Really sad & epic history here:

In the 1860s the Peruvian slave raids began, as Peruvians were experiencing labor shortages and came to regard the Pacific as a vast source of free labor. Slavers raided islands as far away as Micronesia, but Rapa Nui was much closer and became a prime target.

In December 1862 eight Peruvian ships landed their crewmen and between bribery and outright violence they captured some 1,000 Rapanui, including the king, his son, and the ritual priests (one of the reasons for so many gaps in knowledge of the ancient ways). It has been estimated that 2,000 Rapanui were captured over a period of years. Those who survived to arrive in Peru were poorly treated, overworked, and exposed to diseases. Ninety percent of the Rapa Nui died within one or two years of capture.

Eventually the Bishop of Tahiti caused a public outcry and an embarrassed Peru rounded up the few survivors to return them. A shipload headed to Rapa Nui, but smallpox broke out en route and only 15 arrived at the island. They were put ashore. The resulting smallpox epidemic nearly wiped out the remaining population.

In the aftermath of the Peruvian slave deportations in the 1860s, Rapa Nui came under extensive outside influence from neighbouring Polynesian languages such as Tahitian. While the majority of the population that was taken to work as slaves in the Peruvian mines died of diseases and bad treatment in the 1860s, hundreds of other Islanders who left for Mangareva in the 1870s and 1880s to work as servants or labourers adopted the local form of Tahitian-Pidgin. Fischer argues that this pidgin became the basis for the modern Rapa Nui language when the surviving part of the Rapa Nui immigrants on Mangareva returned to their almost deserted home island.

https://archive.md/bqZFO

LOL - these guys got a lot of sticks in the fire.

The Maison Brander owned a large sheep ranch on Easter Island for exporting wool. The ranch was managed by the power-hungry convicted murderer Jean-Baptiste Dutrou-Bornier, who had acquired additional land and appointed his Rapanui wife "Queen". This was the low point in the island's history; by 1872 its resident population had been reduced to 111.

In 1871 Alexander Jr had picked up rudimentary Rapanui from his hundreds of indentured Easter Island labourers at the Mahina coconut plantation on Tahiti. In 1877 Queen Pōmare IV died, and Alexander's sister became regent. John Brander also died that year, and Dutrou-Bornier was assassinated. Alexander set off for Easter Island to manage the sheep station in around October 1878 with twenty Tahitian workers and an unknown number of Rapanui whose indentures had expired and ran the island for a decade. He introduced the coconut, the first sizeable tree on the island since its deforestation two centuries earlier, apart from some fruit trees at the SSCC Catholic mission and Dutrou-Bornier's estate.

Salmon returned to Tahiti in 1883–1884 for business. Upon his return to Easter Island he bought up all remaining land apart from the SSCC mission at Hanga Roa. As owner of nearly all the island and sole source of employment, Salmon was de facto ruler.

As he was not a religious man, and a Jew, the priests did not like him, especially Hippolyte Roussel, who had been forced to leave the island in 1871 due to conflict with Dutrou-Bornier but who visited again in 1879. Bishop Jaussen in Tahiti appointed a Rapanui, Atamu te Kena, "king" to protect church interests from the Maison Brander, but Salmon ignored him and he never had any influence. However, Salmon was an honest man and sincerely interested in the welfare of the people, and the population started to recover. This was the era of the strong Tahitian influence on the Rapanui language and culture.

Of course the Wikipedia article talks about this guy as some humanitarian... He has the magick ethnicity modifier that excuses him from colonialism.

Of course - I link to an archived version of the Wiki.

The story is that the Russians did something wrong here... For engaging the $35 million dollar drone of a country that has invested billions in killing their soldiers during their war.

But lol... It does get better.

“To my knowledge, at this point in time, the Russians have not recovered that aircraft,” Gen Ryder said on Tuesday afternoon.

Also note that the Americans haven't recovered it either.

Russian fighter jet collides with US drone causing it to crash into Black Sea

US accuses Russia of ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ intercept of MQ-9 Reaper drone over waters west of Crimea

^{Julian Borger (The Guardian)}

The protests were initially triggered by a bill ‘On the Transparency of Foreign Influence’, which was adopted by the Georgian parliament on its first reading. On Tuesday, 76 deputies voted in favor of adopting the bill and 13 deputies opposed it.

During the discussion stage, MPs from opposition parties said they would not allow the so-called “Russian law” to be considered in parliament. This resulted in a fight between opponents and supporters of the legislation. Deputies from the National Movement and Strategy Aghmashenebeli opposition parties were expelled from the chamber. Triggered by the situation, the latter’s leader Giorgi Vashadze called on all opponents of the bill to join the rally.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Georgian Interior Ministry reported that 50 law enforcement officers had been injured in clashes with protesters. Calls from the police to “stay within the bounds of the law” did not work.

... and they absolutely have threatened revolution:

Talk of such legislation first emerged last summer. Back then, several influential Western-funded NGOs immediately understood the existential nature of the possible measure. They announced the formation of a “temporary technical government” and presented the authorities with an ultimatum, threatening them with a “peaceful revolution” if they refused.

... and remember, these people are absolutely inundated with NGOs:

In a review of the Georgian civil sector published in 2020, the Asian Development Bank indicated that there is no special legislation on non-profit or non-governmental organizations in the country, although they are listed in the general register of companies, which as of the beginning of 2019 consisted of 12,800 organizations. At the same time, the vast majority of such organizations rely on foreign funding, according to the Georgian national statistics service Sakstat. As of spring 2022, there were 7,972 companies with foreign founders operating in the country. With a total population of 3.7 million, there are around 460 people per foreign NPO in Georgia. For comparison, as of November 2022, there were over 500 active “foreign agents” registered in the US, under FARA.

Echoes of Maidan: Georgia has a huge Western-funded NGO sector and regular outbreaks of violent protest, is there a link?

What lies behind this week's scenes in Tbilisi and why was Russia again used as a scapegoat?

^RT

https://twitter.com/GAFollowers/status/1635276779270340608

This is all from the Washington Post who normally does everything that they can to back up the broken #Ukraine narrative:

DNIPROPETROVSK REGION, Ukraine — The quality of Ukraine’s military force, once considered a substantial advantage over Russia, has been degraded by a year of casualties that have taken many of the most experienced fighters off the battlefield, leading some Ukrainian officials to question Kyiv’s readiness to mount a much-anticipated spring offensive.

U.S. and European officials have estimated that as many as 120,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the start of Russia’s invasion early last year, compared with about 200,000 on the Russian side, which has a much larger military and roughly triple the population from which to draw conscripts. Ukraine keeps its running casualty numbers secret, even from its staunchest Western supporters.

I actually do not endorse the numbers that the US/EU officials are putting forward here, with a 1.2 to 2 ratio that favors the Ukrainians. I think that even when they are trying to be honest about painting the dismal picture, they will still lie to us. I would be surprised if the ratio is anywhere near favorable to the Ukrainians -- I would be ecstatic if I was a Hohol to hear that the ratio is even 1:1.

Statistics aside, an influx of inexperienced draftees, brought in to plug the losses, has changed the profile of the Ukrainian force, which is also suffering from basic shortages of ammunition, including artillery shells and mortar bombs, according to military personnel in the field.

...

“And there are only a few soldiers with combat experience,” Kupol added. “Unfortunately, they are all already dead or wounded.”

For some even tastier tears:

Such grim assessments have spread a palpable, if mostly unspoken, pessimism from the front lines to the corridors of power in Kyiv, the capital. An inability by Ukraine to execute a much-hyped counteroffensive would fuel new criticism that the United States and its European allies waited too long, until the force had already deteriorated, to deepen training programs and provide armored fighting vehicles, including Bradleys and Leopard battle tanks.

It's interesting to think that even the experts here posit that the great opportunity for the Ukraine was to win with a strong counteroffensive... But no such counteroffensvie could ever exist meaningfully against the Russians who predictably just brought to bear their far superior numbers.

From this point there are some funny statements in the article - for instance, the idea that Russia is experiencing WWI levels of casualties, but you still get glimpses of the real picture behind the paragraphs inserted to shore up the pro-Kiev narrative:

Ukraine has also faced an acute shortage of artillery shells, which Washington and its allies have scrambled to address, with discussions about how to shore up Ukrainian stocks dominating daily meetings on the war at the White House National Security Council. Washington’s efforts have kept Ukraine fighting, but use rates are very high, and scarcity persists.

“You’re on the front line,” Kupol said. “They’re coming toward you, and there’s nothing to shoot with.”

This is normally something that they would ever publish about Russia.

There might be real change on the horizon for the US policy towards the Ukraine - the state media apparatus is warming people up to the idea of cutting their losses and moving on.

The West is a joke - they are democratic societies that are supposed to be based on the marketplace of ideas...

Yet you cannot say a single thing that criticizes their sacred cows.

Ravier faces trial tomorrow in the criminal court of Marseilles on charges of incitement to discrimination, hatred, or violence. The case is based on a tweet, on January 11, 2022, in which Ravier reacted to the murder of a teen in Paris by a 62-year-old man from Senegal.

He tweeted “Theo, 18 years old, murdered yesterday by a Senegalese [migrant]… Immigration kills the youth of France.”

A complaint was filed by the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Licra) and the League for Human Rights (LDH) against Ravier over allegations of spreading hatred toward migrants.

NATO doesn't fight for democracy.

It fights for its own oligarchic interest.

French Politician Faces Criminal Trial For Immigration Criticism

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

^{www.zerohedge.com}

The mosst tiring whinging in the world:

>Louis Farrakhan says Louis Farrakhan type stuff
>"Why aren't the Democrats condemning this..?!"
>"They're the REAAAALLl Anti-Semites."

Guys, nobody cares.

This is tiresome and nobody thinks it's true.

This is all just meant to frame everything in the context of 'kissing the ADL's ass is good; criticizing the ADL is bad."

Mark Levin: Biden and the Democrat Party Are ‘Tolerating’ a ‘Very Ugly’ Antisemitism

Conservative radio host Mark Levin slammed the Democrat Party for “tolerating” antisemitism, saying the left would sooner call former President Trump a white supremacist than address its own history of Jew-hatred.

^{Deborah Brand (Breitbart)}

Western countries will tell you that they adequately value free speech and free expression, and then they will report you to a counter-terrorism unit & have you convicted...

But it's OK, folks..! The man later won on appeal..!

Judge overturns conviction of street preacher arrested for 'misgendering' man in a dress

A British court has overturned the conviction of street preacher Dave McConnell who was reported to counter-terrorism for alleged misgendering by refusing to say a man is a woman

^{Anugrah Kumar (The Christian Post)}

They've been there for over a thousand years and suddenly it now has to all come to an end...

And who is ultimately ordering it?

A government led by a Jew.

Last Friday, Ukrainian officials told the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to vacate the 980-year-old Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery complex in the embattled nation's capital, according to Reuters.

The denomination has been given until March 29 to obey the order. Although the UOC has historical ties to the Russian Orthodox Church, it severed its ties with the Moscow patriarchate last year in response to the Russian invasion.

In a statement, the Ukrainian culture ministry claimed that UOC "violated the terms of the agreement regarding the use of state property" but didn't say how. The UOC contends it is a victim of a political witch hunt.

There's no rule of law in the Ukraine - don't hold your breath waiting for them to provide the rationale.

Ukraine orders Orthodox church with Russia ties to vacate historic Kyiv monastery

Ukrainian officials told the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to vacate the 980-year-old Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery complex in the embattled nation s capital Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill has ...

^{Michael Gryboski (The Christian Post)}

India still going to bat for marriage sanity:

New Delhi: Same-sex marriage is against the “Indian notion of marriage” that “necessarily and inevitably presupposes a union” between a biological man and a biological woman only.

‘Against Indian notion of marriage’ — why Modi govt is opposed to registering same-sex marriages

Relying on religious definition of marriage 'between biological man and biological woman only' Union govt Sunday opposed petitions in Supreme Court seeking recognition for same-sex marriages.

^{Bhadra Sinha (ThePrint)}

Something must've been going very wrong with their crypto investments.

"Signature Bank is a New York state-chartered commercial bank and is FDIC-insured, with total assets of approximately $110.36 billion and total deposits of approximately $88.59 billion as of December 31, 2022," Harris' statement said. "DFS is close contact with all regulated entities in light of market events, monitoring market trends, and collaborating closely with other state and federal regulators to protect consumers, ensure the health of the entities we regulate, and preserve the stability of the global financial system."

Crypto-Friendly Signature Bank Shut Down by State Regulators

Signature said it intended to limit its crypto exposure last year.

^{Nikhilesh De (CoinDesk)}