#And the romans because they partially occupied the now Germany

[lil-gae-disaster]

(TW Holocaust/mustache man/Nazi mention)

Sigh

Repeat after me non-german(speaking) folks:

German culture isn't ww2.

Because I saw under a post about white culture a comment going along the lines of "and German culture is being a Nazi!" (Germany wasn't included in the post for some goddamn reason)

And, no. Ew. Don't. Please.

yes, the time has affected our cultural traditions. (Like Easter and Christmas leaning way more to it's pagan origins since mustache man was anti-christianity in addition to the obvious)

But please for the love of everything holy, our culture isn't just that.

Our culture is already watered down to just one sixteen of it. Yes, Germany ≠ Bavaria. Just like US American ≠ New York / Alaska / Texas.

The watering down and disregard to the culture has gone so far that I, as someone who's spent all their life in Germany, don't know much about my culture. I owned ONE traditional dress when I used to be a girl. But no one taught me how to wear it properly so I probably wore it the wrong way.

I'm sorry if I make anyone uncomfortable talking about this, but I think it needs to be addressed.

This piece of history is a dark chapter in the history of my country. It's important that it doesn't get forgotten what has happened to prevent that. But please, for the love of anything holy, don't try to play ignorant to my culture by comparing it to my country's biggest mistake and biggest regret.

German ≠ Nazi

Please learn that.

I'm at times ashamed of my nationality and ethnicity because others always have this chapter of my country's history hanging over my head if they won't admit they're wrong. Or just simply when they find out I'm german.

Thank you for listening.

PS: the war, or at least the wall, also affected my culture because if you look at vote-results or any other map in that matter I can guarantee you to 90% that the past ddr and brg (brd) will have vastly different results

[paulinedorchester]

Garrett, Leah. X Troop: The Secret Jewish Commandos of World War II. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021; London: Vintage Publishing, 2021.

(The American cover is on the left, the British on the right.)

Every so often, gifs from something called X Company cross my dashboard. When I came across Leah Garrett’s book X Troop, my first thought was that it must treat the same subject, but it seems that that can’t be the case: Garrett maintains that none of this story has ever been told before, because most of the documentation remained classified until very recently. (She claims to have single-handedly declassified many sealed British military records.) X Troop is about No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando, 3 Troop, commonly referred to as X Troop, comprising 87 German, Austrian, and (in a few cases) Hungarian refugees, all but five of them Jewish (at least under Nazi racial laws — I’ll get to that). It is indeed an extraordinary story, and occasionally an infuriating one. Garrett has done a tremendous public service in relating this tale, but the book itself has some puzzling — no, let's be honest, irritating — aspects.

The men who would make up X Troop left their native countries in their mid to late ’teens during the late 1930s, most of them without their parents as passengers on the Kindertransport. They occupied themselves in various ways until the middle of 1940 when, apparently without exception, they were interned on the Isle of Man, in Canada, or in Australia, to which more than 2,500 of them were transported on the H.M.T. Dunera, a dangerously over-crowded liner on which they endured conditions so horrific that the officer in charge — Major William Patrick Scott, a gleeful sadist and anti-Semite — ended up being court-martialed.

It is heartening to be able to report that British public opinion appears to have turned strongly against wholesale internment by mid-1941, but it wasn’t until that December that the internees were released from confinement. Those who had been transported overseas were offered immediate permission to return to the U.K. — if they volunteered for the Pioneer Corps, and I’m grateful to Garrett for providing the first detailed explanation that I’ve seen of what that meant. It wasn’t a good situation: they did menial labor and were bored out of their minds.

In the summer of 1942, they were finally offered an opportunity to join in the fight against the Nazis. This appears to be an instance in which the “great man” theory of history is perfectly valid, Lord Mountbatten being the great man in question. Garrett explains:

Mountbatten made a bold suggestion [to Winston Churchill]: they should create a new special unit of commandos, different from anything used before. Rather than coming from the ranks of the army or the navy, No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando would be composed of soldiers made up of displaced nationals such as Poles, Norwegians, and Frenchmen. Each of the units . . . would be used for different missions depending on their native languages. They would be unified by the shared desire to drive the Nazis out of their home countries. These commandos, highly trained and highly motivated, would lead the way when the time came for the Allies’ invasion of Europe.

And that’s exactly what happened. There were French, Dutch, Belgian, Norwegian, Polish, and Yugoslavian troops within No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando. There was also a troop known as the “British” troop, made up of Germanophones. That was X Troop (a nickname Churchill gave them). “X Troop would be Britain’s secret shock troop in the war against Germany,” Garrett relates:

They would kill and capture Nazis on the battlefield. But that would not be all. They would also immediately interrogate captured Germans, be it in the heat of the battle or right afterward. The men’s fluency in German would enable them to get essential intelligence that would guide the next moment’s choices rather than having to wait to interview prisoners until they were back at headquarters. ... They would have to be in peak form both physically and mentally. And because they were nearly all Jewish refugees from the Third Reich, they also would need to be diligently protected.

The situation was particularly dire because most were stateless — stripped of their citizenship in Germany or Austria, but refused naturalization by the Home Office. As one officer later recalled, “If any of them were captured in battle and their true identity had been revealed, their fate would have been almost impossible to contemplate.” (Those who chose to remain in the U.K. after the war faced an uphill battle in gaining British citizenship, as Garrett relates. She tells us nothing, incidentally, about Jewish personnel in the other No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando Troops.)

The first step was to have them adopt pseudonyms. When they arrived in Aberdovey (now Aberdyfi), Wales, for training they were each given 30 minutes to come up with a nom de guerre. They also had to concoct false backgrounds to explain why they spoke English with foreign accents. One man told the couple with whom he was billeted “that his accent was somewhat peculiar because his father had traveled a lot on business,” an unlikely story that they apparently accepted without question.

X Troop personnel were involved in the Dieppe raid — which may have been a mistake, as the troop was just past its infancy and several of the men were killed — and the Sicily landings and their aftermath, but of course all of that was really just a warm-up for the invasion of Normandy and, beyond that, Germany. More than half of the book is devoted to this. Assigned to various units, nearly all of the commandos landed at Sword Beach on June 6th, 1944, and proceeded into Central Europe, achieving victory after victory. Garrett places great emphasis on anger as their motivator: anger at the disruption of their lives and at their uncertainly over the fate of their parents and other relatives.

Leah Garrett is American; she is also Jewish. Like the overwhelming majority of my fellow Jews in this country, she is incapable of acknowledging the possibility of viable Jewish life outside of the U.S. or Israel. Her main piece of evidence for this view, which she hammers home repeatedly, is the fact that all but three of the surviving X-Troopers (22 were killed in action) chose to continue using their noms-de-guerre after the war — and, as she is at pains to point out, all of those who resumed their original names ended up emigrating to the United States! (The book’s excellent index helps the reader keep track of who was whom.) It’s true that names hold an important place in Jewish culture, but coming from someone using Garrett as a surname, her attitude comes across as either oblivious or chutzpadik, I’m not quite sure which. She also seems not to know that, historically at least, Jewish immigrants to Britain have changed their names with an assiduousness that makes the same phenomenon in the U.S. look like a mere blip.

Garrett also informs us, in the written equivalent of hushed tones, that some of the men who settled in the U.K. after the war married gentile women and brought up their children as at least nominal members of various Christian bodies. I share her discomfort with this, to be sure, but in order to maintain her shocked, shocked, stance she has to ignore something that she has in fact explained at some length in the book’s early chapters: a significant percentage of the future X-Troopers had only one or two Jewish grand-parents apiece, were brought up as Lutherans or Roman Catholics, and had absolutely no idea that they had any Jewish forebears until Nazi racial laws forced the issue into view. While I’ve known quite a few converts to Judaism whose initial impetus was the discovery of Jewish ancestry, it’s a bit much to expect that everyone will react that way. On the other hand, it’s dispiriting to learn that the inscription on the monument to X Troop that was raised in Aberdyfi in 1999 does not include the words Jews or Jewish.

Garrett is Professor of Jewish Studies and Director of the Jewish Studies Center at Hunter College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY), a post she has held since 2018; she previously taught at the University of Denver and Monash University. As a former CUNY faculty member myself, I’m in a position to tell you that (a) even as a full professor, she won’t have been hired with tenure, and (b) this book probably won’t help her to achieve it. It’s a great read on an important topic and represents prodigious research, but as a work of scholarship it has several marks against it. It doesn’t come from an academic publisher. It has only a partial scholarly apparatus — end notes, but no bibliography, or even a list of the many abbreviations used in the notes. Those notes aren’t always as useful as one would like, I might add: after relating that some of the men interned in Australia chose to remain there permanently, Garrett announces that they “would forever change the landscape of Australia. They would be known as the Dunera boys and would become leaders in the arts, sciences, culinary arts, and industry during the twentieth century,” but fails to give us any clue as to where we can go to find out more.

She also adopts an informal writing style that alternates between the faintly slangy (“All the evidence I’ve found points to ... ”) and the unnecessarily dramatic: two key chapters are written entirely in the present tense, a strategy that would normally be after my own heart, but which feels contrived in this context. It also seems not to be the case that none of this has ever been written about previously, as Garrett asserts. (Last but not least, Garrett recently resigned from CUNY’s faculty union, which may end up affecting her status there, as tenure recommendations are made by union members.)

Mixed feelings, then; but the book is worth reading, and I can recommend it.

[covid19updater]

COVID19 Updates: 10/23/2020

Germany:  Coronavirus: Germany hits five-figure infections again amid lockdown warning LINK

Philippines:  Philippines reports 1,923 new coronavirus cases, 132 more deaths

Romania:  Romania rose by a daily record of 5,028 in the past 24 hours,

North Korea:  North Korea has warned its citizens to stay indoors over fears that "yellow dust" which blows in from China could bring coronavirus with it. The streets of the capital Pyongyang were reported to be virtually empty on Thursday following the warning. LINK

India:  Autopsy finds Covid patient’s lungs ‘hard as a leather ball’ LINK

Scotland:  Coronavirus in Scotland: Traces of Covid-19 found in waste water from almost every Scottish area LINK

New Mexico:  OVERALL STATE HOSPITAL CAPACITY: As of today, 85 percent of adult general beds at New Mexico hospitals are occupied, and 70 percent of adult ICU beds across New Mexico hospitals are occupied. This includes patients hospitalized for COVID-19 and other illnesses.

Netherlands:  10,007 new confirmed corona infections have been reported to the RIVM until 10:00 this morning. That is 726 more than were reported yesterday.

US:  Santa won't be at Macy's for the first time in 159 years LINK

Poland:  Poland's PM Morawiecki: - highest tier of restrictions - primary schools switch to e-learning (years 4-8) - restaurants, pubs, cafes, bars to close; takeaway only - rule of five for social meetings - seniors 70+ asked not to leave home unless essential (groceries, GP, pharmacy)

Switzerland:  Switzerland 7 day positivity rate: 17.7% LINK

Italy:  Italian governor calls for national lockdown amid coronavirus surge

Belgium:  Belgium reports 16,746 new coronavirus cases, by far the biggest one-day increase on record - Positivity rate: 18.7% (+1.8) - In hospital: 3,649 (+375) - In ICU: 573 (+48) - New deaths: 49

Iowa:  Coronavirus outbreak infects nearly every resident of Amana nursing home LINK

Czech Republic:  Czech Health Minister Roman Prymula has refused calls from the country's prime minister to resign, after being pictured by a tabloid newspaper coming out of a restaurant late at night - despite all such establishments being closed. The affair has thrown the country deep into political crisis, and public confidence in government restrictions has been left in tatters. There was already considerable public grumbling at the latest restrictions, which include closing all pubs and restaurants. So when the man who thought up those rules was caught by a tabloid photographer emerging from a restaurant and without a mask, it appeared his days – perhaps hours – were numbered. However, he now says he was at a meeting in a private room in the building that also houses the restaurant, and that he put on his mask as soon as he got to his car. The country now finds itself in an unedifying and toxic political struggle – right in the middle of the worst health crisis it has ever seen. 

Kenya:    Kenya has reported a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases, with more than 1,000 people confirmed to have contracted coronavirus on Thursday. This is the highest number of single-day cases to be recorded in the country since the first case was reported on 13 March. Critics say the rise in cases is a result of people not adhering to safety measures in open spaces after President Uhuru Kenyatta relaxed restrictions three weeks ago. The health ministry is holding talks with the management of about 20 hotels that will be converted into isolation facilities to ease off pressure in hospitals. Some hospitals are said to have started recording a surge in admissions. Daniel Yumbya, the chief executive of the Medical Pharmacists and Dentists Council, said the country has a total of 18,443 isolation beds - which is not enough. "We’re now back to negotiating with private hotels to charge the bare minimum for patients in isolation. We do not want hospitals to be overwhelmed," Yumbya told journalists on Thursday. 

UK: Rugby: England v Barbarians called off after players breach Covid rules LINK

US:  Coronavirus pandemic is causing 'unacceptable' shortages in US drug supplies, report says LINK

Italy:  Italy: +19,143 

US:    In the United States, 10.9% of detected COVID19 cases are children, according to data from mid-October. They were only 2.2% in April. --(American Academy of Pediatrics) 

France: As millionth case looms, COVID tears through France faster than in spring LINK

World:  WHO's Tedros: We are at a critical juncture in the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the Northern hemisphere. The next few months are going to be very tough and some countries are on a dangerous track. "We urge leaders to take immediate action, to prevent further unnecessary deaths, essential health services from collapsing and schools shutting again. As I said it in February and I’m repeating it today: This is not a drill. Too many countries are now seeing an exponential increase in infections, and that is now leading to hospitals and intensive care units running close or above capacity -- and we’re still only in October. 

Spain: The Spanish Health Ministry's "symptoms starting in the last 14 days" figure has skyrocketed this week too. Now up to 60,000. 

US: LINKEDIN EXTENDS WORK FROM HOME TO JULY 12, 2021 

France: French President Macron says coronavirus epidemic in "extremely strong" acceleration, measures could be strengthened if they're not effective enough - BFM 

Russia: Russia says COVID "under control" despite record infections, bodies lined up in hospital basement LINK

UK:  Covid-19: Boris Johnson hopes families can have Christmas together  LINK (The cheese has slid off the poor man’s cracker)

US:  TOP NIH OFFICIAL DR. FAUCI: WE NEED TO DOUBLE DOWN ON WEARING MASKS, SOCIAL DISTANCING, AND OTHER PUBLIC HEALTH MEASURES. US TOP NIH DR FAUCI SAYS WH VIRUS TASK FORCE MEETINGS DOWN TO ONCE A WEEK 

UK:  Coronavirus: 'Uncontrolled epidemic' in young people would have 'dire consequences for NHS', SAGE warns LINK

France: In France, the number of COVID patients in hospital is rising fast (see chart). Nearly 2,100 people were admitted on Thursday, or roughly 1 person every 40 seconds

US: Dr. Eric Ding: My god, I cry so much for North Dakota and the Midwest right now. We are just at the beginning of the wave of deaths that are coming. North Dakota has the highest mortality in the world. Higher than ANY country.

Germany reports 13,405 new coronavirus cases, biggest one-day increase on record - @risklayer - In hospital: 5,175 est. (+377) - In ICU: 1,121 (+87) - New deaths: 46

Italy: S&P: THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS HIT ITALY'S ECONOMY HARD UNDER OUR PROJECTIONS, GDP WILL NOT RETURN TO 2019 LEVELS UNTIL 2023.

Italy: Governor of southern Italian region of Campania calls for national lockdown. PM Conte is resisting a national shutdown, saying it would be a disaster for economy.

Oklahoma: OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – An Oklahoma family is being forced to consider COVID-19 treatment in Texas after one of the state’s top doctors says open COVID-19 ICU hospital beds in Oklahoma are rare. LINK

US: JUST IN: The US reports over 80,000 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily figure since the pandemic began.

Texas: State sends emergency medical personnel, supplies to El Paso as COVID-19 cases rise across Texas LINK

Italy: Protesters in Naples, Italy, take to the street in defiance of curfew after governor calls for total lockdown. Earlier today, the governor said: "The current contagion figures render any type of partial measure ineffective. It is necessary to close everything, except for sectors that produce and move essential goods" - ANSA

Alabama:  Alabama reported 3,852 new cases today on 9,078 tests (42.4% positive).

World: COLD COMFORT Covid second wave spreading FASTER than the first because of the cold, top doc warns LINK

Argentina: Argentina COVID update: - New cases: 15,718 - Positivity rate: 44% (+2.4) - In hospital: 30,405 (+158) - In ICU: 4,696 (+85) - New deaths: 382

US: Total U.S. COVID-19 deaths could hit 500,000 by February, researchers say LINK

Belgium: Belgium reports record 17,568 new coronavirus cases, daily death toll at highest level since May - New cases: 17,568 - Positivity rate: 18.8% (+0.1) - In hospital: 4,061 (+412) - In ICU: 632 (+59) - New deaths: 70

UK: Covid: The NHS workers 'still recovering' as second wave looms LINK

[247newsgh-blog]

World's most beautiful castles

What is it about castles that fascinates so many people around the globe? A lot of the allure derives from the history and human drama that played out within the walls, as well as the astonishing architecture that features on so many castles. But they're also romantic and somewhat mystical, places that spark our imagination and conjure visions of long-ago knights in shining armor and powerful warrior queens. "Because they combine two functions, they are far more interesting than fortresses or palaces," says Marc Morris, author of "Castles: Their History and Evolution in Medieval Britain." "What makes a castle a castle is that it combines the functions of defense and dwelling -- it's a fortification and a stately home rolled into one. Creating a building which is both comfortable and defensible is difficult. The ingenious ways in which castle-designers reconciled this balance is always intriguing." Although we normally associate castles with European history, it's actually an architectural form found around the world -- in nations as varied as Japan and India, Morocco and Mexico. Many are now hubs of living history where modern visitors can watch jousting and other ancient combat forms, listen to medieval music or watch artisans demonstrate the arts, crafts and everyday skills of a thousand years ago. They also make great backdrops for outdoor concerts, films, theater and military performances, or for the on-location filming of movies and television shows. "With a castle you get not only the stories of sieges, but also stories of the domestic lives of the rich and famous," says Morris. "Castles are places were plots were hatched, marriages were consummated, murders carried out, royal babies born, and so on. With castles, you are never short of fascinating things to talk about." Read on to find out more about 21 of the world's most beautiful castles, fortified homes that are both a feast for the eyes and a time trip back to the bygone age during which they were created. Himeji Castle, Japan

Himeji Castle is a World Heritage Site. Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images Located about 30 minutes by bullet train west of Osaka and Kobe, Himeji rises above the Inland Sea and is considered the epitome of the Japanese feudal castle. Both a Japanese national treasure and World Heritage Site, the elegant whitewashed structure is also called "White Heron Castle" because of its resemblance to a great bird taking flight. Completed in the early 17th century, Himeji offers daily guided tours in Japanese and English. Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, Greece

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini once used Rhodes' medieval castle as a holiday home. Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket/LightRocket via Getty Images This classic medieval castle towers above the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea. Originally built as a Byzantine citadel, it was reworked into its present Gothic form by the crusading Knights of St John when Rhodes served as the headquarters of their grand master. During the brief Italian occupation of the Dodecanese Islands, Benito Mussolini used the castle as a holiday home. Its permanent archeological exhibitions feature relics from ancient Greece and the early Christian period. Neuschwanstein, Germany

Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle was built by Bavarian King Ludwig II. Germany National Tourism Board Even though many people consider this Bavarian masterpiece the epitome of a German castle, it's a relatively new creation, erected in the late 1800s at the behest of King Ludwig II. The Bavarian monarch instructed his architects to design something that would reflect both the operas of Richard Wagner and the romantic ideals of the Middle Ages -- as much a fantasy as Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, but with the snowcapped Alps as a backdrop and the Bavarian plains spread out beneath. Neuschwanstein is also a cinema darling, having appeared in numerous flicks over the years including "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and "The Great Escape." Related content Germany's 10 best castles Alcázar of Segovia, Spain

Segovia's Alcazar was once the home of Queen Isabella. Alamy One of the most striking castles in all of Europe, the Alcázar rides a narrow, rocky promontory overlooking the plains of Old Castile in central Spain. Although it started life as a Roman fort, the structure evolved over hundreds of years into a prototypical medieval castle with a deep moat, drawbridge, round guard towers and a robust keep, as well as lavishly decorated royal chambers. Segovia Castle is most renowned as the home of Queen Isabella and powerful Phillip II before the royal court was moved to Madrid. Pena Palace, Portugal

Portugal's Pena Palace boasts a mix of architectural styles. Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS/Getty Images Another offspring of the Romantic movement that swept 19th-century Europe, Penacrowns a hilltop near Sintra, Portugal. Commissioned by King Ferdinand II on the site of a ruined monastery dedicated to the Virgin of Pena, the castle is a flamboyant blend of various historic styles including Gothic, Moorish and Renaissance details. The castle's vivid red-and-yellow color pattern -- and its flashy clock tower -- endow Pena with a much more playful air than the somber castles found elsewhere in Europe. Amber Fortress, India

The Amber Fortress stands on a hilltop near Jaipur. Robert Cianflone/Getty Images Erected in the early 17th century by the Mughal ruler of Rajasthan, the Amber Fortresscrowns a hilltop near Jaipur, its stout walls reflected in the waters of Maota Lake. The palace complex inside the walls revolves around courtyards flanked by exquisite examples of Rajput architecture like the Maharaja's Apartments, Sukh Niwas (Hall of Pleasure) and Diwan-i-Am (Royal Audience Hall). Although it was once fashionable to ride an elephant up the steep entrance road, visitors are now advised to walk or take a 4x4 taxi. Related content Perfect pastels: Why India's 'Pink City' is a photographer's paradise Ksar of Aït-Ben-Haddou, Morocco

Morocco's Ksar appears in "Game of Thrones." Funkystock/Newscom/Funkystock/Newscom This massive mudbrick structure on the edge of the Sahara has starred in more than a dozen movies and television shows including "Game of Thrones," "Gladiator" and "The Man Who Would Be King." The complex features a fortified lower town along the Asif Ounila River -- where people still reside -- and a partially ruined hilltop citadel. Berber-style guest houses provide accommodation for visitors to a ksar originally built in the 17th century as an overnight stop for caravans traveling between Marrakech and the Sudan. Kalmar Castle, Sweden

Kalmar is Scandinavia's best-preserved Renaissance castle. Caro / Jung/Newscom/Caro / Jung/Newscom Founded in the waning years of the Viking Age, Kalmar Castle traces its roots to a 12th-century defensive tower overlooking the Kalmar Strait on the Baltic Sea. Four centuries later, King Gustav and his sons transformed Kalmar into a splendid royal residence that (with the help of renovation) looks much the same today as it did in 1592. In addition to exhibitions, children's activities and guided tours, Scandinavia's best-preserved Renaissance castle also features special events like the Van Gogh multimedia show, which is open until November 2019. Castillo San Felipe del Morro, Puerto Rico

El Morrow is protected by a moat, stone battlements and rugged sea cliffs. Massimo Borchi/Newscom/Massimo Borchi/Newscom Guarding the entrance to San Juan Bay, this 16th-century Spanish citadel is one of the most impressive structures in the Caribbean. Protected by a moat (with a drawbridge), stone battlements and rugged sea cliffs, the castle has repelled numerous attacks including several assaults by French pirates and a 1595 strike by Sir Francis Drake. However, it surrendered to US forces after a fierce naval bombardment during the Spanish-American War. Since 1962, El Morro and nearby Castillo San Cristóbal (the largest fort constructed by the Spanish in the western hemisphere) have been part of the San Juan National Historic Site. The grassy "field of fire" in front of the castle is now immensely popular for picnics and kite flying. Related content Beyond the 50 states: Exploring America's empire Topkapi Sarayi, Turkey

Istanbul's sprawling Topkapi Palace is now a museum. halitomer/Shutterstock Although it's officially called a palace, Istanbul's sprawling Topkapi compound bears all the features of a classic castle: defensible site, fortified walls, powerful gateways and a royal residence occupied by the Ottoman sultans from the late 15th century when it was originally constructed until the 1850s. Converted into a museum when the Ottoman Empire dissolved after World War I, the Topkapi offers extensive gardens, wall-top walks overlooking the Bosphorus, the Ottoman Imperial Harem where the ruler's concubines resided and the Imperial Treasury with its famous emerald-encrusted golden dagger -- stolen and eventually retrieved in the 1964 heist movie "Topkapi." Edinburgh Castle, Scotland

Edinburgh Castle is Britain's most besieged fortress. Jane Barlow/PA Images/Getty Images Perched on an ancient volcanic outcrop at the end of the Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle is considered the "most besieged place" in Britain with at least 26 major attacks during its 1,100-year lifespan. From Mary Queen of Scots to Oliver Cromwell and Sir Walter Raleigh, many famous Britons are indelibly linked the ancient edifice. Britain's oldest crown jewels (the Honours of Scotland) are safeguarded inside a castle that also provides an incredibly fitting venue for the annual Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Music concerts, living history events and weapons demonstrations are among the many events staged throughout the year inside the walls. And bygone military mascots are buried in the castle's Dog Cemetery. Schloss Vianden, Luxembourg

Schloss Vianden sits high above the Our River in northern Luxembourg. Jon Arnold Images Ltd/Alamy Despite its diminutive size, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is well-endowed with castles -- more than 50 are spread across an area smaller than London's metro area. The most spectacular of these is Schloss Vianden, poised high above the Our River in northern Luxembourg. Built on the site of an ancient Roman fortress that protected the empire from barbarian invasion, the castle was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries. Blending aspects of Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance design, it remained in royal hands until 1977 when the Grand Duke bequeathed it to the state. Vianden's biggest annual bash is an August medieval festival with dueling knights, troubadours, jugglers and artisans. Novgorod Detinets, Russia

Not as well known as Moscow's Kremlin, but Novgorod's fortress has more medieval ambience. Alexander Blinov / Alamy Stock P/https://www.alamy.com/Alamy Stock Photo The Kremlin in Moscow may be better known, but it can't hold a candle to the one in Novgorod when it comes to medieval ambiance. Located 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of St. Petersburg, Novgorod was the seat of a powerful Russian republic from the 11th to 15th century when it was finally overshadowed by Moscow. That power was concentrated inside the detinets or kremlin with its sturdy walls and heavily fortified towers. Among its landmarks today are the Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom with its silver domes, the Novgorod Museum and the Millennium of Russia monument. Château de Chambord, France

The Chateau de Chambord took 28 years to build. Guillanume Souvant/AFP/AFP/Getty Images There's no better example of the transition from the fortified castles of the medieval era to palatial homes of the Renaissance than this enormous chateau in the Loire Valley. Commissioned as a "hunting lodge" by King François I in the early 16th century, the massive structure (440 rooms) took 28 years to construct. However, the moat, corner towers and keep are purely decorative. Chambord is celebrating its 500th anniversary this year with myriad special events including an exhibition that addresses the question of whether Leonardo da Vinci designed the castle's double helix staircase. Related content 20 beautiful European cities with hardly any tourists Shuri-jô Castle, Okinawa

Shuri castle was heavily restored after World War II. yannick luthy / Alamy Stock Phot/https://www.alamy.com/Alamy Stock Photo One of the finest examples of Chinese castle architecture is Shuri, a hilltop fortress and palace complex on the island of Okinawa in Japan. As the royal court of the independent Ryukyu Kingdom for more than 450 years -- when the islands were heavily influenced by nearby China -- Shuri developed a warren of imperial living quarters, audience halls, religious shrines and an extravagant throne room reminiscent of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The compound was heavily restored after World War II, when Shuri served as the local headquarters for the Imperial Japanese Army. The castle's present-day activities range from a morning gate-opening ritual called Ukejo and multilingual audio tours of the grounds to daily dance performances and nighttime illumination. Bodiam Castle, England

The epitome of a medieval fortress: Bodiam Castle. Prisma Bildagentur/Universal Images Group/Getty Images England has far larger castles (Windsor) and others that are more steeped in history (Tower of London). But none boasts that textbook form of Bodiam Castle in East Sussex. Erected in 1385 as the bastion of a former royal knight, it's the epitome of a medieval castle -- thick crenelated walls supported by nine stubby towers, arrayed around a square central courtyard and reached via a wooden walkway (a drawbridge in olden days) across a wide moat. Among its many visitor summer activities are archery sessions, dressing up in medieval costumes, afternoon tea with cakes and scones and guided tours. And just seven miles away is where the landmark Battle of Hastings played out in 1066. Castillo de Chapultepec, Mexico

Chapultepec is the only royal castle in the Western hemisphere. PEDRO PARDO/AFP/Getty Images The only royal castle in the Western hemisphere hovers high above Mexico City. Erected in the late 1700s as a summer house for the viceroy of New Spain, the castle has played many roles since then, including the palace of Emperor Maximillian and an 1847 battle between Mexican troops and invading Americans that features in the "Marine Corps Hymn" ("From the Halls of Montezuma . . ."). Nowadays Chapultepec is home to Mexico's National Museum of History. The royal quarters -- including the precious Malachite Room and Maximillian's flamboyant bedroom -- are included in castle tours. Predjama Castle, Slovenia

Predjama Castle is built into the mouth of a cliffside cave. Reimar Gaertner/Newscom What makes this Slovenian castle so special is its astounding location -- Predjama is arrayed across a cave mouth beneath a natural rock arch on the side of a sheer cliff. The lofty setting made it virtually impregnable when it was constructed in the 13th century. Attackers laid siege to Predjama on numerous occasions, but a secret passageway (that still exists today) allowed the defenders to come and go at will. Located 62 kilometers (38 miles) from Ljubljana, the castle and its park-like grounds host the Erasmus Knight's Tournament, a medieval festival and jousting competition staged every July. Related content Where to visit in Slovenia, Melania Trump's homeland Castello Aragonese, Italy

Aragonese Castle has views across the bay to Mt. Vesuvius. AGF/Universal Images Group Editorial/Universal Images Group via Getty This island bastion overlooking the Bay of Naples is the oldest castle on our list, tracing its roots to the 5th century BC when Greeks colonized the region. From Roman legionnaires to Napoleon's troops, many armies have occupied Aragonese over the years. The castle now belongs to the family of an Italian lawyer who purchased the fortified island in 1912 and began restoration of its battlements, churches, convents, crypts and gardens. In addition to views that stretch all the way across the bay to Mt. Vesuvius, Aragonese Castle boasts outdoor cafes, a bookshop, art exhibits and outdoor movies. Prague Castle, Czech Republic

Prague's citadel still boasts real political power. Monika Skolimowska/picture alliance/Getty Images Prague's imposing citadel is also one of the few castles anywhere in the world that still boasts real political power -- the official residence of the president of the Czech Republic. Among the other landmarks inside its spacious confines are St Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, 10 gardens and a row of 16th-century cottages called the Golden Lane that once housed the castle guards. Guided tours, offered during daylight and evening hours, last around three hours. Krak des Chevaliers, Syria

Krak des Chevaliers was created in the 12th century by the Knights of St John. Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images Although it's virtually impossible to visit these days, owing to the ongoing conflict in Syria, Krak des Chevaliers remains one of the world's great castles -- and the only one on our list that has experienced (and fortunately survived) 21st-century warfare. Created in the 12th century by the Knights of St. John, the celebrated Krak is considered the epitome of a crusader castle in the Middle East and one of the greatest statements of medieval military architecture. The structure features two mighty walls separated by a moat on a steep hillside between Homs and the Mediterranean Sea. The latest UNESCO report on the castle (2019) states that restoration and archeological work has commenced again, but the security situation remains tenuous. Read the full article

[blackwatchmase]

Alu - The Jumping Gene Africans and people with African Ancestry are the Purest Race of People: Different Shades of Black   The magazine Scientific American, outlines it clearly.    Blacks/people with African Ancestry contain 95 to 100 percent pure genes and chromosomes represented in the scientific community.    Africans/blacks are 95 percent of a certain chromosome.    Whites are 75 percent of that same 'Alu' Chromosome.    Asians are 60 percent of that same ‘Alu’ Chromosome.    People with African Ancestry only have 5 percent of a chromosome found in whites by 50 percent and Asians by fifty percent.    Both Asians and whites are mixed first with black and African Ancestry genes/chromosomes, then with the genes of each other.   If any race is PURE, the most recent genetic studies (Genome Project) show that Africans/Negroids are the purest race on Earth by a very large margin. In fact both Asians and Europeans have an amount of 75 percent of whites with a Negroid chromosome (Alu), while 60 percent of Asians have the same chromosome (Alu). Furthermore, Europeans and Asians have fifty percent each of a chromosome found in each other. On the other hand, only five percent of Negroid/Africans have a chromosome found in Europeans and Asians.   People with African ancestry in parts of the world who think that a few drops of white blood makes them 'white' had better think again. THE FACT IS, HAVING BLACK BLOOD MAKES ONE CLOSER TO BLACK BECAUSE BLACK IS THE ORIGINAL BLOOD AND GENES. All people came from the Black African.  Hence, the pure Black Africans and those who support and identify or join as brothers and members of the pure black race (regardless of skin tone or mixture) Sudan, south India, Melanesia, the Americas and elsewhere, the time has come to uplift ourselves and take pride in our blackness and dark skins.  The people with African ancestry of North and North East Africa and elsewhere who think that they are 'white' 'colored,' or 'multiracial,' 'mulatto' or some other insulting term, THINK AGAIN.  The gene originally came from Africa.  Alu is an example of a so-called "jumping gene" – a transposable DNA sequence that "reproduces" by copying itself and inserting into new chromosome locations. Alu is classified as a retroposon, because it is thought to require the retrovirus enzyme reverse transcriptase (rt) enzyme to make a mobile copy of itself.    Some scientists regard Alu as an example of "selfish DNA" – it encodes no protein and appears to exist only for its own replication. If one reduces the definition of life to "the perpetuation and amplification of a DNA sequence through time," then Alu is an extremely successful life form. However, other scientists believe that transposable elements have played an important role in evolution by creating new mutations and gene combinations.   Once an Alu inserts at a chromosome locus, it can copy itself for transposition, but there is no evidence that it is ever excised or lost from a chromosome locus.  So, each Alu insertion is stable through evolutionary time.  In today's world of the inferiority complex being the major poison of some (SEE www.sudanforum.com), some education may help.   The Australian Aborigines who were thought to be of a singular genetic line are now found to be a number of different Black/Tropical races including the prehistoric Indo-Negroid type who originally migrated from the Sahara about 100,000 years ago and followed a group of Negroid/Africans who left Africa for Melanesia at an earlier period. The Indo-Negroid population of South India and the various Negroid groups and isolated Indo-Negroid groups are the purest race in India today. The Negroid strain is found in most labeled “non-Negro” Indians (Ayrans) at a much greater amount than previously thought. As far as the British and many Northern Europeans (accused of inventing racism - actually the ancient invaders of India and the Semites invented racism) are concerned, anyone with African ancestry is “Black.”  Hence, it may shock many people living in England from Brazil, Latin America, India, North Africa, the Arab world, that they are classified as 'Black' in England, 'Shwartze' in Germany and other Northern European regions.  The British whites used to classify Irish as 'non-white' some years ago.  In fact, red-haired Irish (and British like those descended from the black 'Ethiopian' and black Namibian (Maghrebi) Soldiers who occupied the border between England and Scotland during the Roman period, some of their descendents are red-haired and are there are tens of thousands, perhaps millions of them living in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and a large number live in places like Germany and other parts of Europe.  It is well-known by many in the Black African-American community and among both ordinary people and scientists in Black America that red hair means a 'white' person has Black ancestors. Hence, the BRITISH AND OTHER EUROPEANS ALREADY HAVE ESTABLISHED A RACIAL COLOR SYSTEM TO PRESERVE THEIR OWN 'WHITE' GENES.   The Irish who are red-haired are partially mixed with the ancient Black Formorians who dominated much of Ireland a land said to have been inhabited by reddish brown "dwarves," similar to the reddish brown pygmies found in the Uturi Forests of Congo, Africa.   There are many oblique references to the presence of Black people in ancient Ireland. Ancient Irish mythology refers to the original inhabitants of the island as being a giant, sea-faring people called the Fomorians (Fomors), which means “dark of the sea.”  According to ancient lore, the Formorians were Cushitic people from the African continent who were often depicted as demons.  They defeated the first few incoming waves of invaders but could not defeat the Firbolgs, who settled the land and lived side-by-side with the native Fomors. As far as Europeans are concerned, anyone who looks Negroid/Africoid/Black is Black. Anyone who has evidence of Black genes through color or hair, skin, eyes—like the Brazilians, North Africans, East Indians are of Portuguese/Africans and are Black. As far as Germans and Swedes are concerned, Jews and Gypsies are of Africoid origins. Arabs are of Africoid origins.  So are Turks.   The British and other Europeans and even the Chinese who consider people from India as Negroes are 100 percent right. The Chinese, however, and the Japanese are also more Negro than anything else.   In fact, in Russia, Chechens, Armenians, and other Southern Russians are considered to have Black Negro origins and CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS PEOPLE ARE CLASSIFIED AS 'BLACK,' AND ARE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST.  The fact is, BLACKS HAVE LIVED IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA SINCE PREHISTORIC TIMES AND HAVE OCCUPIED THE BLACK SEA REGION SINCE THE TIME OF Senwosret/Sesostris (2000 BC) WHEN AFRICANS DOMINATED THE REGION (SEE 'HERODOTUS' ON THE COLCHIANS.   SEE www.cocoalounge.org also see www.cwo.com/~lucumi/runoko.html    See pictures of KONG-SAN FROM SOUTH AFRICA  http://community.webtv.net/nubianem  http://community.webtv.net/paulnubiaempire