richardmurray

Truth from Jeffrey Sachs 04262025 Paraphrase- a paraphrase isn't a quote When the soviet union ended in 1991 the united states literally believed this is now a u.s. world and we will do as we want, the wars in the middle east, Serbia, the wars in Africa, these are wars that the united states led and caused, and this has been true for more than 40 years, as Europe has not had any foreign policy during this period that i can figure out, no voice, no unity, no clarity, only American loyalty, please don't have American officials as head of Europe , have European officials, have the European foreign policy, you are going to be living with Russia for a long time, so please negotiate with Russia, cause trump and president putin will agree to end the war, if Europe does all it's great war mongering, it doesn't matter, the war is ending, not one word is told to the American people about anything, or to you, or by any of your newspapers these days, this idea that putin reconstructing the Russian empire , this is childish propaganda, so the war started, what was putin's intention in the war, i can tell you what his intention was, when Zelensky said in seven days lets negotiate, i know the details of this exquisitely, I flew to Ankara to listen in detail, to what the mediators were doing, Ukraine walked away unilaterally from a near agreement, why , because the united states told them to, I begged the Ukrainians, and I had a track record with the Ukrainians, I advise the Ukrainians, I am not anti Ukrainian, i am pro Ukrainian completely, I said save your lives, save your sovereignty, save your territory, be neutral, don't listen to the americans, I repeated to them the famous adage of henry Kissinger, that to be an enemy of the united states is dangerous but to be a friend is fatal. COMPLETE Video https://youtu.be/_RNE3X41IvM?si=0GVA2hOPZfapR5hJ Transcript 0:00 Jeffrey Zak is about to give a talk here in the European Parliament enjoy it when 0:05 the Soviet Union ended in 1991 the United States literally 0:10 believed this is now a US World and we will do as we want the wars in the 0:16 Middle East Serbia the wars in Africa these are Wars that the United States 0:21 LED and caused and this has been true for more than 40 years Europe has not 0:28 had any foreign policy during this period that I can figure out no voice no 0:33 Unity no Clarity only American loyalty 0:39 please don't have American officials as head of Europe have European officials 0:45 have a European foreign policy you're going to be living with Russia for a long time so please negotiate with 0:51 Russia Trump and President Putin will agree to end the war if Europe does all 0:57 its great warmongering it doesn't matter the war is ending not one word is told 1:03 to the American people about anything or to you or by any of your newspapers 1:09 these days this idea that Putin's reconstructing the Russian Empire this is childish propaganda so the war 1:17 started what was Putin's intention in the war I can tell you what his 1:23 intention was when zalinski said in 7 Days let's 1:28 negotiate I know know the details of this exquisitly I flew to anchora to 1:34 listen in detail to what the mediators were doing Ukraine walked away 1:40 unilaterally from a near agreement why because the United States told them to I 1:46 begged the ukrainians and I had a track record with the ukrainians I advised the ukrainians I'm not anti-ukrainian I'm 1:53 Pro Ukrainian completely I said save your lives save your sovereignty save 1:58 your territory be neutral don't listen to the Americans I repeated to them the 2:03 famous adage of Henry Kissinger that to be an enemy of the United States is 2:09 dangerous but to be a friend is fatal above all I want to welcome Professor 2:15 Jeffrey saak and today Jeff is probably the person in the world to speak up for 2:20 peace everywhere for peace which all these things combined and therefore I'm very happy that you're here and uh I'm 2:28 here since 6 months and this Parliament and for somebody who worked for the UN I was actually quite shocked to learn that 2:34 this Parliament speaks only about War I think we have now to rethink what we 2:40 want to do and I hope the European Union will also come because I'm Pro European 2:45 Union will come to to realize that we have also to see how we seek peace and how we manage peace and how we create 2:52 again a peaceful Europe and Jeff might give us for these things some insight thank you very much 2:59 [Applause] I've watched the events very close up uh Jeffrey Sachs' Background 3:05 in Eastern Europe the former Soviet Union Russia uh very closely for the 3:14 last uh 36 years I was an advisor to the Polish government in 3:20 1989 uh to uh President gorbachov in 3:26 1990 and 91 to president yelton in 1991 to 3:32 1993 to president kochma of Ukraine in 1993 3:38 94 I helped introduce the Estonian currency I I helped several countries in 3:46 uh former Yugoslavia especially Slovenia uh I've watched the events very 3:54 close up for 36 years uh after after the 4:00 maidan I was uh asked by the new government to come to Kiev and I was 4:05 taken around the maidan and I learned a lot of things uh firsthand I I've been in touch with 4:13 Russian leaders for more than 30 years I know the American political 4:20 leadership uh close up uh our previous 4:25 uh Secretary of Treasury was my macroeconomic teacher uh 51 years ago or 4:33 just to give you an idea so we were very close friends for a half century I know 4:41 all of these people I just want to say this because what I want to explain in 4:46 my point of view is not uh secondhand it's not ideology it's what I've seen 4:52 with my own eyes and experienced during this 4:57 period in my understanding of the events that have uh befallen Europe in many The Origin of Today's US Foreign Policy 5:06 contexts uh and I'll include not only the uh Ukraine crisis uh but uh 5:15 Serbia 1999 the wars in the Middle East 5:21 including Iraq Syria the wars in Africa including 5:27 Sudan Somalia uh Libya these are to a very significant 5:36 extent that would surprise you perhaps uh and would be 5:42 denounced about what I'm about to say these are Wars that the United States 5:48 LED and caused and this has been true 5:53 for more than 40 years now what happened 6:01 more than 30 years I should say to be more precise the United States came to the 6:10 view especially in 1990 91 and then with the end of the Soviet 6:16 Union that the US now ran the world and that the US did not have to 6:24 heed anybody's views red lines con concerns 6:30 security viewpoints or any International 6:35 obligations or any un framework I'm sorry to put it so plainly but I do want 6:44 you to understand I tried very hard in 6:52 1991 to get help for gorbachov who I think was the greatest Statesman of our 6:57 modern time I recently read the archived memo of the 7:05 National Security Council discussion of my proposal how they 7:11 completely dismissed it and laughed it off the table when I said that the 7:16 United States should help the Soviet Union in financial stabilization and in making its 7:24 reforms and the memo documents including some of my former colleagues at Harvard 7:31 in particular saying we will do the minimum that we will do to prevent 7:37 disaster but the minimum it's not our job to help quite the contrary it's not 7:43 our interest to help when the Soviet Union ended in 7:50 1991 the view became even more exaggerated and I can name chapter and 7:58 verse but the view was We Run The Show Cheney Wolowitz and many other 8:06 names that you will have come to know literally believed this is now a US 8:14 World and we will do as we want we will clean up from the former Soviet Union we 8:23 will take out any remaining allies countries like Iraq Syria 8:30 and so forth will go and we've been experiencing this foreign 8:36 policy for now essentially 33 8:43 years Europe has paid a heavy price for this because Europe has not had any 8:49 foreign policy during this period that I can figure out no voice no Unity no Clarity no 8:58 European interests only American 9:04 loyalty there were moments where there were disagreements and very uh I think 9:10 uh wonderful disagreements especially in the last time of significance was 2003 9:17 in the Iraq War when France and Germany said we don't support the United States 9:24 uh going around the UN Security Council for this war that war by the way was 9:30 directly concocted by Netanyahu and his colleagues in the US 9:38 uh Pentagon I'm not saying that it was a link or mutuality I'm saying it was a 9:46 direct war that was a war carried out for Israel it was a war that Paul wolfowitz 9:53 and Douglas feith coordinated with Netanyahu and that was the last time 10:00 that Europe had a voice and I spoke with European leaders 10:07 then and they were very clear and it was uh quite 10:15 wonderful Europe lost its voice entirely after that but especially in 10:22 2008 now what happened after 1991 to get to 2008 is that NATO Enlargement 10:30 the United States decided that unipolarity meant that NATO would 10:36 enlarge somewhere from Brussels to Vlados step by step there would be no 10:42 end to Eastward enlargement of NATO this would be the US unipolar World 10:51 if you play the game of Risk as a child like I did this is the US idea to have 10:58 the peace on on every part of the board any place without a US military base is 11:05 an enemy basically neutrality is a dirty word in 11:10 the US political lexicon perhaps the dirtiest word at 11:15 least if you're an enemy we know you're an enemy if you are neutral you're 11:21 subversive because then you're really against us because you're not telling us you're pretending to be neutral 11:30 so this was the mindset and the decision was taken formally in 11:35 1994 when President Clinton signed off on NATO enlargement to the east you will 11:42 recall that in February 7th 11:47 1991 Hans Dietra genter and James Baker III spoke with 11:54 gorbachov genter gave a press conference afterwards where he explained 11:59 NATO will not move Eastward we will not take advantage of the dissolution of the 12:08 Warsaw Pact and understand that was in a 12:13 juridical context not a casual context this was the end of World War II being negotiated 12:21 for German reunification and an agreement was 12:26 made that NATO will not move one in Eastford and it was explicit and it is 12:33 in countless documents and just look up National Security Archive of George 12:39 Washington University and you can get dozens of documents it's a website called what gorbachov heard about NATO 12:48 take a look because everything you're told by the US is a lie about this but 12:54 the archives are perfectly clear so the decision was taken in 13:01 1994 to expand NATO all the way to 13:06 Ukraine this is a project this is not one Administration or another this is a 13:13 US Government project that started more than 30 years 13:23 ago in 1997 zign binski wrote The Grand 13:30 chessboard that is not just musings of Mr binski that is the presentation of 13:36 the decisions of the United States government explained to the public which 13:42 is how these books work and the book describes the Eastward 13:48 enlargement of Europe and of NATO as simultaneous 13:55 events and there's a good chapter in that book that says what will Russia do as Europe 14:04 and NATO expand Eastward and I knews big binski 14:11 personally he was very nice to me I I was advising Poland he was a big help he 14:18 was a very nice and smart man and he got everything wrong so in 1997 he wrote In detail why 14:29 Russia could do nothing but exceed to the Eastward expansion of NATO and 14:35 Europe in fact he says the Eastward expansion of Europe and not just Europe but NATO this was a plan a 14:44 project and he explains how Russia will never align with 14:49 China Unthinkable Russia will never align with 14:55 Iran Russia has no vocation other than the European vocation so as Europe moves 15:02 East there's nothing Russia can do about it so says yet another American 15:09 strategist is it any question why we're in war all the 15:14 time because one thing about America is we always know what our counterparts are 15:20 going to do and we always get it wrong and one reason we always get it 15:26 wrong is that in game theory that the American strategists play you don't 15:32 actually talk to the other side you just know what the other side strategy is 15:38 that's it's wonderful it saves so much time you don't need any 15:48 diplomacy so this project began and we had a continuity of government for 30 15:56 years until maybe yesterday 16:02 perhaps 30 years of a project Ukraine and Georgia were the keys to the project 16:12 why because America learned everything it knows from the 16:18 British and so we are the wannabe British 16:24 Empire and what the British Empire understood in 185 16:29 53 Mr Palmer Lord Palmerston excuse me is that you surround Russia in the 16:37 Black Sea and you deny Russia access to the Eastern 16:43 Mediterranean and all you're watching is an American project to do that in the 16:50 21st century the idea 16:55 was that there would be Ukraine Romania Bulgaria turkey and 17:03 Georgia as the Black Sea literal that would deprive Russia of any 17:12 International status by blocking the Black Sea and essentially 17:19 by neutralizing Russia as more than a local power brinsky is completely clear 17:26 about this and before rinsky there was mender and who owns the island of the 17:34 world owns the world so this project goes back a long time I think it goes 17:40 back basically to Palmerston in 19 and again I've lived 17:49 through every Administration I've known these presidents I've known their teams nothing changed much from Clinton 17:57 to Bush to Obama to Trump one to 18:02 Biden maybe they got worse step by step Biden was the worst in my 18:09 view uh maybe also because he was not compos mtis for the last couple of years 18:16 and I say that seriously not as a snarky remark the American political system is 18:23 a system of image it's a system of media manipulation every day 18:29 it is a PR system and so you could have a president that basically doesn't 18:35 function and have that in power for two years and actually have that President 18:42 run for reelection and one damn thing is he had to stand on a stage for 90 18:47 minutes by himself and that was the end of it had it not been that mistake he 18:53 would have gone on to have his candidacy whether he was sleeping after 400 p.m. in the afternoon or 18:59 not so this is actually the reality everybody goes along with it it's 19:06 impolite to say anything that I'm saying because we don't speak the truth about 19:12 almost anything in this world right now so this project went on from the 19:19 1990s bombing Belgrade 78 straight days in 1999 was part of this project 19:27 splitting a part the country when borders are Sacro San aren't they indeed 19:33 except for Kosovo that's fine because borders are sacrosanct except when America changes 19:42 them Sudan was another related project the South Sudan Rebellion did 19:50 that just happen because South Sudanese rebelled or can I give you the CIA 19:57 Playbook to please understand as grown-ups what this is 20:04 about military events are costly they require equipment 20:10 training base camps intelligence finance that comes from Big 20:18 powers that doesn't come from local 20:23 insurrections South Sudan did not defeat North Sudan or Sudan 20:30 in a tribal battle it was a US project I would go often to Nairobi and 20:39 meet us military or senators or others with deep interest in Sudan's 20:48 politics this was part of the game of 20:53 unipolarity so the NATO enlargement as you know started in 1999 with Hungary 20:59 Poland and the Czech Republic and Russia was extremely unhappy about it but these were 21:06 countries still far from the border and Russia protested but of course to no avail then 21:15 George Bush Jr came in when 911 occurred President Putin pledged all 21:22 support and then the US uh decided in 21:28 September mber 20th 21:33 2001 that it would launch seven wars in five years and you can listen to General 21:41 Wesley Clark online talk about that he was NATO Supreme Commander in 21:47 1999 he went to the Pentagon on September 20th 2001 he was handed the 21:53 paper explaining seven wars these by the way were Netanyahu 21:59 Wars the idea was partly to clean up old Soviet allies and partly to take out 22:06 supporters of Hamas and Hezbollah because netanyahu's idea was 22:12 there will be one state thank you only one state it will be Israel Israel will 22:18 control all of the territory and anyone that objects we will overthrow not we 22:25 exactly our friend the United States that's US policy until this 22:32 morning we don't know whether it will change now the only wrinkle is that 22:37 maybe the US will own Gaza instead of Israel owning Gaza but the idea has been around at 22:46 least for 25 years it actually goes back to a 22:51 document called clean break that Netanyahu and his American political team put together in 1996 to end the 23:01 idea of the two-state solution you can also find it online so these are projects these are 23:08 long-term events these aren't is it Clinton is it bush is it 23:15 Obama That's the boring way to look at American politics as the day-to-day game but 23:21 that's not what American politics is so the next round of NATO enlargement 23:27 came in 2004 with seven more countries the three Baltic states 23:34 Romania Bulgaria Slovenia and Slovakia at this point Russia was pretty 23:41 damn upset this was a complete violation of the postwar order 23:49 agreed with German reunification essentially it was 23:55 a it it was a fundamental trick or defection of the US from a Cooperative 24:02 Arrangement is what it amounted to because they believe in 24:10 unipolarity so as everybody recalls because we just had the Munich security conference last week in 2007 President 24:17 Putin said stop enough enough stop 24:23 now and of course what that meant was in 2008 the United States Jam down Europe's 24:29 throat enlargement of NATO to Ukraine and Georgia this is a long-term 24:35 project I listened to Mr sakash in New York in May of 2008 and I walked out 24:44 called Sonia and said this man's crazy and a month later a war broke out 24:50 because the United States told this guy we save Georgia and he stands at the 24:57 Council on Foreign ation says Georgia's in the center of Europe well it ain't 25:03 ladies and gentlemen it's not in the center of Europe and the most recent events are 25:10 not helpful for Georgia for its safety and your MPS going there or MEPS going 25:16 there and European politicians that gets Georgia destroyed that doesn't save Georgia that gets Georgia 25:24 destroyed completely destroyed in 20 8 as everybody knows our former CIA 25:33 director William Burns sent a long message back to condalisa Rice net means 25:38 net about expansion this we know from Julian Assange because believe me not 25:45 one word is told to the American people about anything or to you or by any of 25:51 your newspapers these days so we have Julian Assange to thank 25:57 but we can read the memo in detail as you know Victor yanukovich was 26:03 elected in 2010 on the platform of neutrality Russia had no 26:11 territorial interests or designs in Ukraine at all I know I was there during these PE 26:19 these years what Russia was negotiating was a 25-year lease to 2042 26:28 for saastal Naval Base that's it not for Crimea not for the donbas 26:35 nothing like that this idea that Putin is 26:40 reconstructing the Russian Empire this is childish propaganda excuse me if 26:48 anyone knows the daytoday and year-to-year history this is childish 26:55 stuff childish stuff seems to work better than adult old stuff so no designs at all the United 27:04 States decided this man must be overthrown it's called a regime change 27:11 operation there have been about a hundred of them by the United States many in your 27:18 countries and many all over the world that's what the CIA does for a 27:26 living okay please know it it's a very unusual kind of foreign policy but in 27:34 America if you don't like the other side you don't negotiate with them you try to 27:41 overthrow them preferably covertly if it doesn't work covertly you 27:49 do it overtly you always say it's not our fault they're the aggressor they're the 27:56 other side they're Hitler that comes up every two or three years whether it's 28:01 Saddam Hussein whether it's Assad whether it's Putin that's very 28:06 convenient that's the only foreign policy explanation the American people are ever given 28:14 anywhere well we're facing Munich 1938 well we're facing Munich 1938 can't talk 28:21 to the other side they're evil implacable foes that's the only model of foreign 28:28 policy we ever hear from our mass media and the mass media repeats it entirely 28:36 because it's completely suborned by the US government now in 2014 Ukraine Euromaidan 28:44 2014 the US worked actively to overthrow 28:50 yanukovich everybody knows the phone call intercepted by my Columbia University colleague Victoria nuland 28:59 and the US ambassador Peter Pat can't remember if I told you this or 29:04 if I only told Washington this that when I talked to Jeff feltman this morning he had a new name for the UN guy Robert 29:11 Siri did I write you that this morning yeah I saw that he's now gotten both 29:17 Siri and Bon kimoon to agree that Siri could come in Monday or Tuesday okay so 29:24 that would be great I think to help glue this thing and have the un help glue it and you know the EU no exactly and 29:32 I think we've got to do something to make it stick together because you can be pretty sure that if it does if it 29:37 does start to gain altitude the Russians will be working behind the scenes to try to torpedo it you don't get better 29:44 evidence the Russians intercepted her call and they put it on the internet 29:49 listen to it it's fascinating I know all these people by the way by doing that they all 29:57 got promoted in the Biden Administration that's the job now when 30:04 the maidon occurred I was called immediately oh Professor Sachs the new 30:11 Ukrainian prime minister would like to see you to talk about the economic 30:17 crisis because I'm pretty good at that and so I flew to 30:23 Kiev and I was walked around the maidan and and I was told how the US 30:30 paid the money for all the people around the maidan 30:36 spontaneous revolution of dignity ladies and Gentlemen 30:42 please where do all these media Outlets come from where does all this 30:47 organization come from where do all these buses come from where do all these people called in come from are you 30:55 kidding this is organized and 31:00 effort and it's not a secret except to citizens of Europe and 31:09 the United States everyone else understands it quite 31:14 clearly then came Minsk and especially Minsk Minsk Agreements 31:20 2 which by the way was modeled on South troan 31:26 autonomy and the belg could have related to MS2 very well it 31:32 said there should be autonomy for the Russians speaking regions in the east of 31:39 Ukraine it was supported unanimously by the UN Security 31:45 Council the United States and Ukraine decided it was not to 31:51 be enforced Germany and France which were the guarantors of the Normandy process 31:59 Let It Go and it was absolutely another direct 32:07 American unipolar action with Europe as usual playing 32:13 completely useless subsidiary role even though it was a guarantor of the 32:20 agreement Trump one raised the armaments there were many thousands of 32:28 deaths in the shelling by Ukraine in the donbas there was no Minsk 2 32:35 agreement and then Biden came into office and again I know all these people 32:42 I used to be a member of the democratic party I now am strictly sworn to be a 32:50 member of no party because both are the same 32:56 anyway and because this is I the Democrats became complete warmongers 33:02 over time and there not was not one voice about peace just like most of your 33:10 parliamentarians the same way so at the end of 33:19 1991 Putin put on the table a last effort in two security agreement draft 33:28 one with Europe and one with the United States the US put on the table December 15th n uh 33:36 2021 I had an hour call with Jake Sullivan in the white house Sachs' Call with Jake Sullivan 33:42 begging Jake avoid the war you can avoid the war all you have 33:49 to do is say nato will not enlarge to Ukraine and he said to me oh NATO is not 33:58 going to enlarge to Ukraine don't worry about it I said Jake say it publicly no 34:04 no no we can't say it publicly said Jake you're going to have a war over 34:10 something that isn't even going to happen he said don't worry Jeff there will be no 34:17 war these are not very bright people I'm telling you if I can give you 34:25 my honest view they're not very bright people and I've dealt with them for more than 40 34:30 years they talk to themselves they don't talk to anybody else they play game 34:37 theory in non-cooperative Game Theory you don't talk to the other side you 34:42 just make your strategy this is the essence of Game 34:50 Theory it's not negotiation Theory it's not peacemaking Theory it is UN atal 34:59 non-cooperative theory if you know formal Game Theory that's what they play 35:04 it started at the Rand Corporation that's what they still play in 2019 35:09 there's a paper by Rand how do we extend Russia do you know they wrote a paper 35:15 which Biden followed how do we annoy Russia that's literally the strategy how 35:23 do we annoy Russia we're trying to provoke it trying to make could break 35:28 apart maybe have regime change maybe have unrest maybe have economic 35:33 crisis that's what you call your ally are you 35:41 [Music] kidding so I had a long and 35:46 frustrating phone call with suvan I was standing out in the freezing 35:52 cold I happen to be H trying to have a ski day 35:58 and there I was Jake don't have the war oh there'll be no war 36:04 Jeff we know a lot of what happened the next month which is that they refus to NATO's Open Door Policy 36:12 negotiate the stupidest idea of NATO is the so-called open door 36:18 policy are you kidding NATO reserves the right to go where it wants without any 36:26 neighbor having any say whatsoever well I tell the Mexicans and 36:32 the Canadians don't try it you know Trump may want to take over Canada 36:40 so Canada could say to China why don't you build a military base uh in uh in in 36:47 Ontario I wouldn't advise it and the United States would not say 36:53 well it's an open door that's their business I mean they can do what they want that's not our 36:59 business but grown-ups in Europe repeat this in Europe in your commission your 37:08 high representative this is nonsense stuff this is not even baby 37:17 geopolitics this is just not thinking at all so the war started what was Putin's Putin's Intentions in Ukraine 37:25 intention in the war I can tell you what his intention was it was to force 37:33 zalinski to negotiate neutrality and that happened within 7 37:41 Days of the start of the invasion you should understand this not 37:48 the propaganda that's written about this oh that they failed and he was going to take over 37:54 Ukraine come on ladies and gentlemen understand something 37:59 basic the idea was to keep NATO and what is NATO it's the United 38:06 States off of Russia's border no more no 38:12 less I should add one very important Point why are they so interested first 38:22 because if China or Russia decided to have a military base on the Rio Grand or 38:29 in uh the Canadian border Not only would the United States freak out we'd have 38:34 War within about 10 minutes but because the United States 38:40 unilaterally abandoned the anti-ballistic missile treaty in 2002 38:46 and ended the nuclear arms control framework by doing so and this is extremely important to 38:55 understand the nuclear Arms Control framework is based on trying to block a 39:01 first strike the ABM Treaty was a critical component of that the US unilaterally 39:08 walked out of the ABM Treaty in 2002 it blew a Russian gasket so everything I've 39:15 been describing is in the context of the destruction of the nuclear framework as well and starting in 2010 the US put in 39:24 AIS missile systems in Poland and then in 39:29 Romania and Russia doesn't like that and one of the issues on the table in 39:35 December and January December 2021 January 2022 was does the United States 39:42 claim the right to put missile systems in Ukraine and blinkin told lavro in 39:49 January 2022 the United States reserves the right to put middle missile systems 39:55 wherever it wants that's 40:00 your putative Ally and now let's put intermediate 40:06 missile systems back in Germany the United States walked out of the INF treaty unilaterally in 2019 there is no 40:14 nuclear arms framework right now 40:21 none when zalinsky said in seven days let's 2022 Peace Talks 40:26 negotiate I know the details of this 40:31 exquisitly because I've talked to all the parities in 40:36 detail within a couple of weeks there was a document 40:42 exchanged that President Putin had approved that lavro had presented that 40:47 was being managed by the Turkish mediators I flew to anchora to listen in 40:54 detail to what the mediators were doing Ukraine walked away unilaterally 41:02 from a near agreement why because the United States 41:09 told them to because the UK added icing to the cake by having 41:18 Bojo go in early April to Ukraine and 41:24 explain and he has recently and if your security is in the hands of Boris 41:29 Johnson God help us all Keith starmer turns out to be even 41:35 worse it's unimaginable but it is 41:42 true Boris Johnson has explained and you can look it 41:47 up on the website that what's at stake here is Western 41:54 hegemony not Ukraine Western he 42:00 Michael and I met at the Vatican with a group in the spring of 42:05 20122 where we wrote a document explaining nothing good can come out of 42:11 this war for Ukraine negotiate now because anything that takes time will mean massive amounts of deaths risk of 42:20 nuclear escalation and likely loss of the 42:26 war I wouldn't change one word from what we wrote then nothing was wrong in that 42:32 document and since that document since the US talked the negotiators away from 42:38 the table about a million ukrainians have died or been severely 42:45 wounded and the American Senators who are as nasty and cynical and corrupt as 42:54 imaginable say this is wonderful expenditure of our money because no Americans are 43:00 dying it's the pure proxy war one of our Senators near by me uh 43:07 Blumenthal says this out loud Mitt Romney says this out loud it's 43:14 best money America can spend no Americans are dying it's 43:21 unreal now just to bring us up to yesterday 43:28 this failed this project failed the idea of the project was that Russia would 43:34 fold its hand the idea all along was Russia can't 43:40 resist as big new binski explained in 1997 the Americans thought we have the 43:47 upper hand we're going to win because we're going to Bluff them they're not really 43:54 going to fight they're not really going to mobilize the nuclear option of cutting them out 44:00 of Swift that's going to do them in the 44:06 economic sanctions that's going to do them in the himars that's going to do them in 44:13 the attacks the f-16s honestly I've listened to this for 44:21 70 years I've listened to it as semi understanding I'd say for 44:27 about 56 years they speak nonsense every day my 44:33 country my government this is so familiar to me completely familiar I begged the 44:42 ukrainians and I had a track record with the ukrainians I advised the ukrainians I'm not anti-ukrainian I'm pro-ukrainian 44:49 completely I said save your lives save your sovereignty save your territory be 44:55 neutral don't listen to the Americans I repeated to them the famous 45:01 adage of Henry Kissinger that to be an enemy of the United States is dangerous 45:07 but to be a friend is fatal okay so let me repeat that for 45:13 Europe to be an enemy of the United States is dangerous but to be a friend 45:18 is fatal so let me now finalize a few words Donald Trump 45:26 about Trump 45:31 Trump does not want the losing hand this is 45:38 why it is more likely than not this war will end because Trump and President Putin 45:47 will agree to end the war if Europe does all its great 45:54 warmongering it doesn't matter the war is ending so get it out of your 46:02 system please tell your colleagues it's 46:07 over and it's over because Trump doesn't want to carry a 46:14 loser that's it it's not some great morality he doesn't want to carry a 46:21 loser this is a loser the one that will be saved by the 46:26 negoti iations taking place right now is Ukraine second is Europe your stock 46:33 markets rising in recent Days by the horrible news of negotiations I know 46:40 this has been met with the sheer Horror in these Chambers but this is the best 46:47 news that you could get now I encouraged they don't listen to me but I 46:55 tried to reach out to some of the European leaders most don't want to hear 47:00 anything from me at all but I said don't go to 47:08 Kiev go to Moscow discuss with your 47:13 counterparts are you kidding you're Europe you're 450 million people your $ 47:19 20 trillion economy you should be the main economic 47:25 Trading partner of Russia it's natural 47:31 links by the way if anyone would like to discuss how the US blew up nordstream 47:37 I'd be happy to talk about 47:43 that so the Trump Administration is 47:49 imperialist at heart it is a great 47:55 powers dominate the world it is we will do what we want when 48:01 we can we will be better than a 48:08 ccent Biden and we'll cut our losses where we have 48:14 to there are several war zones in the world the Middle East being another we 48:20 don't know what will happen with that again if Europe had a proper policy you 48:26 could stop that war I'll explain how but war with China is also a 48:36 possibility so I'm not saying that we're at the new age of 48:42 Peace but we are in a uh very uh different kind of politics 48:51 right now and Europe should have a foreign policy and not just a foreign policy of 48:59 russophobia a foreign policy that is a realistic foreign policy that 49:04 understands Russia's situation that understands Europe's situation that understands what America is and what it 49:10 stands for that tries to avoid Europe being invaded by the 49:17 United States because it's not impossible that 49:23 America will just land troops in Danish territory 49:28 I'm not joking and I don't think they're joking and Europe needs a foreign policy 49:35 a real one not a yes we'll bargain with 49:41 Mr Trump and meet him halfway you know what that will be like 49:47 give me a call afterwards please don't have American 49:55 officials as head of Europe have European officials 50:02 please have a European foreign policy you're going to be living with 50:07 Russia for a long time so please negotiate with 50:12 Russia there are real security issues on the table but the bombast and the 50:21 russophobia is not serving your security at all it's not serving you security at 50:27 all and contributed to a million casualties in Ukraine from this idiotic 50:34 American Adventure that you signed on to and then became the lead cheerleaders 50:40 of solves Middle East 50:45 nothing on the Middle East by the way the 50:51 US completely handed over foreign policy to Netanyahu 30 years ago ago the Israel 50:58 Lobby dominates American politics just have no doubt about it I could explain 51:06 for hours how it works it's very dangerous I'm hoping that Trump will not 51:14 destroy his administration and worse the Palestinian people because of Netanyahu who I regard 51:22 as a war criminal uh properly indicted by the 51:29 IC and that needs to be told no more that there will be a state of Palestine 51:36 on the borders of the 4th of June 1967 according to international law as 51:42 the only way for peace it's the only way for Europe to have peace on your borders 51:50 with the Middle East is the two-state solution there is only one obst Le to it 51:57 by the way and that is the veto of the United States and the UN Security Council so if you want to have some 52:04 influence tell the United States Drop The veto you are together with 180 countries 52:13 in the world the only ones that oppose a Palestinian state 52:19 are the United States Israel Micronesia naaru 52:27 poao Papa guini Mr 52:32 Malay and Paraguay so this is a place where Europe 52:39 could have a big influence Europe has gone silent about the jcpoa and 52:46 Iran netanyahu's greatest dream in life is a war between the United States and 52:52 Iran he's not given up and it's not impossible that that would come 52:58 also and that's because the US in this regard does not have an independent 53:04 foreign policy it is run by Israel it's tragic it's amazing by the 53:12 way and it could end Trump may say that 53:18 he wants foreign policy back maybe I'm hoping that it's the case finally let me China 53:24 just say with respect to China China CH is not an enemy China is just a success 53:31 story that's why it is viewed by the United States as an enemy because China 53:38 is a bigger economy than the United States that's 53:46 [Applause] 53:55 all there 54:01 [Applause] 54:07 thanks very well now questions please don't make any 54:12 statements just make questions because we are too many and we we don't have 54:18 that all that much time so um where do I start I start with on the left side I 54:25 have a preference to left as you know you come all yeah go ahead uh thank you Jeffrey 54:32 Sak uh from the Czech Republic we are glad we have you here uh we have a problem uh we were cursed by a witch who Europe-Russia Relations 54:39 uh told the EU and the EU is marked uh so uh it won't be improved until 54:46 2029 but what we the central Europeans should do in the meantime especially if 54:52 the Germans doesn't don't happen to vote for SAR enough uh are we supposed to create some 55:00 kind of neutrality for the Central Europe or what would you suggest us to do 55:08 yeah so uh first of all uh all my 55:13 grandchildren are Czech I want you to know uh and Sonia is a Czech born and 55:20 Czech citizen um so we're very proud uh I'm I'm the trailing spouse in this but 55:26 I'm a check wannabe 55:34 um Europe needs to have a foreign policy that is a European foreign policy and it 55:41 needs to be a realist foreign policy realist is not hate realist is actually 55:48 trying to understand both sides and to negotiate there are two kinds of 55:54 realists a defensive realist an offensive realist uh my dear friend John 56:00 mimer who is the offensive realist I I we're very close friends and I love him 56:06 but I believe more than he does you talk to the other side and you find a way to 56:12 make uh an understanding and so basically 56:21 uh Russia is not going to invade Europe this is the fundamental point it may get 56:29 up to the deeper River it's not going to invade Europe 56:35 but there are real issues the the main issue for Russia was 56:42 the United States because Russia as a major power and a the largest nuclear 56:50 power in the world was profoundly concerned about us unipolarity 56:56 from the beginning now that this is seemingly possibly ending Europe has to open 57:04 negotiations directly with Russia as well because the United States will quickly lose interest and you're going 57:11 to be living with Russia for the next thousands of years okay so what do you want you want 57:20 to make sure that the Baltic states are secure the best thing for the Baltic 57:25 states is to stop their russophobia this is the most important 57:33 thing Estonia has about 25% Russian citizens Russian speaking citizens 57:39 ethnic Russians Lota the 57:45 same don't provoke the neighbor that's 57:52 all this is not hard it really isn't Hur and again I 57:59 want to explain my point of view I have helped these countries the 58:05 ones I'm talking about trying to advise I'm not their enemy I'm not Putin's puppet I'm not Putin's 58:12 apologist I worked in Estonia they gave me I don't it's not I think it's the 58:19 second highest civilian honor that a president of Estonia can bestow on a 58:24 non-national because I designed their currency system for them in 58:31 1992 so I'm giving them advice do not stand there Estonia and say we want to 58:37 break up Russia are you kidding don't this is not how to survive in this 58:46 world you survive with mutual respect 58:52 actually you survive in negotiation you survive in discussion you don't 58:59 Outlaw the Russian language not a good idea when 25% of 59:05 your population is has a first language of Russian it's not right even if there 59:12 weren't a giant On the Border it wouldn't be the right thing to do you'd 59:18 have it as an official language you'd have a language of a in lower school you 59:24 wouldn't antagonize the Russian Orthodox church so basically we need to behave 59:31 like grown-ups and when I constantly 59:38 say that they're acting like children Sonia always says to me that's unfair to 59:46 children because this is worse than children we have a six-year-old 59:52 granddaughter and a three-year-old grandson and they actually make up with their 1:00:00 friends and we don't tell them go just just ridicule them tomorrow and every 1:00:08 day we say go give them a hug and go 1:00:13 play and they do this is not 1:00:19 hard by the way well anyway I won't be labor the point Thank you so elect the 1:00:25 new I should say all I should say is change change 1:00:31 policy I don't want to have a political leaning here yeah maybe a lady and does that work yeah hi my name 1:00:39 is Cara I'm a reporter with the Brussels times um thank you for the fascinating talk Jeffrey um I just wanted to ask you NATO 5% Defence Spending 1:00:45 about Trump's statements about wanting uh NATO members to increase their spending by 5% and we're now seeing lots 1:00:51 of countries scrambling to prove that they're going to do that including Belgium and given that Belgium is also 1:00:56 the NATO headquarters um I wanted to ask you what would be the appropriate response to those statements by NATO 1:01:02 members thanks great thank you uh we don't see exactly eye eye on this 1:01:08 question so let me let me give you my own uh my own view 1:01:14 um my first recommendation with all respect to Brussels is move the NATO 1:01:20 headquarters somewhere else uh I I mean it's seriously because one 1:01:28 of the worst parts of European policy right now is a complete 1:01:34 confusion of Europe and NATO these are completely different but 1:01:39 they became exactly the same Europe is much better than 1:01:46 nato in my opinion NATO isn't even needed anymore I would have ended it in 1:01:54 1991 but because the US viewed it as a 1:01:59 instrument of aemy not as a defense against Russia it 1:02:04 continued afterwards but the confusion of NATO and Europe is 1:02:12 deadly because expanding Europe meant expanding NATO period and these should have been 1:02:20 completely different things so this is uh the first point 1:02:27 my own view again with all respect to Michael we only had a brief conversation 1:02:32 about it is that Europe should have Europe basically should have its own 1:02:38 foreign policy and its own uh its own military security its own 1:02:45 strategic autonomy so-called and it should I'm in favor of that I would disband NATO and maybe Trump is going to 1:02:53 do it anyway maybe Trump's going to invade Greenland who knows then you're really 1:02:59 going to find out what NATO means 1:03:04 so I do think that Europe should invest in its 1:03:09 security 5% is outlandish ridiculous 1:03:16 absurd completely absurd no one needs to spend anything like that 1:03:23 amount 2 to 3% of GDP probably under the current 1:03:30 circumstances what I would do by the way is by European 1:03:38 production because actually strangely 1:03:43 weirdly unfortunately in this world and it's a true truism but it's unfortunate 1:03:51 so I'm not championing it a lot of technological Innovation spins off from 1:03:59 the military sector because governments invest in the military 1:04:04 sector so Trump is a arms salesman you 1:04:10 understand that he's selling American 1:04:16 Arms he is selling American Technology Vance told you a few days ago 1:04:23 don't even think about having your own AI 1:04:28 technology so please understand that this increase of 1:04:34 spending is for the United States not for 1:04:40 you and in this sense I'm completely against that approach but I would not be against an 1:04:47 approach of Europe spending two to three% of GDP for a unified European 1:04:54 security structure and invested in Europe and European 1:05:00 technology and not having the United States dictate the use of European 1:05:07 technology it's so interesting it's the Netherlands that produces the only 1:05:12 Machines of advanced semiconductors extreme ultraviolet 1:05:19 lithography it's asml but America determines every policy of asml 1:05:26 the Netherlands doesn't even have a footnote I wouldn't do that if I were 1:05:32 you hand over all security to the United States I wouldn't do it I would have 1:05:39 your own security framework so you can have your own foreign policy framework 1:05:45 as well Europe stands for lots of things that the United States does not stand 1:05:51 for Europe stands for climate action by the way rightly so because our 1:05:57 president is completely Bonkers on this and Europe stands for 1:06:04 indecency for social democracy as an ethos I'm not talking about a party I'm 1:06:10 talking about an ethos of how equality of Life 1:06:16 occurs Europe stands for multilateralism Europe stands for the UN 1:06:21 Charter the US stands for none of those things you know that our secretary of state Marco Rubio 1:06:30 cancelled his trip to South Africa because on the agenda was equality and 1:06:38 sustainability and he said I'm not getting into that that is an honest reflection of 1:06:46 deep anglosaxon 1:06:51 libertarianism egalitarianism is not a word of the American 1:06:57 lexicon sustainable development not at all you probably know by the way that of 1:07:04 the 193 UN member states 1:07:10 191 have had sdg plans presented as voluntary National reviews 1:07:17 191 two have not Haiti and the United 1:07:22 States of America the the Biden Administration wasn't even allowed to say sustainable 1:07:29 development goals the treasury had a policy not to say sustainable 1:07:34 development goals okay I mention all of this because you need your own foreign 1:07:41 policy I issue a report two reports each year one the world happiness report and 1:07:48 18 of the top 20 countries if I I remember correctly are European this is 1:07:53 the highest quality of life in the world so you need your own policy to 1:07:59 protect that quality of life the United States ranks way 1:08:05 down and the other report where's my colleague Gom is somewhere in the room 1:08:10 here there he is Gom La foron is the lead author of our annual sustainable 1:08:16 development report and almost all of the top 20 countries are European countries 1:08:23 because you believe in this stuff and that's why you're the happiest except in 1:08:32 geopolitics but quality of life so you need your 1:08:37 own foreign policy but you won't have it unless you have your own security you 1:08:42 just won't and so and by the way 27 countries cannot each have their own 1:08:49 foreign policy this is a problem you need a European foreign policy and and a 1:08:55 European security structure and by the way although Michael assures me it's dead I was the greatest fan of 1:09:04 osce and believe that occe is the proper framework for European security it could 1:09:11 really work okay and um afterwards first thank 1:09:19 you thank you very much you at the lunch no you can yeah yeah okay uh well uh thank you Professor I'm from Slovakia 1:09:26 and my prime minister Robert fito was almost shot dead because the opinions you had the similar with him uh yes we 1:09:34 are as a Slovakia Slovak government of the few countries in the European Union we are talking to Russians uh two months 1:09:41 ago I was talking with Mr medv uh in two weeks I will be talking uh in Duma with 1:09:47 Mr slutzki who is the chairman of the Russian uh foreign affairs Committee in uh Moscow maybe my question is what 2025 Peace Negotiations 1:09:54 would you be your message to Russians in this moment because as I heard they are on 1:10:00 the Victorious wave they have no reason to not to conquer the dbas because that's their War aim and what can Trump 1:10:07 uh can offer to them uh to stop the war immediately what would be what would be 1:10:13 the message for Russians from your side thank you very 1:10:20 much lots of uh important things are uh now on offer and on the table and I 1:10:27 believe that the war will end quickly because of this and this this will be at 1:10:34 least one blessing in a very uh very difficult time exactly what the 1:10:40 settlement will be I think uh is now only a question of the territorial 1:10:47 issues uh and that is whether it is the complete four OAS including all of Heron 1:10:55 and upper Asia or whether it is on the contact line and how all of this will be 1:11:01 negotiated I'm not in the room of the negotiations so I can't really say more 1:11:07 but the basis will be there will be territorial concessions there will be 1:11:14 neutrality there will be security guarantees for Ukraine for all parties 1:11:20 uh there will be at least with the US an end of the economic sanction 1:11:26 but what counts of course is Europe and Russia I think that there are and maybe 1:11:33 there will be a restoration of nuclear arms uh negotiations which would be 1:11:40 extraordinarily positive I think that there are tremendously important issues for 1:11:48 Europe to negotiate directly with Russia 1:11:53 and so I would urge uh president Costa and the leadership of Europe to open 1:12:01 direct discussions with President Putin because European security is on the 1:12:08 table I know the Russian leaders many of them quite well uh they are good 1:12:17 negotiators and uh you should negotiate with them uh and you should negotiate 1:12:23 well with them uh I would ask them some questions uh I 1:12:30 would ask them what are the security guarantees that can work so that this 1:12:36 war ends permanently what are the security guarantees for the Baltic states what 1:12:43 should be done part of the process of negotiation is actually to ask the other 1:12:48 side about your concerns not just to know what they know as you think is to 1:12:55 true but actually to ask we have a real problem we have a real worry what are 1:13:01 the guarantees well I want to know the answers also uh by the way I know Mr 1:13:07 lavro Minister lavro for 30 years I I regard him as a brilliant foreign minister uh talk with him negotiate with 1:13:16 him get ideas put ideas on the table put counter ideas on the table I don't think 1:13:22 all of this can be settled by pure reason because uh of oneself you settle 1:13:30 Wars by negotiating and understanding what are the real issues and you don't 1:13:36 call the other side a liar when they express their issues you work out what 1:13:42 the implications of that are for the mutual benefit of Peace So the most 1:13:50 important thing is stop the yelling stop the war mongering and discuss with the 1:13:58 Russian counterparts and don't beg to be at the table with the United States you 1:14:04 don't need to be in the room with the United States you're Europe you should be in the room with Europe and 1:14:11 Russia if the United States wants to join that's fine but to beg no and by the 1:14:19 way Europe does not need to have Ukraine in the room when Europe talks with 1:14:27 Russia you have a lot of issues direct issues don't hand over your foreign 1:14:34 policy to anybody not to the United States not to Ukraine not to 1:14:40 Israel keep a European foreign policy this is the basic idea 1:14:49 [Applause] 1:14:55 Hans noof from the sovereignist political group in this Parliament um alternative for Germany as political 1:15:02 party first of all let me thank you Mr Sax for being here and sharing your ideas with us and be assured that many 1:15:10 of your ideas and of your colleague John mimer have well been received by 1:15:16 political groups here and have been integrated into our agenda I widely Beginning of NATO Expansion 1:15:21 share your views um yet there's one question regarding the historical 1:15:27 account that you gave uh where I would like to go in some detail and This concerns the beginning of NATO expansion 1:15:36 um you um uh uh reported from uh um the 1:15:42 website um what gorbachov heard that there are many um quotations from Ganser 1:15:48 for example um that NATO will not move one inch eastwards now the two for 1:15:55 treaty has been signed in September 1990 right in Moscow so at that point in time 1:16:02 the waro PCT still existed and countries like Poland Hungary and czechia were not part of the 1:16:10 negotiations for the two and four treaty so The wara Pact actually dissolved in 1:16:16 July 1991 and the Soviet Union dissolved in December 1:16:21 1991 so nobody who was was present in the negotiations could speak for Poland 1:16:28 could speak for Hungary could speak for Slovakia that they would not try to become member of NATO once the overall 1:16:37 situation has changed so the counterargument um which we have to 1:16:42 counter um is that it was on the will of these countries of Poland of Hungary of 1:16:50 Slovakia that they wanted to join NATO because of the very hist 1:16:55 they had with the Soviet Union and of course Russia was still perceived in a 1:17:00 way um as a follower of the Soviet Union so how do you counter that 1:17:12 argument I have no doubt of why Hungary Poland Czech Republic Slovakia wanted to 1:17:21 join NATO the question is what is the US 1:17:27 doing to make peace because NATO is not a choice of Hungary Poland Czech 1:17:34 Republic or Slovakia NATO is a us-led military Alliance and the question is 1:17:42 how are we going to establish peace in a reliable way if I were uh making those decisions 1:17:52 back then I would have ended NATO nato altoe in 1:17:58 1991 when those countries requested NATO I would have explain to them what our 1:18:05 defense secretary William Perry said what our lead Statesman George Kenan 1:18:11 said what our final ambassador to the Soviet Union Jack Matlock said uh they 1:18:18 said well we understand your feelings but it's not a good idea because it could provoke a new cold war with Russia 1:18:26 so that's how I would have answered it when those countries joined uh in the 1:18:32 first wave I don't think it was that consequential in fact except that it was 1:18:40 part of a bigger project and the project was spelled out already in 1994 there's 1:18:46 a very good book by Jonathan Haslam Harvard University press called hubris 1:18:54 which uh gives a detailed historical documentation of step by step what 1:19:00 happened uh and uh it's it's really worth reading um so this is a now but 1:19:08 the point I would really make is that Ukraine and Georgia were too 1:19:16 far this is right up against Russia this is in the context of the 1:19:23 complete dest ization of the nuclear framework this is in the context of the 1:19:29 US putting in missile systems on Russia's borders if you listen to 1:19:34 President Putin over the years probably the main thing if you 1:19:39 listen carefully that he's concerned about is missiles 7 minutes from Moscow 1:19:45 is a decapitation strike and this is very real the US Not 1:19:51 only would freak out but did freak out when this happened in the Western 1:19:57 Hemisphere so it's the Cuban Missile Crisis in reverse and fortunately Nikita kushev 1:20:06 did not stand up and say open door policy of the Warsaw Pact we can go 1:20:13 wherever we want Cuba's asked us it's none of America's business what kushev said Is War my God 1:20:21 we don't want war we end this crisis we both pull back that's what kushev and 1:20:27 Kennedy decided in the end so this is the real consequential Russia even 1:20:34 swallowed with a lot of pain the Baltic states Romania Bulgaria Slovakia and 1:20:40 Slovenia it is Ukraine and Georgia and it's because of geography it's because 1:20:48 of Lord Palmerston it's because of the first Crimean War it's because of the 1:20:53 missile systems that this is the essence of why there was this 1:21:03 [Applause] war um yeah is there anybody else 1:21:10 because then we maybe close what you want to be the last one oh which one 1:21:19 oh can can we still continue yeah no you you come for the lunch don't take 1:21:25 you thank thank you very much Professor sax for coming um here um you've How to achieve a real European Foreign Policy 1:21:31 mentioned that the European Union needs to formulate its own foreign policy um in the past the German Franco Alliance 1:21:38 was a big driver for for those policies now with the Ukraine war arguably that 1:21:44 received the crack um do you think that in the future when the European Union is going to formulate this new foreign 1:21:49 policy that they are going to be again in the front seat or uh should it be other other countries or other blocks um 1:21:56 trying to make that change thank you very much oh it's hard it it's hard because 1:22:08 uh of course you don't yet have a a constitution for Europe which really 1:22:16 underpins a European foreign policy and it can't be by 1:22:22 unanimity there has to be a structure in which Europe can speak as Europe even 1:22:28 with some uh dissent but with the European policy I don't want to 1:22:35 oversimplify how to get there exactly but even with the structures you have 1:22:40 you could do a lot better with negotiating directly the first rule is 1:22:47 your diplomats should be diplomats not secretaries of War 1:22:58 honestly that would go halfway at least to where you want to 1:23:04 go a diplomat is a very special kind of 1:23:09 talent a diplomat is trained to sit together with the other side and to 1:23:16 listen to shake hands to smile and to be pleasant it's very hard it's a skill 1:23:25 it's training it's a profession it's not a 1:23:31 game you need that kind of 1:23:37 diplomacy I'm sorry we are not hearing anything like 1:23:45 that I'll just make a couple complaints first Europe is not NATO as I 1:23:53 said I thought stoltenberg was the worst but I was 1:24:00 wrong it just keeps getting worse could someone in NATO stop 1:24:08 talking for God's sake about more 1:24:14 war and could NATO stop speaking for Europe and Europe stop thinking it's 1:24:21 NATO this is the first absolute Point second I'm sorry but your high 1:24:28 representative vice presidents need to become 1:24:35 diplomats diplomacy means going to Moscow inviting your Russian counterpart 1:24:45 here discussing this doesn't happen till 1:24:52 now so this is really my point now 1:24:59 I believe that Europe should become more integrated and more unified in the years 1:25:06 ahead I'm a strong believer in subsidiarity so we were discussing I 1:25:13 don't think housing policy is really Europe's main issue I think this can be 1:25:19 handled at the local level or at the national level I don't see it as a European issue but I don't see foreign 1:25:26 policy as being a 27 country issue I see it being as a European issue and I see 1:25:33 security being at a European level so I think things need to be readjusted but 1:25:39 I'd like to see more Europe for truly European issues and maybe less Europe 1:25:45 for things that are properly subsidiary to Europe at the national and the local 1:25:50 level and I hope that uh such an Evolution can take place you know when 1:25:56 the world talks about great Powers right now they talk about us Russia China I 1:26:04 include India and I really want to include Europe and I really want to 1:26:10 include Africa as an African Union and I want that to happen but 1:26:17 you'll notice on the list Europe doesn't show up right now and this is because there is no European foreign policy 1:26:28 okay you maybe after you one more then we when I close is there is there 1:26:33 anybody wanted I would prefer a woman actually if I'm there you you you wanted 1:26:40 no first first this gentlemen and then you close okay sorry for this one it's 1:26:46 a thank you very much and thank you very much Professor for this very courageous speech very clear speech also that you 1:26:52 made I'm an MEP from Luxemburg uh my question is the following what are the long-term 1:26:58 consequences of this lost War we lost the war now we have an uncertain future for NATO we have also clearly and you 1:27:06 refer to it the marginalization of Europe we have um a strengthening of the 1:27:11 bricks countries which can be rivals in many uh respects so will there be a 1:27:17 future for a collective West over the next 20 or 30 years thank you very much 1:27:26 I I don't believe there is a collective West uh I believe that there is a United 1:27:32 States and Europe that are uh in some 1:27:37 areas uh in parallel interests and in many areas not in parallel 1:27:43 interest I I want Europe to lead uh sustainable The Future of the West 1:27:51 development climate transformation Global 1:27:56 decency I believe if the world world looked more like Europe it' be a happier 1:28:03 more peaceful safer world and long longevity and better food by the way uh 1:28:11 but uh just saying um in any event Europe has a vocation that is 1:28:17 rather different from the American tradition and frankly from the angloa 1:28:24 tradition because it's been 200 years of anglo-saxon hegemony or aspirational 1:28:31 hegemony the British still believe they run the world it's amazing what 1:28:36 nostalgia means uh they don't even stop 1:28:42 it's almost like a Monty Python skit actually uh but in any event 1:28:49 um where was I I'm thinking of Monty Python when uh 1:28:54 when the Knight gets all his limbs cut off and says everything's fine I'm Victorious that's Britain unfortunately 1:29:01 uh and so it's uh it's it's really terrible so no I don't believe in the 1:29:07 collective West I don't believe in the global South uh I don't believe in uh I 1:29:13 all these geographies don't even make sense because I'm actually you know I look at Maps a lot and the global South 1:29:20 is mostly in the North and the West is not even West uh and so I don't even 1:29:26 understand what this is about I do believe that um we could be in a true 1:29:36 age of abundance if we got our heads on straight we're in the biggest 1:29:43 technological advance in human history it's truly amazing what can be done 1:29:50 right now you know I Marvel at the fact that that somebody who knows no 1:29:56 chemistry won the Nobel Peace Prize for chemistry because he's very good at Deep 1:30:03 neural networks a genius Demis hbus 1:30:09 um they figured out protein folding uh that uh generations of biochemists spent 1:30:16 their whole lives on and now U Deep Mind figured out how to do it U you know uh 1:30:24 by the thousands of proteins we have friends that spent their entire life on one protein brilliant friends and uh now 1:30:32 what we can do so if actually and same with renewable energy as everybody knows 1:30:38 the prices come down by more than two orders of magnitude the costs we could 1:30:45 transform the planet we could protect the climate system we could protect biodiversity we could ensure every child 1:30:52 gets a good education we could do so many wonderful things right now and so 1:30:58 what do we need to do that in my view we need peace most importantly and my basic 1:31:06 point is there are no deep reasons for conflict 1:31:11 anywhere as every conflict I study is just a mistake it's not we are not 1:31:19 struggling for laon's real that idea that came from Mal 1:31:24 and it became a Nazi idea was always a wrong idea it was a mistake a 1:31:31 fundamental intellectual mistake an intellectual Mistake by the 1:31:37 way cuz leading scientists adopted the idea that we had race Wars we had 1:31:42 National Wars we had Wars of survival because we don't have enough on the planet as an economist I can tell you we 1:31:50 have plenty on the planet for everybody's development plenty we're not in a conflict with 1:31:57 China we're not in a conflict with Russia if we calm 1:32:04 down if you ask about the long term the long term is very good thank you the 1:32:11 long term if we don't blow ourselves up is very good and so this is what we 1:32:18 should aim for a positive shared Vision under International 1:32:24 law because of our technology things operate at a regional scale now it used 1:32:30 to be it was Villages then it was a it was small areas then it was unification 1:32:36 of countries now it's regional that's not just because regions are wonderful 1:32:42 it's because the underlying technological reality say Europe should be an integrated area by transport by 1:32:49 fast rail by digital by and so there's Europe the politics follows the 1:32:55 technological realities to a very important extent we're in a world of regions 1:33:00 now so Europe should be Europe with subsidiarity don't lose all of the 1:33:08 wonderful wonderful national and local elements but Europe should be Europe so 1:33:16 the good side is let's I want Europe to have diplomacy for example with Assan I 1:33:22 spend a lot of time with the aan countries if the the EU green deal wonderful 1:33:31 idea I said many years ago okay to the Assan leaders make an Assan green deal 1:33:39 and then talk with the Europeans so that you have this uh wonderful relationship 1:33:45 trade investment technology so last year they announced an aan green deal what 1:33:51 did Europe do about it nothing it said sorry we're in the Ukraine war thank you no interest so this is my 1:34:01 point the prospects are very positive if we construct the 1:34:08 piece [Applause] yeah because we have to go I get all the 1:34:16 time messages that I should here leave the room can you something very short yeah 1:34:23 um do you think that a way out of the conflict is some kind of style of Finlandization 1:34:28 finlandization um and then like is that what you would have sorry yeah is that what you would have lik to see like 1:34:35 Sweden and finland's foreign policy as an example like is that instead of them becoming members of NATO is that the way 1:34:42 that you would have likeed to see these countries handled out foreign policy um and do you think that these countries 1:34:49 that border Russia should just kind of succumb to their fate that okay we can't provoke Russia like this is the way we 1:34:54 have to live yeah very good excellent question and let me let me just report 1:35:03 one uh part about finlandization finlandization landed Finland number one in the world 1:35:11 happiness report year after year Rich successful happy and secure that's 1:35:21 prenado so finlandization was a wonderful thing number one in the world 1:35:28 when Sweden and Finland and Austria were neutral Bravo smart when Ukraine was 1:35:36 neutral smart if you have two superpowers keep them apart a little bit 1:35:42 you don't have to be right with your nose up against each other especially if one of them the US is pushing its nose 1:35:49 into the other one and so finlandization 1:35:55 to my mind has a very positive connotation so does Austrian 1:36:00 isation Austria 1955 signed its uh 1:36:06 neutrality the Soviet Army left and Austria is a wonderful place by the way 1:36:12 absolutely wonderful and so this is uh basic how to avoid conflict if the 1:36:19 United States had any sense at all it would have left these countries as a neutral space in between the US Military 1:36:29 and Russia but that's where the US lost it thank you very much let 1:36:35 [Applause] me I I just want to end with an appeal I 1:36:42 think we both agree that we will have a the war will end within a month or two 1:36:49 and that means the fighting will end it doesn't mean that we will have peace in Europe the peace in Europe that has to 1:36:54 be done by us by Europeans not by a president from the United States we have to create this peace and that is Europe 1:37:01 which includes of course Belarus Russia and all these other countries so we have to do something and we are here at 1:37:08 Parliament as a parliamentarians we represent people we are the only legitimate democratically legitimate 1:37:14 institution in the European Union maybe we should have become all a little bit more proactive in trying to move this 1:37:22 peace process forward cross party lines I think I don't know how many parties here really are but that we can talk to 1:37:27 each other without saying ah you're from this party you're from this party I think we really have to concentrate if 1:37:33 here we could not take more initiative from the parliament Visa V the commission and saying we are presenting 1:37:40 the people not you we are presenting the people and these people in Europe want peace and that's what we should go so 1:37:46 maybe this is the beginning of one we will make every month I will organize with my colleagues an or the same thing 1:37:53 here about different topics which were all around it and we hope that this one we get a discussion that is different 1:37:59 what we have in the plenum where we basically don't have a discussion but that we have a discussion and also 1:38:04 across the party and invite also people from other political parties we don't bite anybody let's discuss it in the end 1:38:11 we want all want this the same peace for the next generation and I have plenty of children grandchildren you too and 1:38:17 that's what we need okay thank you very much professor [Applause] [Music] 1:38:23 [Applause] [Music] 1:38:33 you

Princeton university head march 21 2025 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/using-funding-to-force-concessions-threatens-institutions-princeton-president-says MY THOUGHTS 04262025 When I look at the investment of the federal government to research departments of select colleges or universities in the usa + the fiscal allowance of National College Athletic Association [ NCAA] to allow select colleges or universities in the usa to gain wealth while not paying athletes plus gaining athletes from demographic regions different from their own. I see how the white colleges or universities in the usa were engineered for growth. The tragedy is that the legal actions to actually aid Historical Black Colleges or Universities all came in the Schrumpft time as president. why? why not Obama? as Schrumpft said correctly, black elected officials in the united states America have a share of the blame , and a majority share of the blame legally, to the black populace in the united states of America modern condition. A majority , over 90%, of black elected officials, starting circa 1865 when south Carolina had a majority black legislature, in the united states of America never had and don't have a Black Agenda; the heritage stemming from said lacking makes it where black elected officials in the united states of America think it normal that they don't have a black agenda for the primary benefit of black peoples. The historical black colleges,albeit in majority, over 95% , started by white religious institutions, are the second oldest black secular, non religions, institutions in the usa. The first being black newspapers. Yes Black people have existed in the usa since its founding but black history, especially DOSer history, is a completely different story and the lack of that truth in how black elected officials/black advocacy organizations/black communal organizations operate has been one of the greatest flaws for the majority of black people in the usa. Black leaderships desire for waiting for whites to decide or design, has made the usa the most multiracial [race defined phenotypically/religiously/genderwise/financially/linguistically + more] than any other government in humanity which has helped the usa become closer to what the black one percent led by Frederick douglass have always wanted, a composite nation. But most black people in the usa don't want a composite nation, they want black success by any means, including violence, necessary. VIDEO youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yEkSa5hL0o TRANSCRIPT 0:00 AMNA NAWAZ: Columbia University has agreed to comply with a series of 0:03 demands from the Trump administration about how it will handle protests, 0:08 antisemitism, and even some academic departments. The university faced a 0:12 deadline today to either comply or risk losing $400 million in federal funding. 0:18 Columbia agreed to ban masks that conceal identity, 0:21 to give some campus police new power to arrest protesters, review its admission procedures, 0:27 and to appoint a senior university official to oversee several academic departments, 0:32 including those focused on the Middle East, as well as Jewish and Palestinian studies. 0:36 It's part of a broader crackdown on higher education. 0:40 Jeffrey Brown has our latest look. 0:43 JEFFREY BROWN: As colleges are under pressure from the Trump administration, how should they respond? 0:47 Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber is 0:51 speaking out publicly and joins the "News Hour" now for this exclusive interview. 0:55 Thanks so much for joining us. 0:57 I want to start with news that we're both learning about right now, I believe, 1:01 which is that Columbia University seems to have agreed to many of the demands from the 1:06 -+Trump administration, in the hope of keeping that $400 million in research. What's your response? 1:13 CHRISTOPHER L. EISGRUBER, President, Princeton University: Let me say first of all, 1:15 I have huge respect for Columbia University and tremendous respect for their president, 1:20 Dr. Katrina Armstrong. So I don't want to be in the position of second-guessing a peer 1:26 institution, particularly under circumstances where I have just learned about the agreement. 1:30 What I will say is this. Academic freedom is a fundamental principle of universities, 1:35 has to be protected. And so I have concerns if universities make concessions about that. 1:40 And I think once you make concessions once, it's hard not to make them again. So that 1:45 would be a framework that I would bring to this decision at any American university. 1:51 JEFFREY BROWN: In an essay in "The Atlantic" now, 1:53 you refer to what's going on as an assault on academic freedom. 1:57 You write: "The attack on Columbia is a radical 2:00 threat to scholarly excellence and to America's leadership in research." 2:05 Tell us, what do you see going on and how big is that threat right now? 2:11 CHRISTOPHER L. EISGRUBER: Well, what it says is this. 2:12 America's research universities are the best in the world. I think they are also the best 2:16 that they have ever been. If you look back at American history, two of the things that have 2:21 been critical to making American universities as strong as they are academic freedom. 2:25 That is the right of universities to make decisions about how to constitute academic 2:30 departments and the right of faculty, scholars, and scholarly disciplines 2:36 to make judgments about what counts as quality. That's one of the key factors. 2:40 And the second is the partnership with the government that has benefited the American people 2:44 tremendously by producing these great research universities. Right now, when you see that 2:50 government partnership and the government funding being used in ways to kind of force concessions 2:56 from universities around academic freedom, it threatens the strength of those institutions 3:00 by undermining the ability of scholars to insist on the right standards of excellence. 3:05 JEFFREY BROWN: But I think this is an interesting point that many of us are not so aware of, 3:09 which is how -- which is what you write about, how universities became responsible for a large 3:14 part of government scientific and research programs, accepting a lot of money for that, 3:20 but, as you write, therefore, making universities particularly vulnerable, as now. 3:28 CHRISTOPHER L. EISGRUBER: Yes, I think if you look back at American 3:30 history, one of the important developments in making America's research universities the 3:35 strongest in the world was this partnership that originated around World War II. 3:41 The United States government recognized that by asking research universities to perform 3:47 research on behalf of the American people and the American government, 3:50 it could strengthen our economy, improve our health, increase the 3:55 security of the country by making us a world leader in innovation. And it has. 4:00 But, in doing so, the government also became a uniquely powerful patron of all these 4:06 universities. It was supplying large amounts of dollars to universities. And this partnership 4:11 created a kind of interdependence. For decades, leaders and politicians, 4:17 government officials from both parties respected the academic freedom of those universities. 4:22 And that's what's made our universities so great. What concerns me so deeply about what's 4:27 happening at Columbia and elsewhere right now is that the government seems to be using 4:31 that funding stream to force concessions that are violations of academic freedom. 4:36 JEFFREY BROWN: What about, though, the main charge from the administration? Does Columbia, 4:40 do you and other universities, do you have a problem of antisemitism on campus? Or 4:46 do you think that's being exaggerated? And what, if anything, is being done about it? 4:53 CHRISTOPHER L. EISGRUBER: Look, I'm a scholar of religious freedom. I'm Jewish myself. I'm deeply 4:57 concerned about antisemitism. It is an appropriate thing for the government to be concerned about. 5:01 And it's something that all of us as university presidents have to be concerned about. 5:05 There are laws that require us to care about any kind of discrimination our campus, 5:11 including antisemitism on our campuses. And it's important that the government enforce those laws, 5:16 but there are also processes specified in those laws in court decisions and in 5:20 regulations that the government needs to follow. 5:23 So there are right ways and wrong ways to go about that. And the wrong way to 5:27 do it is to use federal funding as a cudgel to force concessions to academic freedom. 5:31 JEFFREY BROWN: We have not yet to date seen a lot of pushback from 5:36 the academic world. Is each university on its own at this point? Do you expect to 5:42 see a more collaborative effort? What do you want to see universities do? 5:49 CHRISTOPHER L. EISGRUBER: Well, first of all, I think all of us need to speak up 5:51 for the fundamental principles that define our universities and that define our missions. That's 5:56 one of the reasons why I wrote the essay that ran in "The Atlantic" that you mentioned earlier. 6:02 It's also the case that universities work together through associations, including, for example, 6:08 the Association of American Universities, which is a group of 70 leading research universities 6:14 in the country. These issues are critical to us. And we want to work with the government 6:21 in order to ensure that the basic principles that I have described around academic freedom 6:25 and this critical compact between research universities and the government are preserved. 6:32 I think that should be in everybody's interest. It's in the interest of the American people. It's 6:37 in the interest, I think, of a government that wants to make America a world leader 6:41 and to preserve our eminence in scientific research and the benefits that come with it. 6:45 JEFFREY BROWN: So how serious is this? Is it an 6:47 existential moment for the university as we know it? 6:52 CHRISTOPHER L. EISGRUBER: I think that, when you are dealing with potential intrusions 6:56 on academic freedom, when you're dealing with very serious threats to the funding 7:00 that has been at the core of this compact between universities and the government, 7:06 you're dealing with very serious issues and a crisis that deserves everybody's attention. 7:13 That principle of academic freedom and the ability of scientists and scholars to follow 7:20 their research where it takes them and the funding that has enabled our research universities to be 7:26 the best in the world have made a difference to our universities and to our country in ways that 7:33 should be the concern of every university, every American and every official in our government. 7:39 JEFFREY BROWN: All right, Christopher Eisgruber is president of Princeton University. 7:43 Thank you so much for joining us. 7:45 CHRISTOPHER L. EISGRUBER: Thank you, Geoff. white house initiative to support hbcu's April 23rd 2025 Uniform Resource Locator https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/white-house-initiative-to-promote-excellence-and-innovation-at-historically-black-colleges-and-universities/ TEXT WHITE HOUSE INITIATIVE TO PROMOTE EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION AT HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES Executive Orders April 23, 2025 By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) remain integral to American students’ pursuit of prosperity and wellbeing, providing the pathway to a career and a better life. This order will continue the work begun during my first Administration to elevate the value and impact of our Nation’s HBCUs as beacons of educational excellence and economic opportunity that serve as some of the best cultivators of tomorrow’s leaders in business, government, academia, and the military. Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of my Administration to support HBCUs in: advancing America’s full potential; fostering more and better opportunities in higher education; providing the highest-quality education; obtaining equal opportunities for participation in Federal programs; ensuring college-educated Americans are empowered to advance the common good at home and abroad; and making our Nation more globally competitive. Sec. 3. White House Initiative on HBCUs. (a) There is hereby established the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Initiative), housed in the Executive Office of the President and led by an Executive Director designated by the President. (b) The Initiative shall work with executive departments and agencies (agencies), the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities established in section 4 of this order, private-sector employers, educational associations, philanthropic organizations, and other partners to increase the capacity of HBCUs to provide the highest-quality education to an increasing number of students. The Initiative shall have two primary missions: (i) increasing the private-sector role, including the role of private foundations, in: (A) strengthening HBCUs through enhanced institutional planning and development, fiscal stability, and financial management; (B) upgrading institutional infrastructure, including the use of technology, to ensure the long-term viability of these institutions; and (C) providing professional development opportunities for HBCU students to help build America’s workforce in technology, healthcare, manufacturing, finance, and other high-growth industries; and (ii) enhancing HBCUs’ capabilities to serve our Nation’s young adults by: (A) supporting implementation of the HBCU PARTNERS Act (Public Law 116-270), including facilitating the Federal agency plan process required by section 4 of that Act (20 U.S.C. 1063d); (B) working to advance my Administration’s key priorities related to promoting innovation and excellence throughout HBCUs in consultation with HBCU leaders, representatives, students, and alumni; (C) fostering private-sector initiatives and public-private and philanthropic partnerships to promote centers of academic research and program excellence at HBCUs; (D) improving the availability and quality of information concerning HBCUs in the public policy sphere; (E) sharing administrative and programmatic best practices within the HBCU community; (F) addressing efforts to promote student success and retention at HBCUs, including college affordability, degree attainment, campus modernization, and infrastructure improvements; (G) partnering with private entities and elementary and secondary education stakeholders to build a pipeline for students that may be interested in attending HBCUs and promote affordable degree attainment; (H) encouraging States to provide the required State matching funds for 1890 Land-Grant Institutions; (I) collaborating with the Department of Agriculture and State governments to establish a framework for addressing barriers to accessing Federal funding to ensure that HBCUs receive the maximum funding to which they may be entitled; (J) collaborating with agencies to improve the competitiveness of HBCUs for other sources of Federal research and development funding; and (K) convening an annual White House Summit on HBCUs to address matters related to the Initiative’s missions and functions. (c) The heads of agencies shall assist and provide information to the Initiative, consistent with applicable law, as may be necessary to carry out the functions of the Initiative. Each agency shall bear its own expenses of participating in the Initiative. Sec. 4. President’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs. (a) There is established in the Department of Education the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Board). The Board shall fulfill the mission and functions established by, shall have the structure set forth in, and shall in all other respects be subject to the provisions of section 5 of the HBCU PARTNERS Act (20 U.S.C. 1063e). The Board shall include representatives of a variety of sectors, such as philanthropy, education, business, finance, entrepreneurship, innovation, and private foundations, and current HBCU presidents. (b) The Board shall advise the President, through the Initiative, on the matters set forth in section 5(c) of the HBCU PARTNERS Act (20 U.S.C. 1063e(c)). (c) The Department of Education shall provide funding and administrative support for the Board, consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. Insofar as chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the Federal Advisory Committee Act), may apply to the Board, any functions of the President under that Act, except for those in section 6 and section 14 of that Act, shall be performed by the Secretary of Education, in accordance with guidelines issued by the Administrator of General Services. Sec. 5. Accountability and Implementation. (a) The Executive Director of the Initiative shall submit an annual progress report to the President summarizing the Federal Government’s impact on HBCUs and providing recommendations for improvement. Sec. 6. Revocations. Executive Order 14041 of September 3, 2021 (White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity Through Historically Black Colleges and Universities), is hereby revoked. Within 14 days of the date of this order, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall terminate the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions Advisory Council. Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) For the purposes of this order, “historically black colleges and universities” shall mean those institutions listed in 34 C.F.R. 608.2. (b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (c) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (d) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. DONALD J. TRUMP THE WHITE HOUSE, April 23, 2025. REFERRAL https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-signs-new-executive-order-to-promote-excellence-at-hbcus/ar-AA1DymIS?ocid=BingNewsSerp PUBLIC LAW 116–270—DEC. 31, 2020 134 STAT. 3325 Public Law 116–270 116th Congress TEXT https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-116publ270/html/PLAW-116publ270.htm [116th Congress Public Law 270] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [[Page 134 STAT. 3325]] Public Law 116-270 116th Congress An Act To strengthen the capacity and competitiveness of historically Black colleges and universities through robust public-sector, private-sector, and community partnerships and engagement, and for other purposes. <<NOTE: Dec. 31, 2020 - [S. 461]>> Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: HBCU Propelling Agency Relationships Towards a New Era of Results for Students Act. 20 USC 1001 note.>> SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``HBCU Propelling Agency Relationships Towards a New Era of Results for Students Act'' or the ``HBCU PARTNERS Act''. SEC. 2. <<NOTE: 20 USC 1063d note.>> FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following: (1) As many colleges and universities across the country kept their doors closed to African American applicants, historically Black colleges and universities (referred to in this section as ``HBCUs'') played a central role in ensuring that African Americans could attain an excellent education. (2) Today, HBCUs continue to play a critical role in ensuring that African Americans, and those of all races, can access high-quality educational opportunities. (3) HBCUs enroll nearly 300,000 students, an estimated 70 percent of whom come from low-income backgrounds and 80 percent of whom are African American. (4) According to the National Association For Equal Opportunity In Higher Education (referred to in this section as ``NAFEO''), HBCUs make up just 3 percent of American institutions of higher education but serve more than a fifth of African American college students. (5) According to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (referred to in this section as ``TMCF''), approximately 9 percent of all African American college students attend HBCUs. (6) A March 2017 report from the Education Trust concluded that HBCUs have higher completion rates for African American students than other institutions serving similar student populations. (7) According to TMCF, 40 percent of African American Members of Congress, 50 percent of African American lawyers, and 80 percent of African American judges are graduates of HBCUs. (8) According to NAFEO, HBCUs graduate approximately 50 percent of African American public school teaching professionals. [[Page 134 STAT. 3326]] (9) According to the United Negro College Fund (referred to in this section as ``UNCF''), African American graduates of HBCUs are almost twice as likely as African Americans who graduated from other institutions to report that their university prepared them well for life. (10) According to a study commissioned by UNCF, in 2014, HBCUs generated a total direct economic impact of $14,800,000,000 and created more than 134,000 jobs. (11) According to a 2019 report produced by the American Council on Education and UNCF, despite efforts to counter a historical legacy of inequitable funding and notable investments by the Federal Government and many State governments, resource inequities continue to plague HBCUs. (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are-- (1) to strengthen the capacity and competitiveness of HBCUs to fulfill their principal mission of equalizing educational opportunity, as described in section 301(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1051(b)); (2) to align HBCUs with the educational and economic competitiveness priorities of the United States; (3) to provide students enrolled at HBCUs with the highest quality educational and economic opportunities; (4) to bolster and facilitate productive interactions between HBCUs and Federal agencies; and (5) to encourage HBCU participation in and benefit from Federal programs, grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. SEC. 3. <<NOTE: 20 USC 1063d note.>> DEFINITIONS. In this Act: (1) Applicable agency.--The term ``applicable agency'' means-- (A) the Department of Agriculture; (B) the Department of Commerce; (C) the Department of Defense; (D) the Department of Education; (E) the Department of Energy; (F) the Department of Health and Human Services; (G) the Department of Homeland Security; (H) the Department of Housing and Urban Development; (I) the Department of the Interior; (J) the Department of Justice; (K) the Department of Labor; (L) the Department of State; (M) the Department of Transportation; (N) the Department of Treasury; (O) the Department of Veterans Affairs; (P) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; (Q) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; (R) the National Science Foundation; (S) the Small Business Administration; and (T) any other Federal agency designated as an applicable agency under section 4. [[Page 134 STAT. 3327]] (2) Executive director.--The term ``Executive Director'' means-- (A) the Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as designated by the President; or (B) if no such Executive Director is designated, such person as the President may designate to lead the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. (3) HBCU.--The term ``HBCU'' means a historically Black college or university. (4) Historically black college or university.--The term ``historically Black college or university'' has the meaning given the term ``part B institution'' under section 322 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). (5) President's board of advisors.--The term ``President's Board of Advisors'' means the President's Board of Advisors on historically Black colleges and universities. (6) Secretary.--Except as otherwise provided, the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Education. (7) White house initiative.--The term ``White House Initiative'' means the White House Initiative on historically Black colleges and universities. SEC. 4. <<NOTE: 20 USC 1063d.>> STRENGTHENING HBCUS THROUGH FEDERAL AGENCY PLANS. (a) <<NOTE: Consultation.>> Designating Applicable Agencies.--The Secretary, in consultation with the Executive Director, shall-- (1) identify each Federal agency with which an HBCU-- (A) has entered into a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement; or (B) is eligible to participate in the programs and initiatives under the jurisdiction of such Federal agency; and (2) designate each Federal agency so identified as an applicable agency. (b) <<NOTE: Deadline.>> Submitting Agency Plans.--Not later than February 1 of each year, the head of each applicable agency shall submit to the Secretary, the Executive Director, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives, and the President's Board of Advisors an annual Agency Plan describing efforts to strengthen the capacity of HBCUs to participate or be eligible to participate in the programs and initiatives under the jurisdiction of such applicable agency as described in subsection (a)(1)(B). (c) Further Requirements for Submission and Accessibility.--The Executive Director <<NOTE: Public information. Web posting.>> shall make all annual Agency Plan submissions publicly available online in a user-friendly format. (d) Agency Plan Content.--Where appropriate, each Agency Plan shall include-- (1) a description of how the applicable agency intends to increase the capacity of HBCUs to compete effectively for grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements; (2) an identification of Federal programs and initiatives under the jurisdiction of the applicable agency in which HBCUs are underrepresented; (3) an outline of proposed efforts to improve HBCUs' participation in such programs and initiatives; [[Page 134 STAT. 3328]] (4) a description of any progress made towards advancing or achieving goals and efforts from previous Agency Plans submitted under this section by such applicable agency; (5) a description of how the applicable agency plans to encourage public-sector, private-sector, and community involvement to improve the capacity of HBCUs to compete effectively for grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements, and to participate in programs and initiatives under the jurisdiction of such agency; (6) an identification of programs and initiatives not listed in a previous Agency Plan in which an HBCU may participate; (7) any other information the applicable agency determines is relevant to promoting opportunities to fund, partner, contract, or otherwise interact with HBCUs; and (8) <<NOTE: Criteria.>> any additional criteria established by the Secretary or the White House Initiative. (e) Agency Engagement.--To help fulfill the objectives of the Agency Plans, the head of each applicable agency-- (1) shall provide, as appropriate, technical assistance and information to the Executive Director to enhance communication with HBCUs concerning the applicable agency's-- (A) programs and initiatives described in subsection (d)(2); and (B) the preparation of applications or proposals for grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements; and (2) shall appoint a senior official to report directly to the agency head on the applicable agency's progress under this section. SEC. 5. <<NOTE: 20 USC 1063e.>> PRESIDENT'S BOARD OF ADVISORS ON HBCUS. (a) Administration.-- (1) <<NOTE: Establishment.>> In general.--There is established the President's Board of Advisors on historically Black colleges and universities in the Department of Education or, if the President so elects, within the Executive Office of the President. (2) Funding from ed.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), the Secretary shall provide funding and administrative support for the President's Board of Advisors, subject to the availability of appropriations. (3) Funding from the executive office of the president.--If the President elects to locate the President's Board of Advisors within the Executive Office of the President, the Executive Office of the President shall provide funding and administrative support for the President's Board of Advisors, subject to the availability of appropriations. (b) Membership.-- (1) In general.--The President shall appoint not more than 23 members to the President's Board of Advisors, and the Secretary and Executive Director or their designees shall serve as ex officio members. (2) Chair.-- (A) Designation.--The President shall designate one member of the President's Board of Advisors to serve as its Chair, who shall help direct the Board's work in coordination with the Secretary and in consultation with the Executive Director. [[Page 134 STAT. 3329]] (B) <<NOTE: Time period.>> Consultation.--The Chair shall also consult with the Executive Director regarding the time and location of meetings of the President's Board of Advisors, which shall take place not less frequently than once every 6 months. (C) <<NOTE: Guidelines.>> Performance.--Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) may apply to the President's Board of Advisors, any functions of the President under such Act, except for those of reporting to the Congress, shall be performed by the Chair, in accordance with guidelines issued by the Administrator of General Services. (3) Compensation.--Members of the President's Board of Advisors shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law. (c) Mission and Functions.--The President's Board of Advisors shall advise the President, through the White House Initiative, on all matters pertaining to strengthening the educational capacity of HBCUs, which shall include the following: (1) Improving the identity, visibility, distinctive capabilities, and overall competitiveness of HBCUs. (2) Engaging the philanthropic, business, government, military, homeland-security, and education communities in a national dialogue regarding new HBCU programs and initiatives. (3) Improving the ability of HBCUs to remain fiscally secure institutions that can assist the Nation in achieving its educational goals and in advancing the interests of all Americans. (4) Elevating the public awareness of, and fostering appreciation of, HBCUs. (5) Encouraging public-private investments in HBCUs. (6) Improving government-wide strategic planning related to HBCU competitiveness to align Federal resources and provide the context for decisions about HBCU partnerships, investments, performance goals, priorities, human capital development, and budget planning. [[Page 134 STAT. 3330]] (d) Report.--The President's Board of Advisors shall report annually to the President on the Board's progress in carrying out its duties under this section. Approved December 31, 2020. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 461: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: Vol. 165 (2019): Feb. 12, considered and passed Senate. Vol. 166 (2020): Dec. 7, considered and passed House, amended. Dec. 11, Senate concurred in House amendment. PDF https://www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ270/PLAW-116publ270.pdf US CODE https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/20/1063d 20 U.S. Code § 1063d - Strengthening HBCUs through Federal agency plans (a)Designating applicable agencies The Secretary, in consultation with the Executive Director, shall— (1)identify each Federal agency with which an HBCU— (A)has entered into a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement; or (B)is eligible to participate in the programs and initiatives under the jurisdiction of such Federal agency; and (2)designate each Federal agency so identified as an applicable agency. (b)Submitting agency plans Not later than February 1 of each year, the head of each applicable agency shall submit to the Secretary, the Executive Director, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives, and the President’s Board of Advisors an annual Agency Plan describing efforts to strengthen the capacity of HBCUs to participate or be eligible to participate in the programs and initiatives under the jurisdiction of such applicable agency as described in subsection (a)(1)(B). (c)Further requirements for submission and accessibility The Executive Director shall make all annual Agency Plan submissions publicly available online in a user-friendly format. (d)Agency plan content Where appropriate, each Agency Plan shall include— (1)a description of how the applicable agency intends to increase the capacity of HBCUs to compete effectively for grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements; (2)an identification of Federal programs and initiatives under the jurisdiction of the applicable agency in which HBCUs are underrepresented; (3)an outline of proposed efforts to improve HBCUs’ participation in such programs and initiatives; (4)a description of any progress made towards advancing or achieving goals and efforts from previous Agency Plans submitted under this section by such applicable agency; (5)a description of how the applicable agency plans to encourage public-sector, private-sector, and community involvement to improve the capacity of HBCUs to compete effectively for grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements, and to participate in programs and initiatives under the jurisdiction of such agency; (6)an identification of programs and initiatives not listed in a previous Agency Plan in which an HBCU may participate; (7)any other information the applicable agency determines is relevant to promoting opportunities to fund, partner, contract, or otherwise interact with HBCUs; and (8)any additional criteria established by the Secretary or the White House Initiative. (e)Agency engagement To help fulfill the objectives of the Agency Plans, the head of each applicable agency— (1)shall provide, as appropriate, technical assistance and information to the Executive Director to enhance communication with HBCUs concerning the applicable agency’s— (A)programs and initiatives described in subsection (d)(2); and (B)the preparation of applications or proposals for grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements; and (2)shall appoint a senior official to report directly to the agency head on the applicable agency’s progress under this section. (Pub. L. 116–270, § 4, Dec. 31, 2020, 134 Stat. 3327.) 20 U.S.C. 1063e https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title20/chapter28/subchapter3/partB&edition=prelim https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:20%20section:1063e%20edition:prelim) 20 USC 1063e: President's Board of Advisors on HBCUs Text contains those laws in effect on April 25, 2025 From Title 20-EDUCATION CHAPTER 28-HIGHER EDUCATION RESOURCES AND STUDENT ASSISTANCE SUBCHAPTER III-INSTITUTIONAL AID Part B-Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities §1063e. President's Board of Advisors on HBCUs (a) Administration (1) In general There is established the President's Board of Advisors on historically Black colleges and universities in the Department of Education or, if the President so elects, within the Executive Office of the President. (2) Funding from ED 1 Except as provided in paragraph (3), the Secretary shall provide funding and administrative support for the President's Board of Advisors, subject to the availability of appropriations. (3) Funding from the Executive Office of the President If the President elects to locate the President's Board of Advisors within the Executive Office of the President, the Executive Office of the President shall provide funding and administrative support for the President's Board of Advisors, subject to the availability of appropriations. (b) Membership (1) In general The President shall appoint not more than 23 members to the President's Board of Advisors, and the Secretary and Executive Director or their designees shall serve as ex officio members. (2) Chair (A) Designation The President shall designate one member of the President's Board of Advisors to serve as its Chair, who shall help direct the Board's work in coordination with the Secretary and in consultation with the Executive Director. (B) Consultation The Chair shall also consult with the Executive Director regarding the time and location of meetings of the President's Board of Advisors, which shall take place not less frequently than once every 6 months. (C) Performance Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 2 may apply to the President's Board of Advisors, any functions of the President under such Act, except for those of reporting to the Congress, shall be performed by the Chair, in accordance with guidelines issued by the Administrator of General Services. (3) Compensation Members of the President's Board of Advisors shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law. (c) Mission and functions The President's Board of Advisors shall advise the President, through the White House Initiative, on all matters pertaining to strengthening the educational capacity of HBCUs, which shall include the following: (1) Improving the identity, visibility, distinctive capabilities, and overall competitiveness of HBCUs. (2) Engaging the philanthropic, business, government, military, homeland-security, and education communities in a national dialogue regarding new HBCU programs and initiatives. (3) Improving the ability of HBCUs to remain fiscally secure institutions that can assist the Nation in achieving its educational goals and in advancing the interests of all Americans. (4) Elevating the public awareness of, and fostering appreciation of, HBCUs. (5) Encouraging public-private investments in HBCUs. (6) Improving government-wide strategic planning related to HBCU competitiveness to align Federal resources and provide the context for decisions about HBCU partnerships, investments, performance goals, priorities, human capital development, and budget planning. (d) Report The President's Board of Advisors shall report annually to the President on the Board's progress in carrying out its duties under this section. ( Pub. L. 116–270, §5, Dec. 31, 2020, 134 Stat. 3328 .) Editorial Notes References in Text The Federal Advisory Committee Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(2)(C), is Pub. L. 92–463, Oct. 6, 1972, 86 Stat. 770 , which was set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, and was substantially repealed and restated in chapter 10 (§1001 et seq.) of Title 5 by Pub. L. 117–286, §§3(a), 7, Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4197 , 4361. For disposition of sections of the Act into chapter 10 of Title 5, see Disposition Table preceding section 101 of Title 5. Codification This section was enacted as part of the HBCU Propelling Agency Relationships Towards a New Era of Results for Students Act or the HBCU PARTNERS Act, and not as part of the Higher Education Act of 1965 which comprises this chapter. 34 C.F.R. 608.2. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/subtitle-B/chapter-VI/part-608/subpart-A/section-608.2 https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/34/608.2 34 CFR § 608.2 - What institutions are eligible to receive a grant under the HBCU Program? § 608.2 What institutions are eligible to receive a grant under the HBCU Program? (a) To be eligible to receive a grant under this part, an institution must— (1) Satisfy section 322(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA); (2) Be legally authorized by the State in which it is located— (i) To be a junior or community college; or (ii) To provide an educational program for which it awards a bachelor's degree; and (3) Be accredited or pre accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association. (b) The Secretary has determined that the following institutions satisfy section 322(2) of the HEA. Alabama Alabama A&M University-Huntsville Alabama State University—Montgomery Carver State Technical College—Mobile Concordia College—Selma Fredd State Technical College—Tuscaloosa J.F. Drake State Technical College—Huntsville S.D. Bishop State Junior College—Mobile Lawson State College—Birmingham Miles College—Birmingham Oakwood College—Huntsville Selma University—Selma Stillman College—Tuscaloosa Talladega University—Talladega Trenholm State Technical College—Montgomery Tuskegee University—Tuskegee Arkansas Arkansas Baptist College—Little Rock Philander Smith College—Little Rock Shorter College—Little Rock University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff—Pine Bluff Delaware Delaware State College—Dover District of Columbia Howard University University of the District of Columbia Florida Bethune Cookman College—Daytona Beach Edward Waters College—Jacksonville Florida A&M University—Tallahassee Florida Memorial College—Miami Georgia Albany State College—Albany Atlanta University—Atlanta Clark College—Atlanta Fort Valley State College—Fort Valley Interdenominational Theological Center—Atlanta Morehouse College—Atlanta Morris Brown College—Atlanta Paine College—Augusta Savannah State College—Savannah Spelman College—Atlanta Kentucky Kentucky State University—Frankfurt Louisiana Dillard University—New Orleans Grambling State University—Grambling Southern University A&M College—Baton Rouge Southern University at New Orleans—New Orleans Southern University at Shreveport—Shreveport Xavier University of Louisiana—New Orleans Maryland Bowie State College—Bowie Coppin State College—Baltimore Morgan State University—Baltimore University of Maryland-Eastern Shore—Princess Anne Michigan Lewis College of Business—Detroit Mississippi Alcorn State University—Lorman Coahoma Junior College—Clarksdale Jackson State University—Jackson Mary Holmes College—West Point Mississippi Valley State University—Itta Bena Prentiss Normal and Industrial Institute—Prentiss Rust College—Holly Springs Tougaloo College—Tougaloo Hinds Junior College (Utica Jr Coll)—Raymond Missouri Lincoln University—Jefferson City Harris-Stowe State College—St. Louis North Carolina Barber-Scotia College—Concord Bennett College—Greensboro Elizabeth City State University—Elizabeth City Fayetteville State University—Fayetteville Johnson C. Smith University—Charlotte Livingstone College—Salisbury North Carolina A&T State University—Greensboro North Carolina Central University—Durham Saint Augustine's College—Raleigh Shaw University—Raleigh Winston-Salem State University—Winston Salem Ohio Central State University—Wilberforce Wilberforce University—Wilberforce Oklahoma Langston University—Langston Pennsylvania Cheyney State University—Cheyney Lincoln University—Lincoln South Carolina Allen University—Columbia Benedict College—Columbia Claflin College—Orangeburg Clinton Junior College—Rock Hill Denmark Technical College—Denmark Morris College—Sumter South Carolina State College—Orangeburg Voorhees College—Denmark Tennessee Fisk University—Nashville Knoxville College—Knoxville Lane College—Jackson LeMoyne-Owen College—Memphis Meharry Medical College—Nashville Morristown College—Morristown Tennessee State University—Nashville Texas Huston-Tillotson College—Austin Jarvis Christian College—Hawkins Paul Quinn College—Waco Prairie View A&M University—Prairie View Saint Philip's College—San Antonio Southwestern Christian College—Terrell Texas College—Tyler Texas Southern University—Houston Wiley College—Marshall U.S. Virgin Islands College of the Virgin Islands—St. Thomas Virginia Hampton University—Hampton Norfolk State University—Norfolk Saint Paul's College—Lawrenceville Virginia State University—Petersburg Virginia Union University—Richmond West Virginia Bluefield State College—Bluefield West Virginia State College—Institute (c) If an institution identified in paragraph (b) of this section has merged with another institution, and, as a result of the merger, would not otherwise qualify to receive a grant under this part, that institution may nevertheless qualify to receive a grant under this part if— (1) The institution would have qualified to receive a grant before the merger; and (2) The institution was eligible to receive a grant under the Special Needs Program in any fiscal year prior to fiscal year 1986. (The Special Needs Program was authorized under Title III, Part B, of the HEA before 1986.) (d) For the purpose of paragraph (a)(3) of this section, the Secretary publishes a list in the Federal Register of nationally recognized accrediting agencies and associations. (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, for each fiscal year— (1) The University of the District of Columbia is eligible to receive a grant under this part only if the amount of the grant it is scheduled to receive under § 608.31 exceeds the amount it is scheduled to receive in the same fiscal year under the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act; and (2) Howard University is eligible to receive a grant under this part only if the amount of the grant it is scheduled to receive under § 608.31 exceeds the amount it is scheduled to receive in the same fiscal year under the Act of March 2, 1867, 20 U.S.C. 123. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1061, 1063, and 1063a; House Report 99-861, 99th Cong., 2d Sess. p. 367, September 22, 1986; Senate Report 99-296, 99th Cong., 2d Sess. p. 23, May 12, 1986; Cong. Rec. of June 3, 1986, pp. 6588-6589)

corridors of power pbs 04252025 VIDEO https://www.pbs.org/video/the-corridors-of-power-k8hoys/ REFERRAL https://www.pbs.org/show/the-corridors-of-power/ TRANSCRIPT ♪ ♪ ♪ [Radio chatter] ♪ [Airplane engine] [Explosions] ♪ [Footsteps] [Indistinct conversation] Paul Wolfowitz, voice-over: When I think about the Holocaust and what came after World War II ended and how many times people said, "Never again, never again," and it happens over and over again, after a while, you wonder, "Is this just hot air? Are these just words?" ♪ I can tell you for sure, too often there are cases where we make a mockery of this idea of "never again." ♪ Henry Kissinger: If you look at human history, you have to say that genocide has occurred much too frequently. Yes, we should oppose it, but you cannot simply say the United States has an obligation by military force to oppose evil wherever it exists in the world. Are we then willing to stay involved in getting an outcome that we... Anthony Lake, voice-over: With power comes responsibility, and if you have huge power and there are problems in the world that you could fix and you don't fix them, then you're being irresponsible. Lake: Conflicting impulses out of this phenomenon from abroad... Colin Powell, voice-over: We can't go everywhere. We are not the world policeman, although, as has been famously said, guess who the world calls for whenever there's a mugging. Bush: We will have a continuing responsibility... James Baker, voice-over: When the body bags start coming home, if you don't have a significant national interest at stake, you will lose the policy, and you won't be able to sustain it. The human toll shows... Albright, voice-over: There are always people in the room that will argue and say, "Oh, well, you know, why should we care? What does it matter to us?" I believe in peace, but I'm not a pacifist, and I believe that there are times when using force can actually bring stability in the long run and save a lot of people. Barack Obama: Change doesn't come from on high. If you're waiting for Congress... Sandy Berger, voice-over: "Never again" is a moral statement, but is it a guiding operational principle? Does it help answer whether to go into Bosnia or not, whether to go into Syria or not, whether to go into Rwanda or not? ♪ I don't think so. I think it is a moral statement by the world that it should not stand by and watch mass atrocities. It is not neither legally binding or politically binding. [People cheering] ♪ Good evening. These are the sights and sounds of the continuing celebration. The Berlin Wall, once it divided East from West, now on its way to becoming an artifact of history. ♪ Woman, voice-over: In the last few months, the reign of communism ended in Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania. The U.S.S.R. that controlled Eastern Europe with an iron fist for 4 decades is now dissolved by Mr. Gorbachev. At the end of the Cold War, the U.S. stands as the only global superpower. Powell, voice-over: My whole adult life to that point was participating in the Cold War. Everything that I had trained for, every tactic that I had mastered was now gone because they're gone, you know, and Gorbachev said to me one day at one of the summit meetings-- and his eyes were twinkling-- he said, "Ah, Generale, Generale, "I'm so very, very sorry. You will have to find a new enemy." ♪ Bush: A new world order can emerge, a new era, an era in which the nations of the world-- East and West, North and South-- can prosper and live in harmony, a world where the rule of law supplants the rule of the jungle, a world in which nations recognize the shared responsibility for freedom and justice. [Chanting] [Explosion] [Artillery fire] Woman, voice-over: Fighting raged anew in the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina today. Albright, voice-over: With the end of the Cold War, all the different kind of worms started crawling around in terms of the ethnic dislikes that people had of each other, and that was true in the Balkans. ♪ People wanted a new world order, but I think instead, it became a new world disorder. Man, voice-over: The Serbs are trying to reverse the decision to establish the independent Muslim state of Bosnia-Herzegovina. [Speaking Serbian] Woman, voice-over: The Serb logic of the conflict is to create areas that are ethnically cleansed from Muslims. Man: [Speaking Serbian] [Explosion] ♪ [Explosion] ♪ [Dog barking] ♪ Samantha Power: When I graduated from college, I actually moved to Berlin first. While I was living there, thousands of refugees were pouring in from the former Yugoslavia, and, I mean, they were the picture of desperation, and here I, a sentient 20-something, I'm seeing these people, and all I wanted to do was run away. In other words, you know, I just was sad for them in the abstract, but it was not my problem. ♪ [Child crying] ♪ I think for a lot of people, the sense of what one ought to do derives a lot from what one feels one can do, and when you think that you're a 22-year-old liberal arts graduate who has nothing to offer these people, your internal reflexive mechanisms almost seem to say to you, "Then don't bother learning more "because it's going to break your heart "and you won't be able to do anything about it, so, you know, just go check out the soccer game." ♪ Man, voice-over: While shelling continues today in Sarajevo, the news focused on reports of Nazilike detention camps being run by Serbs. Power, voice-over: I moved back to Washington, and I was an intern working for a man named Mort Abramowitz, who had been in government for 35 years. He was consumed with what was happening in Bosnia, and my job as his intern just was to basically prepare him for his speeches, his op-eds, edit what he did, and then, because it was my job, I began learning, and, honestly, I don't know if it was my head or my heart that nearly exploded, but I just could not believe what was being done. ♪ Once I'd had this inconvenient knowledge, then I was off to the ra-- then I had to figure out-- oh, my gosh-- what was I going to do to help, so I went to Bosnia to cover the conflict. [Explosions] Arriving for the first time in Sarajevo, I was most struck by a sense of claustrophobia just by this topography. The hills all around were just lined with gun positions, and, whether that was snipers or actual artillery positions where they were just raining artillery and shell fire onto the city, you just had a sense of vulnerability. [Gunfire and explosions] [People screaming] [Gunfire continues] [People shouting] Aah! Aah! Bush, voice-over: I am very concerned about it, and I'm concerned about ethnic cleansing. I'm concerned about attacks on Muslims, but it isn't gonna be solved by sending in the 82nd Airborne. [Applause] Governor Clinton, you have one minute. We can't get involved in the quagmire, but we must do what we can. It's enormous responsibility to step into the White House, to take over the world in terms of your responsibility. In Clinton's case, we were running against George H.W. Bush, who'd spent his life in foreign policy. Clinton: There are things that can be done... Berger, voice-over: Here's this governor from Arkansas, and our goal was to make sure that Clinton lost no votes because of foreign policy. We weren't going to beat Bush on foreign policy. Clinton: I would begin with air power against the Serbs to try to restore the basic conditions of humanity. History has shown us that you can't allow the mass extermination of people and just sit by and watch it happen. ♪ Man: Ladies and gentlemen, let us all join together in welcoming the next President of the United States of America. [Cheering and applause] Clinton: On this day, the American people have voted to make a new beginning. [Cheering] ♪ Leon Panetta: Every president goes through a learning process. You suddenly walk in the Oval Office, and you're having to deal with national security issues, and you suddenly get a group from the Joint Chiefs of Staff-- all in uniform, all with their medals-- all telling you something that should or should not be done, and, very frankly, it's intimidating because, you know, you may have been a senator, you may have been a governor, but you never had to make decisions that involve life and death. Gore: Or at least that's what all the managers believe. Leon Fuerth, voice-over: There was a peculiar situation as the Clinton administration took over. It inherited the possibility for a different world order because the old world order was gone, and so the question was what the Clinton administration's attitude going to be about the use of force as an instrument of national policy. Yes, you were trying to come up with a policy solution for a given country, like Bosnia, but at the same time, it had to somehow fit into another equation that related to American power almost anywhere in the world. [Explosions] [Siren] Power, voice-over: At the beginning of the war, the Bosnian people had such hope with President Clinton that we were going to act, and that's their sense of curiosity, and, I mean, they knew everything. They knew McCain, Biden, you know, who was up, who was down, who's up for re-election. I mean, when your life depends on it-- And I was struck in the most remote parts of Bosnia how knowledgeable people were who were just desperate for salvation. [Indistinct conversation] Berger: There remain areas of fundamental difference. Berger, voice-over: Beginning of '93, there are a series of meetings in the White House, and there were sharp disagreements, particularly about the use of force. The military was strongly against it. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at that point, General Powell, national hero, was adamantly opposed to it. Albright: We were all new, and Colin Powell had just won the Gulf War. He was the hero of the Western world, big, handsome man with medals all over... Minimum loss of life... Albright, voice-over: and he was the best briefer ever. We would ask him, "So what can we do?" and he would always say, "Well, we can take this mountain, and we can do this," and ultimately, he would say, "But it would take several hundred thousand troops and then many billions of dollars," so he would walk us up a hill and say we could do it and then drop us off the other side, but he was the expert. Powell: I never intended to intimidate anyone. I always intended to give them straightforward military advice as to how force could be used, and it was theirs to make the political decision. What Madeleine overlooks in that is that, even though my uniform is very lovely and I know how to brief a group, there was no enthusiasm within that group to send military force into the former Yugoslavia because it looked like it was coming apart. Albright: I have to admit in my case, that I was deeply moved by what I had seen of people being killed or ethnically cleansed not for anything that they had done, but who they were, and I thought, we "We have to do something." I actually got into an argument with him over this, and I finally said to him, "Colin, what are you saving this military for?" and he got really mad at me, and he said, "Our soldiers are not toy soldiers." "Why can't we use this wonderful army you're always talking about?" and I just made the point to her, "We can use it anytime you ask if you have a clear purpose of what you're trying to achieve"... I want to have a strategic force capability that still preserves... Powell, voice-over: and I don't know what objectives would have been set or what political goals the president might have articulated at that time. He didn't articulate any. Look. You know as much about this as I do right now. We'll just have to look into it, and we'll see, but meanwhile... Lake, voice-over: I think the president's instincts were always for stronger action, but I think by temperament, while he was always prepared to act, he also always wanted consensus, and that, I think, for the first year, certainly, of the administration was a particular problem because then he was always looking for the compromise, the consensus. He wasn't making the hard decisions and saying, "Sorry. I'm going with this and this." ♪ [Indistinct conversation] [Dog barking] ♪ Power, voice-over: When you would go into so-called Republika Srpska, you knew you were entering the heart of darkness. You would drive down a road in this little ethnically cleansed statelet run by Bosnian Serb nationalists, and you would see the home lights. You could imagine the hearth inside, windows intact, and then the very next house would have on it graffiti that would say, you know, "Muslims go home"... [Dog barking] and then 4 houses down, you'd see another bright, warm house where people were just going on with their lives. ♪ The sense in the air that evil had transpired is-- I mean, the air felt thick with that recent history somehow. [Whimpers] [Insects buzzing] ♪ Weixiong Chen: Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, I thank you for giving CTED the opportunity to brief the Council on the 14th report... Albright, voice-over: As U.N. ambassador, I saw on a daily basis other members of the Security Council, as well as the representative of Bosnia-Herzegovina, [Indistinct], would come to me every day and say, "Your president said he was gonna do something. You're not doing anything. Do something"... ♪ and I could judge what was going on in Sarajevo because I went a number of times... [Explosion] and driving through Sarajevo, I was just stunned that this kind of a thing could possibly happen. We're talking about the 1990s. ♪ Then the question is, how do you go back and not sound like a blithering idiot, emotional? And I went back to the White House, and I said, "I was in Sarajevo, where buildings had been bombed, "where there were fires still burning "and smoke coming still from a variety of buildings and people huddled on the street." [Gunfire] Man: This--if this-- ♪ Albright, voice-over: "Why should we not help people "that also were living in a war zone that didn't need to be a war zone?" and I said something like, "Gentlemen, history will judge us on this." They would say, "Don't be so emotional, Madeleine." [Gunfire] Woman: [Wailing] ♪ [Gunfire and wailing continue] ♪ [Gunshot] Man: [Speaking Serbian] Girl: [Crying] Woman: [Speaks Serbian] Girl: [Speaks Serbian] Elie Wiesel: Treblinka, Birkenau, Auschwitz-- these names and others were known to officials in Washington. The Pentagon knew. The White House knew. Most governments knew. Mr. President, indifference is a sin, and I cannot not tell you something. I have been in the former Yugoslavia. I cannot sleep since. We must do something to stop the bloodshed in that country. [Applause] Man: In response to the bloodshed in Bosnia, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel asked you yesterday to do something to stop the fighting. Is the United States considering taking unilateral action such as airstrikes against Serb artillery sites? Well, first, let me say, as you know, for more than a week now, we have been seriously reviewing our options for further action, and, to be fair, our allies in Europe have been willing to do their part. I do not think we should act alone unilaterally, nor do I think we will have to. Berger: We finally agreed to a position that we would use NATO air power to strike Serb positions if they continued to shell indiscriminately. We took that to the Europeans, and they wanted nothing to do with it. We discovered how boxed in we were by the Europeans. ♪ The Europeans said, "That's not acceptable because "our troops are on the ground "trying to keep the peace "and you can't start a war "with our troops in the middle of this. "You Yanks, you just don't understand. "You're not willing to pay the price, "you're not willing to come in here on the ground, "don't talk about lift and strike. You don't get it"... [Gunfire] so there was friction between us. They were taking losses. Soldiers did die. Man on television: [Speaking French] ♪ [Gunfire] [Men shouting] Lake, voice-over: Being a superpower does not mean you can put up a little sign on your desk saying, "We are the superpower," and then there are buttons you can push and you push a NATO button and the NATO will do what you want, et cetera. You know, superpower means that you have leadership, and that leadership involves bringing along coalitions, bringing along your allies and others, or you're gonna fail. Man: For 22 months, the world has watched and often tried to ignore the bloody civil war in Bosnia. It is hard to watch and impossible to ignore what happened there today. At least 60 civilians-- men, women, and children-- were killed, at least 200 injured when a market full of Saturday shoppers was shelled. Man: Very concerned about the efforts by some elements... Different man: In Africa today, a plane carrying the presidents of two African nations has apparently been shot down in the capital of Rwanda, where a civil war formally ended a few months ago. Woman, voice-over: After the death of the two presidents, the racial tensions between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority might spark again into an ugly ethnic war. [Birds chirping] Nancy Soderberg: I was sitting in my office, which was just off the Situation Room, and the Situation Room brought me a alert, which back then, a really serious alert had two red dots on it, literally two red dots, and that was like, "Pay attention to this right away," so I read it, and I had the CIA brief, and I said, "Well, what's the worst-case scenario with these two presidents gone?" and they said, "Another round of violence, maybe 20,000 killed," and I thought, "Well, what should we do to stop that?" and they didn't really have an answer. That's not the CIA's job. Prudence Bushnell: When the airplane went down, I sent the memo up saying that the peace agreement is at risk. You know, there's chaos in the streets, and worst-case scenario, if we don't do anything, hundreds of thousands of people could be killed. Man on radio: [Speaking Kinyarwanda] ♪ [Indistinct conversation] ♪ Man, voice-over: Massacres continue in the Central African nation of Rwanda. The killing is a calculated attempt to exterminate the minority Tutsi that makes up 10% of Rwanda's 7 million people. ♪ Lake: I can recall the first time this really came to my attention, and I remember explicitly asking afterwards one of the people there from the Defense Intelligence Agency, "What's going on? Who's killing whom? Why?" and his basically saying, "Don't know," and I should have when I got back to my office said, "I want to know more," and insisted on getting more involved, and I was at the time arguing about whether to intervene in Haiti and Bosnia and all kinds of stuff, and I didn't, and that was-- that's on me, and I'll regret it forever. Clinton: There are about 250 Americans there, and I'm very concerned about their safety. Man: ...is clearly part of the threat that we have to deal with. George Moose, voice-over: I think it's fair to say that Africa tends to fall to the bottom of the list in terms of our American priorities. You're talking about a lot of factors that lead to that. Some of them have to do with how we calculate our national interests. Some of those are, I would say, racial and racist. All of those things, though, result in the fact that Africa and Africa's concerns and African interests and needs tend to fall to the bottom of that list of priorities. ♪ [Indistinct conversation] ♪ Bushnell, voice-over: Within 24 hours, there were two things that I learned almost simultaneously. One was Madame Agathe, the prime minister. [Cheering] I cannot tell you how she was slaughtered, but she was slaughtered-- she was pregnant-- in front of her husband and her children. At the same time, we were learning that the Belgian peacekeepers who had been there to provide protection for her had been kidnaped and taken to the airport and killed. Oh, my gosh, we knew if they started killing white people, it would be over. We in African Affairs did not have the rose-colored glasses and thinking that, yes, this is a continent like any others and we look upon African people as we look upon European people. John Shattuck, voice-over: The fact that they decapitated the Belgian peacekeepers so gruesomely and that the killings were so violent in that sense, one has to assume that the genocide planners very carefully said, "Let's really kill "some representatives of the international community early in this process to get them to withdraw," and they succeeded. Clinton: I have had extended conversations about the situation in Rwanda, and I just want to assure the families of those who are there that we are doing everything we possibly can to be on top of the situation, to take all appropriate steps to try to ensure the safety of our citizens there. ♪ Laura Lane, voice-over: I remember when the order came that we were gonna start evacuating nonessential personnel and then move eventually to closing down the embassy. ♪ We were focused on how we would get Americans to centers and then move them overland to Burundi and negotiate the ceasefires so that those convoys wouldn't be fired on. [Radio chatter] ♪ Bushnell, voice-over: The deal we made was that in return for safe passage of diplomats-- not only Americans, but diplomats of other embassies-- we would not take any Rwandan citizens with us, and we left our U.S. government employees, colleagues, to fend for themselves. ♪ Lane, voice-over: We could have, you know, any host of other nationalities join our convoy, just not the Rwandans, and I remember thinking at that moment, "How can that be? "The orders that I'm being given, "I get to live because I was born in Evanston, Illinois, "but that woman that just brought her child "to the embassy begging that someone take that child, we're going to condemn that child to death?" [Radio chatter] ♪ You saw images. ♪ The bodies that I saw, I couldn't make sense of it, right? As you're driving along, you just think how out of place it is to see the bodies laying by the roadside. You didn't know how to-- Like, conceptually, I knew that someone had been killed, and I guess I tried to just keep moving on and focus on the task at hand. ♪ Bushnell, voice-over: As soon as the Americans were out of Rwanda, the interest of the White House evaporated. Point of fact, the president had come to State Department for an official dinner and stopped by the crisis group to say thank you and congratulations for getting Americans out, and that was the last I heard about Bill Clinton's interest in Rwanda. Man: They authorized war crimes. Richard A. Clarke, voice-over: It's very easy in hindsight to say that the United States should have dropped the 82nd Airborne into Kigali, but remember the time. The Clinton administration had just suffered enormous political problems by the American people waking up one day and finding out that we had troops in Somalia and that some of those troops got killed, and the American people, the American media, the American Congress asked, "What the hell are you doing in Somalia?" [Helicopter whirring] Man, voice-over: What started as a humanitarian intervention to feed starving people turned into a nightmare. 18 U.S. servicemen were killed today when two Blackhawk helicopters were shot down. They were dragging him by ropes, and they paused every once in a while to allow people in the crowd to abuse the body by kicking it or stomping on it and spitting on it. Berger, voice-over: A horrible thing to watch because they kept running the film of our soldiers being dragged through the streets. It was horrifying to watch, horrible, horrible day. It was one of the worst days for me in the White House. Clarke: After that experience, everybody in Washington and everybody around the country said, "Let's not do that again. "When American interests are not at stake, "Let's not put American forces in a situation where they can be killed." ♪ Bushmill: We saw the United States government take the lead in removing peacekeepers in the face of a genocide. I will never ever forget the look on the face of team members, including our desk officer from Rwanda, when I was notified that we were going to remove the peacekeepers. He looked at me and he said, "Do you know what's going to happen?" It was a look of utter horror because both of us knew what was going to happen, and it did happen. [Distant siren] Clarke: Rwanda was discussed. President knew about it. The senior leaders of the government all knew about it. People were aware. What I'm saying is that no one of all the senior leadership in the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House-- no one ever said, "Gee, let's drop in the 82nd Airborne." Nobody cared. That it was the only way I can--I can put it. Nobody wanted to hear about it. Nobody wanted to do anything about it because the decision had been made we would not. [Helicopter whirring] [Radio chatter] ♪ Shattuck, voice-over: I wanted to actually go and see for myself what was happening. I was the first person in the government to actually fly over Rwanda. I had the plane fly as low as possible, and the most vivid example of what I saw was on the border area between Tanzania and Rwanda, where there was a river. From several thousand feet, it looked as if there were these little logs that were flowing in the river down toward Lake Victoria. I said, "I don't understand this. Let's go down." ♪ These were not logs. These were bodies, and there were many of them. They were flowing down the river, and that's why they looked like logs, there were so many. ♪ The physical elements of the genocide, it's just something that stays with you that you can't ever get out of you. ♪ Sometimes when I'm in a small river, I think I see bodies floating in the river. ♪ I went from this trip to Geneva, and in Geneva, I gave a press conference in which I said, "Genocide is going on in Rwanda," and then I was told by Washington, particularly by the Legal Advisor's Office of the State Department, that that was not the policy. We don't call this genocide. It was against policy. Ha ha! The U.S. policy was that we haven't determined yet that this is a genocide. It was unbelievable. ♪ Frankly, a lot of us, especially after John Shattuck's visit out there, that question was answered. If anything could be called genocide, this was it, and the next step was, "OK. "If you acknowledge "it's genocide, "then what are you going to do about it?" right? If you say it's genocide and we have a genocide convention, what's your obligation? ♪ Alan Elsner: Does the State Department have a view as to whether or not what is happening could be genocide? Well, as I think you know, the use of the term "genocide" has a very precise legal meaning, although it's not strictly a legal determination. There are there are other factors in there, as well. Before we begin to use that term, we have to know as much as possible about the facts of the situation. How many acts of genocide does it take to make genocide? Alan, that's just not a question that I'm in a position to answer. ♪ Moose: The case of Rwanda revealed our bureaucracy at its very worst. ♪ It took us forever to get a paper up to Secretary Christopher that would make the case that this was genocide and we had to declare it as such, even if it meant we did not know what the next step was. ♪ Clinton: I have come today to pay the respects of my nation to all who suffered and all who perished in the Rwanda genocide. During the 90 days that began on April 6 in 1994, Rwanda experienced the most intensive slaughter in this blood-filled century we are about to leave. It may seem strange to you here, especially the many of you who lost members of your family, but all over the world, there were people like me sitting in offices day after day after day who did not fully appreciate the depth and the speed with which you were being engulfed by this unimaginable terror. I did feel, even though I think his apology was genuine, that it was a very hollow moment. It was hollow because, heh, 800,000 people had perished and nothing had been done. The fact is, where there is a political will, there is a political way. I cannot imagine that the President of the United States could not have influenced the policy process, and he did not, and to say later on it was because of ignorance is, to me, unbecoming of the leader of the free world and the American foreign policy, unbecoming. ♪ Power: Walter Laqueur, the Holocaust historian, had a line that I will never forget. He wrote, "By 1943, the vast majority of Americans "knew that more than a million Jews were no longer alive, "but that did not necessarily mean that they knew that they were dead," and, to me, this horror of a concept really speaks to the two kinds of knowledge that people can have, you know-- a sort of surface knowledge where you're processing clinically, cognitively, but nothing is really reaching you and then a different kind where you're, you know, "They've been killed. They're--" and this idea of no longer alive versus dead, I feel, really speaks to a lot of the numbing that bureaucracy can facilitate. Man: Good evening. More than 3 years after the beginnings of the hostilities, the war in Bosnia is still charging a bloody toll on the civilian population. The Serb army is reinforcing its forces positioned around the Muslim enclaves of Zepa, Gorazde, and Srebrenica and is slowly closing in. ♪ The town of Srebrenica was the first of 6 areas in Bosnia that the United Nations Protection Force vowed to actually protect. ♪ Power, voice-over: In the summer of 1995, we began to get word that the Serbs were moving toward what had been declared a safe area. Thousands of civilians did what civilians all around the world do in times of crises when the U.N. is around. They see that blue flag, and they go toward it. That's all they got. Woman, voice-over: From positions less than a mile south of Srebrenica, Bosnian Serb tanks and several thousand soldiers overran a battalion of 400 Dutch peacekeepers. [Speaking Serbian] Power, voice-over: Srebrenica was special to the Serbs, special in the sense that it was atop the list of places where it wasn't just territory they wanted. They wanted to inflict a degree of harm that made it impossible for these people ever to live in this territory again, and the way you do that is genocide. [Indistinct conversation] Power, voice-over: I watched from Sarajevo on Serb TV as Ratko Mladic went, was patting the heads of children, offering them candy. "Nobody will be harmed. Women and children this way, men this way," and you just saw the faces of these people. They knew. Like, we didn't know, but they knew. Mladic: [Speaking Serbian] Peter Galbraith, voice-over: Ratko Mladic was just-- He was a psychopathic murderer. I think that's the only way to describe him, a man of extraordinary cruelty who directed the ethnic cleansing. [Speaking Serbian] Shattuck, voice-over: General Ratko Mladic and his Bosnian Serb forces basically rounded up all of the people of the town, separated men from boys and women and children and old people, sent the women and children and old people on busses out of the town, and basically began to go after the men. ♪ Man: [Speaking Serbian] ♪ Galbraith, voice-over: At this point, everybody is focused on the women and girls who were being bused out and the fact that, you know, the women are being robbed and a few of the girls are being taken off the busses and raped, and so that's the human rights story, and I'm trying to get people to focus on the missing men and boys. [Speaks Serbian] ♪ [Distant machine gun fire] Man: [Speaks Serbian] [Speaks Serbian] [Speaking Serbian] [Distant machine gun fire] [Birds chirping] ♪ [Speaks Serbian] Man: [Speaks Serbian] [Cocks rifle] [Gunshots] [Gunshot] Man: [Speaks Serbian] [Machine gun fire] [Machine gun fire] [Gunshots] [Gunshots] [Gunshot] [Distant gunshot] [Machine gun fire] [Indistinct conversation] ♪ [Gunshot] [Gunshots] ♪ Shattuck, voice-over: Nobody knew quite what had happened to these missing men, and at that stage, I said, "I've got to go." ♪ I went to Tuzla, and I was able, with the help of the local U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Office, to identify half a dozen men who had escaped from Srebrenica, and we interviewed them... ♪ and they told this extraordinary story about how they were forced out and marched to these open pits, and there, 7,000 of them were executed, and later on, two young CIA officers came up with the actual photographs of the sites with mass graves before the graves were dug, and then afterwards, men standing in a field, and then they were shot. ♪ You know, I said, "It's-- This is genocide again." [Distant siren] Shattuck: Let me tell you, from the perspective of my participation in the trip... Shattuck, voice-over: When I came back from Srebrenica, I was asked to describe literally what I had seen and heard, and there was deathly silence. You could almost hear a pin drop. ♪ Panetta: Now you have another massacre taking place. It's happening today, not 40 years ago. It's happening now, and in many ways, the blood of those who are dying is on your hands, and you've got to deal with it. It's the third year of his presidency, and he's finally saying, "Excuse me. "This is my presidency. "It's my legacy, and history will say "whether or not Bill Clinton did the right thing "in this situation, and, you know, I'm prepared to take that risk." ♪ Lake: I think, frankly, what changed him was, one, he was moved by what he saw happening, and secondly, the political calculus changed also because we got closer to the presidential election in 1996, and the president's political advisors, I think, changed from, "Be careful. Let's not get too involved," to, "You really need to resolve this before 1996." ♪ Clinton: My fellow Americans, in this new era, there are still times when America and America alone can and should make the difference for peace. ♪ The United States led NATO's heavy and continuous airstrikes. Those airstrikes, together with the renewed determination of our European partners, convinced the Serbs finally to start thinking about making peace. ♪ Warren Christopher: The agreement saved countless thousands of lives by ending the fighting between the communities in the Republic. Serious obstacles remained... Lake, voice-over: When we got the signing of Dayton, it was just-- I just felt sad at all the bloodshed, all that had gone before this. They were all so somber. It was, uh-- Bosnia was just sad, I'm afraid. I would love to say that it was a moment of euphoria, but it had been so painful. [Helicopter whirring] ♪ Power, voice-over: When I left Bosnia, being a young correspondent, I felt part of a world that hadn't done enough. ♪ You know, I just had a sense of how many lives could have been saved sooner, you know, had the decision that was belatedly made been made before, and that was a question that long ago as a much younger person I had asked myself about the Holocaust. ♪ My high-school understanding of the Holocaust could be reduced to, "Hitler was exterminating the Jews, and, therefore, we went to war," and I would later learn that the issue of the extermination of the Jews just didn't rise within the system in the way that you would have expected-- or that I would have expected. The idea that the fate of an imperiled people when it came to refugee admissions, bombing the train tracks to just make it a little bit harder, it just was striking to me that those issues in and of themselves just didn't rise. ♪ As somebody who believed in America and the idea of "never again," I just was struck by that because that wasn't ever part of kind of the history lessons that I got in this country. ♪ What I was struck by when I came back from Bosnia was the extent to which our culture was having a surge of commemoration and remembrance related to the Holocaust... ♪ and yet I had just come from this experience where the Bosnian Serbs had attempted to wipe out a people in Europe 50 years after the Holocaust, and the connections weren't really drawn. ♪ It was at that point, then, that I go to the library and, you know, thinking maybe there would be books on the decision makers, on the bystanders. I'll never forget being at Harvard's huge library and it just being very, very clear that question, at least as I was understanding it, had not been posed and the question had not been answered, so initially for a paper for a class, because I was in law school, I began sort of exploring, going back over the cases that I didn't know a lot about-- like the Armenian Genocide, Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge, what Saddam Hussein had done to the Kurds-- and then coming up to the present and my own recent experiences... ♪ and so that paper, then, it became clear there was kind of something there, that this fulsome consensus about applying the lessons of the Holocaust, that was living in great tension with what policymakers were doing, and yet the tension seemed one that was not being grappled with. [Typing] ♪ [Mouse click] ♪ [Typing] ♪ When I was working on my book, "Problem from Hell," what was clear was that there is a sense in many circles that promoting your values is somehow discordant with your interests. My own view is that more often than not that that's a false dichotomy. ♪ The most powerful rendition of this, I think, came when I looked at the Iraq-related cables from the eighties where the cable actually read, "Human rights and chemical weapons use aside, comma," our interests run parallel to those of Iraq"... ♪ and so it's right there. You know, they're just saying that really crummy things are happening through chemical weapons use and horrible human rights abuses, but our interests are divorced from all of that. ♪ Traditionally, our conception of our national interest would include preventing chemical weapons use, and yet here it was, "Chemical weapons use aside, we're good. You know, we've got trade to do." Reagan: Our countries share common interests in developing practical solutions to the problems... Clarke: We certainly knew to some degree what was going on, and we knew that Saddam was using chemical weapons inside his country against Kurds and others. I don't think the Reagan administration, or later the Bush administration, could ever claim that they were unaware of it. They were aware of it... and two administrations were willing to put up with a fair amount of obnoxious activity by Iraq in order to contain Iran. ...our instructions to our ambassador to give him some negotiating room. Dror Moreh: Doesn't it undermine America's credibility when you have relationship with someone like Saddam Hussein while you know that he is engaging in a chemical warfare against the Kurds? You're acting as though anytime you see something you don't like, you pick up and leave, and basically, that would leave you outside of most parts of the United States and in no place in the world. I don't know where you would hold up. It would certainly not be Washington, D.C. Maybe it would be Santa Barbara, California, but there are hardly any places where there's nothing-- where there's nothing wrong... ♪ so problems are everywhere. You got to deal with them. It's the ultimate alibi, right? It's, the interests are just an infinitely elastic concept, so if you want to do something, you say it's in your interests. I can make an argument for why cutting off aid to Saddam Hussein after he gasses his people is in our interests. It's in the interest of U.S. soldiers for chemical weapons not to be used in the battlefield... [Explosions] ♪ and in this instance, this ally ended up invading Kuwait, and the same individuals who thought it had been in our interest to work with him were in a position of having to mobilize vast expenditures, put a huge number of U.S. lives on the line in order to counter his aggression. ♪ [Indistinct conversation] Man, voice-over: Saddam Hussein's tanks and soldiers poured over the Kuwaiti border. Within 24 hours, Saddam came in control of 1/5 of the world's oil reserves, and the Iraqi army is within reach of the Saudi oil fields. ♪ Bush: We see in Saddam Hussein an aggressive dictator threatening his neighbors. Summary executions, routine torture, Hitler revisited. ♪ Moreh: How come all of a sudden, your ally Saddam Hussein turns into "Hitler revisited"? Baker: Well, the occupation was extraordinarily brutal, so if we do have informing our foreign policy, which we do, the concept that we're against human rights violations and war crimes and ethnic cleansing and so forth, then when it happens, that's another justification for doing what we did, and so we reversed it, but I'm also here to tell you, one of the reasons we reversed it was because of the threat to our secure access to the energy reserves of the Gulf. That was a fairly serious national interest. People didn't want to talk about it. "Ooh, you're just fighting over filthy oil. That's so because of money, money, money, money." Well, money's-- money's worth fighting over, in my views. Sanctions were tried, and we included the sanctions. Charlie Rose: Samantha Power is here. She is a lecturer in U.S. foreign policy. Her new book, "A Problem from Hell" examines America's response to genocide in the 20th century. Woman, voice-over: In her Pulitzer-winning work, Samantha Power outlines how all administrations throughout the century have shied away from action. Different woman: Her book is a passionate, normative judgment about what U.S. foreign policy should be, in her view. The system is broken, and we all have to put our heads together to try to fix it. Instead, I'm going to try to inspire you to become, shall we say, upstanders in a world that is sadly crowded with bystanders. ♪ Power: When I first met Barack Obama, it was my book "A Problem from Hell," I guess, that had caused him to reach out. I met him at some steakhouse up on Capitol Hill, you know, should have been an hour-long meal, but it was, like, 4 or 5 hours or something, was just a great meeting of the minds. The fact that there was an American politician who had read a 600-page book on genocide, it seemed, who came away from that book wanting to understand how we could do better at integrating human consequences into our decision making, wanting to understand what is it about all these people of good faith who go into public service to try to make the world better and then somehow this conception of national interests-- this stoic, kind of cold and clinical conception of what we are in government to do--takes over and we forget about the people who might have drawn us into this enterprise in the first place. Foreseeable replacement forces coming in. Power, voice-over: By the end of the dinner, I kind of found myself volunteering to go and work with him in a more official capacity, and I moved down very soon thereafter to Washington, and I advised him day to day. ♪ People of the world, will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe? Will we give meaning to the words "never again" in Darfur? [Cheering and applause] People of Berlin, people of the world, this is our moment. This is our time. We needed a new infusion of energy into our politics. We needed somebody with a different message and a different story who can turn over a new page and bring something new and different to American politics. [Cheering and applause] Obama: This moment-- this moment, this election, is our chance to keep in the 21st century the American promise alive. [Cheering and applause] Crowd: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Jake Sullivan, voice-over: Barack Obama and Michelle Obama become the President and First Lady of the United States in my lifetime, it said that our country has a special capacity to redeem its highest values. Even though we screw up, even though we're imperfect, we can also reach very high and very far in service of our highest ideals, and that's what it said to me. [People shouting] Woman, voice-over: December 17 in Tunisia, a street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, sets himself on fire in a protest against government policies, becoming the catalyst for a Tunisian revolution and the Arab Spring. Within months, demonstrations arise in Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria. Man, voice-over: Anger erupted onto the streets, riot police rushing a crowd carrying banners reading, "Yes, we can." Woman: The regional experts say the process will remain a challenge for U.S. presidents. [Shouting continues] Man, voice-over: In Libya, after almost 4 decades of ruthless dictatorship, huge crowds demonstrated in the streets of Benghazi. [Gunfire] It's been a wild 24 hours in Libya. Muammar Gaddafi has made it clear he's not going without a fight. Man: ♪ Man, voice-over: If it's an internal or an external conspiracy, we'll erase it. Sullivan, voice-over: We began to get reports of protests in many different cities in Libya, including Tripoli and Benghazi, and then we began to get reports that those protests were being fired upon. [Gunfire] Sullivan, voice-over: As soon as that happened, it was added to what became the daily agenda of events in the region. "OK. Now we got to talk Libya." [People shouting] ♪ [Gunshot] Gaddafi: [Speaking Arabic] Anderson Cooper, voice-over: What is happening there is a massacre? Alex Crawford, voice-over: There are large-scale deaths. They are women. They are children. They're old people. They're not fighters. Power, voice-over: I remember the feeling we had Gaddafi's own words, just very explicit-- "I'm gonna hunt them down," so it was really more just, "Whoa." This is just one of those moments that you're on the front end of something. You can't predict it. [People shouting] ♪ Very frankly... ♪ Sullivan, voice-over: Secretary Clinton went to the Elysee Palace and sat down one on one with Nicolas Sarkozy, and he was extremely agitated about what might happen in Benghazi and about the absolute, unshakable, undeniable need for France and the United States and the United Kingdom to go do something about it right away. The French and the British viewed Libya as a direct threat to them-- chaos, genocide literally on their doorstep. ♪ Sullivan, voice-over: The time pressure was enormous. We started that process thinking we've got some time, and then town after town fell fast, really fast. Within days, Gaddafi's forces were knocking on the doorstep of Benghazi. [Shouting] Man, voice-over: Colonel Gaddafi's forces are pushing east. They seem unstoppable. Different man, voice-over: The regime claims that within two days, these troops would be in Benghazi. [Gunfire] We are still recovering from our involvement in Iraq. Power, voice-over: On March 15, the president convenes his national security cabinet and a few backbenchers like myself. The president opens up the meeting, and he's not in a good mood. David Petraeus: The fact is that... Rhodes, voice-over: The meeting begins with a briefing from the intelligence community, and there's a map in front of everybody, and there's a dot on the map--Benghazi, a city of several hundred thousand people, and then you can see the progression of Gaddafi's forces, and they're in a town called Ajdabiya, and it is explained to us that this is kind of the last stop on the way to Benghazi, and from this position, they can move in and just-- Gaddafi'd said they were gonna go door to door and kill people like rats, and I remember, you know, going around the table, and Obama is literally asking people, "Should I take action "to save these people in this city "that we all know are going to be killed, or should I not?" Clinton, voice-over: I laid out all of the factors, including the Arab support, not just rhetoric, but commitments for military assets and action, and our major allies in Europe, you know, we historically are always asking them to support us, but now they were asking us to support them. I don't see why that's... Denis McDonough, voice-over: I argued against intervening. The main concern was that it was a set of responsibilities that were beyond what I thought was prudent, given the other demands on the United States at the time. I thought we should avoid another military conflict. Rhodes: Biden says, "No. You'd be crazy to get another war in the Middle East." Bob Gates says no. The military is saying, "We have too much to do "in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we can't afford to move all these resources over here," and I remember I could feel it working its way around to me, and my argument was essentially, "If you don't do this "and these people all get massacred, "how will you explain this? "I mean, how can we tell the world "everybody was ready to act, and what would it say if we don't act in this circumstance?" Antony Blinken: It really went to the fact that we had a unique situation, that there was a responsibility but also an opportunity to demonstrate that the international community could act effectively to stop atrocities, could do it in a way that was grounded in international law, and the failure to take action would contribute potentially to the further unraveling of the international system. Rhodes: Obama described this decision to me as kind of a 51/49 call in his mind. He had to weigh both sets of arguments, and he decided to do it. Woman, voice-over: The question looming over the Security Council today is how Russia or China will vote. In the past, the two superpowers constantly vetoed interventions inside the sovereign state. Man, voice-over: We see China abstaining, Russia abstaining, and here comes the vote total, all necessary measures to protect the civilian population as Gaddafi's forces move in on Benghazi. Obama: The United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Arab states agree that a ceasefire must be implemented immediately. If Gaddafi does not comply with the resolution, the international community will impose consequences. ♪ [Beeping] ♪ Woman, voice-over: U.S. F-15 and F-16 fighter jets have flown dozens of sorties alongside British, French, and Danish jets. The Italians and Spanish are providing... Man, voice-over: France and Britain going to be taking the lead on the airstrikes, with the U.S. playing a key role. ♪ [Explosion] [Man shouts] [Siren] Moreh: Basically, you manage in two weeks to stop him marching to Benghazi, so why did it continue afterwards? These things, they have-- they have a momentum and an inertia and a scale of size and weight. It was very clear that was the main mission, stop Gaddafi, and then the evolution of what happens after that wasn't overly clear. So you didn't debate what will be the next steps after the war? You didn't debate that? No. Experienced men-- Gates, you--how? It wasn't like we didn't put it on the table. They weren't interested. [Shouting] ♪ Panetta, voice-over: Underneath it all is a recognition that ultimately, you're not going to change things without regime change and that, while you don't say it, the reality is that you know the only way you're going to achieve some kind of end here is to end the regime. [Shouting] ♪ [Machine gun fire] [Shouting continues] ♪ [Indistinct conversation] [Shouting] Man: [Shouts in Arabic] [Call to prayer on P.A.] Sullivan, voice-over: Libya's only hope was to have some kind of stabilization force that could tamp down violence and engage in some kind of demobilization of the militias. Secretary Clinton posed the question very directly to the Europeans-- "You know, this is on your doorstep. "What are you gonna do about this? What role are you prepared to play?" and European leaders from France and the U.K., from Italy all said, "We intend to have a significant hand in the shaping of the aftermath of any military action." [People chanting] ♪ McDonough, voice-over: President Obama negotiated with Prime Minister Cameron, President Sarkozy his view that steps post action will be as important to the successful outcome in Libya, and he sought their assurance, and they gave it to him, that they would take the lead on post-action efforts in Libya. Unfortunately, they just were not in a position to deliver. [Gunfire] Man, voice-over: Libya has become increasingly unstable, with rival militias engaged in some of the fiercest fights. Woman, voice-over: Some say it's the worst violence in Libya since the revolution in 2011. [Men shouting] [Gunfire] Rhodes: Obama would call me in and, you know, get frustrated because Cameron and Sarkozy just couldn't do that. He expressed increasing frustration that anybody who says that the United States is not gonna have to end up doing all this ourselves is not acknowledging what we're learning from history but also from Libya, which is that everyone will say, "Sure, we'll do all these things," but on the back end, it was like, "OK. "What is the U.S. gonna do to put this place back together again?" [Distant gunfire] Mullen, voice-over: We'd invaded, if you will. We'd intervened, and then we all left, not just the U.S. Everybody left, and--Colin Powell said this, you know-- if you break it, you own it, and we broke it, and we didn't own it. What stunned me is, having learned some version of that lesson in Iraq, we didn't do it in Libya. I mean, it stuns me to this day. Biden: Tell me what happens. He's gone, what happens? Doesn't the country disintegrate? Sullivan, voice-over: The minute that you walk into the White House Situation Room, you immediately recognize that you've got a collection of imperfect people with imperfect information about what's going on facing imperfect choices and in an imperfect process where it's hard to actually draw in all the right people to contribute to the decision, so it shouldn't come as any surprise that you end up getting imperfect results. Biden: 200,000 300,000 or 150,000 troops... Sullivan, voice-over: Every solution you propose or present or pursue almost necessarily creates new problems, so, even when you think you've done the right thing, you have generated a whole set of additional decisions that themselves put you back in this loop of imperfection. Obama: The United States can't get in the middle of somebody else's civil war. [Chanting in Arabic] Man: [Rapping in Arabic] Man, voice-over: Huge demonstrations today throughout Syria calling for more freedom and dignity. Woman, voice-over: The Syrian government made it very clear today that it will tolerate no dissent. [People shouting and whistling] [Machine gun fire] Man: [Shouting in Arabic] [Shouting continues] [Machine gun fire] Power, voice-over: In Syria, it was so clear that Assad was employing a how-to manual of how to basically be the most savage leader in the Arab world, the most savage responder to peaceful protests. You're seeing him use incendiary weapons. Into 2012, he's using napalm. We're already hearing the reports of what snipers are doing and how people are being tortured with acid and electric shock in the prisons. ♪ I got the sense that Syria was going to be a problem from hell in early 2012, when the Russian Perm Rep to the U.N., Vitaly Churkin, told Susan Rice, who was our ambassador to the United Nations, that the Russians would go along with the resolution. They called for a halt to the violence, and then Secretary Clinton had a meeting with Sergey Lavrov to talk about the resolution before the vote, and Lavrov basically told her, "It ain't happening. We're not supporting it. We're backing Assad," and at that moment, it became clear to me that you now had great powers pitted against each other in Syria and with that, the conflict was going to be very difficult to manage and Assad was going to be empowered to slaughter even more of his own people. ♪ [People wailing] ♪ Derek Chollet, voice-over: We saw the situation in Syria unraveling. It looked that either Assad was going to do something to use the chemical weapons or there would be a loss of control of some kind, and so the question would always come back to, "Well, what happens with the chemical weapons? Around one of those moments with the president, he's asked a question-- "Well, what would happen if these chemical weapons were on the loose?" Chuck Todd. Do you envision using U.S. military, if simply for nothing else the safe keeping of the chemical weapons? We have been very clear to the Assad regime but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is, we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized, that's a red line for us, and that there would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons. Obama violated one of the core tenets of press conferences, which is, you never answer a hypothetical question, so he answered a hypothetical question. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation, all right? Thank you, everybody. At that moment, it became this kind of line in the sand. If chemical weapons were used, the full force and fury of U.S. military power would be used against Assad. ♪ Woman, voice-over: The images you are about to see are so important because they're being held up tonight by Syrian rebels as evidence of what may be the worst chemical weapons attack anywhere since Saddam Hussein gassed the Iraqi Kurds in 1988. The United States government now knows that at least 1,429 Syrians were killed in this attack, including at least 426 children. We know where the rockets were launched from and at what time. Power, voice-over: You have these families who were just sleeping, minding their own business. The gas comes in. It's very clear from where the regime fired it into opposition villages. I mean, the question of who did it is a nonissue. With our own eyes, we have seen the thousands of reports. All of them show and report victims with breathing difficulties, people twitching with spasms, coughing, rapid heartbeats, foaming at the mouth, unconsciousness, and death. ♪ Power, voice-over: Looking at those photographs of those kids lined up, those little kids, you just see the size of them, the size of my own kids at that time, and just lines, just rows of them. You know, I mean-- Man: Oh... [Crying] [Speaking Arabic] So the primary question is really no longer what do we know. The question is, what are we-- we collectively-- what are we in the world gonna do about it? Man: The composition of... Power, voice-over: I went into the first meeting with the president after the strike with my arguments lined up, ready to make the case for how this is an existential threat in the sense that it's a chemical weapon that can kill so many, and I didn't need to make any argument. President Obama knew exactly what he was going to do. 10 days ago, the world watched in horror as men, women, and children were massacred in Syria in the worst chemical weapons attack of the 21st century, and after careful deliberation, I have decided that the United States should take military action against Syrian regime targets. ...ban against the use of chemical weapons and prohibitions against other weapons of mass destruction. Chuck Hagel, voice-over: We wanted to do something that was meaningful, that would hurt him, that would affect his ability to continue what he was doing. The military options were discussed. It was the National Security Council. We gave the president those options. He chose one. We had it all set. It was ready to go. We had all agreed on it. We have options to deal with chemicals, long-range rockets and missiles... We must come together as... Rhodes, voice-over: The first time I saw Obama have second thoughts was the middle of the week, and he's calling Angela Merkel asking her not for troops or planes, just political support, Just a statement in support of bombing Syria. Obama said, "Angela, I need you on this." I mean, you know, he made, like, a forceful plea, how it was a moral case, there's a strategic case, and she said, "Barack"-- she said it with some feeling because they were very close, you know--"Barack, you want to go through this process. "I'm telling you this as a friend. "If you go in now, Putin's going to say, "you know, you made this up. Support's not gonna be there," and I remember him hanging up the phone, and it was the first time I saw some doubt creep in, and he said to me, you know, something along the lines of, like, "People really-- Nobody wants to do this, you know?" Sullivan: The Russians did not want us to attack, and they basically said, "You have no basis or right "to do this because it wasn't the Assad regime. It was the opposition." We asked them for any evidence that they could put forward to justify their claim, and they had nothing. Kerry: ...chemical weapons to the international community. Step by step over the course of that week, events begin to intrude. The British Parliament votes to prevent Cameron from joining this... It is clear to me that the British Parliament, reflecting the views of the British people, does not want to see British military action. I get that, and the government will act accordingly. While we're in a meeting with the leadership of the U.S. Congress that is telling us that they will only support it with congressional authorization... The bloodshed is gonna end. Rhodes, voice-over: and so this question became, "What do we do?" I remember I was in a meeting in Denis' office on Friday afternoon, and Denis gets kind of a tap on the shoulder, you know, "Boss wants to see you," ...and we've wrestled with this issue very... McDonough, voice-over: After several hours of meetings with his National Security Council that day, we took a long walk on the South Lawn. I have a view on these matters, which is that Congress has a responsibility to have a role. The Founding Fathers had a view that Congress declares wars and raises armies. That's my view, that the American people have the confidence that the institutions of the government, including the Congress, are involved in that decision. ♪ Rhodes: Dennis comes back, and then I get a tap on the shoulder saying, "You need to go to the Oval Office." ♪ I get in, and Obama stands up from behind the Oval Office, and there's nobody else there, and he says, "I've got a big idea," and I knew that whatever decision he'd made, he had made that decision just before he even told me what it was by his demeanor, his appearance... Obama: Think that on issues like this, it's important... Rhodes, voice-over: and he said, "I believe I need to seek "congressional authorization "because I don't believe that this will be a one-off. "Like, if we bomb Syria, "this is something we're gonna be doing for a long time, "and I can't sustain this politically without congressional authorization," and then he's getting into the fact that the same dysfunction in the U.S. Congress is present internationally, which is, "All the Europeans say, "We got to do something about this," "but are they gonna be there in a year or two years or 3 years if this thing goes like I think it's going to go?" and then he said, "You know, if it's Syria now, It'll be Iran next, and where does this all end?" and I remember there's a picture of this meeting, and I look like a balloon that has been deflated because I was accepting something I didn't want to accept, which is, I'd operated under the belief that-- for two years that we could do something in Syria, and then I had the President of United States, who happens to be my boss and someone who I know very well, kind of laying out for me why that's not gonna work unless we get congressional authorization. I mean, it was kind of obvious that he was, in some respects, pulling back the throttle. ♪ Kerry: ...because a lot of other countries whose policies challenged these international norms are watching. They are watching. They want to see whether the United States and our friends mean what we say. It is directly related to our credibility and whether countries still believe the United States when it says something. They are watching to see if Syria can get away with it because then maybe they too can put the world at greater risk. It's about choices that will directly affect our role in the world and our interests in the world. It is also profoundly about who we are. We are the United States of America. ♪ Robert Malley: How do you make decisions, and are you thinking about an action today or its consequences in the next year? How much weight do you put on an issue like credibility? If you believe that issuing that red line was a mistake, do you then have to compound that mistake with another mistake in order not to lose credibility? ♪ I think for President Obama, the credibility was the reason the U.S. had made more mistakes in its history than virtually anything else, Vietnam being one of them, and continuing with wrong policy, so human factor, what kind of person are you when you confront those decisions, I think that's what it's all about. Panetta: The one thing you have as president is credibility, and once you give your word, once you say you're gonna do something, then people expect that you will follow through on your word, and if you don't--if you don't, then that will be read as weakness, and people then will think they can take advantage of you because, regardless of what you say, they don't really believe you're going to act on your word, and that, more than anything, can weaken your ability to deal with crisis. This week, when I addressed the nation on Syria, I said that, in part because of the credible threat of U.S. military force, there is the possibility of a diplomatic solution. Russia has indicated a new willingness to join with the international community in pushing Syria to give up its chemical weapons. If there's any chance of achieving that goal without resorting to force, then I believe we have a responsibility to pursue that path. Woman, voice-over: Some say the agreement emboldens Russia. Man, voice-over: This is a Russian plan for Russian interests. Woman, voice-over: President Obama tried to downplay the notion that this is a win for America's historic geopolitical foe. ♪ Power: It was a mistake to go to Congress, and, while we made the best of a bad situation in negotiating the end of Syria's chemical weapons program, it was clear they were always gonna keep some for a rainy day, and it was clear that after that, the threat of the use of force inevitably was gonna mean less than it had meant before. ♪ Man, voice-over: The situation in Syria continued to grow worse by the day. John McCain: Thousands and thousands and thousands, 192,000 dead, 3 million refugees, and we're not gonna do anything about Assad? [People shouting] Power, voice-over: 2014, we were fighting ISIS. We were dealing with U.S. embassies under siege, U.S. journalists being beheaded. The emphasis was on the lives of Americans, but at the same time, to be just reminded again and again of the inadequacy of what we were doing commensurate to our stated objectives, our stated objectives were alleviation of suffering-- not happening; sufferings getting worse-- preventing the rise of terrorist groups, stemming refugee flow, refugee flow getting worse, I mean, on every axis... ♪ but the suffering is one that makes you feel potentially-- certainly, I felt this way at a different level-- but guilty. It makes you feel like you're not-- you know, that you're letting innocents down, and you're the only-- and Obama would be very clear-eyed. He'd have no alibi for himself. He knows that the only hope they have is America. Across the globe, lot of people think something should be done, but nobody wants to do it, and that's not an unusual... Malley, voice-over: Once in the White House, there was a discussion on Syria, and Samantha was pushing back on what we needed to do, and she was getting frustrated, and the president was getting frustrated. After the meeting, he goes up, and he turns around and says, "Samantha, come with me to the Oval. It's not gonna be something that the United States... Malley, voice-over: I don't know what they said, but to me, as I read it, she was always his bad conscience. She was the person who reminded him of the side of him who was idealistic. ...hitting hospitals, hitting refugee... Malley, voice-over: There are very few people that he would have a back-and-forth with in the Situation Room. He would have back-and-forth with her because he respected her views, because he knew she disagreed. We had rules in place dealing with... Power, voice-over: There were a lot of layers in the dynamic between President Obama and myself on Syria. You know, he wouldn't let a Syria meeting end without saying, "Sam, what you got?" you know. Because I'd often be on the screen, he'd say, "I see that look of skepticism," and I could-- You know, sometimes I would speak, and I could just see him getting impatient and not liking the message. You know, one time it was, "We've all read your book, Samantha. "In other words, we don't need to be reminded "of the human consequences "of bystanding in the face of mass atroc--" like, "We get it," like, "Spare us," kind of... ♪ and my view to this day is that he heard moral judgment because that was the voice in his head. No matter how I articulated what I was saying, he heard me saying, "You're a bystander." Geir O. Pedersen: Let me express the gravest concern that the violence is, so far, not abating. No one... Stephanie Ruhle: Realistically, how close are we to any sort of real resolution to stop this? We've got to get a political solution not just for Syria. It's because of a failed policy which has allowed this situation in Syria to deteriorate to the point where people just have to leave. Power, voice-over: I'd had a warm relationship with Senator McCain, so when Tony Blinken, a colleague of mine and friend of mine, was up for being deputy secretary of state and McCain was placing what's called a hold on his nomination, I said, "Tony, I got this," so I called. Senator McCain took the call. I basically got about two sentences into my pitch just to vouch that Tony was very concerned about the Syrians, but McCain, he just cut me off, and he just says, "How can you live with yourself? How?" you know, "You're gonna make the policy better? "This policy is a disaster. "Hundreds of thousands of people are being killed, "and you, the author of "A Problem from Hell," "are part of this administration. You're complicit in this," and he just went on and on. McCain: ...strategy, there is no success. Power, voice-over: You know, I had the phone initially here, and then it was so loud, but I kept trying to kind of reroute it to Tony and saying, "Look. I think if he's in the room, there will be another voice," and he's like, "Please. Another voice. Like yours was a voice?" because he had thought, you know, when I got confirmed, I'd be in the cabinet. I'd be a voice. "You know, this president is not-- "He's feckless," you know, and he would go on, and he said, "Look. You know, not only should Tony Blinken not be confirmed, but you should resign," and then the line went dead. ♪ A number of newspapers were calling on me to resign. Even close friends from Bosnia would say, "Have you thought about--" so I did think about it. ♪ I could have expressed the sort of searing mark that Syria left on me by leaving, but who would that have helped, and-- Who? Tell me one person it would have helped other than me in this interview. I'm in the room with the president. Barack Obama is not cold to what is happening to the Syrian people. What was very challenging was figuring out what is the pathway that is going to do more good than harm, and he made a judgment, not one I agreed with, but a reasonable one. At the same time, he gave me power to try to get more refugees into the country, getting political prisoners out of jail, to ending an Ebola crisis, even though everyone in America wanted nothing to do with West Africa. Those are consequences, and to go back to teaching and writing and hoping somebody reads my op-ed compared to the ability to do something for someone on a given day, it just wasn't a close call. Man, voice-over: Dramatic new drone video tells the tale of destruction. Anti-Assad government rebels held in East Aleppo were hit hard. Security Council resolution calling for a new pause to the fighting was vetoed, and so the Russian-led airstrikes continue. Power, voice-over: Here is what is happening right now in Eastern Aleppo. Syrians trapped by the fighting are sending out their final appeals for help. [Indistinct conversation] ♪ Power, voice-over: This is what is being done by member states of the United Nations who are sitting around this horseshoe table today to the people of Eastern Aleppo. ♪ Aleppo will join the ranks of those events that define modern evil-- [Coughs] Power, voice-over: Halabja, Rwanda, Srebrenica, and now Aleppo. [Shouting] Woman: [Shouting in Arabic] ♪ Are you truly incapable of shame? Is there literally nothing that can shame you? ♪ This is not leading from behind. This is hiding from behind. I mean, we have Samantha Powers, you know, attacking Iran, Assad, Russia, saying, "Have you no shame?" What about the administration? The thing about Syria and the Obama policy is that this tiny country has caused so much destabilization not only for its neighbors, but for Europe and so forth. ♪ Power: How can something so clear in retrospect become so muddled at the time by rationalizations, institutional constraints, and, above all, a lack of imagination? How can it be that those who fight on behalf of these principles are the ones deemed unreasonable? George Bernard Shaw once wrote, "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. "The unreasonable one persists "in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." ♪ What's happened in Syria is absolutely heartbreaking, and there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it. ♪ It's natural to want to blame someone for a terrible outcome, and I get that. I think the president gets that. You know, I wish there were an available alternative to us to fix that situation in Syria, but we looked at all the alternatives, and there was not one that worked. ♪ I'll be honest with you sitting here today. Like, I don't know how much of that I had to rationalize the inaction, you know, because I knew after 2013 that I was going to be living with this inaction, and so to this day, I'm torn by-- It's a complicated thing. This gets back to your tugging at your conscience. Do you do you construct arguments to rationalize something that you used to feel passionately differently about, you know? I think there's something like that that's been going on with me. To be a liberal and to deal with these questions, you know, probably inevitably leads to that. Anyone who had any responsibility for Syria and for our policy there has to look themselves in the mirror and see failure staring back at you. On one level, it's as simple as that. We didn't stop the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people. We didn't prevent millions of people being forcibly displaced from their homes. We look at that bottom line, and you can't but conclude that we failed. ♪ Mark Lowcock: You in this Security Council have ignored all the previous pleas you have heard. You know what is happening, and you have done nothing. ♪ Malley: Syria is a core example of that inability of the international community to come together to try to stop mass atrocities, and this is one of the worst mass atrocities, but they they existed before Syria. They've existed after, and we haven't been able to answer that question. The whole theory of responsibility to protect, which has never really been implemented, you know, it's not the international consensus today. ♪ Sullivan: I believe that the United States bears responsibility to try to rally action in response to genocide, mass killings, mass atrocities so that the world does not descend into darkness and madness. We have an obligation to play a central role, but not a singular role. Murray McCully: The draft resolution has not been adopted owing to the negative vote of a permanent member of... Power, voice-over: Great power politics don't go away just because of the responsibility to protect. The Security Council gave 5 permanent members a veto, and for any of the permanent 5 to be a sole arbiter of whether you can kill your people or not, that's not what the founders, you know, had in mind. ♪ Man: Mr. President, the General Assembly by unanimous vote affirmed that genocide is a crime under international law which the civilized world condemns and for the commission of which principals and accomplices are punishable. [Applause] ♪ Lake, voice-over: There will always be genocides or war crimes because human nature hasn't changed. If you look around the world, you can see how the forces of selfishness and of barriers and of denial of rights are growing, and they are growing, I believe, because the democratic institutions that were put in place 70 years ago are all under assault and in too many countries, they are losing, including the values themselves. Man: World peace, world justice... Lake, voice-over: Every nation in the world agreed that the international community has a responsibility to protect people against genocide and war crimes, et cetera, and then find practical ways not to implement it, and so the lesson that wasn't implemented is a lesson not taken. George Clooney: We were brought up to believe that the U.N. was formed to ensure that the Holocaust could never happen again. This genocide will be on your watch. How you deal with it will be your legacy-- your Rwanda, your Cambodia, your Auschwitz. ♪ ♪ ♪ COVER IMAGE REFERRAL https://www.pbs.org/video/obamas-cabinet-and-libya-pldhu2/

Mermaid 2025 DTIYS Black Artist OF Tumblr 04252025 https://www.tumblr.com/richardmurrayhumblr/781819416682905600/draw-this-in-your-style-lmao IN AMENDMENT Why The Disposable Black Girlfriend Is A Problem from Princess Weekes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDOUXna8EA TRANSCRIPT 0:00 I am a pretty solid fan of the series the first season was incredible the 0:05 memes were fantastic and with there being so many different superhero deconstruction shows and adult animated 0:11 series it managed to still feel fresh I will also watch almost anything with JK 0:18 Simmons in it almost anything but there was one aspect of the show I've always 0:24 strongly disliked I heard you took a few on the chin for me again Invincible was originally a comic book series by Robert 0:31 Kirkman who also co-created and co-wrote The Walking Dead it began publication in 0:36 2003 and lasted for 144 issues and 25 volumes ending in 2018 as the show has 0:43 been adapted for the animated am*zon Prime series Kirkman has admitted to rewriting certain parts of the series 0:48 and updating it the comics had a lot of very Peak 2000's humor gay jokes rward 0:54 poorly written female characters messy depictions of sexual assault so with over a decade Plus distance changes were 1:01 made and I think that's commendable I think that it's really cool to be able to know that your work can be updated 1:06 and then when you're given the opportunity to do so you take it Kirkman told radio times when we sit down with 1:11 the source material if we feel like everything is working we just try to make sure that we uphold what existed in 1:17 the comics trying to put a Fresh coat of paint on it trying to expand things where we can expand them truncate things 1:23 where you feel like that's necessary following the finale for this past season a lot of attention was made to 1:28 the monologue that the character Conquest made that was not present in the original comic no one wants to be my 1:34 friend they think I am unstable [ __ ] me too when I write an episode I always go 1:40 through the comic and think about how I can make things more interesting because I'm writing myself I feel an extra 1:46 responsibility if I'm going to write the same thing a second time I need to make it interesting for me and hopefully make 1:53 it better for the audience one change that happened while 1:59 making the new series series was having the main character Mark Grayson also known as half Korean I think 2:05 representation matters not to get on a soap box or anything especially in the world of superheroes you didn't start 2:11 getting nonwhite superheroes regularly until the 70s and even then through the 2:16 ' 80s and '90s and 2000s they're still somewhat rare yeah but they don't tell them that they all think it's organic 2:22 diversity there's nothing about his race that is essential to that character his race could literally be anything I think 2:28 because we were in that position we decided it'd be a responsible thing to do and a really cool thing to do and do 2:35 something with his race that was interesting in the animated series and that's why we decided to go down that 2:40 road down down down the road down the witches Road in the comics Mark and his 2:46 mother Debbie are very white-coated and I did see the arguments about the our style being ambiguous but using just 2:54 kind of like media General literacy like we can inert that they are white because that is the default in American comics 3:00 and I think up until Mark was confirmed to be Korean in this I don't think anyone would have doubted his whiteness 3:05 anyway Steven Yun is Korean and was cast as the voice actor for Mark and Sandra o voices his mother and so visually they 3:12 were changed to be more Korean in design the show however has never really given 3:17 a lot of cultural markers for the characters beyond that not even the obligatory like no shoes in the house 3:22 but that's not my culture or background to critique it is just interesting that I think the most explicit mention of 3:29 Mark's non whiteness recently was like Dr seismic calling him like token diversity which is like it's my old 3:36 friend's token diversity and gender stereotype another character whose race 3:41 was changed was Amber in the comics Amber was a white character who is L show the difficulty of being the 3:47 girlfriend of a superhero it's very like early Gwen Stacy Lana Lang except she 3:52 gets to live so in the adaptation they wanted to add a bit more layer to the character make her more fleshed out and 3:58 because she is voiced by zaz beats she was turned from a white character to a 4:03 black character and this as often happens with race bending is where the 4:10 trouble [Music] begins hi I am princess weeks if you 4:17 enjoyed this video please like share and subscribe I talk about the intersections between pop culture and gender race etc 4:24 etc and so forth I also have a podcast called open tabs where where I talk 4:30 about fanfiction it is not safe for work but it is very enjoyable uh so if you are interested in 4:37 something about fanfiction uh that is a little bit you know like having a dirty conversation with friends over you know 4:44 the smudy queer fanfic that you enjoy uh check it out we all know that data collectors and spammers have found ways 4:51 to collect the personal information we have floating around the internet often without our knowledge or consent we 4:57 don't think about where we put it and then when certain companies go bankrupt 5:03 we suddenly realize that we have given sites a lot more information than we should have and I think we have all 5:09 recently seen the importance of cyber security when it comes to phone numbers and group chats incog is a powerful 5:17 service that helps you reclaim your online privacy by removing your personal information from data broker databases 5:24 here's why I love it it automates the process of contacting data Brokers to remove your information it is incredibly 5:30 userfriendly and does all the hard work for you and it provides regular updates on the status of your data removal 5:36 requests I have been using incog for a while and it always is updating and I'm constantly getting alerts that there are 5:42 just too many things about me that I have to remove um you know I feel very popular but not in a good way within a 5:49 few months of just starting to use it I saw a significant reduction in spam calls and emails try and cogn for 5:55 yourself and see the difference it can make use code princess weeks at the link below to get exclusive 60% off an annual 6:01 incog plan that's 6:20 incognitomotion shows especially the women essentially the dbg is a black 6:26 female character who exists in a relationship as a orary placeholder for the main relationship the black woman in 6:33 this case is there for diversity she is there to be a foil to whomever the end game romance will be 50/50 she has 6:41 natural hair and the character doesn't have to be poorly written but she is fundamentally a prop and is never a real 6:48 genuine romantic Choice while I am being specific to black women in this Trope people of color in general can often be 6:54 written to fill this role I can think of many black men who have served this 6:59 function oh my God you're Jimmy Olen the photographer from The Daily Planet but let's get back to Invincible even before 7:06 I looked into the comics I felt like Eve was always intended to be endgame for Mark I always got the feeling that he 7:13 was into Eve and that if she hadn't been daing Rex he'd probably have gone for her in the first 7:19 place and when Mark and Amber started dating at least for me it never felt like this was like his great one first 7:26 love it always felt like I'm going to watch him go through all of this just to get to his actual soulmate Eve who is 7:34 non- derogatorily the like comic cliche of overpowered busty redhead who can't 7:40 actually use all her powers because then she would just break the format tragically boring but a friend of mine is working on a video about that and 7:46 they'll cover that there but like yeah that undercurrent poisoned my entire experience of watching Amber Amber was 7:52 already not liked by fans because she was seen to be the worst kind of thing a woman on a show like this can be 7:59 a hypocrite did you hear what I just said I know you're a superhero you know 8:05 you you know I'm not an idiot I figured it out weeks ago oh she knew he was invincible the whole time oh does she 8:12 not want him to save people why is she so mad about the goddamn soup kitchen 8:17 it's not about the soup kitchen she's not really mad about the soup kitchen it's about the whole lying thing but no 8:24 one cares and I'll say this I think Amber was always going to fail with an audience because that kind of character 8:31 is always hated the CW arse hate boards are filled with angry comments about 8:37 women who don't understand why their partner is always ditching them and they don't understand the mission and their 8:43 struggle and their Journey like this happens all the time on Arrow despite the fact that we the audience knew that 8:50 Oliver cheated lied and kept personal stuff from his then partner Laurel in 8:55 their relationship including the fact that her sister who he cheated on Laurel with was alive Laura was always framed 9:01 as the bad guy because her reaction to being lied to was an endless patience 9:08 plus they already had like two cool girl side options on the roster for him anyway but people already hate the kind 9:14 of character narrative Amber was a part of tie that with a character who is opinionated and assertive and black mess 9:22 and even when they do this as well as they can you are never really set up to 9:28 take the side of the person you were always made to feel like that woman is tripping it's already hard and then on 9:34 top of it this is not an important long-term relationship it is meant to teach him a lesson and it's a lesson 9:41 that we have seen done all the time so that's annoying and then on top of it 9:46 because Amber is black we now have to experience racism and Amber is now the only female black character of note in 9:53 the entire series as of right now and when I brought this up on Tik Tok there was a question of if Amber was always 10:00 meant to be sort of a disposable character as a love interest why does it matter if she's black or white why is 10:07 this so of Merit that it has a name and any relevance 10:17 well I have another video coming up shortly about the tragic motto stereotype so I don't want to repeat 10:23 things over and over again so for the sake of this video I need to accept a few things that I would hope you you 10:29 know but here we go race is a construct but it matters in terms of society 10:34 before we had the concept of race as we know it now a lot of stereotypes about women men sex Etc was all nationalistic 10:42 if you look at something like genital herpes which has existed for as long as there have been humans in England they 10:48 call it the French disease in France they call it the napole disease you know white on white violence very elegant um 10:56 which is why when people say they want European nationalism it's like the global impact of the transatlantic 11:01 slave trade and then later European colonialism did help refine race along 11:07 different Norms than previously nationalistic borders this is why even though there has always been slavery 11:13 imperialism Empire Etc we talk about this so much as having an impact because we are still actively dealing with those 11:20 repercussions today that's why we like oh whatever was over Savannah we know Savannah I hear 11:27 you but we have sociology that tells about how it infects us right now in Sabrina strings fearing the black body 11:32 she explains the racial roots of European and American fat phobia in early parts of the book strings 11:38 discusses beauty standards in the 14 and 1500s when the Portuguese started the slave trade major cities became more and 11:45 more familiar with African women and therefore they became part of the regular conversations and trius on 11:51 beauty African women were described as well proportioned and plump and consequently viewed as physically 11:56 appealing yet the burgeoning discourse about African suggested that their purported distinctive facial features 12:02 made them facially unattractive black women were further denigrated due to their surval status therefore despite 12:09 black women's reputations as well-formed Beauties their purported African physiy 12:14 and status as slaves became the early basis of social distinctions between low 12:20 status African women and their High status European counterparts strings then explains that one of the big 12:26 cultural Transformations from African women being seen as physically appealing to a more hypersexualized way was the 12:33 exploitation of Sarah Bartman also known as the hot and tot Venus Bartman was an 12:38 African woman who was part of an erotic freak Show in the 19th century she was a slave who was brought to places in 12:44 Europe where people especially white men would gawk at her cartoonishly depicted large backside it was usually very 12:51 exaggerated and used to place the African female body as Savage and primitive but also inherently sexual 12:59 this racial ftiz worked to do two things hypersexualize black bodies and establish their sexuality as something 13:06 that did not belong to themselves but to white people in the public sphere when 13:11 we think about the role of gender in this time under the patriarchy the ideal woman was meant to be an innocent 13:17 domestic being and this was one way to remove black women from Womanhood 13:24 culturally but then especially in the Americas it was also done legally In 13:30 1855 the state of Missouri prosecuted a slave named Celia Celia murdered her master Robert Nome while he was in the 13:37 process of sexually assaulting her something he allegedly did to her since he purchased her as a teenager during 13:42 her trial her lawyer argued that the laws in missoury concerning ravishment included enslaved women courts rejected 13:49 that as IR rationale the enslaved could neither give nor refuse consent nor 13:55 offer reasonable resistance yet they were criminally responsible and liable 14:01 the slave was recognized as a reasoning subject who possessed intent and rationality solely in the context of 14:08 criminal liability as a result Celia was found guilty of murder and was hanged adding on to this Dynamic of black women 14:15 not being able to be under the law while being subj to the harassment of their owners white women who were married to 14:21 these slave owners possessed resentment towards black women for being their husband's Mistresses which could 14:29 contains so much more agency than an the slave woman would have Mary boyin chestn not known for her diaries about the 14:35 Civil War and probably like the Confederate version of Lenny refall said that slave women were the culprits 14:40 responsible for their husband's downfall and forced decent white women to live with disgraced white men and be 14:47 surrounded by prostitutes I know sometimes when you're asked why a Trope 14:52 exists and someone gives you this long historical answer it can be like really overwhelming because for many people 14:58 it's just not that serious ious they are viewing the experiences of these characters from show to show but to 15:03 understand what the Disposable black woman is a problem you need to understand the social construction around the disposability of black women 15:09 in this country black women could be violently gang and the white men could brag about it and nothing would be done 15:15 it wasn't until the rap of Betty Jee Owens in 1959 that white men in the South were sent to jail for her and one 15:23 of the men who was convicted was paroled tried to kill Owens murdered another black woman and put her in a shallow 15:29 grave this was 66 years ago the new Senate's median age is 15:36 64.7 years which is down from 65.3 the start of the previous Congress and let's 15:42 think about this the transatlantic slave trade starts roughly around what people say is like 15:48 1526 the first significant case of a black woman getting legal justice for 15:54 her sexual assault happened in 1959 do you think that 433 years of seeing 16:01 black women as sexual trinkets as disposable goes away in 60 years or does 16:09 that mentality evolve and translate into other ways that black women now are still spoken and treated sexually in the 16:16 modern era especially when it comes to dating and relationships especially when 16:22 you have to watch dating shows Temptation Island is a humiliation 16:30 ritual where women take men that have cheated on them and test them to see if they're done cheating at least that's 16:36 what I got from the season that I watched they're all beautiful if you guys can take them you can have them 16:42 they get 12 hot men and 12 hot women to serve as Temptations one of the couples 16:47 on the show on this latest season was Taylor and 16:53 Tyler Taylor noted that Tyler's type is Tiny and blonde but during the first 16:58 opportunity they have to pick a date Tyler picks Courtney this beautiful sexy 17:04 black woman and the reaction was telling who do you think that he was 17:09 going to pick yellow dress that is his type to a tea to be honest I'm really proud of him at first I was like Taylor 17:18 what do you mean that it's really Brave of him that's weird however as the series progressed she clocked that tea 17:23 because the girl that Taylor initially clocked as being someone that Tyler would have dated is who he hyper fixates 17:30 on for the rest of the season Courtney this beautiful black woman was simply being used as a prop in this moment for 17:37 him to say something about himself on national television and to stun on his ex let's talk about it so in that moment 17:45 in which Tyler chose me for the first 17:51 date the entire group of girls standing beside me gassed but their gas wasn't in 17:58 a happy gasp it was more in a disappointment gasp in her book The End 18:04 Of Love yeah she's back Sabrina strings quotes from B hooks's 1992 essay eating 18:12 the other while teaching at Yale I walked one bright spring day in the downtown area of New Haven and found 18:18 myself walking behind a group of very blonde very white jock type boys seemingly on aware of my presence these 18:24 young men talked about their plans to [ __ ] as many girls from other racial SL ethnic groups as they could catch before 18:32 graduation they ran it down black girls were high on the list Native American girls hard to find Asian girls all 18:39 lumped into the same category deemed easier to entice were considered Prime targets talking about this overheard 18:46 conversation with my students I found that it was commonly accepted that one shopped for sexual partners in the same 18:52 way one shopped for courses at Yale that raisin ethnicity was a serious category on which selections were B B to these 18:59 young men and their buddies [ __ ] was a way to confront the other as well as a 19:05 way to make themselves over to leave behind white Innocents and enter the world of experience as is often the case 19:12 in this Society they were confident that non-white people had more life experience were more worldly sensual and 19:19 sexual because they were different getting a bit of the other in this case engaging in sexual encounters with 19:25 non-white females was considered a ritual of transcendence a movement out into the world of 19:31 difference that would transform an acceptable right of passage give me just 19:37 half a second what the [ __ ] black women are acceptable to have sex with and date but 19:43 their roles as wives and mothers is not seen as prominent as them being sexual 19:49 objects it doesn't go away when the media attempts to craft characters who were once white into women of color in 19:55 general it often happens with a lack of understanding of what changes about that character due to those dynamics that to 20:01 be a woman of color in the west carries a lot of sexual sociopolitical baggage that needs to be accounted for in 20:07 writing characters if only to be aware of what tropes exist you don't have to like reinvent the wheel but you should 20:15 know a little bit about the women that you're going to be writing 20:23 about the thing about this troop is that when it shows up in media it's like this 20:28 death by a thousand paper cuts because a lot of people are again viewing this Dynamic solely from the perspective of 20:34 the one show itself they're not trying to automatically build connections it is a building block and usually from shows 20:41 that want to be inclusive but they still put black characters in very cliche roles or they race Band characters and 20:48 ignore race hoping that it will be received as a colorblind accomplishment Allah a Hamilton or a brandy Cinderella 20:56 that ignores that the stage in the Disney musical are almost most very organic moments for colorby and casting at least a couple years ago and that 21:03 they are short content compared to a long television series one of the most 21:08 recent examples of this that really gets on my nerves has been the casting of the members of the House valan on House of 21:16 the Dragon uh just spoilers for what's on the show no spoilers for the future just generic book wiing your lips are 21:23 moving and you're complaining about something that's winging this one's been killed six times 21:29 you don't hear him bitching about it in the book series H Valerian is one of the surviving houses along with the 21:35 targaryens from old Valeria and they often have silver gold hair and purple eyes they've intermarried with the House 21:42 Targaryen quite often and they even arrived in Westeros before their dragon flying kin for example Egon the conquer 21:49 and his Sister Wives had a father who was a Targaryen and a mother who was from house Valyrian actor Steve tucon 21:56 was cast as Lord corus valy and his family has been portrayed as an interracial black family the problem I 22:02 had with this casting was not the the cast themselves they're all really excellent the problem is that if you read Fire and Blood you know that Lor 22:10 and Lena were going to die so there is already that element now being added onto them as being these biracial black 22:17 visibly characters who are like the in between spouses for Damon and rira in 22:22 the show's defense they do try to make Lor a more complex gay man and I think that's really good but it's not that 22:29 great either and with Lena they completely admit Damon actively courting her mourning her trying to saved their 22:37 life you know Lena and Rene's relationship which is also somewhat sapply coded is completely ignored and 22:43 other than like when he's tripping balls there's no indication that Damon valued their marriage or their daughters which 22:49 is deeply [ __ ] annoying you know like even in the Next Generation Baya is engaged to Jace and yes they have spoken 22:56 to each other but these characters are super hardcore engaged and there is zero romantic attention given to them at all 23:02 it's like I know there's a war but his mother has room to kiss so why not he they made an entire house of characters 23:10 mixed race most of them are going to be characters that are not going to do anything relevant give them little to no development on top of it and they have 23:17 framed it in a way where like the targaryens and the valyrians are visually racially 23:23 distinct and in reality they wouldn't be because if you're going to say that house valaran is black 23:28 and house Taren is white and even when that combination happens you can have a blackl looking character like Baya who 23:35 according to this is like 1/4 black if we're going to use pundit Square weird race science and they still look like 23:42 that I'm just saying R could look like hi Berry if we're really going to keep it a bug 50 like there it doesn't really 23:48 make that much sense they're just kind of hoping that we don't think about it and I find that to be a little annoying 23:54 cuz I do enjoy the show but that racial Pol politics of it and and just kind of 24:00 like putting them into all these spaces while omitting actual black characters it it greates the nerves flipping onto 24:07 another genre brierton which I'm only bringing up slightly cuz I can't talk about that franchise but other than 24:13 Queen Charlotte the series has yet to have a black woman at the center of a romance and we will see what happens in 24:19 the next season CU they did do the whole um gender bent and I discussed this in a previous video but Marina that character 24:26 was plucked from an entirely different book to be a false romantic rival in the relationship between Colin and Penelope 24:32 that became very racist and very racialized coded and if they keep the same element around for the book cannon 24:39 with Eloise is going to be an issue again but I think my favorite example of this that really gets on my nerves is 24:44 the originals which is the spin-off series of The Vampire Diaries if your life would Chang to a 24:51 man you left you despite your devotion what choice would you have but 24:56 to break fre Elijah Michael has two kinds of Love interests white brunettes 25:02 and black women and three of those white brunettes are pretty much the same person okay and I could go on and on 25:08 about how that series totally played in the face of every single black character on it but I won't today but it would be 25:14 exhausting to like have time to spend with alijah having these very deep intricate relationships with these black 25:21 women in his past only for them never to matter as much as his Precious Precious Haley they will constantly have these 25:28 these men these white men having sex having these intimate relationships with all these black women even like in the 25:34 case of Elijah with one character AA who is like this really big epic relationship who does she get merked by 25:45 [Music] Haley played in our faces like the most 25:52 successful relationship between a Michaelson and a black person are it's it's oh my God it's 25:58 Freya and her and her girlfriend who's a werewolf who she tortured when they start who she tortured the whole time um 26:06 um Marcel and Rebecca who are also related cuz they're like step aunt and step nephew Julie PL is never going to 26:12 see Heaven if if I go to heaven and Julie ple is there I'm leaving expeditiously it's not just women as I 26:18 said before you have Jamie James olon from Supergirl hail from Lost Girl dolls from her Robin from Buffy Finn from 26:27 [ __ ] star Wars oh my God my 26:33 Shayla my Shayla anyway now to address the 26:40 counterargument that I can hear some people saying does this mean that every single ex-girlfriend who is Black is 26:47 this tro no no actually I think a really good example of this oddly is from the 26:54 show you well hello there he was about this stalker 27:00 serial killer named Joe who attaches to a woman in a very unhealthy way while giving some very intense voice over 27:06 every season and in season 3 The Twist starts off as that he's interested in one woman at first but then that woman 27:13 dies and eventually he ends up falling for this character named maranne who is played by iconic blazion tati Gabrielle 27:20 and she is treated with the exact same kind of attention Vigor and intensity as Joe's other love interest she's also one 27:28 of them who doesn't die okay Joe Al Al 27:34 Ally Al no no impossible and there's actually another black girl who Joe does date in season one who is somewhat Adas 27:41 to this Trope but she is a never expected to be treated like a traditional love interest like it's very clear like what she that she's being 27:48 used in that sense and B not only does she survive but she left the relationship with such dignity that it 27:54 actually makes her a more memorable character despite being only in like I think two episodes you're 28:01 dumping me I'm not dumping you you're amazing I'm amazing but you kind of what 28:07 don't want to do me anymore there's never a good time do not talk for a minute please oh she's going to slap 28:13 me my curling iron okay then that's it like the problem is not them breaking up 28:19 or the relationship not being endgame it's the framing the treating of them as a stepping stone to a better wider 28:27 relationship this this is why even though boy meet's world ended with Shawn and Angela not being a couple them being 28:32 open-ended enough was already having the possibility of them getting back together especially because this is a show with unrealistic romantic 28:39 expectations only to then jump to the spin-off and make it so that Angela was married to some random man hasn't had a 28:44 relationship with the cor cast in years and returned to give Shawn her blessing 28:49 to marry a tiny blonde white woman so that he could be Sabrina Carpenter's father-in-law and I love Sabrina 28:55 Carpenter now but that was very hard for me for some people that's one of the rare places where you saw a very white 29:01 show have a black woman Be Loved These Things Are deeply frustrating we have so 29:06 little representation and it's not that we needed to be perfect we would just want it to be done with like care and 29:12 consideration and concern from the beginning it shouldn't take you like three seasons to finally figure out how 29:19 to style Anna joke properly as Starfire you know like although it is Titans and everyone 29:25 did look busted so in that case there is a a little a little bit of Grace to be had it's deeply frustrating it's deeply 29:31 frustrating to have such a rampant whitewashing of certain characters of color and comics and moves and adaptations but in the comics they can 29:38 be turned into like whatever prompt people need them to be it is frustrating that even when they're like the kindest 29:44 most cam androll race B version of a character that they can be turned into a villain for being in the way of a 29:49 non-existent gay ship it is deeply unserious to show a character dating and having deep relationships with a black 29:56 woman all the time but then make every important screen time for a relationship with them be a white woman so we remain 30:03 connected you and I in spite of everything that you have done and then to turn off the screen and then live in 30:09 a society that doesn't want to teach or acknowledge history or social context when you in habit and existence 30:15 constantly being dictated by said 30:20 realities the Disposable black girlfriend is a frustrating Trope I think the reason why it's so difficult 30:26 is because it sits at this intersection of sexism racism and bad writing especially that last one going back to 30:33 Amber from Invincible the fact is that female love interest for superheroes often get caught in this Dynamic that if 30:39 they are not totally at the whim of the man they are villainized into someone un 30:44 trustworthy who doesn't get the life you know add Racin to it and you end up in a situation like Iris West Allen on the 30:51 flash where the audience is so antagonized about the idea of Iris being 30:57 like in important like the reaction to Iris saying We Are The Flash should be 31:03 studied how Candace pad was treated as a race band character is like literally like academic worthy I know that often 31:10 when you talk about issues of race people who are reactionary go to this idea of like oh you're teaching black women not to see themselves as lovable 31:17 by repeating this stuff and there is something to the fact that people are very quick to to weaponize statistics 31:23 about black women's relationships at the same time black women already know these things because they date 31:28 we live in the world we know how we're hypersexualized we know how we're stigmatized it isn't new and for me just 31:34 thinking back to myself explaining that it was invented purposefully to reduce you might be a new experience and that's 31:42 why it's important to talk about it because these things are not written in stone it doesn't mean it has to be this 31:47 way and for the record also before someone says it I'm also not saying that you need to date black women okay uh if 31:53 you don't want the little taste of Africa get away from me okay you don't have to date black women and that's not what anyone is saying uh but it is worth 31:59 examining why you think of black women as an inferior pick same with latino women or any kind of women it's not 32:06 about changing your preference it's about examining your racism your 32:11 internalized racism that's see how it's different you know my preference is Jin 32:17 Wu from solo leveling and toi from jiujitsu Kaizen and somehow I manag to 32:23 wake up every day and not treat other people like [ __ ] some at the middle of the night I like I think about Andromeda 32:30 in Greek mythology Andromeda is the princess of Ethiopia and because her mother talks about 32:36 aphrod first mistake she is chained to a rock to be fed to a monster like classic damsel and distress stuff Ethiopia as 32:43 far as we know in the ancient world is probably around like Sudan ancient Nubia 32:49 the word allegedly means like burnt faces and again there was no Africa or African identity at this point it was 32:55 very tribal so you have Andromeda this princess this ultimate archetype of 33:01 Damsel in Distress looking less like the classical images that we see of her in 33:06 the text is is said to be a darker skinned woman and it's Ved between like African Asian they don't really know how 33:13 geography Works back then so but we can we can say likely probably African right 33:19 there's nothing inherent about the way people have treated black women it is programming and learn behavior and it can be unlearned it just has to be named 33:26 and called out because black women CIS and trans have been taught to be strong 33:31 in the face of every disrespect but the people who started that those who perpetuate it fixing it should be their 33:39 burdens to carry we have always had this potential to be loved and we deserve to 33:44 have it be seen on TV and if you're going to put black women in your shows put some goddamn respect on our 33:52 names thank God for Castlevania doct turn season 2 33:59 actually let me go rewatch that right now thanks for watching 34:04 [Music] 34:28 n [Music] 34:59 n [Music] 35:22 [Applause] 35:28 he 35:34 [Music] 36:02 he [Music] [Applause] [Music] 36:26 [Music] 36:52 oh [Music]

Malintrashadowmoon 2025 BDay gift 04/25/2025 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Malintrashadowmoon-2025-BDay-gift-1187178030 IN AMENDMENT Princess Mononoke: More Relevant Than Ever froom The soak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUoLoNFidik TRANSCRIPT 0:07 to search for evil with eyes unclouded to me this line is both the essence of 0:12 Studio jibles Princess monoke and the most profound takeaway that I had from the film I think the movie's most 0:18 obvious message is the stuff about how we treat nature and how we should better live in harmony with it but I have no 0:25 interest in talking about that not because it's not relevant or important but because I think everybody has talked 0:31 about that to death already in this video I want to talk to you about another message entirely one that I had 0:37 missed until recently the ability to see with eyes unclouded by hate or more 0:42 specifically to learn to see the goodness in others even when it seems like they're not on your side I doubt 0:48 when hay Miyazaki made princess monoke in 1997 that he could have predicted the age of social media tribalism and 0:55 political turmoil that we find ourselves in in the 2020s but the film explores all these ideas in the complex subtle 1:03 yet pointed and sometimes inscrutable way that all jibli films explore their themes watching and rewatching the film 1:10 today I was surprised by how the struggles of the protagonist Ashi taka act as an incredible parallel for the 1:15 journey we all have to navigate in the Modern Age and it gave me a lot to reflect on how we can do it to learn to 1:22 navigate a divided world with eyes unclouded now don't get me wrong this is not going to be a video essay that's 1:28 just an allegory for Centric is M or that both sides any issue are bad and that we should sit on the fence I think 1:34 to read the film that way would be wrong and we'll talk about how the real message is so much more profound and 1:40 relatable than that in fact there's lessons in here about class Warfare dehumanization and how even in a bleak 1:47 world we must find the value in life stuff that hit me so much harder than 1:52 when I watched the film when I was younger so let's take a look at Studio ji's monoke Hime a film whose English 1:59 translated title of Princess monoke is in of itself a misunderstanding of what the film is trying to say because I 2:05 think there's a lot we can learn from its characters even today about what it means to navigate a broken world at more 2:12 with itself [Music] Part One: To See With Unclouded Eyes 2:26 [Music] the context of this quote to see with eyes unclouded comes from fairly early 2:34 on in the film ashitaka who has just reluctantly killed the bore God turn demon that was threatening his village 2:40 finds himself cursed and The Village's Oracle tells him that this curse will likely kill him but there is a chance 2:47 that there could be a cure if he travels far to the west where the boore and the source of the curse came from it is 2:54 during this section that she tells him that on his journey he must search for evil with eyes unclouded 3:00 the reason I think this line is so important is that it sets up the theme for the entire rest of the film at least 3:06 in terms of what Ashi taka's approach and philosophy is throughout the movie people will constantly try to pull Ashi 3:13 taka to one side or the other and they will frequently question his Allegiance multiple times a character asks out loud 3:19 towards ashitaka whose side are you on and time and time again he defies that 3:25 categorization he helps one faction then the other and no one can quite figure him out this is why for some people I 3:31 think it's easy to read this as a metaphor for essentially a both sides approach to life both sides are bad 3:38 therefore I won't pick a side but again I think it's a lot more interesting than that it's not that ashitaka just refuses 3:45 to pick sides he refuses to see sides in the first place to me that is the 3:50 precient message of the film that is so applicable to a society that seems so divided today in the age of social media 3:57 we'll explore this idea at length later in the video rather than get too abstract too quickly 4:02 let's first talk through some key scenes in the film then I'll explain how I interpret them the first important scene 4:08 for me at least in terms of ashitaka's philosophy comes when he arrives at the Iron Works and he meets lady eboshi at 4:15 this point in the film he's just saved two residents of the Iron Works from certain death and carries them all the 4:20 way back here in a pseudo mystical Journey to the dear God's Woods I think pretty quickly on arriving at the Iron 4:26 Works ashitaka realizes that the thing he's searching for is here he's looking for the source of the iron musket pellet 4:33 that came from the body of the bore God who cursed him and he hopes that finding the source and dealing with it in some 4:39 way might lift the curse that plagues him he talks to Lady eboshi The Matriarch who runs the Ironworks and 4:46 explains why he's here she asks him if you find the source of this pellet what will you do and it is here that ashitaka 4:53 repeats that Central quote that I spoke about earlier and in doing so sets up the philosophy he will adhere to in the 5:00 entire film he tells her that I will see with eyes unclouded and decide hearing 5:06 this lady eosi laughs and guides ashitaka to her inner sanctum sharing with him what she says is her Greatest 5:12 Secret she shows him the place where she's having guns and weaponry made and here she confesses that it was she that 5:17 shot the pet that corrupted the Bor God and it is at this point that we get the first of many moral dilemmas for 5:23 ashitaka and where we can start to paint a really fascinating picture of what we can learn from the film in initially we 5:30 see that ashitaka is full of rage and he wants to condemn Lady eboshi this is such a beautiful and complex moment the 5:37 kind that appears so often in ji films because there's so many reasons and emotions at play here for our 5:42 protagonist firstly I think the very Way Lady abushi lives takes off ashitaka he 5:48 is a member of the Mishi tribe in fact not just a member but the prince the emishi live in harmony with their 5:54 environment and do their best to respect nature when the bore God Appears outside the village Ashi Taka first instinct is 6:00 to simply try and reason with it he begs the Bor God to quell its rage and calm down to leave the village in peace for 6:07 they mean him no harm but when it's clear that the God is about to attack and kill some of the girls from the 6:12 village including ashitaka's sister only then as a last resort does he strike and 6:17 take down the boar but even after this the Oracle of the village arrives and treats the boar god with respect doing a 6:24 little ritual and telling him that they will erect a monument in his honor here because they bear him no ill will and 6:29 they hope he will do the same for them so I think on a philosophical level ashitaka finds ibushi's way of life to 6:35 be abhorent not only does she confessed to killing the bore Spirit but she very casually tells the tale of how she 6:41 burned down half the forest and took over this area to mass-produce her iron with which she seeks to take over the 6:47 country this is the complete opposite of the way the emishi live but there's more than that there's also a personal 6:53 grievance here from ashitaka because it is eos's actions that directly led to him being cursed and you can see a 6:59 vindictive anger in him here where maybe he just wants revenge for giving him this curse that might well kill him and 7:06 finally of course there's the actual curse ashitaka's arm Bubbles and boils to life threatening to act on its own to 7:13 draw his blade and strike down neosi the curse itself is demanding retribution 7:19 she asks him your right hand wants to kill me and then must it kill us all to 7:24 find peace but ashitaka resists he holds down his arm because he doesn't want to be this kind of person and this is when 7:31 the idea of seeing with eyes unclouded will really manifest during this tense confrontation one of the other people in 7:37 the room speaks up because this inner sanctuary of eois is home to a few dozen outcasts who suffer from leprosy and who 7:44 are the ones who design and make ibushi's weapons one of them speaks up and he says a beautiful line young man 7:51 he says I too am cursed I understand your rage and grief the leper relates to 7:56 ashitaka and he tells him that while his anger is just ified he should not see Lady eboshi as an evil person he tells 8:03 ashitaka about how lady eboshi is the only person who ever saw the lepers as people and treated them with respect 8:10 tending to them and washing and bandaging them herself While others shunn them and then he says a line that 8:16 really hits home for me and is another theme that we will investigate in the last section of this video he says life 8:22 is suffering and pain the world and its people are cursed but still we wish to 8:28 live hearing all this both ashitaka and we the audience are reminded that people are not just one thing they are not 8:34 straightforwardly evil or straightforwardly good they are complex creatures for all her greed destruction 8:41 and lack of sanctity for the natural world lady abushi is also kind gentle and empathetic she looks after not only 8:48 the lepers but in the first scene that we meet her she's considerate towards the villagers too she knows them all by 8:55 name apologizes for the harm that comes to them and is thankful that they are okay when she sees that ashitaka has 9:00 carried them back after this scene with the lepers ashitaka walks around the rest of the settlement and he sees the 9:06 women working in the Forge even helping them with their work he talks to them and they tell him about how Lady eosi 9:13 treats them earlier when ashitaka is talking to the men in the tavern we learn that anytime lady eosi encounters 9:18 a woman who is being enslaved she frees them and gives them work in the Iron Works while a few of the men Express 9:25 that the women here are a bit spoiled ashitaka replies that a good V has happy women what he means by that I think 9:32 whether consciously or subconsciously is that a good place is one where even the most marginalized and endangered people 9:38 are happy and protected and so to confirm this for himself Ashi taka later 9:43 asked the ladies of the forge is life hard here and they tell them that it is but it's far better than life anywhere 9:50 else they do have to work long days but they're well-looked after and the men here behave themselves it is through 9:56 these encounters that ashitaka learned something really important something that is Central to the idea of seeing 10:01 with eyes unclouded he learns that even a place that can produce evil in the form of weapons and destruction can also 10:07 be a place that produces so much goodness the Iron Works are both a weapons Factory that desecrates its 10:13 environment but also egalitarian Utopia where everyone is able to live with happiness and respect no matter their 10:19 background gender or disability if Ashi taka was more straightforward if this was a different film with a different 10:25 message he might just have come in killed lady eosi and acted the Vengeance that his curse demands an eye for an eye 10:33 but seeing with eyes unclouded means recognizing both the good and the evil in something without preconceived bias 10:40 even if he doesn't agree with how eboshi lives her life and runs the Iron Works he can't deny that she's made something 10:45 valuable and worth protecting as I mentioned in the intro I think this is the most profound message of the film 10:52 there is always more to a situation that meets the eye and we can only see that when we put aside our hate I think we 10:58 can confirm this by looking at another quote that actually comes directly from the film's maker hay Miyazaki who is 11:05 quoted as saying the following you must see with eyes unclouded by hate see the 11:10 good in that which is evil and the evil in that which is good pledge yourself to neither side but vow instead to preserve 11:17 the balance that exists between the two now problematically I was not able to find the direct source of this quote 11:24 lots of websites attribute this as a quote from Miyazaki but don't site where he actually said it but if we trust that 11:30 this is a real quote I think it does resonate a lot with ashitaka's approach in the film this philosophy of seeing 11:36 good and evil and evil in that which is good I think speaks to a cultural difference too it is very much in line 11:42 with Shintoism and Buddhist beliefs which I think can feel a bit foreign or Mystic to many in the west where 11:47 individual action and oppositional factions are a lot more common as I've spoken about in previous videos but 11:54 regardless I think it's an idea that is equally relevant today in a world that seems so thoroughly divided on so many 12:00 fronts being able to see the value in things that on the surface don't seem to be on your side is something so vital 12:06 and important for us to do but I also think both we and the film can go much deeper because I don't think any of this 12:13 means that we should arbitrarily stay in the middle of any dispute or that there isn't a right or a wrong that we should 12:18 adhere to it's actually about making sure we find the right by looking for it with unbiased or unclouded eyes and the 12:26 real profound Insight that I felt from watching the film and thinking a lot about it is that actually there are no 12:32 sides both in the movie and in our lives and even when there are sides it's people being pushed to fight each other 12:38 for misguided reasons it's parties who actually have a shared goal and are not realizing it I think ashitaka is the 12:45 only person in the film who realizes this at least until the end and to illustrate what I mean and elaborate on 12:51 that further let's pick up where we left off in the film because not long after the conversations ashitaka has with 12:56 eboshi the Iron Works is under attack by none other than son the mon noime of 13:02 the title son breaks into the Iron Works makes her way to where eboshi is and risks her life to try and kill her eosi 13:09 in turn tries to shoot down son with guns and it culminates in the two having a sort of intense Street KN fight once 13:16 again what's fascinating is that both sides of this confrontation are justified in their beliefs and abushi 13:22 even acknowledges it when son is stood on the roof eosi calls out to her and says you seek Vengeance for your tribe 13:29 well there are some here who seek Vengeance for their husbands killed by your wolves this sets up another theme 13:34 in the film The idea of a cycle of hatred it's a vicious cycle where one grievance justifies another and then 13:40 another in return till no one can remember where it started but both sides feel grieved and justified in their 13:47 pursuit of Vengeance son and her wolves killed the loved ones of the people in the iron works but those people burned 13:52 the forest and killed other spirit gods but those gods were stopping the villagers from getting natural resources 13:58 they needed and so on and so forth the buck can always be passed one further step back but the end result is a 14:05 destruction of both sides and we can see that literally as s and neosi fight to 14:10 the death both ready to die in the pursuit of destroying the other ashitaka 14:15 however is the only one capable of seeing that this cycle of hatred will never end like this he yells at s first 14:22 and then eosi and her people to stop the fighting but when it's clear that no one will listen he is forced to physically 14:28 step this is where you can see the curse flare up and manifest because the curse 14:34 is born from Rage and hatred and it's fueled by the resentment and Malice that all the people present are holding for 14:40 one another ashitaka physically walks in between eboshi and Son telling them there is a demon inside you and her then 14:47 he turns to everyone else and tells them to look at the bitterness and hatred that curses him what he's trying to 14:53 explain to everyone is that this demon is there within all of us whether literally as in his case or 14:59 metaphorically as in the case of son and neosi the demon is the hatred and resentment it is the anger and the 15:06 malice that we all hold and he desperately implores everyone that they shouldn't give into it what he wants is 15:12 for people to strive to see things with unclouded eyes to see that nature and humans can live in harmony but 15:18 unfortunately for ashitaka and for everyone in the film The Message falls on deaf ears eosi and Son don't listen 15:25 and ashitaka is forced to physically subdue them as he tries to carry son out one of the ladies of the Iron Works 15:30 draws her weapon on him she threatens to shoot ashitaka and her justification is so interesting because she simply says 15:37 you hurt lady eosi and in return comes this look oh This brilliant look I feel 15:43 like I've never seen disappointment better shown on screen without a word being said than this ashitaka simply 15:49 looks back at this woman with eyes that just kind of speak for him as if to say you still don't get it despite 15:55 everything I'm telling you and showing you you're still going to say that because saying you hurt lady abosi so 16:00 thoroughly misses the point of what ashitaka was trying to illustrate yes he hurt lady abushi but that is the point 16:07 that there's always a step back he could turn and say well I only hurt lady eboshi because she was going to hurt son 16:13 and then eosi would say well I was only going to hurt son because she was going to hurt me and so on and so forth the 16:19 cycle of hatred it can never be broken by more hatred more anger more Vengeance 16:25 cannot stop the destruction only a genuine attempt to look Beyond it to forgive where possible and make amends 16:31 where it's not that is the only way anyone here can move past it but this lady refuses to see it and while she 16:38 doesn't try to shoot ashitaka her gun accidentally goes off and hits him directly in the back this of course will 16:44 kick off a different section of the film where Ashi taka will now spend his time in the forest with son but before we 16:50 talk about her I want to reiterate something that I spoke about earlier I don't think the message of the film is that ashitaka is not picking aside 16:57 that's certainly not the message of what I'm saying what I think is profound about what ashitaka does is that he's the only one 17:02 who sees that there are no sides because as everyone realizes at the end of the film the humans in the forest can live 17:08 in harmony ashitaka's emishi tribe is proof of this these sides can work 17:14 together they're just so blinded by their rage that they can't see that the dear God who is Central to the film is 17:20 the perfect representation of this idea that there can be a balance and Harmony between seemingly oppositional forces 17:26 because he is both life and death and yet so many characters don't see that the bores for example are angry at 17:33 the dear God because they think the dear God is only supposed to protect the forest when son brings the injured 17:39 ashitaka to him the dear God heals him but didn't heal Nago the boore that eventually became the cursed demon which 17:46 upsets the boore tribe to them the dear God should be picking sides he's supposed to be about life and protection 17:52 for the forest so why did he not help one of them and then goes and helps a human meanwhile the humans only see the 17:59 dear God as the source of death and danger in fact I think one of the most profound illustrations of this comes 18:05 right at the end of the film from a very small easily missed line after a dramatic climax where their dear God is 18:11 shot and killed by aosi he then transforms into a vengeful version of the night walker and nearly destroys the 18:16 entire forest in pursuit of his head finally when his head is given back by ashitaka andan he collapses into the 18:23 water bringing with him a wave of healing and regrowth before seemingly dying it is that this point that koroku 18:30 one of the villagers says aloud I didn't know the dear God makes the flowers bloom to me this represents the 18:36 fundamental misunderstanding of the humans in the Ironworks you can see it as misinformation you can see it as 18:42 propaganda or you can see it as simple ignorance but they don't actually understand what the dear God or the 18:48 forest does we'll talk about specifically eboshi later but as a whole the people at the ironwork seem to have 18:54 this mistaken belief the forest is only a place of danger to them what they don't realize is that the dear God is 19:00 life as much as it is death it is not one side it is not either or it is both 19:07 this is what ashitaka sees and understands throughout the film and what we can all learn from on the flip side s 19:14 doesn't understand this either because she says that even restored these are not the dear God's Woods their dear God 19:20 is dead once again it is ashitaka who is the only one able to see the truth and he says that the dear God cannot ever 19:27 die because he is both life and death and that in this act of regrowth he's 19:32 telling us all to live this is another theme we will explore in the final section of this video about the value of 19:37 life itself but before we talk about that let's elaborate more about s's behavior and attitude because like 19:44 almost every other human in the film she too is unable to let go of her hatred in order to see the truth in front of 19:53 her one of the central questions about son in the film is who and what is she Part Two: Who Is Mononoke-Hime 19:59 there's ambiguity about her identity itself but also is she human wolf or 20:05 something else entirely again she views herself as part of a binary a wolf 20:10 fighting against humans but others also view her binarily when lady eosi first 20:15 describes son she says that she is a girl whose Soul the Wolves stole and she thinks that if she destroys the forest 20:22 it will break their hold on son and she'll go back to being a normal human this is probably a good point to talk 20:28 about the of the film that I promised I'd explain because the original title of the film in Japanese is monoke Hime 20:35 which actually translates to monster princess this is actually the title that the residents of the Iron Works give her 20:41 so what it speaks to is how they view both her and the spirits monsters now 20:47 whether she is the princess of the monsters a monstrosity of a princess or a princess belonging to the monsters it 20:53 is a pejorative term they attach to her the English translated title of princess monoke Ashley misses a subtle but 21:00 important part of this description because princess monoke just sounds like a name like that's what this character 21:05 is called but she is son she has a name it's just that the people of the Ironworks either never got a chance to 21:12 learn it or never bothered to and their referral to her and the spirits as monsters says more about their approach 21:19 than her reality in fact it's interesting that when they first encounter ashitaka they fear he might be 21:25 a monster too in this scene as ashitaka is carrying Koro Who and the other villager he's rescued back to the Iron 21:31 Works these guys sitting by the river see them approaching and one of them says the phrase Mona now monoke means 21:38 monster as we've discussed and the C indicates a question so he could be asking if it's a monster in general 21:45 that's approaching or you could be worried that monoke hee is approaching either way it represents his paranoia 21:52 anything coming from the woods is a monster to him even though it's three people two of whom are his own friends 21:58 all of this is to say that the villagers have a one-dimensional view of son and she has a one-dimensional view of 22:04 herself son refuses to accept herself as a human and in fact her stance at the end of the film is telling and how she 22:11 refuses to grow as a character over the course of the film one of jbl's rare prominent female characters to do so 22:17 after the dear God's head has been returned and order is somewhat restored son turns to Ashi taka and says I love 22:23 you ashitaka but I cannot forgive the human race and so the two come to an agreement that ashitaka will help the 22:29 people of the Iron Works rebuild a better home something we'll talk about soon while son will remain in the forest 22:34 with the Wolves and the two can meet whenever they want now of course what son is saying is equal parts 22:40 understandable but equal parts ridiculous it is understandable that she's unhappy with what the people of the Iron Works particularly lady eboshi 22:47 did in terms of killing the deer God or at least his corporeal body but son is 22:53 also being a massive hypocrite firstly she says she cannot forgive the human race but of course she doesn't include 22:59 ashitaka in that she loves him and she's able to separate him from the idea of humanity but even more hypocritically 23:06 she's excluding herself from this distinction too she's giving herself a benefit of the doubt that she refuses to 23:12 extend to any of the iron work's residents she recognizes that she and ashitaka might be human beings that are 23:18 able to live respectfully and harmoniously with the forest but she Paints the rest of the entire human race with one brush condemning them as 23:25 essentially evil and incapable of Behaving well this again really spoke to me as a line of thinking that so many 23:31 people still use today to tarnish entire groups of people as dangerous and irredeemable whether that's immigrants 23:37 or trans people or whoever is so fundamentally wrong especially when that characteristic is innate not based on 23:43 the evidence of their behavior like being human for example the vast majority of the people of the Ironworks 23:49 are just trying to live their lives and doing what they're told you can argue that eosi is the villain that s views 23:55 all of humanity to be and we'll talk about her soon I promise but you can't say the same for the rest of everyone 24:00 else they're no more at fault for what happened than a random boar from the forest is and yet in her stubbornness 24:06 and petulance son refuses to see that Nuance now you might argue that she doesn't view herself as human but I 24:13 think clearly on some level she knows she is if she didn't she wouldn't be in love with ashitaka she wouldn't react 24:19 the way she does when he calls her beautiful everyone even the forest Spirits know that she is human they just 24:26 accept her regardless right after the scene where ashitaka carries her out of the Iron Works one of the monkey Spirits 24:31 says wolf girl not care wolf girl human when talking to S which anger one of her 24:37 Wolf brothers and he threatens to bite the monkey's head off this shows us that everyone here is aware of the reality of 24:43 what son is her brothers are sensitive because they don't want her to feel different to them but she is Morrow 24:50 acknowledges this too when she's talking about son with ashitaka ashitaka demands that son be freed because she is human 24:57 to which Morrow barks fact that she is neither human nor wolf and calls her my 25:02 poor ugly lovely daughter Maro in fact holds a similar style of thinking to s 25:07 in that she too sees things as oppositional Maro dismissively asks will you join s and fight the humans Nashi 25:15 taka replies that no that will only breed more hatred which goes back to this idea of the cycle of hatred that we 25:21 spoke about earlier which ashitaka is right in asserting cannot be broken with more hatred then when ashitaka asks her 25:28 can't the humans in the forest live in peace Mora replies that nowhere is safe as long as humans are around again she 25:35 doesn't believe this about son or even ashitaka but spous it as fact regardless 25:40 showing how she like son refuses to accept complexity rather than binaries 25:46 and here there's also a fascinating parallel with what she says about son's relationship with the forest with what 25:51 eosi said Morrow says that s is now tied to the forest and that if the forest 25:56 dies s will die too this is the actual opposite of what eashi says if you remember who claims 26:03 that destroying the forest will actually liberate son ultimately maybe they are both right and wrong because if the 26:09 forest dies maybe monoke Heime the child of the Wolves will die but perhaps s the 26:15 human will be freed either way the fact that they both make this claim confidently shows how they are not 26:21 viewing things with unclouded eyes but rather through their biased lenses as it happens the forest isn't destroyed it's 26:28 saved andan chooses to forsake Humanity displaying an inability to view the world with the nuance and unclouded eyes 26:35 that ashitaka has been doing and asking for others to do too funnily enough there is one woman who he does get 26:41 through to by the end of the film lady eosi after son's declaration that she cannot forgive humans we then shortly 26:48 cut to lady eosi talking to her people she remarks that she can't believe she was carried to safety by a wolf of all 26:55 things then she says that the people of the Iron Works will start over but that we will build a good Village here 27:02 suggesting that she wants to build a better home this time to me I think that's a pretty clear indicator from her 27:08 especially in light of those two lines coming back to back that eboshi has seen that she can in fact live in harmony 27:14 with the forest that the wolves are not an evil force they're just living creatures trying to protect what they 27:19 hold precious and that she can build a version of the Iron Works that doesn't desecrate or seek to destroy the forest 27:26 this is also why I think ashitaka chooses to stay because he also believes that it can be done that the humans can 27:32 rebuild in a way that resembles how his Mishi Clan live in harmony with the world around them now as for eosi there 27:39 is another theme I want to talk about one that is definitely not explicit in the film but stood out to me as a great 27:45 metaphor for how the world works today and that is the lies of the 1% screwing 27:50 over the rest of the Part Three: The Lies of the 1 27:55 99 as I've mentioned earlier in the video ashitaka is Keen to emphasize that there are no sides to this situation and 28:02 everyone can live harmoniously but on the occasions that there are sides it's 28:07 the wrong people being pit against each other and perhaps the biggest example of this is lady eboshi now don't get me 28:14 wrong ibushi is not a victim or some innocent Damsel in Distress quite the opposite she's shown to be ruthless cold 28:21 when needed and deeply ambitious she half jokingly half seriously declares her desire to rule the entire our 28:28 country but as we've discussed she's a nuanced character who is kind gentle and 28:33 Noble at times as well her beef with the forest Spirits though is largely based on misinformation and ignorance like I 28:40 mentioned earlier where she seems to believe that not only is the dear God a threat and a source of death but also 28:45 that killing the forest will restore son back to her human self at one point she even posits that the blood of the dear 28:52 God is set to cure any illness and she could use it to cure the lepers that she houses of their condition 28:58 the people of the Iron Works don't realize that the dear God also brings life and provides the resources that 29:04 they're using and the person seeking to exploit this ignorance is the character of Goo the reason I want to talk about 29:10 the 1% and the 99% in this section is because goo is very directly the voice 29:16 and the will of the emperor in princess monoke in this scene he comes to eboshi 29:21 and shows her a letter from the emperor that demands that she kill the dear God and bring his head to him eboshi is 29:28 initially reluctant and feels like the iron production is going well enough but Joo softly threatens her that all the 29:34 men they've supplied her with weren't just sent to get iron and you can see his expression change from serious to 29:40 the fake innocent that he pretends to be as he adds or at least that's what his majesty would say all of this is a 29:47 reminder that not only can he take ibushi's resources away but he can use those very men against her but funnily 29:54 enough one sentence later when eboshi questions of the emperor believes that the deer God's head will give him 29:59 immortality jico claims oh I don't know what the emperor thinks this is of course a direct contradiction to what he 30:06 just said and it reveals J's true nature and purpose he's here to get what he wants one way or the other it's clear 30:13 that jico is a substitute for the emperor acting as a force of coercion that makes the central conflict arise in 30:19 the film and we can see that coercion not just from the verbal and financial threats but also before this scene J has 30:26 a horde of goons that he brings with him he tells them to hide and wait for him which is to imply that if eboshi didn't 30:33 willingly agree to kill the dear God he'd make her do it by force and eboshi 30:38 understands this because right after agreeing to kill the dear God she tells jico that he can summon that shady Bunch 30:44 hidden under the cliff and joico simply laughs with this fake innocent expression again and says oh you saw 30:50 them did you what all of this shows us is that eosi is aware of the threat that jico brings with him for her own part 30:57 she's ly fighting a war with a human the nobleman Lord asano who's trying to steal the Iron Works from her not only 31:04 is this guy a wealthy powerful Samurai but he's also a bit of a scumbag because we learned through dialogue that he 31:10 tried to conquer this area himself and was driven back by the Boors but now that eboshi has managed to conquer it 31:16 he's demanding that she give him half again under the threat of violence so if 31:21 taking the wealth from someone else's labor without doing anything of your own isn't a Marxist allegory I don't know 31:27 what is it's all subplot so none of the following is discussed explicitly but it feels pretty clear to me that eboshi is 31:33 essentially caught in a tough political sandwich on the one hand she has a wealthy established Noble trying to 31:39 forcibly take her business and it's not a stretch to say that this guy likely has the emperor's favor whereas the 31:45 upstart woman in neosi probably doesn't on the other side she has J requesting 31:50 but really demanding as we've seen that she go to kill the dear God in the emperor's name and of course the minute 31:57 she goes off to to do so and leaves the Iron Works relatively unguarded Lord oano attacks with his army you have to 32:03 wonder where would he have gotten this information from that the Iron Works are currently unguarded I think it's almost 32:09 certain that jico is pulling the strings on this getting everything he and by extension the emperor wants which is the 32:15 dear God's death the appeasement of one of his Nobles and the removal of an ambitious Rogue element in abosi J in 32:23 fact actually directly tells eboshi there is no time to fight men just give a all the Iron Works fulfill your 32:30 promise to the emperor so it's pretty clear that he doesn't care what happens to her and later when they're in the 32:35 forest one of his Scouts asks if they really even need eosi and J declares quietly that when it comes to hunting a 32:42 god they should let her do the dirty work so all of this is to say that while eosi is herself ambitious and dangerous 32:49 it's clear that she's being manipulated and coerced by a higher authority who arbitrarily creates the conflict between 32:55 the Iron Works and the dear God for his own ends in fact everything in the film is basically a consequence of J's 33:01 actions first in the town when he first meets Ashi taka he is the one who convinces everyone that the little gold 33:07 pellet that ashitaka gives the woman in exchange for rice is super valuable but 33:12 he does so in such a loud and obvious way that it inevitably draws the attention of everyone around including 33:18 these people who want to Rob ashitaka and then conveniently jico is there again to war Nashi taka and run away 33:25 with him was this all part of his plan possibly he then tells ashitaka to go to 33:30 the Iron Works and the dear God's Forest to find the answers he's looking for again to me at least the class parallel 33:36 is pretty clear despite him being an Envoy of the emperor J manages to convince everyone in this little village 33:42 that this humble traveler from a remote tribe is somehow super wealthy and turns them against him while hiding his own 33:49 power and Status constantly both here and later he's peing people against each other to mask his own ends and if we 33:55 continue down the idea that he's essentially a substitute for the Emperor then this is a pretty clear and I'd argue astute metaphor for a class 34:02 struggle and the way in which the truly wealthy and Powerful manipulate others into fighting for relative scraps while 34:07 they get what they want once Chico reaches the Iron Works himself he specifically asks about ashitaka and if 34:14 abosi has seen him presumably because he wants to use Ashi taka again to which aboshi replies that he came and went 34:20 already and I'm finally and perhaps most tellingly there's this line he says when the hunt for the dear God is taking 34:26 place ashitaka having seen the Iron Works is already under attack goes to find ioshi he finds the men from the 34:32 Iron Works who describe the horrors of what's just happened including how they were used as human Shields Joo and his 34:39 crew had planted bombs and grenades underneath where the men of the Iron Works were told to hold the line and 34:44 when the bores approached the bombs were set off and all lives were lost human 34:50 and animal J's plan clearly did not care about collateral damage but ashitaka 34:55 again refusing to see sides rescues one of son's Wolf brothers from underneath the pile of bore corpses and even 35:02 convinces the men of the Iron Works to help him do so I think it's really telling that when we see this first 35:07 instance of the animals and the people of the Iron Works working together it's J's guards who try to stop them again 35:14 trying to keep the two sides divided but when they attack ashitaka it's the men of the Iron Works who revolt and fight 35:21 back as they realize that the wolves are not their enemies rise up against your greedy overlords comrades the men then 35:27 work together to free the wolf and the Wolf in turn also doesn't show any hostility towards the workers once it's 35:33 freed and instead proceeds to guide ashitaka to where son is on the way ashitaka stops in front of eboshi and 35:40 tells her what's happening that the Iron Works under attack and that she should abandon her hunt for the dear God you 35:45 can see J's nervous expression here as if he's worried that he'll actually convince eboshi to stop doing his dirty 35:51 work for him she replies you want me to kill Samurai instead of the dear God to which ashitaka says no can't the forest 35:58 and the Iron Works live in peace and it's at this point that jico says a really telling line he says whose side 36:05 is he on this is a pretty clear distillation of the point I've been building to here is ashitaka saying that 36:10 the forest and the people can live in harmony once again it's not that he's not picking sides he refuses to see 36:17 sides and here is goo in return telling him hey whose side are you want trying 36:22 to insist that there are in fact two binary factions that must try and destroy each other 36:28 but we know he's wrong we've just seen ashitaka unite the two sides in a unified goal without hostility or 36:35 conflict but no matter what he claims J doesn't care about what happens to the people of the Ironworks and even the men 36:41 realize that when ashitaka comes to find them and they say they're willing to sacrifice us all they're using lady 36:47 eboshi now thankfully eosi has an inherit distrust of men which she explicitly States the ladies of the Iron 36:53 Works she says she's more afraid of men than monsters and tells them to be on their guard while she's away and so Toki 37:00 and the others are able to fend off the attack on the Iron Works of course her and other lady's distrust of men is 37:06 valid in the context of what they've been through but I also think it doubles as a mistrust of hierarchy because eashi 37:12 doesn't distrust ashitaka who she very quickly asked to join her cause after first meeting him nor does she distrust 37:18 her right-hand man but she does distrust Lord asano and jico men with power and authority the 1% who are recklessly 37:26 willing to sacrifice lives to get whatever they want this is Illustrated in another really poignant line that 37:31 jico says right to the end of the film here he's fleeing with the dear God's head even while watching the entire 37:37 forest and Iron Works be destroyed by the way which really clear metaphor here guys San and ashitaka stop him and tell 37:43 him to give the head back to which he says something that completely illustrates his world view he says The 37:49 Thirst to possess Heaven and Earth is what makes us human this is so interesting because it's demonstrably 37:55 untrue here is goo standing in in front of two humans who clearly do not share this Instinct of his and yet he declares 38:01 so confidently that what he was doing was in fact human nature again to me 38:06 this just speaks to joo's inherently manipulative nature where he's trying to convince everyone that they should all behave like him but Ashi taka and son 38:13 refus and they begrudgingly do get through the chico getting him to give up the head which they then take and return 38:19 to the dear God all of this is to say that this is just another part of princess monoke that struck me as so 38:25 relevant when watching it now in a time where the wealth divide between the richest and the poorest in society has 38:30 only grown in most of the western world for the last 50 plus years the theme of the powerful minority manipulating the 38:35 majority could not be more profound the tactics of misinformation misdirection and coercion blaming a vulnerable group 38:43 for problems they didn't cause these are all things that are probably even more true now than they were when the film 38:48 released in 1997 but while this is a rather Bleak worldview and indeed it's a pretty 38:53 brutal life depicted in Princess monoke there's also subtle optimism that permeates the film and that's the last 38:59 thing I want to talk to you about because I think it's another thing we could really do with hearing in the modern day that life may be hard but 39:05 it's worth [Music] living I've already spoken so far about Part Four: Life Is For Living 39:11 the idea of seeing with eyes unclouded about not seeing ourselves or others as one-dimensional or as binary opposites 39:18 and of resisting the manipulations of the elite and Powerful but there is one other recurring message that appears 39:24 throughout princess monoke and that is the idea that the world world is a cold bitter place but the value of life is 39:30 still sacran and as long as we're alive we can make the world a better place 39:36 there is lots of ambient misery depicted throughout princess monoke the emishi tribe are dying out and now forced to 39:42 give up their prince Samurai and natural disasters are destroying Villages the forest gods are dying out and getting 39:48 weaker and even the people of the Iron Works live difficult lives all of this while an outof of touch Emperor focuses 39:55 on trying to find immortality but there there are also times when The Bleak state of the world is made verbally 40:00 explicit it first comes from jico when he's sitting down to talk with ashitaka for the first time remarking on the men 40:06 who were potentially looking to Rob ashitaka he says that it wasn't always like this but that Hearts have grown 40:11 cold throughout the land he says that the area around here was a fine Village once but whether it was a flood or a 40:17 landslide it was destroyed and now the land presumbly referring to the country as a whole teams with bitter ghosts dead 40:24 from war sick or starved and Fallen where they stood a curse you say the 40:30 world is a curse if you remember from earlier in the video this actually Echoes what the leper will say later in 40:35 the Iron Works that life is suffering in pain the world and its people are cursed but we still wish to live but notice 40:42 that what the leper says and what Chico says as well end with slight optimism the world may be a curse but we still 40:49 want to live as human beings and Cho has a similar philosophy when he tells ashitaka that everyone dies some now 40:55 some later but the trick is to avoid the jaws of death or so his master used to say at this point ashitaka L man said I 41:03 shouldn't have gotten into that fight I killed two men referring to the fact that as he was riding here he 41:08 encountered a samurai raid on a village and when they attacked him he was forced to defend himself and kill the two men 41:14 in the process ashitaka feels guilt for this act but jico tells him hey you may have killed those guys but you helped me 41:21 and others escape this is a reminder of course of the pragmatic worldview that the film espouses that life and death 41:28 are very closely related and indeed in this instance ashitaka's actions bring both death and life simultaneously much 41:36 like what the dear God does this little optimistic spin on things does seem to get through to ashitaka and what we see 41:42 for most of the rest of the film is that he spreads a rather hopeful message to everyone else that he meets and that's 41:47 simply to live live just for the act of living and the value all life has but 41:53 also because through living you can make the world a better place and also express your gratitude to those who have 41:59 sacrificed to get you here ashitaka does this both through his actions and his words in his actions he's basically as 42:06 much of a pacifist as you could realistically be in the film at every occasion before he enters a physical 42:11 conflict he beseeches the life in front of him to stop to not fight first he does it with the curse for Nago 42:18 imploring him to quell his rage multiple times before he's finally forced to strike when the demon is about to attack 42:23 other people with the aformentioned samurai who were attacking G and the others ashitaka again yells at them to 42:30 let him pass it's only when they refuse and attack him does he fight back the same again happens twice more at the 42:36 climax of the film first he's riding towards the Iron Works when Lord aso's invading Samurai spot him he again 42:43 implores them to let him pass but they start firing on him regardless then a short while later they send Riders to 42:49 chase after him and again ashitaka implores them to put down their arms when it's clear that they won't he 42:55 shoots down one of the men but still lets the other one Escape so time and time again ashitaka avoids taking life 43:02 or even attempting to do so unless he absolutely has to and in the verbal message he gives to others he implores 43:09 them to live when he carries son out of the Iron Works after her fight with eosi she questions why he helped her he says 43:16 I didn't want you to die to which son replies I'm not afraid to die if it will drive away the humans this is another 43:23 area where the two of them are philosophically Polar Opposites and Son shows an image maturity of attitude that 43:28 speaks to someone who hasn't really gotten the chance to mature and develop as a person repeatedly son seems happy 43:34 to throw her life away for seemingly nothing she does this later as well when she charges in with a boes of the climax 43:40 of the film to attack Chico in eos's encampment even though she admits it will be certain death but Ashi taka is 43:46 always trying to get her to stop thinking like this even as son draws his blade against him and threatens to kill 43:51 ashitaka he simply replies live before Rising her up by telling her that she's 43:56 beautiful which completely throws her off guard partly because I think it reminds her of her Humanity I'll have to remember this 44:03 tactic if an attractive woman ever points a sword at my throat at the end of the film when the dear God has seemingly died s says that all is lost 44:11 because the dear God is dead to which ashitaka replies that the dear God cannot die for he is both life and death 44:16 and that through this Final Act he is telling us to live again this is a really optimistic message in a world 44:23 that's so full of pain and misery as we've discussed live because you're Alive live because you can do something 44:29 with that life because giving up is not just illogical but flies in the face of all of those who are dead who no doubt 44:35 would have loved a chance to live longer themselves and that's what ashitaka's plan is at the end of the film s just 44:40 Retreats back into the woods which is a great metaphor for how she hasn't grown at all throughout the film she just goes 44:46 back to being the exact same person in the same location as before Ashi taka by comparison decides to live in the Iron 44:52 Works to help them make a more ethical Society he could just as easily go back to the Mishi tribe now that his curse is 44:59 lifted and return to the life he lived before but that goes against his message live because you can still make this 45:05 cruel world a better place and that's what he plans to do in this new location indeed I think the wisest characters in 45:11 the film shared this message again towards the end of the film koroku The Iron Works villager who ashitaka saved 45:18 watches the fire envelop the Iron Works and he says once the four stars to burn it's all over to which his wife Toki 45:25 replies no it isn't we're still alive again like son koroku is too concerned 45:30 with the temporary and the physical if we lose this material thing we lose it all what is the point of life without it 45:37 but Toki and ashitaka are there to act as reminders to them and us the audience that hey you're still alive aren't you 45:44 so nothing is lost because within you there's an infinite potential to make and create more things worth living for 45:51 and that's the note I'd like to end this video on because I do believe that it's a really valuable lesson for us to carry 45:56 on into our lives amongst the many relevant contemporary messages that I felt the film brings even today the 46:02 world is a bleak place in our real lives too sometimes we're living through an era where it feels like social progress 46:08 is going backwards more and more people are being made to suffer through exploitation and more than anything 46:14 people's empathy just seems to be fading the passive cruelty and vindictiveness of so many has been so starkly on 46:20 display but even when it seems like all is lost it isn't because we are alive 46:26 and with that life life we owe it to those who've lost Theirs to keep going and with this life comes endless 46:32 possibilities of things we can do to change the darkness around us to keep striving to make the world a better 46:37 place for all of us to live in and I hope by making this video and reaching out to you I've helped do so in some 46:44 small tiny way if you've made it all the way to the end of this video then please listen to 46:50 just one more thing easily the hardest part of making video essays like this one is the copyright is issues I won't 46:57 go into too many details so as to not bore you but media analysis like this is covered by a law called fair use which 47:04 allows the use of copyrighted content for the purpose of transformative analysis however big media companies 47:11 love to abuse the power they have and make false copyright claims on videos like mine because well they can and 47:18 there's no punishment for them what this means is that my videos are always at the risk of being flagged temporarily 47:23 taken down or the copyright holder can take all the revenue from the video for themselves all of this is to say that I 47:29 would really really appreciate it if you would consider becoming my Patron and supporting this content directly the 47:35 soak is now my full-time job and it's very stressful to rely primarily on YouTube Revenue as I currently do 47:41 because that's always liable to be cut from or taken away entirely copyright strikes can hit at any time literally 47:48 years later and three strikes result in the termination of a YouTube channel if I don't contest the strike and win which 47:54 thankfully I've managed every time so far but my latest video for example had to go down for 2 weeks while I fought a 48:00 copyright battle with studio jibli and all that time it was taken down for mened got killed in the algorithm as you 48:06 can see here not only does patreon help me feel more comfortable making video essays but I'm also able to provide my 48:12 patrons with access to the videos even if and when they do get taken down and also give Early Access before the rest 48:18 of the public if youve made it all the way here I'm going to go out in the limb and say you at least somewhat enjoy this video so I hope I might have earned some 48:25 of your support and if you'd prefer to use a onetime donation and the link to my PayPal is in the video description as 48:30 well anyways that's it for the financial plug I want to thank you so much for watching the video all the way through 48:36 and I hope you enjoyed it thank you to all my current patrons and do let me know in the comments what you'd like to see me cover next and I hope I'll see 48:42 you very soon for another video have a great day

Mandala Tutorial 04/25/2025 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/1187175546 IN AMENDMENT

April 26, 1884: This Is Believed to Be the First Known Photograph of a Tornado Stereograph view of a tornado as it passed just northwest of Garnett on April 26, 1884 in Anderson County, Kansas. According to the Kansas Historical Society, it is believed to be the first photograph of a tornado. For three days that spring, the United States Signal Corps, an early precursor to the National Weather Service, observed a massive storm cell moving into Kansas from Colorado. At 5:30 p.m. on April 26, 1884, residents of Garnett witnessed a long rope-like funnel descend from the western sky near the tiny hamlet of Westphalia. For roughly 30 minutes, it moved on a northeasterly path. The tornado’s slow progress allowed local fruit farmer and amateur photographer A.A. Adams time to assemble his cumbersome box camera and capture this singular image. Positioned near the United Presbyterian Church in Garnett, Adams was standing just 14 miles from the cyclone. Meteorology was still in its infancy in the 1880s. The Signal Corp could measure weather anomalies through the use of field stations, but could not issue forecasts. As a result, early settlers had no warning. Before this shot, historically the only images of them were drawings by eyewitnesses. Photographic evidence provided experts with valuable insight and proved infinitely fascinating to a general public more accustomed to legend than science. The day after the storm, a newspaper reporter from the Anderson County Republican rode out on horseback to assess the damage. Though several residents reported having heard the sound of a locomotive often associated with tornadoes, the storm traveled roughly nine miles through open prairie and caused little damage. The funnel was reported to have “the appearance of a long rope of a purplish colored cloud.” According to Monthly Weather Review, “About three miles north of Westphalia a wagon laden with lumber was struck by the tornado. The lumber was scattered over the prairie, and the driver and horses were carried a considerable distance in the air.” The driver was identified at David Metheney, according to the Kansas Historical Society. Adams was well aware of the value of his image. Born on a Virginia farm, he arrived in Kansas in 1857. Following a short stint in the Civil War, he settled in Lawrence, Kansas, where he established a photography studio. He sold the studio in 1867 and moved to Anderson County. Following the 1884 storm, Adams attempted to exploit his rare image by selling souvenir cabinet cards and stereographs. URL https://www.vintag.es/2020/04/first-tornado-photograph.html

Earth Day Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson led to the first earth day celebration in 1970. some stories in my good news calendar Story 1 https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/261-earth-day-art-or-text-craft-parade-good-news-blog/?do=findComment&comment=894 Story 2 https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/261-earth-day-art-or-text-craft-parade-good-news-blog/?do=findComment&comment=895 IN AMENDMENT Twerking is so old https://www.facebook.com/reel/1583131398998598

L RON HUBBARD creators of the future June 30th 2025 due writers contest https://writersofthefuture.com/enter-writer-contest/ illustrators contest https://writersofthefuture.com/enter-the-illustrator-contest/ I Contacted an administrator for L Ron Hubbard and they said, as long as a work wasn't used for profit it can be applied. So I chose to select from the following Which of these do you like Literature prose https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Candace-the-Great-early-at-bats-as-told-by-Edubrer-1124577912 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Around-The-Moon-In-80-Risings-979150152 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Henda-jr-and-the-Highest-Striker-1116366320 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Koko-Henda-and-the-wails-1116366734 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Koko-Henda-and-the-Stitched-People-1116368214 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/The-King-Of-Paradise-913395528 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/You-re-fired-934205908 stageplay https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/The-Journey-of-Sofie-Wakten-to-become-a-witch-1025949171 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/WHICH-SUN-IS-FUN-1140924741 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/The-Last-Day-1124559173 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/LOVE-THAT-PASS-SHIPS-IN-THE-NIGHT-974879079 poetry https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Ship-of-Fools-Legend-to-be-909901566 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Poetic-Critique-of-Luthien-and-Beren-by-jjwinters-1143440896 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Wee-Sonnets-Sonnet-1119639140 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Hark-The-Poet-Angels-Sing-1130714222 Illustrations https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Holiday-Rex-DTIYS-B-W-905513401 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/THE-GREAT-ORIGINAL-CHARACTER-SNOWFIGHT-1181758432 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Princess-Candace-in-a-moment-in-the-Kingdom-of-Mir-980117692 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/crystals-21-Witchtember-2022-930362174 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/20th-anniversary-deviantart-Black-and-White-856152910 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/The-Ancestral-Tree-back-b-w-966925996 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/The-Ancestral-Tree-front-b-w-966925605 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/AmpraehDTIYScolor-917892345 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Suriel-of-Sylessae-BW-939310620 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Vape-Of-Love-calligraphy-1103786990 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Phoenix-crying-bw-1082135508 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Sikarengo-BW-990210090

The Echo Of Tanit's Cries A poem https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/1184895918 Title: The Echoes Of Tanit's Cries She was known by other names before Before cries along rare spoken lore While ancient she exist vibrant today Today she is smaller than the wee fae And far aftdays glory will ahead Head her great flock to Dione, safe from dread What echo is when Tanit was engulf Gulf made from her wails plus flaming wolf Disciples^3 of a forgotten jew Jeweled what was open to all, new Now as Isis she is a quiet sing As Yema she will be all God's king As unknown today a studied thing As Tanit her terrorcries still ring eternal curse old human terror bring Ah(h)^INF from Richard Murray NOTE: Tanit is the name of a Phoenician goddess who took many forms , as a form of Isis prayed to before , of Juno's wife prayed to after, her temple at Carthage, now around modern Tunis in Tunisia was large and a symbol Carthaginian pride, which at the time of the expansion of christianity in the Roman empire capitoled at Nova Roma/Constantinople, became a symbol of non Christian worship which was attacked multiple times by Christians and then converted and changed by Christians and then totally demolished by Christians who celebrated the demolition as a Christian victory. [ reference for the image => https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/VIBRATION-58-SELECTIONS-1183674809 ] ^3 - don't speak "^3" refers to disciples disciples disciples , or the students taught by the students taught by the students jewel meaning ornament, a thing seen as a positive symbol of an act, not precious gem wee- small fae- types of fairies aftdays - days after Dione- pronounce [die-on]a moon around Saturn, one of its many names, the name means goddess gulf- deep recession,a large depth terrorcries- cries made from being terrorized Ah(h)^INF is not spoken , but expressed mentally INF infinity ^ - multiply itself by the factor after the symbol (h)- element to be multiplied IN AMENDMENTThe Inner Light- a review of my favorite star trek next generation episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZpZfJC21lM Transcript 0:00 Star Trek the Next Generation is a very 0:02 well-written show and there are many 0:04 episodes that one can point to as 0:06 examples of great storytelling but among 0:09 these there is one episode that's often 0:12 cited as the best in the series and that 0:14 episode is the inner light in which Jean 0:17 luk Bard lives an entire life in the 0:19 span of 25 minutes this episode is 0:22 Patrick Stewart's favorite and also my 0:24 personal favorite and I find myself 0:27 revisiting this episode more than any 0:29 other and every time I do I find 0:31 something new to appreciate so in this 0:33 video I'd like to break down why I think 0:35 this episode of all the incredible 0:37 stories in the TNG series stands out for 0:40 so many as its 0:44 finest so the very first thing that must 0:46 be known about the inner light is that 0:49 it was written for broadcast television 0:50 in the early 90s and that means it has a 0:53 very particular format a 1-hour slot of 0:55 Television generally had four or five 0:57 commercial breaks and this naturally 0:59 determined the shows dramatic structure 1:01 most episodes of TNG start with a short 1:03 2 to 4 minute teaser followed by the 1:05 title sequence then five dramatic acts 1:08 with commercial breaks in between total 1:10 run time is generally between 45 and 48 1:12 minutes and each Act generally ends on a 1:15 little Cliffhanger to keep the viewer 1:16 watching through the commercials it was 1:18 a simpler time before the dark ages of 1:20 multiple subscriptions now if you're 1:22 familiar with this format you'll 1:24 remember that the writers often used 1:26 commercial breakes to Signal the passage 1:27 of time in the story and in the case of 1:29 TN 1:30 this was sometimes really creative a 1:32 good example is cause and effect in 1:34 which the Enterprise is caught in a Time 1:35 Loop and keeps getting destroyed only to 1:38 restart after the break great episode so 1:40 the commercial break is actually really 1:42 integral to this format of Storytelling 1:44 and this is definitely the case for the 1:46 Inner Light in which each commercial 1:48 break is also a 5 to 10year time skip 1:51 now I think the best way to analyze any 1:53 story is to try to understand its moral 1:55 argument and for that you generally want 1:57 to look at how its main character 1:59 changes from beginning to end this 2:01 episode is about the transformation of 2:03 Jean luk peard who as we all know is the 2:06 Intrepid and somewhat guarded captain of 2:08 the Enterprise he's a man of great 2:11 stature and responsibility who has very 2:13 few personal relationships Beyond those 2:15 with his crew he seldom shows 2:17 vulnerability and his life is somewhat 2:20 lonely but by the climax of the Inner 2:22 Light he's quite the opposite he's 2:24 surrounded by family and he doesn't seem 2:26 to care about much else now in order to 2:28 cover that much ground in such a short 2:30 run time the writers not only have to 2:32 fast forward time they also have to fast 2:34 forward Picard's character development 2:36 which isn't really something you're 2:37 supposed to do as a writer characters 2:40 ideally develop gradually the whole 2:42 point is to see them grow and change in 2:44 this story we only get a select few 2:46 moments in which to Glimpse the life 2:48 that Picard is living and yet the climax 2:50 of the story is somehow very emotional 2:53 it's one of the most affecting dramatic 2:54 sequences in the entire Series so how 2:57 did they do it this episode was pitched 2:59 to the show producers by freelance 3:01 writer Morgan gendall originally as a 3:03 story in which both Picard and reker 3:06 lived an alternate life on an alien 3:07 world devastated by War the concept went 3:11 through many iterations before they 3:12 eventually settled on a story about a 3:14 civilization sending a probe into space 3:17 as a way of preserving their culture 3:19 early versions of the script included a 3:20 more involved subplot on the ship as the 3:23 crew tries to figure out what's 3:25 happening to their incapacitated Captain 3:27 but it was ultimately decided that the 3:29 episode should Focus almost completely 3:31 on the transformation of Jean Luke's 3:33 character and his relationships on the 3:35 planet Katan and I think part of the 3:37 reason that this episode works is that 3:39 it's very focused and concise not a 3:41 single line of dialogue is wasted not a 3:44 single action or scene is extraneous to 3:47 the plot and the action of the plot 3:49 articulates very clearly the moral of 3:51 the story so I think the writer is 3:53 really understood that this episode is 3:55 primarily a character study another 3:57 reason the story works is that it's 3:59 deeply relatable it deals with universal 4:01 struggles in The Human Condition it's 4:03 essentially the story of Jean Le Picard 4:05 realizing what's important in life he 4:08 begins by having to confront the fact 4:10 that a life he once knew is now gone and 4:12 that the person he thought he was is no 4:14 more that's something anyone can relate 4:16 to not because we've had our brains 4:18 hijacked by a nucleonic beam but because 4:21 life sometimes changes abruptly with no 4:23 going back sometimes the certainty of 4:26 who we thought we were falls apart in 4:28 the face of circumstances is beyond our 4:30 control the First Act of the episode is 4:32 spent with the familiar version of Jean 4:34 Luke the one who never married and who 4:36 doesn't particularly like children and 4:38 he does not accept the story that he is 4:40 a man named Cayman living on the planet 4:42 Katan and suffering from a fever that 4:44 has taken his memory he goes to Great 4:45 Lengths to methodically prove that his 4:48 new life is some kind of holc Illusion 4:50 but eventually he accepts his 4:52 circumstances and this is where we're 4:53 introduced to the episode's iconic flute 4:56 now in a story about change the flute is 4:58 the only constant and it's an important 5:00 story device beard is told that he's 5:02 been learning to play it though he 5:03 doesn't appear to have any skill just 5:05 yet and the First Act ends when Bard 5:08 notices that his wife's pendant looks 5:10 like the probe that sent him there then 5:12 we cut to the Enterprise Bridge 5:13 revealing that virtually no time has 5:15 passed since Bard was struck by the beam 5:17 and go to commercial now that's a work 5:20 of art the 99 cent Daily Double what you 5:23 want is what you get at McDonald's 5:25 today when we come back it's revealed 5:28 that many years have passed since the 5:30 previous act bicard has begun accepting 5:32 his identity as Cayman even if he is 5:34 still a bit preoccupied with finding the 5:36 Enterprise in any case he's committed 5:38 enough to his new life that he promises 5:40 to have a baby with his wife elen and 5:42 this signals to the viewer that peard 5:44 has already really moved on from his 5:46 past and he's kind of ready to fully 5:48 live as Cayman now one way that this 5:50 story stays concise is by implying 5:53 things about Picard's life rather than 5:55 showing them directly and much is 5:57 implied about Picard's character in this 5:59 second act his friendship with Bai 6:02 implies that he's integrated into the 6:04 community the intimacy and tenderness 6:06 between bicard and elen implies that 6:08 they have a strong bond despite his 6:10 apparent memory loss and the fact that 6:12 he can play frera jhaka on the flute now 6:15 means he's begun to embrace his identity 6:17 as Cayman but he's still playing an 6:19 Earth's song and so he's still attached 6:22 to his old life to some degree now 6:24 that's a really important detail that 6:26 we're going to come back to when we come 6:28 back from the break for act three we see 6:30 Cayman and elen celebrating the birth of 6:32 not their first child but their second 6:34 child who they Nam batai after cayman's 6:37 friend who passed away off screen while 6:39 you were watching an ad for Wendy's 6:41 Picard's flu playing has come along 6:42 nicely which helps you to feel the 6:44 passage of time since the previous act 6:47 note that he's no longer playing faka 6:49 this is a new song at this point you 6:51 realize that the story is skipping huge 6:53 periods of time and that Jean L Bard as 6:55 we knew him is really in the distant 6:57 past by this point and that's surprising 7:00 because it means peard isn't trying to 7:02 get back to the Enterprise and solve the 7:04 mystery of why he's on this strange 7:06 planet and yet we're reminded that for 7:08 the crew back aboard the Enterprise only 7:10 minutes have passed in fact the crew 7:12 tries to sever the connection causing 7:14 peard to collapse this is a clever way 7:16 of synchronizing these two timelines for 7:19 the viewer so that we understand just 7:21 how little time has actually passed we 7:24 skip ahead again and see that Bard's 7:26 daughter marbor is now fully grown and 7:28 she's a scientist now until this point 7:30 in the story there have been references 7:32 to some kind of drought happening but 7:34 now it's hinted that the drought is 7:36 actually an existential threat to the 7:38 planet Jean Luke is trying to convince 7:40 his daughter to spend less time worrying 7:43 about soil samples and more time with a 7:45 young man who is interested in her and 7:47 it's here with the realization that this 7:49 civilization might not have much time 7:51 left that the moral of the story begins 7:53 to emerge live now make 7:57 now always the most precious time at 8:01 this point in his life as Cayman Beard's 8:03 motivations have radically changed his 8:06 efforts as a scientist and Explorer have 8:08 yielded no fruit but for the realization 8:10 that time is running out all that 8:13 matters to him now are his relationships 8:15 with his friends and family something he 8:17 never had in his life on board the 8:19 Enterprise act three ends with the 8:21 Revelation that the Katon system was 8:23 destroyed when the sun went Nova a 8:25 thousand years ago this sets up act four 8:28 in which Jean Luke discovered that 8:29 katan's government is already aware that 8:31 the planet is doomed and that some kind 8:33 of plan is underway Picard's son now an 8:36 adult has followed in his Father's 8:38 Footsteps by becoming a musician 8:40 presumably because of his own father's 8:41 flute playing by the way this character 8:43 is played by Patrick Stewart's actual 8:45 son elene passes in a heart-wrenching 8:48 scene beautifully portrayed by Margo 8:49 Rose and Patrick Stewart does an 8:51 incredible job of making you feel this 8:54 loss even though we've had very little 8:56 screen time with these two characters 8:58 actually Patrick St steart has said that 9:00 this episode was the biggest acting 9:02 challenge that TNG ever presented him 9:05 which is really saying something 9:06 considering the sheer breadth of this 9:08 series and it's scenes like this that 9:10 really make you appreciate his 9:12 versatility as an actor and we come back 9:14 from the final commercial break for the 9:15 fifth and Final Act and Bard is very 9:18 elderly he's saddened by the fact that 9:20 his grandson has no future and he's 9:22 completely uninterested in the fact that 9:25 the community is apparently launching 9:26 some kind of Rocket into space something 9:28 that bicard of 40 years ago would surely 9:30 have been interested in the launch is 9:32 the climax of the story and it's where 9:34 the story finally reveals its moral 9:36 lesson first we get this beautiful 9:38 reveal of 9:45 Bai he explains the probe and Picard 9:48 immediately understands the mystery of 9:51 the episode has been solved but that's 9:53 not what this scene is primarily about 9:55 because there's another reveal 10:02 now I think the Brilliance of this scene 10:04 is that when peard realizes that he is 10:06 actually jeanu Picard and this probe 10:09 found him in the future that's not what 10:11 matters to him in the moment because 10:13 that would undermine the moral of this 10:15 story what does matter is elen his wife 10:19 is standing there in front of him and 10:21 that's what matters to bicard and that's 10:23 the moral of the story it's a simple 10:25 lesson that we often hear but don't 10:27 fully absorb until later in in life that 10:30 we tend to take for granted the most 10:31 important things often because we dwell 10:34 too long in the past or because we're 10:36 searching for something we can never 10:37 find all of the little moments in this 10:39 story have led to this beautifully 10:41 dramatized moral conclusion one with 10:44 real depth and 10:46 [Music] 10:49 wisdom now of course the episode cannot 10:51 end there the scene of Jean Luke waking 10:53 up on the bridge is also brilliantly 10:55 acted by Patrick Stewart who basically 10:57 wakes up from a coma and has to process 10:59 the impossibility that he's only been 11:02 unconscious for 25 minutes as always 11:05 Stuart takes this kind of far out 11:07 science fiction premise and somehow 11:09 makes it feel completely real and 11:10 believable I love this little moment 11:12 when he looks back at the bridge and 11:13 smiles which is the moment that we know 11:16 that peard as we know him is going to be 11:17 all right but of course the most famous 11:20 scene in the episode is its incredible 11:22 ending where it's revealed that cayman's 11:24 flute was stashed inside the probe and 11:27 here Patrick Stewart gives us an 11:28 incredible poignant depiction of a man 11:31 who's just been given a second chance at 11:33 life but who has also lost everything 11:36 that matters to him Picard plays Cayman 11:39 song now his only connection to his past 11:42 life just as he did with fraka when he 11:45 was on Katon this isn't just good 11:47 writing it's poetry as the music plays 11:50 we cut to the Enterprise D soaring 11:52 gracefully through the emptiness of 11:54 space peard has finally found the 11:56 Starship he spent a lifetime searching 11:58 for but in returning to who he was he is 12:02 once again alone and once again mourning 12:04 a past that he can never return to wow 12:08 it's pretty amazing to me that such a 12:10 profound bit of Storytelling found its 12:12 way onto Prime Time television in the 12:14 1990s and it's also a great example of 12:17 what Star Trek overall is capable of 12:20 when it approaches storytelling not only 12:22 as a fun adventure in outer space but 12:24 also as a deeper exploration of The 12:26 Human Condition I'd love to hear your 12:28 interpretation of this episode and other 12:31 episodes that you think reach similar 12:33 Heights check out my patreon if you'd 12:34 like to support the channel thanks for 12:36 watching and I'll see you on the next 12:37 one

Bill Withers born 1948 So many artist are deemed singer songwriters who can't sing or who can't write, but Bill Withers truly is both all the following is from Bill Withers outside one Ain't No Sunshine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuKfiH0Scao Lyrics Ain't no sunshine when she's gone It's not warm when she's away Ain't no sunshine when she's gone And she's always gone too long Anytime she's goes away Wonder this time where she's gone Wonder if she's gone to stay Ain't no sunshine when she's gone And this house just ain't no home Anytime she goes away And I know, I know, I know, I know I know, I know, I know, I know, I know I know, I know, I know, I know, I know I know, I know, I know, I know, I know I know, I know, I know, I know, I know I know, I know Hey, I ought to leave young thing alone But ain't no sunshine when she's gone, whoa, whoa Ain't no sunshine when she's gone Only darkness every day Ain't no sunshine when she's gone And this house just ain't no home Anytime she goes away Anytime she goes away Anytime she goes away Anytime she goes away Grandma's Hands https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdrChyGb574 Lyrics Grandma's hands Clapped in church on Sunday morning Grandma's hands Played a tambourine so well Grandma's hands Used to issue out a warning She'd say, Billy don't you run so fast Might fall on a piece of glass Might be snakes there in that grass Grandma's hands Grandma's hands Soothed a local unwed mother Grandma's hands Used to ache sometimes and swell Grandma's hands Used to lift her face and tell her She'd say, Baby, grandma understands That you really love that man Put yourself in Jesus' hands Grandma's hands Grandma's hands Used to hand me piece of candy Grandma's hands Picked me up each time I fell Grandma's hands Boy, they really came in handy She'd say, Matty don' you whip that boy What you want to spank him for? He didn' drop no apple core But I don't have grandma anymore If I get to heaven I'll look for Grandma's hands Hmm-mmh Use Me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuYDKzky4z0 Lyrics My friends Feel it's their appointed duty They keep tryin' to tell me All you want to do is use me Ah-huh, but my answer (Ah-huh) Yeah to all that use me stuff I, I, I, I Yes, I wanna spread the news That if it feels this good gettin' used Oh, you just keep on usin' me Until you use me up Until you use me up My brother Sit me right down and he talked to me He told me That I ought not to let you just walk on me And I'm sure he meant well Yeah, but when our talk was through I, I, I said brother if you only knew You'd wish that you were in my shoes You just keep on usin' me Until you use me up Until you use me up Ah-huh, sometimes It's true you really do abuse me Ah, you get me crowd of high class people And then you act real rude to me Ah-huh, but oh, baby, baby, baby, baby When you love me I can't get enough Ah-huh and I wanna spread the news That it feels this good gettin' used Oh, you just keep on usin' me Until you use me up Ah, until you use me up Talkin' 'bout you usin' people It all depends on what you do It ain't too bad the way you're usin' me 'Cause I sure am usin' you to do the things that you do Ah-huh, to do the things that you do Lean on Me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOZ-MySzAac Lyrics Hmm... hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm Hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm Hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm Sometimes in our lives We all have pain We all have sorrow But if we are wise We know that there's always tomorrow Lean on me When you're not strong And I'll be your friend I'll help you carry on... For it won't be long Till I'm gonna need somebody to lean on Please swallow your pride If I have things you need to borrow For no one can fill Those of your needs that you won't let show You just call on me brother when you need a hand We all need somebody to lean on I just might have a problem that you'll understand We all need somebody to lean on Lean on me When you're not strong And I'll be your friend I'll help you carry on... For it won't be long Till I'm gonna need somebody to lean on You just call on me brother When you need a hand We all need somebody to lean on I just might have a problem that you'll understand We all need somebody to lean on If there is a load you have to bear That you can't carry I'm right up the road I'll share your load If you just call me Call me If you need a friend (call me) Call me (call me) If you need a friend (call me) If you ever need a friend (call me) Call me (call me) Call me (call me) Call me (call me) Call me (call me) If you need a friend (call me) Call me (call me) Call me (call me) Call me (call me) Call me (call me) Lovely Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEeaS6fuUoA Lyrics When I wake up in the mornin', love And the sunlight hurts my eyes And somethin' without warnin', love Bears heavy on my mind Then I look at you And the world's alright with me Just one look at you And I know it's gonna be A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) When the day that lies ahead of me Seems impossible to face When someone else instead of me Always seems to know the way Then I look at you And the world's alright with me Just one look at you And I know it's gonna be A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) When the day that lies ahead of me Seems impossible to face And when someone else instead of me Always seems to know the way Then I look at you And the world's alright with me Just one look at you And I know it's gonna be A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) A lovely day (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) (Lovely day, lovely day) Just the Two of Us featuring Grover Washington Jr on horns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6POZlJAZsok Lyrics I see the crystal raindrops fall And the beauty of it all Is when the sun comes shining through To make those rainbows in my mind When I think of you sometime And I want to spend some time with you Just the two of us We can make it if we try Just the two of us (Just the two of us) Just the two of us Building castles in the sky Just the two of us You and I We look for love, no time for tears Wasted water's all that is And it don't make no flowers grow Good things might come to those who wait Not for those who wait too late We gotta go for all we know Just the two of us We can make it if we try Just the two of us (Just the two of us) Just the two of us Building them castles in the sky Just the two of us You and I Just the two of us We can make it just the two of us Just the two of us We can make it just the two of us Just the two of us We can make it just the two of us Just the two of us We can make it just the two of us Just the two of us We can make it just the two of us Just the two of us We can make it just the two of us Just the two of us We can make it just the two of us I hear the crystal raindrops fall On the window down the hall And it becomes the morning dew And, darling, when the morning comes And I see the morning sun I want to be the one with you Just the two of us We can make it if we try Just the two of us (Just the two of us) Just the two of us Building big castles way on high Just the two of us You and I Just the two of us (yes, the two of us) We can make it just the two of us (Let's get it together, baby) Just the two of us (yes, the two of us) We can make it just the two of us Just the two of us We can make it just the two of us Just the two of us We can make it just the two of us Just the two of us We can make it just the two of us Just the two of us We can make it just the two of us Just the two of us We can make it just the two of us Just the two of us We can make it just the two of us Just the two of us Hope She'll Be Happier With Him - my personal favorite and he got to sing it in Zaire of all places... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWU6nRJzeKw Lyrics Maybe the lateness of the hour Makes me seem bluer than I am But in my heart there is a shower I hope she'll be happier with him Maybe the darkness of the hour Makes me seem lonelier than I am But over the darkness I have no power Hope she'll be happier with him I can't believe that she don't want to see me We lived and loved with each other so long I never thought that she really would leave me But she's gone Maybe the lateness of the hour Makes me seem bluer than I am But in my heart there is a shower Hope she'll be happier with him If you haven't heard Grover Washington jr. check out Winelight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPH1IuMtFGc Mr Magic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo9lI_cn2wo Winelight one more time! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sd5HLFolDs

These are all the songs in the Nat King Cole Trio recordings that were composed by black writers. Easy Listening Blues composed by Nadine Robinson [ nat king cole's first wife; they met on tour with the play "Shuffle Along" [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuffle_Along ]] ] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws1igAr1pY4 This way out composed by Nat King Cole [ the first song he recorded that he composed] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_l3oDI3e7E Honeysuckle Rose written + composed by Fats Waller + Andy Razaf (Andriamanantena Paul Razafinkarefo) [for the off broadway play [["Load of Coal"]] at Connie's Inn] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6Xcyvd5hpU Lyrics Every honey bee fills with jealousy,<br> when they see you out with me.<br> Goodness knows<br> You're my Honeysuckle Rose<br> When you're passin' by flowers droop and sigh,<br> and I know the reason why.<br> Goodness knows<br> You're my Honeysuckle Rose<br> Don't buy sugar,<br> You just have to touch my cup.<br> You're my sugar.<br> It's sweeter when you stir it up.<br> When I'm taking sips from your tasty lips<br> seems the honey fairly drips.<br> Goodness knows<br> You're my Honeysuckle Rose<br> Guitar solo<br> Goodness knows<br> You're my Honeysuckle Rose<br> Don't buy sugar,<br> You just have to touch my cup.<br> You're my sugar.<br> It's sweeter when you stir it up.<br> When I'm taking sips from your tasty lips<br> seems the honey fairly drips.<br> Goodness knows<br> You're my Honeysuckle Rose Waller + Razaff also did Aint Misbehavin lyrics + composition from Razaf + waller for a musical revue "Hot Chocolates" ... financed by dutch schultz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ8fWP6a3Q4 <p> AINT MISBEHAVIN<br> No one to talk with<br> All by myself<br> No one to walk with<br> But I'm happy<br> On the shelf<br> Ain't misbehavin'<br> I'm savin' my love for you </p> <p> I know for certain<br> The one I love<br> I'm through with flirtin'<br> It's you that I'm thinkin' of<br> Ain't misbehavin'<br> I'm savin' my love for you </p> <p> Like Jack Horner<br> In the corner<br> Don't go nowhere<br> What do I care?<br> Your kisses<br> Are worth waitin' for<br> Believe me </p> <p> I don't stay out late<br> Don't care to go<br> I'm home about eight<br> Just me and my radio<br> Ain't misbehavin'<br> I'm savin' my love for you<br> Ain't misbehavin'<br> I'm savin' my love for you </p> Razaf wrote this classic, originally for the musical revue "Hot chocolates" with music by fats waller "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHCPM7K0evc LYRICS Cold empty bed, springs hurt my head<br> Feels like ole ned, wished I was dead<br> What did I do to be so black and blue<br> Even the mouse ran from my house<br> They laugh at you and all that you do<br> What did I do to be so black and blue<br> I'm white inside but, that don't help my case<br> ThIs life can't hide what is in my face<br> How would it end ain't got a friend<br> My only sin is in my skin<br> What did I do to be so black and blue<br> How would it end I ain't got a friend<br> My only sin is in my skin<br> What did I do to be so black and blue NOTES to black and blue He demanded a comedy song for a lady who says how tough it is to be black...He literally put a gun to Andy's head and told him that if he didn't write it he would never write again. The opening-night response to the song was silence -people were stunned. Then they went crazy. Andy hadn't written the comedy song Schultz wanted, but because it was a hit, Schultz left him alone. — Barry Singer, author of "Black and Blue: The Life and Lyrics of Andy Razaf [Holden, Stephen (8 February 1989). "A Lot of Hit Songs from an Unsung Lyricist". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 May 2024. ; https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/08/arts/a-lot-of-hit-songs-from-an-unsung-lyricist.html ] And Edgar Sampson wrote Stompin at the Savoy Straighten up and fly right written by Nat King Cole + Irving Mills Composed by Nat King Cole https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-4VTlQlros LYRICS A buzzard took a monkey for a ride in the air<br> The monkey thought that everything was on the square<br> The buzzard tried to throw the monkey off his back<br> But the monkey grabbed his neck and said, "Now listen, Jack"<br> Straighten up and fly right<br> Straighten up and stay right<br> Straighten up and fly right<br> Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top<br> Ain't no use in divin'<br> What's the use in jivin'?<br> Straighten up and fly right<br> Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top<br> The buzzard told the monkey<br> You are chokin' me<br> Release your hold and I'll set you free<br> The monkey looked the buzzard right<br> Dead in the eye and said<br> "Your story's so touching, but it sounds<br> Just like a lie"<br> Straighten up and fly right<br> Straighten up and stay right<br> Straighten up and fly right<br> Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top<br> Straighten up and fly right<br> Straighten up and stay right<br> Straighten up and fly right<br> Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top<br> Fly right I Love You ( For sentimental reasons ) written by Ivory "Deek" Watson of the Ink Spots + William "Pat" Best of the Four Tunes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUnguqPxzNU LYRICS I love you<br> For sentimental reasons<br> I hope you do believe me<br> I'll give you my heart<br> I love you<br> And you alone were meant for me<br> Please give your loving heart to me<br> And say we'll never part<br> I think of you every morning<br> Dream of you every night<br> Darling I'm never lonely<br> Whenever you are in sight<br> I love you for sentimental reasons<br> I hope you do believe me<br> I've given you my heart<br> I love you for sentimental reasons<br> I hope you do believe me<br> I've given you my heart YOu know the Ink Spots "Memories of You" written by Razaf and Eubie blake [ The song was introduced by singer Minto Cato in the Broadway show Lew Leslie's Blackbirds of 1930. ] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg5Dv_QYwJI Memories of You from Andy Razaf<br> VERSE 1 <br><br> <p> Why can't I forget like I should?<br> Heaven knows I would if I could<br> But I just can't keep you off my mind.<br> Though you're gone and love was in vain,<br> All around me you still remain.<br> Wonder why fate should be so unkind. </p> <p> REFRAIN </p> <p> Waking skies<br> At sunrise,<br> Ev'ry sunset, too,<br> Seems to be<br> Bringing me<br> Memories of you.<br> Here and there,<br> Ev'rywhere,<br> Scenes that we once knew,<br> And they all<br> Just recall<br> Memories of you.<br> How I wish I could forget those<br> Happy yesteryears<br> That have left a rosary of tears.<br> Your face beams<br> In my dreams,<br> 'Spite of all I do,<br> Ev'rything<br> Seems to bring<br> Memories of you. </p> <p> VERSE 2 </p> <p> Though for years we've been apart,<br> Time heals ev'rything but my heart<br> That still aches for you the same old way.<br> Seems I can't escape from the past,<br> And your spell keeps holding me fast,<br> Each tomorrow is like yesterday. </p> <p> REPEAT REFRAIN </p> Memories of YOu from Thelonius Monk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhxIIhA_JVk From Eubie Blake https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw9KzKJJjPs You know the Four Tunes "I Understand (Just How You Feel)" written by Pat Best https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=achpJtgdDNk LYRICS I understand just how you feel<br> Your love for me, why not be mine?<br> It's over now but it was grand<br> I understand, I understand<br> If you ever change your mind<br> Come back to me and you will find<br> Me waiting there, at your command<br> I understand, I understand<br> I miss you so, please believe me when I tell you<br> I just can't stand to see you go<br> You know<br> If you ever change your mind<br> Come back to me and you will find<br> Me waiting there at your command<br> I understand, I understand<br> Please understand just how I feel<br> Your love for me why not reveal<br> And we will know this time it's real<br> We'll understand You Are My Love (1955 song) written by Jimmie Nabbie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTqBYz5Rouo LYRICS <p> You are my love, (you are my love)<br> My one and only!<br> When you're not near, (when you're not near)<br> I'm oh, so lonely! </p> <p> You are my love, (you are my love)<br> And please believe me,<br> There's not another,<br> There'll be no other one for me!# </p> <p> I sigh and cry<br> And long for you, (and long for you)<br> Oh my darling, my dear one,<br> Oooh-ooh-ooh-ooh! </p> <p> You are my love, (you are my love)<br> And please believe me,<br> There's not another,<br> There'll be no other one for me! </p> <p> I sigh and cry<br> And long for you,<br> Oh my darling, my dear one,<br> Oooh-ooh-ooh-ooh! </p> <p> You are my love, (you are my love)<br> And please believe me,<br> There's not another,<br> There'll be no other one for me!<br> (you are my love) are my love! </p> Those who know me know I love Nat King Cole , and I can place all the music he made, remember, the song is a collaborative project, you can write a song, but can you sing it? The Portrait of Jenny lyrics J. Russel Robinson, Gordon Burdge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLTPhJMddxc LYRICS so lovely i can't resist<br> A Portrait of Jennie<br> More precious to me<br> Than a masterpiece<br> How ever famous it be<br> The portrait of Jennie<br> Is etched on my heart<br> Where her features have been<br> Sketched from the start<br> Ah, the color and beauty of life<br> And the glow of her spirit divine<br> All cast in heaven's own design<br> With a portrait of Jennie<br> I never will part<br> For there isn't any portrait of Jennie<br> Except in my heart<br> For there isn't any portrait of Jennie<br> Except in my heart Fly Me To The Moon ( In Other Words ) lyrics+composition from George Shearing, Nat King Cole https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rABO0_pvims LYRICS<br> Poets often use many words to say a simple thing<br> It takes thought and time and rhyme<br> To make a poem sing<br> With music and words I've been playing<br> For you, I have written a song<br> To be sure that you'll know what I'm saying<br> I'll translate as I go along<br> Fly me to the moon<br> And let me play among the stars<br> Let me see what spring is like<br> On Jupiter and Mars<br> In other words, hold my hand<br> In other words, darling kiss me<br> Fill my heart with song<br> And let me sing forever more<br> You are all I long for<br> All I worship and adore<br> In other words, please be true<br> In other words, I love you<br> Fill my heart with song<br> And let me sing forever more<br> You are all I long for<br> All I worship and adore<br> In other words, please be true<br> In other words, I love you COMMENTARIES 03192026 https://aalbc.com/tc/topic/12600-happy-birthday-nat-king-cole/#findComment-80772 osted just now @ProfD On 3/18/2026 at 2:19 PM, ProfD said: The late, great Nat King Cole was a real troubadour & excellent musician. Colorism goes way back. They did this to Nat King Cole for a TV appearance: I know, but I look at it another way. Black people like Nat King Cole, like Frederick Douglass, MLK jr, James Forten, Michelle side Barrack Obama have always existed in the usa or the white european colonies/dominions that proceded it. Black people like Nat King Cole say to non blacks, non black dosers, that I will treat you with respect, with civility , even if you don't treat me the same. And not because I want to be humiliated or insulted or because I am weak, but because I treasure peace even amongst you... especially amongst you. I don't want to live my life fighting whites every day. That to me is what Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstine (that whites treated sinfully) Nichelle Nichols (who suffered a lot of crow for the idea of Uhura who lives among the non black humans in the future:) far far future in peace, sorry non humans still a way to go for that) and other entertainers are saying. They fully know the Nat turners, the Jean Jacques Dessalines, the Quilombos are in the community, black people who don't trust the non black, don't want to live civilly among the nonblack, are willing to be armed and violent to uphold the way of life they want to have. But, Nat King Cole and other blacks like him, are willing to trust, live civilly with, willing to be unprotected around the non black, not naively or stupidly but with hope. That is the real point. Frederick Douglass's composite nation speech isn't suggesting the enslaver becomes the friend easily or overnight or simply. The enslaver becomes the abuser, the abuser becomes the trickster, the trickster becomes the dour, the dour may one day become the kin, the kin becomes the ally, the ally becomes the friend, the friend becomes the lover. Cause all awhile from enslaver to lover, the other was always the neighbor, no segregation ever existed, it was always integrated ,in various forms. So, if the black is to embrace civility living aside the non black in various forms, it is a process, part of that process is being told to where white face paint and giving in sometimes and not giving in other times. 0322026 https://aalbc.com/tc/topic/12600-happy-birthday-nat-king-cole/#findComment-80826 osted just now @aka Contrarian is unforgettable your favrite nat king cole rendition? @ProfD a certain level of respect and admiration, interesting words you chose to describe levels that didn't include respect or admiration to nat king cole in his life from his enemies. again, the issue isn't about black enemies, it is about black people gardless of their personal talents who are willing to live peacefully to the non black , it is that simple. St patrick's day passed and I do like the film michael collins . Him and a few others in irish leadership really led to the movement that made a part of ireland free from england after 700 years, but the key moment was when he realized that the freedom the irish wanted the happiness the irish wanted as a people, not individuals, wasn't going to come through business ownership, marching, peitions, government engagement, they did all of that for centuries and it led to nothing. The only way ireland was going to be free, which is why irish in most of ireland today are truly free, is by killing english.... Agan, James Forten to NAt King Cole to various black folk today, live their lives to happiness in spite of the communities oppression. That to me is what warrants respect or admiration that is what nonblacks don't respect or admire. being entertaining doesn't grant you respect or admiration from the bully. 0322026 https://aalbc.com/tc/topic/12600-happy-birthday-nat-king-cole/#findComment-80834 osted just now @aka Contrarian Well from my assessment of history Douglass never left his black wife for his white mistress, whom if I am correct, killed herself...I checked, frederick douglass first wife died before he married his second wife. as for nat king cole, I knew he had cheated on his wife ,but I have never seen whom or any photos or anything. His wife I recall in some interview said he cheated and she went on tour in europe and came back and they continued their lives, he didn't have cancer when she came back but it started soon enough after. So in both cases, i wouldn't say as a male, they left their wives. Both men were always married to their black wives while having a white mistress. @ProfD yes, your correct, financial revenue, financial value for most , 99% , black folk in any industry in the usa historically is based on white dollars in the usa, always has been , i argue always will be based on the demographic reality. but financial revenue isn't respect or admiration. it is earned value labor something whites historically never want to give black people, and for the financial record, Nat King Cole was cheated money by whites. so earning money clearly doesn't yield respect or admiration, but if it is evenly done, it does pay the bills

CENTO Series episode 109 apply a bandaid, then, and hope for the best dare you take a step backwards, make it your best step https://www.deviantart.com/pineliquor/art/hand-cream-for-a-dry-season-1037848577 As an emptiness, The sea pushes me away A moaning, stray cat in the sand, Placed as a treasured trophy https://www.deviantart.com/midn1ghtink/art/Shell-NaPo24-1-1037542507 IN AMENDMENT Cento List - enjoy the poetry https://aalbc.com/tc/search/?q=cento&quick=1&type=calendar_event&nodes=5&updated_after=any&sortby=newest Enjoy the 2023 Centos https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/richard-murray-centos-2023 Epub link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/poetry-or-more-1 Epub series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-short-story-collection Audiobook link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/the-last-flail Audiobook series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-tip-jar-audios If you really want to follow what I am doing please subscribe to my calendars. I wish I would had used the calendar tool with all my work from the beginning. Like alot of the internet I didn't really think on it when I started, like with many I just started using. Why do we create linearly when a lot of times, what I have to say is repeats from yesteryear. Richard Murray's Work Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/5-rmworkcalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576 Richard Murray's Community Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/7-rmcommunitycalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576

CENTO Series episode 108 I could thrust my hatred into you. And you love being her. But I won’t be him. https://www.deviantart.com/thefulkrum/art/Sweet-Reciprocity-108498134 we will be eternal even when the world let me shout our love, but I don't want to think about it, blessed by love, https://www.deviantart.com/skylizzy/art/letter-to-my-love-1035589654 IN AMENDMENT Cento List - enjoy the poetry https://aalbc.com/tc/search/?q=cento&quick=1&type=calendar_event&nodes=5&updated_after=any&sortby=newest Enjoy the 2023 Centos https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/richard-murray-centos-2023 Epub link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/poetry-or-more-1 Epub series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-short-story-collection Audiobook link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/the-last-flail Audiobook series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-tip-jar-audios If you really want to follow what I am doing please subscribe to my calendars. I wish I would had used the calendar tool with all my work from the beginning. Like alot of the internet I didn't really think on it when I started, like with many I just started using. Why do we create linearly when a lot of times, what I have to say is repeats from yesteryear. Richard Murray's Work Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/5-rmworkcalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576 Richard Murray's Community Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/7-rmcommunitycalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576

CENTO Series episode 107 desperately will wrap me in a poetry, https://www.deviantart.com/mysticalpoet/art/Perhaps-Healing-1037975778 A song of hope, a song of cheer, Gentle whispers of goodwill, Wrap you up in festive cheer. In hearts and hearths, it takes hold. Bells chime in rhythmic glee, And festive lights in colors swirl, Echoes this tune, pure and bright. https://www.deviantart.com/bukoslav/art/Let-the-Christmas-melody-resound-1002409501 IN AMENDMENT Cento List - enjoy the poetry https://aalbc.com/tc/search/?q=cento&quick=1&type=calendar_event&nodes=5&updated_after=any&sortby=newest Enjoy the 2023 Centos https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/richard-murray-centos-2023 Epub link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/poetry-or-more-1 Epub series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-short-story-collection Audiobook link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/the-last-flail Audiobook series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-tip-jar-audios If you really want to follow what I am doing please subscribe to my calendars. I wish I would had used the calendar tool with all my work from the beginning. Like alot of the internet I didn't really think on it when I started, like with many I just started using. Why do we create linearly when a lot of times, what I have to say is repeats from yesteryear. Richard Murray's Work Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/5-rmworkcalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576 Richard Murray's Community Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/7-rmcommunitycalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576

CENTO Series episode 106 My mind escapes Happy to see you watch me from above, in a shared home, a shared bed My mind whirs back as she laced lilies into my clothes. https://www.deviantart.com/xyron7777777/art/Time-Traveler-1037728907 a limbo made of our own sickening dreams and the pleasures of hell the last outpost before the witching hour https://www.deviantart.com/lorian-aindal/art/Limbo-1037779668 IN AMENDMENT Cento List - enjoy the poetry https://aalbc.com/tc/search/?q=cento&quick=1&type=calendar_event&nodes=5&updated_after=any&sortby=newest Enjoy the 2023 Centos https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/richard-murray-centos-2023 Epub link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/poetry-or-more-1 Epub series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-short-story-collection Audiobook link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/the-last-flail Audiobook series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-tip-jar-audios If you really want to follow what I am doing please subscribe to my calendars. I wish I would had used the calendar tool with all my work from the beginning. Like alot of the internet I didn't really think on it when I started, like with many I just started using. Why do we create linearly when a lot of times, what I have to say is repeats from yesteryear. Richard Murray's Work Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/5-rmworkcalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576 Richard Murray's Community Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/7-rmcommunitycalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576

CENTO Series episode 105 I didn’t ask to feel this. Leave when I am sick like this, These aren’t my ears, Cuts aren’t the blades I wish to please. Lock the door and take the keys. https://www.deviantart.com/thefulkrum/art/Midnight-Lily-108505689 I’ll awake from my dream now, to make it all come true Dear. The dreams haven’t reached you yet, wrapped you in their safety yet. You haven’t swum in oceans, hills of warm grass yet. https://www.deviantart.com/thefulkrum/art/Hold-my-Hand-109755461 IN AMENDMENT Cento List - enjoy the poetry https://aalbc.com/tc/search/?q=cento&quick=1&type=calendar_event&nodes=5&updated_after=any&sortby=newest Enjoy the 2023 Centos https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/richard-murray-centos-2023 Epub link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/poetry-or-more-1 Epub series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-short-story-collection Audiobook link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/the-last-flail Audiobook series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-tip-jar-audios If you really want to follow what I am doing please subscribe to my calendars. I wish I would had used the calendar tool with all my work from the beginning. Like alot of the internet I didn't really think on it when I started, like with many I just started using. Why do we create linearly when a lot of times, what I have to say is repeats from yesteryear. Richard Murray's Work Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/5-rmworkcalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576 Richard Murray's Community Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/7-rmcommunitycalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576

CENTO Series episode 104 What about tomorrow? Dear friends from the big crowd, Because today is reality.... https://www.deviantart.com/malintra-shadowmoon/art/Former-Times-1036703080 So let us tend to this garden within, Through the seasons of joy and pain, Some branches bear the weight of sorrow, In the quiet depths, where shadows convene, They dance and sway, never asking why. In the garden of the mind, where thoughts take flight, https://www.deviantart.com/bukoslav/art/Branches-of-thoughts-1033287827 IN AMENDMENT Cento List - enjoy the poetry https://aalbc.com/tc/search/?q=cento&quick=1&type=calendar_event&nodes=5&updated_after=any&sortby=newest Enjoy the 2023 Centos https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/richard-murray-centos-2023 Epub link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/poetry-or-more-1 Epub series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-short-story-collection Audiobook link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/the-last-flail Audiobook series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-tip-jar-audios If you really want to follow what I am doing please subscribe to my calendars. I wish I would had used the calendar tool with all my work from the beginning. Like alot of the internet I didn't really think on it when I started, like with many I just started using. Why do we create linearly when a lot of times, what I have to say is repeats from yesteryear. Richard Murray's Work Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/5-rmworkcalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576 Richard Murray's Community Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/7-rmcommunitycalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576

CENTO Series episode 103 Spider-Cat, Spider-Cat, Does whatever a kitty can Spins a web, any size, Catches thieves just like mice Look Out! Here comes the Spider-Cat Is he strong? Listen bud, He's got radioactive blood. Can he swing from a thread? Take a look overhead Hey, there There goes the Spider-Cat. In the chill of night At the scene of a crime Like a streak of light He arrives just in time. Spider-Cat, Spider-Cat Friendly neighborhood Spider-Cat Ease and treats He's ignored Action is his reward. To him, life is a great big bang up Wherever there's a hang up You'll find the Spider-Cat https://www.deviantart.com/flutti/art/Meows-Morales-968513992 Struggling so bravely through the atmosphere. A beautiful dragon roamed worldly skies, To form a constellation, without scorn, For them to meet throughout eternity, https://www.deviantart.com/malintra-shadowmoon/art/The-Dragon-and-the-Rabbit-on-the-Moon-1036636207 IN AMENDMENT Cento List - enjoy the poetry https://aalbc.com/tc/search/?q=cento&quick=1&type=calendar_event&nodes=5&updated_after=any&sortby=newest Enjoy the 2023 Centos https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/richard-murray-centos-2023 Epub link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/poetry-or-more-1 Epub series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-short-story-collection Audiobook link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/the-last-flail Audiobook series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-tip-jar-audios If you really want to follow what I am doing please subscribe to my calendars. I wish I would had used the calendar tool with all my work from the beginning. Like alot of the internet I didn't really think on it when I started, like with many I just started using. Why do we create linearly when a lot of times, what I have to say is repeats from yesteryear. Richard Murray's Work Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/5-rmworkcalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576 Richard Murray's Community Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/7-rmcommunitycalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576

CENTO Series episode 102 The anticipation of a story untold, like coffee tingled my senses, lingered on you https://www.deviantart.com/0l-fox-l0/art/The-Barista-1034213660 Boucaner le marasme, pour un jour, une vie Brûler dans le poêlon de l’indifférence Dont tous prétendent fièrement personnifier Être mort-vivant ou vivant-mort Roast the doldrums, for one day, one life Burn them in the frying pan of the indifference Whom all pretend to proudly personify Being undead or living-dead https://www.deviantart.com/dario-l-art/art/Vivant-mort-1027986616 IN AMENDMENT Cento List - enjoy the poetry https://aalbc.com/tc/search/?q=cento&quick=1&type=calendar_event&nodes=5&updated_after=any&sortby=newest Enjoy the 2023 Centos https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/richard-murray-centos-2023 Epub link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/poetry-or-more-1 Epub series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-short-story-collection Audiobook link https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobook/the-last-flail Audiobook series https://www.kobo.com/us/en/series/richard-murray-tip-jar-audios If you really want to follow what I am doing please subscribe to my calendars. I wish I would had used the calendar tool with all my work from the beginning. Like alot of the internet I didn't really think on it when I started, like with many I just started using. Why do we create linearly when a lot of times, what I have to say is repeats from yesteryear. Richard Murray's Work Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/5-rmworkcalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576 Richard Murray's Community Calendar webcal://aalbc.com/tc/events/7-rmcommunitycalendar/download/?member=6477&key=9b0dbd4939faea9d5408174d9601d576

Vibration 58 selections 04/15/2025 https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/1183674809 IN AMENDMENT I saw a sign on local television that said the state of israel is responsible for 75 years of tragic bloodshed of arab and jews. the online video didn't show it completely:) funny aint it but I saw 0:47 the bottom https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2025/03/15/columbia-protests-continue-as-khalil-attorneys-seek-emergency-bail-motion and then i saw the website so ... https://nkusa.org/ NKI is the voice of Religious Jews world wide in their Torah-based opposition to the State of Israel I saw their mission statement and based on their view, Zionism betrays a perspective to Judaism. I quote them "In 1897, the Zionist movement was formed by Jews who defected from Judaism. Zionism is a self-proclaimed social engineering project whose goal is to transform the identity of the Jewish people from a religious community to a material, European-style political nationalism, devoid of belief in G-d and fulfillment of His Commandments. This transformation is a fundamental uprooting of Judaism and an erasure of the Jewish people." https://nkusa.org/about-us/mission-statement/ It is interesting how this group who has been marching all along and is composed of jews is absent by media. still shots from NY1 from the nkusa website url https://nkusa.org/rally-and-walk-out-at-cooper-union/