renegadetribune--2020-10-27--Blacksmiths Credited with Supernatural Attributes

By Robert Means Lawrence From The Magic of the Horse-Shoe ( With Other Folk-Lore Notes ) [ 1898 ] Vulcan , the Roman god of fire , the Hephaestus of Grecian mythology , was also the patron of blacksmiths and workers in metals .
He was the great artisan of the universe , and at his workshop in Olympus he fashioned armor for the warriors of the heroic age .
On earth volcanoes were his forges , and his favorite residence was the island of Lemnos in the AEgean Sea .
Beneath AEtna , with the aid of those famed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the thunderbolts of Jove ; and there also , according to tradition , were made the trident of Neptune , Pluto ’ s helmet , and the shield of Hercules .
Hephaestus was thus a controller and master of fire .
The Cyclops were believed by the ancients to have invented the art of forging ; and the discovery of the peculiar qualities of iron was attributed to certain mythical beings called the Dactyls , who dwelt in Phrygia , and who were thought to have acquired this knowledge from observation of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Mount Ida .
The Dactyls had the reputation of being wizards , whose very names possessed a mysterious protective power when pronounced by persons exposed to sudden dangers .
Certain semi-fabulous tribes of central Asia , workers in metals , kept secret the mysteries of their craft , and were wont to indulge in wild orgies and festivities , which served to inspire with awe the uninitiated .
At such times they danced until frenzied with excitement , to the accompaniment of cymbals and tambourines and the clashing of weapons .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them , believing that they were possessed of a magical power which enabled them to transform one metal into another and to forge thunderbolts .
They were reputed to be masters of fire and of the elements , and their forges , like Vulcan ’ s , were volcanoes .
These barbarous peoples were sometimes confounded with the Dactyls , Corybantes , Cabiri , and Curetes , traditional metallurgists endowed with supernatural skill , and therefore popularly reckoned as magicians , or even as divinities .
For a long period they were supposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of metal-working , a knowledge shrouded in mystery .
In the “ Kalevalla , ” or ancient epic poem of Finland , the blacksmith Ilmarinen is represented as the pioneer and most skilled of artisans , who fashioned both the implements of warfare and domestic utensils .
This hero In the Teutonic mythology , blacksmiths were magical craftsmen ; and even in the Middle Ages they were looked upon as superior to other artisans , owing to their faculty of seemingly toying with fire , rendering the dangerous element subservient to their will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with ease and dexterity .
In Germany their workshops were known as “ Wieland ’ s houses , ” in remembrance of the most cunning of smiths in the mythical lore of the North .
As in early ages the origin of metal-working was imputed to divine beings , it was natural that in popular tradition blacksmiths acquired their wondrous technical skill through the assistance of such beings , and hence were exalted above the plane of ordinary mortals because they had received supernatural instruction .
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The following mediaeval legend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ old pagan traditions lingered in the minds of the Scandinavians until long after the establishment among them of Christianity .
One evening in the year 1208 , a horseman rode up to the house of a blacksmith named Thord Vettir , who lived in southern Norway at Nesjar , near the town of Laurvig on the Skager-Rack , and asked for lodging overnight and shoeing for his horse .
The smith assented , and early the next morning began the work , chatting meanwhile with his guest .
“ Where were you last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ latter .
“ In Medaldal , ” was the reply .
“ And where were you the night before ?
” asked the smith .
“ In Jardal , ” answered the stranger .
“ You must be a tremendous liar , ” said the smith , with great frankness .
Then he applied himself to his task in earnest , and forged the biggest horse-shoes which he had ever seen , but which were found to fit the horse ’ s feet perfectly .
In the course of further conversation the traveler @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the north of Norway and was on his way to Sweden .
When he was ready to continue journeying and had mounted his steed , the smith inquired his name .
“ Have you ever heard of Odin ?
” was the rejoinder .
“ I have heard his name , ” said the smith .
“ Then you may see him now , ” remarked the horseman , “ and , if you do not believe what I have told you , look how I leap my horse over the fence.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ straight at the courtyard fence , which was seven ells high .
The gallant steed cleared the fence with ease , and neither he nor his rider were seen again by the worthy blacksmith .
The dignity and importance of the blacksmith ’ s art in early mediaeval times in England is illustrated by the following tale from Paul Sebillot ’ s ” Legendes et Curiosites des Metiers , ” art .
“ Forgerons : ” – King Alfred the Great , who reigned in the latter part of the ninth century , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his principal mechanics and craftsmen , and announced that he would appoint as their chief that one who could longest dispense with the assistance of the others ; and he also invited them all to a banquet , on condition that each should bring with him a specimen of his handiwork and the tools wherewith it was made .
At the appointed time they all appeared : the blacksmith brought his hammer and a horse-shoe ; the tailor his scissors and a newly made garment ; the baker his long-handled wooden bread-shovel and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his awl and a pair of new shoes ; the carpenter his saw and a squared plank ; the butcher his chopping-knife and a large piece of meat ; and the mason his trowel and a corner-stone .
After careful deliberation the company decided that the tailor ’ s work was the best , and he was accordingly chosen to be chief of the artisans .
The blacksmith was vexed at the choice , and vowed he would work no more , so long as the tailor was chief ; he therefore closed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But his absence was speedily felt ; the king ’ s horse lost a shoe , the six comrades one after another broke their tools , and , although the tailor continued to ply his trade longer than the others , he too was soon obliged to cease from work .
Thereupon the king and his tradesmen decided to try their hands at blacksmithing , but met with ill success ; for the king ’ s horse trod on his royal master , the tailor burnt his fingers , and the others met @ @ @ @ @ @ @ began to quarrel among themselves , even coming to blows , and in the mêlêe the anvil was overturned with a crash .
Just at this point Saint Clement appeared on the scene arm in arm with the blacksmith .
The king saluted the newcomers respectfully , and addressed them as follows : “ I have made a bad mistake , my friends , in allowing myself to be beguiled by the tailor ’ s fine cloth and his skillful handiwork ; in common fairness the blacksmith , without whose aid the other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proclaimed chief artisan.
” All the tradesmen except the tailor then begged the worthy smith to make new tools for them , which he forthwith proceeded to do , even including a brand-new pair of scissors for the tailor .
Then the king reorganized the society of artisans and proclaimed as chief the blacksmith , whom all greeted with wishes for good health and happiness .
After this the king called on each one for a song , and the new chief in his turn sang one entitled “ The Merry Blacksmith , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the festivities of tradesmen ’ s guilds in England .
Saint Clement , who figures in the above tale , was the patron saint of farriers .
He was a Roman bishop , who died A.D. 100 .
In ecclesiastical tradition he was reckoned among the martyrs , having been bound to an anchor and thrown into the sea on November 23 of that year .
His name-day was still observed in recent times by English blacksmiths , who regarded him as the originator of the art of practical farriery , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The blacksmiths ’ apprentices of the Woolwich dockyard were wont to form a procession on the evening of Saint Clement ’ s Day , one of their number personating “ Old Clem , ” with masked face , oakum wig , and long white beard .
During the festivities this worthy delivered a speech , in part as follows : – I am the real Saint Clement , the first founder of brass , iron , and steel from the ore .
I have been to Mount AEtna , where the god @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forged the armor and thunderbolts for the god Jupiter .
Saint Eloy , or Saint Eligius , is sometimes represented as the guardian of farriers and blacksmiths .
He flourished in the seventh century , and in his youth served as apprentice to a goldsmith at Limoges , where he became very proficient in the art of working the precious metals .
His festival occurs on December 1 .
According to a well-known legend , Saint Eloy was once shoeing a demoniac horse , which refused to stand still ; he therefore cut @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put on the shoe .
Then , making the sign of the cross , he replaced the leg , the horse experiencing no ill effects from the operation .
This saint is mentioned in Barnaby Googe ’ s “ Popish Kingdome , ” as follows : – In certain countries blacksmiths and farriers have always been credited with supernatural faculties , and it seems , therefore , reasonable thus to explain the origin of some portion of the alleged mystic virtues of their handiwork , the iron horse-shoe , although indeed this view @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hitherto .
Among ourselves , and in some of the principal European countries , blacksmiths are highly respectable members of society , although they do not usually deal in occult science .
But in portions of the Russian empire , as in the province of Mingrelia , the Caucasus , and neighboring regions , blacksmiths do enjoy a certain reputation as magicians .
Solemn oaths are taken upon the anvil instead of upon the Bible .
In Abyssinia and in the Congo country all iron-workers have the reputation of sorcerers , and among @ @ @ @ @ @ @ treated with great deference .
When an inhabitant of the Orkney Islands wishes to obtain an amulet , he applies either to a farrier , or to his son or grandson ; and the Roumanian gypsies are mostly blacksmiths , their wives obtaining a livelihood by mendicancy , the practice of divination , and the interpretation of dreams ; while both men and women are thought to have the faculty of summoning to their aid powerful spirits of the air .
In Morocco , at the present day , there still exists a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ metals , magicians , and adepts in the healing art , who make little books which are used as portable amulets ; and the Haratin , who inhabit the Drah valley , deem it sinful even to mention by name these dwarfs , whom they consider entitled to extraordinary respect .
Each member of this mysterious tribe of pigmy smiths is said to wear a haik , or outer garment , having upon the back a representation of an eye , a symbol suggestive of the Cyclops of old .
There was , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a common opinion throughout a great part of Europe that the earliest smiths were supernatural beings ; for it was reasoned that the marvelous process of melting and fashioning iron could not have been conceived by man , but must have originated through magical agencies .
In Germany blacksmith ’ s forges were often situated on highways remote from settlements , and were the resort of travelers and teamsters , who stopped either to have a horse shod , or to obtain veterinary advice .
Quite naturally these smithies , like the modern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of sociability and gossip , and even of conviviality .
Moreover , questionable characters sometimes frequented these places , and hence their reputation was not always savory .
But the blacksmith himself , by virtue of his calling , was looked upon with respect , even after his craft had ceased to inspire the vulgar with mysterious awe .
In south Germany and the Tyrol , when a blacksmith rests from his work on a Saturday evening , he strikes with his hammer three blows upon the anvil , thereby chaining up the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so likewise , while hammering a horse-shoe into shape , he strikes the anvil instead of the shoe every fourth or fifth blow , and thus makes doubly secure the chain wherewith Satan is bound .
Blacksmiths are usually clever enough to recognize the Devil , even when disguised as a gentleman .
Once upon a time the Evil One appeared at the door of a smith in the village of Gossensass , on the Brenner road , Tyrol , and wished to have his two horses shod .
When the work was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should pay ; but the shrewd smith refused to take any money , and only stipulated that his customer should never enter the shop again , which the Devil promised and went away .
The magicians of Hindostan , when treating cases of alleged demoniacal possession , after the performance of other mystic rites , are wont to sprinkle the patient with water from a blacksmith ’ s shop , the water having been endowed with additional virtue by the repeated immersion of iron .
In northeast Scotland a cure for rickets consists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blacksmith in the water-trough of the smithy .
Then he is laid on the anvil and iron implements are passed over him , the use of each being asked , and the ceremony is followed by a second bath .
To insure the efficacy of this process , three blacksmiths of the same name must take part in it .
In Henderson ’ s “ Folk-Lore of the Northern Countries of England , ” p. 187 , mention is made of a remarkable method of treatment intended for the development of sickly , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under the influence of an evil spell which retards their growth , a notable instance of survival of the old belief in the blacksmith ’ s magical powers .
Very early in the morning the little patient is brought to the shop of a smith of the seventh generation , if such can be found , and laid quite naked on the anvil .
The blacksmith raises his hammer thrice as if to strike a glowing horse-shoe , each time letting it gently fall on the child ’ s body , –a simple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ child ’ s physical welfare , in the minds of its rustic parents .
The farriers of the Arabs inhabiting the oases of the great Sahara desert are exempt from taxes and enjoy numerous privileges .
Of these the most important and striking , as showing the honor accorded to the men of this craft , is the following : – When , on the battlefield , a mounted farrier is hard pressed by enemies , he runs the risk of being killed so long as he remains upon his horse with weapons @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alights , kneels down , and with the corners of his hooded cloak or burnous imitates the movements of a pair of bellows , thus revealing his profession , his life is spared .
The Baralongs of South Africa regard the art of smelting and forging as sacred , and , when the metal begins to flow , none are permitted to approach the furnaces except those who are initiated in the mysteries of the craft .
In Finland , also , blacksmiths are held in profound respect , and the greatest luxuries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They are presented with brandy to keep them in good humor ; and a Finnish proverb says , “ Fine bread always for the smith , and dainty morsels for the hammerer.
” Among certain tribes of the west coast of equatorial Africa the blacksmith officiates also as priest or medicine-man , and is a chief personage in the community , which often embraces several adjacent villages .
Indeed , there appears to be a quite general belief in different portions of Africa that metal-workers as a class are superior beings , –of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a savage people , without a knowledge of farriery , acquired by conquest a new territory , and found therein blacksmiths plying their vocation , they naturally regarded these artisans with woiider , not unmixed with fear .
Moreover , the early association , in mythology and tradition , of metal-working and sorcery , appears to explain in a measure , as already suggested , the reason for the magical properties popularly ascribed to horse-shoes and to iron articles generally .

By Robert Means Lawrence
From The Magic of the Horse-Shoe (With Other Folk-Lore Notes) [1898]
Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, the Hephaestus of Grecian mythology, was also the patron of blacksmiths and workers in metals. He was the great artisan of the universe, and at his workshop in Olympus he fashioned armor for the warriors of the heroic age. On earth volcanoes were his forges, and his favorite residence was the island of Lemnos in the AEgean Sea. Beneath AEtna, with the aid of those famed artisans, the Cyclops, he forged the thunderbolts of Jove; and there also, according to tradition, were made the trident of Neptune, Pluto’s helmet, and the shield of Hercules. Hephaestus was thus a controller and master of fire.
The Cyclops were believed by the ancients to have invented the art of forging; and the discovery of the peculiar qualities of iron was attributed to certain mythical beings called the Dactyls, who dwelt in Phrygia, and who were thought to have acquired this knowledge from observation of the fusion of metals at the fabulous burning of Mount Ida. The Dactyls had the reputation of being wizards, whose very names possessed a mysterious protective power when pronounced by persons exposed to sudden dangers.
Certain semi-fabulous tribes of central Asia, workers in metals, kept secret the mysteries of their craft, and were wont to indulge in wild orgies and festivities, which served to inspire with awe the uninitiated. At such times they danced until frenzied with excitement, to the accompaniment of cymbals and tambourines and the clashing of weapons. The people of neighboring tribes feared to approach them, believing that they were possessed of a magical power which enabled them to transform one metal into another and to forge thunderbolts. They were reputed to be masters of fire and of the elements, and their forges, like Vulcan’s, were volcanoes.
These barbarous peoples were sometimes confounded with the Dactyls, Corybantes, Cabiri, and Curetes, traditional metallurgists endowed with supernatural skill, and therefore popularly reckoned as magicians, or even as divinities. For a long period they were supposed to be vested with the exclusive knowledge of metal-working, a knowledge shrouded in mystery.
In the “Kalevalla,” or ancient epic poem of Finland, the blacksmith Ilmarinen is represented as the pioneer and most skilled of artisans, who fashioned both the implements of warfare and domestic utensils. This hero
Came to earth to work the metal;
He was born upon the coal-mount,
Skilled and nurtured in the coal-fields;
In one hand a copper hammer,
In the other tongs of iron;
In the night was born the blacksmith,
In the morn he built his smithy;
Sought with care a favored hillock,
Where the winds might fill his bellows;
Found a hillock in the swamp-land,
Where the iron hid abundant,
There he built his smelting-furnace.
In the Teutonic mythology, blacksmiths were magical craftsmen; and even in the Middle Ages they were looked upon as superior to other artisans, owing to their faculty of seemingly toying with fire, rendering the dangerous element subservient to their will, and by its aid manipulating iron with ease and dexterity. In Germany their workshops were known as “Wieland’s houses,” in remembrance of the most cunning of smiths in the mythical lore of the North.
As in early ages the origin of metal-working was imputed to divine beings, it was natural that in popular tradition blacksmiths acquired their wondrous technical skill through the assistance of such beings, and hence were exalted above the plane of ordinary mortals because they had received supernatural instruction. . . .
The following mediaeval legend serves to show that memories of the old pagan traditions lingered in the minds of the Scandinavians until long after the establishment among them of Christianity. One evening in the year 1208, a horseman rode up to the house of a blacksmith named Thord Vettir, who lived in southern Norway at Nesjar, near the town of Laurvig on the Skager-Rack,and asked for lodging overnight and shoeing for his horse. The smith assented, and early the next morning began the work, chatting meanwhile with his guest. “Where were you last night?” he inquired of the latter. “In Medaldal,” was the reply. “And where were you the night before?” asked the smith. “In Jardal,” answered the stranger. “You must be a tremendous liar,” said the smith, with great frankness. Then he applied himself to his task in earnest, and forged the biggest horse-shoes which he had ever seen, but which were found to fit the horse’s feet perfectly. In the course of further conversation the traveler remarked that he had long dwelt in the north of Norway and was on his way to Sweden. When he was ready to continue journeying and had mounted his steed, the smith inquired his name. “Have you ever heard of Odin?” was the rejoinder. “I have heard his name,” said the smith. “Then you may see him now,” remarked the horseman, “and, if you do not believe what I have told you, look how I leap my horse over the fence.” Thereupon he spurred the animal and rode straight at the courtyard fence, which was seven ells high. The gallant steed cleared the fence with ease, and neither he nor his rider were seen again by the worthy blacksmith.
The dignity and importance of the blacksmith’s art in early mediaeval times in England is illustrated by the following tale from Paul Sebillot’s ” Legendes et Curiosites des Metiers,” art. “Forgerons:”–
King Alfred the Great, who reigned in the latter part of the ninth century, on one occasion assembled together seven of his principal mechanics and craftsmen, and announced that he would appoint as their chief that one who could longest dispense with the assistance of the others; and he also invited them all to a banquet, on condition that each should bring with him a specimen of his handiwork and the tools wherewith it was made. At the appointed time they all appeared: the blacksmith brought his hammer and a horse-shoe; the tailor his scissors and a newly made garment; the baker his long-handled wooden bread-shovel and a loaf of bread; the shoemaker his awl and a pair of new shoes; the carpenter his saw and a squared plank; the butcher his chopping-knife and a large piece of meat; and the mason his trowel and a corner-stone. After careful deliberation the company decided that the tailor’s work was the best, and he was accordingly chosen to be chief of the artisans.
The blacksmith was vexed at the choice, and vowed he would work no more, so long as the tailor was chief; he therefore closed his shop and took his departure.
But his absence was speedily felt; the king’s horse lost a shoe, the six comrades one after another broke their tools, and, although the tailor continued to ply his trade longer than the others, he too was soon obliged to cease from work. Thereupon the king and his tradesmen decided to try their hands at blacksmithing, but met with ill success; for the king’s horse trod on his royal master, the tailor burnt his fingers, and the others met with various mishaps. At length they began to quarrel among themselves, even coming to blows, and in the mêlêe the anvil was overturned with a crash. Just at this point Saint Clement appeared on the scene arm in arm with the blacksmith. The king saluted the newcomers respectfully, and addressed them as follows: “I have made a bad mistake, my friends, in allowing myself to be beguiled by the tailor’s fine cloth and his skillful handiwork; in common fairness the blacksmith, without whose aid the other workmen can accomplish nothing, should be proclaimed chief artisan.” All the tradesmen except the tailor then begged the worthy smith to make new tools for them, which he forthwith proceeded to do, even including a brand-new pair of scissors for the tailor.
Then the king reorganized the society of artisans and proclaimed as chief the blacksmith, whom all greeted with wishes for good health and happiness.
After this the king called on each one for a song, and the new chief in his turn sang one entitled “The Merry Blacksmith,” which is even nowadays sometimes heard at the festivities of tradesmen’s guilds in England.
Saint Clement, who figures in the above tale, was the patron saint of farriers. He was a Roman bishop, who died A.D. 100. In ecclesiastical tradition he was reckoned among the martyrs, having been bound to an anchor and thrown into the sea on November 23 of that year. His name-day was still observed in recent times by English blacksmiths, who regarded him as the originator of the art of practical farriery, and held an annual festival in his honor.
The blacksmiths’ apprentices of the Woolwich dockyard were wont to form a procession on the evening of Saint Clement’s Day, one of their number personating “Old Clem,” with masked face, oakum wig, and long white beard.
During the festivities this worthy delivered a speech, in part as follows:–
I am the real Saint Clement, the first founder of brass, iron, and steel from the ore. I have been to Mount AEtna, where the god Vulcan first built his forge, and forged the armor and thunderbolts for the god Jupiter.
Saint Eloy, or Saint Eligius, is sometimes represented as the guardian of farriers and blacksmiths. He flourished in the seventh century, and in his youth served as apprentice to a goldsmith at Limoges, where he became very proficient in the art of working the precious metals. His festival occurs on December 1.
According to a well-known legend, Saint Eloy was once shoeing a demoniac horse, which refused to stand still; he therefore cut off the animal’s leg and put on the shoe. Then, making the sign of the cross, he replaced the leg, the horse experiencing no ill effects from the operation.
This saint is mentioned in Barnaby Googe’s “Popish Kingdome,” as follows:–
And Loye the smith doth looke to horse, and smithes of all degree;
If they with iron meddle here, or if they goldsmithes bee.
In certain countries blacksmiths and farriers have always been credited with supernatural faculties, and it seems, therefore, reasonable thus to explain the origin of some portion of the alleged mystic virtues of their handiwork, the iron horse-shoe, although indeed this view does not appear to have been advanced hitherto.
Among ourselves, and in some of the principal European countries, blacksmiths are highly respectable members of society, although they do not usually deal in occult science. But in portions of the Russian empire, as in the province of Mingrelia, the Caucasus, and neighboring regions, blacksmiths do enjoy a certain reputation as magicians. Solemn oaths are taken upon the anvil instead of upon the Bible. In Abyssinia and in the Congo country all iron-workers have the reputation of sorcerers, and among the Tibbous of central Africa they are treated with great deference. When an inhabitant of the Orkney Islands wishes to obtain an amulet, he applies either to a farrier, or to his son or grandson; and the Roumanian gypsies are mostly blacksmiths, their wives obtaining a livelihood by mendicancy, the practice of divination, and the interpretation of dreams; while both men and women are thought to have the faculty of summoning to their aid powerful spirits of the air.
In Morocco, at the present day, there still exists a community of dwarfish artisans, workers in metals, magicians, and adepts in the healing art, who make little books which are used as portable amulets; and the Haratin, who inhabit the Drah valley, deem it sinful even to mention by name these dwarfs, whom they consider entitled to extraordinary respect.
Each member of this mysterious tribe of pigmy smiths is said to wear a haik, or outer garment, having upon the back a representation of an eye, a symbol suggestive of the Cyclops of old.
There was, indeed, as we have seen, a common opinion throughout a great part of Europe that the earliest smiths were supernatural beings; for it was reasoned that the marvelous process of melting and fashioning iron could not have been conceived by man, but must have originated through magical agencies.
In Germany blacksmith’s forges were often situated on highways remote from settlements, and were the resort of travelers and teamsters, who stopped either to have a horse shod, or to obtain veterinary advice. Quite naturally these smithies, like the modern crossroads variety stores, became little centres of sociability and gossip, and even of conviviality. Moreover, questionable characters sometimes frequented these places, and hence their reputation was not always savory. But the blacksmith himself, by virtue of his calling, was looked upon with respect, even after his craft had ceased to inspire the vulgar with mysterious awe.
In south Germany and the Tyrol, when a blacksmith rests from his work on a Saturday evening, he strikes with his hammer three blows upon the anvil, thereby chaining up the Devil for the ensuing week. And so likewise, while hammering a horse-shoe into shape, he strikes the anvil instead of the shoe every fourth or fifth blow, and thus makes doubly secure the chain wherewith Satan is bound.
Blacksmiths are usually clever enough to recognize the Devil, even when disguised as a gentleman.
Once upon a time the Evil One appeared at the door of a smith in the village of Gossensass, on the Brenner road, Tyrol, and wished to have his two horses shod. When the work was done, he inquired how much he should pay; but the shrewd smith refused to take any money, and only stipulated that his customer should never enter the shop again, which the Devil promised and went away.
The magicians of Hindostan, when treating cases of alleged demoniacal possession, after the performance of other mystic rites, are wont to sprinkle the patient with water from a blacksmith’s shop, the water having been endowed with additional virtue by the repeated immersion of iron.
In northeast Scotland a cure for rickets consists in having the child bathed by a blacksmith in the water-trough of the smithy. Then he is laid on the anvil and iron implements are passed over him, the use of each being asked, and the ceremony is followed by a second bath. To insure the efficacy of this process, three blacksmiths of the same name must take part in it.
In Henderson’s “Folk-Lore of the Northern Countries of England,” p. 187, mention is made of a remarkable method of treatment intended for the development of sickly, puny children who are thought to be under the influence of an evil spell which retards their growth, a notable instance of survival of the old belief in the blacksmith’s magical powers. Very early in the morning the little patient is brought to the shop of a smith of the seventh generation, if such can be found, and laid quite naked on the anvil. The blacksmith raises his hammer thrice as if to strike a glowing horse-shoe, each time letting it gently fall on the child’s body,–a simple ceremony, but vastly promotive of the child’s physical welfare, in the minds of its rustic parents.
The farriers of the Arabs inhabiting the oases of the great Sahara desert are exempt from taxes and enjoy numerous privileges. Of these the most important and striking, as showing the honor accorded to the men of this craft, is the following:–
When, on the battlefield, a mounted farrier is hard pressed by enemies, he runs the risk of being killed so long as he remains upon his horse with weapons in his hand. But if he alights, kneels down, and with the corners of his hooded cloak or burnous imitates the movements of a pair of bellows, thus revealing his profession, his life is spared.
The Baralongs of South Africa regard the art of smelting and forging as sacred, and, when the metal begins to flow, none are permitted to approach the furnaces except those who are initiated in the mysteries of the craft.
In Finland, also, blacksmiths are held in profound respect, and the greatest luxuries are none too good for them. They are presented with brandy to keep them in good humor; and a Finnish proverb says, “Fine bread always for the smith, and dainty morsels for the hammerer.”
Among certain tribes of the west coast of equatorial Africa the blacksmith officiates also as priest or medicine-man, and is a chief personage in the community, which often embraces several adjacent villages. Indeed, there appears to be a quite general belief in different portions of Africa that metal-workers as a class are superior beings,–of higher origin than their fellow-tribesmen. When a savage people, without a knowledge of farriery, acquired by conquest a new territory, and found therein blacksmiths plying their vocation, they naturally regarded these artisans with woiider, not unmixed with fear.
Moreover, the early association, in mythology and tradition, of metal-working and sorcery, appears to explain in a measure, as already suggested, the reason for the magical properties popularly ascribed to horse-shoes and to iron articles generally.
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renegadetribune--2020-10-27--Positive Association Found Amongst COVID Deaths & Flu Shot Rates Worldwide In Elderly

What Happened : A recently published study in PeerJ by Christian Wehenkel , a Professor at Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango in Mexico , has found a positive association between COVID-19 deaths and influenza vaccination rates in elderly people worldwide .
According to the study , “ The results showed a positive association between COVID-19 deaths and IVR ( influenza vaccination rate ) of people ≥65 years-old .
There is a significant increase in COVID-19 deaths from eastern to western regions in the world .
Further exploration is needed to explain these findings , and additional work on this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of deaths associated with COVID-19.
” To determine this association , data sets from 39 countries with more than half a million people were analyzed .
The study was published on October 1st , and two weeks later a note from the publisher appeared atop the paper emphasizing that correlation does not equal causation , and that this paper “ should not be taken to suggest that receiving the influenza vaccination results in an increased risk of death for an individual with COVID-19 as there may be confounding factors at play.
” The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recently been published that ponder if the flu shot could increase ones chance of contracting and dying from COVID-19 .
For example , this study published in April of 2020 , reported a negative correlation between influenza vaccination rates ( IVRs ) and COVID-19 related mortality and morbidity .
Marín-Hernández , Schwartz & Nixon ( 2020 ) also showed epidemiological evidence of an association between higher influenza vaccine uptake by elderly people and lower percentage of COVID-19 deaths in Italy , which directly contradicts the author ’ s own findings and suggests that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ related deaths .
He goes on to mention another study : So , its important to mention that correlations between the flu vaccine have also found that it may decrease ones chance of deaths from COVID-19 .
But are there studies that have shown an increased chance of death or contracting other respiratory viruses as a result of getting the flu shot ?
Yes .
That ’ s also discussed in the paper .
For example , he mentions a paper published in 2018 : The study above found the flu shot to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those who had been vaccinated for influenza by 36 percent .
The study was conducted prior to COVID-19 , so it ’ s not included and only applies to pre-existing coronaviruses .
The study also found an even higher chance of contracting human metapneumovirus amongst those who had received the flu shot .
Below are some more studies regarding the flu shot and viral infections that hint to the same idea .
Why This Is Important : We live in an age where vaccinations are heavily marketed .
We ’ ve seen this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ again and we are also living in an age where a push for more mandated vaccines seems to be growing .
Dr. Peter Doshi is an associate editor at The BMJ ( British Medical Journal ) and also an assistant professor of pharmaceutical health services research at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy .
He published a paper in The BMJ titled “ Influenza : Marketing Vaccines By Marketing Disease.
” In it , he points out that the CDC pledges “ to base all public health decisions on the highest quality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ derived , ” and how this isn ’ t the case when it comes to the flu vaccine and its marketing .
He stresses that “ the vaccine may be less beneficial and less safe than has been claimed , and that “ the threat of influenza seems to be overstated.
” This is a touchy subject that dives into medical ethics and the connections that big pharmaceutical companies have with our federal health regulatory agencies and health associations .
Vaccines are a multi billion dollar industry .
At a recent World Health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was expressed that vaccine hesitancy is growing at quite a fast pace , especially among doctors who are now becoming hesitant to recommend certain vaccines on the schedule .
You can read more about that and find links to the conference here .
We have to ask ourselves , why is this happening ?
Is it because people and professionals are becoming aware of certain information that warrants the freedom of choice ?
Should freedom of choice with regards to what we put in our body always remain ?
Are we really protecting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actions ?
In a 2014 analysis in the Oregon Law Review by New York University ( NYU ) legal scholars Mary Holland and Chase E. Zachary ( who also has a Princeton-conferred doctorate in chemistry ) , the authors show that 60 years of compulsory vaccine policies “ have not attained herd immunity for any childhood disease.
” It is time , they suggest , to cast aside coercion in favor of voluntary choice .
When it comes to the flu shot , I put more information and science as to why so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in this article if interested .
The University of California is currently being sued for mandating the flu shot for all staff , faculty and students .
A judge has prevented them from doing so as a result until a decision has been made .
You can read more about that here .
In South Korea , 48 people have now died after receiving the flu shot this season causing a lot of controversy .
You can read more about that here .
The Takeaway : There are many concerns with vaccines , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act has paid more than $ 4 billion to families of vaccine injured children .
A 2010 HHS pilot study by the Federal Agency for Health Care Research ( AHCR ) found that 1 in every 39 vaccines causes injury , a shocking comparison to the claims from the CDC of 1 in every million .
Should these statistics alone warrant the freedom of choice ?
Should the government have the ability to force us into measures , or would it simply be better for them to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ urge people to follow them ?
When the citizenry is forced and coerced into certain actions , sometimes under the guise of good-will , there always seems to be a tremendous amount of uproar and people who disagree .
Why are these people silenced ?
Why are they censored ?
Why are they ridiculed ?
Why don ’ t independent health organizations receive the same voice and reach that government and state “ owned ” or organizations do ?
What ’ s going on here ?
Do we really live in a free @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we simply subjected to massive amounts of perception manipulation ?
When it come to the flu shot there is plenty of information on both sides of the coin that point to its effectiveness , and on the other hand there is information that points to the complete opposite .
When something is not 100 percent clear , freedom of choice in all places should always remain , in my opinion .

By
What Happened: A recently published study in PeerJ by Christian Wehenkel, a Professor at Universidad Juárez del Estado de Durango in Mexico, has found a positive association between COVID-19 deaths and influenza vaccination rates in elderly people worldwide.
According to the study, “The results showed a positive association between COVID-19 deaths and IVR (influenza vaccination rate) of people ≥65 years-old. There is a significant increase in COVID-19 deaths from eastern to western regions in the world. Further exploration is needed to explain these findings, and additional work on this line of research may lead to prevention of deaths associated with COVID-19.”
To determine this association, data sets from 39 countries with more than half a million people were analyzed.
The study was published on October 1st, and two weeks later a note from the publisher appeared atop the paper emphasizing that correlation does not equal causation, and that this paper “should not be taken to suggest that receiving the influenza vaccination results in an increased risk of death for an individual with COVID-19 as there may be confounding factors at play.”
The paper provides evidence from others which have recently been published that ponder if the flu shot could increase ones chance of contracting and dying from COVID-19.
For example, this study published in April of 2020, reported a negative correlation between influenza vaccination rates (IVRs) and COVID-19 related mortality and morbidity. Marín-Hernández, Schwartz & Nixon (2020) also showed epidemiological evidence of an association between higher influenza vaccine uptake by elderly people and lower percentage of COVID-19 deaths in Italy, which directly contradicts the author’s own findings and suggests that the flu shot may help prevent COVID-19 related deaths.
He goes on to mention another study:
In a study analyzing 92,664 clinically and molecularly confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brazil, Fink et al. (2020) reported that patients who received a recent flu vaccine experienced on average 17% lower odds of death. Moreover, Pawlowski et al. (2020) analyzed the immunization records of 137,037 individuals who tested positive in a SARS-CoV-2 PCR. They found that polio, Hemophilus influenzae type-B, measles-mumps-rubella, varicella, pneumococcal conjugate (PCV13), geriatric flu, and hepatitis A/hepatitis B (HepA-HepB) vaccines, which had been administered in the past 1, 2, and 5 years, were associated with decreased SARS-CoV-2 infection rates.
So, its important to mention that correlations between the flu vaccine have also found that it may decrease ones chance of deaths from COVID-19.
But are there studies that have shown an increased chance of death or contracting other respiratory viruses as a result of getting the flu shot? Yes.
That’s also discussed in the paper. For example, he mentions a paper published in 2018:
In a study with 6,120 subjects, Wolff (2020) reported that influenza vaccination was significantly associated with a higher risk of some other respiratory diseases, due to virus interference. In a specific examination of non-influenza viruses, the odds of coronavirus infection (but not the COVID-19 virus) in vaccinated individuals were significantly higher, when compared to unvaccinated individuals (odds ratio = 1.36).
The study above found the flu shot to increase the risk of other coronaviruses among those who had been vaccinated for influenza by 36 percent. The study was conducted prior to COVID-19, so it’s not included and only applies to pre-existing coronaviruses. The study also found an even higher chance of contracting human metapneumovirus amongst those who had received the flu shot.
Below are some more studies regarding the flu shot and viral infections that hint to the same idea.
A 2018 CDC study (Rikin et al 2018) found that flu shots increase the risk of non-flu acute respiratory illnesses (ARIs), including coronavirus, in children.
A 2011 Australian study (Kelly et al 2011) found that flu shots doubled the risk for non-flu viral lung infections.
A 2012 Hong Kong study (Cowling et al 2012) found that flu shots increase the risk for non-flu respiratory infections by 4.4 times.
A 2017 study (Mawson et al 2017) found vaccinated children were 5.9 times more likely to suffer pneumonia than their unvaccinated peers.
Why This Is Important: We live in an age where vaccinations are heavily marketed. We’ve seen this with the flu shot time and time again and we are also living in an age where a push for more mandated vaccines seems to be growing.
Dr. Peter Doshi is an associate editor at The BMJ (British Medical Journal) and also an assistant professor of pharmaceutical health services research at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. He published a paper in The BMJ titled “Influenza: Marketing Vaccines By Marketing Disease.” In it, he points out that the CDC pledges “to base all public health decisions on the highest quality of scientific data, openly and objectively derived,” and how this isn’t the case when it comes to the flu vaccine and its marketing. He stresses that “the vaccine may be less beneficial and less safe than has been claimed, and that “the threat of influenza seems to be overstated.”
This is a touchy subject that dives into medical ethics and the connections that big pharmaceutical companies have with our federal health regulatory agencies and health associations. Vaccines are a multi billion dollar industry.
At a recent World Health Organization conference on vaccine safety, it was expressed that vaccine hesitancy is growing at quite a fast pace, especially among doctors who are now becoming hesitant to recommend certain vaccines on the schedule. You can read more about that and find links to the conference here.
We have to ask ourselves, why is this happening? Is it because people and professionals are becoming aware of certain information that warrants the freedom of choice? Should freedom of choice with regards to what we put in our body always remain? Are we really protecting the “herd” by taking these actions?
In a 2014 analysis in the Oregon Law Review by New York University (NYU) legal scholars Mary Holland and Chase E. Zachary (who also has a Princeton-conferred doctorate in chemistry), the authors show that 60 years of compulsory vaccine policies “have not attained herd immunity for any childhood disease.” It is time, they suggest, to cast aside coercion in favor of voluntary choice.
When it comes to the flu shot, I put more information and science as to why so many people seem to refuse it, in this article if interested.
The University of California is currently being sued for mandating the flu shot for all staff, faculty and students. A judge has prevented them from doing so as a result until a decision has been made. You can read more about that here.
In South Korea, 48 people have now died after receiving the flu shot this season causing a lot of controversy. You can read more about that here.
The Takeaway: There are many concerns with vaccines, and vaccine injury is one of them. The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act has paid more than $4 billion to families of vaccine injured children. A 2010 HHS pilot study by the Federal Agency for Health Care Research (AHCR) found that 1 in every 39 vaccines causes injury, a shocking comparison to the claims from the CDC of 1 in every million.
Should these statistics alone warrant the freedom of choice? Should the government have the ability to force us into measures, or would it simply be better for them to present the science, make recommendations and urge people to follow them? When the citizenry is forced and coerced into certain actions, sometimes under the guise of good-will, there always seems to be a tremendous amount of uproar and people who disagree. Why are these people silenced? Why are they censored? Why are they ridiculed? Why don’t independent health organizations receive the same voice and reach that government and state “owned” or organizations do? What’s going on here? Do we really live in a free, open and transparent world or are we simply subjected to massive amounts of perception manipulation?
When it come to the flu shot there is plenty of information on both sides of the coin that point to its effectiveness, and on the other hand there is information that points to the complete opposite. When something is not 100 percent clear, freedom of choice in all places should always remain, in my opinion.
This article originally appeared on Collective Evolution.
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renegadetribune--2020-10-28--The “Wokeness” Wars Coming to Your Town

The “Wokeness” Wars Coming to Your Town

Kurt Vonnegut ’ s 1961 dystopian short story “ Harrison Bergeron ” describes a 2081 America in which the 211th , 212th , and 213th amendments to the Constitution of the United States have together mandated that all Americans must be made completely equal .
No one is allowed to be more intelligent or handsome or more physically capable than anyone else .
The standards are enforced by a Handicapper General , an elderly woman named Diana Moon Glampers armed with a shotgun , who mandates the wearing of disfiguring masks for those who are thought to be too beautiful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ears of intelligent people , programmed to go off at intervals and disrupt any thoughts .
Those who are stronger or faster than others are required to wear heavy weights around their wrists and ankles .
Somehow , the Vonnegut story comes to mind at the present time , particularly in my home county here in Virginia .
Loudoun County , a suburb of Washington D.C. where all that fiat money is printed , is the wealthiest in the United States based on per capita income .
When I moved here twenty-three years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but now it is controlled by the Democrats , largely due to the influx of out of state newcomers moving in to take the thousands of new federal jobs in the burgeoning Global War On Terror .
When in power , the Republicans foolishly had allowed their business cronies to build large and ugly commuter housing developments that eventually changed the political power alignment when the liberal newcomers inevitably outnumbered the relatively conservative locals .
The county Board of Supervisors is headed by a black woman named Phyllis Randall .
Randall has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ progressive .
Apart from muttering about “ diversity ” and “ affordable housing , ” she has generally avoided race issues in a county that is less than 10 % black but has become more outspoken recently .
The county seat Leesburg had a monument near the court house featuring a seven-foot bronze war memorial statue of a Confederate infantryman dubbed “ Silent Sam ” by some of the locals .
Randall had described the memorial as a racist symbol that had intimidated “ Thousands of Loudoun citizens , Black citizens , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t have a vote.
” It is a ridiculous argument that is often made when historical monuments are about to be purged by vandals , but apparently a statue can inspire real fear in some circles , at least according to Randall .
After being reelected last November and backed by a unanimously gutless board in a May vote , Randall felt empowered to remove the offending statue saying that she was “ correcting history ” over a “ statue [ that ] should never have been put up.
” The removal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the midst of the wave of looting , rioting and arson all over the United States that was triggered by the Floyd George death .
Randall has also been pushing to replace the highly respected local sheriff ’ s department with a police department which would be controlled by her board .
The popular sheriff is an elected official and he has committed the crime of being both somewhat independent and a Republican .
Since the removal of the Confederate statue , there has been more fun and games to include an apology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ both the board of supervisors and the school board for the school segregation that continued into the 1960s .
The local NAACP graciously responded that the apology was “ not enough.
” That was followed by a slap at another perennial punching bag for the social justice warrior movement .
Columbus Day on the school calendar was renamed .
Indigenous Peoples Day .
All of that has been bad enough , but the clincher is what is going on with the Loudoun County Public Schools ( LCPS ) .
The school board has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ apply Critical Race Theory ( CRT ) to a new program of instruction that will be mandatory for all employees and will serve as the framework for teaching the students .
When schools eventually reopen , all kindergarteners , for example , will be taught “ social justice ” in a course designed by the controversial Southern Poverty Law Center and “ diversity training ” will be integrated in all other grade levels .
Critical Race Theory has been fairly criticized as it pretends to be an antidote to systemic racism but is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a race neutral system that equally benefits everyone .
It proposes that all of America ’ s governmental bodies and infrastructures are racist and supportive of “ white supremacy ” and must be deconstructed .
It requires everything to be examined through a value system determined by identity politics and race and it views both whites and their institutions as hopelessly corrupted , if not evil .
The principal concern currently is that the school board , which is revising its Personal Conduct Policy 7560 “ Professional Conduct ” for staff , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ free speech as inapplicable when it comes to challenging certain policies involving the school system arguing that the Bill of Rights itself is just a tool in support of white supremacy , which is what CRT teaches .
The Personal Conduct draft only addresses the First Amendment briefly , noting that the right “ may be outweighed ” by LCPS interest in “ promoting internal…and external community harmony and peace ” through “ directives , including protected class equity , racial equity , and the goal to root out systemic racism.
” Section @ @ @ @ @ @ @ total commitment to the forthcoming “ equity ” policies and it threatens punishment to include firing if anyone within the system dares to express a criticism .
The full text cites “ Any comments or actions that are not in alignment with the school division ’ s commitment to action-oriented equity policies , and which impact an individual ’ s abilities to perform their job responsibilities or create a breach in the trust bestowed upon them as an employee of the school division .
This includes on-campus and off-campus speech , social media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ telephonic communications.
” The school board also has an “ Action Plan to Combat Systemic Racism ” which will require mandatory “ racial literacy ” classes for staff with the objective of creating “ equity literacy and racial consciousness ” for employees .
To support struggling black students there will be non-coercive alternatives to suspension or expulsion for misbehavior , a feature that is being copied in many school districts .
It is all part of the larger “ Comprehensive Equity Plan ” that the revised personal conduct policy is intended to protect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ achieve “ equity ” — that is , to reward or punish people based not on their conduct and accomplishments or hard work , but primarily on their race and ethnicity .
It calls specifically for the “ disruption and dismantling of white racism.
” It is not intended to give everyone an equal chance and is rather trying to guarantee a certain outcome .
It will mean pushing people through the system based on race rather than merit until they find themselves holding jobs that they can not possibly perform based on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that were not bad enough , the document also encourages school system employees to report on other employees who are critical of the policy .
Most companies are within their rights to demand certain behavior while in the workplace , but the Loudoun County Public Schools demand that even criticizing the new policy with friends , family , at home , while on the phone , while shopping or even walking through the park is a violation subject to punishment .
The draft states explicitly that employee speech “ will not be tolerated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ undermining the views , positions , goals , policies or public statements ” of Schools Superintendent Eric Williams or the school board .
And other LCPS employees would have the “ duty to report ” speech violations to the school administration .
Given that , the likelihood that anyone who is bold enough to surface as an employee-critic would be railroaded by the school administrators and the board is guaranteed .
And , one might point out , LCPS has no teachers ’ union .
Rod Dreher observes how the policy will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s children are taught .
They too will be required to conform .
“ If your kid goes to a church that is not progressive and LGBT-affirming , she better shut up about her religious views at school , or she will be expelled .
If you kid won ’ t consent to calling a trans student by that student ’ s preferred pronoun , that could be the end of him at Loudoun County public schools .
Anything that the left identifies as a manifestation of ‘ white supremacy ’ — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t ?
— makes students who hold it targets of the system .
What if a high school student believes that on balance , Robert E. Lee was a noble , if tragic , figure , and said so in a history class ?
He would have to fear that Loudoun County public schools , in the state of Virginia , would punish him as a white supremacist .
Basically , deep-blue , wealthy , predominantly white Loudoun County in suburban Washington , DC , is going to ruin its public schools by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might also observe that imposition of a totalitarian style “ equity ” regime based on race will inevitably drive many of the academically better prepared students out of the system .
Many of the better teachers will also move to the private academies that will spring up due to parental and student demand .
Others will stop teaching altogether when confronted by political correctness at a level that prior to 2020 would have seemed unimaginable .
The actual quality of education will suffer for everyone involved The outcry against the proposed Loudoun Public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that there has been some suggestion that it might be revised , but the most recent minutes of school board meetings suggest otherwise .
One suspects that if the policy ever actually is approved it will be challenged and declared to be unconstitutional , but it would be unwise to place too much trust in America ’ s increasingly politicized “ social ” judicial system .
A quote attributed to Sinclair Lewis goes “ If fascism ever comes to America it will be carrying a Bible and wrapped in a flag.
” He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the past few months that totalitarianism can come from either the left or the right .
Currently in America it is coming wrapped in a lot of virtue signaling coming from a gaggle of politicians and media “ experts ” who are working hard to turn the part of the United States that they have not burned down into what they perceive as a utopia where everyone can gather round the campfire and sing “ Kumbaya.
” Of course , one will have to eliminate all the deplorables first , and some radicals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spies to do so .
It ’ s ironic that the progressives who wrote the draft on Professional Conduct for Loudoun County Public Schools just can not see that there is scant difference between the system of control and intimidation that they are promoting and the vilified regimes once in place in Russia and Germany .
Well , possibly the school board will develop a spine and a conscience and reverse itself .
But , on the other hand , more likely not .
Sadly , the issue is quite real for me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ This article first appeared on the American Free Press site in early October .
The version posted here has been updated and lightly edited ] Philip M. Giraldi , Ph.D. , is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest , a 501 ( c ) 3 tax deductible educational foundation ( Federal ID Number # 52-1739023 ) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East .
Website is https : //councilforthenationalinterest.org , address is P.O .
Box 2157 , Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is @ @ @ @

By Philip Giraldi
Kurt Vonnegut’s 1961 dystopian short story “Harrison Bergeron” describes a 2081 America in which the 211th, 212th, and 213th amendments to the Constitution of the United States have together mandated that all Americans must be made completely equal. No one is allowed to be more intelligent or handsome or more physically capable than anyone else. The standards are enforced by a Handicapper General, an elderly woman named Diana Moon Glampers armed with a shotgun, who mandates the wearing of disfiguring masks for those who are thought to be too beautiful while tiny radios are mounted inside the ears of intelligent people, programmed to go off at intervals and disrupt any thoughts. Those who are stronger or faster than others are required to wear heavy weights around their wrists and ankles.
Somehow, the Vonnegut story comes to mind at the present time, particularly in my home county here in Virginia. Loudoun County, a suburb of Washington D.C. where all that fiat money is printed, is the wealthiest in the United States based on per capita income. When I moved here twenty-three years ago, it was solidly Republican, but now it is controlled by the Democrats, largely due to the influx of out of state newcomers moving in to take the thousands of new federal jobs in the burgeoning Global War On Terror. When in power, the Republicans foolishly had allowed their business cronies to build large and ugly commuter housing developments that eventually changed the political power alignment when the liberal newcomers inevitably outnumbered the relatively conservative locals.
The county Board of Supervisors is headed by a black woman named Phyllis Randall. Randall has been in place since 2015 and is reliably progressive. Apart from muttering about “diversity” and “affordable housing,” she has generally avoided race issues in a county that is less than 10% black but has become more outspoken recently. The county seat Leesburg had a monument near the court house featuring a seven-foot bronze war memorial statue of a Confederate infantryman dubbed “Silent Sam” by some of the locals. Randall had described the memorial as a racist symbol that had intimidated “Thousands of Loudoun citizens, Black citizens, who never had a voice and sometimes didn’t have a vote.” It is a ridiculous argument that is often made when historical monuments are about to be purged by vandals, but apparently a statue can inspire real fear in some circles, at least according to Randall.
After being reelected last November and backed by a unanimously gutless board in a May vote, Randall felt empowered to remove the offending statue saying that she was “correcting history” over a “statue [that] should never have been put up.” The removal was accomplished on June 21st, in the midst of the wave of looting, rioting and arson all over the United States that was triggered by the Floyd George death.
Randall has also been pushing to replace the highly respected local sheriff’s department with a police department which would be controlled by her board. The popular sheriff is an elected official and he has committed the crime of being both somewhat independent and a Republican.
Since the removal of the Confederate statue, there has been more fun and games to include an apology to the black citizens of Loudoun from both the board of supervisors and the school board for the school segregation that continued into the 1960s. The local NAACP graciously responded that the apology was “not enough.” That was followed by a slap at another perennial punching bag for the social justice warrior movement. Columbus Day on the school calendar was renamed. Indigenous Peoples Day.
All of that has been bad enough, but the clincher is what is going on with the Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS). The school board has spent $422,500 on a consultant to apply Critical Race Theory (CRT) to a new program of instruction that will be mandatory for all employees and will serve as the framework for teaching the students. When schools eventually reopen, all kindergarteners, for example, will be taught “social justice” in a course designed by the controversial Southern Poverty Law Center and “diversity training” will be integrated in all other grade levels.
Critical Race Theory has been fairly criticized as it pretends to be an antidote to systemic racism but is itself racist in nature as it opposes a race neutral system that equally benefits everyone. It proposes that all of America’s governmental bodies and infrastructures are racist and supportive of “white supremacy” and must be deconstructed. It requires everything to be examined through a value system determined by identity politics and race and it views both whites and their institutions as hopelessly corrupted, if not evil.
The principal concern currently is that the school board, which is revising its Personal Conduct Policy 7560 “Professional Conduct” for staff, is basically treating the First Amendment right to free speech as inapplicable when it comes to challenging certain policies involving the school system arguing that the Bill of Rights itself is just a tool in support of white supremacy, which is what CRT teaches. The Personal Conduct draft only addresses the First Amendment briefly, noting that the right “may be outweighed” by LCPS interest in “promoting internal…and external community harmony and peace” through “directives, including protected class equity, racial equity, and the goal to root out systemic racism.”
Section B3 of the draft revised policy requires total commitment to the forthcoming “equity” policies and it threatens punishment to include firing if anyone within the system dares to express a criticism. The full text cites “Any comments or actions that are not in alignment with the school division’s commitment to action-oriented equity policies, and which impact an individual’s abilities to perform their job responsibilities or create a breach in the trust bestowed upon them as an employee of the school division. This includes on-campus and off-campus speech, social media posts, and any other electronic or telephonic communications.”
The school board also has an “Action Plan to Combat Systemic Racism” which will require mandatory “racial literacy” classes for staff with the objective of creating “equity literacy and racial consciousness” for employees. To support struggling black students there will be non-coercive alternatives to suspension or expulsion for misbehavior, a feature that is being copied in many school districts. It is all part of the larger “Comprehensive Equity Plan” that the revised personal conduct policy is intended to protect, which includes manipulating passing grades to achieve “equity” — that is, to reward or punish people based not on their conduct and accomplishments or hard work, but primarily on their race and ethnicity. It calls specifically for the “disruption and dismantling of white racism.” It is not intended to give everyone an equal chance and is rather trying to guarantee a certain outcome. It will mean pushing people through the system based on race rather than merit until they find themselves holding jobs that they cannot possibly perform based on what they learned at school.
If that were not bad enough, the document also encourages school system employees to report on other employees who are critical of the policy. Most companies are within their rights to demand certain behavior while in the workplace, but the Loudoun County Public Schools demand that even criticizing the new policy with friends, family, at home, while on the phone, while shopping or even walking through the park is a violation subject to punishment. The draft states explicitly that employee speech “will not be tolerated” if it could be perceived as “undermining the views, positions, goals, policies or public statements” of Schools Superintendent Eric Williams or the school board. And other LCPS employees would have the “duty to report” speech violations to the school administration. Given that, the likelihood that anyone who is bold enough to surface as an employee-critic would be railroaded by the school administrators and the board is guaranteed. And, one might point out, LCPS has no teachers’ union.
Rod Dreher observes how the policy will also translate into what and how one’s children are taught. They too will be required to conform. “If your kid goes to a church that is not progressive and LGBT-affirming, she better shut up about her religious views at school, or she will be expelled. If you kid won’t consent to calling a trans student by that student’s preferred pronoun, that could be the end of him at Loudoun County public schools. Anything that the left identifies as a manifestation of ‘white supremacy’ — and these days, what isn’t? — makes students who hold it targets of the system. What if a high school student believes that on balance, Robert E. Lee was a noble, if tragic, figure, and said so in a history class? He would have to fear that Loudoun County public schools, in the state of Virginia, would punish him as a white supremacist. Basically, deep-blue, wealthy, predominantly white Loudoun County in suburban Washington, DC, is going to ruin its public schools by turning them into ideology factories.”
One might also observe that imposition of a totalitarian style “equity” regime based on race will inevitably drive many of the academically better prepared students out of the system. Many of the better teachers will also move to the private academies that will spring up due to parental and student demand. Others will stop teaching altogether when confronted by political correctness at a level that prior to 2020 would have seemed unimaginable. The actual quality of education will suffer for everyone involved
The outcry against the proposed Loudoun Public Schools Personal Conduct Policy has been such that there has been some suggestion that it might be revised, but the most recent minutes of school board meetings suggest otherwise. One suspects that if the policy ever actually is approved it will be challenged and declared to be unconstitutional, but it would be unwise to place too much trust in America’s increasingly politicized “social” judicial system.
A quote attributed to Sinclair Lewis goes “If fascism ever comes to America it will be carrying a Bible and wrapped in a flag.” He was wrong. We have learned in the past few months that totalitarianism can come from either the left or the right. Currently in America it is coming wrapped in a lot of virtue signaling coming from a gaggle of politicians and media “experts” who are working hard to turn the part of the United States that they have not burned down into what they perceive as a utopia where everyone can gather round the campfire and sing “Kumbaya.” Of course, one will have to eliminate all the deplorables first, and some radicals are clearly prepared to use informants and spies to do so. It’s ironic that the progressives who wrote the draft on Professional Conduct for Loudoun County Public Schools just cannot see that there is scant difference between the system of control and intimidation that they are promoting and the vilified regimes once in place in Russia and Germany. Well, possibly the school board will develop a spine and a conscience and reverse itself. But, on the other hand, more likely not. Sadly, the issue is quite real for me as I have grandchildren in LCPS.
[This article first appeared on the American Free Press site in early October. The version posted here has been updated and lightly edited]
Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is https://councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org.


renegadetribune--2020-10-28--The Last White Man – Documentary on the Horrors of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe

Under the brutal rule of Robert Mugabe , countless White families had their farmland violently seized mostly between the period @ @ @ @ @ were brutally tortured , raped and murdered by violent blacks , something Mugabe ultimately refused @ @ @ @ @ perpetrators for .
Under White rule , Rhodesia was a safe , prosperous breadbasket of @ @ @ @ @ were murdered and driven out , the failed nation of Zimbabwe was left a dangerous @ @ @ @ @ with many of its citizens forced to eat rats to prevent from starving .

Documentary by Yorgos Avgeropoulos.
Under the brutal rule of Robert Mugabe, countless White families had their farmland violently seized mostly between the period of 2000-2001. Many Whites were brutally tortured, raped and murdered by violent blacks, something Mugabe ultimately refused to charge any of the perpetrators for.
Under White rule, Rhodesia was a safe, prosperous breadbasket of Africa. After the Whites were murdered and driven out, the failed nation of Zimbabwe was left a dangerous, crime-ridden, economic disaster with many of its citizens forced to eat rats to prevent from starving.
Bitchute link
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Henry Purcell

Henry Purcell , ( born c. 1659 , London , England—died November 21 , 1695 , London ) , English @ @ @ @ @ period , most remembered for his more than 100 songs ; a tragic opera , @ @ @ @ @ his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare ’ s A Midsummer Night ’ s @ @ @ @ @ .
Purcell , the most important English composer of his time , composed music covering @ @ @ @ @ church , the stage , the court , and private entertainment .
In all these @ @ @ @ @ an obvious admiration for the past combined with a willingness to learn from the present @ @ @ @ @ in Italy .
With alertness of mind went an individual inventiveness that marked him as @ @ @ @ @ of his time as well as one of the most original in Europe .
Henry @ @ @ @ @ Three Parts – The King ’ s Consort

Henry Purcell, (born c. 1659, London, England—died November 21, 1695, London), English composer of the middle Baroque period, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas; and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream called The Fairy Queen. Purcell, the most important English composer of his time, composed music covering a wide field: the church, the stage, the court, and private entertainment. In all these branches of composition he showed an obvious admiration for the past combined with a willingness to learn from the present, particularly from his contemporaries in Italy. With alertness of mind went an individual inventiveness that marked him as the most original English composer of his time as well as one of the most original in Europe.
Henry Purcell: Twelve Sonatas of Three Parts – The King’s Consort
Henry Purcell: The Golden Sonata; Voices of Music
Henry Purcell – Trio sonata 6 G minor
Henry Purcell: Sonata d-moll / Ensemble Inégalité (Live)
Henry Purcell: Ground in C Minor; Hanneke van Proosdij, harpsichord
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Author: Aryan - "National Socialist" - Musician Aryan - "National Socialist" - Musician


renegadetribune--2020-10-28--Israeli Filmmakers Read ‘Anti-Semitic’ Facebook Comments

“ We used Facebook to advertise our Israeli Road Movie .
These are some of the comments we received .
@

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renegadetribune--2020-10-29--Macron Orders France Under De Facto House Arrest Following Germany With New Lockdown Orders

Both French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced fresh lockdowns of their citizens on Wednesday .
France will head into the new lockdown starting Friday under which citizens can only leave home to go to work , to go to school , for a medical appointment , to give assistance to loved ones , for essential shopping or for physical exercise , as DW reports .
The latest restrictions also include ( courtesy of DW ) : • Bars , restaurants and nonessential businesses will be closed • Work must be done remotely wherever possible • Universities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ online What will be allowed : • Funerals are still possible The lockdown in France is expected to last until December 1st with a reassessment occurring 15 days in .
French bureaucrats recorded 523 virus-related deaths on Tuesday , bringing the country ’ s overall death toll to 35,541 .
French President Macron would say on Wednesday : We are now overwhelmed by the sudden acceleration of the epidemic , by a virus that seems to be gaining strength as temperatures drop .
All of us in Europe are surprised by the evolution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taken tougher measures earlier , but we are all at the same point .
Whatever we do now , 9,000 patients will be in intensive care by mid-November .
We are now organising to deal with this.Whatever we do now , 9,000 patients will be in intensive care by mid-November In this context , my responsibility is to protect all French people and despite the controversies , despite the difficulties of the decisions to be taken , I fully assume this responsibility before you .
Meanwhile , in Germany , Chancellor Angela Merkel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ measures that will shutdown of restaurants , bars , cinemas , theaters and other leisure facilities from November 2-30 .
“ We need to take action now , ” Merkel said .
“ Our health system can still cope with this challenge today , but at this speed of infections it will reach the limits of its capacity within weeks.
” Germany ’ s disease control agency said a record 14,964 new confirmed cases were recorded across the country in the past day , bringing the national total to 449,275 .
The decision @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after World Health Organization envoy Dr. David Nabarro cautioned the world : “ We in the World Health Organization do not advocate lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus , ” WHO envoy Dr. David Nabarro said in early October .
As we reported earlier , lockdown measures are going to extremes in many parts of Europe with UK police now saying they will intervene in Christmas celebrations that violate social distancing orders issued by government .
Anti-lockdown demonstrations have recently broke out in the UK , Poland , and @ @

By PFW News
Both French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced fresh lockdowns of their citizens on Wednesday.
France will head into the new lockdown starting Friday under which citizens can only leave home to go to work, to go to school, for a medical appointment, to give assistance to loved ones, for essential shopping or for physical exercise, as DW reports.
The latest restrictions also include (courtesy of DW):
Travel between regions is banned
Bars, restaurants and nonessential businesses will be closed
Work must be done remotely wherever possible
Universities and higher education will mostly be taught online
International borders will be largely closed
What will be allowed:
Schools will remain open
Essential businesses will remain open
Most public services will remain open
Factories, farms and construction sites can continue work
EU borders will remain open
French citizens can return from overseas
Retirement homes can accept visits
Funerals are still possible
The lockdown in France is expected to last until December 1st with a reassessment occurring 15 days in.
French bureaucrats recorded 523 virus-related deaths on Tuesday, bringing the country’s overall death toll to 35,541.
French President Macron would say on Wednesday:
We are now overwhelmed by the sudden acceleration of the epidemic, by a virus that seems to be gaining strength as temperatures drop. All of us in Europe are surprised by the evolution of the virus. Some countries have taken tougher measures earlier, but we are all at the same point. Whatever we do now, 9,000 patients will be in intensive care by mid-November. We are now organising to deal with this.Whatever we do now, 9,000 patients will be in intensive care by mid-November In this context, my responsibility is to protect all French people and despite the controversies, despite the difficulties of the decisions to be taken, I fully assume this responsibility before you.
Meanwhile, in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to imposing “partial” lockdown measures that will shutdown of restaurants, bars, cinemas, theaters and other leisure facilities from November 2-30.
“We need to take action now,” Merkel said. “Our health system can still cope with this challenge today, but at this speed of infections it will reach the limits of its capacity within weeks.”
Merkel’s finance minister tweeted Wednesday:
November will be a month of truth. The increasing number of infections is forcing us to take tough countermeasures now to avoid the second #Corona – Break the wave – with targeted and temporary measures, including effective financial aid for the industries concerned.#FlattenTheCurve
Der November wird ein Monat der Wahrheit. Die steigenden Infektionszahlen zwingen uns, jetzt hart gegenzusteuern, um die zweite #Corona-Welle zu brechen – mit gezielten und befristeten Maßnahmen, inklusive wirksamer Finanzhilfen für die betroffenen Branchen. #FlattenTheCurve — Olaf Scholz (@OlafScholz) October 28, 2020
Germany’s disease control agency said a record 14,964 new confirmed cases were recorded across the country in the past day, bringing the national total to 449,275.
The decision for new lockdown measures comes just weeks after World Health Organization envoy Dr. David Nabarro cautioned the world: “We in the World Health Organization do not advocate lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus,” WHO envoy Dr. David Nabarro said in early October.
The only time we believe a lockdown is justified is to buy you time to reorganize, regroup, rebalance your resources, protect your health workers who are exhausted, but by and large, we’d rather not do it.
WATCH: Dr David Nabarro, the WHO's Special Envoy on Covid-19, tells Andrew Neil: 'We really do appeal to all world leaders: stop using lockdown as your primary control method'. Watch the full interview here: https://t.co/XLdaedsKVS #SpectatorTV @afneil | @davidnabarro pic.twitter.com/1M4xf3VnXQ — The Spectator (@spectator) October 9, 2020
Nabarro would chillingly add that:
Lockdowns just have one consequence that you must never, ever belittle, and that is making poor people an awful lot poorer.
As we reported earlier, lockdown measures are going to extremes in many parts of Europe with UK police now saying they will intervene in Christmas celebrations that violate social distancing orders issued by government.
Anti-lockdown demonstrations have recently broke out in the UK, Poland, and Italy.
Source: Planet Free Will
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Author: Thanks for being a reader of this site. Your contributions make this all possible. You can send support to: Kyle Hunt, PO Box 1052, Sorrento FL 32776. Bitcoin address: 1AfppjYZddJzc2C15PXKMsnyBPjPJQezwA . CashApp: Thanks for being a reader of this site. Your contributions make this all possible. You can send support to: Kyle Hunt, PO Box 1052, Sorrento FL 32776. Bitcoin address: 1AfppjYZddJzc2C15PXKMsnyBPjPJQezwA . CashApp: https://cash.app/$thekylehunt


renegadetribune--2020-10-29--The New Kings of Jihadist Terrorism: Azerbaijan and Turkey

The vicious war against the Armenian Republic of Artsakh ( Nagorno-Karabagh ) and Armenia by Azerbaijan , Turkey , and thousands of their jihadist terrorists has passed the one month mark .
The jihadis ’ presence , which includes ISIS , is consistent with the debauched political cultures and national ambitions of Azerbaijan and Turkey .
It also tells us that the U.S./NATO/EU stance towards those countries continues to be dangerously passive .
Just days ago , right in our nation ’ s capital , Azeri demonstrators “ jihad , jihad , jihad ” and flashed the of Turkey ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s not surprising .
Azerbaijan and Turkey are longtime Turkic allies of jihadist terrorists .
• None , Chechens , and Grey Wolves against Artsakh ’ s Armenians who had voted for self-determination .
Turkish army officers also took part .
• None Al-Qaeda cells in Baku , Azerbaijan helped to plan the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania .
A dozen Americans and 212 others were killed .
• None The U.S. Military Academy ’ s Combating Terrorism Center reports that have included over 900 Azerbaijanis and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Yayla , Turkey ’ s chief of counterterrorism from 2010-13 , wrote : “ Turkey was a central hub for the travel of over 50,000 ISIS foreign fighters , and the main source of ISIS logistical materials … • None revealed that Turkey has supplied ISIS in Syria via Ilhami Bali , codenamed Abu Bakr , a 36-year-old Saudi-born Turk .
• None Since September , Azerbaijan and Turkey have , the Hamza and Sultan Murad Brigades , Syrian terrorists , and thousands of other jihadis to battle Armenians .
Many were present @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the jihadis had committed atrocities against Christian Armenians and Assyrians , Kurds , Yazidis , and others in Syria and elsewhere .
• None Azerbaijan is using some jihadis as for its soldiers .
Others are into battle while Azeris point guns at their backs to prevent retreat .
• None Armenian forces have dealt them severe blows .
One jihadi warned , “ Jihadi , don ’ t come , we have been deceived , everything is a lie .
This is a In the early 1920s , Soviet dictator Josef @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Artsakh ( 96 % Armenian ) to Azerbaijan to indulge Turkey .
No country/people named Azerbaijan/Azeri had ever existed before 1918 .
Artsakh ’ s Armenians subsequently brutal repression , deportations , and mass murders under Soviet Azerbaijan ’ s scimitar .
By 1988 , Armenians had been reduced to 76 % of the population .
All this was due to raw , ethno-racial , Azeri fanaticism .
Artsakh ’ s Armenians voted in 1988 and 1991 for from Azerbaijan according to Soviet law and then international law .
Armenians won the ensuing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only Artsakh but Armenia too .
Artsakh and Armenia are reformist democracies .
Dictatorial Azerbaijan is light-years away from that .
Turkey is a similar political and human rights disaster .
If you lived in Artsakh , would you ever agree to Azeri rule ?
Of course not .
The Global War on Terror ( GWOT ) has been American foreign policy ’ s pièce de résistance since 2001 .
Supposedly , therefore , regimes that use jihadis/terrorists against civilized people should become pariahs .
Yet American administrations and Congress have acted largely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Turkey and Azerbaijan ’ s support for jihadis/terrorists .
In 2016 , I presented evidence to Richard M. Mills , U.S .
Ambassador to Armenia , that Turkey supported ISIS .
He lied and denied it all .
The U.S. ( and Europe ) fawn over Azerbaijan ’ s gas and oil deposits and westbound pipelines despite its sickening record on jihadis and human rights .
Our government lies about our GWOT , but we remain silent .
What kind of people are we ?
Rename the GWOT to GWFT : the Global @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the “ UN Convention against the Recruitment , Use , Financing and Training of Mercenaries.
” Neither the UN , State Department , nor Congress has spoken up .
America provides “ counterterrorism ” assistance to Azerbaijan .
Thus , Americans pay it to fight terrorists while Azerbaijan turns around and hires terrorists .
This is sick stuff in which we as Americans are complicit .
Now consider the jihad against Armenian/Armenia/Artsakh by Israel and the Jewish American lobby .
Countless Jewish academicians , writers , human rights advocates , and elected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helped Armenians in other ways .
Not so for top Jewish organizations such as the ADL , AIPAC , AJC , and JINSA .
For decades , they have diminished/denied the Armenian Genocide and with Turkey and Israel to defeat Armenian Genocide resolutions in Congress .
The ADL and AJC have relented a bit , though insincerely and only under pressure .
For years , Israel and most of these organizations , led by AJC , have supported Azerbaijan .
Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev has given his country ’ s highest award to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demands worldwide recognition of and legislation on the Holocaust but refuses to recognize the Armenian Genocide .
Israel is probably Azerbaijan ’ s biggest weapons supplier .
Israeli cluster bombs — usually banned under international law — are Artsakh ’ s civilians .
As Azerbaijan runs short of weapons and ammo , Israel is now sending more .
There are 24 righteous Armenians in Israel ’ s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial but no Azeris .
Oh well , bomb the Armenian goyem anyway using Israeli weapons .
Meanwhile , scores of Jewish and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ always complains it ’ s the victim of terrorists and jihadis .
Now it ’ s on the same side as the jihadis and terrorists in Azerbaijan .
Countless Americans , including Christians , sell their souls to the Jewish lobby for political expediency , money , and career advancement and dare not whisper a word of dissent .
You know who you are .
Artsakh ’ s ombudsman correctly notes that “ various representatives of the international community are either blind or incapable.
” How long will this remain so ?
Much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be found at .

The vicious war against the Armenian Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh) and Armenia by Azerbaijan, Turkey, and thousands of their jihadist terrorists has passed the one month mark.
The jihadis’ presence, which includes ISIS, is consistent with the debauched political cultures and national ambitions of Azerbaijan and Turkey. It also tells us that the U.S./NATO/EU stance towards those countries continues to be dangerously passive.
Just days ago, right in our nation’s capital, Azeri demonstrators chanted “jihad, jihad, jihad” and flashed the hand signal of Turkey’s homicidal, neo-fascist Grey Wolves.
It’s not surprising. Azerbaijan and Turkey are longtime Turkic allies of jihadist terrorists.
Turkic Jihadist Terror
In the early 1990s, Azerbaijan deployed thousands of jihadis and terrorists, including Afghan Mujahedin , Chechens, and Grey Wolves against Artsakh’s Armenians who had voted for self-determination. Turkish army officers also took part.
Al-Qaeda cells in Baku, Azerbaijan helped to plan the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. A dozen Americans and 212 others were killed.
The U.S. Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center reports that ISIS ranks have included over 900 Azerbaijanis and 7,400 Turks.
Ahmet S. Yayla, Turkey’s chief of counterterrorism from 2010-13, wrote: “Turkey was a central hub for the travel of over 50,000 ISIS foreign fighters, and the main source of ISIS logistical materials … making Turkey and ISIS practically allies. ”
Secret wiretaps revealed that Turkey has supplied ISIS in Syria via Ilhami Bali, codenamed Abu Bakr, a 36-year-old Saudi-born Turk.
Columbia University has issued two valuable studies: ISIS-Turkey Links and Turkey-ISIS Oil Trade.
Today’s Turkic Jihadist Terror
Since September, Azerbaijan and Turkey have brought in ISIS commander Sayf Balud , the Hamza and Sultan Murad Brigades, Syrian terrorists, and thousands of other jihadis to battle Armenians. Many were present even before September.
Some of the jihadis had committed atrocities against Christian Armenians and Assyrians, Kurds, Yazidis, and others in Syria and elsewhere.
Azerbaijan is using some jihadis as human shields for its soldiers. Others are thrust into battle while Azeris point guns at their backs to prevent retreat.
Armenian forces have dealt them severe blows. One jihadi warned, “Jihadi, don’t come, we have been deceived, everything is a lie. This is a meat grinder .”
Artsakh’s Ordeals
In the early 1920s, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin transferred the ancient Armenian territory of Artsakh (96% Armenian) to Azerbaijan to indulge Turkey. No country/people named Azerbaijan/Azeri had ever existed before 1918.
Artsakh’s Armenians subsequently suffered brutal repression, deportations, and mass murders under Soviet Azerbaijan’s scimitar. By 1988, Armenians had been reduced to 76% of the population. All this was due to raw, ethno-racial, Azeri fanaticism.
Artsakh’s Armenians voted in 1988 and 1991 for self-determination and independence from Azerbaijan according to Soviet law and then international law. Armenians won the ensuing war.
Note that Azerbaijan claims not only Artsakh but Armenia too.
Artsakh and Armenia are reformist democracies. Dictatorial Azerbaijan is light-years away from that. Turkey is a similar political and human rights disaster.
If you lived in Artsakh, would you ever agree to Azeri rule? Of course not.
America’s Global War for Terror
The Global War on Terror (GWOT) has been American foreign policy’s pièce de résistance since 2001. Supposedly, therefore, regimes that use jihadis/terrorists against civilized people should become pariahs.
Yet American administrations and Congress have acted largely deaf, dumb, and blind regarding Turkey and Azerbaijan’s support for jihadis/terrorists.
In 2016, I presented evidence to Richard M. Mills, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, that Turkey supported ISIS. He foolishly lied and denied it all.
The U.S. (and Europe) fawn over Azerbaijan’s gas and oil deposits and westbound pipelines despite its sickening record on jihadis and human rights.
Our government lies about our GWOT, but we remain silent. What kind of people are we?
Rename the GWOT to GWFT: the Global War for Terror.
Azerbaijan has signed and is violating the “UN Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries.” Neither the UN, State Department, nor Congress has spoken up.
America provides “counterterrorism” assistance to Azerbaijan. Thus, Americans pay it to fight terrorists while Azerbaijan turns around and hires terrorists. This is sick stuff in which we as Americans are complicit.
Now consider the jihad against Armenian/Armenia/Artsakh by Israel and the Jewish American lobby.
The Kosher Jihad
Countless Jewish academicians, writers, human rights advocates, and elected officials have supported Armenian Genocide recognition and helped Armenians in other ways. Not so for top Jewish organizations such as the ADL, AIPAC, AJC, and JINSA.
For decades, they have diminished/denied the Armenian Genocide and colluded with Turkey and Israel to defeat Armenian Genocide resolutions in Congress. The ADL and AJC have relented a bit, though insincerely and only under pressure.
For years, Israel and most of these organizations, led by AJC, have supported Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev has given his country’s highest award to AJC Executive Director David Harris.
Israel demands worldwide recognition of and legislation on the Holocaust but refuses to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
Israel is probably Azerbaijan’s biggest weapons supplier. Israeli cluster bombs — usually banned under international law — are killing Artsakh’s civilians.
As Azerbaijan runs short of weapons and ammo, Israel is now sending more.
There are 24 righteous Armenians in Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial but no Azeris. Oh well, bomb the Armenian goyem anyway using Israeli weapons.
Meanwhile, scores of Jewish and Israeli writers defame Armenia and Armenian Americans.
Israel always complains it’s the victim of terrorists and jihadis. Now it’s on the same side as the jihadis and terrorists in Azerbaijan.
Countless Americans, including Christians, sell their souls to the Jewish lobby for political expediency, money, and career advancement and dare not whisper a word of dissent. You know who you are.
Meanwhile, Armenian Genocide 2.0 looms.
Artsakh’s ombudsman correctly notes that “various representatives of the international community are either blind or incapable.”
How long will this remain so?
Much of the author’s work can be found at http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/David_Boyajian .
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Author: David Boyajian Much of the author’s work can be found at Much of the author’s work can be found at http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/David_Boyajian . He also chairs the Armenian Americans for Human Rights.