veteranstoday--2020-03-14--Debunking Christianity: Ten Knockout Punches, Number 5

Would this be a good idea ?
From now on , all new Bibles should be expanded to include not just the Old and New Testaments , but also the Qur ’ an and the Book of Mormon .
After all , the Old Testament is the sacred text of another religion , and it made it into the Christian canon .
There are just under two billion Muslims in the world ; how could that many people be wrong about the holy word of Allah ?
Don ’ t we have to take their scripture seriously ?
There are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , roughly on a par with the number of Jews worldwide .
How could we justify exclusion of the Mormon scriptures ?
Surely , they can ’ t all be wrong too .
These branches of the original Abrahamic faith are confident God updates his word .
But we can be sure that Christians don ’ t want to add the Qur ’ an because—no surprise—they ’ re sure it isn ’ t the word of God .
How do Christians know , however , that Islam isn ’ t the “ true @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ask any churchgoer , “ Why did you opt for Christianity instead of Islam ?
” we would not hear that both religions had been given thorough , careful study , and that hard evidence was uncovered that tips the balance in favor of Christianity .
I ’ ll go out on a limb and suggest that most Christians don ’ t know much at all about Islam .
As Guy Harrison has said , there has been no comparison-shopping .
Christians are Christian because they ’ ve been brought up that way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ faith as adults—they found Jesus—that ’ s hardly a surprise , since the marketing of Jesus is a multi-billion dollar business .
In either case , very little critical thought—very little due diligence—is brought to the process .
What are the criteria for deciding which religion is true ?
Knockout Punch Number 5 is this : Christians can not give us the reasons their monotheism is the right one ; indeed , even their most erudite theologians can not explain convincingly—with plenty of reliable , verifiable evidence—why and how Christianity is “ truer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mormonism .
If we called a meeting of the most highly regarded apologists of these major faiths , to debate the merits of their various belief systems , there ’ s about zero chance that any of them would switch sides .
Those of us on the outside are skeptical : unless you can tell us which monotheism is correct—and explain exactly how that can be done—then you ’ re blowing smoke .
The billions of monotheists in the world can not agree : they don ’ t trust each other .
Why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have a wish list of the books that should be required reading for Christians .
One that deserves to be in the top ten is John Loftus ’ The Outsider Test of Faith : How to Know Which Religion Is True .
His simple suggestion—and this isn ’ t rocket science—is that people should apply the same “ truth standards ” to one ’ s own religion as they apply to other religions .
For example , on what basis are Christian revelations and visions assumed to be true , i.e.
, certified @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the revelations and visions of Islam or Mormonism are dismissed ?
No form of special pleading is allowed : “ Well , I know in my heart that my religion is true ” —because members of other faiths claim the same thing .
Christians have to do better than that .
How can their “ faith testimonies ” be defended if they disparage the testimonies of those who follow Judaism , Islam , and Mormonism ?
It ’ s just a matter of fair play : Loftus asks that you treat your own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the others : pick it apart with the same level of scrutiny and precision…and see if it ’ s still standing .
One favorite dodge , of course , is the claim that “ we all worship the same God.
” If this were true , Christians would welcome opening up the Bible to include the Qur ’ an .
But the “ same God ” dodge can not possibly we true since the concepts of God are so different .
Islam wants nothing whatever to do with the Trinitarian god of Christianity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ God had a son who served as a human sacrifice to enable the god ’ s forgiveness .
Nor has there been agreement on how the god wants to be worshipped .
Is eating part of the god ’ s body the right and proper thing to do ?
Or kneeling on a prayer rug several times a day ?
Men and women together , or men and women segregated ?
Loftus points out that the one-god approach is “ empty rhetoric , with no substance at all ” … “ If Allah @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worshipped by Christians then that deity duplicitously revealed two different religions .
This means God , by whatever name is used , helped to instigate the wanton slaughter of Muslims by Christians and Christians by Muslims because of his conflicting revelation .
“ It also means that God duplicitously promised salvation to believers in one of them who will end up being condemned to hell for not believing according to the other one ’ s creed ( s ) .
These are two different gods , each of whom denies some of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ done , especially with regard to the resurrection of Jesus.
” ( p. 41 , The Outsider Test of Faith ) What ’ s going on here ?
If monotheism is true , i.e.
, that there is one god in charge of it all , why are there are so many irreconcilable ideas about what this god is like ?
How did this happen ?
Guy Harrison is surely on the right track : “ …we are a god-inventing species .
We see divine beings everywhere and then imagine that we know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has never been agreement on who the real gods are and what they want of us hints to the likely source of our tales .
The gods have not spoken to us .
Most likely it is we who are simply speaking to one another , in their names.
” ( 50 Popular Beliefs that People Think Are True , pp .
248-249 ) And religiously inclined folks do love to speak to one another about what they ’ re sure God is like .
But there are no criteria for determining authenticity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mistaken their imaginations , and hallucinations for revelation .
Hence the various brands of monotheism differ so profoundly .
But there is a Part 2 to Knockout Punch Number 5 .
Stephen Prothero calls it correctly : “ In the absence of a spiritual Supreme Court ( or papacy ) to adjudicate competing scriptural interpretations , all believers were free to interpret the Bible for themselves .
This new Christian liberty resulted—as Catholics predicted it would—not in unity but in near-anarchy , an endless splintering of Protestantism into a babel of competing beliefs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American Jesus : How the Son of God Became a National Icon ) There are thousands of contentious Christian brands , hence Part 2 of this Knockout Punch : No Christian can give us the reasons—reasons that would convince outsiders—that his/her particular brand of the faith is the right one ; indeed , even the most erudite theologians can not explain convincingly—with plenty of reliable , verifiable evidence—why and how their brand is the right Christianity .
It would appear , moreover , that the splintering of Christianity began right at the start @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s first letter to the Corinthians : “ Now I appeal to you , brothers , by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ , that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you , but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose .
For it has been reported to me by Chloe ’ s people that there are quarrels among you…What I mean is that each of you says , ‘ I belong to Paul , ’ or ‘ I belong @ @ @ @ @ @ @ belong to Cephas , ’ or ‘ I belong to Christ.
’ Has Christ been divided ?
” And the further irony is that all the squabbling should have ended in Paul ’ s own lifetime .
Both Jesus and Paul predicted the arrival of the kingdom of God on earth—in pretty short order ; certainly this is the case with Paul , and Mark—the first gospel written—portrays Jesus predicting this .
There would be no need for religions at all , with Jesus and God ruling the saved remnant of humans together @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by ignoring how wrong Jesus and Paul had been , nobody could agree on what Christianity was .
And what a mess it became .
As much as I am tempted to suggest that Christians read some of the famous atheist books that have made best-sellers lists , there are other works that might be more effective in getting Christians to think .
For example , Philip Jenkins ’ Jesus Wars : How Four Patriarchs , Three Queens , and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1,500 Years .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ : • “ In any theological struggle , the first thousand years are always the bitterest.
” • “ By 500 or so , the churches were in absolute doctrinal disarray , a state of chaos that might seem routine to a modern American denomination , but which in the context of the time seemed like satanic anarchy.
” • And by the year 600 , the Christian world was “ …divided into several great transnational churches , each with its own claims to absolute truth .
This was an ugly reality for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seamless , united body of Christ.
” By the turn of this century , according to one report ( 2001 ) , there were 33,820 Christian denomination , divisions , factions , and sects in the world .
The Wikipedia list of Christian denominations goes on for miles .
Isn ’ t this an indictment ?
Christians have obliged us by knocking themselves out with this punch .
There are 33,820 different Christian packages , each of which has moms and dads who want to make sure their kids buy the right package @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any two of the brands—maybe Catholics and Southern Baptists—and say , “ Hey , why don ’ t you folks just shake hands and bury the hatchet , ” we might hear some very unchristian snarling .
Christians don ’ t mind not getting along .
Christ is divided .
There are no rumors of minor or mass reconciliations .
Just as the jumble of ideas about God in Judaism , Christianity , Islam , and Mormonism is staggering proof of a hopeless mess , so 33,820 denominations demonstrate that Christianity is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t Christians ashamed of this ?
Why don ’ t they want to brush away the clutter and get to the bottom of it all ?
Shouldn ’ t there be a way to find out what “ true Christianity ” is ?
Is it too much to ask that “ being a Christian ” should mean just one thing ?
How is it that God is so misunderstood ?
Ideas about God proliferate , flourish , and then collide because these ideas aren ’ t grounded in anything other than fertile @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people feel in their hearts .
How can serious thinkers take this fractured , disputatious “ major world religion ” seriously ?
Christianity is flattened , on the ground , down-for-the count with this punch .
There are five more punches to come , but do we really need any more ?
David Madison was a pastor in the Methodist Church for nine years , and has a PhD in Biblical Studies from Boston University .
His book , Ten Tough Problems in Christian Thought and Belief : a Minister-Turned-Atheist Shows Why You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2016 by Tellectual Press .
The 2018 reissue includes a new Foreword by John Loftus .

By David Madison
Would this be a good idea? From now on, all new Bibles should be expanded to include not just the Old and New Testaments, but also the Qur’an and the Book of Mormon. After all, the Old Testament is the sacred text of another religion, and it made it into the Christian canon. There are just under two billion Muslims in the world; how could that many people be wrong about the holy word of Allah? Don’t we have to take their scripture seriously?
There are about 15 million Mormons in the world, roughly on a par with the number of Jews worldwide. How could we justify the exclusion of the Mormon scriptures? Surely, they can’t all be wrong too. These branches of the original Abrahamic faith are confident God updates his word.
But we can be sure that Christians don’t want to add the Qur’an because—no surprise—they’re sure it isn’t the word of God. How do Christians know, however, that Islam isn’t the “true” religion?
If we were to ask any churchgoer, “Why did you opt for Christianity instead of Islam?” we would not hear that both religions had been given thorough, careful study, and that hard evidence was uncovered that tips the balance in favor of Christianity. I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that most Christians don’t know much at all about Islam. As Guy Harrison has said, there has been no comparison-shopping.
Christians are Christian because they’ve been brought up that way. Or if they converted to the faith as adults—they found Jesus—that’s hardly a surprise since the marketing of Jesus is a multi-billion dollar business. In either case, very little critical thought—very little due diligence—is brought to the process. What are the criteria for deciding which religion is true?
Knockout Punch Number 5 is this: Christians cannot give us the reasons their monotheism is the right one; indeed, even their most erudite theologians cannot explain convincingly—with plenty of reliable, verifiable evidence—why and how Christianity is “truer” than Judaism, Islam, or Mormonism. If we called a meeting of the most highly regarded apologists of these major faiths, to debate the merits of their various belief systems, there’s about zero chance that any of them would switch sides. Those of us on the outside are skeptical: unless you can tell us which monotheism is correct—and explain exactly how that can be done—then you’re blowing smoke. The billions of monotheists in the world cannot agree: they don’t trust each other. Why should we trust them?
Many atheists have a wish list of the books that should be required reading for Christians. One that deserves to be in the top ten is John Loftus’ The Outsider Test of Faith: How to Know Which Religion Is True. His simple suggestion—and this isn’t rocket science—is that people should apply the same “truth standards” to one’s own religion as they apply to other religions. For example, on what basis are Christian revelations and visions assumed to be true, i.e., certified as “from God,” while the revelations and visions of Islam or Mormonism are dismissed?
No form of special pleading is allowed: “Well, I know in my heart that my religion is true”—because members of other faiths claim the same thing. Christians have to do better than that. How can their “faith testimonies” be defended if they disparage the testimonies of those who follow Judaism, Islam, and Mormonism? It’s just a matter of fair play: Loftus asks that you treat your own religion the same way you treat all the others: pick it apart with the same level of scrutiny and precision…and see if it’s still standing.
One favorite dodge, of course, is the claim that “we all worship the same God.” If this were true, Christians would welcome opening up the Bible to include the Qur’an. But the “same God” dodge cannot possibly we true since the concepts of God are so different. Islam wants nothing whatever to do with the Trinitarian God of Christianity. Judaism doesn’t accept—at all—that God had a son who served as a human sacrifice to enable god’s forgiveness. Nor has there been agreement on how the god wants to be worshipped. Is eating part of the god’s body the right and proper thing to do? Or kneeling on a prayer rug several times a day? Men and women together, or men and women segregated?
Loftus points out that the one-god approach is “empty rhetoric, with no substance at all”…
“If Allah is the same deity as the one worshipped by Christians then that deity duplicitously revealed two different religions. This means God, by whatever name is used, helped to instigate the wanton slaughter of Muslims by Christians and Christians by Muslims because of his conflicting revelation.
“It also means that God duplicitously promised salvation to believers in one of them who will end up being condemned to hell for not believing according to the other one’s creed(s). These are two different gods, each of whom denies some of the things the other one claims to have done, especially with regard to the resurrection of Jesus.” (p. 41, The Outsider Test of Faith)
What’s going on here? If monotheism is true, i.e., that there is one god in charge of it all, why are there are so many irreconcilable ideas about what this god is like? How did this happen? Guy Harrison is surely on the right track:
“…we are a god-inventing species. We see divine beings everywhere and then imagine that we know their desires. The fact that there has never been agreement on who the real gods are and what they want of us hints to the likely source of our tales. The gods have not spoken to us. Most likely it is we who are simply speaking to one another, in their names.” (50 Popular Beliefs that People Think Are True, pp. 248-249)
And religiously inclined folks do love to speak to one another about what they’re sure God is like. But there are no criteria for determining authenticity: across the millennia they have routinely mistaken their imaginations and hallucinations for revelation. Hence the various brands of monotheism differ so profoundly.
But there is a Part 2 to Knockout Punch Number 5. Stephen Prothero calls it correctly:
“In the absence of a spiritual Supreme Court (or papacy) to adjudicate competing for scriptural interpretations, all believers were free to interpret the Bible for themselves. This new Christian liberty resulted—as Catholics predicted it would—not in unity but in near-anarchy, an endless splintering of Protestantism into a babel of competing beliefs and practices.” (p. 169, American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon)
There are thousands of contentious Christian brands, hence Part 2 of this Knockout Punch: No Christian can give us the reasons—reasons that would convince outsiders—that his/her particular brand of the faith is the right one; indeed, even the most erudite theologians cannot explain convincingly—with plenty of reliable, verifiable evidence—why and how their brand is the right Christianity.
It would appear, moreover, that the splintering of Christianity began right at the start. We read this in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians:
“Now I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you…What I mean is that each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos,’ or ‘I belong to Cephas,’ or ‘I belong to Christ.’ Has Christ been divided?”
And the further irony is that all the squabbling should have ended in Paul’s own lifetime. Both Jesus and Paul predicted the arrival of the kingdom of God on earth—is pretty short order; certainly, this is the case with Paul, and Mark—the first gospel written—portrays Jesus predicting this. There would be no need for religions at all, with Jesus and God ruling the saved remnant of humans together. But as Christianity endured, partially by ignoring how wrong Jesus and Paul had been, nobody could agree on what Christianity was. And what a mess it became.
As much as I am tempted to suggest that Christians read some of the famous atheist books that have made best-sellers lists, there are other works that might be more effective in getting Christians to think. For example, Philip Jenkins’ Jesus Wars: How Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided What Christians Would Believe for the Next 1,500 Years.
Three of his statements will do here:
• “In any theological struggle, the first thousand years are always the bitterest.”
• “By 500 or so, the churches were in absolute doctrinal disarray, a state of chaos that might seem routine to a modern American denomination, but which in the context of the time seemed like satanic anarchy.”
• And by the year 600, the Christian world was “…divided into several great transnational churches, each with its own claims to absolute truth. This was an ugly reality for those who idealized the church as the seamless, united body of Christ.”
By the turn of this century, according to one report (2001), there were 33,820 Christian denominations, divisions, factions, and sects in the world. The Wikipedia list of Christian denominations goes on for miles.
Isn’t this an indictment? Christians have obliged us by knocking themselves out with this punch. There are 33,820 different Christian packages, each of which has moms and dads who want to make sure their kids buy the right package. If we were to pick out any two of the brands—maybe Catholics and Southern Baptists—and say, “Hey, why don’t you folks just shake hands and bury the hatchet,” we might hear some very unchristian snarling. Christians don’t mind not getting along. Christ is divided. There are no rumors of minor or mass reconciliations.
Just as the jumble of ideas about God in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Mormonism is staggering proof of a hopeless mess, so 33,820 denominations demonstrate that Christianity is a hopeless mess as well. Why aren’t Christians ashamed of this? Why don’t they want to brush away the clutter and get to the bottom of it all? Shouldn’t there be a way to find out what “true Christianity” is? Is it too much to ask that “being a Christian” should mean just one thing?
How is it that God is so misunderstood? Ideas about God proliferate, flourish, and then collide because these ideas aren’t grounded in anything other than fertile human imagination—and, of course, what people feel in their hearts. How can serious thinkers take this fractured, disputatious “major world religion” seriously? Christianity is flattened, on the ground, down-for-the count with this punch.
There are five more punches to come, but do we really need any more?
About Author: David Madison was a pastor in the Methodist Church for nine years and has a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Boston University. His book, Ten Tough Problems in Christian Thought and Belief: a Minister-Turned-Atheist Shows Why You Should Ditch the Faith, was reissued last year by Tellectual Press with a new Foreword by John Loftus.
Debunking Christianity: Ten Knockout Punches


veteranstoday--2020-03-14--Breaking/Exclusive:  US Brought COVID19 to China with Fake Army Team for Military Games, Evidence Mo

Breaking/Exclusive:  US Brought COVID19 to China with Fake Army Team for Military Games, Evidence Mounting

“ When did patient zero begin in US ?
How many people are infected ?
What are the names of the hospitals ?
It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan .
Be transparent !
Make public your data !
US owe us an explanation !
” Zhao tweeted .
RT/Moscow : The US army might have brought the novel coronavirus disease ( COVID-19 ) to China ’ s Wuhan , the city where the virus was first detected in the country , Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Thursday .
The Chinese claim , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the inattentive attitude and disproportionately below average results of American athletes in the game indicate they might have been in for other purposes and they might actually be bio-warfare operatives , and that their place of residence during their stay in Wuhan was also close to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market , where the first known cluster of cases occurred .
[ 28 ] [ 29 ] They also have sources that say the US had misrepresented influenza that Trump claims has killed thousands , an influenza carried to China by the US @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID 19 , a disease developed in a military bio-warfare facility in the state of Washington , now “ ground zero ” in the US for COVID 19 .
The US team went home on October 28 , 2019 and within 2 weeks , the first human contact cases of COVID 19 were seen in Wuhan .
The Chinese have not been able to find “ patient zero ” and believe he was a member of the US team .
The US team did so badly that they were called “ Soy Sauce @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fact , many never participated in any event and stayed near the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market , where the disease is said to have originated only days after the US left the area .
In October 2019 , the US brought 172 ( really 369 ) military athletes to Wuhan for the World Military Games .
Despite having the largest military in the world , ten fold , the US came in 35th behind nations like Iran , Finland and Slovenia .
No video or photos exist of the US team , no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but a pitiful performance for the best military in the world .
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lijian Zhao has demanded US authorities reveal what they ’ re hiding about the origins of Covid-19 , going as far as to suggest the coronavirus may have been brought to China by the US military .
Pointing to a video of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) director Robert Redfield apparently admitting the US had several deaths from Covid-19 before they were able to test for it , Zhao called on the American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ posted on Thursday .
“ It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan , ” Zhao suggested , calling for the CDC – and the US in general – to “ be transparent ” and share what they know about where and when “ Patient Zero ” was first diagnosed .
In the video , Redfield acknowledged that some cases of coronavirus were misclassified as influenza as the medics did not have an accurate test for the new epidemic at the time .
He did not elaborate on when these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that “ some cases have been diagnosed that way.
” In the absence of any patients ’ details or chronology of deaths , speculation has swirled .
Zhao ’ s “ theory ” in particular focused on the military delegation that traveled to Wuhan in October for the Military World Games , weeks before the city confirmed the outbreak in December .
The delegation was part of the 300-member group of American athletes taking part in the multi-sport event held every four years .
Zhao is not the only high-profile political figure to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Games and the introduction of the coronavirus in Wuhan .
Former Malaysian PM Matthias Chang offered similar speculation back in January , zeroing in on the event as the launch point for what he deemed a biological war waged by the US against China .
The World Health Organization ( WHO ) states that what is now the Covid-19 pandemic was first reported as a coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan , China , on 31 December 2019 .
The search for the deadly disease ’ s origin has been ongoing , with conflicting versions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – a local delicacy – sold there in particular , while others opined humans might have gotten the virus from pangolins , an endangered scaly mammal .
Less orthodox theories suggest malicious intent , with the head of Iran ’ s elite Revolutionary Guards sensationally claiming last week that Covid-19 could possibly be “ a product of a biological attack by America which initially spread to China and then to Iran and the rest of the world.
” So far , the problem with all of those theories , blaming both animals and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proof has been established , while the identity of China ’ s “ patient zero ” also remains unclear .
And it ’ s not China alone : in Washington state – which seemingly identified and successfully isolated its first infected traveler , with dozens of contacts identified and monitored – the virus somehow began spreading anyway .
Even Steve Wozniak , Apple ’ s co-founder , at one point claimed he and his wife may have been the US ’ “ patient zero ” after developing a bad cough on return from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wife ’ s diagnosis was “ a sinus infection , ” however .
Why does the plague in Wuhan depend on the PLA ?
From October 18 to October 27 , 2019 , the World Military Games was held in Wuhan , and the United States sent 369 soy sauce soldiers to participate .
Why is it soy sauce soldier ?
Because in the 10-day game , the performance of the American soy sauce soldiers was so disappointing that even Bahrain was unnecessarily disappointed , the gold medal was even missing , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by North Korea , which once gave Mexico a chance .
The urge to counterattack the continental United States .
However , the poor performance in the game did not affect the mood of the soy sauce soldiers playing in Wuhan .
They teamed up in groups of two , and played around the streets of Wuhan , leaving many romantic accidents .
It should be pointed out that the location of the US guest house of the Military Games is not far from South China Seafood City .
At the end of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were wondering , how could these gangsters who ca n ’ t wait to build muscles on their faces suddenly get fired up ?
Did the American soldiers ’ food only be grappled ?
Or did they forget to eat it during the game ?
Snickers ?
Note : Para Athletics , Para Archery , Gymnastics , Tennis and 3 Senior Triathlon events not counted in medal table .

https://twitter.com/WEIWEIDAI4/status/1408274396792324096
VT’s overall poor relationship with the Trump presidency has moved up a notch. The report Trump is referencing went, not unnoticed, but rather totally censored in the Western press, as has so much else until VT sought out the facts and published them.
https://twitter.com/DailyMail/status/1407741751603957768
US Congress is seeking a probe into the 2019 Military World Games in Wuhan, as alleged COVID-19 'super-spreader'.#VoiceOfNations pic.twitter.com/51mYGS4aDJ — Voice of Nations (@VoiceOfNations7) June 24, 2021
If America proves that the Wuhan Games were a super spreader event – Trudeau and Xi Jinping are in some serious shit. https://t.co/8Nt21XnwPv — Keean Bexte (@TheRealKeean) June 24, 2021
Now, for the second time, Trump has made sad and silly denials, this one filled with hyperbole and grandiose behavior, typical of a spectrum sociopath.
March 12, 2020: In October 2019, the US brought 172 (really 369) military athletes to Wuhan for the World Military Games. Despite having the largest military in the world, tenfold, the US came in 35th behind nations like Iran, Finland and Slovenia. No video or photos exist of the US team, no records were kept, a huge team but a pitiful performance for the best military in the world.
The US team did so badly that they were called “Soy Sauce Soldiers” by the Chinese. In fact, many never participated in any event and stayed near the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, where the disease is said to have originated only days after the US left the area.
“You look at how the US team performed in the 2019 Military Games, and you think about the overall economic situation in America, and you wonder how long the US can continue on its current path when the economies debt is at an unprecedented rate”, stated Ben Tejes, Co-Founder and CEO of Ascend Finance, which created a Chapter 7 means test calculator to help people understand their debt relief options such as bankruptcy.
The US team went home on October 28, 2019, and within 2 weeks, the first human contact cases of COVID 19 were seen in Wuhan. The Chinese have not been able to find “patient zero” and believe he was a member of the US team.
They also have sources that say the US had misrepresented influenza that Trump claims have killed thousands, influenza carried to China by the US team, influenza that was really COVID 19, a disease developed in a military bio-warfare facility in the state of Washington, now “ground zero” in the US for COVID 19.
The Chinese claim, something censored in the US, that the inattentive attitude and disproportionately below average results of American athletes in the game indicates they might have been in for other purposes and they might actually be bio-warfare operatives, and that their place of residence during their stay in Wuhan was also close to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, where the first known cluster of cases occurred.[28][29]
RT/Moscow: The US army might have brought the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to China’s Wuhan, the city where the virus was first detected in the country, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Thursday.
“When did patient zero begin in the US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be the US army that brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! The US owes us an explanation!” Zhao tweeted.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lijian Zhao has demanded US authorities reveal what they’re hiding about the origins of Covid-19, going as far as to suggest the coronavirus may have been brought to China by the US military.
Pointing to a video of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Robert Redfield apparently admitting the US had several deaths from Covid-19 before they were able to test for it, Zhao called on the American watchdog to come clean in a tweet posted on Thursday.
2/2 CDC was caught on the spot. When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation! pic.twitter.com/vYNZRFPWo3 — Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) March 12, 2020
“It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan,” Zhao suggested, calling for the CDC – and the US in general – to “be transparent” and share what they know about where and when “Patient Zero” was first diagnosed.
https://twitter.com/twainus/status/1238131011503951872
In the video, Redfield acknowledged that some cases of coronavirus were misclassified as influenza as the medics did not have an accurate test for the new epidemic at the time. He did not elaborate on when these misdiagnosed cases first appeared – saying only that “some cases have been diagnosed that way.”
CDC director openly admitting that some #covid deaths have been misdiagnosed as influenza in the US. The question is when are those deaths. This supports the claims made by Japanese scientists that the virus originated from the US but was covered up.#COVID19 #Corona pic.twitter.com/AwdXAKz6Ao — Taro (@taro_taylor) March 12, 2020
In the absence of any patients’ details or chronology of deaths, speculation has swirled. Zhao’s “theory” in particular focused on the military delegation that traveled to Wuhan in October for the Military World Games, weeks before the city confirmed the outbreak in December. The delegation was part of the 300-member group of American athletes taking part in the multi-sport event held every four years.
The #Bahrain Interior Minister accused Iran of spreading #COVID19 & biological warfare. I respond to him that the #USA with its 5th fleet governing Bahrain is the main factor behind #BiologicalWarfare and even initial hiding #CoronavirusOutbreak in America. pic.twitter.com/f7TqbqFoOA — H.Amirabdollahian امیرعبداللهیان (@Amirabdolahian) March 12, 2020
Zhao is not the only high-profile political figure to voice suspicions about the timing of the Games and the introduction of the coronavirus in Wuhan. Former Malaysian PM Matthias Chang offered similar speculation back in January, zeroing in on the event as the launch point for what he deemed a biological war waged by the US against China.
We are still figuring out where the virus originated. And chances are high that the virus was brought to China by the US army team who visited Wuhan in October. Anyway, no human deserves COVID-19. The world should fight against the disease together. No time for blame. — Chris Jiang (@crs_1222) February 27, 2020
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that what is now the Covid-19 pandemic was first reported as a coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, on 31 December 2019. The search for the deadly disease’s origin has been ongoing, with conflicting versions blaming the Wuhan food market and bats – a local delicacy – sold there in particular, while others opined humans might have gotten the virus from pangolins, an endangered scaly mammal.
Less orthodox theories suggest malicious intent, with the head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards sensationally claiming last week that Covid-19 could possibly be “a product of a biological attack by America which initially spread to China and then to Iran and the rest of the world.”
So far, the problem with all of those theories, blaming both animals and humans, is that no direct causal proof has been established, while the identity of China’s “patient zero” also remains unclear. And it’s not China alone: in Washington state – which seemingly identified and successfully isolated its first infected traveler, with dozens of contacts identified and monitored – the virus somehow began spreading anyway. Even Steve Wozniak, Apple’s co-founder, at one point claimed he and his wife may have been the US’ “patient zero” after developing a bad cough on return from China. It has since emerged his wife’s diagnosis was “a sinus infection,” however.
Why does the plague in Wuhan depend on the PLA?
2020-01-30 17:01:10 Source: school coffee house Author: fish off the deep
Views: 37708 Comments: 24 (view) From October 18 to October 27, 2019, the World Military Games was held in Wuhan, and the United States sent 369 soy sauce soldiers to participate. Why is it soy sauce soldiers? Because in the 10-day game, the performance of the American soy sauce soldiers was so disappointing that even Bahrain was unnecessarily disappointed, the gold medal was even missing, and the overall score was left far behind by North Korea, which once gave Mexico a chance. The urge to counterattack the continental United States. However, the poor performance in the game did not affect the mood of the soy sauce soldiers playing in Wuhan. They teamed up in groups of two, and played around the streets of Wuhan, leaving many romantic accidents. It should be pointed out that the location of the US guest house of the Military Games is not far from South China Seafood City. At the end of the military games, just when people were wondering, how could these gangsters who can’t wait to build muscles on their faces suddenly get fired up? Did the American soldiers ’food only be grappled? Or did they forget to eat it during the game? Snickers? * Host nation (China) Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 China (CHN)* 133 64 42 239 2 Russia (RUS) 51 53 57 161 3 Brazil (BRA) 21 31 36 88 4 France (FRA) 13 20 24 57 5 Poland (POL) 11 15 34 60 6 Germany (GER) 10 15 20 45 7 North Korea (PRK) 9 8 15 32 8 Bahrain (BHR) 9 1 7 17 9 Uzbekistan (UZB) 8 7 5 20 10 Ukraine (UKR) 5 13 15 33 11 Italy (ITA) 4 12 12 28 12 Kazakhstan (KAZ) 4 3 5 12 13 Belarus (BLR) 4 2 8 14 14 Iran (IRI) 4 2 5 11 15 Switzerland (SUI) 4 1 8 13 16 South Korea (KOR) 3 10 11 24 17 Norway (NOR) 2 4 2 8 Slovenia (SLO) 2 4 2 8 19 Egypt (EGY) 2 2 5 9 20 Kenya (KEN) 2 1 2 5 Morocco (MAR) 2 1 2 5 22 Turkey (TUR) 2 0 3 5 23 Romania (ROU) 1 4 3 8 24 Mongolia (MGL) 1 3 5 9 25 Hungary (HUN) 1 3 1 5 26 Czech Republic (CZE) 1 2 5 8 27 India (IND) 1 1 2 4 28 Belgium (BEL) 1 1 1 3 29 Latvia (LAT) 1 1 0 2 30 Lithuania (LTU) 1 0 1 2 31 Bulgaria (BUL) 1 0 0 1 Namibia (NAM) 1 0 0 1 Tunisia (TUN) 1 0 0 1 34 Finland (FIN) 0 4 2 6 35 United States (USA) 0 3 5 8 36 Austria (AUT) 0 3 1 4 37 Algeria (ALG) 0 2 5 7 38 Azerbaijan (AZE) 0 2 4 6 39 Dominican Republic (DOM) 0 2 3 5 40 Slovakia (SVK) 0 2 1 3 41 Qatar (QAT) 0 2 0 2 42 Thailand (THA) 0 1 5 6 43 Canada (CAN) 0 1 2 3 Sri Lanka (SRI) 0 1 2 3 Sweden (SWE) 0 1 2 3 46 Oman (OMA) 0 1 1 2 Syria (SYR) 0 1 1 2 Vietnam (VIE) 0 1 1 2 49 Denmark (DEN) 0 1 0 1 Ecuador (ECU) 0 1 0 1 Estonia (EST) 0 1 0 1 Saudi Arabia (KSA) 0 1 0 1 Tanzania (TAN) 0 1 0 1 54 Serbia (SRB) 0 0 3 3 55 Venezuela (VEN) 0 0 2 2 56 Albania (ALB) 0 0 1 1 Armenia (ARM) 0 0 1 1 Barbados (BAR) 0 0 1 1 Greece (GRE) 0 0 1 1 Indonesia (INA) 0 0 1 1 Ireland (IRL) 0 0 1 1 Kuwait (KUW) 0 0 1 1 Luxembourg (LUX) 0 0 1 1 Pakistan (PAK) 0 0 1 1 Rwanda (RWA) 0 0 1 1 Spain (ESP) 0 0 1 1 Totals (66 nations) 316 316 389 1021 Source:[33] Note: Para Athletics, Para Archery, Gymnastics, Tennis and 3 Senior Triathlon events not counted in the medal table.
Gordon Duff posted articles on VT from 2008 to 2022. He is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. A disabled veteran, he worked on veterans and POW issues for decades. Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world’s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues. Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world, and is a regular guest on TV and radio in more than “several” countries. He is also a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist, and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. Business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology. Gordon’s Archives: 2008-2015
Gordon’s Archives: 2016-2022


veteranstoday--2020-03-14--Turkey risks sanctions if it activates S-400 missile system, experts warn

ANKARA : Turkey has reportedly decided to activate its Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system in April despite warnings from the US that if it does so , it will be unable to acquire America ’ s Patriot missile-defense batteries .
Ankara ’ s purchase of the S-400s from Russia has been a major source of disagreement between Ankara and Washington , which insists that the Russian system is incompatible with the NATO systems .
Turkey says it has no intention of integrating the S-400s into NATO systems .
Following recent tension with Russia over Syria ’ s rebel-held Idlib province @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been killed by Russia-backed Syrian regime attacks , Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently stated that he was interested in purchasing the US Patriot system to reinforce Turkey ’ s defenses .
But the US administration has clearly stated that it will not sell the Patriot system to Turkey unless it scraps its plans to use the S-400s .
Karol Wasilewski , a Turkey analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs , thinks that Erdogan and Turkish decision-makers are serious when they say that they would like to have both S-400s and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vision of ( Turkey having ) a multi-vector foreign policy , ” he told Arab News .
“ But Turkey won ’ t get the Patriots as long as it has active S-400s on its soil .
If the Turks activate the S-400 , the US will most likely impose sanctions under the 2017 Countering America ’ s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act ( CAATSA ) , ” he said .
CAATSA sanctions cover 12 options , including the denial of visas to officials , prevention of access to the US-based Export-Import Bank , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the prevention of any transactions with the US financial system .
Erdogan has been asked repeatedly by his US counterpart Donald Trump to abandon the $ 2.5 billion Russian system , which began arriving in Turkey in July accompanied by much fanfare .
President Tayyip Erdogan recently stated that he was interested in purchasing the US Patriot system to reinforce Turkey ’ s defenses .
In response to Ankara failing to take the warning seriously , Washington removed its NATO ally from the multinational manufacturing program for F-35 joint-strike fighter jets and prohibited @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Not only is it impossible for Turkey to operationalize S-400 and also purchase Patriot batteries at the same time , operationalizing the S-400 will likely lead to sanctions by the United States , ” said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli , Ankara office director of the German Marshall Fund of the United States .
These sanctions , he warned , could not only be selected from the CAATSA options , but also from the harsher Turkey Sanctions bill , S. 2641 , which has already passed the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee .
Bill S.2641 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Turkey for use in any military offensive in northern Syria , and will mean that America opposes any loans being granted to Turkey from international financial institutions .
It also restricts visas and freezes Turkish assets in the US .
At the same time , the bill calls for the enforcement of CAATSA sanctions against Turkey .
While the White House claims that such a move risks pushing Turkey into a closer relationship with Russia , the US Congress reportedly favors imposing sanctions on Ankara .
Still , Unluhisarcikli suggests there is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The US could deploy Patriot batteries in Turkey for a year in return for Turkey committing to not activating the S-400 in that same period , ” he said .
This way , Unluhisarcikli argues , sanctions would at least be postponed and there would be a window of opportunity to resolve the S-400 problem in a more positive way that would not so heavily damage an already weakened Turkish economy .
It is still unclear to what extent Ankara might be willing to compromise in order to avoid sanctions , considering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cavusoglu stressed that Turkey needs the Russian system , and said , “ A product is not bought to be kept in the box.
” In other words , the Turkish government has already made up its mind about the S-400 system .
If Turkey , NATO ’ s second-largest member in terms of military force , activates the rival Russian system as declared , it will likely set the country on a collision course with its NATO allies over concerns that the Russian system could undermine NATO technology and open a potential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assets .
For Washington , the only solution to this impending crisis is that the system remains inactive .

ANKARA: Turkey has reportedly decided to activate its Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system in April despite warnings from the US that if it does so, it will be unable to acquire America’s Patriot missile-defense batteries.
Ankara’s purchase of the S-400s from Russia has been a major source of disagreement between Ankara and Washington, which insists that the Russian system is incompatible with the NATO systems. Turkey says it has no intention of integrating the S-400s into NATO systems.
Following recent tension with Russia over Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province — where dozens of Turkish soldiers have been killed by Russia-backed Syrian regime attacks, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently stated that he was interested in purchasing the US Patriot system to reinforce Turkey’s defenses.
But the US administration has clearly stated that it will not sell the Patriot system to Turkey unless it scraps its plans to use the S-400s.
Karol Wasilewski, a Turkey analyst at the Polish Institute of International Affairs, thinks that Erdogan and Turkish decision-makers are serious when they say that they would like to have both S-400s and Patriots.
“It corresponds to their vision of (Turkey having) a multi-vector foreign policy,” he told Arab News. “But Turkey won’t get the Patriots as long as it has active S-400s on its soil. If the Turks activate the S-400, the US will most likely impose sanctions under 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA),” he said.
CAATSA sanctions cover 12 options, including the denial of visas to officials, prevention of access to the US-based Export-Import Bank, refusal or prohibition of export licenses and the prevention of any transactions with the US financial system.
Erdogan has been asked repeatedly by his US counterpart Donald Trump to abandon the $2.5 billion Russian systems, which began arriving in Turkey in July accompanied by much fanfare.
BACKGROUND
President Tayyip Erdogan recently stated that he was interested in purchasing the US Patriot system to reinforce Turkey’s defenses.
In response to Ankara failing to take the warning seriously, Washington removed its NATO ally from the multinational manufacturing program for F-35 joint-strike fighter jets and prohibited the sale of those aircraft to Turkey.
“Not only is it impossible for Turkey to operationalize S-400 and also purchase Patriot batteries at the same time, operationalizing the S-400 will likely lead to sanctions by the United States,” said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Ankara office director of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
These sanctions, he warned, could not only be selected from the CAATSA options, but also from the harsher Turkey Sanctions bill, S. 2641, which has already passed the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
Bill S.2641 places restrictions on US arms sales to Turkey for use in any military offensive in northern Syria and will mean that America opposes any loans being granted to Turkey from international financial institutions. It also restricts visas and freezes Turkish assets in the US. At the same time, the bill calls for the enforcement of CAATSA sanctions against Turkey.
While the White House claims that such a move risks pushing Turkey into a closer relationship with Russia, the US Congress reportedly favors imposing sanctions on Ankara.
Still, Unluhisarcikli suggests there is a way to “overcome this stalemate.”
“The US could deploy Patriot batteries in Turkey for a year in return for Turkey committing to not activating the S-400 in that same period,” he said.
This way, Unluhisarcikli argues, sanctions would at least be postponed and there would be a window of opportunity to resolve the S-400 problem in a more positive way that would not so heavily damage an already weakened Turkish economy.
It is still unclear to what extent Ankara might be willing to compromise in order to avoid sanctions, considering that last year Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stressed that Turkey needs the Russian system, and said, “A product is not bought to be kept in the box.”
In other words, the Turkish government has already made up its mind about the S-400 system.
If Turkey, NATO’s second-largest member in terms of military force, activates the rival Russian system as declared, it will likely set the country on a collision course with its NATO allies over concerns that the Russian system could undermine NATO technology and open a potential backdoor through which to spy on NATO assets.
For Washington, the only solution to this impending crisis is that the system remains inactive.
Source: Arab News