1,000-year-old Indigenous Canoe Excavated from North Carolina Lake



(Photo: North Carolina Office of State Archaeology)

BY DARREN THOMPSON APRIL 18, 2023

LAKE WACCAMAW, N.C. — The Waccamaw Siouan Indian Tribe helped archaeologists excavate a 28-foot canoe out of Lake Waccamaw on April 12 that is believed to be at least 1,000 years old. Local reports state that the canoe was found while three teenagers were swimming in the lake during the summer of 2021.

The Waccamaw Siouan Indian Tribe of North Carolina is one of eight state-recognized American Indian tribes in North Carolina. They call themselves “People of the falling star” because of their history near Lake Waccamaw. Their oral history tells that the lake was created long ago when a meteor crashed into the earth, and nearby waterways flowed into the crater, causing a unique blue-green appearance, unlike other lakes in the area.

Waccamaw Siouan Chief Michael Jacobs told Fox News that the canoe supports the tribe’s oral history that they have been there for thousands of years.

“For years and years, we’ve always been questioned about our history and where we come from and who we are,” Jacobs said at the excavation. “Now, we have physical history to back it up.”

Eli Hill, one of the teenagers who found the canoe while swimming, said he initially thought it was a log, but when he tried to pick it up, he couldn’t.

Hill’s family contacted the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology, which sent a team to examine the canoe and move it under a dock until it could be safely excavated.

According to reports, dozens of tribal citizens of the Waccamaw Siouan Indian Tribe observed the canoe excavation, along with community members and other news media. The canoe was immediately placed in a chamber, covered and dried with towels and wrapped in plastic to prevent further deterioration. The canoe will be treated with chemicals in a lab to be preserved for future observation.

The canoe will be displayed during an open house at the Queen Anne’s Revenge Conservation Laboratory in Greenville, N.C., on April 22.

Native News Online previously reported on canoe excavations. Last year, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin pulled a second canoe out of Lake Mendota that is at least 1,000 years old.

Cherokee Nation Creates Historic Impact and Significant Growth in Oklahoma

Yahoo News

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. announces the tribe's more than $3 billion economic impact on the state of Oklahoma. (Photo/Cherokee Nation)

BY CHUCK HOSKIN JR 

 

APRIL 23, 2023

Guest Opinion. In the modern economy, competition for jobs and investment is fierce. Large, globalized companies come and go in search of a better deal. Especially in rural and small-town America, whole regions of our country have been left behind.

In this economic environment, having a partner deeply committed to a specific place is priceless. For northeast Oklahoma and the entire state, Cherokee Nation is that partner.

The Cherokee Nation arrived here almost 185 years ago, decades before Oklahoma was a state, and made this our forever home. From the beginning, we have invested in long-term growth. We do not outsource jobs or threaten to move our headquarters out of state. We are long-term partners with Oklahoma, a stabilizing force in unstable times.

The newly updated Cherokee Nation Economic Impact Report shows how powerful that partnership has become. This detailed study by the Economic Research and Policy Institute at Oklahoma City University shows Cherokee Nation and its businesses have a more than $3 billion annual impact on the Oklahoma economy. The report finds our businesses and government activities are supporting nearly 19,000 jobs.

As a sovereign government with a nation-to-nation relationship with the United States, we also received billions in additional COVID-19 relief funding during the pandemic emergency. Through strategic management of these funds, the Cherokee Nation was able to ensure employees never missed a paycheck, provide direct assistance to citizens, and support many community organizations. The net effect was an added $2 billion economic impact on Oklahoma, which helped communities get through one of the most difficult and disruptive economic crises in a generation.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr.

The growth and prosperity of Cherokee Nation are an example of history repeating itself. We have seen our hard-earned wealth destroyed and our government and people suppressed, but we have rebuilt time and again. History shows that when the Cherokee people are allowed to govern themselves, great things happen.

As the largest federally recognized tribe in the country, Cherokee Nation is committed to growing the economy, lifting our citizens and helping our friends and neighbors. Cherokee leaders in business and government have forged numerous partnerships to bring quality jobs, expanded services, better infrastructure and health care access to our 7,000-square-mile reservation.

We remain the market leader in entertainment and hospitality, and we have grown our federal contracting and other business ventures for a diverse, sustainable economic portfolio. We proudly reinvest our profits in services and facilities that make Oklahoma a great place to live and raise a family, for both Cherokees and non-Cherokees.

We also know we are strongest when all Cherokees have opportunities to bring their gifts and ideas forward. That’s why we recently partnered with The University of Tulsa and StitchCrew on a Native American Women Entrepreneurship Accelerator program offered at TU this coming fall. Deputy Chief Bryan Warner and I are proud to work with such great partners to help tap into the entrepreneurial spirit that we know is there. I believe this program, a first of its kind in this region, will be a model for the future. The wisdom and bravery of Cherokee women have brought us through some of the darkest periods of our history, and they will power our brightest days ahead, too.

We look forward to that future, blessed by the enduring strength of our ancestors and the talents of our rising young people. Together, we lift up Cherokee Nation, our citizens and our fellow Oklahomans. Let’s move forward as partners to even greater prosperity.

Chuck Hoskin, Jr. is the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.

FBI leak investigators home in on members of private Discord server

By SHANE HARRIS, SAMUEL OAKFORD, DEVLIN BARRETT
THE WASHINGTON POST • April 22, 2023



As part of its investigation, the FBI has spoken to friends of Teixeira who hung out with him in the Discord server, known as Thug Shaker Central, according to people familiar with the matter. The questions included how members of the server first came to know Teixeira, what video games they played together and whether any of the members were foreign nationals, these people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss interactions with law enforcement officials. (FBI/Facebook)

The FBI has been interviewing members of a private Discord server where a 21-year-old National Guardsman is alleged to have shared classified documents, an indication that law enforcement officials are trying to understand how potentially dozens of people may have had access to highly sensitive information before it circulated on the internet and was obtained by journalists.

Jack Teixeira was arrested last week and charged with illegally retaining and transmitting classified information on a server that he administered. He faces up to 15 years in prison. Teixeira has not yet entered a plea.

As part of its investigation, the FBI has spoken to friends of Teixeira who hung out with him in the Discord server, known as Thug Shaker Central, according to people familiar with the matter. The questions included how members of the server first came to know Teixeira, what video games they played together and whether any of the members were foreign nationals, these people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss interactions with law enforcement officials.

Members of the private Discord group previously told The Washington Post that foreign citizens, including from Russia and Ukraine, as well as Europe, Asia and South America, were among the roughly two dozen people who congregated on the server. The Post has not confirmed the presence of users from these locations.

Discord, which is a popular platform among online gamers, has said it is cooperating with the FBI's investigation.

For the past several years, U.S. intelligence officials have worried that gaming platforms like Discord created an opportunity for foreign governments to access U.S. secrets, including by encouraging people with access to classified information to share it online.

It was not clear whether the FBI had determined that foreign nationals were in Teixeira's server or whether any of them had connections to or worked for foreign governments. In at least one instance, the FBI has seized the electronic devices of a former member of the server, according to people familiar with the matter.

The FBI is responsible for collecting evidence of Teixeira's alleged crime. But it is also seeking to assess the damage from the "spillage" of classified information. Former members of the server told The Post that Teixeira shared hundreds of classified documents, including transcriptions he typed out and photographs of documents that covered subjects ranging from battlefield updates on the war in Ukraine to insights into foreign countries and officials that the U.S. intelligence community is monitoring.

Two former members said additional accounts were part of the server, describing them as apparently inactive or "bots" that can be set up by Discord users to do things like play music.

One former member of the server told law enforcement officials that Teixeira began sharing classified documents in December. But two others told The Post that he provided documents earlier than that, beginning around last summer.

The classified documents appeared to be restricted to members of the server during that time. Former members said there was an unspoken rule not to share them beyond the small circle.

But unbeknown to the group, on Feb. 28, a teenage member began posting several dozen photographs showing classified documents on another Discord server affiliated with the YouTuber "wow_mao." Some of the documents offered detailed assessments of Ukraine's defense capabilities and showed how far U.S. intelligence has tapped into Russia's military command.

On March 4, 10 documents appeared on "Minecraft Earth Map," a Discord server focused on the popular video game. A user operating the account that posted the smaller tranche of images told The Post they obtained them on wow_mao.

Secret and top-secret documents were now available to thousands of Discord users, but the leak wouldn't come to the attention of U.S. authorities for another month.

The Justice Department is unlikely to charge members of the server for viewing or sharing the classified information, based on past cases. Historically, the government has almost always charged only individuals with security clearances, which legally obligate them not to share classified information with people who aren't authorized to see it.

A notable exception to that rule is WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whom the Justice Department has charged with violating the Espionage Act for allegedly working with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to obtain and disseminate secret documents.

Assange's alleged actions are similar to reporting work at many traditional news organizations. But the Justice Department has sought to distinguish his work from that of a reporter, arguing that Assange is not a journalist and that he engaged in "explicit solicitation of classified information," as John Demers, then a senior department official, said at the time of Assange's charging in 2019.

Members of the Discord server said Teixeira shared the information with the group on his own, part of his desire to keep his online tribe informed about world events.

He wanted to "keep us in the loop," a former member said, and provided access to insider knowledge that the members understood was kept from most people.

It appeared Teixeira understood he was not authorized to share the information with others.

"He's a smart person," the former member said. "He knew what he was doing when he posted these documents, of course. These weren't accidental leaks of any kind."

He added that Teixeira also didn't seem motivated by a desire to inform the broader public about government wrongdoing, as earlier leakers have claimed when explaining their actions.

"I would definitely not call him a whistleblower. I would not call [Teixeira] a whistleblower in the slightest," the former member said.

UNETHICAL, IMMORAL, NOT ILLEGAL

As Fears of Banking Crisis Surged, Members of Congress Sold Bank Shares

The flurry of transactions highlighted how members of Congress continue to buy and sell stocks in industries that intersect with their official duties.

An account belonging to Representative Jared Moskowitz’s children sold shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation as fears of a banking crisis rattled investors.

Credit...Cliff Owen/Associated Press

By Kate Kelly
April 19, 2023

WASHINGTON — On March 10, as fears were swirling over the health of the nation’s banks, an investment account belonging to the children of Representative Jared Moskowitz, Democrat of Florida, sold shares of Seacoast Banking Corporation worth $65,000 to $150,000.

Two days later, with the government working to control the crisis, Mr. Moskowitz said in a television interview that he had attended a bipartisan congressional briefing on the tumult. And on March 13, as investors fretted over the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and two other, smaller banks, Seacoast Banking shares fell nearly 20 percent.

A spokesman for Mr. Moskowitz said in an email that the Seacoast share sales had been suggested by the congressman’s financial adviser as a means to diversify his young children’s holdings. Mr. Moskowitz said the congressional briefing on the bank crisis had taken place just before the television interview and after the shares were sold.

But the transaction was just one example of how members of Congress continue to buy and sell stocks and other financial assets in industries that intersect with their official duties.

At least eight members of Congress or their close relatives sold shares of bank stocks in March, according to an analysis by Capitol Trades, a project of the data firm 2iQ — a number that could rise in the coming days, as lawmakers make additional disclosures of trades made last month.

Though broadly legal, stock trading by members of Congress has become a flashpoint because lawmakers are sometimes privy to closely held information about the companies and industries they oversee.

A New York Times investigation last year showed that during a three-year period, nearly a fifth of federal lawmakers or their immediate family members had bought or sold stocks or other securities that could have been affected by their legislative work.


Efforts to pass legislation to place limits on trading by members of Congress or to ban it have stalled in recent years. On Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon, and Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, announced a new bill intended to eliminate the practice that has 19 co-sponsors in the Senate.

A House version of the bill is co-sponsored by Representative Michael Cloud, Republican of Texas, and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, Democrat of Illinois.

“As the Silicon Valley Bank was closed, even during that period, there were reports that members of Congress were trading bank stocks,” Mr. Brown said. “I mean, imagine that — that members of Congress, we have more inside information,” he said, adding, “members of Congress are able, because of our jobs, to know more about the economy.”

Representative Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat, sold shares of First Republic Bank, the large depositor that was rapidly losing both cash and clients, on March 15, the day before it received an industry bailout of $30 million.

The wife and children of Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, sold First Republic shares that same day. Representative John Curtis, Republican of Utah, sold shares in First Republic from a joint account with his spouse on March 16, the day the industry bailout occurred.

By that time, First Republic shares had already fallen nearly 80 percent from a February peak. The timing of the sales by those three lawmakers or their relatives meant that the sellers averted an additional price swoon that was still to come. First Republic stock is now down nearly 90 percent since the beginning of this year.

A spokesman for Mr. Goldman has said that his portfolio is managed by a third party without his knowledge and that he is setting up a blind trust to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest. Mr. Khanna has said that his filings relate to trades made by a diversified trust belonging to his wife and young children and that he has no involvement in it. Spokesmen for Mr. Curtis did not respond to requests for comment.

Some members were also buying bank shares during the volatility. On March 17, Representative Nicole Malliotakis, Republican of New York, bought shares of New York Community Bancorp after private discussions with New York State bank regulators. Her transaction was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Two days later, New York Community Bancorp bought assets belonging to the failed Signature Bank — a deal that prompted its biggest share rally ever. Around that same time, other lawmakers, including Senator Gary Peters, Democrat of Michigan, and family members of Mr. Khanna, bought shares in larger U.S. banks, like Truist Financial. Mr. Goldman, among other transactions, made a series of purchases of shares in foreign banks, like Lloyds Banking Group and Mizuho Financial Group.

A spokeswoman for Ms. Malliotakis said that her financial adviser had recommended the purchase and that it amounted to less than $5,000 in value. A spokesman for Mr. Peters did not respond to questions about the transaction.

Kate Kelly covers money, influence, and policy as a correspondent in the Washington bureau of the Times. Before that, she spent twenty years covering Wall Street deals, key players and their intersection with politics. She is the author of three books, including "The Education of Brett Kavanaugh." More about Kate Kelly

A version of this article appears in print on April 20, 2023, Section A, Page 17 of the New York edition with the headline: As Lawmakers Fretted Over Banking Turmoil, They Also Shed Shares. 

Ryan Reynolds’ soccer team promoted to English Football League after big win: ‘I’m still a little speechless’

BYSTEVE DOUGLAS AND THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 22, 2023 at 5:21 PM MDT

Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynolds, left, and Paul Rudd in the stands during the National League soccer match between Wrexham and Boreham Wood at The Racecourse Ground, in Wrexham, Wales, Saturday April 22, 2023.
MARTIN RICKETT/PA VIA AP


Ryan Reynolds held his head in his hands. Rob McElhenney leaned forward, took a deep breath and was soon wiping tears from his eyes.

Below the Hollywood actors, thousands of Wrexham fans flooded onto the field at the Racecourse Ground, setting off red flares and waving Wales flags.

A previously down-on-its-luck Welsh soccer club thrust into the global spotlight because of its A-list owners was celebrating on Saturday after Wrexham secured promotion to the fourth tier of the English game.

Reynolds and McElhenney, along with actor friend Paul Rudd, were among a crowd of more than 10,000 at the Racecourse in north Wales to see Wrexham clinch the National League title with a 3-1 win over Boreham Wood.

Reynolds and McElhenney embraced in the directors’ box when the fulltime whistle sounded and, before long, were holding up a flag with the words: “Wrexham champions 2022-23.”

They seemingly have become soccer fanatics since completing their out-of-nowhere purchase of the club for $2.5 million in 2021. An offshoot of the takeover was the making of a fly-on-the-wall documentary — entitled “Welcome to Wrexham” — that has charted the journey of a team run by a couple of actors learning the ropes of sports club ownership.

The second season of the show will have a happy ending, with Wrexham heading back into the English Football League — the three divisions below the Premier League — for the first time in 15 years.

“One thing that is running through my head over and over again,” Reynolds said, looking around at Wrexham’s jubilant players and fans, “is that people said at the beginning, ’Why Wrexham, why Wrexham?’ This is exactly why Wrexham.”

Wrexham is four points clear of second-placed Notts County with one round of games left, so is guaranteed the sole automatic promotion spot to League Two. After being greeted by Reynolds and McElhenney, Wrexham’s players lifted the league trophy in the middle of the field to the sound of “We are the Champions.”

Reynolds is best known for starring in the “Deadpool” movies, while McElhenney is the creator of TV show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” One of their stated aims when combining to buy Wrexham from its success-starved fans was to lead the 158-year-old team — the world’s third oldest professional club — to the Premier League and the journey is well underway.

It is Wrexham’s first league title at any level since the old Division Three — then the third tier in the English game — in 1977 and the team has done it in style, collecting a record 110 points so far and winning 34 of its 45 games.

And, as has so often been the case with a club that does drama like no one else, the win was achieved the hard way after falling behind inside 44 seconds.

Wrexham equalized in the 15th minute then Paul Mullin, the team’s star striker, earned victory with two superbly taken goals in the second half.

“Paul Mullin is one of the greatest football players in the world,” McElhenney said.

With the title in the bag, Wrexham fans lapped up the final few minutes of a match that ended more than a decade of hurt. The club fell on such hard times since the turn of the century that its supporters’ trust twice had to save the team from going out of business.

“We can feel what it means to the town,” McElhenney said on the field. “This is a moment of catharsis for them and celebration. For us to be welcomed into the community, and to be welcomed into this experience, has been the honor of my life.”

Since their unlikely takeover, Reynolds (21 million) and McElhenney (1 million) have used their large Twitter followings to promote the club and brought in sponsors such as TikTok, Aviation Gin and Expedia, global brands that typically have no place at this level of the game.

The actors are also living up to the promises they made when taking over, like making improvements to the stadium and investing heavily in the women’s team. They brought in board members and advisers with experience of top-level soccer and who have made good, sensible decisions.

The industrial town of about 65,000 people, located near the northwest English border and close to the soccer hotbeds of Liverpool and Manchester, has been abuzz with excitement for the past two years.

Last season, Wrexham lost in the playoffs to miss out on promotion but made no mistake a year later to get out of the non-leagues, where some teams are semi-professional.

Wrexham finished the game to a backdrop of fans joyously singing “We are going up” – with Reynolds and McElhenney joining in. Rudd also seemed to enjoy the occasion, too — he was spotted drinking a beer with locals before the game.

“I’m not sure I can actually process what happened tonight,” Reynolds said. “I’m still a little speechless.”

 Rare wildflower super blooms arrives in California, Arizona

The record rainfall which drenched the West this winter made conditions ripe for wildflower super blooms in California and Arizona, drawing thousands of visitors. Danya Bacchus has more.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M CULT
Mysterious Guru Summoned to Court After Beast Investigation

‘DEEPEST, DARKEST SECRETS’

Allegations about Liana Shanti’s Lumerian Mystery School have piqued the interest of a federal judge.

AMERIKAN KULTIST SPELLS LEMURIA WRONG

Jennings Brown
Updated Apr. 23, 2023 3:43AM ET / Published Apr. 22, 2023 8:01PM ET




Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/Facebook

A mysterious self-help guru is under renewed federal scrutiny following an investigation by The Daily Beast into allegations that she is running a cult that encourages women to cut ties with their families.

Liana Shanti, who leads the Lemurian Mystery School, has been summoned for a hearing on April 24 by the court that sentenced her to five years’ probation after she pleaded guilty to concealing assets in a bankruptcy case.

According to the Honolulu federal court docket, Shanti’s probation officer received several complaints that she had “induced” people “to leave their families, remove their children from their homes, and take other uncharacteristic actions.” The docket also cites The Daily Beast article published in March.

The court noted that Monday’s hearing could lead to further proceedings and a revocation of Shanti’s probation—which could land her in jail.

The Daily Beast contacted Shanti by phone and email, and through her lawyer, but she did not respond.

“I hope this leads to an investigation into her teachings and her financial records,” says Jason Veras, who believes Shanti’s influence led to the destruction of his family. “She is a con artist and a criminal.”

The Daily Beast’s story on Shanti was based on court documents, leaked conversations from her private Facebook and Signal groups, and interviews with six former Shanti followers and 19 people who said they lost loved ones to the Lemurian Mystery School.

The reporting revealed that many of Shanti’s students made radical changes to their diets, began espousing QAnon-adjacent conspiracy theories, uncovered purported memories of childhood abuse, cut ties with their spouses and families, and took their children to new cities in regions that Shanti deemed safe from Luciferian forces.

Last year one of Shanti’s Canadian followers took her children and fled to Jacksonville, Florida, where she bought a $1.4 million McMansion. Four other Canadian Shanti followers and their children also moved into the house, which they named Destiny Manor.

After the owner of Destiny Manor posted in the Lemurian Facebook group about deceiving border patrol in order to get into the United States, Shanti responded, “You were on a mission. You accomplished it. 🙏”

An ex-member told The Daily Beast that at least 38 women moved to new cities due to Shanti’s insistence that they needed to flee certain states and countries.

Shanti has 22,700 followers on Instagram. The core group of students who pay to access Shanti’s private Facebook and Signal groups call themselves “Lemurian Sisters.” Some of the followers legally changed their names after Shanti gave them new Lemurian identities. Many of them have paid tens of thousands of dollars for her programs and audio courses, even though none of them have ever met her in person.

Liana Shanti is the creation, or alter ego, of Liane Wilson, a 52-year-old mother who lives in a Hawaii suburb. Wilson is a former lawyer who worked briefly at the New York-based firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom before moving to Hawaii and working as a timeshare salesperson for Wyndham.

In 2012, she began posting online as Liana Shanti, a women’s empowerment health coach. Shanti’s appearance was a mystery until 2018 when she started posting selfies. But the photos appear so heavily filtered that she seems almost ageless—leading some of her detractors to accuse her of being a catfish.

Shanti’s claims about her supernatural powers and career have evolved over time. She boasts in her audio courses, on social media, and in her podcast Deep Throat: And by that I mean Throat Chakra, that she has earned millions of dollars as a corporate lawyer and salesperson.

“I get asked ALL. THE. TIME: Liana: why the F do you do what you do?” she posted in her Instagram stories. “You made millions on Wall Street, and again in sales, and AGAIN with your nutrition biz. Everything you touch turns to gold.”

Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/Facebook

But her bankruptcy filings in 2011 painted a much different picture. She claimed that she had $1,840,277.75 in liabilities and $545,699 in assets—or more than $1 million of debt.

It turned out that this accounting wasn’t accurate. In May 2021, Shanti pleaded guilty to the felony of concealing bankruptcy assets. Those assets included cashier’s checks from the sale of a diamond ring, earnings from her company Rawganic Vegan, and proceeds from a disability insurance policy.

In December 2021, Shanti was sentenced to five years’ probation and fined $21,000. She was also ordered to give her probation officer access to any requested financial information, which the probation officer can share with the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Families who say Shanti wrecked their lives and isolated their loved ones think she deserves further investigation. More than 20 people affected by Shanti submitted victim impact statements to the judge overseeing the case.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of families affected by Liana Shanti,” says Jason, who submitted a letter about his experience to the court. “It’s clear to me she has manipulated and persuaded these women to break the law, to kidnap their children.”

A few months after Jason Veras’ wife Jennifer started following Shanti, Jennifer began sharing conspiracy theories about the COVID pandemic and vaccines, cut ties with her mother, left Jason, took their kids, and refused to share their location, he says.

In an effort to save their marriage, Jason began listening to Shanti’s teachings, which, he says regretfully, caused him to despise his mother and cut ties with her. Jason’s sister Beverly also started following Shanti in order to understand what was happening to her sister-in-law. She says Shanti’s teachings caused her to cut ties with her mom, disconnect from her husband, and start plotting to take her children to Florida out of fear that Luciferian entities would put her and her children in concentration camps where they would be forced to take the soul-killing COVID-19 vaccine.

Jason and Beverly eventually pulled away from Shanti when they realized her teachings were tearing families apart. They then began connecting with other people who had similar experiences.

“Me personally, and all the families I’ve talked to, we all have been mentally and emotionally affected,” Jason said. “I hope these women can see the truth of Liana Shanti—that she’s a fraud and that they’ve been lied to. It’s sickening because these women look up to her like she’s Jesus.”

Shanti claims that she speaks directly with Jesus and she is the primary vessel for his teachings. She also teaches that she is a descendant of the ancient civilization of Lemuria, and can access the “Akashic Records,” which, according to Shanti, are stored inside whales and contain all the information in the universe. Shanti says that this is how she is able to tell her followers about past trauma and abuse that they don’t remember. Some of Shanti’s followers have reported their spouses or family members to child protective services after Shanti convinced them that those people had abused children.

As Lemurian Sisters uncover new memories of abuse, they often share sensitive details about their personal life in Shanti’s private Facebook and Signal groups. Shanti has posted these intimate confessions on her public Instagram account after people leave the group or are kicked out. In some instances, she has tagged the exiled former members’ employers in these posts.

“I don’t know what the laws are around coercing money out of people—but when you know all their deepest, darkest secrets, and then you want money from them, in all likelihood, they’re going to give it to you,” says a former Lemurian Sister who followed Shanti for three years, and did not want her real name used out of fear of retribution. “She collects private information, and she weaponizes people’s pain points. I hope that someone can go in and look at all the different ways she’s collecting money from people.”

“I don’t think that it requires any stretch of the imagination to expect them to investigate her for more financial crimes,” the ex-member says. “She is an evil human being. What she is doing is fucked up. And she needs to stop. It’s abusive. It’s horrible. She’s a Machiavellian nightmare.”

Russian ‘fingerprints’ on Sudan coup attempt
April 19, 2023 Bill Weinberg


As fighting continues in Sudan, derailing a transition to democratic rule that was slated for this month, commentators are noting Russian connections to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that sparked the crisis by apparently attempting a coup d’etat on April 15. The Kremlin’s notorious mercenary force, the Wagner Group, is said to be engaged in illegal gold mining operations in Darfur and Kordofan regions in collaboration with the RSF. Operations at a mine owned by RSF warlord Mohammed Hamdan Dagolo AKA “Hemeti” in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan state have sparked protests by locals over land-grabbing and pollution. The arrangement points to a Kremlin-backed design to make the RSF economically independent of the Sudanese state in preparation for an eventual seizure of power.

The Wagner Group appears to have entered Sudan some years ago at the invitation of long-ruling dictator Omar al-Bashir. As Al Jazeera notes:

The Wagner Group began its deployments in Sudan during the rule of former President Omar al-Bashir, who was forced from power in 2019 during large-scale protests.

Fearing that his rule was shaky, al-Bashir travelled to Russia in 2017 to meet with President Vladimir Putin and pitch Sudan to him as Russia’s “gateway to Africa” in return for Russian support. A short time later, Meroe Gold, a new mining company owned by the Russian company M Invest, began bringing Russian experts into Sudan, Africa’s third-largest producer of gold.

In 2020, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned M Invest and Meroe Gold, saying that its investigations had revealed that M Invest was a cover for the Wagner Group.

The Wagner Group was “primarily aimed at guarding mineral resources, particularly gold mining resources, and acting as a support force for the Bashir government in terms of protecting it from international opposition”, Samuel Ramadi, author of the book Russia in Africa, told Al Jazeera.

The RSF remained Wagner’s closest collaborator on the ground after Bashir’s ouster. Yet the mercenary outfit’s Sudan operations (unlike those elsewhere in Africa) were not cited by Washington when Wagner was placed under new sanctions by the US Treasury Department earier this year. In an analysis for The Africa Report, Sudanese democracy advocate Amgad Fareid Eltayeb suggests this omission was intended to buy the RSF’s acquiescence in the pending transition to civilian rule—despite the paramilitary force’s repeated acts of repression against pro-democracy protesters.

However, now that the RSF has unambiguously fallen out with Sudan Armed Forces, the lines are more clearly drawn. In a commentary for The Hill, Dr. Ariel Cohen of beltway think-tanks the Atlantic Council and Council on Foreign Relations says that Russia’s “fingerprints” are on the attempted coup, and portrays it as part of a pattern across the African continent. In several countries now, Wagner has stepped in as French forces have pulled out, often following a regime change that has benefitted Moscow. Cohen writes:

Russia’s influence in Africa remains purely disruptive and predatory. The Kremlin will use Wagner as a cudgel to secure natural resources across Africa and push the U.S. out, just as they evicted France. To keep up, Washington should expand diplomatic engagement, intelligence operations, and sanctioning of all entities linked to Wagner in Africa.

The U.S. should launch, with its allies, a robust program of military training and arms sales to boost pro-Western governments in the areas where China, Russia, and ISIS are on the prowl.

A century and a half later, the Scramble for Africa is back on in no uncertain terms. Last time around, the contending powers were the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy. This time it’s the United States, France, Russia and China.

Photo via Dabanga Radio

APOLOGY TO THE ‘WITCHES’: WHY NOW?



by Carole Linda Gonzalez
May 11, 2022 CounterVortex

Why apologize for something you are not responsible for? Especially when no one is left alive who deserves an apology.

That was the first thought many doubtless had when reading that the first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, offered a formal apology to those who had been accused of witchcraft between the 16th and 18th centuries and were subsequently executed. The apology was issued on International Woman’s Day, this past March 8. Sturgeon said she was taking the occasion to acknowledge an “egregious historic injustice.”

Her action was a result of a campaign by the group Witches of Scotland (WoS) launched by Claire Mitchell QC, criminal appeals court attorney, and Zoe Venditozzi, a well-known Scottish writer. The WoS was founded to win an apology for those executed under the Scottish Witchcraft Act of 1563, and to build a national memorial to remember them. Historians believe up to 4,000, overwhelmingly women, were convicted under the law, with many burned at the stake. “Confessions” were often extracted by torture.

Recently, the Spanish region of Catalonia also pardoned 700 women who were tortured and put to death as witches centuries ago. On January 26, its regional parliament passed a resolution to rehabilitate their memory. Spanish historians have written that Catalonia was one of the first regions in Europe to carry out witch-hunts.

We may ask: What’s the point of apologizing? Everyone who suffered is long dead, and the Scottish government no longer executes people simply for being witches. Nor are the modern-day people of Scotland or Catalonia responsible for these ancient wrongs.

Making sense of it

But what does make sense is that in July 2021 the United Nations passed a resolution calling on countries to address their “witchcraft” accusation problems. This was undertaken in response to a rise in witch trials and mob lynchings in various countries around the world. Today’s victims remain much the same as those that suffered under the Scottish Witchcraft Act of 1563. They are vulnerable people—mostly women, children and the elderly, who in some countries suffer horrible punishments simply for being accused of “witchcraft.” Older widows are especially at risk.

Motives behind contemporary witchcraft hysteria may be anything from real fear of sorcery, desire for personal retribution, or financial gain. Most disturbingly, victims may be targeted as to provide ingredients for rituals as well—that is, their body parts.

In Indonesia, when the country’s leader Suharto resigned in 1998, his leaving office occasioned widespread unrest—and (for some reason) an intense frenzy of witch-hunts, resulting in the deaths of some 400 people. While there is widespread belief in Indonesia of magical practitioners called dukuns, some observers in the nation believed that these witch-hunts were meant to cover up simple murders with ulterior motives.

The horrific trial of a 90-year-old accused witch named Akua Dente was filmed in a rural community in Ghana in July 2020. She was tortured and forced into confessing. The next day a mob lynched her. Then, the video of the trial was published. It horrified the nation and news of it went global.

In July 2021, a year later, the UN make a formal statement on beliefs that lead to attacks like what happened to Dente. At the 47th Session of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, the draft resolution sponsored by Cameroon was adopted, entitled “Elimination of harmful practices related to accusations of witchcraft and ritual attacks.” The resolution reaffirms the human rights enumerated in the Charter of the United Nations, and especially recalls the commitment to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. It also stresses that States should carefully distinguish between harmful practices amounting to human rights violations related to accusations of witchcraft, and the lawful and legitimate practices of religious minorities.

Modern notions
One wonders if Starhawk, contemporary witch and author of the neo-pagan classic The Spiral Dance, knew how difficult her task would be when she wrote: “The word witch carries so many negative connotations that people wonder why we use it at all. Yet to reclaim the word witch is to reclaim our right, as women, to be powerful.”

The vast majority of victims of the witch-burnings in Europe were women, and Sturgeon’s apology connects easily to modern notions of witchcraft, women, and feminism in the Western world. But the necessity of the 2021 UN Human Rights Council resolution speaks to the persistence of the old notions of witchcraft that spurred the burnings.

In this light, the apologies take on a deeper meaning. Memorials to those who died unjust deaths serve to keep the victims in current memory, and keep in mind the conditions that lead to such injustices. So it is appropriate timing that the WoS Campaign was launched in 2020 on International Woman’s Day.

———

Carole Linda Gonzalez is a New York area neo-pagan practitioner and commentator.

Image: 1555 German woodcut via History.com

Related:

Last Person Executed as a Witch in Europe Gets a Museum
by Ben Panko
Smithsonian, Aug. 27, 2017

Honoring the Earth Mother
by Carole Linda Gonzalez
The Village Voice, Jan. 26, 1999

From our Daily Report:

Saudi executions for 2015 set 20-year record
CounterVortex, Jan. 22, 2016

Saudi Arabia: woman faces execution for ‘witchcraft’
CounterVortex, Feb 18, 2008

Saudi teacher jailed for blasphemy
CounterVortex, Nov. 19, 2005

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Special to CounterVortex, May 10, 2022
Reprinting permissible with attribution

AMERICAN END TIMES PROTESTANTISM

UKRAINIAN UNION CONFERENCE
Adventist Pathfinders and Adventurers Club Mentors Learn to Serve in Ukraine’s Modern Conditions

RELIGIOUS IMPERIALISM

GROOMING FOR CONVERSION
Programming emphasized that the most important mission of a mentor is to develop trusting relationships with children and reveal to them the character of God.

UKRAINIA | VITALINA NEROBA

APRIL 22, 2023

The Always There Field School for mentors of the Pathfinder (children aged 10–15) and Adventurer (6–9) clubs was held from March 31 to April 2, 2023 at the “Your Camp” grounds. A total of 163 leaders from all over Ukraine joined the training, engaged in inspirational communication, and experienced exchange.

Many of the workshops at the field school were aimed at overcoming various challenges related to the ongoing conflict. In particular, medical doctor Volodymyr Matsyo conducted a practical workshop called "Premedical Basic Life Support," where the participants learned and updated their knowledge on how to help victims before the ambulance arrives. Vitaliy Neroba spoke about camping and survival in extreme situations, how to make camping interesting for teenagers, and what to take with you.

Valeriy Glushchenko taught the basics of marching; Philip Schubert encouraged creative tasks to develop out-of-the-box thinking; Oleksandr Melnyk shared his experience in organizing a tracking club in a Christian school; Anton Chumak spoke about new and interesting specializations; Maksym Buha played the game "Shapes and Forms"; Olena Nosova presented the program "Exit," which helps teenagers overcome difficulties, especially after a trauma.

At a meeting of the Adventurers' mentors with Vitalina Neroba, they outlined plans for the clubs and developed a strategy for the group to fill with teaching materials for different levels and discussed the development of specializations. They also talked about useful literature for club members and the need for mentors to study the psychology of child development.

Speakers Alisa Dubrova and Oksana Magdych (part of the Association of Christian Camps of Ukraine) shared their experience in organizing camp ministry. Magdych, a psychologist, revealed the value of true mentoring with the topic "Geometry of Mentoring," emphasizing that the most important mission of a mentor is to develop trusting relationships with children and reveal to them the character of the Creator and Savior, and this can only be done by those who are filled with the love of God.

Magdych also shared the importance of psychological safety in the camp, and the leaders learned about the important topic of today's post-traumatic stress disorder and ways to help children and adults. In turn, Dubrova spoke about the philosophy of sports programs and games with instructive conclusions. Participants of the field school immediately took part in the practical portion—active games that will be used at camp and club meetings.

The club leaders also learned how to develop and implement club projects together with Kairat Grayson and Maksym Karpenko, students of the Theological Faculty of the Ukrainian Adventist Theological Institute. Everyone looks forward to the creation of innovative, effective projects that will encourage Ukrainian teenagers to join the worldwide clubs of Pathfinders and Adventurers.

The organizers of the field school hope the leaders will translate the valuable lessons learned into practical club ministry and the field school will facilitate the ministry of responsible, dedicated mentors, the organization of cohesive teams, and the creation of special camp programs tailored to the specifics of the time.

At the end of the field school, two leaders of the Adventurers and two leaders of the Pathfinder clubs were solemnly initiated, and four leaders were also initiated as master guides.

Adventist Evangelistic Program Ends with Baptism

Since 2022, Adventists in Penza have led the “School of the Bible” for their local community, teaching many about the Bible.

RUSSIA | OLEG BAKHMUTSKOV

APRIL 20, 2023

On March 25, 2023, the Gospel program "The Bible in the Events of Our Time" ended in Penza, Russia. The outcome of the meetings was the baptism of two people.

This week-long program, which began March 18, featured guest speaker Oleg Goncharov, director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Euro-Asia Division (ESD). Every evening in the house of prayer of the local Adventist community, Bible stories sounded, taking listeners to distant times when an amazing book, the Bible, was being written. However, the real admiration is for how accurately this ancient book speaks about our days and the love God communicates to His people in order to prepare them for the second coming of Jesus Christ. That was the theme of the program.

Since the autumn of last year, the local community has been actively involved in a long-term effort organized by the ESD called the “School of the Bible.” The members of the church "sowed the seeds" of God's Word among relatives, friends, neighbors, and people around them. The result was not long in coming. Interested people appeared; teachers got involved in teaching Bible lessons; there was always someone present in the pastor's class.

The community invited Goncharov to help with inspiring spiritual reflections to encourage those who have already completed Bible courses to make a covenant with God, as well as those who are interested in starting to study the Bible. On Sabbath, the final day of the program, a baptism ceremony for two people took place in the house of prayer. Praise God!

Goncharov’s visit to Penza was filled with not only sermons but also meetings of various levels. Together with the local pastor, they were at a reception at the Penza Orthodox Diocese. From the Minister of Internal Policy of the Penza Region, P.S. Maslova spoke about the activities of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Penza region, presented an album with photographs of social service, met with pastors and leaders of Protestant denominations in Penza, and discussed the creation of a platform for joint projects.

Seventh-day Adventist Church - Wikipedia

The Seventh-day Adventist Church^[a] is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination^[2][3] which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday,^[4] the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath,^[3] its emphasis on the imminent Second Coming (advent) of Jesus Christ, and its annihilationist soteriology. The denomination grew out of the Millerite movement in the United States during the mid-19th century and it was formally established in 1863.^[5] Among its co-founders was Ellen G. White, whose extensive writings are still held in high regard by the church.^[6]

Much of the theology of the Seventh-day Adventist Church corresponds to common evangelical Christian teachings, such as the Trinity and the infallibility of Scripture. Distinctive post-tribulation teachings include the unconscious state of the dead and the doctrine of an investigative judgment. The church places an emphasis on diet and health, including adhering to Kosher food laws, advocating vegetarianism, and its holistic view of human nature—i.e. that the body, soul, and spirit form one inseparable entity.^[7] The Church holds the belief that "God created the universe, and in a recent six-day creation made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day". Marriage is defined as a lifelong union between a man and a woman. The second coming of Christ, and resurrection of the dead, are among official beliefs.^[8]

The world church is governed by a General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, with smaller regions administered by divisions, unions, local conferences and local missions. The Seventh-day Adventist Church is currently "one of the fastest-growing and most widespread churches worldwide",^[3] with a worldwide baptized membership of over 21 million people, and 25 million adherents. As of May 2007, it was the twelfth-largest religious body in the world, and the sixth-largest highly international religious body. It is ethnically and culturally diverse, and maintains a missionary presence in over 215 countries and territories.^[9][10] The church operates over 7,500 schools including over 100 post-secondary institutions, numerous hospitals, and publishing houses worldwide, a humanitarian aid organization known as the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and tax-exempt businesses such as Sanitarium^[11] which fund the church's charitable and religious activities.

History

Main article: History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is the largest of several Adventist groups which arose from the Millerite movement of the 1840s in upstate New York,^[12] a phase of the Second Great Awakening.^[13] William Miller predicted on the basis of Daniel 8:14–16^[14] and the "day-year principle" that Jesus Christ would return to Earth between the spring of 1843 and the spring of 1844. In the summer of 1844, Millerites came to believe that Jesus would return on October 22, 1844, understood to be the biblical Day of Atonement for that year. Miller's failed prediction became known as the "Great Disappointment".^[12][13]

Hiram Edson and other Millerites came to believe that Miller's calculations were correct, but that his interpretation of Daniel 8:14 was flawed as he assumed Christ would come to cleanse the world. These Adventists came to the conviction that Daniel 8:14 foretold Christ's entrance into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary rather than his Second Coming.^[13] Over the next few decades this understanding of a sanctuary in heaven developed into the doctrine of the investigative judgment, an eschatological process that commenced in 1844, in which every person would be judged to verify their eligibility for salvation and God's justice will be confirmed before the universe. This group of Adventists continued to believe that Christ's second coming would continue to be imminent, however they resisted setting further dates for the event, citing Revelation 10:6, "that there should be time no longer."^[15]

Development of Sabbatarianism

As the early Adventist movement consolidated its beliefs, the question of the biblical day of rest and worship was raised. The foremost proponent of Sabbath-keeping among early Adventists was Joseph Bates. Bates was introduced to the Sabbath doctrine through a tract written by Millerite preacher Thomas M. Preble, who in turn had been influenced by Rachel Oakes Preston, a young Seventh Day Baptist. This message was gradually accepted and formed the topic of the first edition of the church publication The Present Truth, which appeared in July 1849.^[16]