Victor credited Michael with being the first person to see beyond his looks, and see his real talent.

from Health Ranger Report:  TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

  The various Celtic peoples living across the European continent during the Iron Age experienced a cultural peak around the same time as the expansion of the Roman Empire. But what happened to them after the fall of Rome? Did they die out, or were they conquered by other invading groups? The fate of the Iron Age Celts was different in different parts of Europe. Many were subsumed into other ethnic groups through conquest and intermarriage. But in some pockets, such as Ireland and the French region of Brittany, Celtic language, religion, and culture persisted for centuries.   Who Were the Celts? Archeological remains from Roquepertuse, Velaux, France, c. 6th-2nd century BCE. Source: Monumentum   The terms “Celt” and “Celtic” refer to those peoples living in Europe during the Bronze Age and Iron Age outside of the cultural spheres of ancient Greece and Rome. However, the Celts had significant contact with the Greco-Roman world, but they were identified as “other,” called barbarus by the Romans. Archeological evidence suggests that Celtic peoples participated in networks of trade and exchange around the Mediterranean. They supplied materials like iron, salt, and slaves in exchange for wine, bronze, pottery, and luxury goods like coral and colored glass.   A variety of ethnic groups and tribes fall underneath the “Celtic” categorization, but they have been grouped together based on cultural, linguistic, and religious similarities. Some of the most well-known groups of Celts include the Gauls, the Galatians, the Britons, and the Celtiberians.   Conflict Between the Celts and the Romans Numancia, by Alejo Vera y Estaca, 1881. Source: Museo del Prado, Madrid   The relationship between the Celtic peoples and the Romans was fraught, characterized by conflict and conquest. The Roman expansion out from the Italian peninsula involved the conquest of lands inhabited by Celts, who fiercely defended their territories and rejected Roman advances.   Notable conflicts include the Battle of Allia in 390 BCE, which saw the Senonii tribe and their chieftain Brennus defeated the Romans; the Roman defeat of Celts and Samnites at Sentinum in 295 BCE; Celtic tribes joining with Hannibal against Rome during the Punic Wars; the Roman defeat of the Celts at Telamon in 225 BCE; Caesar’s conquest of Gaul in 58-51 BCE; the unsuccessful Gallic rebellion led by Vercingetorix against Caesar and his troops in 52 BCE; the invasion of Britain under Claudius in 43-47 CE; and the revolt of the Celtic Britons under Boudica against the Roman occupation in 60/61 CE.   The Dying Gaul, marble copy of Greek original, Rome, c. 1st century BCE. Source: Musei Capitolini, Rome   These conflicts involved the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people over the course of several centuries. The Celtic peoples encountered by Roman forces across the continent and in the British Isles were not willing to submit to Roman control without a fight. Eventually, however, they were overrun by Rome’s more sophisticated military. After this conquest, the Celts were introduced to Roman customs and culture, and later to the culture of the Germanic peoples that swept across Europe. These forces combined led to the gradual phasing out of “Celtic” culture, with a unique blended culture emerging in the Middle Ages.   Roman Gaul Vercingetorix throws down his arms at the feet of Julius Caesar, by Lionel Royer, 1899. Source: Musee Crozatier, France   The Roman conquest of Gaul took place over a long period. The Roman Republic conquered Cisalpine Gaul (“this side of the Alps”), constituting what is now northern Italy, in the 200s BCE. Then, they conquered a group of southern Gauls in 121 BCE, establishing the province of Transalpine Gaul (“the far side of the Alps”).   Julius Caesar secured the governorship of Cisalpine Gaul after the end of his term as Consul. Upon the death of the governor of Transalpine Gaul, he obtained governorship over that province as well. Due to his proximity to Gaul, as well as the flight of the Celtic Helvetii tribe from those lands, Caesar saw an opportunity to expand and conquer Gaul. The Gallic Wars took place over the course of 58-51 BCE, during which Caesar and his forces encountered several different Celtic tribes. A rebellion mounted towards the end of these years under Vercingetorix, chieftain of the Arverni tribe. The rebellion ultimately failed, and Vercingetorix surrendered to Caesar.   The Baptism of Clovis, by the Master of Saint Giles, c. 1500. Source: National Gallery of Art, New York   Gaul was formally incorporated into the Roman provinces in 27 BCE under Augustus and was then ruled by Rome for nearly five hundred years. The Romans introduced Latin to the region, which eventually developed into the language of Old French. Roman Gaul was divided into the provinces of Gallia Aquitania, Gallia Belgica, and Gallia Lugdunensis. While some Gauls gained Roman citizenship shortly after the conquest, the remaining Gauls gained Roman citizenship in 212 CE.   In the 3rd and 4th centuries CE, pressure was placed on Gallic territories by invasions by Germanic tribes like the Franks and Goths. In the 5th century CE, particularly after all Roman troops withdrew from Gaul and the Western Roman Empire dissolved, Gaul became a disputed land between the Germanic tribes. After the Franks pushed the Visigoths out, the Merovingians seized almost total control over those lands. The Merovingian king Clovis I became one of the first Germanic kings to convert to Christianity, leading to the spread of Christianity across Western Europe. Over these centuries, and with the influx of Germanic tribes and new religious ideas, Celtic culture in the area faded out.   Roman Britain The Battersea Shield, River Thames, England c. 350-50 BCE. Source: British Museum   Caesar initially attempted to launch an invasion of Britain in 55 BCE, but he was forced to abandon the project to deal with issues back on the mainland. His invasion was met with opposition by the Celtic Britons, but the presence of Roman troops caused unrest among the Britons and they could not organize a united force. The Romans were able to maintain political and trading relations with Celtic Britons living in the south of the island.   The next serious attempt at a Roman conquest of Britain occurred between 43-47 CE under the emperor Claudius. Claudius was moved to action by unrest caused by the activity of the Catuvellauni tribe, who conquered the territory of the Atrabates tribe, a Roman ally. Under the Roman general Aulus Plautius, Roman forces arrived and engaged in a series of battles with the Celtic Britons. Eventually, Plautius and Claudius forced the surrender of the Catuvellauni and eleven British kings. They then began to establish Roman settlements around Britain.   The famous revolt of Boudica and the Iceni tribe occurred from 60-61 CE. It was triggered by Rome seizing the entirety of the Iceni kingdom after Boudica’s husband, their king, died. To avenge him and her daughters, who should have inherited the kingdom, Boudica led a united group of Iceni and the Trinovantes against Rome. Her forces sacked several Roman settlements, including Camulodunum, Londinium, and Verulamium. Eventually, the Roman forces rallied and squashed Boudica’s rebellion, re-securing southern Britain and rebuilding Londinium. As the Romans established more settlements across Britain, a distinct Romano-British culture emerged, as did improved agricultural practices, urban planning, and industrial production.   Replica of Anglo-Saxon helmet found at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, England, c. 7th century CE. Source: National Trust   The Roman occupation of Britain lasted until the Anglo-Saxon invasions in the 5th century CE. The Anglo-Saxons, composed of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, Germanic peoples from Western Europe, are believed to have begun their gradual conquest of Britain in around 410 CE. Historians generally refer to this gradual move as the “migration period,” which took place over the course of the 5th and 6th centuries CE. The late 6th century and early 7th century saw the emergence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and their rule in England lasted until the Norman conquest of 1066.   Much like the Franks, the Anglo-Saxons experienced a period of conversion to Christianity. They also experienced Viking invasions in the 9th century. This amalgamation of cultural influences, Germanic, Nore, Christian, and later, Norman, led to the dissolution of the Celtic culture as it was known in Britain. The Celts did, however, maintain control over Wales and Cornwall, until Cornwall was annexed in the 11th century.   Celts in Ireland St. Patrick Lighting the Paschal Fire on the Hill of Slane, by Vincent Waldré, c. 1800. Source: State Apartments, Dublin   While Roman forces wreaked havoc in Britain, they never quite made it to Ireland. Popular scholarly opinion holds that Ireland had nothing of interest for Rome, though they did engage in some trade after the Roman conquest of Britain. The lack of Roman occupation in Ireland is often cited as the reason that Celtic culture survived for so long there and why most modern people think of Ireland when seeking the ancient Celts. What led to the decline of Celtic culture in Ireland was the introduction of Christianity, specifically Catholicism, in Ireland at the arrival of Saint Patrick.   Legend holds that, on the same night that the High King and the Druids in Ireland were celebrating a pagan festival at the Hill of Tara, Patrick lit the Paschal Fire for the Easter Vigil nearby. The act was in defiance of the king’s direct order that he be the only one to light a fire that evening. Though the king attempted to fight back against Patrick, he lost. The legend goes on to suggest that the king and Druids converted to Christianity, effectively ending the predominant practice of paganism in Ireland. Christian conversion led to the emergence of many monasteries across Ireland and a unique kind of Christian iconography and architecture highly influenced by the art of the Celtic past.   Celts Across the Continent Mšecké Žehrovice Head, La Tène, Prague, Czech Republic, c. 150-50 BCE. Source: Prague National Museum   The Celtic peoples living across the European continent, concurrent with the Roman expansion and the subsequent rise of the Germanic tribes, likely suffered similar fates as those living in Gaul or Britain. It is generally accepted that by the 6th century, due to Romanization and the subsequent migration of the Germanic tribes across Europe, Celtic culture could only be identified in Ireland and certain pockets of Britain.   Migrations around Europe make it difficult to identify one predominant Germanic group. Nevertheless, it is safe to suggest that the movements of the Goths, the Visigoths, the Franks, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths, plus nomadic Huns, effectively wiped out any remaining Celtic cultural practices on the continent over the course of the early Middle Ages.

  The opposition between the Māori, the original inhabitants of Aotearoa/New Zealand, and the Pākehā, the European newcomers, has been central to New Zealand’s recent history. Some Māori chiefs were open to dialogue with the Europeans and even fought alongside them. However, others, like Te Whiti, chose the path of passive resistance, sabotaging settlers’ machinery and fences and disrupting their crops. Others, such as Te Heuheu Tūkino IV, decided to collaborate with the Europeans to protect their sacred lands.   1. Hōne Pōkai Heke: The Warrior From the Bay of Islands Bay of Islands, where Hōne Heke was born, photograph by Linde Lanjouw, 2020. Source: Unsplash   Hōne Heke’s name is synonymous with both the Treaty of Waitangi (te Tiriti o Waitangi), the founding document of New Zealand, and the Northern War against British settlers. By 1840, when the Treaty was signed, Hōne Pōkai Heke (1807-1850) was an influential and well-respected leader. Born in 1807 in Pākaraka in the Bay of Islands on the east coast of the North Island, he was a member of the Ngāpuhi iwi (tribe), today the largest and most influential tribe in New Zealand, and a descendant of Rāhiri.   From 1824 to 1825 Heke attended the mission school in Kerikeri, after his village was attacked and sacked by a Ngāti Whātua war party. He embraced Christianity and acquired even more mana (force/authority) after marrying Hariata Rongo, the daughter of a respected leader and warrior Hongi Hika (1772-1828), and his senior wife Turikatuku, in March 1837. Heke’s first wife, Ono, daughter of Ngāpuhi leader Te Pahi, had died two years earlier.   Hōne Heke wearing a flax clock with his wife Hariata at his left side, watercolor by Joseph Jenner Merrett, 1845. Source: Wikimedia Commons   In 1840, Hōne Heke was the first of the 45 northern Māori chiefs to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, as he believed that an alliance between the Māori and the Pākehā could benefit both. Over the years, however, Heke became increasingly disillusioned with the Treaty, and his name became linked to the Northern Wars (also known as Flagstaff Wars). In 1844, he ordered the cutting down of the British flagpole on Maiki Hill at the north end of the Russell settlement (known among the Māori as Kororāreka).   In the 1840s, Russell was a major ship-provisioning and trading center, as well as the fifth-largest town in New Zealand. Heke’s right-hand man, Te Haratua, chopped down the flagpole on July 8, 1844. It was cut down a second time on January 10, 1845, this time by Heke himself. Finally, on March 11, 1845, Heke and a hundred Ngāpuhi warriors launched an attack on the settlement.   James Busby’s Residence, now known as Treaty House, where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. Source: Tauranga Heritage Collection   Far from desiring harm or death upon European settlers, Heke’s men aimed to pressure the British into honoring the Treaty of Waitangi and respecting Māori chiefly authority (rangatiratanga), customs, and lands. Eventually, British forces, with the support of a group of Māori tribes, bombarded, sacked, and looted Kororāreka.   Heke wrote and sent letters and petitions first to Colonial Governor Robert FitzRoy and then to his successor, George Grey. His prestige grew in time, even when he fell sick with tuberculosis. He was particularly close to Grey, as his letters suggest, despite the differences that had divided them in the past.   Heke died on August 6, 1850. The missionary Richard Davis from Kaikohe, who had been close to him in the last months of his life, conducted Heke’s funeral service before Heke’s body was buried secretly at Pākaraka. The burial ground, called Kaungarapa, was where other tribal leaders had been laid to rest in the past.   2. Te Wherowhero: The First Māori King  Te Wherowhero, watercolor by George French Angas, 1847. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Hōne Heke was the first chief to sign the Treaty of Waitangi. Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (1800-1860) was the first to be crowned and anointed King of the Kīngitanga in 1858. He belonged to the Ngāti Mahuta Tribe and was a descendant of the captains of the Tainui and Te Araw canoes. He was born in the Waikato region, in the upper North Island, a region that he fiercely defended—sometimes unsuccessfully—against the repeated attacks of Hongi Hika, chief of the musket-armed Ngāpuhi Tribe, during the so-called Musket Wars.   During the four-decades-long intertribal conflict, Te Wherowhero became a respected and feared warrior and leader among the Māori population of the North Island. He defended the Mātakitaki village (pā) in May 1822, even single-handedly at one point, as his people fled, terrified by the “new” weapons of the Ngāpuhi.   The Waikato region, where Wherowhero was born, photograph by Petra Reid. Source: Unsplash   In 1823, he finally made peace with the Ngāpuhi Tribe. As his people began to return to their homes, Te Wherowhero’s brother, Kati, cemented the peace by marrying a woman of the Ngāpuhi, Matire Toha. In 1828, Te Wherowhero’s daughter, Tīria, married trader J.R. Kent (known among Māori as Amukete), and muskets finally reached warriors in the Waikato territory.   In the mid-1830s, the first missionaries arrived in the region. Te Wherowhero was never baptized, but he was often seen attending church services. In March 1840, he was one of the northern chiefs who refused to sign the Treaty of Waitangi. When Governor William Hobson passed away in 1842, Te Wherowhero decided to write directly to Queen Victoria. He wanted to suggest the kind of man his people believed should replace Hobson.   Queen Victoria in mourning with a portrait of Prince Albert, 1862. Source: National Portrait Gallery   In 1849, he made a vow and signed an agreement to defend and provide military protection for the city of Auckland. He placed the city under his tapu, making it a sacred place that should not be violated. As a gesture of thanks, the government built a house for him in Auckland.   In offering his advice to the Queen and then swearing to protect Auckland (and the tribes of the Auckland isthmus), Te Wherowhero was making a strategic, as well as symbolic, move. On one hand, he was protecting his lands and his people from the threat of physical and cultural alienation. On the other, he was asserting his people’s right to participate in the management of their lands alongside the British.   Auckland, photograph by Sulthan Auliya, 2020. Source: Unsplash   In June 1858, he was crowned King of the Māori at Ngāruawāhia. Several chiefs supported his coronation. As the leader of the Kīngitanga (Māori King Movement), his mission was to unite the northern tribes, to be the “eye of the needle through which the white, black and red threads must pass,” as he declared in his speech of acceptance.   Te Wherowhero never intended to threaten the sovereignty of Queen Victoria and was willing to consult with the government. However, British encroachment on Māori lands forced him to oppose the governor, especially his plans to acquire land and build a road connecting Auckland to Wellington. Pōtatau Te Wherowhero died at Ngāruawāhia, where he had been crowned king, on June 25, 1860, and was succeeded by his son, King Tāwhio.   3. Tāwhiao: King and Prophet King Tāwhiao, photograph by George Steel, 1847. Source: Christchurch Art Gallery   Tāwhiao (1822-1894) was one of Te Wherowhero’s sons and the second Māori King. His reign lasted 34 years. For three decades, he guided his people through one of the most violent eras of Māori-Pākehā relations, a time of conflicts, displacement, alienation, land confiscation, settler invasion, and smart diplomacy.   In July 1863, the British invaded the Waikato region after crossing the Mangatāwhiri stream. Tāwhiao had made it clear that crossing the Mangatāwhiri was tantamount to an act of war, as he had declared the stream an aukati, “a boundary marking a prohibited area,” a “line over which one may not pass,” according to the definition provided by Te Aka. After months of battles, in December 1863, the British captured Ngāruawāhia, the capital where Tāwhiao’s father had been crowned King of the Māori five years earlier.   The Taranaki region on the North Island, New Zealand, photograph by Walter Walraven, 2021. Source: Unsplash   Tāwhiao and the Kingite forces were forced to retreat southwards. They fled to Tokangamutu (Te Kuiti) in the territory of the Ngāti Maniapoto on the western North Island. Tāwhiao declared it Te Rohe Pōtae (Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto), or, as it has been known ever since, King Country.   For 20 years, he governed it as an independent state. During this time, he traveled extensively, meeting with other tribes, particularly the Taranaki, and addressing crowds. His sayings were prophetic and visionary. Baptized as Matutaera (Methuselah) by the Anglican missionary Robert Burrows, Tāwhiao carefully blended the Scriptures with the stories and customs of his ancestors, particularly the rites of the Tainui priesthood. He foresaw the arrival of a “child” who would rectify past wrongs by leading his people into a new era for the Māori community. His people embraced his words as a path out of their current suffering and discontent.   Settlers in the Taranki region, Thomas Gilbert, 1861. Source: Wikimedia Commons   After years of negotiations, Tāwhiao eventually agreed to lay down his weapons, and his people were finally allowed to return to Waikato. The year was 1881. Overall, they had lost over a million acres to the government and settlers, mainly young families from the British Isles. For Tāwhiao and his people, this was just the beginning (or rather the continuation) of a new phase of opposition to British encroachment.   Tāwhiao was fundamentally a pacifist. In 1884, he led a group of chiefs to England to petition Queen Victoria “to have the Treaty of Waitangi honoured.” Without denying the Queen’s authority, Tāwhiao requested an independent commission of inquiry into land confiscations and a separate Māori parliament, but to no avail.   Group of Māori weeping over a deceased rangatira (chief), painting by George French Angas, 1847. Source: Wikimedia Commons   In 1890, he established Te Kauhanganui (now known as Te Whakakitenga), a pan-Māori parliament that would become a rallying force for the tribes of the Kīngitanga. He died on August 26, 1894, at Pārāwera. Thousands of people came for his tangi (or tangihanga) ceremony to pay their respects to the second King of the Māori. He was succeeded by one of his three (recognized) children and eldest son, Mahuta Tāwhiao (1855-1912).   4. Te Whiti: The Pacifist Prophet Parihaka village in the Taranaki region, photograph by William Collis, 1900. Source: Museum of Transport and Technology   Like Tāwhiao, Te Whiti (1830-1907) was a leader and a prophet. Also known as Te Whiti-O-Rongomai III, today his name is synonymous with the village of Parihaka, on the western coast of the North Island. Some sources suggest that Te Whiti moved there with his family as a child in the 1840s, while others claim he founded the pā (village) around 1866.   The village, nestled among low hills and close to the Tasman Sea and Mount Taranaki, was situated in a strategic location in the Taranaki region, away from the areas most densely populated by settlers. After just a few years from its foundation, Parihaka was home to about 300 people. The settlement had over 100 whare (houses) and two marae, which are the sacred meeting grounds of the Māori people. By the late 1870s, the population of Parihaka had grown from 300 to 1500.   Māori children at Anakoha Native School. Source: Nelson Provincial Museum   As anger among the European settlers towards Te Whiti’s leadership grew, so did the commitment of the Māori people to passive resistance against European encroachment and land confiscation. Māori men, women, and children resisted by disrupting the surveyors’ camps, work, and plowing long furrows in the settlers’ pastures. In 1879, many of these “plowmen” were arrested and brought before the court.   Two years later, on November 5, 1881, troops of the Constabulary Field Force invaded Parihaka, accompanied by about 1,600 volunteers. Encouraged by Te Whiti, the Māori inhabitants offered no resistance. 2,500 of them had been waiting since midnight, sitting peacefully in their marae at the center of the village.   The Parihaka village was built in sight of Mount Taranaki, photograph by Sulthan Auliya, 2022. Source: Unsplash   Te Whiti along with two other leaders, Tohu and Titokowaru, were arrested. He was not released until 1883 and was imprisoned again in 1886. Meanwhile, plowing campaigns continued in the Taranaki region.   Te Whiti died on February 4, 1907, at Parihaka, eleven months after Tohu. A leader, teacher, prophet, and believer in nonviolent resistance, Te Whiti combined his deep knowledge of Christian scripture with Māori knowledge, myths, and prophecies. Along with Te Wherowhero and Tāwhiao, who reportedly sent twelve “apostles” to live at Parihaka in 1866, thus acknowledging the village’s role in Māori resistance, he remains one of the greatest Māori leaders of the 19th century.   5. Te Heuheu Tūkino IV and the Three Peaks  Mt. Tongariro, one of the three mountains gifted by Te Heuheu to the British Crown, photograph by Long Ling, 2022. Source: Unsplash   In 1846, after his parents died in the massive avalanche of mud that destroyed their village, Te Heuheu Tūkino IV (1821-1888) took the name Horonuku, which means “landslide” in the Māori language. He was born around 1820 on the southwestern side of Lake Taupō, on the North Island. His father was Mananui Te Heuheu Tūkino II, leader of Ngāti Tūrumakina and paramount chief of the Ngāti Tūwharetoa Tribe, whose lands extend across the central plateau of the North Island, including Lake Taupō and Mount Tongariro.   The Ngāti Tūwharetoa Tribe claims to be the descendants of Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest (tohunga) who navigated the Arawa canoe when the ancestors of the Māori sailed to Aotearoa/New Zealand. Te Heuheu’s name has been linked to Mount Tongariro since 1887.   Mt. Ngauruhoe, photograph by Adriel Kloppenburg, 2021. Source: Unsplash   The 1860s and 1870s witnessed an influx of European settlers to the central plateau of the North Island. They constructed fences, engaged in sheep farming, and cultivated crops on lands that for centuries had belonged exclusively to the Ngāti Tūwharetoa. In October 1862, he became paramount chief of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, succeeding Iwikau, his father’s brother, and took the name Te Heuheu Tūkino IV. In 1869, government forces invaded the Taupō region. Despite support from Tāwhiao, Te Heuheu, and his followers, were compelled to surrender and flee the region.   In 1887, Te Heuheu made a revolutionary move. He gifted the three volcanic peaks of the central North Island—Mt. Ruapehu, Mt. Ngauruhoe, and Mt. Tongariro—to the people of New Zealand, the Māori and the Pākehā, to be preserved as a national park. The government agreed. In September, the Native Minister John Ballance (1839-1893) and Te Heuheu signed the deed.   Te Heuheu II and his brother Hiwikau are the first two figures on the left, with Lake Taupō in the background, painting by George French Angas, 1847. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Te Heuheu’s decision was bold and controversial, even among Māori chiefs. The mountains were sacred to Te Heuheu and his tribe. They were tapu, protected peaks, too sacred to be sold or leased, and thus placed under atua protection, “removed from the sphere of the profane and put into the sphere of the sacred,” according to the definition of “atua” provided by Te Aka.   By offering the mountains of his ancestors in partnership with the Crown, Te Heuheu ensured that his tribe and his descendants would have a say in the future management of his ancestors’ mountains. His decision aimed to protect the mountains and ensure his tribe’s future with one move. At the same time, he was also affirming his mana among neighboring Māori tribes.   Te Heuheu died at Waihī in late July 1888 and was succeeded by his son, Tūreiti (1865-1921), who would become the fifth paramount chief of Ngāti Tūwharetoa. Together with Tāwhiao, his father Te Wherowhero, Te Whiti, Hōne Heke, and Te Heuheu have contributed to shaping the history of New Zealand, each in his own way. Their legacy can still be felt today in the national parks of the North Island and in the country’s commitment to honoring the original owners of Aotearoa/New Zealand.

I bet you’ve all seen this famous photo circulating online: A dozen wars, millions dead, 1 nobel peace prize. 0 charges. pic.twitter.com/Eq6z8A7dXH — Rev Laskaris (@REVMAXXING) May 31, 2024 Some view it as a historic gathering of Presidents and their spouses. Otherwise like Rev above view it as a gathering of Elite Monsters who started a dozen wars, killed millions, and are basically some of the worst war criminals to exist. Like Chay, who captions the photo “Killers Club”: Killers Club pic.twitter.com/KycgL8yfhH — Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) June 1, 2024 Or Dom who asks “what is the name of this band?” What’s the name of this band? pic.twitter.com/TGYO1e6Dba — Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) November 15, 2023 Ok, but did you know that’s not the REAL, original version of this photo? I’m about to blow your mind. The original version included Melania Trump! Yes, really. Take a look: Why does everyone cut Melania out the picture? pic.twitter.com/z1PaTewflQ — Refusenik Bex (@silver918111) November 16, 2023 Here’s another look: Why cut Melania out? They’re all on the same team! https://t.co/xQnR9BhTTb pic.twitter.com/e6d7ysGXIq — Sunny Life (@Sunnyskies1111) June 1, 2024 And if you compare it to the version we’re all used to seeing you can see the tight crop eliminating Melania. I actually didn’t believe it was real until I looked into it myself, but it is indeed authentic that Melania was in this picture. Do I think Melania is “in the same club” as these Monsters? Hardly. I think she’s just a nice human being who posed for a photo while they were all at the same gathering. In fact, according to local KCBD, the gathering was First Lady Barbara Bush’s funeral on April 21, 2018: A photo of four past presidents and three first ladies at former First Lady Barbara Bush’s funeral on April 21, 2018 went viral. The image quickly went viral — a symbol of the strength and continuity of American democracy said a reporter for CNN Chris Cillizza. The man who took the original photo, Paul Morse is a New Orleans-based photographer. According to CNN, the photo was organized at the reception prior to the funeral service. It was taken before they walked into the service. Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack and Michelle Obama and Melania Trump joined George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Laura Bush in the photo. The day after the photo went viral, the Lubbock County Democratic Party Headquarters posted the photo without a caption – however, it was missing one person. The photo had been cropped to show everyone except Melania Trump. When KCBD reached out to the Lubbock County Democratic Party Headquarters to learn why the photo was cropped, Leo Flores, the Vice Chair said, “It was an honest mistake.” He told KCBD he grabbed the photo from his (Facebook) feed and must have grabbed the wrong one. He said once he noticed the mistake, the post had more than 30 comments on it so he decided to leave it alone. He also said he got busy and has not edited the social media post to say it was an error. After speaking with KCBD, the post was edited and the caption of the photo now reads: I apologize for posting an incomplete picture. I didn’t realize anyone was missing until it was pointed out. Thank you for your concern. What do you think? Just an honest mistake? I have to say I like the picture a whole lot more with Melania NOT in it. I don’t like seeing her with these horrible people. So just like Bob Ross, I call the cropping out of Melania a “happy little accident”.

Symphonic/death metal maximalists Fleshgod Apocalypse paused a show on their current North American tour to officiate a wedding