#Global Conference Interpreting

[transcriptioncity]

What Are Simultaneous Interpreting Services?

What Are Simultaneous Interpreting Services? Simultaneous interpreting services involve real-time translation of spoken language from one language to another. These services are essential during conferences, international meetings, and large events with multilingual participants. Interpreters listen to the speaker in one language and simultaneously convey the message in another. This allows…

[tamiummiya-blog]

Elite Asia: Your Partner for Professional Interpreting Services in Malaysia

Count on Elite Asia to provide reliable and professional interpreting services in Malaysia. With our team of expert linguists and project managers, we ensure that your communication needs are met with precision and accuracy, enabling you to succeed in the global market.

[chicago-geniza]

the problem is that in a climate of "rampant misinformation" (the term 'misinformation' carries with it a host of implications, political and otherwise, that are baked into its intellectual history and as is often the case, relate to the cold war, so i don't generally like it). BUT. in such a climate you need to be able to independently evaluate information and "truth-claims" for veracity (not the same as legitimacy, which in my understanding is a function of source evaluation, not content evaluation--and as institutions become less reliable, the authority conferred on individuals by institutional credentials/credential-conferring systems in and of themselves come into doubt, as merritt noted MDs post junk science under their professional accounts etc., as others have said papers of record deny genocide or "just ask questions" in plainly spurious ways that undermine their journalistic integrity, etc.)--BUT. you need to be able to independently evaluate information and i CAN'T because i am STUPID in certain, specific ways. i need some types of information to be interpreted for me--e.g., statistics!--or i will come to incorrect conclusions, because i lack both the knowledge and the cognitive capacity (i have particular developmental + learning disabilities re: math and abstract reasoning that impair me here, more than the average non-specialist). this is the gap into which a lot of people who "do their own research" fall, and i am sympathetic, because like--if you can't trust the papal authorities, so to speak, to interpret the texts for you, then surely one's own take on the scriptures must be sufficient for daily life. but it isn't a lot of the time. because you can't be Protestant about public health data, or about the nuts and bolts of the global economy, or the law, or a bunch of other things. idk where i am going with this, briar was thinking along similar lines with genAI the other day too, i am just rambling. OGRE CANNOT EVALUATE INFORMATION. OGRE ONLY PICK UP SURFACE-LEVEL THEMES

[2and2makes5]

Media Analysis: Hetalia Axis Powers (Eps. 1 - 19)

I knew this one was coming. I've always known about Hetalia Axis Powers for the longest time, as I used to see it everywhere while growing up on the internet. I was never into it because of the amount of Yaoi content I've seen on the internet about it and I assumed that was what it was all about. However, I was mostly wrong about that. These first 19 episodes of Hetalia may seem like a light hearted comedy on the surface, but deep below, this show reflects deeper social and cultural dynamics embedded in the anime fandom. Using another reading from this week, World Conflict/World Conference: Axis Powers Hetalia by Sandra Annett, it can be shown how this show of personifying nations as attractive young men is a fantastic way to portray world history and how it manages to open up to a certain audience: young women.

Characters like Italy, with his infamous pasta obsession, or England, with his tsundere disdain for France, are not just historical caricatures; they’re built with "moe elements", designed to inspire an emotional connection. As Annett points out, these traits are very appealing to fujoshi fans, women who enjoy media with romantic relationships between male characters, who often consume this type of media for character dynamics rather than the story. For example, America's flashy "hero" persona contrasts well with Japan's restraint, which is a fan-fiction-creating factory in and of itself. This type of stuff allows for communities to grow and for creativity to flourish.

I'd also like to point out how short these episodes are. The five minutes that each episode lasts perfectly mirrors the idea of database consumption that Annett describes. One episode goes from talking about diet plans and then goes into personifying the Cold War's awkwardness. The idea here is that fans don't need a story; they need points for their favorite parings of characters, jokes, and interpretations.

Outside of the Yaoi and all that, Hetalia Axis Powers does do an excellent job at reimagining political topics in ways that people can better understand, turning history into something deeply personal and global.

[bumblebeeappletree]

Richard Reynolds, Environmentalist *www.guerrillagardening.org

Guerrilla Gardening : Why People Garden without Boundaries

"We fight not with guns, but with flowers(우리는 총대신 꽃으로 싸운다)"

한밤중, 버려진 땅에 처음으로 꽃을 심을 때만 해도 리처드 레이놀즈는 자신이 게릴라 가드너의 선봉이 되리라고는 생각도 하지 못했다. 공공장소를 무시하고, 흉물스러운 도시 한 구석을 무관심하게 바라보는 세력과 맞서 싸우게 될 줄은 꿈도 꾸지 못했던 것이다. 더욱이 자신이 범세계적인 운동의 선두에 서리라고는! 하지만 그는 곧 '조용한 혁명'의 중심에 서게 된다. 전 세계에 퍼져 있던 게릴라들이 자신이 경험한 각종 '꽃 심기 전투'의 경험을 나누기 위해 그가 만든 블로그GuerrillaGardening.org에 마구 쳐들어오기 시작한 탓이다. 그리고 얼마 안 가 이 블로그는 전국 방방곡곡에서 활동 중인 게릴라 가드너들의 베이스캠프가 되었다. 거기서는 황무지를 꽃밭으로 만들 '씨앗폭탄'이 제조되고, 바람처럼 빠르고 조용하게 작전을 수행할 수 있는 '전투 노하우가' 오고간다. 우리의 삶을 황폐하게 만드는 모든 것에 작지만 꾸준한 노력으로 대항하는 사람들, 자연을 배제한 건축과 무분별한 도시계획에 염증을 내는 의식 있는 전문가들, 그리고 자급자족 원칙에 따라 소박한 삶을 가꾸기 원하는 그린 전사들에게 그는 힘찬 위로의 씨앗이 될 것이다.

When Richard Reynolds planted a flower on unused small plot in the middle of night for the first time in his life, he never expected to be on the forefront of the "Guerrilla Gardening" movement. He had never thought of fighting against the forces that didn't care public spaces and cast a nonchalant look at abandoned corners of ever-sprawling cities. Nor had he dreamed of being at the vanguard of a global movement. But soon he stood at the center of a "silent revolution," as guerrillas around the world raided his blog GuerrilaGardening.org to share their story of flower-planting. There are people standing up against things that make our life dry and dull with small but steady endeavor, concerned experts who find the architecture with no consideration of nature and reckless urban planning sick and tired, and the green troops who wish to lead simple and harmonious life. Richard Reynolds is the seed of consolation and hope for these people.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

'퍼뜨릴만한 가치가 있는 아이디어'라는 정신의 TEDx 행사는 지역에서 사람들이 함께 모여 TED와 같은 경험을 나누고자 자발적으로 만든 프로그램입니다. TEDx 행사에서는 TEDTalks 영상과 실제 발표자의 강연이 결합되어 깊이있는 토론과 교류가 일어납니다. 이렇게 지역기반의 자생적으로 조직된 행사가 TEDx이며, 여기서 x는 독립적으로 조직된 TED 이벤트라는 것을 의미합니다. TED 컨퍼런스는 TEDx 프로그램에 대한 일반적인 가이드라인만 제공하며, 각각의 TEDx 이벤트는 자체적으로 조직되었습니다.

TEDxItaewon wants to give you a chance to network people, share your ideas, make a difference based on international/multicultural area, Itaewon, S.Korea.

TEDxItaewon은 한국의 이태원이라는 국제적/다문화적 도시를 기반으로 하여 여러분들께 사람들과 소통하며 아이디어를 공유하고 변화를 만들어 내도록 기회를 드리고자 합니다.

TEDxItaewon 2012, sponsored by Ministry of Environment, Korea, was held for August 11 (Sat), 2012 with 1,000-strong audience. The theme 'Nature+' of the conference is set to raise public awareness of the nature and awaken communities to the beauty of nature and urban life in harmony. TEDxItaewon2012 consists of three sessions as below, supported by simultaneous interpretation (Kor-Eng);

1. Rediscover the wonder 2. Rebreathe the world 3. Reframe the future

Date : August 11, 2012

Venue : Auditorium, COEX

Size : 1,000 seats

www.tedxitaewon.org

www.facebook.com/tedxitaewon

[saintmeghanmarkle]

Suffer the little children by u/Mickleborough

Suffer the little children A little pattern seems to be emerging, beginning with Sussexes finding an excuse to appear in public wearing poppies close to Remembrance Day, 11 November.On 7 November they delivered a video message at the inaugural Global Ministerial Conference on Violence Against Children, in Colombia, the one to which they weren’t invited.https://ift.tt/83mQxlk poppy on lapel because, you know, it’s good to show that you remember the fallen. The way the Royal Family does.(NB This is much smoother than their initial ‘personal remembrance’ of war dead on Remembrance Day 2020, by traipsing around Los Angeles National Cemetery with a private professional photographer in tow:https://ift.tt/tEv2RIG Mail archived / unarchivedLest we forget, this, too, was the year that Harry’s request to lay a personal wreath at the Cenotaph in London, on Remembrance Day, was rejected by the late Queen Elizabeth. Much victimhood by Harry, overlooking the fact that personal wreaths aren’t laid on that occasion. But we digress.)Hot on the heels of the video message (about children) come these headlines. According to the Daily Telegraph archived / unarchived:https://ift.tt/dXh09xU wants to take the ‘spirit of the Invictus Games’, with its ‘message of resilience and courage’, to ‘schools worldwide’.Children again.Why children? Some reasons spring to mind:- Associating with children implies that one’s caring, nurturing, trustworthy, etc etc etc.- Children are cute and guaranteed to garner attention.- Children are a captive audience - they’re already grouped in schools, at no cost: no hiring venues, promotion, fear of empty seats.- Children aren’t critical - no jeers, boos, or awkward questions from them.In my opinion, imparting the values of resilience and courage via the Invictus Games is not very suitable. It could be interpreted as telling children that if they join the armed forces; see action; and suffer life-changing injuries, then Invictus will help them heal.This isn’t quite the same as encouraging them to be disciplined in sport so that they might, one day, compete in the Olympics. Or to work hard and become successful entrepreneurs (eh, Meghan?). Far more positive messages.Trust the Daily Mail to focus on the shady side:https://ift.tt/iQoVDfe will be filled by said school kids, their siblings, and their parents. post link: https://ift.tt/PJAkVFh author: Mickleborough submitted: November 19, 2024 at 10:17PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"In the last days of the Soviet regime, dissident artists within the Soviet Union represented its past history as a dreamworld, depicting the crumbling of the Soviet era before it occurred in fact. For this generation, the moment of awakening replaced that of revolutionary rupture as the defining phenomenological experience. Exemplary is a 1983 painting of Aleksandr Kosolapov, The Manifesto, in which, against a martial, red sky and amidst ruins that include a bust of Lenin, three putti try to decipher a surviving copy of Marx’s Communist Manifesto. The dreamer who is still inside the dream of history accepts its logic as inexorable. But at the moment of awakening, when the dream’s coherence dissipates, all that is left are scattered images. The compelling nature of their connection has been shattered.

It is crucial to recognize that the end of the Soviet era was not limited spatially to the territory of the Soviet Union. The Bolshevik experiment, no matter how many specifically Russian cultural traits it developed, was vitally attached to the Western, modernizing project, from which it cannot be extricated without causing the project itself to fall to pieces—including its cult of historical progress. Those who at this stage of awakening attempt the task of political interpretation are not to compare themselves with revolutionary prophets. They do better to approach the dream fragments like soothsayers who read the entrails of animals before a battle, not to predict which army will win, but to decipher what forces of collective fantasy exist to withstand the violence of any army, aiding those forces by exposing the deceptive representations on which every army depends.

“History” has failed us. No new chronology will erase that fact. History’s betrayal is so profound that it cannot be forgiven simply by tacking on a “post-” era to it (postmodernism, post-Marxism). There is real tragedy in the shattering of the dreams of modernity—of social utopia, historical progress, and material plenty for all. But to submit to melancholy at this point would be to confer on the past a wholeness that never did exist, confusing the loss of the dream with the loss of the dream’s realization. The alternative of political cynicism is equally problematic, however, because in denying possibilities for change it prevents them; anticipating defeat, it brings defeat into being. Rather than taking a self-ironizing distance from history’s failure, we—the “we” who may have nothing more nor less in common than sharing this time—would do well to bring the ruins up close and work our way through the rubble in order to rescue the utopian hopes that modernity engendered, because we cannot afford to let them disappear. There is no reason to believe that those utopian hopes caused history to go wrong, and every reason, based on evidence of the abuses of power that propelled history forward, to believe the opposite.

When an era crumbles, “History breaks down into images, not into stories.” Without the narration of continuous progress, the images of the past resemble night dreams, the “first mark” of which, Freud tells us, is their emancipation from “the spatial and temporal order of events.” Such images, as dream images, are complex webs of memory and desire wherein past experience is rescued and, perhaps, redeemed. Only partial interpretations of these images are possible, and in a critical light. But they may be helpful if they illuminate patches of the past that seem to have a charge of energy about them precisely because the dominant narrative does not connect them seamlessly to the present. The historical particulars might then be free to enter into different constellations of meaning. The juxtaposition of these past fragments with our present concerns might have the power to challenge the complacency of our times, when “history” is said by its victors to have successfully completed its course, and the new global capitalist hegemony claims to have run the competition off the field.

To be engaged in the historical task of surprising rather than explaining the present—more avant-garde than vanguard in its temporality—may prove at the end of the century to be politically worth our while."

- Susan Buck-Morss, Dreamworld and Catastrophe: The Passing of Mass Utopia in East and West. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 2000. p. 67-69.

[mariacallous]

For more than eight decades, the word “Munich” has meant one thing in international relations: a catastrophic policy of appeasement. Now, “Munich” may soon take on a fresh—and possibly even more fraught—meaning: the voluntary surrender of global hegemony.

In a series of remarks leading up to the just-ended Munich Security Conference, senior Trump administration officials—including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio—signaled that the United States is substantially retreating from the greatest alliance in history, NATO, and that China and Russia could have what they’ve long sought: a “multipolar world,” in Rubio’s words. This was capped by a blustery, insulting speech in Munich by U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance—remarks that some European officials interpreted as “the opening salvo in a trans-Atlantic divorce proceeding,” according to foreign-policy analyst Richard Fontaine.

Rubio, accompanied by President Donald Trump’s national security advisor, Michael Waltz, then flew to Saudi Arabia to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov—all without European or Ukrainian participation. The object: to pursue a peace settlement in the Russia-Ukraine war and, as Rubio said Tuesday, to “unlock the door” to “incredible opportunities that exist to partner with the Russians geopolitically.”

Trump even said that he wanted to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over allegations of war crimes, back into the G-8 group of nations.

Astonishingly, Trump later appeared to echo Russian talking points by blaming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky—who complained about being left out of the Russia talks in Saudi Arabia—for starting the war, which was begun by Putin in 2022.

“You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” Trump told Zelensky in remarks to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort. And all this is on top of the new tariff war that Trump just launched against the United States’ closest friends in the European Union.

Little of this comes as a complete surprise. Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement has been signaling such a shift for months, if not years. And the U.S.-orchestrated global order—which, for most of the past 80 years since World War II, U.S. officials of both political parties fully supported—was starting to fall apart even before Trump began suggesting that he was no longer interested in being leader of the free world.

But by brazenly treating some of Washington’s key allies as adversaries—and its autocratic adversaries as partners—Trump may be administering the death blow to a once-stable world system in which Washington served as overseer of a powerful alliance of democracies. As another Munich attendee, Georgetown University scholar Charles Kupchan, put it to me: “The atmosphere in Munich was that of a funeral.”

How far could the unwinding of the U.S.-led global system go? It’s not yet clear. Moving at breakneck speed, Trump appears to be doing far more damage than expected only a month into office.

Also, one of the messages that Europe took from Vance’s appearance in Munich on Valentine’s Day was not just the decidedly unloving content of his speech—in which the vice president openly embraced far-right European politics while ostensibly defending free speech—but the implicit staying power of that message given Vance’s youth.

Europe can no longer pretend, in other words, that U.S. politics has been briefly hijacked by a 78-year-old huckster (as many of them see Trump) who will soon depart the scene. Vance is just 40 years old and perceived as the heir to the neo-isolationist America First movement (though Trump himself is not quite ready to grant him that title).

And the veep and his MAGA supporters have as little love as Trump does for what they see as an all-too-leftist Europe. The fact that Vance could visit Dachau one day and meet the next day with Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party (which has been criticized for its connections with openly neo-Nazi groups) —all without betraying any sense of historical irony—suggests that the postwar trans-Atlantic consensus may really be over. It’s noteworthy that Vance’s speech to the same Munich conference a year ago, when he was still a U.S. senator, was titled: “Europe Must Stand on Its Own Two Feet on Defense.”

Indeed, Vance’s bizarre speech on Feb. 14—which had nothing to do with security and everything to do with culture and politics—should probably be seen mainly as an appeal to his MAGA home audience and perhaps the effective start to his 2028 presidential campaign.

“There are folks inside the administration who are simply thrilled to be bringing tears to the eyes of the Europeans,” said one Republican international relations expert familiar with the Trump officials’ thinking, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “There is a lingering anger from Trump’s first term toward the bien-pensant crowd in Brussels who openly criticized Trump’s domestic politics and came out against the Dobbs decision.” (That was the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion.)

Moreover, says this expert, there is an emerging dominance of “restrainers” or realists in the new administration who want to scale down the United States’ global presence. The Defense Department is already developing plans to remove all remaining U.S. troops in Syria, and it will possibly shift some of the troops deployed in Europe to the U.S. southern border, the expert said.

It is striking that even Rubio, once considered a traditional Republican hawk—that is, a stalwart believer in U.S. global hegemony—appears to be surrendering to a new global status quo. In a Jan. 30 interview with conservative pundit Megyn Kelly, Rubio effectively conceded to Russia and China what both nations had long been seeking: that we now live in a multipolar world and that Washington’s unipolar power had merely been “an anomaly.”

“It was a product of the end of the Cold War, but eventually you were going to reach back to a point where you had a multipolar world, multigreat powers in different parts of the planet,” Rubio said.

The problem, however, is that Trump often behaves in ways that suggest that he thinks the United States is still the global hegemon.

“He thinks America’s bargaining position is incredibly strong, that we can get massively better deals at better cost,” said William Wohlforth, an international relations scholar at Dartmouth College. “So that’s not really consistent with this idea of multipolarity,” he added.

It’s fashionable to write that Trump just makes policies up as he goes along, such as his seemingly immoral—and monumentally ahistorical—idea of ridding Gaza of Palestinians and turning it into the “Riviera” of the Middle East. But in fact, Trump has been remarkably consistent in his view that Washington has no business being caretaker to the world—going back to the late 1980s, when as a real-estate magnate, he took out a full-page New York Times ad that said, “The world is laughing at American politicians as we protect ships we don’t own, carrying oil we don’t need, destined for allies who won’t help.”

In some ways, Trump is a reversion to the pre-World War II norm of Republican geopolitics. In recent weeks, much has been made of the 47th president’s 19th-century approach to power—stemming from his bid for greater hemispheric primacy over Greenland and the Panama Canal, as well as his embrace of the tariff policies similar to those of former President William McKinley.

But he also represents a return to the early-to-mid 20th century Taft Republicanism, named for Sen. Robert Taft. Once known as “Mr. Republican,” Taft fought the New Deal and backed the America First Committee, the pre-World War II version of Trump’s movement. Former President Dwight Eisenhower silenced that isolationist wing of the GOP 70 years ago as the Cold War got underway. Now it seems to be back, redefined as “national conservatism.”

Former President Joe Biden worked hard to restore the U.S. role as the supposed overseer of the global order and portray Trump, and his disruptive first term, as an outlier. But the main message of the 2024 election was that it was Biden, not Trump, who was the interlude from history. The advent of Trump II—and the way that he’s upended Washington and the world order in just a month—shows that history is returning with a vengeance.

The question is, how much of that history will return? Without U.S. leadership, will we revert to the old-style balance-of-power geopolitics that ruled for centuries, including for part of the Cold War, in which weaker powers join together to counterbalance the strong?

Much now depends on the European nations in NATO, many of which are pledging a new independence in the wake of Munich—perhaps even a balancing against what some now see as a rogue U.S. power.

“But they don’t know yet what to do about it,” said Jeremy Shapiro, a research director for the European Council on Foreign Relations. He added: “The extent of their dependence in security, economic, and energy terms on the U.S. means that they are currently almost helpless in the face of a predatory American administration. Even if they now have a broader consensus about the problem, they have little consensus on the solution.”

That became clear on Monday, when French President Emmanuel Macron, in his latest bid to drive Europe toward “strategic autonomy,” called an emergency meeting in Brussels. On the agenda was developing a strategy to protest Washington’s decision to leave European leaders out of the negotiations with Russia. As Politico described it, “Leaders came up with no new joint ideas, squabbled over sending troops to Ukraine, and once again mouthed platitudes on aiding Ukraine and boosting defense spending.”

Many defense experts believe that, even with an all-out effort, it would take more than a decade for European countries to develop the intelligence and logistical capabilities, as well as cross-border defense industries, to come close to replacing the United States.

Moreover, to adapt a saying by the great Scottish economist Adam Smith, there is “a great deal of ruin” in an international system. It takes a long time, in other words, to destroy 80 years of institution building, much less a post-World War II globalized economy still held together by an iron law: Countries must take part in it to prosper. Meanwhile, Russia is badly weakened and drained by its bloody three-year debacle in Ukraine, and China is not close to being on par with either Washington’s power or its alliance system.

Thus, while what we are witnessing is clearly something more than a simple reset of relations—especially with European nations still seething over the rebukes they got from Vance and Hegseth last week—it is also probably something less than a return to a state of nature. Even in a multipolar world, the United States is still the dominant power.

“I don’t see it going all the way back to pure spheres of influence or a balance of power system, in which barriers to territorial conquest are lowered,” said Wohlforth, the Dartmouth scholar. “The U.S. has alliances with countries that possess 70 percent of world GDP. This means that any revisionist power still has to contemplate an unbelievably high cost if it wants to transform the status quo through territorial change.”

Putin has found that out with the loss of hundreds of thousands of troops and a great deal of status since he invaded Ukraine on Feb. 22, 2022. “He’s probably sacrificed 2 percent of his GDP for the next 10 years,” Wohlforth said. “He’s sacrificed modernization and diversity of his export portfolio, and he’s sacrificed his autonomy, since he’s dependent on help from China, Iran, and North Korea. I doubt that other powers [such as China] will want to emulate that experience.”

Some Russia experts believe that if Trump handles relations right, he can actually restabilize Europe and induce Putin to stop where he is with partial control of eastern Ukraine, without further threatening any Central European countries.

“The world is a much more dangerous place when the world’s two leading nuclear powers don’t have a substantive dialogue ongoing, and that’s been true for the last three years,” said Thomas Graham, a Russia expert at the Council on Foreign Relations who once worked for U.S. President George W. Bush.

“Restarting the dialogue is extremely important. One reason Russia has welcomed this engagement by the Trump administration is that it validates Russia as a great power. And in a strange way, Russia’s own sense of itself is dependent on recognition from the United States. That is a point of leverage for the United States if you know how to play it.”

Graham believes that Putin only wants to exert direct control over the “Slavic core” of the old Russian empire, including Belarus, parts of Ukraine, and perhaps parts of Kazakhstan. “He’s not interested in the Baltics,” Graham said. “He may want continuing influence in the Caucasus and Central Asia, but he doesn’t want outright control.”

Kupchan, the Georgetown scholar and a specialist in trans-Atlantic relations, agreed in part. “In a sense, what Trump is doing needs to be done. I think a bilateral dialogue between Russia and the United States is overdue,” said Kupchan, who served on President Barack Obama’s National Security Council.

“I just wish they knew what they were doing. They keep giving away the store before the negotiations even begin,” Kupchan added. “And the insults are so unnecessary. To have the vice president of the United States show up and insult his hosts and tell them they need to start dealing with a party that has its roots in National Socialism is outrageous.”

Trump’s approach to China and Asia—and whether the United States will seek to retreat from a possible defense of Taiwan, as Trump has sometimes hinted—remains to be seen.

In the face of Washington’s retreat, the world is clearly returning, to some degree, to the balance of power geopolitics that has reigned since ancient times. What we don’t know yet is what happens when this balance of power is reinforced by nuclear deterrence—and, perhaps, enforced by cyberdeterrence and other new tech threats.

How stable might it be? The next four years will tell.

[luninosity]

The CFP is up for this year's Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA) conference! As your Fantasy & the Fantastic Area Chair, I encourage you to send proposals my way, if you've got something dealing with any aspect of, well, fantasy and the fantastic! Happy to consider proposals from independent scholars or creative folks, as well. Please ask me if you've got any questions!

We will be in sunny Palm Springs this year, in November, so come visit Southern California and hang out with us! (There are many other lovely sessions too - from Disney to Food Studies to Medieval Literature - though I will of course encourage you to submit to the Fantasy area! :D )

I'll copy my specific CFP below, and the link to my session - deadline for proposals is April 30!

Fantasy & the Fantastic

Fantasy and the supernatural, broadly defined, shape many popular narratives and universes—from Lord of the Rings to Game of Thrones, from World of Warcraft to The Witcher, from classical and medieval tales of monsters and dragons to the worlds of N.K. Jemisin, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, and Ursula K. Le Guin. As a genre, fantasy engages with questions of rhetoric, identity, and power in multiple ways, across media, subgenres, and cultural traditions; the enchantment of fantastic and supernatural narratives casts a persistent and global spell. For this standing session, all proposals that explore fantasy's evolutions and impacts, the fantastic and the supernatural, and/or intersections of fantasy and diverse genres, media, traditions, or time periods are invited.

Proposals which intersect with the PAMLA conference theme of “Translation in Action” are welcome, particularly those which consider related questions of translation, mediation, interpretation, power and subversion, challenges and impossibilities and discoveries, histories and practice and representation of translation, language-learning and world-construction, and cosmopolitanism. Direct link to Fantasy area here!

General PAMLA CFP here!

[thatstormygeek]

I think it's true that Obama can't say something true like "of course there are Nazis at a Trump boat parade. Trump is a Nazi, and Nazism is pretty popular in this country. Every Trump boat parade is a Nazi boat parade." If he had said this, it would be absolutely true, and also would be seen as radical and unacceptable and abnormal and divisive in a way that being an openly Nazi candidate simply is not.

But again the syllogism passes unremarked: Because Trump has the support of a large percentage of the electorate, he cannot be the sort of terrible person that he manifestly is, because it would be impossible apparently for an aspiring Nazi dictator to gain the support of a large and racially aggrieved percentage of a population. Harris meanwhile also enjoys the support of a large percentage of the electorate, but this support doesn't confer similar immunity. Only supremacists are real Americans. Only their support confers morality. Trump's deranged ramblings are energetic if scattered, because they have to be. Laura Ingraham didn't give a Nazi salute back in 2016, even though she did, because she can't have. The Nazis at the boat parade are an outlier and an unwelcome fringe, even though they aren't, because they have to be. Donald Trump isn't a racist, even though he is, because he can't be.

Think of all the other things that are political dynamite. It's "impossible" to say that the police are a militarized authoritarian instrument of racist brutality and should be defunded and the money distributed to programs that would provide actual solutions. It's "impossible" to say that immigrants are not a danger but a great strength, and that our goal should be borders as open as it is possible to make them, not just for the sake of hospitality but for the sake of economic thriving and global safety. It's "impossible" to say that our militarized mission of empire is not only murderous but counterproductive, a danger to us all, and should be drawn down, defunded, and minimized. It's "impossible" to say that sending bombs and "ironclad" political support to enable Israel's horrific ethnic cleansing in the Middle East represents a moral catastrophe of almost unimaginable ramifications. It's "impossible" to say that the United States is a country founded in genocide and slavery, and remains a supremacist nation. Is it impossible to say to say such things? I don't know. It seems likely. I know that most Democrats seem to find it impossible. I am often told that they can't say these things, because portions of the Democratic base won't accept them, and we'll lose the independent votes we need to win. I don't argue much these days, even if I have my skepticisms about the efficacy of winning support by not differentiating from the alternatives. I'm not a campaign strategist, and I'm shit at interpreting polls, and I've been wrong enough times about election results to no longer engage in our national pasttime of confidently proclaiming my predicted outcomes as accomplished facts. But I will say that if this is correct—if the only correct math for Harris to defeat Trump is bloody math—then it is even more dispiriting than the fact that Democrats support such things, because it suggests that far more of my fellow citizens are still in the spiritual death of foundational American supremacy than I would have hoped. I know I wish it weren't true if it is true. I know many Democrats don't even seem to want to say these impossible things to say, so I don't think political strategy is the only preventing factor.

[jcmarchi]

Moments Lab Secures $24 Million to Redefine Video Discovery With Agentic AI

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/moments-lab-secures-24-million-to-redefine-video-discovery-with-agentic-ai/

Moments Lab Secures $24 Million to Redefine Video Discovery With Agentic AI

Moments Lab, the AI company redefining how organizations work with video, has raised $24 million in new funding, led by Oxx with participation from Orange Ventures, Kadmos, Supernova Invest, and Elaia Partners. The investment will supercharge the company’s U.S. expansion and support continued development of its agentic AI platform — a system designed to turn massive video archives into instantly searchable and monetizable assets.

The heart of Moments Lab is MXT-2, a multimodal video-understanding AI that watches, hears, and interprets video with context-aware precision. It doesn’t just label content — it narrates it, identifying people, places, logos, and even cinematographic elements like shot types and pacing. This natural-language metadata turns hours of footage into structured, searchable intelligence, usable across creative, editorial, marketing, and monetization workflows.

But the true leap forward is the introduction of agentic AI — an autonomous system that can plan, reason, and adapt to a user’s intent. Instead of simply executing instructions, it understands prompts like “generate a highlight reel for social” and takes action: pulling scenes, suggesting titles, selecting formats, and aligning outputs with a brand’s voice or platform requirements.

“With MXT, we already index video faster than any human ever could,” said Philippe Petitpont, CEO and co-founder of Moments Lab. “But with agentic AI, we’re building the next layer — AI that acts as a teammate, doing everything from crafting rough cuts to uncovering storylines hidden deep in the archive.”

From Search to Storytelling: A Platform Built for Speed and Scale

Moments Lab is more than an indexing engine. It’s a full-stack platform that empowers media professionals to move at the speed of story. That starts with search — arguably the most painful part of working with video today.

Most production teams still rely on filenames, folders, and tribal knowledge to locate content. Moments Lab changes that with plain text search that behaves like Google for your video library. Users can simply type what they’re looking for — “CEO talking about sustainability” or “crowd cheering at sunset” — and retrieve exact clips within seconds.

Key features include:

AI video intelligence: MXT-2 doesn’t just tag content — it describes it using time-coded natural language, capturing what’s seen, heard, and implied.

Search anyone can use: Designed for accessibility, the platform allows non-technical users to search across thousands of hours of footage using everyday language.

Instant clipping and export: Once a moment is found, it can be clipped, trimmed, and exported or shared in seconds — no need for timecode handoffs or third-party tools.

Metadata-rich discovery: Filter by people, events, dates, locations, rights status, or any custom facet your workflow requires.

Quote and soundbite detection: Automatically transcribes audio and highlights the most impactful segments — perfect for interview footage and press conferences.

Content classification: Train the system to sort footage by theme, tone, or use case — from trailers to corporate reels to social clips.

Translation and multilingual support: Transcribes and translates speech, even in multilingual settings, making content globally usable.

This end-to-end functionality has made Moments Lab an indispensable partner for TV networks, sports rights holders, ad agencies, and global brands. Recent clients include Thomson Reuters, Amazon Ads, Sinclair, Hearst, and Banijay — all grappling with increasingly complex content libraries and growing demands for speed, personalization, and monetization.

Built for Integration, Trained for Precision

MXT-2 is trained on 1.5 billion+ data points, reducing hallucinations and delivering high confidence outputs that teams can rely on. Unlike proprietary AI stacks that lock metadata in unreadable formats, Moments Lab keeps everything in open text, ensuring full compatibility with downstream tools like Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Brightcove, YouTube, and enterprise MAM/CMS platforms via API or no-code integrations.

“The real power of our system is not just speed, but adaptability,” said Fred Petitpont, co-founder and CTO. “Whether you’re a broadcaster clipping sports highlights or a brand licensing footage to partners, our AI works the way your team already does — just 100x faster.”

The platform is already being used to power everything from archive migration to live event clipping, editorial research, and content licensing. Users can share secure links with collaborators, sell footage to external buyers, and even train the system to align with niche editorial styles or compliance guidelines.

From Startup to Standard-Setter

Founded in 2016 by twin brothers Frederic Petitpont and Phil Petitpont, Moments Lab began with a simple question: What if you could Google your video library? Today, it’s answering that — and more — with a platform that redefines how creative and editorial teams work with media. It has become the most awarded indexing AI in the video industry since 2023 and shows no signs of slowing down.

“When we first saw MXT in action, it felt like magic,” said Gökçe Ceylan, Principal at Oxx. “This is exactly the kind of product and team we look for — technically brilliant, customer-obsessed, and solving a real, growing need.”

With this new round of funding, Moments Lab is poised to lead a category that didn’t exist five years ago — agentic AI for video — and define the future of content discovery.

[transcriptioncity]

Translation Services for Clinical Studies and Clinical Reviews

Accurate translation services for clinical studies are crucial for medical research. Precise translations ensure that clinical reviews maintain the integrity and reliability of the original data. Inaccuracies can lead to misinterpretation; compromising patient safety and the efficacy of treatments. Leveraging professional translation services can enhance communication between international…

[darkmaga-returns]

Trump hints at third term. Trump 'Very Angry' At Putin. Trump threatens Iran. Carney is conflicted with Trump. Hamas executes protesters. No free speech in UK. Reiner Fuellmich Update

Lioness of Judah Ministry

Mar 31, 2025

Trump hints at third term: I'm not joking

US President makes his most explicit remark yet about seeking a third term, stating “I’m not joking” when asked about the possibility.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday made his most explicit remark yet about seeking a third term, stating, “I’m not joking” about the possibility. His comments raise questions about whether he is considering ways to challenge the constitutional limit that prevents US presidents from serving more than two terms. “There are methods which you could do it,” Trump said in a phone interview with NBC News, though he also tempered expectations, adding, “It is far too early to think about it.”

REVEALED: The Constitutional Loophole That Could Extend Trump’s Presidency Until 2037

Constitutional scholars believe they have identified a loophole in the Constitution that would allow President Trump (or any President) to serve more than two terms. The revelation stems from a 1999 Minnesota Law Review paper by Professor Bruce Peabody.

The move, which some dismiss as improbable, could be facilitated by a new interpretation of the 22nd Amendment. Academic circles, Congress, and staunch Trump supporters have discussed exploiting a potential loophole in the language of the amendment. The 22nd Amendment, ratified to prevent any individual from being elected as President more than twice, holds a phrase that experts argue does not restrict someone from returning to office if they were not re-elected President.

Greenland, Denmark Push Back On Vance's Visit

Denmark and Greenland disagreed with the U.S. vice president’s claims that they allowed Chinese and Russian infiltration...

Leadership in Denmark and Greenland are pushing back against the Trump administration’s proposal to take over Greenland following a controversial visit to the territory by Vice President JD Vance. Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland’s new prime minister, said on March 28 that Vance’s visit signaled a “lack of respect,” and called for political unity to combat foreign interference. “At a time when we as a people are under pressure, we must stand together,” Nielsen said during a press conference in Nuuk on March 28.

GOP HQ Hit in Suspected Arson Attack

An investigation is underway following an alleged arson attack on the Republican Party headquarters in Albuquerque.

The incident occurred early Sunday morning, causing substantial damage to the front entryway and smoke damage throughout the building. The Albuquerque Fire Department responded to the incident just before 6 a.m., managing to bring the fire under control within five minutes, with no casualties reported. The Republican Party of New Mexico has condemned the attack, which Chairwoman Amy Barela characterized as a “deliberate act of arson,” intensified by messages spray-painted on the premises, including the phrase “ICE=KKK.”

Federal Judge Halts Shutdown Of Voice Of America

VOA employees secured a court order that prevents the Trump administration from shuttering the outlet, for now.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from dismantling Voice of America (VOA), the government-funded international news service whose 1,200 reporters and employees were placed on paid leave earlier this month. The judge, J. Paul Oetken of the Southern District of New York, on Friday issued a temporary restraining order in favor of VOA employees and their unions. The order prevents the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees VOA, from shutting down the broadcasting network and its associated radio programs.

Trump says reciprocal tariffs will target all countries

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that reciprocal tariffs he is set to announce this week will include all nations, not just a smaller group of 10 to 15 countries with the biggest trade imbalances.

Trump has promised to unveil a massive tariff plan on Wednesday, which he has dubbed "Liberation Day." He has already imposed tariffs on aluminum, steel and autos, along with increased tariffs on all goods from China. "You'd start with all countries," he told reporters aboard Air Force One. "Essentially all of the countries that we're talking about." White House economics adviser Kevin Hassett recently told Fox Business that the administration's tariffs focus would be on 10 to 15 countries with the worst trade imbalances, though he did not list them.

[misfitwashere]

Friends,

Shortly after the apparent second assassination attempt against Trump, Elon Musk responded in a now deleted post: “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala 🤔 ????” 

Musk later said his post was intended as a joke. But it could be interpreted as a call to murder Biden and Harris — at least by one of the 198 million followers of Musk who initially received it. Presumably this is why the Secret Service is investigating it.

Under 18 U.S. Code Section 871, threatening a president or vice president or inciting someone to harm them is a felony that can result in a large fine and up to five years in prison. 

Yet even as Musk posted a potential death threat against the sitting commander-in-chief, his multiple defense contracts with the U.S. government have given him access to highly sensitive information. 

Reportedly, Musk has been given security clearance notwithstanding his admitted use of drugs (Musk says he has submitted to random drug testing at the request of the government), including smoking weed in public and using ketamine (for which he claims to have a prescription).

Quite apart from the drugs, when was the last time the U.S. government gave access to sensitive national security information to someone who posted a potential death threat against the president and vice president, even if he later called it a joke? 

Underlying this is a broader question: When in history has one unelected individual held such sway over American national security? 

Musk’s SpaceX has nearly total control of the world’s satellite internet through its Starlink unit. With little regulation or oversight, Musk has already put more than 4,500 Starlink satellites into orbit around the globe, accounting for more than half of all active satellites. Musk plans to have as many as 42,000satellites in orbit in coming years. 

Space X and its Starlink system have become strategically critical to American security. Starlink is providing connectivity to the U.S. Navy. The U.S. Space Force signed a $70 million contract late last year to provide it with military-grade low-earth-orbit satellite capabilities. According to Reuters, the National Reconnaissance Office, which oversees U.S. spy satellites, has a $1.8 billion contract with SpaceX. 

This gives Musk — the richest person in the world — remarkable power. Single-handedly, he can decide to shut down a country’s access to Starlink and the internet. He also can also gain access to sensitive information gathered by Starlink. “Between, Tesla, Starlink & Twitter, I may have more real-time global economic data in one head than anyone ever,” Musk tweetedin April 2023. 

Meanwhile, NASA has increasingly outsourced spaceflight projects to SpaceX, including billions in contracts for multiple moon trips and $843 million to build a vehicle that will take the International Space Station out of commission.

Conflicts of interest between Musk’s ventures around the world and U.S. national security abound, and they are multiplying.

When Putin attacked Ukraine, Musk and SpaceX’s Starlink provided Ukraine with internet access, enabling the country to plan attacks and defend itself. (This was not a charitable move by Musk; most of the 20,000 terminals in the country were funded by outside sources such as the U.S. government, the United Kingdom, and Poland). 

But in the fall of 2022, when Ukraine entered territory contested by Russia, Musk and Space X abruptly severed the connectivity. Musk explained at the time that “Starlink was barred from turning on satellite beams in Crimea at the time, because doing so would violate U.S. sanctions against Russia!” 

But who was Musk to decide what actions would or would not violate U.S. sanctions? 

In fact, Musk was trying to push Ukraine to agree to Russia’s terms for ending the war. 

At a conference in Aspen attended by business and political figures, Musk appeared to support Putin. “He was onstage, and he said, ‘We should be negotiating. Putin wants peace — we should be negotiating peace with Putin,’” Reid Hoffman, co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn, recalled. Musk seemed to have “bought what Putin was selling, hook, line, and sinker.” 

Soon thereafter, Musk tweeted a proposal for his own peace plan, calling for referenda to redraw the borders of Ukraine and grant Russia control of Crimea. In subsequent tweets, Musk portrayed a Russian victory as virtually inevitable and attached maps highlighting eastern Ukrainian territories, some of which, he argued, “prefer Russia.”

U.S. foreign policy experts also worry about conflicts of interest posed by Musk’s acquisition of Twitter (now X), given his business relationships and communications with the Chinese government. China has used X for disinformation campaigns. 

Some are concerned that China may have leverage over Musk due to his giant Tesla factory in Shanghai, which accounts for over half of Tesla’s global deliveries and the bulk of its profits, and the battery factory he’s building there. “Elon Musk has deep financial exposure to China,” warned Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee. 

Most of these concerns, by the way, came before Musk reactivated the accounts of conspiracy theorists and white nationalists on X and began pushing his own right-wing narrative on the platform, and before he announced his support for Trump in the upcoming election and posted a potential incitement to assassinate Biden and Harris. 

Elon Musk poses a clear and present danger to American national security. The sooner the U.S. government revokes his security clearance, terminates its contracts with him and the entities he controls, and builds our own alternatives to Starlink and Space X, the safer we will be. 

[bmv1]

Yaroslav Ivanov’s Vision on Bitcoin Shortage and the Role of Financial Giants

As the cryptocurrency landscape evolves, a significant trend has emerged: a potential shortage of Bitcoin. This challenge has been magnified by the increasing participation of financial giants such as BlackRock, whose foray into the Bitcoin market signals a seismic shift in institutional adoption. With demand increasingly outpacing supply, the implications for both institutional and retail investors, as well as the broader financial system, are profound.

At the forefront of the blockchain industry stands Yaroslav Ivanov, Chief Visionary Officer (CVO) at ALTA – Blockchain Labs. With 9 years of experience working alongside top projects in the CoinMarketCap Top 30, he has played a crucial role in shaping the industry through consulting, strategic partnerships, and the selection of promising startups for investment. He has played a crucial role in shaping the industry through consulting, strategic partnerships, and the selection of promising startups for investment. Notably, he was one of the pioneers in advocating for education within the blockchain space, recognizing its importance in fostering a knowledgeable community. His early commitment to educational initiatives has significantly contributed to the industry’s growth, equipping stakeholders with the necessary tools and insights to navigate the evolving landscape of blockchain technology.

His exceptional networking abilities have facilitated collaborations with leading blockchain projects, significantly enhancing ALTA’s influence in the industry. By strategically selecting numerous startups for the blockchain accelerator, he has positioned ALTA as a vital player in nurturing innovation and growth. Furthermore, his guidance has been instrumental in advising governments and institutions on fostering innovation while ensuring market integrity and consumer protection, reinforcing ALTA’s reputation as a leader in the blockchain ecosystem.

Yaroslav’s impact is further underscored by his selection as a speaker at prestigious industry events, including Consensus 2023 and 2024, SF TechWeek 2023, NY TechWeek 2023, and The Future of Tech – OnTrend. Being invited to speak at these renowned conferences signifies his esteemed position among industry leaders and experts. He was chosen from a pool of distinguished professionals, highlighting his notable achievements and contributions to the blockchain sector. He was chosen from a pool of distinguished professionals, highlighting his notable achievements and contributions to the blockchain sector. His experience and accomplishments met the strict criteria set for speakers, ensuring that only the most qualified and respected experts share their insights at industry-leading events.

At these events, Yaroslav shared valuable insights on the future of the crypto landscape, showcasing his role as a key contributor to the industry’s evolution and solidifying ALTA’s reputation as a leading force in blockchain innovation. These accolades and recognitions not only reflect his personal accomplishments but also enhance the prestige of ALTA Blockchain Labs within the global blockchain community.

Recent reports indicate that Bitcoin ETFs have accumulated 247,018 Bitcoin since their inception, nearly doubling the 124,212 Bitcoin mined during the same timeframe. Yaroslav Ivanov interprets this widening gap between demand and supply as a significant indicator of the future trajectory of the cryptocurrency market.

Yaroslav emphasizes that this accumulation by financial giants marks a pivotal shift in market dynamics, which individual investors must closely monitor. While institutional participation lends credibility to the market, it raises concerns regarding potential monopolization and accessibility for smaller investors. He stresses the importance of maintaining a balance to ensure that individual investors are not overshadowed by the dominance of major players in the space.

Currently, Yaroslav is focused on analyzing market trends and gathering analytics for reports in collaboration with investment funds. His insights into these evolving dynamics aim to support informed decision-making for both institutional and individual investors, contributing to the responsible growth of the blockchain industry.

Recent reports indicate that Bitcoin ETFs have accumulated 247,018 Bitcoin since their inception, nearly doubling the 124,212 Bitcoin mined during the same timeframe. Yaroslav Ivanov interprets this widening gap between demand and supply as a significant indicator of the future trajectory of the cryptocurrency market.

Yaroslav emphasizes that the accumulation by financial giants marks a pivotal shift in market dynamics that individual investors must closely monitor. While institutional participation lends credibility to the market, it raises concerns about potential monopolization and accessibility for smaller investors. He underscores the need for balance to ensure that individual investors are not overshadowed by major players.

The increasing influence of financial giants on the blockchain industry is becoming increasingly evident, reshaping the landscape for influential blockchain companies and contributing to the ongoing bullish trend in the cryptocurrency market. As institutional investors pour capital into blockchain technologies and digital assets, their participation signals a growing legitimacy for the industry. This influx not only boosts the confidence of retail investors but also propels the development and innovation of blockchain projects. However, as major players gain more power, there are concerns about the potential monopolization of the market, which could impact smaller companies and startups. The balancing act between institutional involvement and maintaining an equitable playing field for all market participants will be crucial in determining the sustainability of this bullish trend in the crypto space.

This perspective highlights the ongoing evolution of the cryptocurrency landscape, where the interests of both institutional and individual investors must be harmonized to foster a healthy market environment.

[frank-olivier]

Demons or Extraterrestrials? Religious Interpretations of UFO Phenomena

How do religious traditions engage with mysterious occurrences, such as UFOs and supernatural events, while maintaining doctrinal integrity and open-mindedness.

The Vatican has established a systematic approach to evaluating supernatural phenomena, emphasizing discernment to determine whether events are genuinely miraculous or divinely inspired. This process involves a thorough examination that includes theological, scientific, and psychological evaluations to rule out natural explanations or psychological factors. The criteria for evaluation focus on whether the phenomena align with Catholic doctrine, the moral character of those involved, and the spiritual fruits produced by the events. The Vatican aims to protect believers from deception and ensure that any recognized phenomena truly reflect divine intervention.

Christian theology also grapples with profound mysteries that invite believers to explore faith's complexities. These include creation ex nihilo, which asserts that God created the universe without using pre-existing materials, highlighting God's omnipotence and the nature of existence itself. The Trinity, the belief in one God in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—challenges human logic but is embraced as a profound truth within Christianity. It invites reflection on the relational nature of God and unity within diversity. The hypostatic union refers to Jesus Christ being fully divine and fully human, underscoring the uniqueness of Christ's nature and mission.

When it comes to UFOs and spiritual interpretations, some draw parallels between these phenomena and Gnostic beliefs. Gnosticism emphasized secret knowledge for salvation, and similarly, some view UFO encounters as offering hidden knowledge that challenges traditional religious narratives. A subset of religious thinkers interprets UFO phenomena as potentially demonic, suggesting they are spiritual deceptions intended to lead humanity away from traditional religious truths. This interpretation emphasizes vigilance against accepting narratives that contradict core theological teachings.

The potential discovery of extraterrestrial life raises important theological questions. Many religious scholars argue that such a discovery would not necessarily contradict religious teachings but would instead expand our understanding of creation. These discussions often explore how traditional beliefs might adapt to new understandings of life beyond Earth. They also consider how religious narratives might incorporate or reinterpret unexplained phenomena in light of new evidence.

Engaging with unexplained phenomena requires an open-minded approach that respects both scientific inquiry and theological reflection. It involves recognizing the limits of human understanding while remaining open to new insights and recognising speculative areas that blend conspiracy theories, faith, and government secrecy.

There have been various conspiracy theories suggesting that the Vatican possesses secret knowledge about UFOs or has been involved in UFO retrievals. These claims often stem from a belief that the Vatican, with its extensive historical archives and global influence, might have access to information about extraterrestrial life that it has not disclosed to the public. The Vatican has not officially confirmed any involvement in UFO retrievals. However, it has shown interest in the possibility of extraterrestrial life from a theological perspective. The Vatican Observatory has hosted conferences on astrobiology, and prominent figures like Father José Gabriel Funes, former director of the Vatican Observatory, have stated that belief in extraterrestrial life does not contradict Catholic faith.

The Collins Elite is an alleged group within the U.S. government that reportedly views UFO phenomena as demonic rather than extraterrestrial. This theory gained attention through books and interviews with individuals claiming insider knowledge. According to these claims, the Collins Elite believes that UFO encounters are spiritual deceptions intended to lead humanity away from religious truths. They are said to have influenced government policy by framing UFO phenomena within a religious context, potentially affecting how such phenomena are investigated and understood. The existence of the Collins Elite is not substantiated by credible evidence or official acknowledgment. It remains a topic of speculation and intrigue within certain circles interested in the intersection of religion and UFO phenomena.

Dr. Matthew Halsted: UFOs - Demonic Deception or Spiritual Revolution? A Christian Professor's Perspective (Chrissy Newton, The Debrief, September 2024)

Saturday, September 21, 2024