Was POTUS the man who helped bring down Epstein's pedo network?

by Steve Watson, Modernity News: The erosion of authenticity In an era where the boundaries between the synthetic and the sentient blur with alarming rapidity, a sobering revelation has emerged from the sonic realm: humanity’s capacity to discern the hand of the artist from the algorithm has all but evaporated.  A recent survey commissioned by […]

by Robert Spencer, PJ Media: The news is not unexpected in the least, given the maniacal hatred that leftists have directed at Donald Trump ever since he first announced that he was running for president in 2015, and even before then, when he dared not to strike the appropriate posture of awe and reverence before […]

  Today, the Emperor Nero is known as one of Rome’s most decadent and tyrannical rulers. A princeling of just 16 when he was elevated, he proved so unpopular that he was dead by the age of 30, and Rome’s first ruling dynasty, the Julio-Claudians, died with him. But Nero was not born to be emperor. The son of a disgraced imperial princess exiled for treason, no one could have predicted that the preceding Emperor Claudius would choose Nero as his successor over his own biological son. So how was it that Nero became emperor of Rome?   A Tumultuous Childhood Marble statue of young Nero, 50-54 CE. Source: Louvre Museum, Paris   Nero was born in 37 CE as Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus. He was the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, a son of the first Roman Emperor Augustus’ niece Antonia Minor, and Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of Augustus, daughter of the popular general Germanicus, and sister of the then reigning Emperor Caligula. This made Nero a very blue-blooded member of the reigning Julio-Claudian clan, and the infant was Caligula’s closest male relative when he died in 41 CE.   The Julio-Claudian Dynasty of the Roman Empire. Source: TheCollector   However, Caligula was very fond of his sister Drusilla and even named her husband Marcus Aemilius Lepidus as his heir. But when she died in June 38 CE, Caligula became suspicious of all those around him. Caligula accused his other sisters, Agrippina and Livilla, of conspiring with Lepidus to overthrow their brother. Agrippina was sent into exile, and her son was sent to live with his paternal aunt Domitia Lepida, and his inheritance was taken away from him.   When Caligula died, the young Nero’s age and diminished position meant that none would have considered him for power. But the Praetorian Guard chose an even less expected heir, Claudius, the uncle of Caligula, who had previously been kept out of the spotlight for health reasons.   Marriage Machinations Chalcedony cameo portrait bust of Agrippina the Younger, 37-39 CE. Source: British Museum, London   Upon his rise to power, Claudius arranged for the recall of his exiled nieces, Agrippina and Livilla, and Agrippina was reunited with her young son Nero, and their inheritances were reinstated. Their fortunes rose as Agrippina married the wealthy and influential two-time consul Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus, who divorced Nero’s aunt Domitia Lepida to make the match. He died and left his estate to Nero.   Agrippina made an even more favorable marriage on January 1, 49 CE, when she married her uncle, the Emperor Claudius, despite taboos around the close relationship. Some historians believe that part of the motivation for the marriage was to bring Nero into the direct imperial line as a potential heir, alongside Claudius’ biological son with his previous wife, Messalina. Britannicus was four years younger than Nero, and perhaps his youth and Claudius’s age and health made the question of an older successor feel pressing.   Becoming Heir The Gemma Claudia, depicting emperor Claudius and his fourth wife, Agrippina the Younger, on the left. Opposite to the imperial couple are Agrippina’s parents, Agrippina the Elder and Germanicus, 49 CE, Kunsthistorisches Museum   Agrippina certainly took advantage of the situation to promote her son’s fortunes. She was no doubt influential in having Claudius adopt her son in 50 CE, when he officially became known as Nero, and was granted the title of princeps iuventutis (leader of the youth), which Augustus had used to mark out his young heirs 50 years earlier. Agrippina probably also encouraged him to be awarded the toga virilis, or symbol of manhood, in 51 CE at the age of 14, before the normal age. She was instrumental in arranging the marriage of Nero and Claudius’s daughter, Octavia, in 53 CE, and having him elected consul designate for the year 56 CE, when he would be 20.   Agrippina employed one of the best minds in the Roman Empire, Seneca, a famous philosopher, to tutor her son and teach Nero how to rule, and also secured the loyalty of the Praetorian Guard, instrumental in the imperial succession, through her favorite, the praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus. When Emperor Claudius died in 54 (allegedly after eating poisoned mushrooms given by Agrippina), Nero was proclaimed emperor by the Praetorian Guard and with the Senate’s approval. The 16-year-old was now master of the Roman Empire.   Princeps and Regent Nero and Agrippina from the Sebasteion in Aphrodisias, c. 54-59 CE. Source: Aphrodisias Excavations Project.   While Nero was made emperor, during the early stages of his reign, the youth was overshadowed and influenced by his ambitious mother. The extent of Agrippina’s influence can be best seen in depictions of the imperial family, especially on the coinage minted in the first years of Nero’s reign. One of the earliest coins features Agrippina on the obverse — the place traditionally reserved for the emperor. Other coins show a joint portrait of mother and son, suggesting an equal relationship. The most striking example of Agrippina’s power is the relief from Aphrodisias (in modern-day Western Turkey), where Agrippina is portrayed as the source of the emperor’s authority, crowning her son.   Gold aureus depicting Nero with his mother, Agrippina, 54 CE. Source: British Museum, London   However, the relationship between mother and son soured quickly. Agrippina’s increased meddling in imperial politics and her son’s private life was unacceptable to Nero and his other advisors, who wanted to exert greater power over the princeps. Reportedly fearing that Agrippina might use Britannicus against him, Nero poisoned his stepbrother in 55 CE.   The already bad relationship between mother and son turned worse when Nero started an affair with an ex-slave girl, Claudia Acte. Thus, when Agrippina tried to befriend Nero’s wife, Octavia, Nero exiled his mother from the Palace in 56 CE. However, Agrippina’s influence continued to manifest through her allies at the court, such as Seneca or Burrus. Nero had to get rid of his mother if he wanted to establish himself as a sole ruler.   Taking Sole Power The Shipwreck of Agrippina, by Gustave Wertheimer, 19th century. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Eventually, Nero decided on a final solution to remove his troublesome mother. Some sources suggest that this was partially influenced by his relationship with Poppaea Sabina, even though he was still married to Octavia. Other sources suggest that Nero was motivated by a plot to replace him with his cousin Gaius Rubellius Plautus, in which Agrippina may have been implicated.   The sources on Agrippina’s death differ and contradict each other, but they all agree that Agrippina survived several assassination attempts. The most infamous one involved a self-sinking pleasure barge from which Agrippina miraculously escaped, able to swim ashore. However, Agrippina’s luck finally ran out in 59 CE when Nero reportedly sent assassins to her villa.   Marble bust of the Emperor Nero. Source: Capitoline Museum   After the death of his mother, Nero became the sole emperor, finally divorcing Octavia and marrying Poppaea in 62 CE, only to be kicked to death by her husband in 65 CE.   Agrippina’s death is generally seen as a turning point in Nero’s reign. With no significant checks on his power, he sank into megalomania and began to indulge in unsavoury activities. It is difficult to know how much of this criticism is legitimate and how much was the result of Nero being posthumously vilified as the last member of one dynasty, sacrificed to justify the rise of the next.

  Benin City was once one of the wealthiest and most well-planned cities in West Africa. It boasted a royal palace occupying about a third of the entire city, a network of streets adorned with enormous metal lamps fueled by palm oil, defensive walls, and an intricate underground drainage system. Before the British looted the city in 1897, stripping it of its prestige and autonomy and stealing thousands of precious ceremonial objects—from ivory altars and royal commemorative heads to brass armlets, carved ivory pendants, and ceremonial swords—Benin City was a cultural and economic center and a prime example of African artisanship and self-government.   Before the British The Monument of the Discoveries, on the northern bank of the Tagus River, in Lisbon, photograph by Sergio Guardiola Herrador. Source: Unsplash   In 1897, the British arrived in Benin City. As they marched past its high walls, they found—and proceeded to loot and destroy—a thriving and rich capital, said to be one of the oldest, best-planned, and richest cities in West Africa.   Benin is probably a Portuguese corruption of the Edo word Ubini, and the name by which the Edo people, and the kingdom they established in West Africa, became known to Europeans. In the 1200s CE, the Edo people were unhappy with their ogisos, “the rulers of the sky,” a semi-mythical dynasty of kings and queens who had ruled over the people of Western Africa since at least the 10th century. They set out to found a city in the tropical rainforest region of West Africa, amid trees giving palm oil, raffia palm fibre, and kola nut, on a branch of the Benin River, in what is now Nigeria.   Brass statues of King (Oba) and Queen, Edo, 2006. Source: Weltmuseum Wien   They invited Prince Oranmiyan from the neighboring West African kingdom of Ife to become their leader, but it was his son, Eweka, who became the first oba—the first king of Benin. Edo, as Benin City was originally called, became the capital of the Kingdom of Benin, which eventually metamorphosed into an empire. This happened some two centuries later, under Ewuare the Great, who reigned between 1440 and 1480. He built up a powerful army, modernized Benin City, rebuilt the royal compound, and established a hereditary succession to the throne. It was under his rule that Benin City and the Benin Kingdom flourished.   As the city developed and expanded, now equipped with moats and great walls, the role of the oba evolved as well. The king became a mythological figure, something between a magician and a mighty warrior, the object of state cults and human sacrifices, and the center of every form of power—political, spiritual, economic, and judicial.   King with two accompanying figures, 16th century, ownership transferred to Nigeria on August 25, 2022. Source: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin   Oba Ewuare was succeeded by Oba Ozolua and Oba Esigie, who promoted trade in ivory, palm oil, and pepper with the Europeans, especially the Portuguese and the Dutch, but also with Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The empire would never be as large and rich as it was during the reign of Esigie’s successor, Orhogbua. But with the death of the next king, Oba Ehengbuda, in 1601, the glory days of the Benin Kingdom came to an end.   Until the 1800s, when the royal family began to lose control and civil wars broke out, the Benin Kingdom remained one of the most powerful and influential kingdoms in Africa. By the time the British invaded, looted, and burned Benin City, the Benin Kingdom was in decline, its economy plagued by succession disputes.   Benin City, One of the Richest Capitals in West Africa Drawing of Benin City by Italian artist, 1765. Source: Wikimedia Commons   It seems that the houses in Benin City were separated by walls of red clay. That they had gables, staircases, and internal galleries, that they even had wells to provide their owners with fresh water. Above ground, huge metal lamps, similar to our street lamps and fuelled by palm oil, lined the streets, and stretched like a web of light all around the Oba’s palace. Deep moats surrounded the city to the north, while massive walls enclosed it to the south.   The Portuguese captain Lourenco Pinto visited Benin City in the late 17th century, possibly in 1691, and described it as a city “larger than Lisbon,” a city that was “wealthy and industrious” and “so well governed that theft is unknown and the people live in such security that they have no doors to their houses.”     Horn Player, 1550-1680, made by an unknown Benin artist at the Court of Benin and seized by the British during the Punitive Expedition of 1897. Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York   From the king’s court in the center of Benin City, at least 30 streets ran straight “as far as the eye can see.” About 120 feet wide, they were intersected by a series of narrower streets. Beneath the city’s main streets ran a sophisticated underground drainage system. Another 17th-century visitor, Olfert Dapper (this time Dutch), described the care Benin’s inhabitants took of their houses and streets. He wrote that they kept the walls separating the rooms of their houses “as shiny and smooth by washing and rubbing as any wall in Holland can be made with chalk, and they are like mirrors. The upper storeys are made of the same sort of clay.”   Cast brass Altar to the Hand (Ikegobo) made to celebrate the iyoba, the mother of the king, late 18th century. Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art   It seems that the king’s palace, which was looted and destroyed by the British a few centuries later, took up about a third of the entire city. It was richly decorated with ivory altars, magnificent columns, brass heads representing kings and queens (Queen Idia, Oba Esigie’s, played a key role in the success of her sons’ military campaigns) and elaborate plaques featuring animals and foreign traders, most of them Portuguese, and celebrating the king’s prestige and success not only among his people, but also over the wilderness, the animal world, and foreign powers.   Some sources also suggest that the king kept leopards at his court, again a symbol of his greatness and his power as master of the wilderness, which he would parade during the annual cycle of public ceremonies held at the palace and on other important occasions. A 16th-century brass plaque, for example, shows the king proudly holding two leopards and a mudfish belt.   British soldiers posing inside the Oba’s compound during the siege of Benin City, photograph by Reginald Granville, 1897. Source: Wikimedia Commons   While power ultimately lay in the hands of the king, the city and the kingdom were administered by different powers. The city lords (or town chiefs) administered the provinces of the kingdom, while the palace lords (or chiefs) were in charge of the court. While the latter inherited their position, the city lords were appointed for their skills. Although the King could and did restrict foreign, especially European, access to the capital, Benin City was a city of commerce and cultural exchange. It was teeming with sculptors, artisans, brass smiths, ivory and wood carvers, all under the direct control of the palace.   Trading A Sapi sculptor is said to have carved this ivory spoon as a gift or souvenir for a Portuguese sailor, ca. 1490-1530. Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art   By the mid-16th century, the Kingdom of Benin extended from the Niger River delta in the east to modern-day Lagos in the west. Due to its strategic location, it quickly became an important trading partner, as well as an active participant in the slave trade. The Portuguese first arrived in Benin at the end of the 15th century, and for the next four centuries, European cargos could be seen traveling from the coasts of Portugal to the coast of West Africa, carrying goods such as elephant tusks, hunting horns, leopard skins, precious textiles, stone beads, baskets, and ivory salt cellars—the glorious and elaborate creations of West African craftsmen and artists organized into guilds and overseen by the Oba and the Royal Court of Benin.   It was in Benin City that the famous Benin Bronzes saw the light of day. And while some were indeed made of bronze, others were crafted from ivory, wood, and coral. The Oba and Queen Mothers commissioned these elaborate works of art not only to commemorate their royal status and proclaim the king’s prestige and military achievements, but also to honor their ancestors and cement their role as a bridge between the kingdom’s past and future.   Some of the artists employed by the Benin royal court came from what is now Sierra Leone, and others from present-day Ghana. And while many of their names have been lost to time and colonial propaganda, some remain ingrained in the collective memory of a people who have long been marginalized by colonial narratives of Western superiority (and African inferiority).   Slave Trade, by John Raphael Smith (1752-1812), 1791. Source: Royal Museums Greenwich   One such craftsman was known as “the Master of the Heraldic Ship” and lived sometime in the 16th century. One of his ivory saltcellars, consisting of four standing figures clothed in typical Portuguese dress and regalia and shown only from the waist up, is housed in the National Museum of Scotland today. Another ivory saltcellar by the same artist, depicting a group of long-haired Europeans, is displayed in the British Museum. Yet another, finely decorated, depicting four wealthy Portuguese men and their attendants, is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.   His creations and those of his fellow craftsmen tell us a story of trade cultural exchange that historians and art critics have described as a kind of pre-globalization, a pre-globalization that still relied heavily on the slave trade, on the suffering and exploitation of thousands of African men, women, and children.   The British Arrive, the British Destroy The Oba’s compound during the British attack on Benin City, photograph by Reginald Kerr Granville, 1897. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Over the years, the lucrative trading partnership between the Kingdom of Benin and the Europeans benefited not only Benin City, which grew in size and prestige, but also the king himself, who used the wealth generated to enrich his court with goods coming from as far east as India and as far north as Europe. The prosperity of Benin City, its prestige, and the power of the Oba were intertwined and inseparable, as they all depended heavily on long-distance trade.   Because of its key strategic position, the Benin Kingdom represented the gateway to the interior, controlling trade between the Europeans and the inland peoples. Since it was the King who authorized who could travel inland, visit Benin City and trade with other African groups, the British came to see this figure as an obstacle. In 1892, they pressured Oba Ovonramwen (1857-1914), also known as Overami, into “free trade” with British trading companies.   Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, the King of Benin, with his wives, Queen Egbe and Queen Aighobahi, and two of his children, Princess Orinmwiame and Prince Uyiekpen, in Calabar, long after the British looting of Benin City, c. 1912. Source: Wikimedia Commons   The Consul for the Niger Coast Protectorate James Robert Phillips (1863-1897) and Captain Henry Gallwey (1859-1949) were particularly vocal in advocating the removal of Oba Ovonramwen and the British annexation of the Benin Empire. But Ovonramwen, the 35th Oba of the Kingdom of Benin and son of Oba Adolo, didn’t give in.   In late December 1896, a party of nine British colonial officials, led by James Robert Phillips, set off for Benin City. When King Ovonramwen asked them to delay their visit because of a religious ceremony that was taking place, they ignored his request. On January 4, a group of Edo chiefs ambushed them on the road to Benin City, near the village of Ugbine, and killed them all, including Phillips, along with their African servants—although some sources claim that a small number of them managed to escape the massacre. Only two Europeans, two British officers, survived.   Six British men surrounded by the statues and tusks they looted in Benin City, photograph by Reginald Kerr Granville, 1897. Source: The British Museum   The ambush was the casus belli in the history of Benin City. In February, a punitive expedition of 1,200 British troops, including African auxiliary soldiers, led by Sir Harry Rawson, arrived in Benin City. Villages along the route were destroyed. Hundreds of people were killed. When they arrived in Benin City, they set fire to and looted the Oba’s palace. In little more than a week, the city’s fortifications, which had so impressed the Dutch and Portuguese sailors and traders, were destroyed.   Between 3,000 and 5,000 ceremonial objects were looted. Hundreds of precious cast brass commemorative heads of kings and queens, brass plaques and armlets, brass bells, carved boxes, carved ivory pendants, brass ceremonial swords, masks, and ivory altars were hastily taken to Britain. From an influential West African empire, the Kingdom of Benin was stripped of its wealth and forcibly incorporated into the British Empire.   Slave market in Calabar in the late 19th century. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Ovonramwen died in exile in January 1914 in Calabar, a major port in the African slave trade, 17 years after the ambush near the village of Ugbine. His son, Eweka II, became King, but his role was nothing like that of his ancestors. He had limited powers and was under the direct supervision of the British. He did, however, manage to rebuild the royal palace and gave a new impetus to Benin art by setting up the Benin Arts and Crafts Council.   Benin City is Nigeria’s fourth-most populous city, according to the 2006 census. It is a city that has experienced both wealth and destruction, prestige and colonial rule, a city that was attacked, looted, and subjugated by the British colonial forces in 1897 precisely because of its power in international trade. Over the centuries, Benin City has been home to skilled craftsmen and intelligent sovereigns who commissioned some of the most glorious works in the history of African art, artworks that were looted and dispersed across Europe and North America by Western collectors after the looting of the capital. Today, the Benin Bronzes are at the heart of the ongoing repatriation debate, serving as a poignant reminder of African artisanship and the devastation caused by colonial rule.

Why the Pagans MC Own the East Coast ??

At this point, you likely know the massive rift that has formed between Marjorie Taylor Green and President Donald J. Trump. President Trump had finally had enough today, withdrawing his endorsement and putting MTG on blast on Truth Social: He also punched back at Thomas Massie: But now let’s advance the story, because in response to President Trump saying MTG calls him too much and he doesn’t have time for all the calls, she responded by posting this: President Trump just attacked me and lied about me. I haven’t called him at all, but I did send these text messages today. Apparently this is what sent him over the edge. The Epstein files. And of course he’s coming after me hard to make an example to scare all the other… pic.twitter.com/EcUzaohZZs — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) November 15, 2025 President Trump just attacked me and lied about me. I haven’t called him at all, but I did send these text messages today. Apparently this is what sent him over the edge. The Epstein files. And of course he’s coming after me hard to make an example to scare all the other Republicans before next weeks vote to release the Epstein files. It’s astonishing really how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level. But really most Americans wish he would fight this hard to help the forgotten men and women of America who are fed up with foreign wars and foreign causes, are going broke trying to feed their families, and are losing hope of ever achieving the American dream. That’s what I voted for. I have supported President Trump with too much of my precious time, too much of my own money, and fought harder for him even when almost all other Republicans turned their back and denounced him. But I don’t worship or serve Donald Trump. I worship God, Jesus is my savior, and I serve my district GA14 and the American people. I remain the same today as I’ve always been and I will continue to pray this administration will be successful because the American people desperately deserve what they voted for. For me, I remain America First and America Only!!! Yes, that blue image is her most recent text message to President Trump: To be fair, she only released her message to him, which I guess is her prerogative to do.  She did not release any of his messages to her. Responses to her post were very mixed: My thoughts? I personally don’t like all of this infighting at all. I think there needs to be a whole lot more unity. But we’re not getting that. As BioClandestine points out, there are two very clear camps emerging.  On the one side is Trump, Vance, RFK Jr., Tulsi, Bondi, Kash, Bongino, etc. On the other side is MTG, Massie, Candace, Tucker, etc. Let’s conduct a little experiment. I will stand with Trump, RFK Jr., Tulsi, Bondi, Kash, Bongino, etc. The woke-Right morons can stand with MTG, Massie, Candace Owens, Ian Carroll, Tucker Carlson, Dave Smith, Nick Fuentes, etc. We will see who comes out on top pic.twitter.com/sQgOcIXWH9 — Clandestine (@WarClandestine) November 15, 2025 I think it’s ridiculous that all these fissures are forming. We should be focusing on what binds us all together, not the disagreements we are bound to have along the way. I’m more with Matt Gaetz on this one: I love Trump, MTG, Massie, Tucker….and even those I feel are too accommodating to the worst decisions made by Israel’s government. I won’t be baited into attacking friends and leaders in our movement because some people disagree on some things. — Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 15, 2025 We are so much more powerful with Trump, MTG, Massie and Tucker all on the same side and not distracted fighting against each other. If you force me to pick, I’ll ride and die with Trump, but I sure wish all these people would stop forcing me to pick.

When news broke that OpenAI’s Sam Altman and his husband Oliver Mulherin had thrown their weight behind a new startup focused on genetically engineering babies, the tech world applauded. But beyond the applause, in darker corners of the [...] The post ‘Mass-Produced Gene-Edited Babies’: Sam Altman and Husband Funding New BioLab Venture appeared first on The People's Voice.