Ninety miles from the South Eastern tip of the United States, Liberty has no stead. In order for Liberty to exist and thrive, Tyranny must be identified, recognized, confronted and extinguished.
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Mark Levin – American Citizenship Is Being Eviscerated By Marxists Transforming Our Population
Mark Levin addresses what he accurately describes as “the complete evisceration of American citizenship. More than illegal immigration, it’s the complete evisceration of American citizenship, to destroy the identity of America. I’m not talking about the racial identity,” says Levin, “The identity, heart, soul, history of America, culture of America.”
He continues, “It’s being done by left-wing states, it’s being done by left-wing municipalities, it’s being done by this left-wing federal government. And this is a war on you, the American citizen. And we even have some Republican candidates who are very soft on this issue and keep talking about ‘well we need to increase visas for high-tech jobs when 25 percent of those who graduate from college with massive student debt, subsidizing Marxist professors, and the administrators who have gone nuts with their facility building, they can’t find jobs.”
He says, “Many of them want jobs, young people, they can’t find them because you have billionaires importing cheap labor from overseas.” He notes that Congress is supporting more visas and that at least one Republican candidate for president is doing so as well.
He notes a California bill to protect illegal aliens, which prompted him to ask just what it was they were being protected from. Noting that California is now a one party state and it is the wrong party, in the model of the Communist Party, and how the population is aggressively being...
He continues, “It’s being done by left-wing states, it’s being done by left-wing municipalities, it’s being done by this left-wing federal government. And this is a war on you, the American citizen. And we even have some Republican candidates who are very soft on this issue and keep talking about ‘well we need to increase visas for high-tech jobs when 25 percent of those who graduate from college with massive student debt, subsidizing Marxist professors, and the administrators who have gone nuts with their facility building, they can’t find jobs.”
He says, “Many of them want jobs, young people, they can’t find them because you have billionaires importing cheap labor from overseas.” He notes that Congress is supporting more visas and that at least one Republican candidate for president is doing so as well.
He notes a California bill to protect illegal aliens, which prompted him to ask just what it was they were being protected from. Noting that California is now a one party state and it is the wrong party, in the model of the Communist Party, and how the population is aggressively being...
Texas Attorney General: ‘If the Law Matters,’ Courts Will Side With States in Fight Over Obama Immigration Policy
As a federal appeals court considers whether to keep or rescind a hold on Obama’s immigration program, the attorney general of the state leading the charge against the president’s executive actions “is very confident” the plaintiffs will win out.
“All I can tell you is, based on the law, I feel very confident,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in an interview with The Daily Signal. “I am very confident we are right on the law. And if the law matters, we will do very well.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is scheduled to hear oral arguments on April 17 about whether to uphold or remove an injunction on Obama’s 2014 immigration actions.
Judge Andrew S. Hanen of Federal District Court in Brownsville, Texas put a hold on those actions on Feb. 16, preventing the immigration initiatives from going into effect.
Ever feel like the only difference between the New York Times and Washington Post is the name? We do.
Try the Morning Bell and get the day's most important news and commentary from a team committed to the truth in formats that respect your time...and your intelligence.
This week, Hanen denied the federal government’s request to allow Obama’s immigration actions to proceed, saying that doing so would...
“All I can tell you is, based on the law, I feel very confident,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in an interview with The Daily Signal. “I am very confident we are right on the law. And if the law matters, we will do very well.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is scheduled to hear oral arguments on April 17 about whether to uphold or remove an injunction on Obama’s 2014 immigration actions.
Judge Andrew S. Hanen of Federal District Court in Brownsville, Texas put a hold on those actions on Feb. 16, preventing the immigration initiatives from going into effect.
Ever feel like the only difference between the New York Times and Washington Post is the name? We do.
Try the Morning Bell and get the day's most important news and commentary from a team committed to the truth in formats that respect your time...and your intelligence.
This week, Hanen denied the federal government’s request to allow Obama’s immigration actions to proceed, saying that doing so would...
19 Signs That American Families Are Being Economically Destroyed
The systematic destruction of the American way of life is
happening all around us, and yet most people have no idea what is happening. Once upon a time in America, if you were responsible and hard working you could get a good paying job that could support a middle class lifestyle for an entire family even if you only had a high school education. Things weren’t perfect, but generally almost everyone in the entire country was able to take care of themselves without government assistance.
We worked hard, we played hard, and our seemingly boundless prosperity was the envy of the entire planet. But over the past several decades things have completely changed. We consumed far more wealth than we produced, we shipped millions of good paying jobs overseas, we piled up the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world, and we kept electing politicians that had absolutely no concern for the long-term future of this nation whatsoever. So now good jobs are in very short supply, we are drowning in an ocean of red ink, the middle class is rapidly shrinking and dependence on the government is at an all-time high. Even as we stand at the precipice of the next great economic crisis, we continue to make the same mistakes.
In the end, all of us are going to pay a very great price for decades of incredibly foolish decisions. Of course a tremendous amount of damage has already been done. The numbers that I am about to share with you are staggering. The following are 19 signs that American families are being economically destroyed…
#1 The poorest 40 percent of all Americans now spend more than 50 percent of their incomes just on food and housing.
#2 For those Americans that don’t own a home, 50 percent of them spend more than a third of their incomes just on rent.
#3 The price of school lunches has risen to the 3 dollar mark at many public schools across the nation.
#4 McDonald’s “Dollar Menu & More” now includes items that cost as much as 5 dollars.
#5 The price of ground beef has doubled since 2009.
#6 In 1986, child care expenses for families with employed mothers used up 6.3 percent of all income. Today, that figure is up to 7.2 percent.
#7 Incomes fell for the bottom 80 percent of all income earners in the United States during the 12 months leading up to June 2014.
#8 At this point, more than 50 percent of all American workers bring home less than...
#1 The poorest 40 percent of all Americans now spend more than 50 percent of their incomes just on food and housing.
#2 For those Americans that don’t own a home, 50 percent of them spend more than a third of their incomes just on rent.
#3 The price of school lunches has risen to the 3 dollar mark at many public schools across the nation.
#4 McDonald’s “Dollar Menu & More” now includes items that cost as much as 5 dollars.
#5 The price of ground beef has doubled since 2009.
#6 In 1986, child care expenses for families with employed mothers used up 6.3 percent of all income. Today, that figure is up to 7.2 percent.
#7 Incomes fell for the bottom 80 percent of all income earners in the United States during the 12 months leading up to June 2014.
#8 At this point, more than 50 percent of all American workers bring home less than...
Arya's Needle (Game of Thrones) - MAN AT ARMS
More Game Of Thrones:
Game Of Thrones Character Map...
Peter Dinklage On Luck..
Daenerys Stormborn
Star Wars Vs. Game Of Thrones
game of thrones game of thrones game of thrones game of thrones game of thrones game of thrones game of thrones game of thrones game of thrones game of thrones game of thrones game of thrones game of thrones game of thrones game of thrones game of thrones
Friday, April 10, 2015
Does Apple CEO Tim Cook Support Executing Gays In Muslim Countries?
Well..He certainly has not tweeted his disapproval nor closed down any Apple stores in those countries...
Carly Fiorina – California Drought Emergency Caused By Liberal Enviro-Nazis Willing To Sacrifice Other People’s Lives..
Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO and potential Republican presidential candidate, is one of the minority Republican Californians. She’s witnessed firsthand the destruction created through their rampant liberalism. She opposed Barbara Boxer in 2010 for her Senate seat, unsuccessfully. Oddly, Boxer is one of those whose extreme “environmentalism” and the associated government over-regulation has led to the current serious level of the effects of California’s drought.
In an interview with Glenn Beck on Monday, Fiorina said, “With different policies over the last 20 years, all of this could be avoided. “Despite the fact that California has suffered from droughts for millennia, liberal environmentalists have prevented the building of a single new reservoir or a single new water conveyance system over decades during a period in which California’s population has doubled.” She noted that as a result, 70 percent of California’s rainfall simply “washes out to sea” every year.
She said, “California is a classic case of liberals being willing to sacrifice other people’s lives and livelihoods at the altar of their ideology. It is a tragedy. Government has grown so huge, so powerful, so costly, so complex, it is literally crushing the life out of this country,” she argued. “It is crushing small and family-owned businesses, which are the...
In an interview with Glenn Beck on Monday, Fiorina said, “With different policies over the last 20 years, all of this could be avoided. “Despite the fact that California has suffered from droughts for millennia, liberal environmentalists have prevented the building of a single new reservoir or a single new water conveyance system over decades during a period in which California’s population has doubled.” She noted that as a result, 70 percent of California’s rainfall simply “washes out to sea” every year.
She said, “California is a classic case of liberals being willing to sacrifice other people’s lives and livelihoods at the altar of their ideology. It is a tragedy. Government has grown so huge, so powerful, so costly, so complex, it is literally crushing the life out of this country,” she argued. “It is crushing small and family-owned businesses, which are the...
Principles of Constitutionalism: Negative Rights versus Positive Rights
It has previously been shown that constitutionalism, by which is meant the general proposition that government should be restrained by well-defined principles and structures under which it operates (whether written or unwritten), depends up a recognition of the rule of law as reflecting natural law.
From this natural law arises the recognition, in turn, of the natural rights of individual citizens, which ought to be acknowledged and protected by just government, but which are not granted by any government. These principles, perhaps, find their purest distillation in the American Constitution, a short and simple document which provides a succinct summation of both the natural rights it affirms and a structure of government designed to preserve liberty.
This basis in natural law explains one of the greatest divides between the broad Left and Right, and shows us why one side (the Right) fights to hold onto our Constitution, while the other (the Left) fights to destroy it.
In many ways, what it all really comes down to is whether the rights that every individual has, and should enjoy, are “negative” or “positive” in nature, whether they are primarily “defensive” or “proactive.”
Those of us on the Right – liberty-lovers, traditionalists, conservatives, and...
From this natural law arises the recognition, in turn, of the natural rights of individual citizens, which ought to be acknowledged and protected by just government, but which are not granted by any government. These principles, perhaps, find their purest distillation in the American Constitution, a short and simple document which provides a succinct summation of both the natural rights it affirms and a structure of government designed to preserve liberty.
This basis in natural law explains one of the greatest divides between the broad Left and Right, and shows us why one side (the Right) fights to hold onto our Constitution, while the other (the Left) fights to destroy it.
In many ways, what it all really comes down to is whether the rights that every individual has, and should enjoy, are “negative” or “positive” in nature, whether they are primarily “defensive” or “proactive.”
Those of us on the Right – liberty-lovers, traditionalists, conservatives, and...
Texas Judge Delivers Blistering Rebuke of Obama Administration Immigration Lawyers’ Misbehavior
In an order issued late Tuesday, federal district court Judge Andrew Hanen refused to lift the preliminary injunction he had previously issued stopping the implementation of the immigration amnesty plan announced by President Obama last November.
And in a second order, an obviously infuriated Judge Hanen said that the “attorneys for the Government misrepresented the facts” to the court.
Judge Hanen issued his injunction on Feb. 16 in the lawsuit filed by 26 states in a Texas federal court. On Feb. 23, the Justice Department filed a motion asking Hanen to stay his injunction pending an appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. On March 3, the Justice Department filed an “Advisory” with Hanen, informing him that between Nov. 20, when the president announced his new plan, and Feb. 16, when the injunction was issued, the Department of Homeland Security had begun implementing part of the president’s plan by issuing three-year deferrals to over 100,000 illegal aliens.
This despite the fact that...
And in a second order, an obviously infuriated Judge Hanen said that the “attorneys for the Government misrepresented the facts” to the court.
Judge Hanen issued his injunction on Feb. 16 in the lawsuit filed by 26 states in a Texas federal court. On Feb. 23, the Justice Department filed a motion asking Hanen to stay his injunction pending an appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. On March 3, the Justice Department filed an “Advisory” with Hanen, informing him that between Nov. 20, when the president announced his new plan, and Feb. 16, when the injunction was issued, the Department of Homeland Security had begun implementing part of the president’s plan by issuing three-year deferrals to over 100,000 illegal aliens.
This despite the fact that...
Thursday, April 9, 2015
The Brutality of Obama and the Left
Let’s not hear this insipid and misleading talk from Washington Republicans anymore: “Barack Obama is incompetent and naïve.” That better describes them.
Barack Obama is a committed leftist working through his agenda to “transform” America. Washington Republicans do injury to the cause of liberty with timid language. That the president and the left bungle or misstep at times detracts little from their successes. In terms of advancing leftist aims, the Obama presidency is historic.
Remaking America didn’t start with Obama. It won’t stop without him, either, unless the left is stopped, period. Split differences with this foe? How so when the left works to erode liberty and pursues policies damaging to national security? We’ve entered days of the starkest differences between the left and us -- days that demand from us hard-eyed appraisals and resolute action.
The left has been marching through America for decades, destroying traditional America as it goes. Ransacking our institutions. Torching our values and virtues. Shredding constitutional rights and undercutting the rule of...
Barack Obama is a committed leftist working through his agenda to “transform” America. Washington Republicans do injury to the cause of liberty with timid language. That the president and the left bungle or misstep at times detracts little from their successes. In terms of advancing leftist aims, the Obama presidency is historic.
Remaking America didn’t start with Obama. It won’t stop without him, either, unless the left is stopped, period. Split differences with this foe? How so when the left works to erode liberty and pursues policies damaging to national security? We’ve entered days of the starkest differences between the left and us -- days that demand from us hard-eyed appraisals and resolute action.
The left has been marching through America for decades, destroying traditional America as it goes. Ransacking our institutions. Torching our values and virtues. Shredding constitutional rights and undercutting the rule of...
Fed Contractors Set-Up Roadblocks In 30 U.S. Cities To Harvest DNA Samples..
This happened in 2013, but with all the talk recently about Jade
Helm and Obama’s executive orders regarding Martial law, could this be just another piece of the puzzle designed to hoodwink Americans ? If you’re going to make a power grab and create a police state, you can’t very well just do it all at once, you have to do things in a subtle way as not to alarm the population. Little by little, the Obama administration has been setting-up what looks like a coup d’état, or at the very least, a hostile takeover of the United States of America .
Too many coincidences e.g., Fema camps, different government agencies stockpiling ammunition, purging of the military and even “Wellness check” exercises conducted by the National Guard and active duty Army units here on American soil. Alone, or done one at a time, they don’t mean that much, but if you put all the pieces of the puzzle together, it could only mean one thing.
This comes from a website called secretsofthefed.com and after you read it, all the pieces of the puzzle just seem to fit together :
Federal contractors have been setting up roadblocks in cities across the country with the purpose of collecting DNA samples from passing motorists. The multi-million dollar federal program has been disturbing drivers and alarming civil libertarians.
Too many coincidences e.g., Fema camps, different government agencies stockpiling ammunition, purging of the military and even “Wellness check” exercises conducted by the National Guard and active duty Army units here on American soil. Alone, or done one at a time, they don’t mean that much, but if you put all the pieces of the puzzle together, it could only mean one thing.
This comes from a website called secretsofthefed.com and after you read it, all the pieces of the puzzle just seem to fit together :
Federal contractors have been setting up roadblocks in cities across the country with the purpose of collecting DNA samples from passing motorists. The multi-million dollar federal program has been disturbing drivers and alarming civil libertarians.
The checkpoints consist of...
One year after Phoenix, the VA is under more scrutiny than ever
One year after revelations that a VA hospital was denying veterans care and falsifying data to hide it, the federal agency tasked with looking after Americans who have served in the military is under more scrutiny than ever, with many growing impatient with pace of the agency’s overhaul.
“I’m incredibly disappointed with the lack of progress,” said Katherine Mitchell, a Phoenix VA doctor whose reporting last spring helped expose what turned out to be a nationwide crisis in veterans’ health care.
The scandal started in earnest last April, when House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., said during a hearing that veterans may have died while awaiting care in Phoenix and that the hospital may have two sets of records to conceal wait times. Both allegations turned out to be true.
Phoenix, though, was just the beginning.
News of that hospital’s malfeasance led to the discovery of similar horror stories at VA hospitals throughout the country: poor care, unexpected...
“I’m incredibly disappointed with the lack of progress,” said Katherine Mitchell, a Phoenix VA doctor whose reporting last spring helped expose what turned out to be a nationwide crisis in veterans’ health care.
The scandal started in earnest last April, when House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., said during a hearing that veterans may have died while awaiting care in Phoenix and that the hospital may have two sets of records to conceal wait times. Both allegations turned out to be true.
Phoenix, though, was just the beginning.
News of that hospital’s malfeasance led to the discovery of similar horror stories at VA hospitals throughout the country: poor care, unexpected...
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
From The Jaws Of Victory..
The U.S. had Iran on the ropes, then they partially lifted sanctions last year with no reciprocation...now they have give up everything because they have no bargaining chips..
There are no adults in this administration.
John Kerry And The Iran Deal Capitulation...
U.S. Aircraft Carrier Enters Seas Near Yemen
The USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TRCSG)
joined the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet area of operations, which includes the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean, on Tuesday.
The strike group’s arrival comes at a critical time in the region as Saudi Arabia ramps up military operations in Yemen to fight the Houthi rebels backed by Iran. The rebels have toppled the Yemeni government and have forced the president to flea his country.
On March 25th, Saudi Arabia took action against Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East. Joined by the Egyptians, the major Sunni powers are now creating a coalition that is ready to face off with Iran in Yemen. The U.S., not notified ahead of the Saudi air strikes, will provide military aid in the form of intelligence and logistical support to operations.
“Maintaining a presence, both a naval and air presence, continues the sixty plus year commitment of our nation to support security and stability in the region, which is key to a...
The strike group’s arrival comes at a critical time in the region as Saudi Arabia ramps up military operations in Yemen to fight the Houthi rebels backed by Iran. The rebels have toppled the Yemeni government and have forced the president to flea his country.
On March 25th, Saudi Arabia took action against Iran’s growing influence in the Middle East. Joined by the Egyptians, the major Sunni powers are now creating a coalition that is ready to face off with Iran in Yemen. The U.S., not notified ahead of the Saudi air strikes, will provide military aid in the form of intelligence and logistical support to operations.
“Maintaining a presence, both a naval and air presence, continues the sixty plus year commitment of our nation to support security and stability in the region, which is key to a...
What Columbia Missed In Its Review of Rolling Stone
In November, Rolling Stone magazine ran a story detailing the horrific account of an alleged gang rape at a fraternity on the University of Virginia campus. The story quickly proved to be rubbish, and Rolling Stone reached out to the Columbia University School of Journalism to discover how the magazine could have blundered so badly.
With much ado, Columbia responded. Its 13,000-word report identified problems in “reporting, editing, editorial supervision and fact-checking.” This was all true enough, but Columbia missed the real problem. As I document in my forthcoming book, Scarlet Letters, cases like the Rolling Stone’s have become so common because those perpetrating a given fraud almost inevitably advance causes that the cultural establishment, the Columbia faculty included, wants to see advanced.
Although there are a few exceptions, the people who guard the cultural gates tend to be liberal on sexual and social issues, socialist on economic ones, internationalist in their worldview, and Democratic in their voting preferences. Not unnaturally, they are inclined to promote, praise, and protect those creative individuals who think as they do. This trend dates back to the conscious cover-up of the Soviet terror-famine of the early 1930s by the New York Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, Walter Duranty, and reached something of a collective climax with the media coronation of Barack Obama.
Despite its claim to prepare students capable of “finding out the truth of complicated situations,” Columbia’s Journalism School produces students less interested in finding the truth than in...
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Feds Consider Puerto Ricans Disabled Because They Speak Spanish
The Social Security Administration (SSA) approved disability benefits for hundreds of Puerto Ricans because they do not speak English, despite the fact that Puerto Rico is a predominantly Spanish-speaking territory.
According to a new audit by the Office of Inspector General (OIG), the agency is misapplying rules that are intended to provide financial assistance to individuals who are illiterate or cannot speak English in the United States. Under the rules, Puerto Ricans are allowed to receive disability benefits for their inability to speak English as well.
“We found the Agency did not make exceptions regarding the English-language grid rules for claimants who reside in Puerto Rico, even though Spanish is the predominant language spoken in the local economy,” the OIG said.
The audit said a person applying for disability in Puerto Rico who cannot speak English “may increase his/her likelihood of receiving disability benefits.”
The agency does not currently have a system in place to keep track of the number of beneficiaries who receive disability insurance for not being able to speak English.
However, the OIG was able to identify 218 cases between 2011 and 2013 where Puerto Ricans were awarded disability due to...
According to a new audit by the Office of Inspector General (OIG), the agency is misapplying rules that are intended to provide financial assistance to individuals who are illiterate or cannot speak English in the United States. Under the rules, Puerto Ricans are allowed to receive disability benefits for their inability to speak English as well.
“We found the Agency did not make exceptions regarding the English-language grid rules for claimants who reside in Puerto Rico, even though Spanish is the predominant language spoken in the local economy,” the OIG said.
The audit said a person applying for disability in Puerto Rico who cannot speak English “may increase his/her likelihood of receiving disability benefits.”
The agency does not currently have a system in place to keep track of the number of beneficiaries who receive disability insurance for not being able to speak English.
However, the OIG was able to identify 218 cases between 2011 and 2013 where Puerto Ricans were awarded disability due to...
Obama: 'Misjudgment' To Make Iran Deal Contingent On Recognizing Israel
President Obama says it would be a "fundamental misjudgment" to condition a nuclear deal with Iran on the country's recognition of Israel.
Obama made the comments Monday during an interview with Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep.
Steve spoke at length with Obama about a framework deal struck by Iran and world powers that would curb parts of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the loosening of some international sanctions.
Israel has vehemently opposed such a deal and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been publicly critical of the parameters set by the agreement, saying they would "threaten the survival of Israel."
On Friday, Netanyahu insisted that any final agreement with Iran had to include "clear and unambiguous Iranian commitment of Israel's right to exist."
In his interview with Steve, Obama dismissed Netanyahu's demand...
Obama made the comments Monday during an interview with Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep.
Steve spoke at length with Obama about a framework deal struck by Iran and world powers that would curb parts of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the loosening of some international sanctions.
Israel has vehemently opposed such a deal and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been publicly critical of the parameters set by the agreement, saying they would "threaten the survival of Israel."
On Friday, Netanyahu insisted that any final agreement with Iran had to include "clear and unambiguous Iranian commitment of Israel's right to exist."
In his interview with Steve, Obama dismissed Netanyahu's demand...
NSA holds info over US citizens like loaded gun, but says ‘trust me’ – Snowden
The National Security Agency has a gun aimed at the head of each and every American, Edward Snowden says in a new interview, and they’re being asked to accept the NSA’s vast surveillance operations in the name of counterterrorism.
The NSA contractor turned whistleblower met comedian John Oliver at a Moscow hotel opposite the KGB’s former HQ in a room with all windows covered.
During the frank interview, which aired Sunday on Oliver’s ‘Last Week tonight’, Snowden tells the comedian-host “The NSA has the greatest surveillance capabilities that we have ever seen in history. Now what they will argue is that they don’t use this for nefarious purposes against American citizens."
‘Trust me'
Snowden himself admits ‘In some ways that’s true. But the real problem is that they’re using these capabilities to make us vulnerable to them and then saying, well, ‘I have gun pointed at your head. I’m not going to pull the trigger. Trust me.'"....
The NSA contractor turned whistleblower met comedian John Oliver at a Moscow hotel opposite the KGB’s former HQ in a room with all windows covered.
During the frank interview, which aired Sunday on Oliver’s ‘Last Week tonight’, Snowden tells the comedian-host “The NSA has the greatest surveillance capabilities that we have ever seen in history. Now what they will argue is that they don’t use this for nefarious purposes against American citizens."
‘Trust me'
Snowden himself admits ‘In some ways that’s true. But the real problem is that they’re using these capabilities to make us vulnerable to them and then saying, well, ‘I have gun pointed at your head. I’m not going to pull the trigger. Trust me.'"....
The 10th century chronicle of the violent, orgiastic funeral of a Viking chieftain
For the 10th century holy man and jurist Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, the violent, orgiastic, drunken spectacle put on by mourning Vikings in Bulgaria must have been shocking.
In Ibn Fadlan’s Muslim tradition, loved ones cleaned the deceased person’s body, said prayers over him, placed him in a shroud and buried him in a relatively shallow grave the same day he died – the grave was shallow so the dead person could hear the call to prayer.
In the Viking tradition, if it was a chief who died, he was placed in the ground while his burial clothes were prepared for 10 days, during which his followers drank and had sex with doomed slave girls “purely out of love.” On the day of cremation, the Viking’s body was exhumed, then his companions burned him, along with volunteer slave girls or boys who were slain, slaughtered dogs, horses, cows and chickens, food offerings, his weapons and his ship.
For many years people have been fascinated by Vikings. Their reputation as rapacious, violent, deadly marauders up and down the coasts of Europe and farther east are famous. But in recent years people have..
In Ibn Fadlan’s Muslim tradition, loved ones cleaned the deceased person’s body, said prayers over him, placed him in a shroud and buried him in a relatively shallow grave the same day he died – the grave was shallow so the dead person could hear the call to prayer.
In the Viking tradition, if it was a chief who died, he was placed in the ground while his burial clothes were prepared for 10 days, during which his followers drank and had sex with doomed slave girls “purely out of love.” On the day of cremation, the Viking’s body was exhumed, then his companions burned him, along with volunteer slave girls or boys who were slain, slaughtered dogs, horses, cows and chickens, food offerings, his weapons and his ship.
For many years people have been fascinated by Vikings. Their reputation as rapacious, violent, deadly marauders up and down the coasts of Europe and farther east are famous. But in recent years people have..