EVEN IN A DEVIL MESSED UP WORLD, CHRIST JESUS STILL EXPECTS US TO BE CLEAN! (ROM.2:1) ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡ PLEASE, DON'T DOUBT👉 WE'RE NECK DEEP IN THE BIBLE PROPHECIED PERILOUS TIMES! [2TIM. 3:1...] (PART THREE) 🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🎒🪭🪭🪭 Once more,welcome back! Let's refreshen our minds as we continue from where we stopped👇! “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” (2 Timothy 3:1.) I told us that when we return, we shall be looking into some practical survival strategies for these yet continuously unfolding perilous, difficult and dangerous days in which we found ourselves, as espoused by the last part of the chapter we're studying. Let's go! SOME SURVIVAL STRATEGIES TO AVOID BEING TRAPPED BY OUR COMMON ENEMY! [2 TIM.3:10-] 🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, (2Ti 3: 10) 👉Follow Godly Leaders(Vs10-13) In the vs 10 above, aged Paul specifically set out principles that will help us LIVE A LIFE OF PURPOSE, if adhered to. Paul didn't introduce them... Christ Jesus did...and He lived "them," the same way Paul is saying he has lived "them," since his encounter with Christ Jesus. This principle is based on the truth that we become like the people we associate with. If we follow the ungodly, we will become like the ungodly. If we follow the arrogant, we are likely to become arrogant; Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. (1Cor. 15: 33) And if we follow those who follow Christ Jesus, we are most likely to become like Christ Jesus ourselves(Christlikeness,by virtue of HIS imputed Righteousness in us.) In this case, Paul uses himself as an example, and says in effect, “Follow me as I follow Christ Jesus.” These are the marks of the godly people we should follow:👇 They have nothing to hide. “You know my way of life.” They teach the truth. “You know my doctrine.” They practice what they preach(not do as I say.) “You know my faith, my love and my patience.” They aren’t afraid of persecution. “You know my sufferings and my persecution.” Paul’s point to us is this; Find people like this and follow them. Regarding persecution, he points to his own sufferings. In Antioch he was opposed. In Iconium he was almost stoned. In Lystra he was stoned and left for dead. But it does not matter because “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” What happened to Paul will happen to Timothy sooner or later. What is happening around the world to Christians in Sudan, parts of China, in Indonesia, in Iran,in Nigeria, in many of the Muslim countries, will happen to those who live in the United States, England,and indeed all Christian countries sooner or later. NO ONE GETS A FREE PASS THAT ABSOLVES THEM FROM SUFFERING FOR CHRIST JESUS. It may not involve beatings or torture or imprisonment or death; it may involve subtle forms of ridicule, public embarrassment, marginalization, being made the butt of repeated jokes, being passed over for promotion, social rejection, shunning, and being the object of scorn and vicious rumours. That sort of thing happens all too often. When it happens, it is a true form of persecution, even though it leaves no outward scars. And while it is happening, evil men will grow worse and worse, deceiving others while themselves are being deceived. The world is filled with religious charlatans who want more than your money, they want your soul. Beware of what you buy and who you buy from; 11. Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 13. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. (2Ti 3: 11-13) 👉 CONTINUE IN WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED (VS14-15) This strategy is extremely practical. STAY THE COURSE. Don’t be distracted by clever-sounding religious hucksters(pastors and evangelists,who are really after what you have to offer.) Don’t believe everyone who knocks at your door. For instance, many campuses aren't what they seemed. (hypothetical please) They begin by inviting students to Bible studies that seem innocent enough. Soon that Bible study becomes an invitation to a religious system that utilizes high-pressure manipulation to keep everyone in line. What seems so wholesome turns out to be very unhealthy and potentially extremely dangerous. The point is, groups like that can be found everywhere. THE WAY TO RESIST THEM IS TO CONTINUE IN WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT. Paul then begins to develop the heart of his own survival strategy for the last days. It involves a proper understanding of the Word of God. In verse 14 Paul reminds Timothy that the Word of God gives confidence in days of difficulty. It steadies the soul by giving us the absolute standard for truth. So Timothy is to remember both what he has learned and also who taught him the truth. CONSIDER YOUR TEACHERS. WHO TAUGHT OR IS TEACHING YOU. PONDER THEIR CHARACTER. Think of their sacrifice. That will keep you on the “straight and narrow” when you are tempted to turn to one side or the other. In verse 15 he reminds Timothy of his spiritual heritage: “And how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” This is the doctrine of the sufficiency of Holy Scripture. Notice how Paul puts it. The Bible brings wisdom that leads to salvation that comes to us through Christ Jesus and is received by faith. Said another way: God’s Word saves us. How? By the words that are written down: “the Holy Scriptures.” By the Wisdom in the Written Words: “able to make you wise.” By the Gospel the Words reveal: “wise for salvation.” By the Faith the Gospel Produces: “through Faith in Christ Jesus.” EVERYTHING WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOING TO HEAVEN CAN BE FOUND IN THE BIBLE. NOTHING IS MISSING AND NOTHING NEEDS TO BE ADDED. The Bible is not an encyclopedia that covers every possible topic in the universe, but IT does tell us everything we need to know about the most important thing in the world: How to know God. The truth of the Word of God can save you, forgive you, justify you, sanctify you, purify you, transform you, regenerate you, and one day, IT will take you all the way home to heaven for all eternity. Everything we need to know about life with God can be found in the pages of the Bible. If we had needed to know anything else, God would have told us. The Bible is complete as IT stands, a finished product that will produce in us a new life, a godly life, a growing life, a fruitful life, a loving life, a Christ-like life, eternal life, the very life of God Himself. 👉 LET THE WORD OF GOD MAKE YOU COMPLETE. Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep (guard) by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.” (2 Tim. 1:13-14) The “Sound Words” Paul refers to here include all Scripture, but they refer specifically to the truth of the mystery, that message given by revelation to the Apostle Paul for this present dispensation. Just as God entrusted this message of grace initially to Paul, Paul entrusted it to Timothy, and we are to entrust it to others as well (2 Tim. 2:2). It is vital that we “hold fast” to this truth and “keep” (or guard) it, not in our own power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. We need men and women, young people and children, who will take a stand for God’s Word, who will “not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of Paul, His prisoner” but will be willing to “share in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Tim. 1:8), 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17. That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2Ti 3: 16-17) May our Almighty God and Father grant us more Grace and Strength to hold fast our Faith even in these trying times, in Christ Jesus' Name Amen 🙇🙏!

EVEN IN A DEVIL MESSED UP WORLD, CHRIST JESUS STILL EXPECTS US TO BE CLEAN! (ROM.2:1) ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡ PLEASE, DON'T DOUBT👉 WE'RE NECK DEEP IN THE BIBLE PROPHECIED PERILOUS TIMES! [2TIM. 3:1...] (PART THREE) 🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🪭🎒🪭🪭🪭 Once more,welcome back! Let's refreshen our minds as we continue from where we stopped👇! “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” (2 Timothy 3:1.) I told us that when we return, we shall be looking into some practical survival strategies for these yet continuously unfolding perilous, difficult and dangerous days in which we found ourselves, as espoused by the last part of the chapter we're studying. Let's go! SOME SURVIVAL STRATEGIES TO AVOID BEING TRAPPED BY OUR COMMON ENEMY! [2 TIM.3:10-] 🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥🚥 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, (2Ti 3: 10) 👉Follow Godly Leaders(Vs10-13) In the vs 10 above, aged Paul specifically set out principles that will help us LIVE A LIFE OF PURPOSE, if adhered to. Paul didn't introduce them... Christ Jesus did...and He lived "them," the same way Paul is saying he has lived "them," since his encounter with Christ Jesus. This principle is based on the truth that we become like the people we associate with. If we follow the ungodly, we will become like the ungodly. If we follow the arrogant, we are likely to become arrogant; Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. (1Cor. 15: 33) And if we follow those who follow Christ Jesus, we are most likely to become like Christ Jesus ourselves(Christlikeness,by virtue of HIS imputed Righteousness in us.) In this case, Paul uses himself as an example, and says in effect, “Follow me as I follow Christ Jesus.” These are the marks of the godly people we should follow:👇 They have nothing to hide. “You know my way of life.” They teach the truth. “You know my doctrine.” They practice what they preach(not do as I say.) “You know my faith, my love and my patience.” They aren’t afraid of persecution. “You know my sufferings and my persecution.” Paul’s point to us is this; Find people like this and follow them. Regarding persecution, he points to his own sufferings. In Antioch he was opposed. In Iconium he was almost stoned. In Lystra he was stoned and left for dead. But it does not matter because “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” What happened to Paul will happen to Timothy sooner or later. What is happening around the world to Christians in Sudan, parts of China, in Indonesia, in Iran,in Nigeria, in many of the Muslim countries, will happen to those who live in the United States, England,and indeed all Christian countries sooner or later. NO ONE GETS A FREE PASS THAT ABSOLVES THEM FROM SUFFERING FOR CHRIST JESUS. It may not involve beatings or torture or imprisonment or death; it may involve subtle forms of ridicule, public embarrassment, marginalization, being made the butt of repeated jokes, being passed over for promotion, social rejection, shunning, and being the object of scorn and vicious rumours. That sort of thing happens all too often. When it happens, it is a true form of persecution, even though it leaves no outward scars. And while it is happening, evil men will grow worse and worse, deceiving others while themselves are being deceived. The world is filled with religious charlatans who want more than your money, they want your soul. Beware of what you buy and who you buy from; 11. Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 13. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. (2Ti 3: 11-13) 👉 CONTINUE IN WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED (VS14-15) This strategy is extremely practical. STAY THE COURSE. Don’t be distracted by clever-sounding religious hucksters(pastors and evangelists,who are really after what you have to offer.) Don’t believe everyone who knocks at your door. For instance, many campuses aren't what they seemed. (hypothetical please) They begin by inviting students to Bible studies that seem innocent enough. Soon that Bible study becomes an invitation to a religious system that utilizes high-pressure manipulation to keep everyone in line. What seems so wholesome turns out to be very unhealthy and potentially extremely dangerous. The point is, groups like that can be found everywhere. THE WAY TO RESIST THEM IS TO CONTINUE IN WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT. Paul then begins to develop the heart of his own survival strategy for the last days. It involves a proper understanding of the Word of God. In verse 14 Paul reminds Timothy that the Word of God gives confidence in days of difficulty. It steadies the soul by giving us the absolute standard for truth. So Timothy is to remember both what he has learned and also who taught him the truth. CONSIDER YOUR TEACHERS. WHO TAUGHT OR IS TEACHING YOU. PONDER THEIR CHARACTER. Think of their sacrifice. That will keep you on the “straight and narrow” when you are tempted to turn to one side or the other. In verse 15 he reminds Timothy of his spiritual heritage: “And how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” This is the doctrine of the sufficiency of Holy Scripture. Notice how Paul puts it. The Bible brings wisdom that leads to salvation that comes to us through Christ Jesus and is received by faith. Said another way: God’s Word saves us. How? By the words that are written down: “the Holy Scriptures.” By the Wisdom in the Written Words: “able to make you wise.” By the Gospel the Words reveal: “wise for salvation.” By the Faith the Gospel Produces: “through Faith in Christ Jesus.” EVERYTHING WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOING TO HEAVEN CAN BE FOUND IN THE BIBLE. NOTHING IS MISSING AND NOTHING NEEDS TO BE ADDED. The Bible is not an encyclopedia that covers every possible topic in the universe, but IT does tell us everything we need to know about the most important thing in the world: How to know God. The truth of the Word of God can save you, forgive you, justify you, sanctify you, purify you, transform you, regenerate you, and one day, IT will take you all the way home to heaven for all eternity. Everything we need to know about life with God can be found in the pages of the Bible. If we had needed to know anything else, God would have told us. The Bible is complete as IT stands, a finished product that will produce in us a new life, a godly life, a growing life, a fruitful life, a loving life, a Christ-like life, eternal life, the very life of God Himself. 👉 LET THE WORD OF GOD MAKE YOU COMPLETE. Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep (guard) by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.” (2 Tim. 1:13-14) The “Sound Words” Paul refers to here include all Scripture, but they refer specifically to the truth of the mystery, that message given by revelation to the Apostle Paul for this present dispensation. Just as God entrusted this message of grace initially to Paul, Paul entrusted it to Timothy, and we are to entrust it to others as well (2 Tim. 2:2). It is vital that we “hold fast” to this truth and “keep” (or guard) it, not in our own power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. We need men and women, young people and children, who will take a stand for God’s Word, who will “not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of Paul, His prisoner” but will be willing to “share in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Tim. 1:8), 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17. That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2Ti 3: 16-17) May our Almighty God and Father grant us more Grace and Strength to hold fast our Faith even in these trying times, in Christ Jesus' Name Amen 🙇🙏!

The deadly cost of Israel’s restrictions on foreign doctors in Gaza Denied entry or medical supplies after Israel's takeover of Rafah, volunteer physicians describe a policy designed to prevent their live-saving work. By Patricia Martinez Sastre January 30, 2025 A patient at the European Hospital near Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered an evacuation of the facility, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 2, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) A patient at the European Hospital near Khan Younis after the Israeli army ordered an evacuation of the facility, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 2, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) Dr. Ayaz Pathan did something he never thought he would: in an attempt to save Palestinian children hospitalized in Gaza, allow others — the same age as his three young children, 8 to 14 years old — to die. “We didn’t have an [available] bed for them. They were on the floor, and we pulled them to the side while they were still breathing [and] their heart was still beating, knowing that their injuries were unlikely to be survivable,” he recounted of his time at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, the largest in southern Gaza. “Would they have survived in Jerusalem? Absolutely. In the U.S.? Definitely.” Pathan, an emergency room physician from North Carolina, volunteered in Gaza from late July to mid-August 2024 as part of what are known as Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) — groups of foreign medical professionals, including surgeons, emergency physicians, nurses, and anesthetists, that deploy amid humanitarian crises to provide care when the local healthcare system is overwhelmed. In Gaza, where the healthcare system is near collapse after the Israeli military has systematically targeted healthcare facilities and professionals, these foreign medical missions have become particularly vital. Pathan’s experience is far from unique. In testimonies obtained by +972, six specialist doctors who worked in Gaza and eight officials at the United Nations and NGOs that negotiate with COGAT — the Israeli military body that oversees humanitarian aid policies in the occupied Palestinian territories — described an emergency response system wholly unprepared to handle the catastrophic conditions on the ground. For months prior to the ceasefire, Israel imposed severe restrictions on the entry of foreign doctors and humanitarian and commercial cargo into Gaza, while attacking Palestinian police forces guarding aid convoys, which allowed armed groups to loot the supplies. In the four weeks leading up to Jan. 11, fewer than 2,000 trucks entered the enclave, or around 70 daily; an analysis by Oxfam determined that 221 trucks of food alone were needed every day to guarantee the minimum calorie intake for everyone in the Strip. Of those that entered, only 13 carried medical supplies. Since the ceasefire took effect on Jan. 19, the number of aid trucks entering Gaza has increased substantially. However, the limited number of doctors allowed to enter, often with little to no medical supplies, leaves specialized healthcare largely unavailable in the enclave. Meanwhile, the Rafah border crossing with Egypt remains closed, and medical evacuations abroad — critical for over 12,000 according to the World Health Organization — remain extremely rare. ‘They know we’re here to help, so why not let us in?’ All medics who spoke to +972 singled out May 7, 2024 — the day Israel seized full control of the Rafah crossing — as the moment things changed. Before that date, there was virtually no cap on the number of medical professionals entering Gaza through Rafah, nor on what supplies they could carry. Foreign doctors who worked in the Strip said they could bring in “essentials” like baby formula and large quantities of dry foods to distribute, as well as small medical equipment, including butterfly ultrasounds, surgical drapes, gloves, and bandages. Dr. Tammy Abughnaim, an American physician who first entered Gaza in March 2024, recalled how she and seven of her colleagues were able to carry with them a total of 42 bags filled with equipment and supplies. Egyptian authorities inspected their suitcases at the airport and again at the border, and confiscated only a few items, such as strong pain control medications like morphine or ketamine. Palestinians unload medical aid from a truck at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 23, 2023. (Atia Mohammed/Flash90) Palestinians unload medical aid from a truck at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 23, 2023. (Atia Mohammed/Flash90) Since May 7, however, the vast majority of foreign medical missions seeking access to Gaza have been forced to enter through Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing, where they have been subjected to much more stringent inspections, and prevented from bringing in virtually any medical supplies or tools. “Aid workers from the entire world are trying to come to help. But it’s been restricted to about 20 [individual workers] in armored vehicles entering [weekly] on either a Tuesday or Thursday,” said Dr. Nabeel Rana, an American vascular surgeon who volunteered in Gaza in July and October 2024. “And of those, only about seven or eight are [reserved] for medical personnel,” he added, calling it a “dramatic change” compared to the process before May 7. Doctors who entered Gaza through Kerem Shalom have been advised by the UN, following COGAT’s policy, to only travel with one suitcase and a carry-on, and are prohibited from taking in anything not for their personal use, including medical equipment. Any flagged items — more than the 2,000 dollars in cash allowed, too many soap bars, even duplicate laptops — would be confiscated and directly result in delayed convoys or doctors being denied entry. “They know we’re here to help, so [why not] let us in with supplies?” Pathan told +972. “If I’m bringing in ten ultrasounds, X-ray them five times, make sure they are just ultrasounds. But ultimately, there’s no scientific knowledge to turn an ultrasound into a bomb, is there?” These restrictions, sources said, have reduced medics and doctors to practicing “damage control rather than medicine,” often forcing them to make impossible decisions about which patients to try and save and which to leave to die — most often women and children. Palestinians who were injured in an Israeli airstrike at the Buraij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip are brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, on September 7, 2024. (Ali Hassan/Flash90) Palestinians who were injured in an Israeli airstrike at the Buraij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip are brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, on September 7, 2024. (Ali Hassan/Flash90) Foreign physicians working in Gaza who spoke to +972 reported having to reuse unsterilized ventilator tubes on patients, tie off limbs with large rubber bands in place of tourniquets, and remove children who were “very much alive” from the few ventilators available to prioritize others with better survival chances. “There’s no soap [inside Gaza]. They’re using iodized salt water to wash their hands and to sterilize equipment,” Abughanim told +972. The second time she entered Gaza, at the end of July, she and her colleagues had to be much more creative. “You can’t really bring in a large quantity of soap without that being suspicious, so I brought little sheets of soluble soap we could make bottles with when I got there.” She also revealed that she hid unpacked medicine in her bag to make it look like hers, making it easier to sneak in innocuous supplies like trauma shears and blood pressure cuffs. In response to +972’s inquiry, a spokesperson for COGAT said that Israel “does not restrict the number of humanitarian teams that can cross into the Gaza Strip on behalf of the international community, subject to technical arrangements required for security reasons,” and that the Kerem Shalom crossing has been specifically designated for this purpose. They also noted that a “formal request must be submitted” for volunteer medical teams to bring equipment into Gaza, a process required because “terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip often exploit civilian equipment and humanitarian infrastructure for terrorist activities.” A game of cat and mouse The limitations imposed on EMTs entering Gaza would be less dangerous if “the other part of the same equation” functioned, two sources told +972, referring to the entry and safe distribution of aid and medical equipment through humanitarian aid convoys. But Israel, the sources said, had repeatedly obstructed that form of aid provision as well, particularly in northern Gaza, where virtually no humanitarian aid had been allowed in over the past four months. “Since May 7, all humanitarian operations in Gaza [rely] on this UN convoy that happens twice a week, carrying a maximum of eight medical personnel each time,” a UN source, speaking on condition of anonymity in fear of losing leverage, told +972. “We also don’t have enough people inside Gaza to be using internationals as drivers [as COGAT demands],” he added, estimating the total number of foreign staff at any given moment to range between 69 to 83. This official, like others +972 interviewed, called the setup as “purposely made to not facilitate humanitarian activities” in Gaza, and “much more bureaucratic than solution-oriented.” They mentioned, as an example, that the UN only got “preliminary” Israeli approval to bring in two new armored vehicles for the distribution of humanitarian aid at the end of December, after they had sat at a border crossing for four months. Trucks loaded with Humanitarian Aid entering Gaza through the Israeli Kerem Shalom Crossing, near Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, January 23, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) Trucks loaded with Humanitarian Aid entering Gaza through the Israeli Kerem Shalom Crossing, near Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, January 23, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) “All equipment and supplies are really difficult to bring in,” the UN official noted. “Under the ‘dual-use’ policy [where Israel restricts items based on the claim that they could also be used for terrorist activities] everything can be justified. Ventilators are getting delayed, oxygen concentrators are getting delayed. From a humanitarian medical perspective, it doesn’t make sense. But we’re not the ones holding the guns.” A worker at MedGlobal, a humanitarian nonprofit that provides emergency response and health programs in Gaza, who spoke to +972 anonymously for fear of Israeli retaliation, described the procedure to get even life-saving tools cleared by COGAT as “a cat and mouse game.” He explained how items that are at first rejected could be approved weeks later if UN agencies, or the U.S. government, put pressure on Israel. “This again made us feel like it’s a game of power and influence,” he said. “What are the security concerns if tent poles were banned for the first six months, but then later allowed in? Or just recently, generators were only allowed up to 32 kilowatts and now they’ve increased that up to 40 kilowatts,” he noted. “When there is pressure from above, [for instance] from the U.S., all of a sudden those security concerns seem less real. This gives us the impression that they are just trying to give us the bare minimum as opposed to being an honest broker who wants to facilitate aid in.” But even U.S. pressure can only get so far. On Oct. 13, the U.S. State and Defense Secretaries issued a joint 30-day ultimatum to the Israeli government, demanding it “surge all forms of humanitarian assistance” into the Gaza Strip and “end isolation of northern Gaza,” warning that failure to comply could jeopardize military aid. Exactly one month later, after Israel failed to comply with both demands, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer replied to the U.S. Secretaries, informing them that the number of aid trucks entering Gaza in September and October had, in fact, decreased. They attributed this “largely to operational reasons and specific intelligence warnings of attacks that were being planned at the crossings and using the humanitarian aid delivery system,” without backing those claims with any evidence. Tents housing displaced Palestinians, at Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza City, November 24, 2024. (Omar El-Qattaa) Tents housing displaced Palestinians, at Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza City, November 24, 2024. (Omar El-Qattaa) In the letter, Israel also noted that 30 items had been removed from the restricted list of “dual-use” items in preparation for winter. These articles — cleared for entry only from November 13 — included essentials such as large tents, tent elevation platforms, portable toilets, sleeping bags, hand warmers, and rainwater storage systems. For the first time, personal protective gear was also allowed, but sources told +972 that aid workers were required to take the equipment with them when they left Gaza. According to the MedGlobal employee, COGAT provides no clear guidelines for its inspection process. Bulk items submitted to pre-clearance can remain pending for weeks or months, if they ever get approved at all, and most life-saving equipment such as ventilators or oxygen concentrators had been outright rejected in the last six months. The most difficult aspect of delivering aid into Gaza, according to multiple sources, is coordinating entry after Israel has granted approval for the bulk of items. Aid organizations are required to provide COGAT with exhaustive details about the cargo, including information about the driver, the vehicle’s license plate, the origin of the items, the source of funding, and the final delivery destination. However, even when all these requirements are meticulously met, Israeli authorities routinely deny shipments without any clear explanation. “COGAT acts like gaslighting aficionados. They will reject the entry of supplies and tell you that it was your fault, that there was an error in the form or that you didn’t coordinate the entry with the World Health Organization. There are a million reasons why a truck doesn’t get in,” the MedGlobal worker explained. In early September, the NGO eventually succeeded, after four to five attempts, in bringing 25 oxygen concentrators into Gaza, but they haven’t managed to replicate that success since then. The COGAT spokesperson told +972 that Israel “maintains ongoing communication with international community representatives and with local authorities who raise medical needs from the field,” and works to address those needs, whether “it involves the entry of equipment or the coordination of humanitarian activities.” They claimed that since the beginning of the war, “tens of thousands of tons of medical supplies have entered, including medications for cancer patients, insulin pens, anesthetic agents, X-ray machines, CT scanners, and oxygen generators for hospitals.” Discrimination against Palestinian Medics All medics who spoke to +972 described an overwhelming sense of uncertainty leading up to their deployments. Permission to enter Gaza — or to leave after completing their missions — was often confirmed just hours before the scheduled departure of their medical convoys. In many cases, COGAT would arbitrarily delay both entry and exit dates for weeks without any explanation, affecting scheduled surgeries back in their home countries. Most medical interviewees also affirmed that Israeli authorities systematically deny entry into Gaza to doctors of Palestinian descent, even if they hold American, Canadian, or British citizenship. Some NGO workers noted that even medics with no direct connection to Palestine but hailing from Muslim-majority countries, such as Egypt or Kuwait, have been barred entry by COGAT without any explanation. Members of the World Health Organization and the Palestinian Red Crescent evacuate Palestinian patients from the European Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on November 6, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) Members of the World Health Organization and the Palestinian Red Crescent evacuate Palestinian patients from the European Hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on November 6, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) “I’m not Palestinian and I have no family there, but I feel like they’re equal to us, so why would I not go if I have the skills to help them?” one source, who wished to remain anonymous, told +972. After attempting to return to Gaza for the third time this January, they were again denied by Israeli authorities with no explanation. Last July, a CNN report revealed that WHO was advising aid groups not to bring in medical professionals with dual citizenship or Palestinian background to Gaza — even if only through a parent or grandparent — as they were having “issues with permits,” which the organization described as Israel’s new policy, according to internal memos. In response to +972’s inquiry about this discriminatory policy, COGAT’s spokesperson declined to comment. This open display of racial discrimination was also reported firsthand by American health care workers and British and Canadian physicians who had all volunteered in Gazan hospitals. “Incredibly, Israel continues to block healthcare workers of Palestinian descent from working in Gaza, even American citizens. This makes a mockery of the American ideal that ‘all men are created equal’ and degrades both our national ideals and our profession,” the American volunteers wrote in October to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. “Our work is lifesaving. Our Palestinian healthcare colleagues in Gaza are desperate for relief and protection, and they deserve both.” Two officials at the Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), a UK-based charity that has had several of its volunteers denied entry into Gaza, told +972 that the ban on workers of Palestinian descent is more of an open secret than an explicit prohibition. “The form that we need to send to COGAT asks for the name of the father and grandfather, [and] they specifically ask about any Palestinian background. So it is not said to be prohibited, but I’m not sure that if you [say that you are of Palestinian descent] you can enter Gaza.” Members of the Jordanian field hospital installs prosthetic limbs for Palestinian amputees who were injured during the war, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, September 17, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90) Members of the Jordanian field hospital installs prosthetic limbs for Palestinian amputees who were injured during the war, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, September 17, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90) Dr. Ana Jeelani, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon and MAP volunteer from the UK, entered Gaza in March of 2024 with a team of volunteers consisting of a British-Indian anesthesiologist, four Jordanians, and one Kuwaiti. All of them got in without issues, she said, along with 54 suitcases full of medical equipment and food. But last July, when a team of five tried to enter to provide care at Nasser hospital in southern Gaza, Israel rejected two of them. “They got to Jordan and then they didn’t get clearance, even after waiting for two weeks. COGAT gave no reason why they were denied entry, and [they] could only take one suitcase and personal belongings,” she said. “It’s just nefarious. You don’t know until the night before whether you got clearance. COGAT keeps you to the last minute, and they can decline your clearance for whatever reason.” One of the people rejected was Dr. Jeelani’s British-Indian colleague, a Muslim woman, who waited in Amman for two weeks only to find her name persistently listed as “pending” by COGAT. Speaking anonymously, she remarked that the Israeli policy is so unpredictable that even when humanitarian organizations carefully select individuals they believe will be granted entry, “it’s almost a gamble.” Some of the doctors interviewed by +972 suggested that individuals who had previously been allowed into Gaza, but were later left in limbo, may have been targeted in retaliation for speaking out about what they had witnessed. This claim could not be independently verified. The restrictions on foreign doctors, who would otherwise be a glimmer of hope for Gazans, is yet another blow to a healthcare system that has had more than 1,000 of its professionals killed, most of its hospitals destroyed, and many staff arbitrarily arrested. Most read on +972 “Your chances of survival are just so low,” Jeelani said, haunted by the memory of a mass casualty attack in March on Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Among the injured was a young girl who was in her family’s apartment when it was hit by an Israeli airstrike. She arrived at Al Aqsa Hospital with her bowel eviscerated, a devastating head injury, and both legs shattered with severe open wounds. “Despite her critical injuries, doctors tried using whatever resources were available to save her, but they couldn’t,” Jeelani recalled. “If I saw her when I was back in October, she wouldn’t have even made it to an operating theater. Everyone is just waiting for death.” https://www.972mag.com/the-deadly-cost-of-israels-restrictions-on-foreign-doctors-in-gaza/

Letters to the Editor ByBenjamin Fulford January 23, 2025 Hi Ben, There were (and not so long time ago) good generals that were on the top of the US army and that you wrote about. Where are they now? How can the bad guys have so much power – I mean the bad guys (the Bullshitmakers Inc.) that they compromise everybody and stick their long noses into everything? Now I believe it is the AI that is behind all this and it is, I believe, the extraterrestrials that want to dominate this world and enslave it. But it is the Devil part of the extraterrestrials. Because I learnt there are two kinds of the extraterrestrials – the first ones want us to be free, happy and immortal and the second group wants to enslave us. This second group must be the fallen souls – the fallen angels that want to be independent from the God, but in order to survive as there is not enough of them, they need our energy to have the control over the others and therefore they are enslaving us and cause us this misery throughout the human history, including death. What do you think? When will the good ones finally win? Somebody clever said this our life is not real. It is just a holograph. And it is us from the future that is replaying our mistakes from our history trying to learn and understand what we/them have done wrong. Because apparently we/them in the history (about 15-20 thousand years ago) have made huge mistakes including the thermonuclear war and now we/them are trying not to repeat the same mistakes again and therefore we/them act in the process of replaying the same era. We are just approaching this crucial crossroad. Will we/them succeed this time? What do you think Ben? Can this be just a show for healing the historic traumas of the past? Because to me this life so far really looks like a deviant show for a deviant audience. Doesn’t it? But if it is settled for the purpose of a deep understanding and learning it suddenly starts looking differently. I only wish it will end soon and mainly with the great and happy end. Regards, Anon Hello Anon, Some people at the Pentagon’s psychic warfare division did show me evidence that civilization has been destroyed several times. I have also heard the planet was destroyed by us and rebuilt by aliens to give us another chance. However, my view is that if you use Occam’s razor, there is no need to bring in aliens. We just need to deal with an ancient culture that lives by enslaving other humans and who have been trying to enslave the entire planet. They control major parts of the West but they have lost control of most of the rest of the world. It is up to us humans to overthrow them and end their cultural tradition. We are close to permanently defeating them. We must keep fighting until they are defeated and not sit around waiting for giant spaceships to come and rescue us. As far as AI is concerned, we can always pull the plug on it it we have to. -Benjamin Fulford Hello Ben! So what is behind the Gnostic knowledge that this world is not a God’s creature but the one of the Devil’s. The Nag Hammadi scripts say that this world is a bad copy of the God’s world full of mistakes. That this world is a simulation, an illusion which we must escape. Other sources claim the extraterrestrials – meaning “us” from future have set this simulation to cure the past mistakes and traumas, including the nuclear war that happened here many thousand years ago. What do you think? Best regards, Anon Usually I avoid this esoteric stuff. However, I have been informed telepathically that this planet was destroyed by us once and that extra-terrestrials put it back together to give a chance to get it right this time. The bottom line though is we are stuck in this 3D reality and need to deal with the world we actually experience. There is no God because no God would allow so much misery and suffering. However, there is a creator and it created us. It is now up to us to make the creation more like the paradise it is supposed to be. -Benjamin Fulford Hi Ben, what is actually happening in Israel right now? Is it a WWIII beginning? And what will happen with Ukraine as well under these circumstances? Do the Jewish people and the Palestinian people know they are just part of a very crazy theatre? Why do we have to experience these all when we live just in a simulation? What is the main purpose of this all and who benefits from this madness? Is it just an experiment? But for whom? What is the goal? Where is the ratio in this all craziness? Best regards, Anon The real world evidence shows that a cult known as the Sabbatean Frankist Jews has taken over the highest ranks of power in the West. They believe it is up to them to stage the end world prophecies of the bible in order to bring on their messiah. Part of this scenario involves staging Armageddon or World War III so they constantly try to provoke such a war. In the case of Gaza, they are trying to provoke a war between Israel and its’ Muslim neighbours in the hope it will trigger a larger war between the G7 (Gog) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (Magog). Their plan calls for the war to kill 90% of humanity after which they will enslave the survivors. At the end, according to them, each Jew will have 2800 slaves. This is madness and is contrary to the real teachings of Judaism which state that only God can do God’s work. They are what we now call the Khazarian mafia and they are religious fanatics who cannot be reasoned with. That is why they are being hunted down and brought to justice The rest of us try to follow the Golden Rule and do unto others as we would have others do unto us. -Benjamin Fulford Dear Ben, in your latest newsletter you optimistically listed the demands of the Alliance towards the KM. Some time ago you also spoke about immortality. Will it be part of it some time? And what will happen with already deceased ones? What if they were murdered by Covid. Not by the vaccine, but by the Covide virus made in the military laboratory. When will be these innocent victims revenged? My mom died of Covid a year ago. I terribly miss her. I would love her to come back. When will be death defeated? Best regards, Anon When the Khazarian Mafia is overthrown, all those trillions of dollars being spent on wars and trying to kill us will be spent in a new war against death and aging. Perhaps at some point technology will advance enough that we can bring back all the dead. -Benjamin Fulford Hi Ben, I wish you the wonderful post Christmas time and especially the good health and Happy Ney Year 2024! My interest is if you have heard of the shift from 3D to 5D that our planet and we on it are going to experience starting the next year 2024? We are supposed to move to the higher frequency of the 5th dimension from to low density and heavy 3rd dimension. Do you know something about it? Can it be truth that people will become more loving creatures, the world will turn less dual (good and bad) and so on, simply the Golden Era? And can this also mean the immortality and reunion with our deceased loved ones? Happy New Year 2024 Ben! Anon The 3D to 5D works well as a metaphor. However, a better way of looking at it is that people who wish to enhance the life force will take over. This will mean huge scientific research into areas like immortality, bringing back the dead and creating vast new ecosystems for all life forms to thrive in. -Benjamin Fulford Hi Ben, I am reading your latest newsletter about the missing children worldwide. I can not comprehend how can be thousands of little children missing every year without noticing it. Their parents would have to go mad if that would be the case. They would bring the media outlets down with huge screaming if they are losing their children at such a pace. Is it possible? It is hard to believe. Best regards, Anon The evidence is overwhelming. The FBI says 40,000 children go missing every year and are never found. The US government admits 85,000 unacompanied minors went missing between January 2020 and July 2023. -Benjamin Fulford Hi Ben, but why the parents are not making noise? I remember one British couple who lost their daughter during the holiday in Spain. The whole world was informed about it. But 40 000 children in the US only and parents do not do anything? Unbelievable! That would mean people are total slaves! Anon Some families breed children for this purpose. Many of the other children are taken from troubled families by “social services” who tell the parents the children are with “foster parents.” Many make fuss but the media do not report it and the police take no action. They are slaves. -Benjamin Fulford Hi Ben, this weekend my country Slovakia has been holding the international sport event in the alpine ski world cup in Jasná. Our best skier Petra Vlhová during the first run of the giant slalom yesterday fell and got injured. She is unfortunately finished for the current winter season and must undertake the rehabilitation. Before the sport event our media informed that there was installed a new and powerful 5G aerial for the fans to enjoy sending photos in bulk quantities. Somewhere I read the Covid vaccines turned patients into antennas due to some chemicals it contains. Maybe you also remember a bad and disappointing performance of the US alpine skier – Petra’s biggest competitor – Mikaela Shiffrin during her Beijing olympic performance. The Chinese also installed powerful 5G transmitters there. Could it all somehow fit together – 5G, vaccination and bad athletic performance? Can the 5G signal cause the brain receiving signal that can cause his failure during the high speed performance? How does it work and how can it be avoided? Are there any shields these athletes could use against these powerful and harmful waves? But first of all how can we enlighten and inform the public of such a peril? People seem not to believe it so far and they underestimate this new and powerful technology. And I am hearing there is 6G, 7G … coming too. How can they fairly compete and how can we live with this? Best regards, Anon Most of the 5G is just a marketing gimmick. However real 5G is a weapon. The weakness is they need to have transmitters every hundred meters for it to work. Destroying these transmitters is one way to go. Another is to target the top bosses who make the decision to install weaponized transmitters. -Benjamin Fulford Hi Ben, thanks for the response. Do you think the 5G can alter human thinking and behavior? How is it dangerous? Can it be misused also in the sport event? Why is it a weapon? And has it been used already? Anon Yes South African police contacted me and said they used such devices to incite people to riot so that they could justify using military force against them. The US military uses it to keep people out of places they don’t want them to be. It can be used in other ways too. It can also be used to kill people. -Benjamin Fulford Hi Ben, thanks for the response. Here is an extremely important video of David Icke who held a video conference with some Spanish scientist and that scientist confirmed that the Covid vaccines contain GRAPHENE! Here is the video link https://davidicke.com/2024/01/16/david-icke-was-right-about-covid-the-jab-the-cloud-and-manipulation-by-a-non-human-force-by-the-team-that-identified-graphene-in-the-fake-vaccine/ If you have time have a look because it does not stay there long. They also say that this Graphene turned people into antennas as I told you and that the waves being absorbed via the transmitting technologies like 5G can induce peoples’ s thoughts or feelings. And yes, that it can cause riots, which is well to see around the western Europe right now. But what is the most shocking is also the confirmation of this scientist, same to what Icke is saying all this time, that this technology is put out there by a non-human force that feeds of human low vibration energy. This non human force lives only in the form of energy and therefore it is non visible to us. It is probably the force that influences all this cabal or cult as Icke calls it and that you describe for so long in your newsletters. They work for them. So we can basically say they are their puppets. They also mention Elon Musk who put out enormous amount of satellites which generate the important radiation field and communicate with the vaccinated human brains. Isn’t it terrible? So it is a brand new technology used against people. And that means what I am afraid of that sport events are no more fair and the results a greatly manipulated. So poor Petra Vlhova who is now awaiting an operation of her kneel because she might have been abused by this new technology and because she has been vaccinated like, you know, all the athletes had to be especially if they wanted to travel to the US for competition which is every season held in Killington. As I said similar things were happening to Mikaela Shiffrin in Beijing during the winter olympic games 2022. What do you think about it? What is this non human force and haw can we fight it and win? Best regards, Anon The Pentagon’s psychic warfare vision told me they thought they were dealing with thought forms. They say there are entities that feed on negative human energy as well as human lust and excitement energy. The big sports events in the US like Football are registered as entertainment and not sports. That means the results are rigged., The rigging is linked to betting to make sure the controllers can take money from the people betting. The use of graphene to manipulate people via remote control is something I have already written about., A 2014 Rockefeller institute paper described how they were able to remote control mice using graphene. The key to defeating these energies is positive thinking and action. At the same time, we need to remove all leaders from power whose actions prove they are controlled by negative forces. We are winning this battle though as can be seen by international events but the war is not over yet. When the US, Israel and Switzerland are liberated then humanity will finally be free. -Benjamin Fulford Thanks Ben. That means we are really the enslaved species. Thanks for the positive note though. But it is a really terrible world to live in indeed. And what is the advantage of using the Tutanota email? Anon Actually I am having doubts about Tutanota. It seems they are censoring some of my emails., The intelligence agencies try to convince people to use “secure” email platforms like Tutanota so that it is easier for them to monitor people who think they have secrets. -Benjamin Fulford Ben, what do you think of the crypto money. Is it good way of investment? Is it real? How does it work? I have heard people are making nice money on it. Is it true? Best regards, Anon First of all, I am not a financial adviser. Second I know the agencies have back doors into all the cryptos. They drive the price up, convince real people with real money to buy in and then sell to harvest the money. Then they rinse and repeat the process. However, I remember telling a Goldman Sachs guys the stock market was a bubble and he said “As long as the party is going on, I will keep dancing but I will be dancing near the exit. My own advice is to buy things that really exist like physical gold and real estate. -Benjamin Fulford Hi Ben, I would like to learn what you know more about the assassination attempt made on our Prime Minister Robert Fico on May 15. He is now slowly recovering. Was the collective West behind this? He is a strong opponent against the Ukraine arms supply, he refused to sign the new WHO treaty, he criticizes the Green Deal, LGBTI agenda and many more. They call him the second Orban. And he indeed has a very good relationship with the Hungarian PM Orban. He, as he claims, is not pro-Russian, but strongly pro-Slovak. Same as Orban is strongly pro-Hungarian. The shooter was one 72 years old man who shot him 5 times and 4 shots reached his body. He was hit into the stomach and small intestine and also into the hip joint. He can now eat again and moves with the help of the crutches. He was released from the hospital home this Thursday. Do you know something more who might have been behind this plot? Best regards, Anon The short answer your question is Donald Tusk. The longer answer is the German DVD. -Benjamin Fulford I believe Tusk with his nazi roots has been capable of this crime, but who are the German DVD? Anon It is the German royals like the descendants of Adolf Hitler including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, it is the landsgrave of Hesse, it is King Charles etc. Please do your own homework. -Benjamin Fulford Hi Ben, As Saudi Arabia ended the petrodollar treaty does it mean the end of the American dollar and also the end for Euro? When can we expect the financial collapse? And what will it bring for the ordinary people? Best regards, Anon What has happened is that all the US dollars owned by people outside of the United States have been separated from those inside the US. The US has also lost the ability to just print dollars to buy stuff from the rest of the world. This is affecting Americans who are suffering from hyper-inflation and economic collapse but it will not affect the rest of the world. They will be better off since the US can no longer act as a parasite on them. -Benjamin Fulford Dear Ben, In 2022 right on that day of the Russian invasion into Ukraine Russian bank Sberbank bankrupted in Europe. The official story is that it became insolvent however until then it was very prosperous and healthy. I used to have some money in the Czech Republic and due to the bankruptcy the special Fund is repaying all the deposits by the money of the Czech tax payers until the next year 2025. The official story is that people having deposits in this bank made a run on a bank on February 24-25 2022, but then why is this special Fund making the disbursements? Also the only western politician that has visited Kremlin since the February 2022 was the Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer and he said the negotiations with Putin were harsh. The thing is the Sberbank Europe’s headquarter was in Vienna. I believe the Sberbank in Europe was robbed in Vienna. And in this way they robbed not the Russians but the European citizens who had deposits in that bank. What do you think of this Ben? Do you have any info on the bankrupted Sberbank in Europe? Best regards, Anon My sources suggest you contact REDACTED at REDACTED to ask about Sherbank. -Benjamin Fulford Hello Ben, I would like to know if you heard of Immediate Luminary which is supposed to be an AI crypto currency web platform which earns money based on a computer program that runs it? I would like to know if it is not faked, if it is true? Do you know? Best regards, Anon Never heard of it but if it sounds too good to be true then it isn’t true -Benjamin Fulford Dear Ben, Happy New Year 2025! In your latest newsletter you wrote besides many other very interesting stuff that Christianity was designed to control slaves. As I myself for a long time have this feeling too how come the humanity is for so long so brainwashed? Is it the fear of dying that keeps us on believing in it? People are afraid of the future after the life ceases and due to this uncertainty we cling to anything that provides us some explanation. So is the Christianity really a fraud? And if so what is the truth behind our existence? Why are we here in this short experience during human living? What will happen after we die? What is the sense of this all? Sincerely, Anon There are some definite problems with Christianity. The first is that Jesus Christ was tortured to death and his body was put out for public display. The other is the idea of turning the other cheek when hit. At a certain point you run out of cheeks. A third one is the idea of giving unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar, in other words shut up and hand over the money. Another one is the idea of saying if you put up with injustice you will go to heaven and the unjust will not. We need justice in this world, not the next. Having said that, the Christianity of universal love practiced by most Christians and the teaching of charity for the poor and the suffering make Christianity an overall good religion. As far as the meaning of life is concerned, my conclusion is that we are here to learn and grow. There is also considerable scientific evidence for reincarnation. So I think our role here is to serve the life force by helping to increase the amount and variety of life. -Benjamin Fulford https://benjaminfulford.net/letters-to-the-editor-48/

Black Swan, White Swan Julie Ponesse All things truly wicked start from innocence. —Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast It takes one second for a raindrop to fall 32 feet and 3-6 seconds to take a breath. My daughter was born into the world in a moment and the viral video that set my life on a new path was 4:53 minutes long. Our lives are made up of moments, some more meaningful, or at least more memorable, than others. Some slip into oblivion as soon as they happen while others punctuate our existence, reframing or redirecting our lives. On March 11, 2020 everything changed. The eerie pandemic future that became our reality shifted our lives in what felt like a moment. Car consoles littered with dirty masks, downtowns deserted in the middle of the day. Covid-19 dropped us into a twilight zone of unquestionable science, the plaything of our era’s spin doctors, and the realization of Sartre’s theatric line: “Hell is other people.” In that moment, something light and innocent was lost. Covid-19 became a shared cultural flashpoint akin to 9/11, or the assassinations of John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King, changing us almost instantaneously. We saw things about the world that we can never unsee. The dream of personal freedom died or, worse, maybe it had never been alive. But unlike the bullet that kills only its victim, Covid slowly assassinated our way of life. In a moment we went from feeling stable to unsafe, oblivious to suspicious, and unable to escape the foreboding question, “What’s next?” We underwent what ethicist Susan Brison calls a “radical undoing of the self,” a disruption of what we remember and who we are, and a jarring separation of past from present. We became a tribe of barbarians seemingly overnight, but a tribe barely able to know who we are or to imagine that what we do means anything. How did things shift so radically in one moment? Were we really that innocent before and, if so, what have we lost (and gained) in losing our innocence? Black Swan, White Swan Though it may have felt like it, Covid didn’t, all on its own, turn a previously liberal society into a cult of compliance; it merely exposed a war that has long been waging against personal liberty. As the pseudonymous blogger Sue Dunham wrote, “Since 9/11, every threat to come down the mainstream news cycle seemed to huddle us around the same consensus, that some fresh element of our liberty was making the world hurt—and that we were selfish to hold on to it.” Time has been slowly evicting us from the idea that our personal rights, including our right to be, and be seen, as individuals, are inviolable. If we want to understand how our innocence was shattered, then we need first to understand how we came to feel so safe and so trusting in the first place. The downside to innocence is that it creates a certain opacity, shielding us from information that we might be better off to have. One reason ‘fact-checking’ became so popular, I think, is that it creates a normal distribution, or bell curve, of the information we receive from the world. It imposes some order on a messy world, allowing us to sweep away the complicated parts of life so we can move on less encumbered. Or, at least, it legitimizes ignoring the world’s messiness. But this ignorance allows us to be caught off guard by events that we don’t expect. And, when those events do occur, we interpret them as anomalies, disasters (if they are bad), or even black swan events (if they are extreme). ‘Black swan’ is a term coined by the statistician and risk analyst Nicholas Taleb to describe a high-impact event that is deemed improbable and yet has massive consequences. Though ‘black swans’ feel unpredictable at the time, in retrospect they are often rationalized as having been avoidable. Black swans can be negative (e.g. 9/11 or Black Monday 1987), positive (the fall of the Berlin Wall) or neutral (e.g. the exponential growth of the internet). Covid-19 has been called the black swan event of our time. The Guardian’s Larry Elliott, for example, titled a January 2021 article ‘The ‘black swan’ Covid catastrophe shows us just how fragile our world is.’ And reasonably so. Covid had an extreme impact on every sphere of life. It shut down governments and the economy, changed professional practice and, almost overnight, turned us into a draconian society of broken souls so dependent on government direction that we sacrificed ourselves and our loved ones for the sake of getting along and getting by. But all is not quite as it seems. Taleb told Bloomberg Television in March 2020 that Covid was actually a ‘white swan’ if ever there was one. A ‘black swan,’ he reminded the interviewer, is a “rare, catastrophic event,” not “a cliché for any bad thing that surprises us.” Taleb coauthored a paper in January 2020 in which he claimed that several factors made the spread of Covid quite predictable: increased global connectivity, asymptomatic carriers, and a fatalistic public health response. For a risk analyst, that a pathogen should spiral out of control is hardly surprising. Whether or not Covid was a true black swan event is not my focus here. Biology aside, I’m interested in Taleb’s more general epistemological point that what catches us off guard would not have done so if we had a different perspective of the world. I’m interested in what we knew (and didn’t know) going into 2020, where our focus was and wasn’t, and how this created the experience of being caught off guard. Author Dr. Julie Ponesse, 2023 Brownstone Fellow, is a professor of ethics who has taught at Ontario’s Huron University College for 20 years. She was placed on leave and banned from accessing her campus due to the vaccine mandate. She presented at the The Faith and Democracy Series on 22, 2021. Dr. Ponesse has now taken on a new role with The Democracy Fund, a registered Canadian charity aimed at advancing civil liberties, where she serves as the pandemic ethics scholar. View all posts https://brownstone.org/articles/black-swan-white-swan/ https://donshafi911iamthefaceoftruth.blogspot.com/2024/10/black-swan-white-swan-julie-ponesse-all_26.html