Cynthia Chung will be discussing at the conference:
It is no mystery that the root of distrust of another, whether it be an individual or a nation, lies in our regard towards the other as holding a dissimilarity in value and morals, that for whatever reason, this divide is considered unbridgeable and even in opposition to our own welfare. There, thus, inevitably comes a point where the consideration of the other’s prosperity must also imply the endangerment and/or sacrifice of our own.
When we reach this state of affairs in the realm of international politics it is extremely dangerous. Especially as we have already stepped into a technological age with such tremendous power for destruction that any further advancements in this field start to embark into the absurd. Advancements in nuclear annihilation, which before could occur over the course of a few days can now be accomplished in mere hours, even minutes before the entire world is snuffed out. And there is no end to such a war game scenario, since a second can be infinitely broken down and the obsession over a ‘first strike advantage’ thus has no end.
Essentially, the entire world is held hostage, their fate held in the hands of a small group who are supposed to deter from war and uphold peace. What a capricious situation for us to subject ourselves to! That we have chained our fate to the whims of fortune, and whether we are lucky enough to have the number of wise outnumber the unwise in deciding such matters. Despite the fact that since the dawn of human history, no state or grouping of states has ever been able to securely ensure the stability of wisdom placed in the hands of a small group.
And therefore this state of affairs cannot be continued, for certain. Yet, how are we to turn away from such a level of hostility that has been inherited for generations against one another?
Though it is popular to quote nowadays “Nothing unites humans like a common enemy”, or as Condoleeza Rice put it, “We need a common enemy to unite us”, I would argue that the much older adage by Aristotle rings more of truth, that “A common danger unites even the bitterest of enemies.”
What is this danger? Well, simply put, it is the threat to the survival of the entire human species. For if these war games continue that is exactly what we are all faced with.
Nothing puts this into a more clear perspective than our embarking into space. Where astronauts, no matter what country they were born and raised in, recognise that the common danger is the ongoing threat to their survival in an entirely unforgiving environment. Differences in culture and language do not seem so divisive when your fate, regardless of these differences, directly depends on the other and vice versa. It is understood that the only way you are to come out of this alive, is if you work as a solid group and problem solve in the most efficient capacity. If one of your members fails to accomplish this, the entire team will likely also fail.
I think this is an invaluable lesson to what humanity faces on earth today. We need to understand that our fate on earth is no different from our fate in space.
A Forgotten History of a Brotherhood
We are brought together today to commemorate Elbe Day, which was a victory that would mark the beginning of the end of WWII. Where East and West, Russians and Americans, met for the first time in the war, and felt towards the other as a blood brother united in the long fought battle against fascism.
It is important that we remember that it was the efforts of both the United States and Russia that made the end of WWII a reality. That is, the war would have carried on for much longer if either side had not taken up arms to end it.
In fact, this would not be the first time that the Americans and Russians were united as brothers in combating tyranny. The period I am referencing is the civil war of the United States.
Britain and France were ready to commit a direct military support for the Confederates, their argument being that it was within the right of the South to claim independence. At the time, Cassius Clay, possibly the greatest US Ambassador to Russia (1861-62 and 1863-69) was very much instrumental in the communication between Lincoln and Czar Alexander II, who would both go down in history as among the greatest emancipators against slavery.
Lincoln had requested the support of Russia in the case that Britain and France should decide to intervene in favour of the South. And by the summer of 1863, Lincoln had cause to believe this a real threat. Russia would show one of the greatest displays of support for the sovereignty of another country to ever occur in modern history, and Czar Alexander II sent the Russian Navy to both the eastern and western coastlines of the United States late September and early October 1863 to defend Lincoln’s Union.
The timing was highly coordinated due to intelligence reports of when Britain and France were intending their military action. The Russian navy would stay along the US coastline in support of the Union for 7 months! They never intervened in the American civil war but rather remained in its waters at the behest of Lincoln in the case of a foreign power’s interference. During their 7 month stay in the United States, the Russians were treated as family by the American people in the North.
Czar Alexander II, who held sole power to declare war for Russia stated in an interview to the American banker Wharton Barker on Aug. 17, 1879 (Published inThe IndependentMarch 24, 1904):
“In the Autumn of 1862, the governments of France and Great Britain proposed to Russia, in a formal but not in an official way, the joint recognition by European powers of the independence of the Confederate States of America. My immediate answer was: `I will not cooperate in such action; and I will not acquiesce. On the contrary, I shall accept the recognition of the independence of the Confederate States by France and Great Britain as a casus belli for Russia. And in order that the governments of France and Great Britain may understand that this is no idle threat; I will send a Pacific fleet to San Francisco and an Atlantic fleet to New York.
…All this I did because of love for my own dear Russia, rather than for love of the American Republic. I acted thus because I understood that Russia would have a more serious task to perform if the American Republic, with advanced industrial development were broken up and Great Britain should be left in control of most branches of modern industrial development.”
It was therefore very much due to Russia’s dedicated display of solidarity with Lincoln’s Union that Britain and France did not intervene and the country was able to piece itself together. Lincoln referred to the Russian support in his Thanksgiving Proclamation as “God’s bounties of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate the heart.”
Both President Lincoln and Czar Alexander II recognised that the sovereignty of the individual and of a nation were intertwined and that Russia and the United States had become united in this cause. That for an individual to be truly free, there needed to be a system that could ensure access to a basic standard of living, for which industry and education are imperative.
The Need for a Comprehensive Education and an International Dialogue in this Sphere
Nothing comes to mind that expresses the potential for a curriculum in an international comprehensive education better than the present approach to the education of astronauts, which is one of the most competitive and universal fields of ‘training’.
Because space exploration is done by a consortium of countries, astronauts receive cultural training as well as language courses, it is typically mandatory to have a function in the Russian language in particular.
There are different specialisations, but at the core of this training are very intensive high stress scenarios that require rapid and efficient problem solving skills. There is an endless array of things that could go wrong when you are out in space and it is impossible to have direct training on every possible scenario, therefore, the training rather focuses on the recognition that a problem will indeed occur and to train one’s mind to be creative and fluid during these ‘crisis’ situations. An essential part of the problem solving training is the ability to work as a unit with your team, even if you only have a few minutes to solve the problem, thus efficient and constructive communication is vital.
I am not stating that everyone should be expected to meet such a high standard, but I do think there is something in this approach to education that is applicable to what education could be on earth if we are serious about solving these conflicts.
Namely, that there should be a dialogue amongst leading nations, such as the United States and Russia, in forming the start of an international comprehensive education program. Key elements to this program would include the necessity to learn certain languages and receive a cultural education of these countries. This would be further facilitated by a student exchange program, such that every student would be expected to spend at least one year within another country that was diverse to what they were familiar with.
A Revival of Humboldt’s Higher Education
Wilhelm von Humboldt’s reforms of the Prussian school system were revolutionary and led to the founding of the University of Berlin, which became the most prestigious model for universities throughout the Western world in the Nineteenth century. This educational reform was for all levels of society and not just the elite.
At the core of this educational reform was Humboldt’s recognition of the universal role of language in the development of the human mind. Philology, in whose Greek root means “love of words,” pertains to the study of comparative language, which is the study of the relationship between languages.
Humboldt wrote, in a letter to his wife Caroline, “It is only through the study of language that there comes into the soul, out of the source of all thoughts and feelings, the entire expanse of ideas, everything that concerns mankind, above all and beyond everything else, even beauty and art.”
Humboldt held that “Language is deeply entwined in the intellectual development of humanity itself, it accompanies the latter upon every step of its localized progression or regression; moreover, the pertinent cultural level in each case is recognizable in it…. Language is, as it were, the external manifestation of the minds of peoples. Their language is their soul, and their soul is their language… The creation of language is an innate necessity of humanity. It is not a mere external vehicle, designed to sustain social intercourse, but an indispensable factor for the development of human intellectual powers.”
Conclusion
In a world where we have accumulated a bounty of information in the form of data, I fear we may have lost sight as to the importance of language in its most rich form of expression and in all its wonderful diversity. The breakdown of communication and ability to solve problems on a global scale, is most certainly greatly impacted by our growing deficiency in language, of not only other cultures but including our own.
That during times of crisis such as today, we have been shown that we are unable to coordinate, share knowledge and problem solve in a timely fashion, and I am afraid if our priorities continue to be thus skewed the situation will only get worst.
There is a reason why Shelley’s words continue to echo in our ears to this day, that it is indeed the “poets who are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”
Thus I think it best to end here with the entire thought that Shelley was conveying in stating this:
“The most unfailing herald, companion, and follower of the awakening of a great people to work a beneficial change in opinion or institution, is poetry. At such periods there is an accumulation of the power of communicating and receiving intense and impassioned conceptions respecting man and nature. The person in whom this power resides, may often, as far as regards many portions of their nature, have little apparent correspondence with that spirit of good of which they are the ministers. But even whilst they deny and abjure, they are yet compelled to serve, that power which is seated on the throne of their own soul. It is impossible to read the compositions of the most celebrated writers of the present day without being startled with the electric life which burns within their words. They measure the circumference and sound the depths of human nature with a comprehensive and all-penetrating spirit, and they are themselves perhaps the most sincerely astonished at its manifestations; for it is less their spirit than the spirit of the age. Poets are the hierophants of an unapprehended inspiration; the mirrors of the gigantic shadows which futurity casts upon the present; the words which express what they understand not; the trumpets which sing to battle, and feel not what they inspire; the influence which is moved not, but moves. [And thus] Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world”.
See US-Russia.org for more details
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theduran--2020-04-22--Negative oil crash signals economy must reopen (Video)

The Duran ’ s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss a historic event in the oil market , as WTI crude hit negative prices .
Subscribe to The Duran on YouTube – Find us on BitChute .
The Duran Audio Podcast : Follow on Soundcloud – Subscribe on iTunes .
Oil prices crashed through zero , closing out the day at - $ 37 per barrel , an unprecedented meltdown .
There are mitigating circumstances to these insane numbers .
The prices for WTI reflect the contract for May , which expires this week .
The collapse is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and moving on to June .
The thinly-traded May contract loses some relevance , and analysts say that the June contract – trading at $ 20 per barrel as of Monday – now becomes the important number to watch .
Nevertheless , it is hard to ignore the historic numbers flashing across the screen .
As futures contracts expire , they tend to converge with the realities of the physical market .
Prices went negative because the physical market in Oklahoma and Texas is so overwhelmed .
OPEC+ did agree to historic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In any event , the cuts pale in comparison to the decline in demand .
But taken together , the effects of the price war on the supply side are colliding against the depths of demand destruction at the same time .
The result is really ugly .
Nobody wants physical delivery of WTI for May , and with storage options dwindling in some places , traders liquidated their positions , selling contracts at crazy discounts .
With the contract expiring on Tuesday , nobody wanted to be left holding the bag @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , traders ended up paying someone to take oil off of their hands .
Surely , some fascinating reportage will be written about the last guy that got stuck with an unwanted May contract .
“ The intraday WTI destruction today is certainly epic in scale , which is largely a case of jitters ahead of the WTI May 2020 futures contract expiring tomorrow and storage fears finally materializing , ” Louise Dickson , Oil Market Analyst at Rystad Energy , said in a statement .
“ But if you have been watching @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sea , currently trading in the $ 15-18 range , this drop in WTI May 2020 futures isn ’ t as shocking.
” On the one hand , the negative pricing will be chalked up to a weird one-off glitch , a confluence of historic firsts due to a price war , pandemic and downward economic spiral .
The bizarre development may quickly be forgotten as traders move on to the June WTI contract , which is trading at $ 20 per barrel .
But while June doesn ’ t appear quite as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not a price at which most oil companies can survive for any lengthy period of time .
Moreover , there is no reason to think that $ 20 is the floor .
The second quarter is “ likely to be the most uncertain and disruptive quarter that the industry has ever seen , ” Schlumberger CEO Olivier Le Peuch , said on the company ’ s earnings call last week .
On Monday , Halliburton also offered a grim outlook for the oil market .
“ We expect activity in North America land @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and remain depressed through year-end , impacting all basins , ” Halliburton ’ s Chief Executive Officer Jeff Miller said in a statement .
The oilfield services giant reported a net loss of $ 1 billion in the first quarter .
The oil rig count dropped by another 66 last week , another steep reduction .
The Permian basin lost 33 rigs .
Production declines have already started , but more shut ins are necessary in the short run as spot prices come under tremendous pressure .
Ultimately , the market continues to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Several billion people are living under some version of a lockdown .
The hits keep on coming .
Demand for road fuels in India has plunged by 50 percent , for instance .
Analysts have repeatedly revised oil forecasts , with an increasing recognition that the shock to demand will be lengthier than previously expected .
In April , at least , demand will be down by 29 million barrels per day ( mb/d ) .
Those staggering figures may not be quite as large in May and beyond , but there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back to 100 mb/d anytime soon , if ever .
Mark Lewis , global head of sustainability research at BNP Paribas Asset Management , argues in the FT that we may have just witnessed the permanent peak in oil demand .
Greater efficiency , more EVs and also permanent changes in behavior stemming from the pandemic could add up to a peak in consumption .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss a historic event in the oil market, as WTI crude hit negative prices.
Support Free Speech:
Subscribe to The Duran on YouTube – Find us on BitChute.
The Duran Audio Podcast:
Follow on Soundcloud – Subscribe on iTunes.
Authored by Nick Cunningham via OilPrice.com:
Oil prices crashed through zero, closing out the day at -$37 per barrel, an unprecedented meltdown.
There are mitigating circumstances to these insane numbers. The prices for WTI reflect the contract for May, which expires this week. The collapse is a reflection of traders abandoning the May contract, and moving on to June. The thinly-traded May contract loses some relevance, and analysts say that the June contract – trading at $20 per barrel as of Monday – now becomes the important number to watch.
Nevertheless, it is hard to ignore the historic numbers flashing across the screen. As futures contracts expire, they tend to converge with the realities of the physical market. Prices went negative because the physical market in Oklahoma and Texas is so overwhelmed. OPEC+ did agree to historic production cuts, but not for April. In any event, the cuts pale in comparison to the decline in demand. But taken together, the effects of the price war on the supply side are colliding against the depths of demand destruction at the same time.
The result is really ugly. Nobody wants physical delivery of WTI for May, and with storage options dwindling in some places, traders liquidated their positions, selling contracts at crazy discounts. With the contract expiring on Tuesday, nobody wanted to be left holding the bag. Unable to actually accept physical delivery, traders ended up paying someone to take oil off of their hands. Surely, some fascinating reportage will be written about the last guy that got stuck with an unwanted May contract.
“The intraday WTI destruction today is certainly epic in scale, which is largely a case of jitters ahead of the WTI May 2020 futures contract expiring tomorrow and storage fears finally materializing,” Louise Dickson, Oil Market Analyst at Rystad Energy, said in a statement. “But if you have been watching the physical spot prices in the North Sea, currently trading in the $15-18 range, this drop in WTI May 2020 futures isn’t as shocking.”
On the one hand, the negative pricing will be chalked up to a weird one-off glitch, a confluence of historic firsts due to a price war, pandemic and downward economic spiral. The bizarre development may quickly be forgotten as traders move on to the June WTI contract, which is trading at $20 per barrel. But while June doesn’t appear quite as catastrophic, oil at $20 is not a price at which most oil companies can survive for any lengthy period of time. Moreover, there is no reason to think that $20 is the floor.
The second quarter is “likely to be the most uncertain and disruptive quarter that the industry has ever seen,” Schlumberger CEO Olivier Le Peuch, said on the company’s earnings call last week.
On Monday, Halliburton also offered a grim outlook for the oil market. “We expect activity in North America land to sharply decline during the second quarter and remain depressed through year-end, impacting all basins,” Halliburton’s Chief Executive Officer Jeff Miller said in a statement. The oilfield services giant reported a net loss of $1 billion in the first quarter.
The oil rig count dropped by another 66 last week, another steep reduction. The Permian basin lost 33 rigs. Production declines have already started, but more shut ins are necessary in the short run as spot prices come under tremendous pressure.
Ultimately, the market continues to be at the mercy of the pandemic. Several billion people are living under some version of a lockdown. The hits keep on coming. Demand for road fuels in India has plunged by 50 percent, for instance. Analysts have repeatedly revised oil forecasts, with an increasing recognition that the shock to demand will be lengthier than previously expected. In April, at least, demand will be down by 29 million barrels per day (mb/d).
Those staggering figures may not be quite as large in May and beyond, but there is little chance that global demand bounces back to 100 mb/d anytime soon, if ever. Mark Lewis, global head of sustainability research at BNP Paribas Asset Management, argues in the FT that we may have just witnessed the permanent peak in oil demand. Greater efficiency, more EVs and also permanent changes in behavior stemming from the pandemic could add up to a peak in consumption.
By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com
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theduran--2020-04-22--“Mask Diplomacy” Might Not Be Enough to Save Turkey from Financial Crisis

Submitted by InfoBrics , authored by Paul Antonopoulos , Research Fellow at the Center for Syncretic Studies… Turkey seems to be getting inspiration from China by engaging in “ mask diplomacy ” and is helping many coronavirus affected countries .
Even though Turkey is being devastated by the pandemic with over 100,000 cases and 2,200 succumbing to the infection , it has taken the opportunity to try and create good will after it tarnished its reputation when it attempted to asymmetrically invade Greece with illegal immigrants in February and March .
Turkish coronavirus aid is reaching all corners of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Europe to East Asia .
However , one of the most surprising locations for Turkish aid is Israel .
The Israeli government has been extremely quiet about this fact , especially since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was happy enough to thank China and the United States for their aid .
For years Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been vocally defending the Palestinian cause , so-much-so that he openly announces his friendship with the Hamas terrorist organization that has controlled Gaza since 2007 .
Hamas has been the justification used by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the tiny territory wedged between Israel and Egypt ’ s Sinai Peninsula .
Israel has endlessly accused Erdoğan of being allied to terrorists .
But despite the frosty words , this has not stopped the thriving economic relations between the two countries that accounted for nearly $ 6 billion in trade in 2019 .
An interesting factor in Turkey ’ s “ mask diplomacy ” with Israel is that masks extended to the Palestinians were only bound for the West Bank and not to Erdoğan ’ s allies in Gaza .
This demonstrates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Israel as Tel Aviv recognizes the Fatah government in West Bank but not Hamas in Gaza .
It now appears that Erdoğan no longer wants to take on the mantle as the “ Champion ” of the Palestinian cause after the majority of the Arab world abandoned Palestine to focus on initially Iran , but shifting more towards resisting Turkey ’ s expansionist ideology in the Arab world .
As Erdoğan strongly supports the Muslim Brotherhood that aims to depose Arab authoritarian monarchs from power , such as those in the United Arab @ @ @ @ @ @ @ created a split in the Muslim World , putting the Palestinian cause on the sidelines .
However , the Muslim Brotherhood does not only take aim at Arab monarchy ’ s , with the exception of Qatar who also fund the organization , but also secular government ’ s like those in Egypt .
With the Muslim world in disarray , Israel is no longer seen as the enemy , or at least a priority .
Israel will take the Turkish-offered aid without hesitation and remember that Turkey was the first Muslim country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Erdoğan will not always be in power .
For Erdoğan though , it is critical that he gets the Israelis back on his side since the Palestinians are of little strategic value and there is no more prestige behind “ championing ” the Palestinian cause .
At the same time a trilateral relationship between Israel , Cyprus and Greece is emerging in the military and energy sectors .
As Turkey becomes increasingly isolated in the region with few friends , having strengthened relations with Israel again means a potential rupture in Tel Aviv @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The coronavirus pandemic is serving as another front in geopolitical games , and although China is leading the pack in this , Turkey does come in at a distant second place .
As energy prices are tumbling , the construction of the East Med pipeline between Israel , Cyprus and Greece appears to be threatened which would be to Turkey ’ s advantage .
This pipeline will reshape the power structures of the Eastern Mediterranean and make it difficult for Turkey to legitimize its illegitimate claims over Greek and Cypriot maritime space @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Law of the Sea .
Although Turkey will be hoping for the collapse of the ambitious pipeline and to strengthen relations with Israel through “ mask diplomacy , ” Erdoğan must survive the economic and social repercussions of his domestic coronavirus policy .
While most of the world was preparing to deal with the pandemic , pro-Erdoğan television stations were having discussions whether Turkish genetics could protect the people from coronavirus .
Authorities in Turkey were also arresting journalists and social media users who contended that the true case and death toll from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
With Turkey being economically devastated by not only the coronavirus , but by years of corruption and nepotism , the country has now run out of foreign reserves and the Turkish lira is plummeting .
The question then becomes whether Turkey can maintain a highly militarized and aggressive foreign policy , and whether “ mask diplomacy ” will be enough to bring some respite from financial hardship .
Israel will remember Erdoğan is volatile and can very well easily turn against them again despite flourishing trade relations , and Europe has not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attempted to flood the continent with illegal immigrants .
“ Mask diplomacy ” might not be enough to save Erdoğan from his all his past aggressions , nepotism and financially irresponsibility .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Submitted by InfoBrics, authored by Paul Antonopoulos, Research Fellow at the Center for Syncretic Studies…
Turkey seems to be getting inspiration from China by engaging in “mask diplomacy” and is helping many coronavirus affected countries. Even though Turkey is being devastated by the pandemic with over 100,000 cases and 2,200 succumbing to the infection, it has taken the opportunity to try and create good will after it tarnished its reputation when it attempted to asymmetrically invade Greece with illegal immigrants in February and March.
Turkish coronavirus aid is reaching all corners of the globe from the Americas to Africa, from Europe to East Asia. However, one of the most surprising locations for Turkish aid is Israel. The Israeli government has been extremely quiet about this fact, especially since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was happy enough to thank China and the United States for their aid.
For years Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been vocally defending the Palestinian cause, so-much-so that he openly announces his friendship with the Hamas terrorist organization that has controlled Gaza since 2007. Hamas has been the justification used by Israel to impose its inhumane blockade on the tiny territory wedged between Israel and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Israel has endlessly accused Erdoğan of being allied to terrorists. But despite the frosty words, this has not stopped the thriving economic relations between the two countries that accounted for nearly $6 billion in trade in 2019.
An interesting factor in Turkey’s “mask diplomacy” with Israel is that masks extended to the Palestinians were only bound for the West Bank and not to Erdoğan’s allies in Gaza. This demonstrates that perhaps Erdoğan has given up provoking Israel as Tel Aviv recognizes the Fatah government in West Bank but not Hamas in Gaza. It now appears that Erdoğan no longer wants to take on the mantle as the “Champion” of the Palestinian cause after the majority of the Arab world abandoned Palestine to focus on initially Iran, but shifting more towards resisting Turkey’s expansionist ideology in the Arab world.
As Erdoğan strongly supports the Muslim Brotherhood that aims to depose Arab authoritarian monarchs from power, such as those in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, it has created a split in the Muslim World, putting the Palestinian cause on the sidelines. However, the Muslim Brotherhood does not only take aim at Arab monarchy’s, with the exception of Qatar who also fund the organization, but also secular government’s like those in Egypt.
With the Muslim world in disarray, Israel is no longer seen as the enemy, or at least a priority. Israel will take the Turkish-offered aid without hesitation and remember that Turkey was the first Muslim country to recognized the Jewish State and that Erdoğan will not always be in power. For Erdoğan though, it is critical that he gets the Israelis back on his side since the Palestinians are of little strategic value and there is no more prestige behind “championing” the Palestinian cause.
At the same time a trilateral relationship between Israel, Cyprus and Greece is emerging in the military and energy sectors. As Turkey becomes increasingly isolated in the region with few friends, having strengthened relations with Israel again means a potential rupture in Tel Aviv’s relations with Greece and Cyprus. The coronavirus pandemic is serving as another front in geopolitical games, and although China is leading the pack in this, Turkey does come in at a distant second place.
As energy prices are tumbling, the construction of the East Med pipeline between Israel, Cyprus and Greece appears to be threatened which would be to Turkey’s advantage. This pipeline will reshape the power structures of the Eastern Mediterranean and make it difficult for Turkey to legitimize its illegitimate claims over Greek and Cypriot maritime space in defiance of the United Nations Charter Law of the Sea.
Although Turkey will be hoping for the collapse of the ambitious pipeline and to strengthen relations with Israel through “mask diplomacy,” Erdoğan must survive the economic and social repercussions of his domestic coronavirus policy. While most of the world was preparing to deal with the pandemic, pro-Erdoğan television stations were having discussions whether Turkish genetics could protect the people from coronavirus. Authorities in Turkey were also arresting journalists and social media users who contended that the true case and death toll from coronavirus in the country were purposefully underreported.
With Turkey being economically devastated by not only the coronavirus, but by years of corruption and nepotism, the country has now run out of foreign reserves and the Turkish lira is plummeting. The question then becomes whether Turkey can maintain a highly militarized and aggressive foreign policy, and whether “mask diplomacy” will be enough to bring some respite from financial hardship. Israel will remember Erdoğan is volatile and can very well easily turn against them again despite flourishing trade relations, and Europe has not forgotten how only some weeks ago Turkey attempted to flood the continent with illegal immigrants. “Mask diplomacy” might not be enough to save Erdoğan from his all his past aggressions, nepotism and financially irresponsibility.
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theduran--2020-04-23--A very strong argument against COVID lockdowns [Video]

Most of us on Planet Earth are living through a never-before-attempted experiment in dealing with a crisis .
The lockdowns of cities , states and entire nations , intended to slow the spread of a particularly nasty virus have been undertaken by governments of all types , not just authoritarian regimes like China .
But what has the effect been ?
Well , according to this report by Tucker Carlson , there is increasing evidence that the answer to this question is precisely none at all .
This is interesting because on Fox News , we are actually getting a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus pandemic and the measures taken to combat it .
While liberals may well pan the network as a “ Trump shill ” , they are wrong .
By and large , Fox does try to offer more unbiased treatment for the President and his policy views , but the coronavirus pandemic is not seen or reported on the same way by ever major anchor .
Laura Ingraham for example , honestly sounds more like a mouthpiece for the administration at times that I personally feel comfortable with , even though her rhetoric @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Carlson is presently the most critical in his analysis , and while not blaming the mess he sees on President Trump , he sees and reports on abject abuses of power that have been taking place in the country by state and local leaders as well as medical “ professionals ” who may well be experts in their fields , but who are not experts in government .
Further , Tucker ’ s arguments , based , as he says , on science , do seem to have some merit .
Using the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pandemic , I have been observing much the same trends as he describes .
Evidence strongly hints at the notion that the pandemic was well established in the world long before any controls or lockdowns were put in place anywhere , and this includes China .
A bit of bare , but not entirely original speculation , is that the virus indeed originated in China , and was spread around the world unwittingly by well-heeled Chinese and other travelers who visited other locations in the world , probably unaware that they were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its run asymptomatically in many , even by far , most of its victims , it is quite possible that you who read this may have already had it .
You may even have it now .
Does this make you a Typhoid Mary if you do ?
Probably not .
The reason for saying this is that the numbers of reported sick , hospitalized and casualties , deaths , is very low , ranging from 0.8 % death rate among known infected in Russia to over 10 % in New York State @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infected .
Asymptomatic and untested people who have have the virus and think it is something else are still able to spread it , and most of those they spread it to also are asymptomatic .
It also appears that the disease is burning out .
Worldwide growth rate numbers have been on the decrease for about eleven days now , and this with the only country reporting numbers of people being tested – the USA – testing vast numbers of people every day .
This effort appears to be averaging about 120,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the CDC site here and below : Even with this vast number of known tests being performed each day , amounting to about one million Americans tested every eight days , the number of new cases reported per day peaked on April 9th at 34,100 , and began a slow but clearly noticeable decline since that day .
The most recent statistic for new cases per day , April 22 , shows 27,600 new cases reported that day .
While that is still about 25 % of people being tested , which is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ indicative of the notion expressed earlier – that the virus has been in the US for quite some time , only no one noticed because most people that have it do not show the horrible severe symptoms of it , if anything at all , and that what we may be tracking is the pandemic as it gradually burns out .
We do not know for sure , of course .
We will not know for sure about this until probably well after the pandemic comes to its end .
But Tucker ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well-intentioned , this lockdown experiment is a failure .
Tucker believes this strongly .
Like many polarizing issues , the truth is likely to fall somewhere between the extremes of the CDC doomsayers ( for that is their job ) , and the “ everything is all right ” crowd ( for saying so is their job ) .
Nevertheless , as noted over and over , this is an evolving issue , and it requires a degree of flexibility to go with changing data and information from the scientific , medical and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to require that our leaders at all levels in the US know the Constitution of the nation and follow it .
The political posturing is to be expected , but as we have seen , some of our leaders appear to be acting as tin gods , perhaps in a well intentioned way , but no less unwise .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Most of us on Planet Earth are living through a never-before-attempted experiment in dealing with a crisis. The lockdowns of cities, states and entire nations, intended to slow the spread of a particularly nasty virus have been undertaken by governments of all types, not just authoritarian regimes like China. But what has the effect been?
Well, according to this report by Tucker Carlson, there is increasing evidence that the answer to this question is precisely none at all.
This is interesting because on Fox News, we are actually getting a pretty fair spectrum of opinions on the coronavirus pandemic and the measures taken to combat it. While liberals may well pan the network as a “Trump shill”, they are wrong. By and large, Fox does try to offer more unbiased treatment for the President and his policy views, but the coronavirus pandemic is not seen or reported on the same way by ever major anchor. Laura Ingraham for example, honestly sounds more like a mouthpiece for the administration at times that I personally feel comfortable with, even though her rhetoric is loaded with verifiable data. Tucker Carlson is presently the most critical in his analysis, and while not blaming the mess he sees on President Trump, he sees and reports on abject abuses of power that have been taking place in the country by state and local leaders as well as medical “professionals” who may well be experts in their fields, but who are not experts in government.
Further, Tucker’s arguments, based, as he says, on science, do seem to have some merit. Using the tools at my own disposal to track the pandemic, I have been observing much the same trends as he describes. Evidence strongly hints at the notion that the pandemic was well established in the world long before any controls or lockdowns were put in place anywhere, and this includes China.
A bit of bare, but not entirely original speculation, is that the virus indeed originated in China, and was spread around the world unwittingly by well-heeled Chinese and other travelers who visited other locations in the world, probably unaware that they were carrying the virus. Since coronavirus does its run asymptomatically in many, even by far, most of its victims, it is quite possible that you who read this may have already had it. You may even have it now. Does this make you a Typhoid Mary if you do? Probably not.
The reason for saying this is that the numbers of reported sick, hospitalized and casualties, deaths, is very low, ranging from 0.8% death rate among known infected in Russia to over 10% in New York State.
But this is among the known infected. Asymptomatic and untested people who have have the virus and think it is something else are still able to spread it, and most of those they spread it to also are asymptomatic.
It also appears that the disease is burning out. Worldwide growth rate numbers have been on the decrease for about eleven days now, and this with the only country reporting numbers of people being tested – the USA – testing vast numbers of people every day. This effort appears to be averaging about 120,000 tests per day, as shown on the CDC site here and below:
Even with this vast number of known tests being performed each day, amounting to about one million Americans tested every eight days, the number of new cases reported per day peaked on April 9th at 34,100, and began a slow but clearly noticeable decline since that day. The most recent statistic for new cases per day, April 22, shows 27,600 new cases reported that day. While that is still about 25% of people being tested, which is high, the slow decline may be indicative of the notion expressed earlier – that the virus has been in the US for quite some time, only no one noticed because most people that have it do not show the horrible severe symptoms of it, if anything at all, and that what we may be tracking is the pandemic as it gradually burns out.
We do not know for sure, of course. We will not know for sure about this until probably well after the pandemic comes to its end. But Tucker’s informative report suggests that while mostly well-intentioned, this lockdown experiment is a failure. Tucker believes this strongly.
Like many polarizing issues, the truth is likely to fall somewhere between the extremes of the CDC doomsayers (for that is their job), and the “everything is all right” crowd (for saying so is their job). Nevertheless, as noted over and over, this is an evolving issue, and it requires a degree of flexibility to go with changing data and information from the scientific, medical and statistical fields, and it also ought to require that our leaders at all levels in the US know the Constitution of the nation and follow it. The political posturing is to be expected, but as we have seen, some of our leaders appear to be acting as tin gods, perhaps in a well intentioned way, but no less unwise.
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theduran--2020-04-23--The True History Of Female Emancipation (Part 3)

Another field that was dominated by men was publishing , and again thanks to their investment and enabling , women would rise to prominence as authors of fiction .
The famous Brontë sisters may have had short lives , but their works are still read with enthusiasm today .
Emily Brontë died aged just thirty , possibly because she ignored medical advice .
Charlotte had been married for less than a year when she died just short of her thirty-ninth birthday and heavily pregnant .
Had they been born a century later , all three sisters might well have lived @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , one who did live well into old age , was Agatha Christie ( pictured ) , who became the queen of the crime novel .
Said to be the best-selling novelist of all time and comparable to Shakespeare himself , how far would she have progressed without her first publisher , The Bodley Head , which was founded by two men ?
In our own day , the children ’ s author J.K. Rowling is another prodigious female talent , but if it had not been for her male literary agent and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of today .
While Rowling specialises in fantasy fiction , the current crop of feminist authors live in their own fantasy world .
These include Kat Banyard whose mistitled book The Equality Illusion paints a picture of women as the downtrodden and oppressed half of humanity , always under the male thumb .
Then there is Jessica Valenti who says all we have to do is believe women to make the world a better place .
Presumably that means we should have believed Jodi Arias when she claimed she didn ’ t murder @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she denied murdering four babies in a Grantham hospital , in addition to believing U.S. Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh is a serial sexual predator .
If the patriarchy did exist , women like Jessica Valenti and Julie Bindel wouldn ’ t be given the platforms they have to spew their hatred of men over the entire world , nor would the Fawcett Society be bankrolled by major trust funds .
A lot more could be written about female emancipation , but the bottom line is that advances in technology coupled with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our lives .
With rare exceptions , most of these technological advances and wealth-creation has come from men , particularly white men .
Indeed it is no exaggeration to say that if no woman had ever set foot inside a laboratory , a medical school , or an engineering workshop , the world would not have been any less wealthy or any less free .
Having said that , it is clear that while women ’ s contributions to science and technology have been negligible , the same can not be said for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ word and contemporary music .
Just as every individual has strengths and weaknesses , so do men and women , so just because women do not make up 50 % of world leaders does not mean they are being held down anymore than they are excluded from engineering or highway maintenance .
Only an idiot would suggest otherwise .
One final point , in 1963 , the United States enacted equal pay legislation .
The UK followed seven years later .
In both countries , most countries , it has long been illegal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same work , yet the Banyards and Valentis of the world still claim there is a gender pay gap , but as this article explains , this pay gap exists only in their tiny minds .
Total female emancipation will come the same time total male emancipation comes , namely when robots do all the work and we can sit around all day playing music or video games .
But even then the Jessica Valentis and Kat Banyards of the world will find something to bitch about .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Another field that was dominated by men was publishing, and again thanks to their investment and enabling, women would rise to prominence as authors of fiction. The famous Brontë sisters may have had short lives, but their works are still read with enthusiasm today. Emily Brontë died aged just thirty, possibly because she ignored medical advice. Charlotte had been married for less than a year when she died just short of her thirty-ninth birthday and heavily pregnant. Had they been born a century later, all three sisters might well have lived to old age.
Another lady author, one who did live well into old age, was Agatha Christie (pictured), who became the queen of the crime novel. Said to be the best-selling novelist of all time and comparable to Shakespeare himself, how far would she have progressed without her first publisher, The Bodley Head, which was founded by two men?
In our own day, the children’s author J.K. Rowling is another prodigious female talent, but if it had not been for her male literary agent and publisher, she would have been unheard of today. While Rowling specialises in fantasy fiction, the current crop of feminist authors live in their own fantasy world. These include Kat Banyard whose mistitled book The Equality Illusion paints a picture of women as the downtrodden and oppressed half of humanity, always under the male thumb. Then there is Jessica Valenti who says all we have to do is believe women to make the world a better place. Presumably that means we should have believed Jodi Arias when she claimed she didn’t murder Travis Alexander, and Beverley Allitt when she denied murdering four babies in a Grantham hospital, in addition to believing U.S. Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh is a serial sexual predator.
If the patriarchy did exist, women like Jessica Valenti and Julie Bindel wouldn’t be given the platforms they have to spew their hatred of men over the entire world, nor would the Fawcett Society be bankrolled by major trust funds.
A lot more could be written about female emancipation, but the bottom line is that advances in technology coupled with the accumulation of capital have vastly improved all our lives. With rare exceptions, most of these technological advances and wealth-creation has come from men, particularly white men. Indeed it is no exaggeration to say that if no woman had ever set foot inside a laboratory, a medical school, or an engineering workshop, the world would not have been any less wealthy or any less free.
Having said that, it is clear that while women’s contributions to science and technology have been negligible, the same cannot be said for the arts including and especially the written word and contemporary music. Just as every individual has strengths and weaknesses, so do men and women, so just because women do not make up 50% of world leaders does not mean they are being held down anymore than they are excluded from engineering or highway maintenance. Only an idiot would suggest otherwise.
One final point, in 1963, the United States enacted equal pay legislation. The UK followed seven years later. In both countries, most countries, it has long been illegal to pay women less than men for the same work, yet the Banyards and Valentis of the world still claim there is a gender pay gap, but as this article explains, this pay gap exists only in their tiny minds.
Total female emancipation will come the same time total male emancipation comes, namely when robots do all the work and we can sit around all day playing music or video games. But even then the Jessica Valentis and Kat Banyards of the world will find something to bitch about.
Back to Part 2.
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theduran--2020-04-23--YouTube Sides With World Health Organization On Coronavirus

YouTube says it will take down any videos that contradict what the World Health Organization says about the coronavirus .
As the WHO finds itself in the middle of controversy over China ’ s handling of COVID-19 , it sounds like any videos even criticizing the agency could be removed .
Of course , the issue of censorship by the world ’ s biggest tech firms isn ’ t new , and it ’ s unlikely to change anytime soon .
In an interview with CNN , YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said they ’ ve seen a 75 % increase @ @ @ @ @ @ @ authoritative sources ” since the beginning of 2020 .
She also said they ’ ve been busy removing “ problematic information ” like anything that is “ medically unsubstantiated.
” Susan gave examples of videos advising people to take vitamin C or turmeric as content that violates YouTube ’ s policies .
She also said YouTube will remove anything that goes against World Health Organization recommendations .
Another example of a topic the video platform cracked down on is the conspiracy theory claiming 5G towers cause coronavirus symptoms .
She added that even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been removing information that is a violation of their policy .
She also said YouTube has made “ numerous policy changes ” to stay ahead of the rapid changes WHO says coronavirus didn ’ t come from a lab One of the most widespread theories about the coronavirus is that it originated in a lab in Wuhan , the original epicenter of the virus .
The theory has picked up so much steam that the U.S. has reportedly launched an official investigation into it .
However , YouTube could theoretically remove videos that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Health Organization officially said on Tuesday that COVID-19 did not come from any lab .
A spokesperson for the WHO said on Tuesday that the virus is likely of animal origin .
USA Today and Reuters report that a spokesperson for the agency said it ’ s unclear how the novel coronavirus made the leap from bats to humans .
They believe an intermediate animal served as a bridge .
This isn ’ t the first time public health experts have said that COVID-19 wasn ’ t engineered in a lab .
However @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be the big issue where theories about the Wuhan Institute of Virology ’ s possible involvement are concerned .
Reuters specifically asked the WHO spokesperson to elaborate on whether the coronavirus may have accidentally escaped from a lab , but she declined .
The Wuhan Institute of Virology has repeatedly dismissed theories that lax safety protocols allowed the virus to escape accidentally .
Trump and others take aim at the WHO President Donald Trump wants to halt funding for the WHO due to its handling of the coronavirus , but he ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the agency ’ s efforts .
The WHO has accepted China ’ s statements of the number of infections and deaths from COVID-19 without questioning the accuracy of the data .
Meanwhile , numerous reports out of China have suggested that Beijing isn ’ t being totally transparent about the severity of the illness within its borders .
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has landed in the crosshairs amid calls for him to step down .
Some are calling him a puppet of the Chinese Communist Party .
He was Beijing ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ general , Rep. Michael McCaul of the House Foreign Affairs Committee told USA Today .
He said Tedros “ used the WHO to trumpet their [ China ’ s ] lies about the virus.
” Lawrence Gostin of the O ’ Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University , told The New York Times in May 2017 that while Tedros was Ethiopia ’ s health minister , the government covered up three cholera outbreaks .
Tedros denies the claim , and he became director general of the WHO due @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and other serious diseases while serving as Ethiopia ’ s health minister .
Trump isn ’ t the only one taking aim at the World Health Organization .
Three Westchester , New York men are suing the agency , alleging that it mishandled the pandemic response .
The lawsuit demands that the WHO pay “ incalculable ” damagers for the “ injury , damage and loss ” they suffered due to the pandemic .
According to USA Today , the attorney who represents the plaintiffs in the lawsuit said in the lawsuit that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to make sure the Chinese government was open and honest about the safeguards it was taken to protect against COVID-19 .

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Submitted by ValueWalk:
YouTube says it will take down any videos that contradict what the World Health Organization says about the coronavirus. As the WHO finds itself in the middle of controversy over China’s handling of COVID-19, it sounds like any videos even criticizing the agency could be removed.
Of course, the issue of censorship by the world’s biggest tech firms isn’t new, and it’s unlikely to change anytime soon.
YouTube backs World Health Organization on coronavirus
In an interview with CNN, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said they’ve seen a 75% increase in video views for news from “authoritative sources” since the beginning of 2020. She also said they’ve been busy removing “problematic information” like anything that is “medically unsubstantiated.”
Susan gave examples of videos advising people to take vitamin C or turmeric as content that violates YouTube’s policies. She also said YouTube will remove anything that goes against World Health Organization recommendations.
Another example of a topic the video platform cracked down on is the conspiracy theory claiming 5G towers cause coronavirus symptoms. She added that even during non-pandemic times, they’ve been removing information that is a violation of their policy. She also said YouTube has made “numerous policy changes” to stay ahead of the rapid changes
WHO says coronavirus didn’t come from a lab
One of the most widespread theories about the coronavirus is that it originated in a lab in Wuhan, the original epicenter of the virus. The theory has picked up so much steam that the U.S. has reportedly launched an official investigation into it.
However, YouTube could theoretically remove videos that talk about this theory because the World Health Organization officially said on Tuesday that COVID-19 did not come from any lab. A spokesperson for the WHO said on Tuesday that the virus is likely of animal origin.
USA Today and Reuters report that a spokesperson for the agency said it’s unclear how the novel coronavirus made the leap from bats to humans. They believe an intermediate animal served as a bridge.
This isn’t the first time public health experts have said that COVID-19 wasn’t engineered in a lab. However, that doesn’t seem to be the big issue where theories about the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s possible involvement are concerned.
Reuters specifically asked the WHO spokesperson to elaborate on whether the coronavirus may have accidentally escaped from a lab, but she declined. The Wuhan Institute of Virology has repeatedly dismissed theories that lax safety protocols allowed the virus to escape accidentally.
Trump and others take aim at the WHO
President Donald Trump wants to halt funding for the WHO due to its handling of the coronavirus, but he’s not the only one calling into question the agency’s efforts. The WHO has accepted China’s statements of the number of infections and deaths from COVID-19 without questioning the accuracy of the data. Meanwhile, numerous reports out of China have suggested that Beijing isn’t being totally transparent about the severity of the illness within its borders.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has landed in the crosshairs amid calls for him to step down. Some are calling him a puppet of the Chinese Communist Party. He was Beijing’s choice for the position of WHO director general, Rep. Michael McCaul of the House Foreign Affairs Committee told USA Today. He said Tedros “used the WHO to trumpet their [China’s] lies about the virus.”
Lawrence Gostin of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, told The New York Times in May 2017 that while Tedros was Ethiopia’s health minister, the government covered up three cholera outbreaks. Tedros denies the claim, and he became director general of the WHO due to his track record of fighting malaria and other serious diseases while serving as Ethiopia’s health minister.
Lawsuit filed against the World Health Organization
Trump isn’t the only one taking aim at the World Health Organization. Three Westchester, New York men are suing the agency, alleging that it mishandled the pandemic response. The lawsuit demands that the WHO pay “incalculable” damagers for the “injury, damage and loss” they suffered due to the pandemic.
According to USA Today, the attorney who represents the plaintiffs in the lawsuit said in the lawsuit that the agency didn’t do enough to make sure the Chinese government was open and honest about the safeguards it was taken to protect against COVID-19.
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theduran--2020-04-23--The True History Of Female Emancipation (Part 2)

In the ancient world , sons were preferred to daughters because they were expected to support their parents in old age .
In the Arab world , if a woman gave birth to a daughter who was considered “ superfluous ” to requirements , she would be taken into the desert and buried alive .
The Prophet himself is said to have put an end to this barbaric practice , and indeed while the religion is today often attacked as violating women ’ s rights , Islam goes out of its way to protect both sexes .
So-called gender apartheid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from predatory males and of false allegations from malicious or simply deranged females , of which there are many in the West .
Under Islam , girls prowess in STEM fields far exceeds that of Western universities , which have been largely corrupted by feminist indoctrination .
Education has without doubt been the greatest emancipator of women as for men of humble stock .
Throughout the Middle Ages , only the daughters of the very wealthy were educated .
This was because there were no computers , and books were both rare and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doctor required a heavier investment of human resources than today , so a student who might become pregnant at any time was at a disadvantage to anyone of the opposite sex .
Literacy increased with the introduction of the printing press , and by the Renaissance , the daughters of the upper classes were often extremely well educated .
There were a number of famous female artists , including Lavinia Fontana whose works are easily found by a Google search .
She was trained by her father , and was clearly the apple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Century , the education of women had been extended to the middle classes , and this led to a rise in social activism , not all of it useful .
The first Women ’ s Rights Convention ( so-called ) was held at Seneca Falls in 1846 , and is often hailed as a watershed , but not everyone was impressed .
The 1854 convention was also held in New York State , and was reported in the London Times of March 4 wherein quoting an American journalist a correspondent pointed out : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Albany , nurses are wanted in every part of the country , at wages ranging from $ 5 to $ 25 per month , according to capability .
These women complain that they are deprived of their rights , have no opportunity of making money , and yet they refuse to fill situations when offered ” .
The nascent women ’ s movement may have made a lot of noise , but it was all-male parliaments that delivered .
In the UK , the Married Women ’ s Property Act of 1870 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ retain their own earnings and to inherit property , something that had been severely limited prior to its enactment .
This was followed by the Married Women ’ s Property Act of 1882 , similar legislation being extended to much of the rest of the world .
In 1885 , the age of consent in England and Wales was raised from 13 to 16 specifically to protect young girls from sexual exploitation .
This is in stark contrast to feminist and homosexual groups that clamoured from the late Twentieth Century to lower the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tatchell wanted it lowered to 14 !
Nursing has of course been a major employer of women , as has that other caring profession , teaching .
Indeed , the overwhelming majority of both nursery assistants and primary school teachers have long been women , something which alone debunks the ludicrous feminist claims of gender roles being a sinister plot by the mythical patriarchy .
Who owns a child for the first seven years of its life ?
Although doctors remained overwhelmingly male throughout the first half of the Twentieth Century , women @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and as this document from the 1930s proves , by this time the only barriers faced by young women who wished to enter the medical field were the same as those faced by men .
Developments in medicine and the associated technologies have greatly improved the quality of life of people the world over , women as much as men .
Ever thought what it must be like to have a serious operation or even a tooth pulled without some form of pain relief ?
In 1846 , the American dentist Thomas Green @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time .
Childbirth can be not only painful but dangerous .
In 1842 , Thomas Watson made the simple suggestion that physicians and those attending births should wash their hands with chlorine between patients .
In the Middle Ages , a woman might have ten children and be lucky to see five or six of them survive .
By 1880 , in England and Wales , the infant mortality rate ( deaths under one year old ) had dropped to 153 per thousand live births .
In Russia , it was 286 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 3.9 deaths per thousand live births in the United Kingdom , thanks to the dedication and perseverance of ( overwhelmingly male ) medical researchers and doctors .
Next to safer childbirth and reduced infant mortality , arguably the greatest medical gift to women was the development of the birth control pill .
Until the 1960s , birth control had been hit and miss , to put it mildly , but the male doctors responsible for this innovation – including Carl Djerassi ( pictured ) – did more than any self-styled suffragettes before or @ @ @ @ @ @

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
In the ancient world, sons were preferred to daughters because they were expected to support their parents in old age. In the Arab world, if a woman gave birth to a daughter who was considered “superfluous” to requirements, she would be taken into the desert and buried alive. The Prophet himself is said to have put an end to this barbaric practice, and indeed while the religion is today often attacked as violating women’s rights, Islam goes out of its way to protect both sexes. So-called gender apartheid reduces both the risks of sexual assault from predatory males and of false allegations from malicious or simply deranged females, of which there are many in the West. Under Islam, girls prowess in STEM fields far exceeds that of Western universities, which have been largely corrupted by feminist indoctrination.
Education has without doubt been the greatest emancipator of women as for men of humble stock. Throughout the Middle Ages, only the daughters of the very wealthy were educated. This was because there were no computers, and books were both rare and expensive. Training a teacher or a doctor required a heavier investment of human resources than today, so a student who might become pregnant at any time was at a disadvantage to anyone of the opposite sex.
Literacy increased with the introduction of the printing press, and by the Renaissance, the daughters of the upper classes were often extremely well educated. There were a number of famous female artists, including Lavinia Fontana whose works are easily found by a Google search. She was trained by her father, and was clearly the apple of his eye.
By the Nineteenth Century, the education of women had been extended to the middle classes, and this led to a rise in social activism, not all of it useful. The first Women’s Rights Convention (so-called) was held at Seneca Falls in 1846, and is often hailed as a watershed, but not everyone was impressed. The 1854 convention was also held in New York State, and was reported in the London Times of March 4 wherein quoting an American journalist a correspondent pointed out: “While these women are wasting time at Albany, nurses are wanted in every part of the country, at wages ranging from $5 to $25 per month, according to capability. These women complain that they are deprived of their rights, have no opportunity of making money, and yet they refuse to fill situations when offered”.
The nascent women’s movement may have made a lot of noise, but it was all-male parliaments that delivered. In the UK, the Married Women’s Property Act of 1870 conferred the right of married women to retain their own earnings and to inherit property, something that had been severely limited prior to its enactment. This was followed by the Married Women’s Property Act of 1882, similar legislation being extended to much of the rest of the world. In 1885, the age of consent in England and Wales was raised from 13 to 16 specifically to protect young girls from sexual exploitation. This is in stark contrast to feminist and homosexual groups that clamoured from the late Twentieth Century to lower the age of consent. Homosexual activist Peter Tatchell wanted it lowered to 14!
Nursing has of course been a major employer of women, as has that other caring profession, teaching. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of both nursery assistants and primary school teachers have long been women, something which alone debunks the ludicrous feminist claims of gender roles being a sinister plot by the mythical patriarchy. Who owns a child for the first seven years of its life?
Although doctors remained overwhelmingly male throughout the first half of the Twentieth Century, women were increasingly attracted to the profession, and as this document from the 1930s proves, by this time the only barriers faced by young women who wished to enter the medical field were the same as those faced by men.
Developments in medicine and the associated technologies have greatly improved the quality of life of people the world over, women as much as men. Ever thought what it must be like to have a serious operation or even a tooth pulled without some form of pain relief?
In 1846, the American dentist Thomas Green Morton employed general anaesthesia for the first time. Childbirth can be not only painful but dangerous. In 1842, Thomas Watson made the simple suggestion that physicians and those attending births should wash their hands with chlorine between patients.
In the Middle Ages, a woman might have ten children and be lucky to see five or six of them survive. By 1880, in England and Wales, the infant mortality rate (deaths under one year old) had dropped to 153 per thousand live births. In Russia, it was 286. Between 2013 and 2018, there were 3.9 deaths per thousand live births in the United Kingdom, thanks to the dedication and perseverance of (overwhelmingly male) medical researchers and doctors.
Next to safer childbirth and reduced infant mortality, arguably the greatest medical gift to women was the development of the birth control pill. Until the 1960s, birth control had been hit and miss, to put it mildly, but the male doctors responsible for this innovation – including Carl Djerassi (pictured) – did more than any self-styled suffragettes before or feminists since to empower women.
To Part 3.
Back to Part 1.
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theduran--2020-04-23--The True History Of Female Emancipation (Part 1)

An exhibition called Unfinished Business : The Fight for Women ’ s Rights was due to open at the British Library April 24 .
With the current situation there are of course serious doubts about its opening at all , but it is scheduled to run until August , so presumably the entire event won ’ t be cancelled .
The British Library rightly styles itself “ The World ’ s Knowledge ” .
Unfortunately , this exhibition appears to include quite a lot of feminist propaganda masquerading as knowledge , while excluding all the major champions of women ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and even those it acknowledges are distorted .
For example , the prospective visitor is told she can meet those who fight for : “ ending period poverty and supporting refugee women to securing abortion rights and increasing the number of women and girls involved in science.
” “ those behind the No More Page 3 campaign ” and “ human rights advocates Southall Black Sisters , and the Women ’ s Liberation Movement ” while “ Recognising that inequality is experienced differently depending on race , gender identity , class and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have struggled to overcome the barriers to living a fully-realised life.
” Let ’ s take a look at the above then outline very briefly the real history of female emancipation .
Period poverty is a very recent addition to the lexicon of lunacy .
This campaign sought to provide free sanitary products in all secondary schools and colleges .
Whenever you hear the word “ free ” , ask yourself : who pays ?
because apart from sunshine , very few things in this world are totally free .
Obviously the taxpayer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the provision of “ free ” sanitary towels , etc , will undoubtedly lead to some abuse for financial gain .
Having said that , this one may actually be worthwhile because in the past , girls were often not properly informed about menstruation by their mothers , and this could lead to embarrassment or more serious problems .
The bleeding resulting from periods has of course troubled women down through the ages , and they have taken various measures to deal with it , but it was the great statesman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first modern , disposable menstrual pad .
The idea was slow to catch on , the 1880s saw Johnson & Johnson producing them commercially .
The rights of refugee women means what ?
The right of any woman , usually from Africa , to relocate to Europe or North America by dint of some sob story of being raped or worse in her own country !
The prime mover behind the No More Page 3 campaign is a deranged woman from Brighton named Lucy-Anne Holmes .
Look at her eyes in thiis short @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is that she isn ’ t high on drugs .
Page 3 alludes to page 3 of the Sun newspaper .
On November 17 , 1969 , its first Page 3 Girl appeared .
As you can see , this is a quite tasteful photograph of an attractive young woman .
The paper followed this up on November 17 , 1970 , and this time the model was topless , topless and then some .
From then on , page 3 of this tabloid newspaper became a national institution , but second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and now with the third wave , we are led to believe that photographs of naked or semi-naked young women are “ objectification ” and worse .
The reality is that there was never any shortage of attractive young women to queue up for having their photographs splashed across a national newspaper , even the Sun , and the money was good .
Alas , feminists , who would have us believe they fight for the right of women to choose their own careers and for bodily autonomy , would have none @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much freedom as third wave feminism wants .
Whatever the fate of Page 3 , the reality is that there are now more women than ever posing naked and semi-naked , as well as acting in films of varying length and quality on all manner of websites that make Page 3 pale by comparison .
Women like Kat Banyard and Jessica Valenti may howl and scream , but ordinary women – young and not so young , attractive and not so attractive – have voted with their feet .
Now let us look @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When our barely human ancestors came down from the trees , they realised the survival of the tribe was dependent on protecting its most precious assets : women of child-bearing age , and the young .
To this effect they instituted social mores and customs that protected women .
The above cartoon illustrates this to a tee .
Staying at home in a filthy hut barefoot and pregnant may not have been much of a life , but hunting dinner that might eat “ you ” for dinner if you slipped up , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ great administrators , and although their quality of life was far superior to that of their primitive ancestors , it was still dangerous , especially at the top , so they too preferred to keep their women at home safe .
Here are a few Roman leaders with their fates : Pertinax , ( 193AD ) , a former Governor of Britain , was assassinated .
He was succeeded as Emperor by Didius Julianus , who was assassinated the same year .
Clodius Albinus ( 193-7AD ) , Governor of Britain , was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Antoninus Caracalla was assassinated in 217AD .
His successor Macrinus was assassinated/executed the following year , and his successor Elagabalus was assassinated in 222AD .
Severus Alexander was assassinated in 235AD .
Being top dog in any country can still be dangerous , because the prime minister , president , monarch…is a magnet for every discontent and lunatic in the land .
In October 1984 , Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi was assassinated ; earlier the same month , Margaret Thatcher and her entire Cabinet came within a hair ’ s breadth of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bomb .
Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in 2007 .
These were not acts of that feminist fantasy “ gendered violence ” , but of political terror .
Incidentally , if India is so patriarchal and Moslem Pakistan so misogynistic , why did their people elect women leaders ?

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
An exhibition called Unfinished Business: The Fight for Women’s Rights was due to open at the British Library April 24. With the current situation there are of course serious doubts about its opening at all, but it is scheduled to run until August, so presumably the entire event won’t be cancelled.
The British Library rightly styles itself “The World’s Knowledge”. Unfortunately, this exhibition appears to include quite a lot of feminist propaganda masquerading as knowledge, while excluding all the major champions of women’s rights and milestones along the way, and even those it acknowledges are distorted. For example, the prospective visitor is told she can meet those who fight for:
“ending period poverty and supporting refugee women to securing abortion rights and increasing the number of women and girls involved in science.”
“those behind the No More Page 3 campaign” and “human rights advocates Southall Black Sisters, and the Women’s Liberation Movement” while “Recognising that inequality is experienced differently depending on race, gender identity, class and sexuality, this exhibition celebrates those who have struggled to overcome the barriers to living a fully-realised life.”
Indeed.
Let’s take a look at the above then outline very briefly the real history of female emancipation.
Period poverty is a very recent addition to the lexicon of lunacy. This campaign sought to provide free sanitary products in all secondary schools and colleges. Whenever you hear the word “free”, ask yourself: who pays? because apart from sunshine, very few things in this world are totally free. Obviously the taxpayer will foot the bill in this case, and the provision of “free” sanitary towels, etc, will undoubtedly lead to some abuse for financial gain. Having said that, this one may actually be worthwhile because in the past, girls were often not properly informed about menstruation by their mothers, and this could lead to embarrassment or more serious problems.
The bleeding resulting from periods has of course troubled women down through the ages, and they have taken various measures to deal with it, but it was the great statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin who produced the first modern, disposable menstrual pad. The idea was slow to catch on, the 1880s saw Johnson & Johnson producing them commercially.
The rights of refugee women means what? The right of any woman, usually from Africa, to relocate to Europe or North America by dint of some sob story of being raped or worse in her own country!
The prime mover behind the No More Page 3 campaign is a deranged woman from Brighton named Lucy-Anne Holmes. Look at her eyes in thiis short video. The most frightening thing about it is that she isn’t high on drugs.
Page 3 alludes to page 3 of the Sun newspaper. On November 17, 1969, its first Page 3 Girl appeared. As you can see, this is a quite tasteful photograph of an attractive young woman. The paper followed this up on November 17, 1970, and this time the model was topless, topless and then some. From then on, page 3 of this tabloid newspaper became a national institution, but second wave feminism was already on the march, and now with the third wave, we are led to believe that photographs of naked or semi-naked young women are “objectification” and worse. The reality is that there was never any shortage of attractive young women to queue up for having their photographs splashed across a national newspaper, even the Sun, and the money was good.
Alas, feminists, who would have us believe they fight for the right of women to choose their own careers and for bodily autonomy, would have none of it. Women can have as much freedom as third wave feminism wants.
Whatever the fate of Page 3, the reality is that there are now more women than ever posing naked and semi-naked, as well as acting in films of varying length and quality on all manner of websites that make Page 3 pale by comparison. Women like Kat Banyard and Jessica Valenti may howl and scream, but ordinary women – young and not so young, attractive and not so attractive – have voted with their feet.
Now let us look at the real female emancipation movement. When our barely human ancestors came down from the trees, they realised the survival of the tribe was dependent on protecting its most precious assets: women of child-bearing age, and the young. To this effect they instituted social mores and customs that protected women. The above cartoon illustrates this to a tee. Staying at home in a filthy hut barefoot and pregnant may not have been much of a life, but hunting dinner that might eat “you” for dinner if you slipped up, was even worse.
The Romans were great administrators, and although their quality of life was far superior to that of their primitive ancestors, it was still dangerous, especially at the top, so they too preferred to keep their women at home safe. Here are a few Roman leaders with their fates:
Pertinax, (193AD), a former Governor of Britain, was assassinated. He was succeeded as Emperor by Didius Julianus, who was assassinated the same year. Clodius Albinus (193-7AD), Governor of Britain, was executed or committed suicide in 197AD. Antoninus Caracalla was assassinated in 217AD. His successor Macrinus was assassinated/executed the following year, and his successor Elagabalus was assassinated in 222AD. Severus Alexander was assassinated in 235AD.
Being top dog in any country can still be dangerous, because the prime minister, president, monarch…is a magnet for every discontent and lunatic in the land. In October 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi was assassinated; earlier the same month, Margaret Thatcher and her entire Cabinet came within a hair’s breadth of assassination, in Brighton by an IRA bomb. Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in 2007. These were not acts of that feminist fantasy “gendered violence”, but of political terror. Incidentally, if India is so patriarchal and Moslem Pakistan so misogynistic, why did their people elect women leaders?
To Part 2.
Read Later Add to Favourites Add to Collection Report