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It’s such a privilege when wildlife trusts you. It’s humbling & it’s enriching. We must #DefendNature - as a priority! Essex Wildlife Trust The Wildlife Trusts Dr Amir Khan GP Liz Bonnin 💙 Megan McCubbin Iolo Williams WildlifeKate 🌱🦋ClockworkDolly🦋 Brigit Strawbridge Charles Cuthbert Where is Nature meant to live?🦉🐦🦋🌻🌳🦌🐞

47,923 views • 3 years ago •via X (Twitter)

10 Comments

Dr Amir Khan GP's profile picture
Dr Amir Khan GP3 years ago

@EssexWildlife @WildlifeTrusts @lizbonnin @MeganMcCubbin @IoloWilliams2 @katemacrae @clockwork_dolly @B_Strawbridge @CRCuthbert @Steveredwolf Lovely ☺️

Brigit Strawbridge's profile picture
Brigit Strawbridge3 years ago

@EssexWildlife @WildlifeTrusts @DrAmirKhanGP @lizbonnin @MeganMcCubbin @IoloWilliams2 @katemacrae @clockwork_dolly @CRCuthbert @Steveredwolf What a heart warming clip, Andrew!

Matthew Koch's profile picture
Matthew Koch3 years ago

@BBCSpringwatch @EssexWildlife @WildlifeTrusts @DrAmirKhanGP @lizbonnin @MeganMcCubbin @IoloWilliams2 @katemacrae @clockwork_dolly @B_Strawbridge @CRCuthbert @Steveredwolf Could get them to stay on the hand. But still definitely a high light

John Eames's profile picture
John Eames3 years ago

@BBCSpringwatch @EssexWildlife @WildlifeTrusts @DrAmirKhanGP @lizbonnin @MeganMcCubbin @IoloWilliams2 @katemacrae @clockwork_dolly @B_Strawbridge @CRCuthbert @Steveredwolf I have just managed to feed our garden Robin to take food from my hand for the first time..I feel so good!

Ollie's profile picture
Ollie3 years ago

@EssexWildlife @WildlifeTrusts @DrAmirKhanGP @lizbonnin @MeganMcCubbin @IoloWilliams2 @katemacrae @clockwork_dolly @B_Strawbridge @CRCuthbert @Steveredwolf Love this so much. Did both get a feed?

Andrew Impey EWT's profile picture
Andrew Impey EWT3 years ago

There were at least 5 different robins. It was 3:30pm and they all appeared to be really hungry - taking it in turns to jump on the food wagon 😜

Ana Gutiérrez Rodríg's profile picture
Ana Gutiérrez Rodríg3 years ago

@EssexWildlife @WildlifeTrusts @DrAmirKhanGP @lizbonnin @MeganMcCubbin @IoloWilliams2 @katemacrae @clockwork_dolly @B_Strawbridge @CRCuthbert @Steveredwolf I couldn't agree more!! 👏👏👏😍😍😍

Dr Jo Wimpenny's profile picture
Dr Jo Wimpenny3 years ago

@EssexWildlife @WildlifeTrusts @DrAmirKhanGP @lizbonnin @MeganMcCubbin @IoloWilliams2 @katemacrae @clockwork_dolly @B_Strawbridge @CRCuthbert @Steveredwolf 😍 They're little thugs but I do love them - good work Andy!

Ian Senior's profile picture
Ian Senior3 years ago

@BBCSpringwatch @EssexWildlife @WildlifeTrusts @DrAmirKhanGP @lizbonnin @MeganMcCubbin @IoloWilliams2 @katemacrae @clockwork_dolly @B_Strawbridge @CRCuthbert @Steveredwolf I remember many years ago when I first experienced this at Sandringham in West Norfolk. As you say, so humbling and heart warming!

JulieAnn Jones's profile picture
JulieAnn Jones3 years ago

@BBCSpringwatch @EssexWildlife @WildlifeTrusts @DrAmirKhanGP @lizbonnin @MeganMcCubbin @IoloWilliams2 @katemacrae @clockwork_dolly @B_Strawbridge @CRCuthbert @Steveredwolf Totally agree amazing special film

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To people trapped in authoritarian regimes who know, deep down, that their humanity is being chipped away – and that telling us what’s really going on is an important release, allowing us all to find better ways to navigate our changing world. So, we will work with our agents. And we will continue to engage directly, and with respect, with states and organisation currently working against us. Away from the glare of the media, we will use MI6’s convening power wherever we can to make a material difference, bringing parties together to defuse tensions. But the response to the increasing risks we face won’t be delivered by the UK intelligence community alone. Wider society has a role to play too. That includes work taking place in schools across the country so our children don’t get duped by information manipulation. Let’s all check sources, consider evidence, and be alive to those algorithms that trigger intense reactions, like fear. It also means everyone in society really understanding the world we are in – a world where terrorists plot against us, where our enemies fearmonger, bully and manipulate, and the front line is everywhere. Online, on our streets, in our supply chains, in the minds and on the screens of our citizens. We must all stand together against this. As we do today with our friends in Australia after the shocking antisemitic terrorist attack this weekend. My thoughts -and those of my whole organisation – are with the family, friends and loved ones of the victims. Light will always win over darkness. In rising to meet these challenges we, in MI6, will remain anchored to our values: courage, creativity, respect and integrity. And to our principles: accountability and trust are not constraints on our work; they are the foundations of our legitimacy with the British public. Recently, I had the privilege of meeting and thanking a foreign agent who has worked with us for decades, taking extraordinary risks to help keep the UK safe. I asked why. They said simply, ‘Your values. Your integrity and respect. None of us have a future without them’. This moment reinforced to me that we must remain a very human agency. And so, to sustain that trust, MI6 will continue to be more open. Not for the sake of visibility, but because it matters – and as my MI5 counterpart Sir Ken McCallum said recently - because it is a strength. We will continue the practice of speaking publicly, broaden our channels of engagement, and sustain our focus on attracting the most diverse talent to join our Service. Transparency does not mean revealing what must remain secret. It means showing the British people who we are, what we stand for, and why our work matters. We need your trust and support for the difficult and often dangerous work our agents pursue, every day of the year. In an age of uncertainty, one constant remains: the choices made by human beings still determine the shape of the world. Yes, technology can illuminate possibilities: but information requires judgement; complexity demands clarity; and only people can decide which path to follow. The United Kingdom’s global voice has never rested solely on strength – it has rested on trust, principle, and the ability to understand others as well as ourselves. That is also the essence of intelligence: not simply knowing the world, but interpreting it through a uniquely human lens. Ours is the quiet service, the hidden service. It is one rooted in a profound belief that when human beings act with purpose and integrity, they can steady a faltering world. When the Berlin Wall fell, it was our shared belief in freedom that carried Europe forward. When acts of terror targeted open societies, it was intelligence, cooperation and resolve that preserved them. And when adversaries blur fact and falsehood, our task is to defend the space where truth can still stand. As we step into the future, the tools at our disposal will evolve. But what will always matter most is the human element – the person who stands in the shadows and says: this is right, and that is wrong. That choice – the exercise of human agency – has shaped our world before, and it will shape it again. Because in the end, it is not what we can do that defines us, but what we choose to do. Thank you. Published 15 December 2025

John Sweeney

42,257 views • 7 months ago

Min Hee-jin (NewJeans Producer) NHK Music Interview 🔗 “Meticulously planned debut ‘Attention’” 🧢: When I was preparing to launch NewJeans, I really struggled with deciding what our first piece of content should be. I thought about it for a long time and considered many possibilities. It was a project that came with high expectations, and for me personally, it was also my first opportunity to prove myself. So how I presented it mattered enormously. Even down to the smallest details… like the impression the very first released photo might give, or what kind of impact we could make at launch. I thought hard about what kind of content would be the most effective… should it be a video or a photo? What time of day would be most effective to release it? I consider things like that very carefully. For example, the way a person experiences content at night versus during the day can feel quite different emotionally. So I even thought about those subtle aspects. Eventually, the conclusion I reached was: “Let’s make the most of our situation.” At the time, the members hadn’t been revealed, and no one knew how many of them there were or what kind of group this would be. So I wanted to maximize that curiosity. You know how the more something is concealed, the more curious people become? I wanted to build that curiosity to a peak and then release everything all at once. That’s why we decided not to release a teaser and instead go straight into a full music video. (This was actually inspired by Hyein suggesting we skip teasers.) I didn’t think still images or photos would be enough to fully convey the feeling I wanted to express. I felt that video and music together would evoke the emotional response I was looking for because people experience things synesthetically. When sound, image, and feeling come together, the emotional impact is stronger. I believed the best way to present the members’ images was through music and a moving picture… that’s why we led with a music video. In the debut music video, “Attention,” there’s a scene where the members act out a little drama. I paid very close attention to that moment and created music that would fit it precisely. For me, I don’t just make content… I design the entire process of how it should be shown for the greatest effect. And I believe that’s incredibly important. That first feeling someone gets when they encounter something… that emotion, that spark… is so important to me. I’m very detail-oriented, but I also value fun deeply. So rather than just releasing content, I want to enjoy the process leading up to it. Even when we released our second album, since we shot the entire music video across the country, the sequence of how we released the videos was critical for me. It’s hard to explain all this simply in an interview, but maybe some people noticed: the first content we released that time was actually a teaser for the last track, “ASAP,” and then we followed that with the full music video for “New Jeans,” which was the first track. That order was a carefully calculated strategy. It was designed to guide the audience’s emotional journey. Seeing the audience react just as I had hoped—that whole process was honestly so fun and thrilling for me. I think I really enjoy that kind of thing. ——— “How 'Ditto' was born” 🧢: People often praise the music of NewJeans, and I hear a lot of talk about genres. But actually, I don’t feel bound by genre at all. I love a wide variety of music. I’m not the type to insist on only one particular genre. What I love are songs that blend genres cleverly… those are my personal favorites. So going forward, my focus is not on genre but on whether something feels fresh and whether it can create an emotional moment. I don’t want to define what kind of music we make. And I think you have to experience the flow of the times to really understand what’s meaningful in a given moment. For instance, the song “Ditto” was chosen because it delivered emotion. It matched perfectly with the winter album concept I had envisioned, both in terms of timing and mood. When I hear a song, I tend to trust my gut. I have a pretty strong intuition for which songs will resonate. It’s not about objectively predicting what will be a “hit,” but about whether a song moves your heart… you can just feel it. Of course, my own taste plays a big role. But I think that’s actually my strength as a producer, not as a composer. When I hear a song, I can immediately picture the visual… what kind of story, what kind of vibe it could carry. That allows me to work faster. For example, when expressing something like school uniforms, there are so many possible variations. But I always like to start from the basics… what’s the original idea of a school uniform? I try to return to that. So with “Ditto,” I wanted to tap into something primal… the pure, basic feeling of liking someone. That kind of emotion is universal. Everyone has it; it’s wired into us. When I saw Director Shin Woo-seok’s interpretation of it, I thought, “Yes, that’s it.” That’s the kind of complete interpretation I look for. I believe the completion of a project comes from every person involved thinking about their part down to the final detail… the maximum quality they can bring out. My role is to unify and refine all of that. I draw out the essence of each person’s creativity, trimming away anything unnecessary. So the final product is something that’s polished and high-quality, just the way I envisioned it. That’s my working style. So it’s not like I’m fixated on retro or stuck in a particular style. I don’t think human taste has changed all that much. Things people liked in the past are the same things we like now. It’s just the form of expression that changes with time. I don’t feel bound by “past” or “present.” I don’t even think in those boundaries. To me, it’s all just good taste. You know how kids sometimes have their own little treasure boxes when they’re young? I think my work is kind of like that. I want to make things that never feel dated—that are timelessly enjoyable. ——— “Dance Expression and 'Hype Boy'” 🧢: I had a vision of what kind of girl group I wanted to create. That’s why I chose a song like “Hype Boy.” And to bring out that feeling, we created four different versions of the music video. Every choice had a purpose, everything was designed to maximize the experience of the song. “Hype Boy” is such a unique song. It has this strange, piercing melody that gives people chills in a good way. To emphasize that tingling feeling, I had to break away from the standard K-pop choreography format… you know, the kind where everyone is in perfect formation, doing synchronized moves. But our songs don’t suit that kind of choreography. Our dances are much harder. They require the body to move very naturally with the groove of the melody and beat. So I think our members are incredible. It’s not easy to express naturalness with your body, and you have to really enjoy it to make it look effortless. But they pulled it off so well. They’re still young, but they’re so talented. And through it all, I wanted to avoid making them look like they were performing just for business. I wanted them to show the pure joy and bright spirit that’s natural for people their age… genuine, carefree, radiant. ——— “The difference between NewJeans and conventional K-POP” 🧢: Ah, for me, it’s all about naturalness. And honestly, naturalness isn’t something you can produce or direct into existence. It comes from how I interact with the NewJeans members on a daily basis… what kind of environment they practice in, how they live and work. There are so many things that don’t appear on camera, but those unseen aspects have to be in place in order for true naturalness to come through. That’s why I wanted to create that kind of environment for the girls. And also, I wanted to shape my own working environment in that way too. Only then can something truly natural, something unforced and not overly stimulating, really come out. To begin with, I don’t believe anyone can be completely natural in front of a camera or under the gaze of others. It’s human nature to become self-conscious. That’s why I think naturalness is our strength, but it can’t be our concept. If you try to turn “naturalness” into a concept, it actually becomes incredibly artificial. So why do I place so much importance on naturalness? It’s because the girls are still so young. While other kids their age are going through school and having a wide range of life experiences, these members are living very different lives. Before they officially debuted, I told them, “This is like studying together with me.” Our standard contract is seven years, which is about the same length as going through high school and college in Korea: three years of high school and four years of university. So I told them, “We’re going to school together. We’re learning together.” And in that sense, I want to be a good teacher to them. They’re also surrounded by an incredibly professional team, people they’d never meet even in a traditional school setting. I’ve never really liked the word idol. These days, that word is used more like a job title, something manufactured by the industry, and it’s far from its original meaning. To me, the term idol feels misplaced. It doesn’t really reflect who these artists are or what they represent. And I’m not the kind of person who clings to labels or terminology. In fact, what I really want is to break the stereotypes and preconceptions that come with the idol industry. I want us to show people something different… to challenge those assumptions and redefine what this can look like. That’s the kind of mindset I have. ——— “Isn't it difficult for the members to express "naturalness"?” 🧢: There were a lot of things I considered when forming the group. First and foremost, I think it was important that the members shared a similar vibe… like how I prefer working with staff who align with my taste. It’s important for the crew to be on the same wavelength. And by that, I mean more than just getting along… it also extends to shared values. Of course, people won’t all share identical values, but when we’re facing in a similar direction, everything becomes easier. It’s also just more efficient to work with people who have overlapping tastes. Now, when it comes to our members, they each have their own individual tastes, but those preferences are still in development. Just like we all went through as kids, they’re still growing, still discovering themselves. They’re not in a finished state. So we didn’t cast them based on some complete or polished version of themselves. It wasn’t like, “This person is fully formed, let’s pick her.” It was more like, “Ah, she has potential, there’s something there.” That sense of a spark… those were the kinds of subtleties I paid attention to. I didn’t cast anyone just because they were pretty or could sing well. I don’t work like that. I really value those finer, more delicate aspects. Even the design of the light stick wasn’t something that came from a long strategic planning session… it was actually a spontaneous idea. I didn’t sit down and think, “Let’s make a light stick like this.” NewJeans didn’t have a fixed logo, but I felt we still needed a unifying symbol. So one night, just before going to sleep, I kept thinking about it. Right before dozing off, I started sketching and it turned into a rabbit’s face. When I drew it out, the shape just continued and turned into a bunny. To me, the NewJeans members are like little bunnies… playful, innocent. Their visuals also resemble rabbits in a way. And rabbits symbolize abundance. That made me think: “Ah, maybe our fans will multiply like rabbits. That would be great.” So that bunny face became both a symbol for the members and the fans. The image came to me all at once, and I imagined a venue completely filled with bunny light sticks. That vision led to the creation of the light stick itself. Since I always prioritize fun in everything I do, the next idea that came to mind was making the light stick customizable. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if fans could personalize their bunny?” That way, each rabbit would represent a different person’s character. So we included accessories, allowing everyone to customize their own bunny. It’s symbolic of all these different bunnies coming together and enjoying a good time as one. Our light stick has a big head, so when it’s used in a concert hall, it lights up in heart shapes that are very visible. That was the image I really wanted. And that bunny face… it’s also a heart. It represents both the face of NewJeans and our hearts. It’s the love we’re showing to our fans, and the love we want to receive in return. Every time I see it, I feel deeply moved. It’s very emotional for me because it’s a perfect realization of what I envisioned. As someone with a background in creative direction, there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing an idea materialize exactly the way you imagined it. That kind of work holds deep meaning for me. ⸻ 🧢: Looking back, I think in 2023 we were able to achieve almost everything we had hoped for. I’m so incredibly grateful for that. Of course, this is an ongoing challenge… and the better things go, the more pressure there is. That’s why I always try to return to my original mindset. Just like I tell the members, I try to remind myself of the beginning and keep things fun. Back then, when we were first putting out content, planning the music, and working on visuals, I felt this thrill… this rush of excitement. I don’t want to forget that feeling. So I try hard to engrave that emotion into every album we release. I’m constantly working to rediscover the joy in all of it. So for 2024, I hope everyone can look forward to us with fresh anticipation. And even if we come out with something completely new, I hope people will receive it warmly and with excitement. That’s really my deepest wish. 🙏

1tokki

17,635 views • 1 year ago

B.C. MLAs speak out about Canada's kill mission for healthy ostriches Elected officials visit Edgewood, B.C. ostrich farm to help apply public pressure against the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's senseless plan to cull a flock of healthy research birds. The political pushback against the federal government's plan to cull 400 healthy ostriches at a farm in Edgewood, British Columbia is growing and it’s coming from both sides of the political aisle. During a press release, B.C.'s socialist NDP premier, David Eby, recently stated the following about the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) mission to slay the exotic animals: “The minister of agriculture and I think British Columbians are a little bit frustrated by the actions of this federal agency. We understand the importance of containing the bird flu and the important role that agency plays. What’s hard to watch is a lack of discretion and ability to evaluate case by case scenarios.” The CFIA claims the birds must be destroyed due to concerns over an avian flu result from two deceased carcasses tested with the controversial PCR test late last year. The farmers consistently argue that their flock is healthy and worth more to humanity alive than dead, since their antibody-rich eggs were being used in partnership with Japan for research they believe is close to finding a non-mRNA treatment to stabilize the threat of the avian flu. Despite no signs of illness for the flock of 400, who survived the sickness that passed though the herd months ago, the CFIA remains unwilling to test the flock for immunity — and despite clear public and scientific concern over the decision. Local MLA and cattle farmer Jordan Kealy became the first elected official to visit the farm and recently raised the issue in the legislature. “It’s not about money. It’s a way of life for them. They would way rather have their animals be alive than to be culled,” he told Rebel News on the farm site. In response to the growing political concern we are seeing about the senseless cull, Kealy said “we’re seeing that it makes a difference. If there is that added pressure from the public and from constituents, we can start to see the different avenues open up. And I think the biggest thing when it comes to the cull practice that’s being practiced by the CFIA — there are better methods out there.” “This isn’t a scenario where if these birds get culled it’s not just a matter of restocking and starting over again you’re destroying the farmers’ lives” lives he added. The CFIA’s refusal to test the birds and its threats informing the farmers they could be imprisoned if they do so themselves, has heightened suspicions and outrage over the agencies cull plans. Thousands of people across Canada have been sending pre-written complaint through to the agriculture minister and CFIA officials, many have donated to help the farm cover its ongoing legal pushback of the cull, and a rotating group of protesters from across the country have been camping at the farm in protest. Even the Regional District of Central Kootenay unanimously passed a motion blocking the CFIA from disposing of ostrich carcasses in the district unless the agency can prove the birds were sick. The CFIA remains unmoved, informing the CBC after the motion temporarily paused its plans that’s the agency “will begin the humane depopulation and disposal of birds at the infected premises with veterinary oversight. Operational plans and dates will not be shared with the public in advance.” BC Conservative MLA David Williams, representing Salmon Arm–Shuswap, expressed his frustration at the CFIA’s actions while visiting the farm. “I understand it’s important to protect poultry producers and livestock producers in the province because agriculture is very important to our province and to our economy, but in the same token I believe in humanity and I want to see the CFIA do the right thing.” “I understand they still want to go ahead with the cull and I’m an animal owner, I live on an acreage, and we have peacocks, we have chickens — so it’s actually meaningful to me on a personal level as well” he continued. Independent MLA Tara Armstrong (Kelowna–Lake Country–Coldstream) also visited the farm and called on more to take a stand: “This is a really big issue. We have to make sure that as people that are representing our constituents and the province are speaking out to matters that matter to the average British Columbian and this is one of those things.” She also drew attention to the hypocrisy of the federal agency’s rush to cull the healthy flock when they could be the key to keeping other farmed animals and even pets healthy too. “We know that these birds are very closely tied to some possible breakthroughs in terms of their natural immunity to the avian flu, so I think we need to look at that and we have to ask the question, you know, why is it such an initiative for the CFIA to cull healthy birds?” Armstrong posed. Rebel News remains embedded here on the farm to be your eyes and ears on the ground, making sure the CFIA can’t quietly carry out its plans behind closed doors.

Rebel News

19,471 views • 1 year ago

For eight incredible years, Kathryn and I have greeted every day with enormous gratitude for the opportunity to serve the citizens of North Dakota as governor and first lady. We have been rewarded with a deeper sense of love and appreciation for this exceptional place where we were born, where we became a family and where we embarked on an immensely rewarding journey into public service. Our two terms in office have reaffirmed what we already knew: North Dakota truly is the best of America. From the farm fields to the oil fields, North Dakotans work tirelessly to feed and fuel the world. Agriculture and energy form the bedrock of a robust and increasingly diverse economy that has continued to expand across manufacturing, technology, health care, aerospace, retail, tourism and other areas. Our abundant natural resources are the envy of the nation, from the rich soils of the Red River Valley to the bountiful oil and gas deposits of the Bakken, to the highly productive lakes, rivers, grasslands and Badlands teeming with fish and wildlife. On our first day in office, in our first meeting with cabinet agency leaders, and in my first State of the State address, I issued this challenge: Anything being done simply because “that’s the way we have always done it” should be and must be rigorously and respectfully questioned. And no matter what, we must have the courage to admit that we can always do better. In the ensuing years, we harnessed the power of technology to reinvent government processes to be more efficient, responsive and cost-effective for taxpayers. We engaged our tribal nations in new and unprecedented ways, strengthening relationships built on understanding and mutual respect. We prioritized behavioral health and reduced the stigma of the disease of addiction, inspiring thousands to find hope in recovery. We encouraged and supported cities of all sizes in their efforts to create healthy, vibrant communities with smart, efficient infrastructure that can attract and retain a skilled workforce. We empowered teachers with policies and tools to support innovative education. We provided historic tax relief and diversified our economy to make our state more competitive and resilient. Through it all, we fought to protect the freedoms and safety that make our state a great place to live, work and raise a family. Working with the Legislature, Lt. Govs. Tammy Miller and Brent Sanford, and other state and local officials, we expanded Second Amendment rights. We passed “Back the Blue” policies and programs to support our peace officers, firefighters and first responders. We made huge strides toward making North Dakota the most military-friendly state in the nation. This work – firmly rooted in the values of courage, curiosity, gratitude and humility – was fulfilling beyond measure. It’s as President Theodore Roosevelt said: “Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” We caught the prize, and the last eight years have been filled with work worth doing. We owe North Dakota’s positive outlook to the private-sector innovators and entrepreneurs, the bold leaders and risk-takers, the teachers, nurses, laborers and other workers on the front lines, and the outstanding efforts of dedicated Team ND members who strive every day to ensure that state government lives up to our purpose statement: Empower People, Improve Lives and Inspire Success. Our state has never been stronger. Our future has never been brighter. Thank you for being an important part of our state’s ongoing success, and thank you for giving Kathryn and me this opportunity to serve the Great State of North Dakota!

Gov. Doug Burgum

38,191 views • 1 year ago

TOPIC #107: PI NETWORK IS A STABLE COIN? -WHO DECIDES PI FULLY OM FIXED VALUE? Dear GCV army, I hope you are all doing great! First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for all your hard work. Many of you have achieved significant milestones, and it’s evident that you are making a great difference. Our influence has grown significantly, with an increasing number of social media posts and YouTubers publicly supporting us. I can see that more and more people are beginning to understand why we advocate for GCV. Today's meeting aims to alleviate any doubts you may have, allowing you to relax and feel confident as we embark on our historic journey together. I will answer the questions I’ve received and address some important issues we need to focus on to maintain our community's efficiency, particularly regarding our Generals, which will be the topic next weekend. I put the questions I received here. "A question addressed to Ms. Doris Yin in the emergency meeting 1– In light of the rapidly changing global circumstances and the increasing discussion about stablecoins backed by U.S. Treasury bonds, how do you see the future role of the Pi Network in this context? And what practical steps should the GCV army take now to accelerate this path? 2_ There are those who promote the idea that the price of Pi is what appears in the market (currently around $0.49) and compare it to the price of GCV within the ecosystem (314,159 Pi = 1 good or service). They say if Pi’s price rises to $2, it means that the value within The ecosystem is approximately 2 million dollars. With sincere appreciation and discipline." This is from the Arab head of GCV Ambassador Mr. Mohammed. Another question: "Hello, my Global Ambassador, I am Ateba Joseph, Ecological Ambassador in Cameroon And a member of the GCV army, I am delighted to exchange with you. Regarding the meeting with the GCV army on Sunday, July 27, 2025.. Here is my concern: A few days ago, a correspondence indicated that Pi is not or is not yet a stable coin. Upon reading this information, we have provided many explanations to help the pioneers understand this. I hope you will focus more on this statement to further strengthen our understanding of the subject. Thank you for taking my concerns into consideration" Thank you for the above questions; my answers are below. The first question concerns stablecoins. Many pioneers are hoping that Pi can be recognized by the U.S. government as a stablecoin. I wrote an article on this in May. On July 18, 2025, President Trump signed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (the GENIUS Act) into law. This legislation establishes a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins and marks the first federal legislation on digital assets enacted since President Trump issued an executive order aimed at making the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world.” U.S.-issued stablecoins are expected to become the primary means of dollar transactions globally, especially in emerging markets with unstable local currencies. The sponsors of the GENIUS Act estimate that by 2030, stablecoin issuers may collectively become the largest holders of U.S. Treasuries, surpassing foreign central banks. From this, we can see that U.S. stablecoins must maintain reserves backing outstanding payment stablecoins on a one-to-one basis, consisting only of specified assets, including U.S. dollars and short-term Treasury securities. It is clear that the Pi Network will not take this path, as it is not part of our plan. A stablecoin is essentially a digital representation of the U.S. dollar. All stablecoin issuers do not create a new currency; rather, it’s akin to purchasing chips at a casino – you must use U.S. dollars to buy those chips. However, Pi is a completely new currency. It does not need to be backed up by U.S. dollars or U.S. Treasuries to be used. If that were the case, we wouldn’t need to establish an ecosystem or have a three-year enclosed mainnet. I previously mentioned the possibility of Pi being an algorithmic stablecoin since only algorithmic stablecoins do not need to be backed by U.S. dollars. However, algorithmic stablecoins have faced significant failures in the past. The collapse of the Terra (LUNA) cryptocurrency resulted in a loss of at least $40 billion in market capitalization, with estimates reaching as high as $60 billion. TerraUSD (UST), an algorithmic stablecoin, lost its peg to the U.S. dollar, contributing to its overall collapse. The new stablecoin legislation recently passed through the Senate effectively ties the U.S. Treasury to crypto, as it essentially bets the government’s cash flow on digital tokens and market speculation. This legislation requires stablecoins to be backed by short-term Treasury bills, generating an estimated $2–$3 trillion in new demand for government debt, which is nearly half the current size of the T-bill market. On paper, this looks beneficial, but in reality, it creates a circular feedback loop: crypto demand fuels stablecoins, stablecoins buy T-bills, and T-bills fund government deficits. The government becomes reliant on speculative capital flows. Thus, we should understand why the U.S. government will not support the Pi Network as a stablecoin, as they require stablecoin issuers to buy T-bills and can no longer trust algorithmic stablecoins. So, what is the future of the Pi Network as a currency? From my perspective, Pi is already listed on exchange markets. It cannot be classified as a security because it is mined freely and is not an ICO. Instead, it should be categorized as a commodity, similar to Bitcoin and ETH. When a currency is listed for trading on an exchange, its price is determined by the balance of supply and demand. However, Pi is a currency in its own right; it has inherent value from Pi holders -Pioneers. Historically, currency has served as a medium of exchange. A medium of exchange is a widely accepted item for buying goods and services in an economy. It facilitates transactions by eliminating the need for a barter system, where goods are directly exchanged for other goods. In modern economies, money (such as currency) serves as the primary medium of exchange. **Functions of Money:** One of the core functions of money is to serve as a medium of exchange, enabling the smooth transfer of value between buyers and sellers, thereby simplifying trade and economic activity. **Examples:** In modern economies, this typically includes currency (paper money, coins) or digital money. In specific historical contexts, other items, such as cigarettes in prisoner-of-war camps, have also served as mediums of exchange. **Importance of Acceptance:** For a medium of exchange to function effectively, it must be widely accepted and trusted within the relevant community. **Not the Same as a Payment Method:** While credit cards and checks are used for payments, they do not serve as mediums of exchange themselves. Therefore, stablecoin is not a new currency. It is more likely to have a credit card or check character. It is a USD digital status. From the analysis presented, we can draw the following conclusions: The current price of Pi on the exchange market primarily serves as a temporary measure to facilitate broad expansion. While this is not our primary objective, it constitutes a strategic approach towards achieving our mission. To gain a clearer perspective, we must adopt a higher-level view of the overall vision for the Pi Network. The mission and vision of Pi Network clearly articulate that it is not intended to function as a commodity for sale, nor is it meant to be an investment vehicle or a speculative security. Instead, it is crucial to recognize that Pi is designed to be a medium of exchange—a new form of currency. As pioneers in this venture, we have the unique opportunity to acquire Pi through free mining. However, it is important to note that the current mining rate is relatively slow. To overcome this limitation and to further our goal of mass adoption, it is essential for more individuals to join the Pi Network and participate in holding Pi. One efficient way to accelerate this process is by allowing Pi to be traded on the exchange market, which can result in rapid and widespread adoption. Since Pi can be mined for free, a lower price could make it more accessible to a larger number of people. It's important to focus on our primary goal during this pre-full Open Mainnet (OM) phase: mass adoption, rather than aiming for high prices, which many pioneers expected. Some pioneers want to sell when the price increases, but if too many sell, it could undermine our goal of achieving mass adoption. This scenario is reminiscent of historical instances when shells served as currency—readily accessible from the sea or buy from the village market. For shells to function effectively as currency, a collective effort was needed to hold and circulate them within the village. If only a select few individuals possess the shells, the currency lacks the necessary circulation to sustain an economy. Hence, our goal should not be centered on achieving a high price; instead, we should strive to make Pi more affordable so that a greater number of individuals can acquire and hold it, thereby fostering a thriving economic ecosystem. Of course, the rising price will build up merchants' confidence to accept it as payment. This is why we refer to it as a buyback campaign, which aims to achieve mass adoption and foster ecosystem confidence. As Pi evolves into a currency, the question of its value becomes pertinent. Given that it is a new currency, its value is not immediately clear. This presents an opportunity for us, the pioneers, to play a crucial role in defining it. The determination of Pi's value is not the responsibility of a central authority such as CT, the government, or the exchange. Instead, it will emerge from a decentralized consensus within the community, which collectively owns Pi. This concept is akin to ancient times when the value of shells was not determined by the sellers. Rather, the value was derived from the collective agreement of the village that utilized them as currency. I hope this elaboration clarifies the distinction between value and price, enabling a deeper understanding of the foundational principles that drive our mission with Pi Network. Pi represents a groundbreaking innovation—a revolution that is poised for long-term economic development on a global scale, rather than perpetuating cycles of plunder and exploitation. By harnessing the power of blockchain technology, Pi empowers ordinary individuals, which creates an inherent conflict of interest with the U.S. government in the short term. Should the U.S. government endorse the Pi Network, it raises questions about the viability of U.S. treasuries and who would ultimately purchase them. Consequently, the government may prioritize support for stablecoins backed by the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasury securities, as this can help alleviate the U.S. government's issues with limited demand. However, I previously mentioned the potential for Pi to emerge as an algorithmic stablecoin. At that time, the Genius Bill had not yet been enacted. If the Pi Network gains acceptance from the U.S. government, its growth could become rapid and expansive, leading to widespread adoption in other nations. This path would position Pi as a legitimate currency in nearly every country, contingent upon certain conditions. For instance, if the price of Pi in the exchange market can align with the GCV, this could be achieved through a buyback mechanism involving 10 million pioneers. Such a scenario would indicate that Pi differs significantly from past algorithmic stablecoin failures, presenting a compelling case for the U.S. government to view Pi as a low-risk asset. However, it presents a significant challenge to be collectively reached by pioneers, and there are other conditions that we cannot achieve in a short time. While it might appear that Pi Network conflicts with the U.S. dollar or stablecoins in the short term, it has the potential to address the broader issue of overprinting currency, which has plagued the U.S. and many other nations. This would benefit international trade by alleviating concerns about currency appreciation or depreciation in international transactions. The global economy indeed requires a super sovereign currency—one that ensures stability for future generations and fosters lasting peace and prosperity. To comprehend Pi as a currency, it is crucial to recognize that we must cultivate long-term value by generating GCV data. In the short term, our focus needs to be on establishing a robust exchange market and decentralized applications (DApps) to drive mass adoption. If this is understood, there should be no need to feel discouraged by the current low price of Pi. The true value of Pi as a currency derives not from the exchange market, trading platforms, or governmental endorsement, but rather from our community's collective efforts and engagement. You might wonder how a government could adopt Pi, given that it does not take the form of a stablecoin. I would counter with the example of Bitcoin, which has thrived even in environments where many countries have imposed bans. Currently, Pi is transitioning from its traditional commodity status to being recognized as a currency, meaning governmental awareness of Pi Network is still in development. As such, existing regulations generally pertain to older forms of cryptocurrency rather than our innovative approach. Our branding as a digital currency, rather than a cryptocurrency, is intentional. Dr. Nicolas has expressed concerns that many aspects of conventional cryptocurrencies pose challenges to government frameworks and public trust, often leading to economic harm rather than benefit. Our commitment to Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) protocols distinguishes us by mitigating money laundering risks and protecting Pi holders from speculative practices. Many businesses face bankruptcy or closure because consumers lack the disposable income to engage in spending. Imagine how Pi could enable those businesses to survive and thrive—people could utilize Pi to make purchases and easily convert it into fiat currency to sustain operations, thereby preserving many jobs. The function in our wallet that allows users to "buy" Pi is not merely a feature; it represents a vision for the future where conversion to fiat currency can happen immediately, without dependency on third-party exchanges. Moving forward, we can establish a fixed rate (the GCV) for conversions. Once larger institutions and prominent companies recognize the low-risk profile of joining Pi Network due to its GCV stability, we can expect a considerable influx of participants seeking to gain a competitive advantage. You may ask how companies would finance the purchase of Pi at GCV rates. This is an insightful question. My perspective is that the demand for Pi’s stable value will inherently incentivize investments. Much like why individuals purchase stablecoins for their convenience in facilitating cross-border transactions, Pi will appeal to consumers and businesses alike, particularly because we are leveraging Web 3.0 blockchain technology, AI-driven platforms, and a rich ecosystem of decentralized applications (DApps). We are cultivating a loyal customer base that recognizes the value of this innovation. We understand that high-net-worth individuals seek safe investment opportunities. While U.S. treasury bonds currently represent a secure asset class, they are not without risk. Therefore, if Pi Network can maintain a limited supply coupled with blockchain technology and a consistent GCV, it is plausible that affluent investors would allocate a portion of their capital to acquire Pi. This would lead to fiat inflows whenever there is increased demand for Pi, establishing an equilibrium between Pi and fiat currencies. This interplay is why I believe DApps are critically significant. We need broader usage of Pi in real-world applications. I hope my analysis has helped clarify why the price of Pi should not overly concern us. Buying Pi to hold onto it allows pioneers to accumulate more, while building merchant confidence is essential to kickstart the ecosystem. Merchants will be motivated to see Pi’s price appreciation since this removes the risks for DApps and service providers who depend on exchange market prices. A rise in demand for Pi will subsequently reduce its supply, which is beneficial for price increases. I look forward to discussing Pi GCV army management in another session. Thank you for your time. Let’s continue striving for greatness together. Doris Yin 🪷🪷🪷 Founder, Global GCV Movement Disclaimer: This speech is intended solely for educational purposes within the GCV community. The views and content shared here represent my personal perspective and are part of the GCV movement, but do not reflect the official position of the Pi Core Team (PCT). Pi Network represents a new revolution, meaning there is no existing example for us to follow and no guiding manual. As Dr. Fan mentioned, we cannot predict what will happen around the next corner. Therefore, we must practice and forge our own path. As more people traverse this journey, the road will become clearer.

Doris Yin 东方紫莲🪷

17,590 views • 1 year ago

This is beyond insane: Keith Kellog, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, confirms that Europe will NOT have a seat at the table in the negotiations to end the war. When asked at the Munich Security Conference “Can you assure this audience that Ukrainians will be at the table and Europeans will be at the table?”, his response was: “the answer to that last question is no.” By “last question”, he meant whether Europeans will be at the table. Later on in the conversation, he was asked to confirm this: “So the Europeans [...] you don't think should be at the table directly?”. His answer again was “I’m from the school of realism, I think that’s not going to happen”, and that he understood hearing this might be “like fingers on a chalkboard, may grate a little bit but I'm telling you something that's really quite honest.” He was very clear though that he still expected Europeans to provide security guarantees and abide by the deal: “you have to understand, when you sign up for these security guarantees, that is an obligation and the reason I say that and I challenge many people that are out there, right now, 2014 Wales declaration, all the NATO allies, 2% of GDP, 20% of that was modernization, there are still 8 nations who've not even gotten to that number, okay? So when we get to it make sure you check your 6 as they say that the obligation is upon YOU when WE make these commitments.” So to sum up, the US position is that Europe should stay out of negotiations that will fundamentally affect their security architecture - yet bear the primary responsibility and cost for the negotiations' outcome. And on top of that, it’s quite clear from previous Trump declarations (like here: that the U.S. will be looking in the deal to take control of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as payment for the military aid it has provided, leaving presumably nothing to Europe. I’ve repeatedly warned that Europe was fast walking towards its own century of humiliation if it continued on its current path. I think it’s now pretty damn clear that we’re very much there already. If this goes through, this would possibly be unprecedented in European history - never before, to my knowledge, has Europe's security architecture been redrawn without any European power at the table. Even during Europe's darkest moments - including the Mongol invasions, the Ottoman expansions, or the Yalta Conference - European powers always had some voice in negotiations affecting their future. To be clear, the primary culprit here isn’t the U.S. or Trump: any student of history knows that we live in a deeply unfair world where, as ancient Greek historian Thucydides wrote 2,500 years ago, “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must." As such the blame lies almost entirely on us Europeans, or more precisely on our immensely incompetent leaders. And I want to stress this last point: they are literally incompetent on a millennia scale, given that they've managed to reduce Europe to a position that lacks any historical parallel, where it's expected to simply accept and implement whatever security arrangements others decide for it. Trump himself does what’s best for the U.S. - “America first”, remember? - and to be fair to him the Biden administration left him with a pretty bad hand. It’s crystal clear that Russia won in Ukraine, despite all of NATO’s efforts, and as such the U.S. very much risked coming out of it looking like the loser that it objectively is. Faced with this, Trump’s strategy clearly is to reframe this defeat into an “art of the deal” victory by securing U.S. access to Ukraine's natural resources while offloading the costs and responsibilities of the post-war security arrangement onto Europe. Meanwhile Europe, which has failed to develop any meaningful strategic autonomy over the past decades (in fact it’s moved in the opposite direction), finds itself with little leverage to prevent this. In fact, European “leaders”, in their treasonous meekness, are already signaling that they’ll resign themselves to their fate. Mark Rutte, NATO’s Secretary General, for instance enticed Europeans not to complain about the situation ("to my European friends, I would say, get into the debate, not by complaining that you might, yes or no, be at the table, but by coming up with concrete proposals, ideas, ramp up (defense) spending", And Keir Starmer, invited by Macron at a “crisis summit” in Paris to discuss the situation, said that his primary goal in the meeting would be “to ensure we keep the US and Europe together. We cannot allow any divisions in the alliance to distract from the external enemies we face.” ( I let you appreciate the perfect illustration this provides of the very mindset that has led Europe to this unprecedented position of weakness - responding to diplomatic humiliation with calls for even more subservience. So what could Europe do? After all, it is true that they have very little leverage, mainly due to the fact that they are “protected” by the very power that decided to put them on the menu instead of at the table. One idea could be to out-Trump Trump, and to angle for a deal where the U.S., not Europe, ends up the loser. They could for instance finally tell the truth about what led to the war in the first place, namely NATO expansion pushed by the U.S., as well as the U.S.-led coup in Ukraine in 2014, and dissociate themselves from this, just the way Trump is very conveniently trying to dissociate himself from his own country’s previous policies. They could make it clear that they reject any deal that gives the U.S. access to any of Ukraine's resources, and signal to Russia that they're open to a different kind of security architecture in Europe - one that doesn't rely on U.S. leadership or NATO. After all, if Trump can say he'll make deals with Putin, why couldn't Europe do the same? They could also reach out to China, which has already made it very clear that it opposed a deal in Ukraine without Europe at the table ( and which is anyhow much better positioned to negotiate with Russia than Trump is. We could end up with a Europe freed from American tutelage for the first time since 1945, establishing a new multipolar equilibrium with China and Russia - turning Trump's attempt to exclude Europe into the very catalyst that finally enables European strategic autonomy. But this would require a level of strategic thinking that current European leaders have consistently shown themselves incapable of. Instead I’m afraid they'll continue their current path of attempting to maintain the façade of transatlantic unity even as they're being openly humiliated.

Arnaud Bertrand

519,271 views • 1 year ago

[Behavioral Scientist's Analysis] NewJeans, Now Even Stronger, HYBE in Trouble I’ll listen again. Danielle: “Naturally, we all want to continue working with Daepyonim. Even before debuting as NewJeans and through all of the time that we spent together with Min Hee-jin Daepyonim, all of us felt that the music we wanted to make and the kind of world we wanted to build together, our vision, was similar in so many ways. With Min Hee-jin Daepyonim, we were able to prepare each and every task with sincere hearts, and I believe it shows in our work. Putting our sincere effort into something is only possible because the people that we're working with have trust in each other and have that same vision. Min Hee-jin Daepyonim is not only the person that produces our music, but someone who makes NewJeans who we are. She discusses even the smallest details with us and explains them in ways that we can understand clearly. NewJeans has a distinct colour and tone, and this was created with Min Hee-jin Daepyonim. She is integral to NewJeans’ identity, and we all feel that she is irreplaceable.” Danielle clearly stated this and also expressed it in English. So, in terms of the NewJeans issue, international fans who don’t have much information may not have had a clear perception of Ms. Min Hee-jin or how to view this issue. If you look at the comments, it was very poorly organized. In Korea, we now have clear information, so NewJeans fans, Bunnies, are cheering for NewJeans and supporting Ms. Min Hee-jin. It has become clearly sorted out like this. However, internationally, it hasn’t been clearly explained. But with Danielle explaining it so well in English, I expect that from now on, the international atmosphere will shift towards attacking HYBE, criticizing Bang Si-hyuk, and supporting Ms. Min Hee-jin and NewJeans worldwide. So, now that the artist has clearly stated their position and made it clear that the identity and assets of the NewJeans brand come from Ms. Min Hee-jin, regardless of any legal disputes or lawsuits, in the minds of the fans, NewJeans equals Min Hee-jin. And as for the current management of ADOR and HYBE, they will be seen as the ones attacking NewJeans and the mysterious people with no clear motive, such as Bang Si-hyuk. I think this will now be clear. Considering the nature of the entertainment industry, like many creative industries and the cultural industry, this is not manufacturing. Many things can’t be determined through legal processes like patents for ideas or lawsuits. The B2C market, or the market for services and consumption of an artist's brand, is driven by sensitivity. People consume it because of the emotional connection and enjoy it because of that sensitivity. So, what’s the point of winning a legal case? Even if HYBE were to win any legal case, do you think consumers wouldn’t boycott NewJeans’ music or other products afterward? I believe HYBE will be punished in some way for its actions towards ADOR and its current management. The way they are handling risk management is shortsighted, as they fail to understand people’s emotions. They seem to only rely on the advice of legal professionals and accountants, and their entire approach to this issue is so narrow-minded and misguided. It feels incredibly foolish to me. So, to summarize: NewJeans’ branding was done by Ms. Min Hee-jin. The identity and assets of the NewJeans brand were created by her, and we did it together because of her. Haerin: “However, even after our debut, there have been many unfair and incomprehensible incidents that you might not know about, and these incidents have only increased over time. As some of you may know, recently, videos from our trainee days and private records, such as medical information, were leaked. When I first saw that, I was really shocked. It was hard to understand how our company, which is supposed to protect us, failed to manage and allowed such information to be leaked. Naturally, this situation has made us worry that other strange or false information about us might spread in the future. Although we, along with our parents and Min Hee-jin Daepyonim, have raised concerns about this to HYBE, they haven’t resolved the issue, nor have they taken any proactive measures. Then, in the midst of all this, our CEO was dismissed, and we’re left wondering whom we can trust and rely on. We’ve come to the conclusion that if we don’t speak out about this now, no one will know what we’re going through. After much discussion among ourselves, we finally decided to take this step.” The current situation is shocking, but this is not just about this one incident; they’ve been continuously receiving unfair treatment from HYBE. The fact that they are saying this publicly now is truly shocking. They’ve been discussing these unfair treatments with their parents and Ms. Min Hee-jin while continuing their activities as NewJeans. They are saying that the unfair treatment from HYBE has been ongoing. It’s hard to understand as an outsider, but now the artists themselves have confirmed that there have been instances where the company has mistreated them. This is no longer a matter of speculation or exaggeration. NewJeans has officially admitted that HYBE has been continuously mistreating them. Moving forward, this changes the entire perspective on the issue. It’s no longer just NewJeans vs. HYBE or Min Hee-jin vs. Bang Si-hyuk. It’s hard to even imagine the reality of this situation. Now that the NewJeans artists have come out and said that HYBE has mistreated them, regardless of how HYBE tries to communicate going forward, they will now be framed as the ones mistreating NewJeans. How can they possibly shake off this perception now? I don’t think they can. Hanni: “Something happened to me recently. The 4th floor of the HYBE building is where we get our hair and makeup done, so a lot of other artists and staff come and go there. One day, I was waiting alone in the hallway, and some staff from another team passed by. We greeted each other, but when they came back out a bit later, I heard one of their managers say, “Ignore her,” right in front of me. I could hear and see everything clearly. Even now, I still don’t understand why I had to go through that.” I still don’t understand why that happened, even now. When I think about it, I feel like it was really ridiculous. This story from Hanni was so frustrating and absurd. Wow, what Hanni just shared is really shocking. She mentioned meeting an artist, and that artist's manager told them to ignore her. If this happened in middle or high school, people would probably dismiss it as childish fighting, but this happened among adults, and it's becoming a huge issue. Honestly, the NewJeans members aren’t sharing these stories to stir things up. They’re probably just speaking truthfully about their experiences and trying to be genuine with their fans, saying, “It’s time we express our stance honestly.” The timing and approach they’ve taken are actually perfect. They started by clearly explaining their motivations and why they’re speaking out, then moved on to using English to express what NewJeans’ identity is and the members' feelings, as well as their history with their manager. They made it clear how they feel about these situations. Now, they've started sharing more detailed stories. The way they’ve structured everything is so good because people remember stories more than abstract thoughts or philosophies. When you say, “This happened to me,” people are much more likely to remember that than vague statements. Hanni shared her unfair experience in such an honest way, and I think it’s going to spread widely. I can already imagine netizens trying to figure out which manager it was, which artist, and so on. This story will likely go viral. People remember stories like this because they stick in their minds. For example, remember when Bang Si-hyuk didn’t return NewJeans’ greeting, and it became a huge thing about face blindness? People don’t remember the details, but they remember that someone important didn’t greet them. It became a memorable story. Minji: “When I heard about what Hanni experienced, I was really shocked. How could a manager from another team tell their members to ignore one of us, and say it so loudly that Hanni could hear it? Such unimaginable words and behavior were directed at us, yet there was no apology, nor did they even acknowledge their wrongdoing. Of course, I’m worried about how many more similar incidents might occur in the future and whether we’ll be subtly ostracized without anyone there to protect us.” Hanni: “I hope no one else has to go through something like that, but since it’s already happened once, I can’t help but feel scared that other members might experience the same thing. I spoke to the new CEO about it, but since I didn’t have evidence and it was considered too late, they seemed to brush it off, making me feel like there’s no one left to protect us. It really felt like the concern for us was gone, and even though I was being honest, it made me feel like I was suddenly being treated as a liar. Before, Min Heejin, our previous CEO, used to take care of us a lot. But now, while the new people say they’ll help, it’s just been months of excuses... excuses... excuses... They keep saying that it’s something they can’t resolve. But this is something that I personally went through and experienced, yet they are trying to dismiss it as if it’s my fault. I’m worried and scared about what might happen next.” I want to make two points here. First, this is clearly “invisibility.” It’s not physical violence, but it’s about not acknowledging someone’s greeting, deliberately ignoring them, and so on. While it may not seem like a big deal, it still deeply hurts someone’s feelings. There’s been a lot of research on how these kinds of actions negatively affect an organization, spreading like poison and making people feel bad. It’s something we should really work against. The second point is about third-party justice. Hanni raised a legitimate concern, and it wasn’t handled properly within the company. This made Hanni, Minji, and others realize that the new management isn’t on their side. When others witness this, they’ll also realize that this company doesn’t have their best interests at heart. This realization leads to a loss of trust. People will remember these events, and once this perception sticks, it’s hard to change. It affects not just NewJeans, but also other artists who will think, “Oh, this is how HYBE treats people.” And it even affects the employees who work there. Minji: “Of course, I’m worried about our future, but what’s most frightening is that the work we’ve already created is being compromised. Seeing the people who have poured their lives into creating our work being treated this way makes it hard to understand how this could be happening. The new management said they would separate producing and management, but we’ve always worked differently from other labels, and we thought that our way was a good one. Now, Daepyonim can no longer approve all matters, and we’re left wondering how we’re supposed to continue working as we did before. The recent statement from the new management also didn’t make sense to me. If they really didn’t intend to interfere with our production, then the recent incident with Director Shin Woo-seok should never have happened, and it should have been handled differently. We are the ones directly involved with the copyrights and likeness rights of our content, yet they’re making decisions without our consent. In their statement, they kept saying they were acting to protect us and prevent our anxiety, but why do they keep insisting on this when they haven’t considered our wishes? We don’t want any more unnecessary issues to arise, and we want them to show respect and consideration for Daepyonim and all the directors who have worked with us. The things they’re doing right now are not in our best interest at all.” What’s worth discussing here is the perception of hypocrisy. People really dislike hypocrisy, and when you think about it, it makes sense. When humans are surviving, if there’s an enemy or a difficult environment, they overcome it as part of life. But the most dangerous situation is when you think someone is an ally, but they turn out to be an enemy. When you thought they were on your side but they stab you in the back — that’s when people are really upset. That’s why people hate it when there’s a discrepancy between outward appearances and inward intentions. It creates a near-hatred, especially when someone claims to be acting for your benefit but it’s clear that they’re not. This is what Minji is clearly pointing out — these people are hypocrites. New Jeans has already reached a conclusion internally: this new management team, in less than a month, has revealed themselves to be hypocrites. And they’ve shared this with the fans and everyone else. This isn’t just some interesting topic on a live broadcast; this will cause a huge impact, and I am certain of that. New Jeans has come to a solid realization — these people are not working for us. They are liars and hypocrites. Therefore, the new management can no longer properly lead the company. They will not be able to continue, and this system cannot be maintained. Why? Because the artist has called them out as hypocrites. The only way they can recover is by proving they aren’t hypocrites, but even then, that’s not effective — New Jeans would have to say it. But the chance of that happening is zero. In short, these people have been socially branded as hypocrites. The new management’s time is up. Less than a month, and their time is over. In the creative industry, especially in culture and the arts, content production — such as creating songs or music videos — cannot be separated from management. That’s how we’ve always worked, and it was good for us. Min Hee-jin was a remarkable creator and artist who understood all of this. The harmony between management and artistic decision-making brought about the incredible phenomenon of New Jeans. But now, they’ve created a system where that harmony can’t exist anymore. Moreover, the new management is culturally ignorant. They don’t understand art, music, or creativity. They have shown this clearly, especially with their mishandling of Director Shin Woo-seok’s music video and the associated fan content, like those on the Dolphiners YouTube channel. They’ve demanded to delete content without protecting the artists, or respecting the work of those who collaborated on it. Their management decisions show a complete lack of sensitivity or empathy. So once again, I say: "the new management’s time is over." Danielle: “As I mentioned earlier, our dream was to perform the music we want to make with Daepyonim, and we were working very hard toward that goal. But now, we can’t do that, and the plans we’ve made might not come to fruition. As Hanni unnie said earlier, just like that, the content that we released solely for our fans, for our bunnies, was instantly erased. And I truly can't understand why anyone would do this to a group, or just anyone in general. We were just working hard for the present, so what did we do wrong? A week after Daepyonim was dismissed, we found out that we could no longer work with the director we’ve been working with all this time, and we’re extremely anxious because we don’t know what will happen to the staff who have always worked hard for us. If they really care about us, they should stop saying that they prioritize the artists and instead let us do the music we love in an environment where we can be genuinely happy. Is that really so hard to do? It’s hard to fully express what’s in my heart, but in the end, the five of us just want to continue our activities with Min Hee-jin Daepyonim, as we have done so far.” Personally, they just want to be left alone—just "Leave us alone. Don't interfere; just leave us alone.” This is what they’re saying to both ADOR and HYBE. It's become clear now that HYBE and ADOR can no longer meddle with NewJeans, and I think things will flow that way from now on. The fans won’t stand still either. In entertainment, it’s not about titles like "I’m the CEO," or "I own shares." These are shallow understandings of what makes the entertainment business work. The real value created in this industry is the love and recognition from the fans. No amount of shares or CEO titles matter when that love disappears in an instant. NewJeans is asking to be left alone, and because of this, the new management of HYBE and ADOR can no longer act. I believe the future will unfold accordingly. One important thing I want to emphasize is that NewJeans is a unique group. They’re not just factory-produced idols. The distinctive nature of NewJeans’ music is felt by everyone who listens to them. For example, producer 250, who played a significant role in shaping the NewJeans sound, alongside other talented producers like those from the Banana Culture label, was brought in by CEO Min Hee-jin. This collaboration birthed the unique musical style of NewJeans, which many have come to appreciate. Their latest album, which incorporated elements like New Jack Swing, wasn’t just NewJeans making this music—it was 250's creative vision, drawing inspiration from 70s and 80s funk, R&B, and American black music, and reinterpreting them. If 250 no longer works with NewJeans, their music might become indistinguishable from other idol groups. The choreography, another element that set NewJeans apart, also contributed to their success. However, with the recent tensions, it's obvious that working with key figures like director Shin Woo-seok, who directed many of NewJeans' music videos, will become difficult moving forward. Director Shin wasn’t even interested in music videos before but was inspired to work with NewJeans after a conversation with Min Hee-jin. If Min Hee-jin and people like director Shin are ousted from ADOR, it’s inevitable that the core assets of NewJeans, including their distinctive musical and visual style, will vanish. This is not just a simple matter of one person being ousted—it’s about losing the core elements that made NewJeans what they are. WE STAND WITH NEWJEANS #버니즈_뉴진스와함께_준비갈완료 #방시혁_2주준다_민희진_복귀시켜라

1tokki

39,222 views • 1 year ago

Is the Toronto Zoo trying to hide drag queen events for children? The Toronto Zoo’s dirty little secret: this family-friendly venue is staging drag queen events — aimed at children! And the zoo doesn’t want YOU to see what’s happening behind closed doors… When it comes to who’s who in the zoo, you’ll find plenty of lions and tigers and bears at the Toronto Zoo. But these days, there are some very strange specimens also on display at the zoo: namely, drag queens. But the question arises: why? After all, a zoo isn’t a cabaret nor a strip club specializing in adult entertainment. Worse yet, the drag queen events are being targeted at children. Recently, a Toronto mother, Sarah (she did not want her surname used) reached out to Rebel News. Sarah and her two young children are members of the Toronto Zoo. And they were not happy to discover that the zoo is promoting adult entertainment aimed at children in a supposedly family-friendly facility. It gets worse. One of the performers at the Toronto Zoo is someone called “Juice Boxx.” Along with “Carlota Carlisle”, this duo, according to the zoo’s website, read “animal-themed children's stories that teach lessons of inclusion, diversity, self-love, and respect for others.” (Not to be a nitpicker here, but what exactly is meant by the term, “self-love”?) In any event, Sarah discovered that Juice Boxx had allegedly posted pornographic pictures on social media. She reached out to this man who presents himself as a grotesque caricature of a woman. Sarah aired her concerns, and before she was blocked, Sarah received the following reply from Juice Boxx: “I hate your kids.” This is disturbing. This man who allegedly posts pornographic photos and states that he 'hates kids'. Yet Toronto Zoo management deems it appropriate that this person occupies the same room as kids? We reached out to Toronto Zoo spokeswoman Amy Baptista with the following 10 questions: 1. Why is the zoo having drag queen events targeted at children in the first place? 2. Who at the Toronto Zoo is behind this initiative? 3. How many zoos around the world stage such events? 4. Why is it that a performer who has stated in writing that he “hates kids” is being allowed anywhere near kids? 5. Is the Toronto Zoo concerned about the pornographic postings of “Juice Boxx”? 6. Given the age of audience members, are these drag queen performers vetted in any way (i.e., criminal background checks)? 7. On the website it states: “Families of all shapes, sizes, and species are welcome to join us in the Wildlife Marquee.” What does this mean exactly? Are attendees allowed to bring their pets to these events? 8. I notice on the zoo’s website there are actually two drag queen events scheduled for Saturday. The first is Drag Queen Storytime, which features the aforementioned “Juice Boxx” and Carlota Carlisle. Evidently, they will be reading “animal-themed children's stories that teach lessons of inclusion, diversity, self-love, and respect for others.” What is meant by the term, “self-love”? Is this another descriptor for masturbation? 9. The second event is the Toronto Zoo Drag Show. It states on your website: “All are welcome, however this Drag Show is intended for mature audiences.” I am somewhat confused: if this is a show intended for mature audiences, then why are “all welcome” – including, presumably, elementary-age children? 10. Sometimes nudity is part of a drag queen show. Will there be any nudity on display at the zoo’s drag queen events? If so, how would this be appropriate for minors? As for Baptista’s response? She did not address a single query but instead provided this non-answer: “Our Toronto zoo remains committed to providing a safe, welcoming environment that supports inclusivity for everyone to enjoy, and we are proud to continue hosting these events which are held all around the City of Toronto. We encourage families who want to participate to do so, but those who do not want to are welcome to enjoy a day at the Zoo without participating in this entertainment offering.” Talk about a nothing burger. So it was that my videographer Averie and I paid a visit to the Toronto Zoo on a recent Saturday. We headed to the pavilion that was hosting the drag queen story time event. Neither of us were filming nor interacting with parents. We just wanted to witness what was going to happen at this event. Alas, before the show started, a Toronto Zoo employee said we had to leave. But why? We had purchased tickets and were not causing any disturbance. But apparently Rebel News has been deemed media non grata by the zoo people. Our crime? Asking impolite questions it would seem. Within moments security guards and two officers with the Toronto Police Service (!) emerged to frogmarch us off zoo property. It was surreal… Yet, the question arises: if, as Amy Baptista states, the Toronto Zoo is all about “inclusivity”, why is this institution not inclusive when it comes to accommodating the independent press? As well, if these drag queen events are such wonderful kid-friendly events, why is the Toronto Zoo preventing observers from watching these shows? What is the Toronto Zoo hiding? Really, what the hell is going on behind closed doors vis-à-vis drag queens and minors? It’s equal parts outrageous and scandalous. We would love to ask the Toronto Zoo’s CEO, Dolf DeJong he/him, these queries. But we think we already have our answer as to why the zoo is pursuing a perverse woke agenda simply by gazing upon his title. After all, when a mature bearded male feels the need to use “he/him” pronouns after his surname, it’s clear Dolf DeJong cares more about appeasing the rainbow mafia than providing a family-friendly environment in a venue that is heavily subsidized by tax dollars.

Rebel News

13,958 views • 1 year ago

And that’s a wrap on First Stand !! Incoming “I ain't reading that, happy for u, or sorry that happened” post xD First Stand Gameplay - Was pretty happy with how the lane swaps and adjustments to Atakhan worked out. Don’t know the exact number), but it felt like mostly Ruinous with games of Voracious where it made sense and no lane swaps - There was a good amount of AD/AP squishy and tank mix in each role with omega gigachad Zeka pulling out the Sylas Ahri and Akali where it made sense 🙃 - Skarner and Kalista were the outliers on priority, but teams didn’t seem particularly effective with Kalista… - Skarner on the other hand; will discuss with the team about larger work on him when we get back; he’s too effective at too many things, while also being impotent for regular players - As announced yesterday by Greeley, we’re hoping to see adaptive drafts continue with Fearless for the rest of the year, I think diversity will continue to increase as teams get better at finding lines to draft that make certain counterpick/situational champs god tier after certain champs are out; it will evolve into more of a TFT/Chess style “find the optimal line to draft with the pieces given”, which the prospects are really exciting - An improvement point feels like how long it takes to end if a team gets a significant early lead; part of this is how optimal boringly slowly choking the opponent out is over 15 min, rather than changing the incentive structure so that ahead teams can make major decisive play and can end the game swiftly - Maybe an opportunity space for the future… but interested in hearing peoples’ thoughts on this First Stand Experience - It was amazing and inspiring seeing how many fans were coming out to support the teams without tickets - Not only the KC fans who flew from Europe to do a meetup watch party and it was great chatting to a few, but also what felt like an unstoppable number of college girls coming out to support HLE. I think I counted about 100 wearing HLE jackets on finals day, but it was a reminder of how integrated and mainstream popular League feels in the East - As soon as the entry to the cheerfuls (signs) opened, they all charged in to go and start drawing their cards, it was honestly quite shocking the level of dedication and enthusiasm that some of these fans had, but also awesome - I can’t possibly imagine something like that happening in the West… - We also had the honor to play in a mini Arena tournament with a bunch of LCK Legends that have I've been watching for 15 years and didn’t do too shabby; went 6th, 3rd, 2nd, but Mingyo and Sangho were too good… - It will be the first and last time I get to say I killed Pray, Smeb, Kuro, Madlife, Shy on repeat :D and the players watching on stream were surprised to see the Devs were actually pretty decent LOL, which felt nice - A fan came out specifically to play with Kuro, wearing a ROX Tigers jersey and seeing the joy of getting to meet and play with your hero, she was laughing, smiling, it must have been the time of her life; it’s just a reminder of how meaningful League can be and just makes us really inspired to keep working hard to make the game good Solo Q Experience and Balance - Outside of the work obligations, had some time to slam 20 Solo Q games; was pleasantly surprised by my level this time around, feels like I’m playing around solidly KR D2/D1 level, which is quite shocking, because it’s not like I’m Masters level on NA right now and haven’t been able to play more than 50 games in the last 6 months due to life. Probably would've won more if I wasn't such a kda player xD - Main character syndrome still feels really peak here, the person either goes 8-0 or 0-8 and is spam FF’ing repeatedly, so minimizing my enemy laner impact, scaling and playing defensively to support my jungler feels most effective even though I’m playing Ori who feels like a dog champ on this server, since it’s so hard to actually land QW on anyone due to their mechanics and it’s risky to walk in river and so easy to die to ganks - Moving to help jungler in lost fights to avoid mental boom is the only thing that I’m finding annoying, some of these fight selections feel extremely perplexing, like Zac wanting to fight Lee at first scuttle with no prio and I end up having to sac my lane half the time to prevent them from AFK’ing or soft inting because I didn’t move, it’s super annoying… - Every post game chat also feels like at least 3 players are writing their PhD thesis, which is somewhat amusing, but also really unfortunate… - It feels like Lee Sin or Viego are in every game with a 30% pickrate, so if you can prevent the team from throwing and always follow them around and play secondary, they can carry, whereas on NA, Lee Sins in Diamond can't carry and suck relatively (ping hurts as well), so it’s not like you can play around them reliably - It was interesting to feel again for myself just how different these champs feel in their balance state across servers, indeed in one of the press conferences there was a question about balancing decisions making no sense for the state of the champ on KR server. I can see why KR players get angry when we buff Lee because the other regions suck at him, he unironically feels 2-3% winrate stronger on KR server, same with Jayce who has a monstrous pickrate here as well - We even almost buffed Lee Sin for First Stand because he’s been pretty absent from Pro, so I’m actually not quite sure what we’re meant to do about that… - The other thing that I forgot was how good it was to play on 2ms ping. I’m not sure whether it’s net positive for the person dodging or the person hitting, but since I mostly play immobile mages, it feels like I can dodge line skillshots and range leash people more effectively, which makes Mages feel so much better, though it also means it’s extremely hard to QW tag someone in a teamfight as Ori, let alone hit them with R - I’m curious if any people have done any analysis on this - I also attached typical KR Lee Sin penta 😅 Anyway, back to NA tmrw, lots of work to do

Matt Leung-Harrison

152,058 views • 1 year ago

So Jefferson Morley says that "the evidence does not support the notion that Lee Harvey Oswald killed the president." Jeff relies on the eyewitness account of one of the Parkland doctors who treated JFK at Dallas, Bob McClelland. And he says I failed in Case Closed to challenge Dr. McClelland's credibility. Below is an excerpt from CASE CLOSED, Chapter 13, “He Had A Death Look: Parkland and Bethesda." Read it and decide for yourselves what you believe. And check my source notes, almost all based on my own interviews in 1992 with the chief attending Parkland doctors. It is their judgment of Dr. McClelland's account that is critically important. “However, some of the Parkland doctors who treated the President described a gaping wound in the rear of JFK’s head (the occipital region), not the right side (the parietal). If true, this not only contradicted the findings of the autopsy team but was evidence that the President was probably shot from the front, with a large exit hole in the rear of the head. Several Parkland doctors also thought they saw cerebellum, tissue from the base of the brain, on the stretcher or in the operating room. Yet, the autopsy photos of the brain show the cerebellum intact. If the Parkland descriptions of the cerebellum were true, this raised legitimate questions over the authenticity of the photographs of JFK’s brain, which showed no such damage. Robert Groden and Harrison Livingstone, in their book High Treason, devote more than thirty pages to highlighting this conflict between the Parkland and Bethesda descriptions of the head wound. However, it is questionable to rely on the Parkland doctors for any assertion about the head wound since, by their own admission, they did not examine it in detail. When Dr. Kemp Clark looked at the wound to determine whether the President could be revived, it was the first time it had been examined. “From what I read in later books, everyone looked at it in detail from the beginning, but that is not true,” recalls Dr. Jenkins. “We were trying to save the President, and no one had time to examine the wounds. As for the head wound, they couldn’t look at it earlier because I was standing with my body against it, and they would only have looked at my pants.”83 “We never had the opportunity to review his wounds,” Dr. Carrico told the author, “in order to describe them accurately. We were trying to save his life.”84 Dr. Adolph Giesecke agrees: “We had no time to examine the wounds. That was to be done by a forensic pathologist, not by us.”85 “I don’t think any of us got a good look at the head wound,” confirms Dr. Perry. “I didn’t examine it or really look at it that carefully.”86 “And when we realized he was dead,” Dr. Baxter recalls, “none of us had the heart to go and examine the head wound while Mrs. Kennedy was in the room. We all just made our way out of the room.”87 “When things were over with,” Dr. Jones says, “you felt it was her time and you should get out of there and let her be alone with him.”88 Dr. Baden of the Select Committee concurs: “Parkland was not concerned with whether the bullet was going from front to back or vice versa, they were only treating the symptoms, not the wounds. Some of them could be good surgeons but lousy pathologists. A third of the time, an autopsy shows something was missed by the treating doctors at the hospital. In unnatural deaths, it is common for the treating physicians to mix up stab wounds and gun shots, and they are wrong half the time about exit or entrance. The Parkland doctors did not clean Kennedy off—there is just no way they could have hazarded a real guess about that wound, since it was covered with blood and tissue. If they say they saw cerebellum, they are just wrong because the cerebellum was perfect. And if they say there was a large hole in the rear of the head, they don’t know what they are talking about since there is nothing there but the entry injury in the rear cowlick. The mistakes in judgments from Parkland are exactly why we have autopsies. “One of the most important aspects of the Zapruder film, often overlooked by the critics, are the frames immediately after the President was shot in the head. It’s very clear on the enhanced frames that there is a wound over the right ear, but the back of the head is clean. That film is incontrovertible evidence that there was no defect on the rear of the head.”89 Yet mistaken descriptions of what the Parkland doctors did and saw continue to be published. High Treason asserts that some doctors examined the wound with a flashlight and that Dr. Jenkins picked the head up from the stretcher to show other doctors the extent of the rear wound.90 The eight principal doctors who attended to JFK on that day all told the author that such reports were false. Moreover, Groden and Livingstone cite early interviews and some testimony before the Warren Commission to support their hypothesis that the Parkland doctors saw a different head wound than the one described at Bethesda.* Yet the Parkland physicians, in their discussions with the author, were almost unanimous in supporting the autopsy findings that the massive exit wound was on the right side (parietal) of the President’s head, not the rear (occipital), and that there was no sign of damaged cerebellum tissue. They insisted that the explainable differences in the wound descriptions between them and the Bethesda doctors have been exploited by conspiracy writers, who created a controversy where none exists. Some admitted that their early statements about the wounds, which they now consider to be mistaken, may have contributed to the confusion. Dr. Bill Midgett, who helped wheel the President from the limousine into trauma room one, says, “The President had quite thick hair, and there was a lot of blood and tissue. All of us were so shocked … and to have Mrs. Kennedy there—none of us stared very closely to see the wound. But it was more parietal than occipital—that much I could see. I did not turn the President over to look, but there was no cerebellum in that car or on the people.” “We did say there was a parietal-occipital wound,” recalls Dr. Carrico. “We did say we saw shattered brain, cerebellum, in the cortex area, and I think we were mistaken. The reason I say that is that the President was lying on his back and shoulders, and you could see the hole, with scalp and brain tissue hanging back down his head, and it covered most of the occipital portion of his head. We saw a large hole on the right side of his head. I don’t believe we saw any occipital bone. It was not there. It was parietal bone. And if we said otherwise, we were mistaken.”91 Dr. Giesecke also admits an error in his original testimony when he described the wound as more occipital. “I guess I have to say that I was wrong in my Warren Commission testimony on the wound and in some of my pronouncements since then. I just never got that good of a look at it. But, for instance, Lifton spent six hours with me trying to get me to say the wounds were like he wanted them. The truth is there was a massive head wound, with brain tissue and blood around it. And with that type of wound you could not get accurate information unless you feel around inside the hole and look into it in detail, and I certainly didn’t do that, nor did I see anyone else do that.”92 Dr. Peters had said that the cerebellum was damaged. “I saw the photograph of the brain when I was in Washington for the Nova program, and I saw the cerebellum was depressed, but it was not lacerated or torn. It is definitely pressed down and that would be the damage I referred to in 1964.… The only thing I would say is that over the last twenty-eight years I now believe the head wound is more forward than I first placed it. More to the side than the rear. I tried to tell Lifton where the wound was, but he did not want to hear.” Dr. Jenkins’s original report also stated he saw cerebellum. “The description of the cerebellum was my fault,” he says. “When I read my report over, I realized there could not be any cerebellum. The autopsy photo, with the rear of the head intact and a protrusion in the parietal region, is the way I remember it. I never did say occipital.”93* “I did not really look at it that closely,” says Dr. Perry. “But like everyone else, I saw it back there. It was in the occipital/ parietal area. The occipital and parietal bone join each other, so we are only talking a centimeter or so in difference. And you must remember the President had a lot of hair, and it was bloody and matted, and it was difficult to tell where that wound started or finished. I did not see any cerebellum.”94 Dr. Baxter agrees that it was difficult to determine the precise location of the wound when treating the President: “He had such a bushy head of hair, and blood and all in it, you couldn’t tell what was wound versus dried blood or dangling tissue. I have been misquoted enough on this, some saying I claimed the whole back of his head was blown away. That’s just wrong. I never even saw the back of his head. The wound was on the right side, not the back.”95 Dr. Jones makes the same observation, saying he did not even know there was a head wound for several minutes, and then finally realized it was a “large side wound, with blood and tissue that extended toward the rear, from what you could tell of the mess that was there.”96 Dr. Giesecke agrees “that the occipital and parietal region are so close together it is possible to mistake one for the other.”97 The only Parkland doctors who still believe they saw a wound in the rear of the head, as well as seeing cerebellum, are Robert McClelland and Charles Crenshaw. “I saw a piece of cerebellum fall out on the stretcher,” says McClelland, who claims he was in the best position of any of the doctors to view the head wound.98 He drew a sketch in 1967 for Josiah Thompson’s book Six Seconds in Dallas, which showed a gaping wound in the rear of the head.99 “I am astonished that Bob would say that,” says Dr. Malcolm Perry. “It shows such poor judgment, and usually he has such good judgment.”100 “I don’t think Bob McClelland was in the best place to see the head wound,” says Dr. Peters. “He wasn’t in that position the way I remember it, as he was on the other side of the table. As for Dr. McClelland saying he saw cerebellum fall out on the table, I never saw anything like that.”101 “Bob is an excellent surgeon,” says Dr. Jenkins. “He knows anatomy. I hate to say Bob is mistaken, but that is clearly not right. In 1988, when I went to the National Archives, the photos showed the President’s brain was crenelated from the trauma, and it resembled cerebellum, but it was not cerebellar tissue. I think it has thrown off a lot of people that saw it. I guess a last point is that Bob and Groden [co-author of High Treason] are such good friends, I believe it has changed his attitude.”102 “McClelland may be a fine surgeon, but he is a lousy pathologist,” says Baden. “I am sure he thinks he saw that, and has developed it in his mind. But his memory is just completely wrong, and the autopsy photos and X rays prove that.”103* Dr. Crenshaw wrote a book in 1992 in which he claimed he examined the wound, that the hole was in the rear of the head, and that the cerebellum was lacerated.104† Crenshaw, a junior resident at the time, arrived late at trauma room one and assisted for only a few minutes near the end. He was in no position to make the judgments he sensationally proclaimed in his book. In fact, his role was so minor that most of the other doctors do not even remember him. “I don’t remember Dr. Crenshaw in the room,” says Dr. Ron Jones. “I don’t remember him in there at any time, but he may have been,” recalls Dr. Jenkins. “Neither do I,” says Dr. Baxter. “I feel sorry for him,” says Dr. Perry. “I had thought about suing him, but when I saw him on television [promoting his book], my anger melted. He has to know that what he said is false, and he knows the rest of us know that. You have to pity him. What a way to end his career. His story is filled with half-truths and insinuations, and those of us who know him know he is desperate.… He is a pitiful sight.” A senior Dallas doctor who is a close Crenshaw friend told the author, “I think it is a bag of worms of ego, going over the hill, the last hurrah.” While almost all the Parkland doctors who treated JFK support the findings of the autopsy team, their confirmation may not be as important as the studies conducted by subsequent panels of experts. The Clark and Rockefeller commissions, as well as the House Select Committee’s medical panel, affirm the original autopsy conclusions about JFK’s head wound. The most detailed work was done by the Select Committee. All nine forensic pathologists agreed that the beveling of the skull and the damage to the brain meant the small rear hole in the President’s head was an entrance wound.105 The exit hole was consistent with a wound caused by the two large bullet fragments found in the front of the President’s car.106* SOURCE NOTES 83. Interview with Dr. Pepper Jenkins, March 10, 1992. 84. Interview with Dr. Charles Carrico, March 8, 1992. 85. Interview with Dr. Adolph Giesecke, March 5, 1992. 86. Interview with Dr. Malcolm Perry, April 2, 1992. 87. Interview with Dr. Charles Baxter, March 12, 1992. 88. Interview with Dr. Ron Jones, April 14, 1992. 89. Interviews with Dr. Michael Baden, February 1, 1992, and November 7, 1992. 90. Groden and Livingstone, op. cit., p. 46. 91. Interview with Dr. Charles Carrico, March 8, 1992. 92. Interview with Dr. Adolph Giesecke, March 5, 1992. 93. Interview with Dr. Pepper Jenkins, March 3, 1992. 94. Interview with Dr. Malcolm Perry, April 2, 1992. 95. Interview with Dr. Charles Baxter, March 12, 1992. 96. Interview with Dr. Ron Jones, April 14, 1992. 97. Interview with Dr. Adolph Giesecke, March 5, 1992. 98. Interview with Dr. Robert McClelland, March 9, 1992. 99. Thompson, Six Seconds in Dallas, p. 140. 100. Interview with Dr. Malcolm Perry, April 2, 1992. 101. Interview with Dr. Paul Peters, March 10, 1992; Dr. Peters also drew a diagram that showed the doctors’ positions around the table and provided it to the author. 102. Interview with Dr. Pepper Jenkins, March 10, 1992. 103. Interview with Dr. Michael Baden, February 1, 1992. 104. Charles Crenshaw, op. cit., p. 88. 105. HSCA Vol. VII, pp. 110, 115. 106. Ibid., p. 128. AND the Footnotes to that section *Although no one at Parkland saw JFK’s back wound, Dr. Pepper Jenkins later told Dr. John Lattimer that he had felt it with his finger when he positioned the President’s head and neck to facilitate the passage of oxygen (Kennedy and Lincoln, p. 153). * After the autopsy, Humes and Boswell wrote their report from memory, without the benefit of the photographs or X rays. Robert Kennedy, who feared the public display of the X rays and photos would be offensive to the Kennedy family, reached an agreement with the Warren Commission not to publish the materials, and except for Earl Warren, the commissioners did not examine them. When the film was turned over to the custody of the National Archives in 1966, a metal box containing the President’s brain was missing from the inventory, together with some tissue slides. Humes had given everything from the autopsy, including the brain, to JFK’s personal physician, Admiral George Burkley. “He told me,” said Humes, “that the [Kennedy] family wanted to inter the brain with the President’s body” (Journal of the American Medical Association, May 27, 1992, Vol. 267, No. 20, p. 2803). The House Select Committee concluded that Robert Kennedy likely disposed of the material for fear it would become a lurid public exhibition (HSCA Vol. VII, pp. 367–68). * In 1988, four of the Parkland doctors—Pepper Jenkins, Richard Dulaney, Paul Peters, and Robert McClelland—went to the National Archives at the invitation of a PBS documentary show, Nova, about the assassination. They were the first Parkland physicians to see the autopsy photographs, and each confirmed the photos represented what they remembered seeing that day, including a picture of the rear of President Kennedy’s head, which shows no defect. It has been suggested that the reason the photo shows the rear of the President’s head as undamaged is because the doctor (whose fingers are present in the picture) is holding a large flap of skin to cover the rear defect. “False,” says Dr. Michael Baden. “There is no flap of skin there. There is a bony protrusion from the right side of the head, but the rear is undamaged, except for the entry hole near the top of the skull” (Interview, January 23, 1992). * High Treason asserts that Jenkins originally said JFK was shot in the chest. Jenkins laughed when the author read him the Groden and Livingstone charge. “I don’t know where they get this stuff from. We put tubes into the President’s chest, but there were no chest wounds caused by anything else.” * In his original report, McClelland said there was a wound to the left temple, one that does not show up on any autopsy X ray or photograph. This has caused some to charge that Kennedy was shot by a second gunman from another location at Dealey, and that the autopsy team either negligently or intentionally overlooked that wound. “I’ll tell you how that happened,” Dr. Jenkins explained to the author. “When Bob McClelland came into the room, he asked me, ‘Where are his wounds?’ And at that time I was operating a breathing bag with my right hand, and was trying to take the President’s temporal pulse, and I had my finger on his left temple. Bob thought I pointed to the left temple as the wound.” † Crenshaw also said the autopsy photograph of the tracheotomy opening on Kennedy’s neck shows that it was larger than it had been at Parkland, implying that additional surgery might have been done between Parkland and Bethesda. “That’s ridiculous,” Dr. Malcolm Perry told the author. “I did the procedure. Tracheotomies are not pretty things, as speed is of the essence. Tissue can sag and stretch after death, but the photos I have seen look like the opening I remember making.” * While the Select Committee’s forensic panel agreed that a bullet had entered from the rear and exploded out the side of the President’s head, there was a lone dissent. Dr. Cyril Wecht said that such a finding did not preclude a shot also entering from the front. Dr. Wecht believed that the large exit wound on the right side “could hide an entrance wound at the same spot.” In other words, just as Oswald fired from behind and his bullet exited the President’s head, a front shooter fired into the wound created by the rear bullet. That is Wecht’s way of explaining why there is not another entry hole on JFK’s head. However, the X rays and photographs show no exit for a front bullet. The author raised the issue with Wecht, and he admitted that “the question of where did a front bullet exit is a very good one.” He first suggested that the front shot may have been a frangible bullet, which would have exploded upon impact in the brain. However, the X rays do not show any metal fragments in the brain from such a bullet, and when this was pointed out to Wecht, he acknowledged, “Yes, that’s true, there should be more fragments.” Finally, he suggested that the front bullet may have been plastic, and penetrated the brain but did not exit. He argued that since the brain is not available for examination, his speculation is possible—except that plastic bullets were rarely available until 1968, five years after the assassination. * The author viewed a video taken of the execution of a journalist by army troops in Central America. When the victim, who was lying flat on his stomach on the ground, was shot in the rear of the head, his upper torso and legs arched off the ground, in the opposite direction of the bullet. It was similar to the neuromuscular reaction JFK suffered. Also, when Governor Connally was struck in the rear shoulder by a bullet, he did not fall forward, but is clearly visible on the Zapruder film, his wounded shoulder pushing back into the car seat, toward the direction from which he was shot.

Gerald Posner

18,994 views • 1 year ago

We weren’t even sure a Budget would be handed down this year, but we already had a fair idea of what would be in it: • a return to deficit on the back of increased spending • increasing debt • election sweeteners and election traps, and • no genuine spending or tax reform. Jim Chalmers – the Treasurer who has never run a business or been employed in the private sector his entire life – has delivered exactly what we expected. Government spending has increased to 786 billion dollars. Gross debt is now over a trillion dollars, rising to 1.2 trillion in just three years. There’s some sweeteners, like more energy rebate money. There’s an election trap for the Coalition: a tax cut worth less than a cup of coffee a week that will still cost the Budget 17 billion dollars. There’s no attempt at genuine spending reform, no waste-cutting, and no tax reform. It’s just more of the same, digging Australia deeper into an abyss, with no attempt to address the causes of our housing and cost-of-living crises. There’s very little to address our growing deficiencies in defence. There’s heaps of exclusive funding for indigenous corporations, again with no accountability for closing the gaps. There’s not much in the way of new infrastructure funding, and nothing for true nation-building. There is no provision for paying off our increasing debt. In summary, it’s just another big-spending Labor Budget that squibs the opportunity for real reform. It’s disappointing, but predictable. It’s time for some real change. It’s time for One Nation’s plan. One Nation’s plan focuses on spending reform that is urgently needed and long overdue. It’s spending reform that is now beyond the capabilities of Labor and the Coalition. The last time we had a glimmer of responsible economic managment was during the Howard years. By 2006, Australia’s net debt had been virtually eliminated by the Howard Government. After that, we had six years of Labor with Wayne Swan and his constant promises of a surplus that were never realised and Australia was another 270 billion dollars in net debt. Then we had nine consecutive Budgets under the Coalition beginning in 2014. It’s worth having a look at the overview for that Budget handed down 10 years ago, when government spending totalled 415 billion dollars. Joe Hockey said that government debt was projected to be 389 billion dollars in 2023-24, and that from the following year we would have surpluses up to 1% of GDP. It didn’t work out that way. Their modelling never does. In the Coalition’s last Budget in 2022-23, government expenses reached 628.5 billion dollars. So much for the Coalition’s claim to be responsible economic managers. And then came the Albanese Labor government, also with the claim to be responsible economic managers. What a complete joke that claim has turned out to be. Spending has now reached 785.7 billion dollars. Gross debt is now over a trillion dollars. It’s a massive figure – one followed by 12 zeroes. That’s a thousand billion, or a million times a million. It’s critical that Australian voters understand this. Labor and the Coalition have collectively borrowed more than a trillion dollars in fewer than 20 years because they are incapable of running Australia within its means. If you ran your household their way, you would lose your house. If you ran your business their way, you would lose your business. Why do Australians keep voting for Labor and the Coalition when they run our country this way? Labor has added another 63 billion dollars of spending in just the past three months. So much of our money has been wasted by these so-called parties of government. One Nation’s policy puts this waste in the bin where it belongs. We will slash wasteful government spending by 90 billion dollars. The first cab off the rank will be the climate change scam. At its most basic, this is a joint policy of Labor and the Coalition to spend taxpayers’ money to make our electricity more expensive. Rising electricity bills have been the only outcome of their collective net-zero madness. Global emissions continue to rise every year because no matter what the major parties tell you, nothing this country can do will make any difference on a planetary scale. We are crippling our own economy, and forcing families into poverty and homelessness, for no environmental benefit to anyone. One Nation’s plan is to abolish the Department of Climate Change and related agencies and programs, saving at least 30 billion dollars a year. We’ll stop subsidising uneconomic renewables and make them compete on a level playing field with cheaper, more reliable energy from coal and gas. We anticipate this will save Australian households and businesses at least 20% on their electricity bills. One Nation’s plan includes the abolition of the National Indigenous Australians Agency, saving 4.5 billion dollars, and an audit of the entire aboriginal industry. This industry has been an absolute failure in closing the gap. It is rife with fraud, corruption and nepotism which prevents indigenous Australians in genuine need receiving assistance while enriching those who need none. We expect to save another eight billion dollars in useless indigenous grants funding. One Nation’s policy goes much farther, and will put an end to unwarranted race-based privilege in Australia. Australians overwhelmingly rejected race-based privilege at the voice to Parliament referendum in 2023. Equal rights for all, and special rights for none, is the only fair approach in a free representative democracy. Under One Nation’s policies no indigenous Australian in genuine need will miss out on assistance, but they will have no more assistance than anyone else in genuine need. You don’t close the gaps by treating Australians differently. You close the gaps by treating all Australians the same, and holding everyone to the same standards. We’re going to dismantle this culture of unwarranted entitlement, naked greed and racial hatred. One Nation’s plan includes restoring the National Disability Insurance Scheme to its original purpose: providing only reasonable and necessary support to Australians with a disability. We support the NDIS and want to ensure it survives. We will review eligibility, introduce means-testing, reduce unsustainable pay rates, and crack down on fraud. One Nation’s plan also includes withdrawing Australia from a range of international bodies and agreements that do not work in Australia’s interests. We must get out of the Paris Agreement. We must withdraw from the World Health Organisation, the World Economic Forum and the International Criminal Court. And we must withdraw from the United Nations and the UN Convention on Refugees. The UN has mutated beyond recognition. It has become a haven and a platform for the worst regimes in the world, legitimising terrorist states, theocracies and dictatorships. It no longer works in Australia’s interests, so there’s no compelling reason to remain part of it. We expect to save at least one billion dollars by getting out of these organisations. We also expect at least another three billion dollars in savings by reducing and redirecting Australia’s foreign aid. Australia must get its own house in order before giving away money to anyone else. We must put Australians first. We will abolish the Therapeutic Goods Administration and roll its essential functions into the Department of Health. We’ll also review about three billion dollars worth of medicines put on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic. One Nation’s plan includes privatising the SBS. There’s no longer any need for taxpayers to fund the SBS. We have the internet now, providing anyone in Australia with the ability to access programming in their language from virtually anywhere. One Nation’s plan also includes getting rid of most of the ABC. There is a case for taxpayers to fund ABC services in Australian markets where commercial media will not operate, as a broadcaster of last resort. There is no longer any compelling case for taxpayers to fund the ABC in larger markets already saturated with media services. If people in these markets want ABC services then they can pay for them, not taxpayers. We expect to save more than a billion dollars from this measure. Our only revenue measure is something else that is long overdue: getting a fair return for our natural gas resources. One Nation’s plan includes raising an additional 13 billion dollars by charging levies at the point of extraction instead of on profits. We will also create a national domestic gas reserve so that Australia no longer faces energy shortages thanks to Labor’s reckless obsession with renewables. By slashing 90 billion dollars in government waste, One Nation liberates resources to pay down Federal debt, invest in nation-building infrastructure and put 40 billion dollars back in Australians’ pockets. One Nation will implement a range of cost-of-living and tax relief measures. These include: • halving the fuel excise to 26 cents per litre for at least 12 months, with an option to extend; • eliminating the excise on alcohol served in hospitality venues; • freezing the increases in the alcohol excise that occur twice a year, and reviewing the excise regime entirely; • exempting insurance premiums from the GST; • allowing couples with at least one dependent child to split incomes and file joint tax returns, saving these families thousands of dollars in tax; • allowing aged and veteran pensioners to earn money working without affecting their pensions; and • lifting the tax-free threshold to 35 thousand dollars for self-funded retirees. Our plan includes additional elements that will put more money back in Australians’ pockets. We’ll crack down on Medicare fraud – estimated to be up to three billion dollars a year – and after a comprehensive review, implement practical measures to improve bulk-billing rates and keep more GPs in the system. One Nation will improve home affordability by exempting basic building materials from the GST for the next five years, for homes valued up to one million dollars. This will also reduce the risk of building and construction companies collapsing. It’s part of our overall policy to address Labor’s housing crisis. With a policy now weakly copied by the major parties, One Nation will ban foreign ownership of residential property to increase housing supply for Australians. To improve affordability, we will also enable superannuation funds to invest part of an individual’s super as equity in the individual’s primary residence. It’s another policy weakly copied by the Coalition but unlike their policy, our policy leaves an individual’s super balance intact. One Nation’s immigration policy will also have a big impact on Labor’s housing crisis. One Nation will cap immigration at 130,000 per year for all visa categories – including foreign students – to substantially reduce housing demand. This represents an effective reduction of 570,000 people a year. High immigration is costing taxpayers; it is not benefitting the economy. It is driving up inflation through high rents and – perversely for a Labor government obsessed with net zero – driving up Australia’s emissions. It is increasing congestion in our cities and impacting on public services. And mainly, it’s driving unprecedented demand for housing. This is forcing more Australians into mortgage stress, rental insecurity and homelessness. It has to stop, and One Nation has the policy that will stop it. We’re the only party with an immigration policy that meets the expectations of the majority of Australians. One Nation is also backing Australia’s farmers in Labor’s undeclared war on the sector. We’ll reverse the ban on live sheep exports. We’ll restore balance to the Murray Darling Basin Plan and let irrigators keep their water. We’ll reduce their energy costs, built more efficient paths to export their produce, and look at better protections against cheap food inports. We’ll also protect farmers’ land and water from foreign ownership. One Nation will also invest in Australia’s future with some real nation-building infrastructure. This includes the Hells Gate Dam in Townsville, scrapped by Labor two years ago, and other water security projects. It includes building on the Inland Rail Project to develop a national rail circuit for freight and passengers. It includes developing a world-class export and import container hub at the Port of Gladstone. It most definitely does not include even one more wind turbine, but we will support low-emissions coal, gas and nuclear energy to power Australia’s future more cheaply and reliably. One Nation is advocating the policies that elevate the interests of Australians over special interests, foreign interests and harmful ideologies. We’re advocating the policies that Australians want. We’re advocating sensible policies that are now being copied by Labor and the Coalition: banning foreign ownership of housing, nuclear energy, cutting alcohol taxes, accessing super to improve home affordability, and auditing the aboriginal industry. One Nation will put 40 billion dollars back in Australians’ pockets, and we’ll fix the causes of the rising cost of living: renewables, high immigration and reckless Labor government spending. One Nation wants to protect our way of life, protect our standard of living, and ensure a prosperous and secure Australian nation – and we’ll do it without imposing more costs and burdens on future generations. Unlike anyone else contesting this election, One Nation’s plan puts Australia and Australians first so make sure you put us first on your ballot paper at this election.

Pauline Hanson 🇦🇺

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