Cave art explained

How did cave art achieve such vivid colors and details in presumably totally dark caves using only fire?

Cave art achieved its vivid colors and intricate details through a sophisticated combination of geological knowledge, advanced lighting technology, and clever use of the cave's natural environment. 

1. Advanced Lighting Systems

Contrary to the image of artists fumbling with simple sticks, they used specialized lighting tailored to different tasks: 

• Animal Fat Lamps: Stone bowls filled with rendered animal fat (marrow or lard) and wicks made of moss or lichen provided a steady, smokeless glow similar to a candle. These were used for the long, focused hours required for detailed painting.
• Resinous Torches: Bundles of wood from trees like juniper, birch, or pine provided intense, portable light. While brighter, they were smokier and burned out in about 40–60 minutes, making them better for navigating deep passages.
• Strategic Fireplaces: Large, stationary fires were sometimes built on ledges to illuminate entire galleries for group viewing. 

2. High-Quality "Eternal" Pigments 

The "vivid" colors are the result of choosing chemically stable minerals that do not fade over time: 

• Reds and Yellows: Derived from iron oxides like hematite (red) and goethite (yellow/brown).
• Blacks: Created from manganese oxide or charcoal from their own fires.
• Whites: Sourced from kaolin (clay) or ground calcite.
• Preparation: Artists ground these minerals into fine powders using stone mortars. By mixing them with binders like animal fat, blood, or saliva, they created a durable paste that adhered permanently to the damp limestone walls. 

3. Precision Application Techniques

Artists used a variety of tools to achieve fine details that seem impossible by firelight:

• Natural Airbrushes: They blew pigment through hollow bird bones or reeds to create soft gradients and "stenciled" handprints.
• Brushes and Crayons: Fine lines were achieved using brushes made of animal hair or "crayons" fashioned from solid chunks of ochre.
• Leveraging the Rock: Artists intentionally painted over natural bumps or cracks in the cave wall to give their animals a three-dimensional, "sculpted" appearance. 

4. The "Cinema" Effect

In the flickering light of a torch or fat lamp, the static images appeared to move. Artists often painted animals with multiple legs or heads, which, when viewed under moving firelight, created a prehistoric form of animation. 

Would you like to know more about the specific minerals they traded over long distances to get these colors, or perhaps more about the animation theories?

AI returns a long string of links like this.

Israeli organ harvesting

      What do we know about Israeli organ harvesting?

Information about Israeli organ harvesting involves both documented historical practices and more recent, unverified allegations. 

Historical Admissions (1990s)

In 2009, following a controversial Swedish newspaper report, Israeli authorities admitted that the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute had harvested organs—including corneas, skin, heart valves, and bones—from dead bodies without family consent during the 1990s. 

• Affected Groups: The practice involved Israeli soldiers, Israeli civilians, foreign workers, and Palestinians.
• Official Response: The Israeli military and health officials stated that this informal practice ended in 2000 and that current procedures follow strict ethical and legal guidelines.
• Key Figure: Dr. Yehuda Hiss, the former head of the institute, was at the center of these admissions and was eventually removed from his post. 

Recent Allegations (2023–Present)

Since the start of the conflict in Gaza on October 7, 2023, new allegations have emerged from Palestinian officials and human rights organizations. 

• Gaza Medical Reports: Officials and medical professionals in Gaza have claimed that some bodies returned by Israel showed signs of tampering, such as surgical incisions and missing vital organs like hearts and kidneys.
• Euro-Med Monitor: The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has called for an independent international investigation into these claims, citing evidence of body confiscation from hospitals.
• Israeli Denial: Israel has strongly rejected these recent allegations, labeling them as baseless "blood libels" and antisemitic tropes. 

Organ Trafficking Context

• Legal Changes: To combat its history as a hub for the global organ trade, Israel passed the 2008 Organ Transplant Law, which criminalized organ trafficking and the reimbursement of patients who seek transplants through illegal "transplant tourism" abroad.
• Skin Bank: Israel maintains one of the world's largest skin banks, which critics often cite as a "paradox" given the country's relatively low rate of voluntary organ donation due to religious beliefs.

Int’l committee must investigate Israel’s holding of dead bodies in Gaza​

Israel has a long history of holding onto the bodies of dead Palestinians, Euro-Med Monitor said, as it holds the remains of at least 145 Palestinians in its morgues and approximately 255 in its “Numbers Cemetery”, which is near the Jordanian border and off-limits to the public, in addition to 75 missing people who have not been identified by Israel.

According to the Geneva-based rights organisation, Israel stores the bodies of dead Palestinians in what it refers to as “enemy combatant graves”, which are covert mass graves situated in particular locations such as closed military zones, where interments and burials are secretly conducted. The remains or bodies of the dead are marked only with metal plates.

According to an earlier report by Euro-Med Monitor, Israeli authorities has kept the dead bodies of Palestinians in subfreezing temperatures—sometimes below 40 degrees Celsius—in order to ensure that they remain undisturbed and to possibly hide the theft of organs.

According to the human rights group, Israel has recently made it lawful to hold dead Palestinians’ bodies and steal their organs. One such decision is the 2019 Israeli Supreme Court ruling that permits the military ruler to temporarily bury the bodies in what is known as the “Numbers Cemetery”. By the end of 2021, the Israeli Knesset (or Parliament) had passed laws allowing the army and police to hold onto the bodies of dead Palestinians.

There have been reports in recent years of the unlawful use of Palestinian corpses held by Israel, including the theft of organs and their use in Israeli university medical school labs.

Israeli doctor Meira Weiss disclosed in her book Over Their Dead Bodies that organs taken from dead Palestinians were utilised in medical research at Israeli universities’ medical faculties and were transplanted into Jewish-Israeli patients’ bodies. Even more concerning are admissions made by Yehuda Hess, the former director of Israel’s Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine, about the theft of human tissues, organs, and skin from dead Palestinians over a period of time without their relatives’ knowledge or approval.

Israel is thought to be the biggest hub for the illegal global trade in human organs, according to a 2008 investigation by the American CNN network, which also revealed that Israel participated in the theft of organs from dead Palestinians for illegal use.

Euro-Med Monitor confirmed that Israel is the only country that systematically holds the dead bodies of those it kills, and is classified as one of the world’s biggest hubs for the illegal trade of human organs under the pretext of “security deterrence” and in total violation of international charters and agreements.

Like any other country, Israel must abide by the rules of international law, which stipulate the necessity of respecting and protecting the bodies of the dead during armed conflicts. The Fourth Geneva Convention stresses that, “Each party to the conflict must take all possible measures to prevent the dead from being despoiled. Mutilation of dead bodies is prohibited.”

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor also confirmed that refusing to hand over the bodies of the dead so their grieving families can bury them with dignity and in accordance with their religious beliefs may amount to collective punishment, which is strictly prohibited in Article 50 of the Hague Regulations and Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

https://youtube.com/shorts/peGTL11kfqM?si=wzUbxCtVesT8jpgi

Citizenship for non-citizens in times of conflict

 

When I was in the army in the Sixties non-citizens from other countries expected their service was a way to expedite US citizenship. Was that my misunderstanding?

You were correct; your fellow soldiers had a very real legal basis for that expectation. During the 1960s, the U.S. was in a "period of hostilities" that significantly eased the path to citizenship. 

Under Section 329 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the "Vietnam Hostilities" period was designated from February 28, 1961, to October 15, 1978. 

How Citizenship Was Expedited in the Sixties

Because you served during this designated wartime period, the standard rules were drastically changed for non-citizens: 

• Zero Residency Requirement: While civilians typically had to live in the U.S. as permanent residents for five years, soldiers serving during this time could apply for citizenship immediately.
• Waiver of Physical Presence: They did not have to prove they had been physically present in the U.S. for any specific length of time before applying.
• Age and Fees: Requirements regarding minimum age were waived, and federal naturalization fees were often exempted for those serving during these dates.
• Basic Requirements Still Met: They still had to demonstrate good moral character, basic English skills, and knowledge of U.S. history, as well as receive an Honorable Discharge. 

Why "Awarded" vs. "Expedited" Matters

The common confusion, then and now, is that citizenship was never "awarded" automatically as part of the discharge paperwork. A soldier still had to proactively file a petition (Form N-400) and take the Oath of Allegiance. If a soldier didn't know they had to file the paperwork, they could leave the Army after years of service and still technically be a non-citizen. 

House Speaker Johnson corrected Pope Leo's interpretation of scripture

Did Speaker Johnson correct the Pope on the meaning of scripture?

Yes, House Speaker Mike Johnson recently provided a public "theological dissertation" to counter Pope Leo XIV’s interpretation of scripture regarding immigration. 

The exchange centered on the following points:

• The Conflict: Pope Leo XIV cited 
  Matthew 25
  —specifically the command to "welcome the stranger"—to criticize mass deportation policies.
• Johnson’s Response: Johnson, a devout Southern Baptist, argued that while individuals and churches are called to show mercy, the Bible also mandates that civil authorities maintain order and "bear the sword" against lawbreakers.
• "Borders are Biblical": Johnson asserted that national borders and walls are supported by scripture, from the Old Testament (referencing Nehemiah) to the New Testament.
• The "Correction": In a 1,300-word post on X (formerly Twitter), Johnson claimed that "progressive" interpretations take verses out of context. He argued that the biblical command to love the stranger applied to ancient Israel's specific context and individual believers, not to modern national government policy. 

ICE is becoming America's dark side

I have lately heard several unrelated sources alluding to what many call the decline of the American Empire. 
We have a largely rentier economy, indifference to climate change and an exaggerated sense of superiority. And in many ways Donald Trump is the embodiment of our worst shortcomings. 
When I allow myself to think about it I worry for the next few generations.

These links are a small sample of how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is contributing to that decline. 

ICE’s surveillance app is a techno-authoritarian nightmare

More than 170 U.S. Citizens Detained by ICE so far in 2025

Wisconsin’s tribal nations respond to ICE detainments of Native Americans, prepare for ICE in Wisconsin

Monday, February 2, 2026 – Native Americans are compelled to respond to indiscriminate ICE pressure

Tribal leaders say ICE is detaining American Indians during immigration sweeps

How a US Citizen Was Scanned With ICE’s Facial Recognition Tech

Judge rules ICE can continue enforcement in Minnesota