The HEART Act Provides Tax Relief For Military | Convergent RPS, LLC.
On June 17, 2008, President Bush signed into law the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008, commonly referred to as the HEART Act. The HEART Act provides tax relief and incentives for members of the military and their families. While the HEART Act includes a wide variety of tax relief and incentive provisions, only the most significant retirement plan related provisions are identified below.
For deaths on or after January 1, 2007 survivors of plan participants may now be entitled to additional benefits that would have been provided under the plan had the participant resumed employment with the employer maintaining the plan and then terminated employment on account of death. These benefits may include accelerated vesting or contributions, ancillary life insurance benefits, or other survivor benefits that are contingent upon a participant's termination of employment on account of death.
Under the HEART Act, an individual who performs active military service for a period of more than 30 days is considered to have been severed from employment for purposes of taking a distribution of certain elective deferrals. As a result of this provision, qualifying individuals may be eligible to request a distribution of amounts deferred under a variety of salary deferral arrangements including 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b).
It is important to note, however, if amounts are distributed under this provision, the individuals are not permitted to make elective deferrals or employee contributions to the plan during the six-month period beginning on the date of the distribution.
This provision is effective for years beginning after December 31, 2008.
The relief afforded to certain military reservists under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 for both IRA distributions and the distribution of 401(k) and 403(b) elective deferrals has been made permanent by the HEART Act. This relief includes the exception to the 10 percent early distribution penalty for qualified reservist distributions as well as the ability to repay these qualifying distributions to an IRA within a two year period.
Surviving family members who receive death gratuities or Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) payments may roll over, tax-free, an amount no greater than the aggregate death benefit amount received into a Roth IRA or to one or more Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). These rollovers must be completed within one year of the date on which the gratuity or SGLI payment is received by the individual. Death benefit payments resulting from deaths on or after October 7, 2001, and before June 17, 2008, may be rolled over no later than June 17, 2009.
Differential pay will be treated as wages. From the perspective of an employee's retirement plan, this means that beginning with 2009 plan years differential pay must be treated as compensation. For purposes of IRA contributions, the definition of compensation has also been amended by the HEART Act to include differential pay.For the full text of the bill, go to www.thomas.gov and search for HR 6081 by bill number. The most current version is H.R.6081.ENR.


John Sonnenberg was a General Authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in both the First and Second Quorums of the Seventy. He was sustained on October 6, 1984, and released on September 30, 1989. He also served as a stake missionary, high councilor, stake presidency counselor (Dallin H. Oaks served as the other counselor), stake president, regional representative, and chairman of the Chicago Illinois Temple committee.
Sonnenberg was born on April 11, 1922, in Schneidemuhle, Germany. He immigrated to the United States with his mother, older brother, and younger sister when he was six years old. His father had moved there the year previous to obtain work. They settled in Chicago, Illinois.
While studying at Brigham Young University, Sonnenberg enlisted in the US Navy and an aptitude test qualified him to attend the University of Louisville School of Dentistry. After he completed dental school, he married Joyce Dalton and they became the parents of seven children. He practiced dentistry in the Elmhurst, Illinois, area.
He died on July 1, 2015.
This page was last edited on 29 March 2017, at 22:27.


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A team of researchers from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda Maryland recently performed a small study looking at the effectiveness of acupuncture for persistent hiccups in cancer patients. There has been many studies recently looking at the benefits of acupuncture for cancer patients. They have ranged from aiding with pain, nausea, quality of life now through to a common issue persistent hiccups.
Using 16 cancer patients ranging from 27-71 this study found that 13 of the patients experienced complete remission of symptoms while another 3 had dramatic decreases. Treatments were performed 1-3 times over a 7 day period. Positive changes were also noted in fatigue and discomfort levels overall.
This study again helps to illustrate the role that acupuncture can play in cancer care.


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The Russian Federation: the ICJ calls for an end to intimidation and prosecution of lawyers
The ICJ today called for an end to criminal proceedings against Dagir Hasavov, a prominent Russian lawyer facing prosecution on allegations of obstruction of justice.
On 17 September, less than a week after lawyer Dmitriy Sotnikov was physically attacked in court, Dagir Hasavov was detained by police in the Lefortovo court building in Moscow. He was charged with "obstruction of justice" and "bribery or coercion to testify or evasion of giving evidence" (articles 294.1 and 309.4 of the Russian Criminal Code). On 18 September, Moscow Basmanny court authorised the detention of Hasavov until 16 November.
"There are strong indications that these charges are spurious and that the arrest of Dagir Hasavov is an attempt to obstruct him in carrying out his professional duties, and to prevent his clients from having a fair trial. The proceedings should be discontinued and he should be immediately released." said Róisín Pillay, ICJ Europe and Central Asia Programme Director. "Such arrests also send a clear message of intimidation to other lawyers. Without urgent measures to end harassment of lawyers, the ability of the legal profession to protect human rights will be increasingly jeopardized".
Dagir Khasavov represented the former Dagestan Prime Minister Abdusamad Hamidov, who was detained together with his deputy Rayudin Yusufov by the FSB in February 2018 as part of a special anti-corruption operation and was charged with multiple criminal offences, including embezzlement.
Prosecutors allege that Dagir Hasavov threatened Albert Havchaev, a witness in the trial, and attempted to coerce him to testify in court for the benefit of the defence. Hasavov's home was also searched.
Eduard Isetskiy, another lawyer of the former Dagestan Prime Minister, has stated that after the arrest of Hasavov he and other colleagues were told by investigators that they would face similar prosecution. He added that towards the end of a trial, about a week before the Hasavov's arrest, the State Prosecutor on the case was replaced and the courtroom became increasingly surrounded with armed and masked security forces. The new prosecutor called lawyers "extremists" and filed a motion to have all their social networks accounts blocked.
Any criminal proceedings against the lawyer amounting to harassment or reprisals for his professional activities would constitute not only an assault on the legal profession in the Russian Federation, but also a violation of the right to a fair trial, protected under international human rights law.
Moreover, international standards on the rights of lawyers, including the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, provide that governments must ensure that lawyers "are able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference" and "shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties, standards and ethics."
The ICJ stresses that these attacks, arrests and criminal proceedings that have been taking place in Russia lately, create a chilling effect on the proper exercise of professional duties by lawyers, endangering the right to a fair trial and undermining the justice system.
Dagir Hasavov is a prominent lawyer in Russia who has taken many cases dealing with allegations of religious extremism or terrorism. He has defended among others the Moscow imam Mahmud Velitov, convicted for justification of terrorism; the former representative of the President in Sakhalin oblast charged with extremism; several persons accused of participation in Hizb ut-Tahrir, the organization banned in Russia. He also represented pro bono the parents of a murdered 5-year-old Tajik girl Huvaido Tillozoda.
It has been reported that around 100 lawyers are joining together to defend Hasavov as the Russian legal community has realized the need for corporate solidarity in the face of the increasing threats to the security of lawyers and independence of the profession.
HDIM 2019: ICJ and others hold a side event on attack on lawyers in the OSCE region
Egypt: immediately release lawyer Mahienour al-Massry and others arbitrarily detained

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Thank you for taking the time out to share this feedback with us. While we are happy to see that we're meeting your expectations in an apartment community, it is ultimately our goal to exceed them! If you have any suggestions as to how we could improve the resident experience for you and all who call us home, please reach out to the office and let us know. Thanks!
But. You get what you pay for. Its very cheaply priced.
Although the apartments are relatively small, the staff is amazing. They work hard to make sure all of your needs are taken care of. Isvela is a saint, and will treat you with respect. Plus you are close to downtown Carrboro and Chape Hill. Lots of stuff to do, and great places to each. I highly recommend this complex.
Welcome to Ridgewood Apartments in Carrboro, NC, the best-located one-bedroom apartment community! We are just 2 miles from UNC, and an easy bike or bus ride to Chapel Hill, Franklin Street, Weaver Street Market and other shopping areas. Our great location at Highway 54 Bypass and Jones Ferry Road in Carrboro, North Carolina also provides easy access to other areas of The Triangle. You will enjoy our newly upgraded kitchens, washers/dryers, sparkling swimming pool with sundeck and free Wi-Fi, plus access to a nearby fitness center. For students, we offer all-inclusive packages and flexible lease terms. Come to Ridgewood Apartments in Carrboro for convenience, comfort and value!
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Daube est un mot français et un nom propre allemand qui peuvent faire référence à :

Cuisine
La daube ou plutôt les daubes sont des spécialités culinaires d'origine provençale (en provençal « adòba », « adobo », qui aurait donc dû s'écrire en français , ou ). Le nom de cette préparation vient sans doute du provençal « adobar » (« adouba », en graphie félibréenne) qui signifie , .

Il existe de nombreuses variantes, toujours avec du vin blanc ou du vin rouge :
 la daube provençale, cuisinée à base de viande de bœuf marinée dans du vin rouge ;
 la daube camarguaise ou gardiane, au lieu de bœuf, on prend du taureau ;
 la daube avignonnaise (adòba avinhonenca, adobo avignounenco), variante de la daube classique ; au lieu de bœuf, il faut prendre de l'épaule d'agneau ou de mouton, et la marinade se fait dans du vin blanc ;
 la daube comtadine, autre variante, sans carotte, mais avec des olives noires ;
 la daube dauphinoise, mélange de bœuf, de veau avec des carottes, oignons, ail et tomates ;
 la daube niçoise et la daube de cèpes, variantes avec des cèpes.

Argot

Une chose de piètre qualité
En argot, le mot « daube » qualifie ce qui est de piètre qualité, exemple :

Dans La Critique de l'École des femmes, pièce de Molière de 1663, son personnage Dorante dit . « Dauber », en ancien français signifiait « frapper » au sens propre, et « se moquer », « railler », ou « dénigrer » au sens figuré.

Sobriquet
Le « Daubé » est, depuis les années 1970, le surnom du quotidien régional Le Dauphiné libéré. Ce sobriquet est très largement employé, y compris par les lecteurs habituels du journal.

Usage anglophone
En anglais, « daub » peut désigner une peinture de mauvaise qualité, faite grossièrement, « to daub » signifiant . Ce mot vient en fait du vieux français,  (latin « dealbare »), qui signifie .

Industrie
 Daube, mot allemand qui signifie « douelle » (planche de tonneau).

Toponyme

 , quartier de la commune allemande de Lohmen, dans le district de Dresde et le land de Saxe.

Patronyme

  (1887-1959), actrice anglaise naturalisée américaine ;
  (1909-1999), juriste et professeur d'université germano-américain ;
 Dennis Daube (1989-), footballeur allemand ;
  (1869-1956), poète allemand ;
 Hannes Daube (2000-), joueur américain de water-polo ;
  (mort en 1928), victime d'un meurtre allemand, dans l'affaire Helmut Daube ;
  (vers 1730-1797), joueur de luth, compositeur et théoricien de la musique allemand ;
  (1964-), acteur néo-zélandais ;
  (1883-1941), général de division de l'armée de la Wehrmacht.

Notes et références

Voir aussi

 Vin et cuisine
 Vignoble de Bourgogne
 Liste de mets à base de viande
 Liste de mets à base de viande de bœuf
 Estouffade à la provençale

Annexes

Plat provençal à base de viande
Ragoût
Patronyme allemand

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Archive for the 'Biblical Archaeology' Category
Vandals! Israel Destroys Ancient Canaanite Cemetery for Settler-Only Road
Mike's also written an excellent article about Starmer's planned purge of the Labour left while remaining absolutely complacent and ineffective against the Tories. He also makes the point that the purge is being directed against socialists and genuine supporters of traditional Labour values and policies. This includes decent, principled men and women who are opposed to Israel's brutalisation and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians. Many of them, who have been terribly demonised and vilified, are self-respecting, upstanding Jews, like Jackie Walker and Tony Greenstein. Mike's put up a series of tweets by peeps criticising Starmer for this renewed persecution, as well as some of the atrocities Israel is pushing through without a murmur from him. This includes the destruction of an ancient Canaanite cemetery as reported by the independent Lebanese journalist Sarah abdallah, who tweeted
Israel just destroyed the oldest known Canaanite cemetery in Palestine, a 4,200-year old site, to build an Israeli-settlers-only road. This is a war crime. The occupation regime is literally erasing Palestine's history as the world looks on in silence.
This is absolutely true. Tony's put up a series of pieces on his blog pointing out that there is an absolute ban on teaching or using books about Palestinian history and culture in Israeli schools. Furthermore, some archaeologists have criticised Israel for its imposition of nationalist Israeli interpretations on Israeli archaeology. For example, the periods into which the ancient history of Israel are divided are given names based on the country's history as described in the Bible, such as that of King Solomon. The remains of ancient towns mentioned in the Bible, which have been excavated by Israeli archaeologists, generally lay underneath Palestinian settlements. The result has been that the information archaeologists have gained about ancient Israel has come at the expense of the destruction of Palestinian communities. I'm an historians and archaeologist, and while I support Biblical archaeology as far as it can reasonably be defended, I am definitely opposed at the destruction of the Palestinian people's own archaeological heritage, which includes the country's Canaanite remains. The destruction of the Canaanite cemetery is indeed a war crime. I think it may also count as an act of genocide under international law. If I remember correctly, this includes not just the massacre and physical extermination of a people, but also the forcible destruction of their ethnic identity. And I'd say that the destruction of Palestinian monuments and archaeology constitutes just such an atrocity, as well as a barbaric destruction of the past in itself.
But I'm not surprised Starmer hasn't said anything against it. By his own admission, he's an avowed Zionist and the Blairites showed the contempt they had for historical truth when they claimed that Ken Livingstone was an anti-Semite when he said that Hitler initially supported Zionism. Nothing in that statement is an anti-Semitic, as it's factually correct. This was the Ha'avara Agreement made between Nazi Germany and the Zionists in which German Jews were to be smuggled into Palestine, then under the British mandate. It didn't last long, unsurprisingly, but it certainly existed and is described on the website of the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Israel itself. But it contradicts the approved Zionist view of Jewish history, and so those that mention it, like Livingstone, and their defenders, like Mike over at Vox Political, are smeared and libelled as anti-Semites.
History is valuable and needs to be protected from assault and falsification, regardless of who's doing it. And Starmer is showing himself to be completely incapable of defending objective truth and fair, reasonable comment against politically motivated lies.
Tags:anti-semitism, Anti-Semitism Smears, Canaanites, Conservtives, Genocide, Haavara Agreement, International Law, Jackie Walker, Jews, Keir Starmer, Ken Livingstone, King Solomon, Labour Paarty, Mike Sivier, Palestinians, Purges, Sarah Abdallah, Settlers, tony blair, Tony Greenstein, Vox Political, Zionism
Posted in Arabs, Archaeology, Biblical Archaeology, Biblical History, Crime, History, Israel, Judaism, Law, Nazis, Persecution, Politics, Socialism | 3 Comments »
Israeli Police Clash with Palestinian Protesters at al-Aqsa Mosque
Mike put up a piece this morning asking what the Israeli cops were doing shooting rubber bullets at and firing tear gas canisters at Palestinians inside the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. This is Islam's third holiest shrine and occupies part of the site of Solomon's Temple. According to today's Independent, the clashes have been provoked by the possible eviction of Palestinians from their homes in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in east Jerusalem and the land and homes given to Israeli settlers. Crowds had gone to the mosque for Friday prayers to celebrate the end of Ramadan, and protests against the possible evictions began after the service ended. Members of the crowd threw rocks at the police, injuring 17, but over 100 Palestinians have been hurt.
More than 200 Palestianians injured after clashes with Israeli police at mosque (msn.com)
Mike begins his article on the violence by asking
Would the Israel apologists – preferably those who scream "anti-Semitism" at every criticism of that country's appalling government – please explain this shocking act of brutality in one of Islam's most holy places of worship?
It's a good question, and no doubt the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism and all the other frantically pro-Israel smear merchants are working on their mealy-mouthed apologies, just as they managed to excuse the IDF for the shooting of unarmed civilians, including a young nurse, when they broke through the Gaza fence a year or so ago. That was a disgrace, but the present violence is potentially explosive.
The al-Aqsa mosque is so revered that even secular Muslims will flinch in shock and outrage at the idea of any assault on it. Way back in the 1980s the Israeli government was forced to crack down on a militant Jewish extremist organisation, Gush Emunim, after they caught a group of its members trying to bomb the shrine. They wanted to destroy it so that Solomon's Temple could be rebuilt. If they'd succeeded, I think it would have resulted in an apocalyptic war as every Muslim nation would have wanted to avenge the attack. I think Gush Emunim were banned, but not before they spawned Kach, another extreme Israeli nationalist organisation which openly wants all Palestinians expelled from eretz Israel. I've got a feeling that Kach, or an organisation derived from it, merged with another extreme nationalist party, and that party that resulted from the merger is now a partner in Netanyahu's governing coalition. And unfortunately, Kach also has sympathisers in Britain. Tony Greenstein has put up photos of various Zionist demonstrators from some of the protests against pro-Palestinian meetings and the mass rallies held against Jeremy Corbyn a few years ago. One of those attending them is seen sporting a Kach T-shirt.
A few years ago one of the liberal papers – I think it was the Independent – carried a piece by a liberal Israeli journo, who was shocked at the growing racial and religious intolerance by Israelis against the Palestinian inhabitants of Jerusalem. He described meeting a group of Jewish schoolgirls, who blithely told him that Jerusalem had to be purged of Palestinians so that the Messiah would arrive. The impression I've got from reading Tony's blog and other materials elsewhere is that the Israeli settlers are extremely right-wing and bitterly intolerant, with a number expressing similar views about the necessity of expelling the Palestinians and/or other non-Jews from Israel.
This is the government British Jewish official organisations like the Board of Deputies have been defending and smeared its critics as anti-Semites, even when they are staunch anti-racists and proud, self-respecting Jews. This is the Israeli government, which was greatly aided in its aims last year when Trump's government moved the American embassy to Jerusalem. Trump's Jewish son-in-law, Jared Kushner, dealt in land seized from the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. There has been international condemnation of the land seizures by the United Nations, but such disapproval is just brushed aside by the Israeli state. That's why Boycot, Divest and Sanction movement was founded to persuade shoppers not to buy Israeli goods produced in the Occupied Territories. However, they're under legal attack in America and elsewhere as a supposed anti-Semitic organisation, despite considerable Jewish support.
It's very ominous indeed that the Israeli police feel they can fire on people in the al-Aqsa mosque. It looks to me that the support for Netanyahu's fascistic government by Trump and other world leaders has emboldened the Israeli authorities to take such violent action. And it's action that could very well produce terrible conflict in turn from justifiably outraged Muslims around the world.
Israel's actions aren't unprovoked, but they seem massively disproportionate and a real threat to world peace.
Tags:al-Aqsa Mosque, American Embassy, anti-semitism, Anti-Semitism Smears, BDS Movement, Benjamin Netanyahu, Board of Deputies of British Jews, Bombings, Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, Donald Trump, Ethnic Cleansing, Gaza, Gush Emunim, IDF, Jared Kushner, Jeremy Corbyn, Jerusalem, Jews, Kach, Land Seizure, Muslims, Occupied Territories, Palestinians, Police, Protests, Settlers, Shootings, Solomon's Temple, Tony Greenstein, Vox Political, Zionism
Posted in America, Arabs, Archaeology, Biblical Archaeology, Biblical History, Democracy, Education, Fascism, Islam, Israel, Judaism, Persecution, Politics, Terrorism, The Press, United Nations | 1 Comment »
Radio 4 on the Lunar Eclipse at Christ's Crucifixion
Radio 4 yesterday morning had a piece about eclipses, with the host, who sounded like Melvin Bragg, talking to a group of astronomers, one of whom was a lady solar astronomer. They talked about how exciting eclipses were, how they were inspired in childhood to study them, and how important eclipses were in astronomy. They mostly talked about solar eclipses and how they were originally believed to be a supernatural being eating the Sun. The earliest records of solar eclipses were kept by the ancient Chinese, who believed they were omens from the gods. The Babylonians, however, began to realise that they occurred regularly, and passed this knowledge on to the Greeks. Aristotle realised that the Earth must be circular from watching the Earth's shadow fall across the Moon during lunar eclipses. The Earth's shadow was circular, therefore, he reasooned, the Earth itself must also be circular. The astronomers also made the extremely important point that you should never look directly at the Sun. If you were looking at it, you should use special lenses to protect your eyes. Alternatively, you could poke holes through a piece of card to act as a pinhole camera, which would project the Sun's image.
But what I found really interesting was what they said about eclipses possibly being responsible for the darkness that fell at noon when Christ was crucified. One of the astronomers said that it has been suggested that this darkness was caused by a solar eclipse. However, solar eclipses occur regularly, and there would have been no such eclipse at the time Christ is believed to have been crucified. However, there was an eclipse of the Moon on Friday, 6th April, 33 AD. Which sounds very much like the date of Our Lord's passion. The astronomers and the host described this as 'spooky'. It is. If you're a Christian, it does make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It seems to corroborate somewhat the description of the events of Christ's death in the Gospels, but it must be said that an eclipse of the Moon wouldn't cause the darkness earlier in the day. Nevertheless, it does suggest a connection.
Tags:Babylonians, Chistianity, Eclipses, Gospels, Jesus Christ, Radio 4, the Moon, The Sun
Posted in Astronomy, Bible, Biblical Archaeology, China, Greece, History, Radio, Science, Space | Leave a Comment »
Herod's Throne Room Found By Archaeologists in Jordan
Yesterday's edition of the I for Monday, 14th December, carried a couple of interesting pieces of archaeological news. The first was a snippet on page 2, 'Bible 'throne room' found in excavation. This ran
The throne-room where Biblical character Salome is said to have danced before the kind and demanded the head of John the Baptist has been discovered at the Dead Sea fortress at Machaerus in Jordan, archaeologists report. The excavations are being done by a Hungarian team of experts.
Herod was cruel and sadistic. Not only did he kill all the boys in Bethlehem, according to the Bible, fearing that one of them would be Jesus, the future king who might take his throne from him, but he was responsible for any number of other atrocities. He had several of his own sons killed as well as his wife, according to the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. He later regretted this, and had her embalmed with honey. He talked to her corpse and is even supposed to have had sex with it. He died of a disease of his lower quarters, which gave him great pain and which doctors have now diagnosed as genital gangrene. However, he was also a great builder, rebuilding Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem as well as a number of other great buildings. He was also an ally of Rome. John the Baptist was imprisoned and bitterly hated by Herod's wife, because she had originally been married to one of the king's brothers. She'd left him to run off with the despot, in contravention of Jewish law. John had denounced the two for it, and so been arrested and thrown into prison. The Bible states that Salome was put up to asking for the Baptist's head by her mother when she danced at a feast held by her father. This impressed him so much, that he offered to grant her anything she wanted. So her mother told her to demand John's death. Herod was reluctant, but couldn't back down in front of his guests. And so Christ's herald was executed.
Tags:Flavius Josephus, Herod, Jerusalem, Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, Jordan, Roman Empire
Posted in Archaeology, Architecture, Bible, Biblical Archaeology, History, Hungary, Israel, Judaism, Law, Medicine, Rome, The Press | 1 Comment »
Jodi Magness on the Archaeology of Early Islamic Settlement in Palestine
One of the other books in the winter edition of the Oxbow Bargain Book Catalogue for Winter 2017 is Jodi Magness' Archaeology of the Early Islamic Settlement in Palestine. The blurb for this says
Archaeological evidence is frequently cited by scholars as proof that Palestine declined after the Muslim conquest and especially after the rise of the Abbasids in the mid-eighth century. Instead, Magness argues that the archaeological evidence supports the idea that Palestine and Syria experienced a tremendous growth in population and prosperity between the mid-sixth and mid-seventh centuries.
Eisenbrauns, 2003, 9781575060705, Hardback, was £49.99, now £14.95.
Magness is an Israeli archaeologist, who has written some brilliant, very accessible, popular books on the archaeology of the Holy Land. I recognise that my own religious views mean that I have a bias towards Biblical archaeology and the Ancient Near East, as opposed to the later, Muslim periods. However, western concerns with these periods have meant that precious later evidence of Muslim culture and towns have been destroyed as archaeologists have dug through them to get to ancient Egypt, for example. The British archaeologist John Romer was particular critical about this in one edition of his series on the history of archaeology for Channel 4, broadcast in the 1990s, Great Excavations. In one sequence, he sifted through the sand around one excavated ancient Egyptian monument, picking out pieces of Islamic period pottery, and sadly remarked, 'There was a whole town here once.' And explained that it had been either destroyed, or at least its remains had, by archaeologists determined to get at what was underneath from antiquity.
Which of course, may partly explain – but does not justify – the Islamist rage against pre-Islamic Egypt and its monuments. Like the pyramids, which they'd love to destroy.
Magness' conclusions don't really surprise me. There's an argument about the demographic and economic conditions of the late Roman Empire at the time of the Muslim conquests. Part of the reasons for the Fall of the Roman Empire was economic stagnation, as I've pointed out before to combat the rubbish spouted by right-wing politicos and classicists like Boris Johnson. During the late Byzantine Empire, towns shrank, and many disappeared completely as they were abandoned. Those that survived tended to consist of a castle or fortification and a church around which was a much smaller settlement.
The nascent Islamic Empire put the region in touch with an expanding state that grew to cover the Near East and spread into parts of India. It gave merchants the opportunity to establish trade networks across a vast area. Furthermore, even when the Byzantines and Muslim emperors were still at work, Christians in the early caliphate were not prevented from contact with their spiritual superiors and coreligionists in Byzantium. Also, the official Byzantine 'Melkite' church, as it was known in Egypt, had persecuted the various 'Jacobite' or 'Nestorian' sects, which they considered heretical, often with horrific tortures. The result was that when the Muslims conquered the region, the persecuted masses opened the gates to them and welcomed them as liberators.
At the moment, however, Netanyahu, the Likudniks and the other members of the Israeli religious right in his coalition seem to be determined to erase any history of Palestine, that challenges its exclusive Jewish character. There are any number of books and articles by western historians attacking this and comparing it with militant nationalist movements elsewhere. Such as by Philip Rahtz, a very respected British archaeologist from my part of the West Country in his book, Invitation to Archaeology. This is not anti-Semitic, and Rahtz himself has always been anti- or at least, non-racist. He describes in the above book how shocked he was when an apparently liberal Australian student he was teaching was deeply surprised by his interest in the archaeology of Aboriginal Australians. 'But they're just apes!' she exclaimed.
Netanyahu and his thugs are determined to close mosques and churches, or at least keep them very tightly controlled, just as the illegal settlers they support seize Palestinian land and homes in the Occupied Territories. So I really don't know how long a genuinely open archaeological investigation of the Islamic period will last.
Tags:'Great Excavations', Abbasids, Aboriginal Australians, Bargain Books Catalogue, Boris Johnson, Byzantine Empire, Channel 4, Christianity, Churches, Classics, Economic Decline, Fall of Rome, Holy Land, Islamic Empire, Islamism, Jodi Magness, John Romer, Land Seizure, Merchants, Monuments, Mosques, Occupied Territories, Oxbow Books, Palestine, Palestinians, Philip Rahtz, Population, Pyramids, racism, Roman Empire, Towns, Trade, West Country
Posted in Arabs, Archaeology, Australia, Biblical Archaeology, Biblical History, Economics, Egypt, History, Industry, Islam, Israel, Judaism, LIterature, Persecution, Politics, Rome, Television, Terrorism | Leave a Comment »
The Ancient Near East as the Birthplace of Democracy
This is a bit of a rejoinder to Boris 'Mugwump' Johnson. Johnson, as a public schoolboy steeped in the Classics, believes that everything great and good began with ancient Greece and Rome. But a few years ago I put up a blog post about a book, The Origins of the Democracy in the Ancient Near East, which argued that the roots of democracy went further back, and further east, than ancient Greece. It began instead in the popular assemblies, which governed ancient mesopotamian civilisations such as the city state of Mari.
I found this passage about the democratic nature of ancient near eastern civilisation in the entry 'Law (Mesopotamian)' in Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Biblical World: A Dictionary of Biblical Archaeology (London: Pickering and Inglis Ltd 1966), 356-359. This states
The pattern of society in early Mesopotamia has been described as "primitive democracy". There was an assembly (Sumerian ukkin, Akkadian puhrum) of the elders and young men with whom they chieftain or leader (antecedant of the later king) must consult. All major decisions were put to a vote. In addition, the cheiftain was obliged to give to his tutelary deity an annual account of his conduct of authority during the previous year. No doubt here also, as in the case of Egypt, there was drastic modification in practice especially in later years when, for example, such strong men as Sargon of Akkad, Hammurabi of Babylon or Sennacherib of Assyria ruled. But the principle remained in daily life as a unique characteristic of Mesopotamian civilization and spread into Syria and Anatolia as well. 356.
I don't doubt that in the half century since the book was published, this view of ancient near eastern society as democratic has been revised. I think the book that came out about it a few years ago said that these states weren't democratic. However, popular assemblies did exist.
Mesopotamia was the old name for the area that is now Iraq, and I wonder how much of its ancient history and precious archaeology has survived the western invasion by Bush and Blair, sectarian conflict and the destructive fury of ISIS. Nicholas Wood in his book, The Case Against Blair, describes how the Americans trashed Babylon when they chose to make it into one of the bases. And the barbarians of ISIS released a vide of them levelling Nineveh and destroying priceless antiquities in one of Iraq's museums.
And their fury against anything they judge to be un-Islamic isn't confined to the ancient past. They've also desecrated and destroyed Christian churches and the country's Muslim shrines and mosques. And this is besides the horrific carnage and destruction which the war and its aftermatch have unleashed on the region and its people.
Iraq was one of the major centres of world civilisation, and the destruction of its ancient monuments and artefacts is a massive loss. And all because Bush, Blair and the Saudis wanted to steal the country's oil and other state-owned industries for American big business.
Tags:'The Biblical World: A Dictionary of Biblical Archaeology', 'The Case against Blair', 'The Origins of Democracy in the Ancient Near East', Akkadian, Anatolia, Assyria, Babylon, Boris Johnson, Charles F. Pfeiffer, Christianity, Churches, George 'Dubya' Bush, Hammurabi, ISIS, Mari, Middle East, Mosques, Museums, Nicholas Wood, Nineveh, Popular Assemblies, Privatisation, Public Schools, Sargon of Akkad, Sennacherib, Shrines, State Industries, Sumerian, tony blair
Posted in America, Archaeology, Art, Biblical Archaeology, Democracy, Education, Greece, History, Industry, Iraq, Islam, Law, LIterature, OIl, Persecution, Politics, Rome, Syria, Terrorism, Turkey | Leave a Comment »
Andre Vltchek's Pictures and Plea for Understanding for Syria
On Wednesday, Counterpunch contributor Andre Vltchek published some of the pictures and comments about Syria from Yayoi Segi, a foreigner, who has been living and working there for three years, and is passionate about the country and its people. Segi states
"Syria is not what the mainstream media wants us to believe it is. One has to see it, to understand. Seeing is believing! It is an extraordinarily exceptional country. All that we have been told about Syria and its people is a lie."
She talks about how the Syrian people are decent, warm people trying to get on with their lives despite the horrors and inconveniences of the war. She is also impressed by their manners and respect for education and culture.
"Syrians are the most hospitable, gentle people. When we meet, we never talk about the war, the conflict. It is a tremendous civilization… They always talk about their life, the future. They discuss their poets and their thinkers. People in Syria are very well educated. They know what is going on, on our Planet. Despite what some parts of the world have done to them, they are extremely respectful and polite to everybody. I never heard them speaking ill of others. They appreciate that you come and work with them, and they are confident."
She also remarks that all of the international conferences and debates about the situation in Syria have carried on without reference to the wishes or ideas of the Syrians themselves.
"There have been so many seminars, conferences and meetings on Syria, yet the Syrian people are very rarely invited. All these events are 'about them' but without even inviting them, and without listening to them."
Segi works for the national education system, and describes the system's resilience and high quality compared to other nations.
"On the education front, the system was one of the best in the region, before the crisis began. Now, despite more than 6 years of horrendous war, the system is still standing and strong. Syrians know exactly what they want, and they have the capacity to implement their aspirations. Like in Aleppo; after the victory, the government immediately moved in and began opening schools."
Her photographs show the devastation caused by war. But they also show people enjoying themselves in cafes and restaurants, as well as one of the great medieval fortresses and a sculpture, which looks like it may well come from the ancient past. Several of the photos are of schoolchildren. These show a mixed class of little boys and girls, smiling and dressed in western style clothing. There's also what looks like a crowd of sports fans – football? – heading towards a match, and a sign with spells out in coloured letters 'I heart Damascus'.
There is much that Vltchek writes with which I disagree. He's of Czech-Russian ancestry, and is a film maker specialising in the Developing World. His fierce attacks on western exploitation of the undeveloped world is well meant, but sometimes he goes too far in attacking the Developed World and the needs and desires of its ordinary citizens. It's also struck me several times that he has a far too optimistic view of the Soviet past. Russia and the eastern bloc did make some truly vast, impressive achievements under Communism, but this was at the cost of a vicious political repression which under Stalin resulted in deportations, massacres and a system of forced labour, which claimed tens of millions of lives. The Soviet Union also dominated and exploited the satellite countries conquered by Stalin from the Nazis during World War II.
But Vltchek's article is in this case exactly right, necessary and welcome. Syria is a repressive state. Even in the 1980s it had something like eight different secret police agencies. But under the Ba'ath party it is a modern, secular state, where Christians and Muslims live in peace. As for its education system, a few years ago the BBC screened a documentary about the Syrian school system, following the pupils in one particular school through a school day. At the end of the documentary the Beeb informed viewers how they could join a scheme that would link schools in this country with those in Syria.
As for the high regard for its poets and intellectuals, several of the books I've read on Islam and the Arabs have said that poetry has a very high status in the Arab world, to the point where newspapers may be written in a distinct, half-poetic style. As for its antiquities, you can still walk down the Street called Straight, mentioned in St. Paul's Epistles in the Bible. The country has monuments from a succession of ancient civilisations, such as Palmyra, going all the way back to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. The tombs of some of the kings mentioned in the Bible have even been found.
It's people are not monsters, and while Assad is a dictator, his government is surely better than the Islamist regime, which the rebels – al-Qaeda and ISIS – hope to impose. This would mean the destruction of ancient monuments, as has happened in Iraq and those parts of Syria, which fell under ISIS' rule. Women's rights would be attacked and withdrawn, the secular education system and rule of law swiftly dismantled. The country isn't quite as tolerant in the religious sphere as it could be. From what I've heard on programmes about the country and its history on the Beeb, the Sunni Muslim majority is oppressed. But the Ba'ath party in Syria was founded as a secular, Arab nationalist party, which included both Christians and Muslims. If it is overthrown, the country's tolerance of peoples of different sects and religions will also go, to be replaced by the type of vicious, genocidal persecution ISIS carried out in Iraq. Dan Snow's programme on the country, broadcast by the Beeb, featured chilling footage of a foaming rant by an Islamist mullah calling for the genocide of the Alawis, the ruling Muslim sect. And as we've seen in Iraq, the Islamists not only persecute non-Muslims, they also viciously terrorise and butcher other Muslims for their religious beliefs. Historic mosques as well as Christian churches were destroyed and desecrated by ISIS in Iraq, and ordinary Muslims, whose only desire was to live in peace with their fellow Iraqis, were also murdered for not being what the Islamists considered proper Muslims.
I and many other bloggers have said repeatedly that the American regime and its western allies and lackeys aren't interested in punishing Assad for his war crimes. This is all about geopolitics. It's about making sure a Qatari oil pipeline goes through Syria, not one built by the Russians, and about removing a key ally of Russia and Iran. The American military-industrial complex has done its level best to overthrow secular Arab nationalist governments in the Middle East from the 1950s, as they were seen as being too close to Communism. Quite apart from the challenge they posed to western imperialism and its attempts to dominate and exploit the Middle East and its oil.
I therefore urge anyone, who has doubts about the justice of Trump's attack on Syria, and the sabre-rattling of the western political class demanding regime change, to go and read Vltchek's article and look at the pictures of Syria and its people. And look at the faces of the people, who will suffer if the oil lobby and the military-industrial complex have their way, and send American troops in. These are ordinary, decent people, who will be massacred by the hundreds of thousands, just like the people of Iraq.
The article's at: http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/04/12/reflecting-on-syria/
Tags:'Counterpunch', 'Military-Industrial Complex', al-Qaeda, Alawis, Aleppo, Andre Vltchek, Assad, Ba'ath Party, BBC, Christianity, Churches, Civil War, Damascus, Dan Snow, Developing World, Donald Trump, Football, Forced Labour, Imperialism, ISIS, Islamism, Massacres, Media, Middle East, Monuments, Mosques, Oil Pipeline, Palmyra, Qatar, Schools, Soviet Union, St. Paul, stalin, World War II, Yayoi Segi
Posted in America, Arabs, Archaeology, Architecture, Bible, Biblical Archaeology, Biblical History, communism, Education, History, Industry, Iran, Iraq, Islam, LIterature, Nazis, OIl, Persecution, Politics, Radio, Russia, Secularism, Sport, Syria, Television, Terrorism, The Press | Leave a Comment »
ISIS Destruction of Antiquities and Respect for Archaeology in Iran
Map of Nimrud drawn in 1856 by Felix Jones
The Independent reported today that ISIS had released a video of themselves destroying the ancient Babylonian city of Nimrud. Its destruction was reported back in March, but this is the first time footage has been shown of it. The video shows the terrorists attacking the city and its antiquities with pneumatic drills, anglegrinders and sledgehammers. They then laid explosives, and blew the site up.
Irinia Bokova, the director general of UNESCO, the section of the UN that oversees the world's cultural heritage, denounced the destruction, saying that the "deliberate destruction of cultural heritage constitutes a war crime".
I couldn't agree more.
The Indie's article can be read at: http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/isis-video-shows-complete-destruction-of-ancient-city-of-nimrud-in-iraq/ar-AAaTuAG?ocid=OIE9HP
I've already blogged about ISIS' destruction of Nimrud, and the other cultural treasures of Mosul, and the Christian and Muslim shrines to the patriarch Seth, revered by Moslems as the prophet Sheth, St. George and others. ISIS have claimed that they are destroying these antiquities because they are somehow blasphemous or un-Islamic. In fact, they are attacking them purely because these monuments don't conform to their own, extremely narrow religious views. They're a deliberate, calculated assault on the cultural heritage and identity of Iraq's people. ISIS fear them because they present an alternative, secular national and religious pluralist identity to the absolute conformity ISIS wish to foist on them.
It's also been suggested that more worldly, venal motives were involved in Nimrud's destruction. ISIS may have been looting the site to raise money to buy more arms by selling the antiquities illegally. They levelled the city to disguise what they'd done. So their claim that they were destroying the city for religious reasons may have been just a load of lies to disguise what they really are: a bunch of thieves and grave robbers.
Archaeology in Iran
ISIS' contempt for the region's heritage contrasts with Iran, where, with some qualifications, archaeology is still valued. John Simpson in one of his books described the way an angry mob was ready to destroy the depictions of the Persian shahs at Naqsh-i-Rustem in the 1979 revolution, but were prevented from doing so by the carvings' guard. He stopped them by telling them that they were instead depictions of Hassan and Hussein, the two sons of the Imam Ali, the founder of Shi'ism.
In the 1990s there was a minimal Western archaeological presence in Iran, though I believe it has been expanded since then. I once bumped into one of the lecturers in the archaeological department at Uni nearly ten years ago, who had just returned from excavating an early Islamic city in Iran.
And a few years ago the British Museum loaned the Cyrus Cylinder, shown below, to the Islamic Republic.
The Cyrus Cylinder records the conquest of Babylonia by the great Persian king Cyrus, or Kourash, as he is known in Persian. After the conquest, he issued an edict permitting the peoples exiled in Babylon to return to their homelands, returned their gods, and assisted in the reconstruction of their temples. These included the Jews, who returned to Israel, for which the Persians are praised in the Bible.
I was taught at College that Islam similarly regarded Zoroastrians as 'Peoples of the Book', who, like Jews and Christians, worshipped the one God, and whose worship was therefore protected.
British Museum's loan of the Cylinder to Iran was of major diplomatic and cultural significance. Firstly, it was party of a general thaw in relations between Britain and the Islamic Republic. Secondly, it also showed the confidence that the Museum in the Cylinder's safety. The repatriation of cultural artefacts looted by Western scholars from the other cultures around the world is a major issue in archaeology and the heritage sector. Many nations and ethnic groups are rightly angered at the appropriation of valuable or important religious items from their cultures, including human remains. A few years ago, for example, BBC 2 screened a series looking behind the scenes at the British Museum. Amongst the Museum's other work, it showed the delicate negotiations surrounding the repatriation of the remains of Aboriginal Tasmanians to their descendants.
Other items remain, and their retention is immensely controversial. The Elgin Marbles is a case in point.
The Museum has, however, a policy of not returning antiquities to countries where their safety can't be guaranteed. The looting and destruction of ancient monuments and archaeological finds is a real problem, particularly in the developing world. And it isn't unknown here either. There have been digs in Britain, that have been wrecked and the finds looted by Nighthawks. There have also been a number of curators and museum directors, who have been caught illegally selling off objects from the very collections they were supposed to be maintaining.
The loan of the Cyrus Cylinder to Iran, by contrast, showed that the British authorities had every confidence that their fellows in Iran would respect and value it, and that Britain and Iran could have good relations in the exploration of that nation's ancient past and its treasures.
This is another excellent reason why the Repugs are stupid to want another war with Iran. Apart from destabilising yet another nation and brutalising its people, purely for the profit of the oil and arms industries, it could result in the same destruction of antiquities as in Iraq.
And as in Iraq, the world would again be much the poorer.
Tags:'The Independent', Aborigines, Arms Industry, Babylon, BBC 2, British Museum, Cultural Treasures, Cyrus, Cyrus Cylinder, Elgin Marbles, Felix Jones, Hassan and Hussein, Heritage, Imam Ali, Irinia Bokova, ISIS, Looting, Maps, Mosul, Museums, Naqsh-i-Rustem, Nighthawks, Nimrud, Persia, Prophet Sheth, Repatriation, Republican Party, Seth, St George, Tasmania, UNESCO, Universities, zoroastrianism
Posted in America, Archaeology, Art, Australia, Bible, Biblical Archaeology, Biblical History, Crime, Education, Greece, History, Iran, Iraq, Islam, OIl, Politics, Television, Terrorism, The Press | 3 Comments »
King David and the Foundations of Solomon's Temple
Yesterday's reading was 1 Chronicles 29:1-9. This describes how David gave some of his own great wealth to the Temple, and encouraged his leading courtiers, generals, and the wider Israelite people to do the same.
King David ruled from 1000 to 965 BC. According to the Bible, he established an empire stretching from the Negev in the south to the Euphrates in the north, comprising most of Palestine, transjordan, with the exception of the Philistine cities on the coastal strip, parts of Syria and some of the Phoenician coast. No contemporary texts exist for this period of Israel's history apart from the Bible, and the archaeological evidence is sparse. It is difficult to date precisely buildings or objects to the beginning of the 10th century, and some of the buildings attributed to him may have been built by his son, Solomon. As a result of this, some of the Biblical minimalist historians have claimed that King David was either mythical, or if he existed at all, then he and Solomon, were merely pastoral clan chieftains rather than the rulers of a rich and impressive kingdom. This view was discredited by the discovery of the Tell Dan stele in 1993 and the decipherment of part of the inscription on the Moabite Stone by the French linguist, Andre Lemaire, in 1994. The Tell Dan stele had been put up by King Hazael of Damascus to commemorate his victory over northern Israel. In it Hazael claims that he defeated "[Jeho]ram king of Israel and kill[ed Ahaz]yahu son of (gap) [I overthr]ew the house of David". The Moabite Stone was put up by King Mesha of Moab to celebrate his successful rebellion against Israel's king Ahab, during which Mesha had sacrificed his own son to the Moabite national god, Chemosh. The Stone was broken up into small fragments by the bedouin, who found it in order to gain more money from European archaeologists. Studying a 19th century copy of the text before it was smashed, Lemaire found a reference to the 'House of David'. Literary examination of the Biblical texts shows that much of this was written either in David's or Solomon's time, and so represents a reliable witness to the events of their reigns. Although the archaeology does not support the image of King David as the founder of a great empire, it is consistent with Biblical accounts of his reign, which do not describe him as engaged on any great building operations.
The philistine town of Megiddo, stratum VIA and the Canaanite town of Tell Qasile stratum X were destroyed by fire, possibly by King David. The first half of the 10th century BC saw the Israelites establishing an urban culture. A number of small village sites have been attributed to David's reign. There was a roughly circular settlement at Khirbet Dawara defended by a casement wall. Stratum VII at Tell Beer-Sheba consisted of several dwellings built around an open area. New types of pottery also appeared at this time, with different shapes and a distinctive hand burnished red slip.
David also conquered Jerusalem from the Jebusites in 995 BC. Jebusite Jerusalem was situated on the hill of Ophel, between the Kidron Brook and the Tyropoeon valley. Excavations on the eastern slope of this spur above the Gihon spring revealed a 'stepped structure' with walls surviving to a height of 16.5 metres (c. 49 1/2 feet). This may have dated to the tenth century. It supported a monumental structure, which has not survived. The Israeli archaeology Yigal Shiloh showed that this was built on top of ruins dating from 1300 to 1200 BC. The 'Stepped Structure' itself dates from the 10th century BC. In 2005 another Israeli archaeologist, Eilat Mazar, ,discovery a large stone building at the top of the Hill of Ophel associated with the 'Stepped Structure'. Pottery found with this building dated to the 10th century BC or earlier. This indicated that the building may have been the 'Fortress of Zion' occupied by King David after he took Jerusalem.
David appealed to the Israelite people to donate to the Temple's construction, not because it needed more money, but so that as many people as possible would be involved in its construction. This truly made the Temple of the Jewish people, rather than a place built purely for the service of the monarchy. It was a practical demonstration that God's call is not just for the few, but to all.
The Temple later built by King Solomon was a massive rectangular structure of 50 x 100 cubits, about 25 x 50m. This is larger than any known Canaanite or Phoenician temple. It was also very tall, at 30 cubits in height. Its walls were 12 cubits in width, similar to the Middle Bronze Age temple at Shiloh. The interior was divided into three sections: a porch, ulam, the sanctuary, hechal, and the Holy of Holies, debir. The entrance to each of these was along the Temples central axis. On either side of this was a series of auxiliary chambers, which probably acted as the kingdom's treasury. In its plan and interior decorations, the Temple was similar to other, pagan temples in Palestine and the Ancient Near East, particularly those at Ebla, Megiddo, and Tell Mumbakat and the Bit Hilani palace and its attached temple, the last two both in north Syria. The use of cedar wood was similar to the Philistine and Canaanite temples at Lachish and Tell Qasile. The Temple's cult objects included the sacrificial altar and and the 'molten sea'. This was a huge bronze basin supported by 12 bulls. These can be reconstructed finds and depictions from Phoenicia, Cyprus and Palestine. The Temple's two columns, Jachin and Boaz, are similar to column bases at the Late Bronze Age temple at Hazor and those on the pottery model of a similar shrine found at Tell el-Far'ah. The cherubim which sat above the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies were very different from our modern view of cherubs. Instead of chubby, cute babies, these were sphinx-like, with the body of a lion or bull, wings of an eagle and head of a man. This was a well-known figure in Canaanite, Phoenician and Syrian Bronze Age art. The Temple was also decorated with palmettes, network designs, fringes and chains. These also appear in Phoenician images of the 9th and 8th centuries BC. Many art historians consider the 10th century BC a Dark Age in the art of the Ancient Near East. The only example of monumental arat from this period is the sarcophagous of Ahiram, king of Byblos, in modern Lebanon. The Bible's description of Solomon's Temple is thus important evidence for the existence of monumental art in the 10th century BC.
James K. Hoffmeier, The Archaeology of the Bible (Oxford: Lion 2008).
Kathleen Kenyon, Archaeology in the Holy Land, 3rd Edition, (London: Ernest Benn Ltd 1970)
Amihai Mazar, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible 10,000 – 586 B.C.E. (New York: Centre for Judaic-Christian Studies/ Doubleday 1990)
Tags:Ahab, Ahazyahu, Ahiram, Andre Lemaire, Art, Bible, Byblos, Canaan, Chemosh, Cyprus, Damascus, Ebla, Eilat Mazar, Hazael, Israel, Jebusites, Jehoram, Jerusalem, King David, King Solomon, Megiddo, Mesha, Moab, Moabite Stone, Philistines, Phoenicia, Shiloh, Syria, Tell Beer-Sheba, Tell Dan Stele, Tell el-Far'ah, Tell Mumbakat, Tell Qasile, Temple, Yigal Shiloh
Posted in Archaeology, Art, Bible, Biblical Archaeology, Biblical History, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
The Historical Accuracy of the New Testament
You regularly hear attacks on the historical accuracy of the Bible, and particularly the New Testament. These consist of statements like 'You can't believe all that. It's all made up'. The opponents and critics of Christianity have been arguing like this since ancient Rome. There is, however, a lot of evidence supporting the Gospel's historical accuracy. These are a few of the arguments. Whole books have been written defending the Gospels. I've tried to make this as short as possible, so that they can be printed and distributed on a single sheet of paper as part of church activities or private study.
Trusting the New Testament
The Gospels are bioi, Graeco-Roman biographies. St. Luke begins his Gospel in the way Greek and Roman authors began serious historical or scientific texts – stating that they have examined the previous sources and then compiled their own account.
The Gospels were written between AD. 64 and the 90s, when many of the witnesses to Christ's life and ministry were still alive.
The Gospels provide four independent accounts of Christ's life and ministry. They were composed earlier, and there are far more copies of them, then contemporary secular Roman biographies of the Roman Emperors. Indeed, some of these are known from only a single coin. A fragment of John's Gospel has been dated from the late 1st century to c. 125 AD. It has been suggested that it may even have come from the scriptorium of the Evangelist himself. This contrasts with the earliest extant copy of one of the biographies of the Caesars, which dates from the 9th century.
The New Testament frequently refers to named individuals, who were still alive at the time they were written. Graeco-Roman culture distrusted purely written accounts of events and facts, and preferred eye-witness testimony where possible.
Ancient Jewish culture stressed the importance of memorising texts. Rabbis' disciples were expected to memorise their masters' teachings.
Anthropological evidence states that the dates when the Gospels were written is too soon after the events for mythological or legendary material to have entered the Gospel stories.
The Gospels also reflect 1st century Jewish life. Many of the questions put before Christ are about issues discussed and debated in contemporary Jewish society, such as the question of divorce. Christ's commandment 'Hear, O Israel, you shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind and with all thy soul, and thy neighbour as yourself' is a kelal, a rabbinical short summary of the Law. One of the questions asked during 1st century rabbinical debates was 'Can you summarise the Law while standing on one leg?' Christ's commandment above is an example of the answer to just such a question.
The description of Jerusalem in St. John's Gospel corresponds to the layout of the town, especially the Pool of Bethesda and the Temple forecourt as revealed by archaeology. Furthermore, types of the tomb in which Jesus was buried, which were closed by a stone have also been discovered. Christ is also described as deidaskalos – teacher – which is also known from archaeology to have been used of 1st century rabbis.
Tags:Archaeology, Atheism, Gospels, History, New Testament
Posted in Archaeology, Bible, Biblical Archaeology, Biblical History, History | 1 Comment »
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XXXTENTACION's Mom Sues 'Look At Me' Producer Jimmy Duval
After being sued by Stache Records and "Look At Me" producer Jimmy Duval earlier this year, Cleopatra Bernard, the mother of the late XXXTENTACION, is fighting back with a a countersuit of her own.
In February, Duval filed a claim stating that he was owed $2 million from X's estate and did not receive the proper credit or royalties from his work with the slain rapper.
In new court documents obtained by The Blast, Bernard is asking the court that the original $2 million suit from Duval be dismissed, claiming that Duval entered a deal with X and that he was indeed given the proper credit. The original deal gave her son 50 percent of the collaboration royalties, while Duval and another producer Mala, who believed that the "Look At Me" beat was stolen from his track "Changes," received 25 percent each.
However, Bernard states that Duval's knowledge of the music industry's system for producer credit is lackluster.
The suit from Bernard reads, "Defendants' claim reveals a complete lack of understanding as to the music industry's current mechanism for attributing producer credits. It is undisputed that the Recording was only released digitally. It is well known that, up until very recently, the vast majority of digital content providers, such as Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, SoundCloud, etc., did not have a mechanism by which producers could be credited."
Bernard is also demanding that Duval be awarded nothing and that her attorney fees are paid for as well.
It hasn't been all animosity between the two sides however, as Duval spoke about his time with X with HipHopDX just days after his murder. Not only did Duval praise X's artistry, he also made it his mission to keep his legacy going.
"He changed everybody's lives, and he was such a pioneer, such a leader. I've never experienced this in my life, from an artist that I had so much success with," Duval said. "We all had so much great shit still to do, and we still got to do that. Unfortunately, as much as it breaks my heart, it's just not going to be with him."
Since his death in June 2018, XXXTENTACION's name has managed to stay in headlines. Not only has his estate released two posthumous albums, Skins and Bad Vibes Forever, his team also announced a documentary on his life to be coming in the near future. On the philanthropic side, Bernard also set up a foundation in the late rapper's names days before his first death anniversary.
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London mayor Boris Johnson was given an abrupt lesson in dodgeball Monday when he came face-to-face with a group of plastic ball-wielding protesters.
The mayor was hurried into the Conservative Party Conference while a colourful torrent of the balls rained down around him, launched by activists who had arrived in Manchester to protest the Tory party's austerity measures.
Johnson, who apparently reserves most of his anger for taxi drivers, didn't seem too fazed by the vibrant attack — in fact he even managed a cheerful wave to the camera as he was hurried away from the booing crowd.


text:
function drawSignalMap(map, masts, dirn, H, signalMap)
% Draws a 2D map of received power at each gridpoint as well as a
% representation of the antennae.

hold off
N = size(map,1);
N2 = sqrt(N);
M = size(masts,1);
mapX = reshape(map(:,1), [N2 N2]);
mapY = reshape(map(:,2), [N2 N2]);
mapZ = reshape(map(:,3), [N2 N2]);
contour(mapX, mapY, mapZ); hold on;
for a = 1:M
    mastBase = masts(a,:)' - [0;0;H];
    scale = 20;
    baseline = 10;
    drawAntenna(mastBase, H*scale, dirn(:,a)*scale*baseline, scale*baseline, 5);
end
colormap hot;
caxis(gather([min(signalMap) max(signalMap)]));
surf(mapX, mapY, reshape(signalMap, size(mapX)));
shading flat;
grid off;
axis off;
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Sniffing out danger and liability wherever it hides.
Trident provides canine contraband detection services of work areas; vehicles, vessels, and aircraft of all types; storage facilities; warehouses; and private residences to help ensure that areas remain contraband free.
Have Dogs, Will Travel! Our contraband detection teams have traveled as far north as the Aleutian Islands and the Bering Sea in Alaska, south to Colorado, and east to South Carolina.
What is "Contraband"?
Illegal Drugs: Typically include Marijuana, Opium, Heroin, Cocaine, Crack Cocaine, and Methamphetamine
Alcohol: Specifically, Ethanol Alcohol commonly found in beer, wine, and drinking liquors
Firearms: Specifically, smokeless, black, and flash powders typically found in ammunition and firearms; fireworks and flares. Whether clean or dirty, all firearms are contaminated by gunpowder.
Contraband exists in all facets of our lives. To help identify the problem, we offer a tool to minimize the incidence of dangerous contraband on your property, as well as give you the ability and recourse to act against persons who elect to ignore policy.
Our program is designed to support security and safety programs demonstrating the client's commitment to an effective contraband control policy. The use of detection canines provides a strong deterrent to the possession, use, or sale of contraband with the same cost-effective, efficient, and proactive tool currently in use by industry and governments worldwide.
What better way to promote health and safety, and limit liability, than by having regularly scheduled random inspections by trained canines? As we search for solutions to continuing reports of escalating violence, drinking on the job, and illicit narcotics use, we offer one of the most successful deterrent programs available.
Legal Use of Detection Canines
The validity of detection canine methodology has been proven in courts of law. Our canine program is openly presented with no hidden agenda. We:
Maintain General Liability and Errors and Omissions coverage of our handlers, dogs, and inspectors
Meet or exceed law enforcement standards referenced in Washington Administrative Code 139-05-915
Are licensed by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and State of Washington Department of Health, Board of Pharmacy
Are trained in presumptive narcotic testing and have available a field-testing kit for illicit narcotic substances
Call us at (253) 852-7000 or use the Contact Form. Our office hours are 8:30 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday. When calling after hours or if you reach our voice mail, please leave a message and our on-duty investigator will return your call at the earliest opportunity.


When you have a child it becomes very clear very quickly that what's yours is theirs. It might be having to share a bed where tiny elbows will be rammed into your face at 1am in the morning. Or instead of settling down to an episode of Made In Chelsea you have to share your TV time by watching Peppa Pig again. But one of the worst things is your treats? Are basically their treats. So when Thorntons got in touch asking to take a peek at their new Christmas range I decided to pick a few items that I intended NEVER to share. That were mine all mine (insert evil very un-festive witch cackle).
First up is their Continental Advent Calendar. I know very clearly when I will eat this beauty. It will either be a quick pop in the mouth whilst they are distracted getting their shoes on for the school run. Or I will rip open each day and enjoy the chocolate with a cuppa after it. It's a proper grown up version of an advent calendar including treats like 'Expresso' and the 'Vanilla Truffle'. I've not quite decided where I will hide it but it will be far from where tiny hands can reach. Perhaps in the cupboard under the stairs or the back of my wardrobe.
Being a Mum to two small children can be pretty exhausting. A lot of the time I am hiding in the kitchen trying to take a five minutes break before the mania of homework, washing and refereeing fights. Therefore I have decided the Toffee, Fudge and Caramel Collection will be kept in the kitchen for those moments. A quick "Mummy just has to pop and do the washing up for a bit kids!" and whilst I am doing it I am happily chewing on a toffee or three. Really quietly so no one can hear.
We all agree that kids are amazing and we love them to bits but there is nothing greater in life than that moment where your bum hits the couch and you know that everyone is fast asleep. So for Friday nights in with a gin and tonic over the festive season? I will be tucking into one or seven chocolates from the Alcohol Truffle Selection. And the best thing I will feel no guilt when ramming these down my gob as it's one of the laws of the land that children can't have alcohol! Hooray! I wonder if that rule will stretch to 6ft2 husbands as well?
Thanks so much to Thorntons for sending these treats for me to try out ready in time for Christmas. I know that my Mum has dropped serious hints to find the Alcohol Truffle Collection in her stocking. And my husband has suggested to go halves on the advent calendar. We can do...if he can ever find it. To find out more about what Thorntons has to offer this festive season go and check out the range here.


Hello there. My name is Matt Frohman and I am a life aficionado. Oh, and I'm also the head blogger of mattfrohman.com. I live in Maryland and my hobbies are working on world-changing projects, self-improvement, reading, traveling, playing the piano, listening to good music, and my favorite, wasting time.
I want to live the best life I can. I aim to do this by making the most out of every situation, both good and bad. I share all of these experiences (hobbies included) in my posts. If you want to live the best life possible, then I think you'll like what I say on this blog.
If any of this interests you, please stay awhile and explore what I have to say. If you have anything to say or just want to say hi, please feel free to contact me below. If you're not interested, thanks for stopping by, and I hope I see you again sometime.


most flights to continental europe out of delhi originates at night and everyone is trying to grab some sleep....for the first time, i flew out early in the morning...post breakfast, with nothing else to do (the aircraft's entertainment system was down!!) and seeing our flight path had taken us over afghanistan, i opened the window to peer out into the early morning setting and wow... a mad scramble to get my camera out and i was busy for the next half hour shooting the landscape outside. ladakh has been my most favourite location for a shoot but despite taliban, i will need to get to afghanistan soon.
having deposited son in his univ, drove through the outer hebridies islands. the three hour ferry from the picturesque ullappol in the mainland to stornoway was rough but manageable...the rain dampened my spirits a bit but i was told by my host that it is par for the course around the year...these islands are a dream come true for the landscape photographer. i always thought that arunachal was the land of a million lakes, from the very tiny to the fairly large...but these islands beat arunachal hollow. while i don't have the stats, i can bet that there are more waterbodies than land in these islands. moreover some of the beaches are so so pretty and the water so clean that if it was a tropical island it would have been a beach bum's paradise. more important for me was that the gaelic people are very nice and extra polite and i didn't get screamed at or even get dirty looks when i pulled up completely illegally many times to take a few photographs!!!
My driving maps and tourist guides all mentioned about "end of the road sculptures" as a must see.while my wife liked the sculpture bit, i liked the end of the road bit and we tried our hand at getting to one. as the name suggests it is at the end of a road and a few feet short of the sea. the road that leads to these are off the map and my sat nav had no clue what i was upto. but since they were signposted well, we managed to finally reach one of these. these are sculptures commissioned by the local councils and created by local sculptors to get the tourist to get off the main highway and wander into these tiny villages. while the sculpture itself held no interest to me, the drive and the quaint village we went through made up for the bad drive which i guess was really why the sculpture was created!!!
did someone say photography is easy?
i love this photograph...not only (a) because it looks like a painting and (b) i love shooting water. It is only because of what i had to go through to get it....we were driving through new zealand on a nice misty morning and came to this narrow bridge which allows only traffic one way at a time. halfway through the bridge and i saw this sight out of my car window. sure enough, i crossed the bridge and pulled up to the side in what was clearly an illegal stop (luckily no one in new zealand seemed to mind these idiosyncrasies of mine and there were plenty of them) and got out. thats when i noticed one minor issue...the footpath over the bridge was on the opposite side and from there i couldn't get a clear view. that just left one choice. the bridge had this narrow six inch ledge outside the railing. i slid along that ledge till i reached the middle of the bridge and it was only my non existent gymnastic ability that got me the photograph and me safely back without a swim in sub zero water fully dressed and with a camera around my neck!!! did i hear someone say photography is easy?
yipeee...my new site is up and that too with a whole bunch of new photographs! my new and updated site has been in the making for slightly over 2 years!!! either i dont like what the designers come up with or they tell me what i want is not possible...that game never ends...on top of it i need to select photos, resize them, upload them and put captions...whew thats real hard work!! especially so when I dont have a clue what species a particular bird is or i forget where i took that great nature shot!! taking these photos was quite simple...including waiting for over an hour to get that one shot i wanted of the leopard with a kill or when the light reaches a particular angle! now that this is done with, let me get back to what i love...taking more and more photographs...my subjects seem endless!!!
yesterday, the delhi and gurgaon police decided to give us a taste of what is in store during the games. a normal 10 minute drive just became 2.5 hrs!!! and the police claim that the exercise was a complete success!!!...ask the poor souls who were caught unaware yesterday on the roads! in our usual style, the police, without informing the public earlier, just decided to block off a few roads...no thoughts on alternate routing or trying at non peak times! shiela dikshit cribs about delhites not feeling proud of the games and planning holidays elsewhere during the games. but if yesterday was a sample, god help us..traveling out of delhi...here i come!


Annie Wenu is also known as Annie Kalume Wenu; she is a Project Management Coach, Speaker, and Author. She is the founder and CEO of Life Quality Improvement Coaching and Consultancy (LQIC), a personal and professional coaching service that specializes in project management for professionals and businesses. With a Diploma in Accountancy, a Bachelor Degree in Business Management with Human Resource Management and a Masters in Applied project management Enterprise Management, she helps people to get more out of their lives by following a three simple step strategy.
Annie has a diploma in accountancy. However, she didn't actually like working with figures and decided to pursue her passion for learning, writing, teaching, coaching, training, creativity. She wanted to help women transform their lives by educating, inspiring and motivating them to create a power and a purpose. Although Annie's week-long course for international clients was highly successful, the business eventually failed and didn't give up.
However, fuelled by her purpose and power, Annie started her multi-phase project in continuing to pursue a coaching career. Annie completed her certification in coaching and after coaching on one to one, group coaching and speaking at several events, she realized that she needed to position herself as an authority and expert in corporate management. She decided to go back into education; she has completed a BSc (Honours) in Business Management with Human Resource Management and a Masters in Applied Project Management Enterprise Management pathway.
Annie helps professionals to succeed by assessing project planning and execution to implement career and business change. Her three simple step process enables individuals to manage their project's time, costs, resources and risks through the use of project management principles. Many people failed to identify with clarity what they want and find themselves doing jobs that they don't like. It can lead to severe implications on their health, personal and professional relationships.
Annie is a co-author of an academic journal article titled: "The Applied, Knowledge and Work-based oriented Project Management Coaching Framework (AKW-PMCF) published by the Journal of Modern Project Management. This publication is a condensed version of her final dissertation that was so successful. This framework is useful for coaches in project management and project managers acting as coaches to team members especially for new project managers in the field to assess project management professionals at all levels cope with stress and pressure due to projects demands. Her book, "Anything is a Project" explains that a project can be in anything and a well-planned project for both businesses and individuals will help you to achieve your career, business or dream goals' projects by turning your passion into a successful project. This book is also useful especially for children, to coach them at a young age to develop their talents, become happy and prosperous individuals in the future and achieve their dreams.
She also had a privilege to coach Masters Students in Applied Project Management in Construction, IT and Enterprise Management pathways at West London University on how to conduct a project successfully, cope with projects challenges and time management to achieve excellence as students.
Annie's entrepreneurial challenges and personal hardships have only helped to redefine her purpose. She is a proven example that you can rise from setbacks and projects manage your life and business to reach success.
.I help women to rise and project manage their lives with power, resilience and purpose to create their new image inside out and achieve their ultimate family and career success, I inspire and motivate them to transform their lives and live their dream.
I will inform you, cause you to be a better person and show you that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. I will get you on fire, jump start your energy and keep you motivated. I will help you reflect and visualize on the dream that is sitting quietly inside you. From time to time I will cause you to say what you don't want to say and do what you don't want to do.This will cause you to know the good and bad part of yourself and work on them.
Unlimited emails for you to ask any questions and feedback.
I have over 7 years experience of certified professional coach with a Bsc (Honours) in Business Management with Human Resources Management. My passion is to help women to fuel their drive for success in their personal, family, relationship, career and business no matter the setbacks and hardship they are experiencing.
For more information please submit your request by visiting our website.


For a masculine look dare to wear outfits signed by famous designers. Choose to have an excellent outfit and to impress with a positive attitude for a flawless man-look! Find out the right hat that perfectly suits you!


text:
KOR In The News
KOR Reads
The Century Foundation: The Truth Behind the Results of the Maricopa County Election Audit
By keepourrepubliSeptember 27, 2021December 17th, 2021No Comments
By Ralph Neas, Richard Gephardt, Timothy Wirth, Gary Hart, and Anthonby Essaye
This past Friday, September 24, the result of the so-called "audit" of the election results in Maricopa County by the Republican Majority in the Arizona Senate was finally announced. Though clearly initiated in bad faith and funded with the purpose of finding support for The Big Lie that the election was "stolen" from former President Trump, the Arizona Senate's contractor Cyber Ninjas ultimately reported that President Biden had won the county and found no evidence of fraud.
Despite the lack of experience of the audit managers in the field of elections, the Cyber Ninjas report proposed a variety of amendments to Arizona's election laws that would add further burdens on the voting rights of Arizona's citizens. These legislative proposals are based on suspicions and conjectures, set out in the report, as to possible irregularities and deficiencies on the part of Maricopa County officials in the conduct of the election.
The Cyber Ninjas' allegations were promptly refuted by county officials and other election experts, mostly Republicans. Nevertheless, they remain a cause for concern, as they serve to undermine public trust in the voting process. On July 1, we released a comprehensive chronology of the 2020 Arizona election and the subsequent Arizona Senate audit, followed by two commentaries in late July and mid-August. We have now updated the chronology to cover the entire period between the 2020 election and the announcement of the audit results, along with the two earlier commentaries.
We do so for two reasons. First, we believe the chronology and its related materials provide comprehensive documentation of what occurred in Arizona—including the lack of need for the audit, the serious bias and inexperience of those who conducted it, and the complete lack of transparency in the process—which thereby undercuts any credibility that might be accorded to the information presented in the audit to support its legislative recommendations.
The second is our deep concern that these self-appointed audits in Arizona and other states are designed not only to perpetuate the Big Lie that former President Trump won the 2020 election, but, even more insidiously, to delegitimize undesired outcomes in future elections. In this context, we hope that our materials may contribute to the vital need for continued broad-scale public education to combat this false narrative that threatens the very basis of our democratic system.
For these two purposes we also offer the following eleven points as a summary of what to keep in mind with respect to the audit.
The 2020 election in Maricopa County had already been audited several times, including by two different federally certified election audit firms, prior to intervention by Cyber Ninjas. There was no need for the audit. Subsequent to the election, Maricopa County election officials completed various verifications that exceeded the requirements of Arizona law and fully supported the accuracy of the election results. These efforts included a bipartisan hand count of a substantial number of sample ballots, a review known as a logic and accuracy test that ensured that no changes were made to the software during the election process, and a forensic audit of ballot tabulation equipment conducted by two independent firms certified by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
Governor Doug Ducey, a Republican, publicly defended the integrity of the November 2020 election. After the conclusion of the election, Ducey stated: "[t]here is integrity in our election system. Joe Biden did win Arizona." Subsequently, the Biden electors in Arizona were duly certified by Arizona officials as having received the highest number of votes, which determination was accepted by the United States Congress on January 7. In the Senate race also being audited, the Republican candidate Martha McSally conceded on November 13 and has not contested the results.
Maricopa County election officials became the target of an unprecedented pressure campaign from the White House and some Arizona state Republican officials after the election. Recently disclosed phone records reflect that, shortly after the election, then-president Trump and his attorney Rudolph Giuliani sought to contact the then-chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, a Republican, with the apparent intent to persuade him to change the election results, while the chair of the Arizona Republican Party, Kelli Ward, requested that he "stop the vote counting" when it became clear that some Republicans might lose. While these efforts were unsuccessful, they were so troubling that when Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs became aware of them in July 2021, she formally requested that Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich investigate whether any state or federal laws were broken. Moreover, at the time these efforts were initiated, the Trump campaign had already concluded that the major allegations of fraud had no basis.
Despite the Trump campaign losing at least eight lawsuits in state and federal courts in Arizona after the election, Senate President Karen Fann actively participated with Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and others in activities to support allegations of election fraud. Recently disclosed emails of the principal initiator of the audit, State Senate President Karen Fann, a Republican, have revealed that in early December, she was in close contact with Rudy Giuliani and other election conspiracy activists with respect to compiling unfounded allegations of election fraud in Arizona. This occurred after state and federal courts in Arizona had rejected a series of such lawsuits by Trump supporters after finding no meaningful factual support for allegations of fraud or other irregularities. Only after these legal efforts had failed did Senator Fann initiate the Maricopa County audit.
Senate President Fann chose a firm to lead the audit, Cyber Ninjas, that had no prior experience in election audits, but had strong pro-Trump leanings. In selecting a company to carry out the audit, Fann declined to choose an organization with election audit experience. Rather, she hired Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based company with no such experience and headed by Doug Logan, an avowed election conspiracy theorist. Not only had Logan been extensively involved in promoting allegations of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election before he was hired, but even while the audit was under way he participated actively in a film that purported to describe how supporters of Joe Biden stole the 2020 election. Furthermore, no effort was made to include impartial participants in the process.
The audit has been almost entirely funded by groups associated with former President Trump. While the Arizona Senate appropriated $150,000 to provide initial funding for the audit, the vast majority of its funding has come from $6.7 million in donations from individuals or dark money groups who peddle allegations about massive fraud in the 2020 presidential election. In fact, recently disclosed Arizona Senate documents indicate that Donald Trump had expressed a personal interest in two of these groups, either to recommend to donors or to donate to them himself.
The pursuit by Cyber Ninjas of bizarre conspiracy theories has further undermined its own credibility. After commencing the audit in April, Cyber Ninjas undertook a variety of entirely unproductive efforts to find support for bizarre election fraud theories. These efforts included testing ballots for signs of bamboo to support the allegation that a large number of pro-Biden ballots were secretly shipped in from somewhere in Asia and examining ballots for watermarks on the theory that only valid ballots would contain them, whereas in fact Maricopa County did not use any watermarked paper for the election.
Cyber Ninjas' CEO Doug Logan has made a series of mistaken statements that bring into question his capability to lead the audit. As the audit proceeded, Logan and others began making demonstrably false statements about what the audit was revealing. For example, at one point they contended that Maricopa County officials had deleted a file of election databases prior to turning over their materials to the auditors; afterward, the officials demonstrated that this material had been supplied, and that Logan and his company had not had the expertise to recognize this. Subsequently, Logan stated that some 74,000 more mail-in ballots were counted than had been sent to voters. Here again, county officials showed that he had simply failed to distinguish between two types of legitimate ballots, a fact that he eventually conceded.
The hiring of another election conspiracy advocate to oversee the final audit component further reflected the audit sponsors' profound bias. After completion of the audit's purported hand and machine recounts, Senate President Fann and Cyber Ninjas hired election conspiracy theorist Shiva Ayyadurai to carry out a review of voter signatures on mail-in ballot envelopes. Dr. Ayyadurai is an unsuccessful Senate candidate from Massachusetts, who, after losing in the 2020 Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat, alleged that Massachusetts authorities had destroyed over one million ballots. In a similar vein, he has backed former President Trump's false election fraud claims. Thus, Senate President Fann added to her record of exclusively selecting biased and unqualified personnel to carry out the audit.
Even a prominent Republican participant has expressed serious concerns about the audit's lack of transparency. Former Arizona Senate President and Secretary of State Republican Ken Bennett, while serving as the Senate liaison to the audit, stated that he had serious concerns about the conduct of the audit. Most significantly, he feared that Cyber Ninjas might engage in so-called forced balancing (a term of art for cooking the books), wherein they would falsify the results of their vote counting to bring it into line with the result they were seeking.
Audit leaders have attempted to shield every aspect of the process from public scrutiny. Cyber Ninjas began their efforts to hide the process with an attempt to inhibit press coverage by putting reporters at a prohibitive distance from the audit operations and seeking to exclude expert voting observers altogether. The company then required observers to sign nondisclosure agreements, and even expelled a local reporter for revealing that a former Republican state representative was reviewing ballots on which his own name appeared. For their part, Senate Republicans resisted an effort by a public interest organization and the Arizona press to obtain the audit records pursuant to Arizona's public record disclosure law. Even after a judicial ruling and a subsequent request from their client, the Arizona Senate, Cyber Ninjas still refused to make their audit records publicly available. Thus, the full truth about the audit has remained hidden.
As has been said, people are entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. And the facts are clear: the audit was never merited; it was driven by and paid for by partisan interests; it was conducted by individuals with deep biases and no qualifications; and it has only served to undermine public confidence in our election processes.
Keep Our Republic is a 501(c)3. For questions about Keep Our Republic, please email ben@keepourrepublic.com.
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