Thousands have been killed in the ongoing protests in Iran, prompted by record inflation in December and targeting the religious government in place since 1979.

The pictures, which are too graphic to show without blurring, reveal the bloodied, swollen and bruised faces of at least 326 victims - including 18 women. The images, displayed in a south Tehran mortuary, are one of the only ways families have been able to identify their dead loved ones.

When it comes to chili dogs, Ree Drummond believes that excluding this ingredient results in a smoother texture that allows the other elements to shine.

Life-changing intel!!

by Matt Agorist, The Free Thought Project: If you woke up on the morning of January 11 and checked the blockchain, you might have noticed something terrifyingly silent happened on the Tron network. In the blink of an eye, $182 million worth of Tether (USDT) simply ceased to function. The funds weren’t stolen by a hacker […]

by Joshua Klein, Breitbart: A two-day crackdown that new reporting says killed as many as 36,500 Iranians — a death toll placing it among the deadliest short-term mass killings documented in modern history — followed an order by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to mercilessly crush nationwide protests “by any means necessary,” including accounts of […]

from TheSaltyCracker : TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

  Dominated by a secretive group of elite priests and high-ranking officials, the earliest Roman legal system relied on oral customs kept hidden from the public. Seeking to end this priest-controlled monopoly on legal knowledge, the common class (plebeians) demanded that the rules be written down for all to see. And so, in 451 BCE, a commission of ten men referred to as the decemviri gathered to draft the first formal code of law.   The Laws of the Twelve Tables, by Silvestre David Mirys, c. 1799. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Referred to as the Twelve Tables, the rules which were written on bronze tablets were put up in the public square known as the Forum, where they could be read by all citizens. The concept established the idea that law was public rather than arbitrary. Before this time, the elite often changed the rules to suit their needs as no written rules existed. So, what are some of the modern laws derived from Ancient Rome?   The Concept of Being Innocent Until Proven Guilty Digest excerpt (D. 6.1) about the rei vindicatio compiling the opinions of the Ulpian and Paulus from the 6th-century. Source: Wikipedia   The concept of being innocent until proven guilty emerged from the Roman state. It was during the reign of emperor Antoninus Pius in the 2nd century CE that the government championed the idea of the accused deserving protection from baseless charges. And then in 533 CE, a massive collection of legal opinions called the Digest codified the rule that the burden of proof lay with the person making the claim. The rule which was attributed to the emperor Trajan, stated that it was better for a guilty man to go free than for an innocent person to suffer.   The idea moved through the centuries and became a part of the many modern legal systems. In order to protect the accused, the Romans required clear evidence rather than rumors or mere suspicion. Many modern attorneys use the same logic when they argue about the burden of proof.   Contract Laws Roman civilians examining the Twelve Tables after they were first implemented. Source: Wikipedia   Roman business dealings required reliable laws to make deals effective and to settle debts across the vast Roman territory. To make this possible, the state created a system of obligations that divided contracts into four specific types based on how they were made. One type of contract involved the physical delivery of an object, while another used spoken words.   A third type of contract relied on written documents while a fourth needed only the consent of the two parties involved. Known to history as consensual contracts, the agreements did not need fancy rituals or witnesses to be valid. The laws gave merchants the ability to trade across the empire without a lot of red tape. The Romans also introduced the idea of good faith or bona fides in business dealings. Modern consumer laws follow a similar pattern of protecting the buyer from hidden defects in merchandise.   Property Rights Laws Private property sign on gate. Source: Pexels   Legal authority over land and items was a very big deal in the Roman world as it defined a citizen’s status. Consequently, lawmakers made a distinction between legal ownership of land (dominium) and just holding property (possessio). The concept meant that a person could own property even if someone else was concurrently using it. In order to manage land, the courts also created the idea of easements which allowed specific uses of another person’s property.   For example, a person had the right to walk across a neighbor’s field to reach a road if they had no other access. The right stayed with the land even if the owners changed through sale or inheritance. Similar systems exist in modern law. Also, if a person died without a will, the law decided how the property would be divided based on the relationship of each family member to the deceased. Most modern inheritance laws look a lot like those Roman rules.   The Law of Torts Legal systems of the world. Blue is based on Roman law. Source: Wikipedia   In the 3rd century BCE, the Roman assembly passed the Lex Aquilia rule to regulate compensation for property damage. The law stated that when one person damaged the property of another through unlawful conduct, it moved the focus away from simple revenge and toward paying for the damage in the form of monetary compensation.   If a person killed a slave or an animal belonging to another, for example, they paid the highest value that the animal or slave reached in the past year. For other types of property damage, the law required that the value of the item in the nearest thirty days to be compensated. Modern damage claim rules are believed to have originated from those Roman laws.

  Throughout most of the Bronze Age, the Minoans ruled over ancient Crete and several other islands in the Aegean Sea. They also had colonies in Anatolia, the Levant, and perhaps even Libya. All the evidence shows that they were a rich, comfortable, and relatively advanced civilization. Yet, that all changed at some point during the Bronze Age. The Mycenaean Greeks overthrew the Minoans on Crete and put an end to their trading empire. But when their civilization and power network collapsed, what happened to the Minoan people?   How Did the Mighty Minoans Die? Ruins of the Minoan settlement of Akrotiri on Santorini. Source: Wikimedia Commons   In the 16th century BCE, the volcanic island of Thera erupted. This was one of the largest volcanic eruptions in all of human history. There was a prominent Minoan colony on that island, but it seems that few, if any, Minoans there actually died in the eruption. They evidently evacuated the island before it happened.   Nevertheless, this eruption completely destroyed this important, strategically placed colony and caused a tsunami which struck the north coast of Crete. While not crippling the Minoans, the archaeological evidence shows that they soon became far more concerned with fortifying their settlements and creating storage spaces than they had been prior to the eruption. At this same time, Late Minoan IB, the Minoan colony on Kythera just next to Greece, was destroyed. All of this evidence indicates that the Theran eruption led to a period of conflict between the Minoans and the Mycenaeans.   Minoan ruins (partially reconstructed) of the Palace of Knossos. Source: Warren LeMay via Flickr   After this, at the end of Late Minoan IB stage (around 1470-1450 BCE), we see widespread destruction all over Crete. Virtually all the major power centers with their palace complexes were destroyed in what were clearly targeted attacks. Immediately after this, the language of the administrative tablets changed from Linear A (the script of the Minoans) to Linear B (the script of the Mycenaeans). Furthermore, Mycenaean material culture characterizes Crete after Late Minoan IB. This evidence strongly indicates—although not all scholars agree—that the Mycenaeans invaded and conquered Crete.   However, was this when the Minoans died? No, the Minoan civilization continued for centuries thereafter. Nevertheless, the Minoans were being slowly but surely absorbed by the Greeks who had come to dominate the island. The final phase of Minoan history is often given as Late Minoan III, which ended in c. 1075 BCE. After this, according to many modern sources, the Minoans died as a distinct ethnic group. However, archaeologists have noted something very interesting and important in the final part of Late Minoan III which—together with other evidence—refutes that conclusion.   The Minoan Refugee Settlement Ancient ruins at Praisos. Source: Panegyrics of Granovetter via Flickr   During Late Minoan IIIB and C, most of the Minoan cities across eastern Crete were abandoned. This represents the era in which most of the Minoans either died or were absorbed by the Greeks. What happened after this? In these two phases of Minoan history, archaeologists have found evidence for extensive Minoan activity in the region of Praisos, which is in the easternmost part of Crete.   One of the most striking finds is a large settlement. The walls of this settlement were built in the style of the Minoans, and we also find Minoan tombs in the area. This large settlement dates to Late Minoan IIIC, with other, more minor evidence of Minoan activity in the preceding Late Minoan IIIB. Therefore, it appears that the Minoans arrived here in the 14th century BCE, but only properly built up the settlement after 1200 BCE. Interestingly, this has been described by some archaeologists as a “refugee settlement.”   The Subminoan Period Pottery from Late Minoan III. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Despite the idea that Minoan history ended around 1100 BCE, archaeological evidence indicates that the Minoans had not yet died as a distinct ethnic group by that point. In reality, Late Minoan III was directly followed by the Subminoan period. The connection between these two periods is so close that some archaeologists believe that they actually overlapped, with Subminoan I forming part of Late Minoan IIIC. In any case, Subminoan II definitely came later. Some scholars believe that this continued until as late as c. 970 BCE.   This suggests that the Minoans continued to exist as a distinct ethnic group until as late as the 10th century BCE. On the other hand, we have to be cautious about treating pottery styles as synonymous with ethnic groups. Nevertheless, as we look further forward in history, there is evidence which appears to validate this understanding of the nature of Subminoan pottery.   An Enduring Community Ancient ruins at Praisos, Crete. Source: Andrew Skudder via Flickr   After the end of the Subminoan period, the Minoans had indeed mostly died off as a distinct ethnic group—at least as far as a distinct material culture is concerned. However, this does not mean that all traces of them disappeared. Even long after the Bronze Age collapse, there is evidence of a distinct group on Crete which can be identified as the descendants of the Minoans.   At the apparent Minoan refugee settlement near Praisos, there is evidence for continued habitation until c. 900 BCE. This is after the end of the Subminoan period, yet as we saw, the settlement was clearly established and inhabited by Minoan survivors. Therefore, this indicates that a distinct Minoan material culture disappeared after c. 970 BCE, even though at least one distinct community of Minoans remained in existence until the end of that century. Not long after this, we find evidence for interesting activity at Praisos.   The Eteocretans of Praisos The earliest Eteocretan inscription from Praisos. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Three fascinating inscriptions have been found at Praisos. The earliest dates to the late 7th or the early 6th century BCE. The second dates to about the 4th century BCE, while the third dates to the following century. Another relevant inscription was found at Dreros, some distance from Praisos, but also on the eastern part of Crete. What do all these inscriptions have in common?   Although written using the Greek alphabet, they were written in a non-Greek language. In fact, they were written in a language which does not seem to be related to any other known tongue. Many scholars believe this to be the same language that was used by the Minoans, which is equally undeciphered. Most of the Minoans had died by this point. Yet, this would indicate that there continued to exist a community, or communities, in eastern Crete that spoke a distinct language, quite possibly the language of the Minoans.   Satellite view of Crete. Source: European Space Agency   Further supporting evidence for this is the fact that ancient written sources strongly suggest that the speakers of this language were known as the Eteocretans. For example, Homer’s Odyssey, written in the 7th century BCE, refers to the Eteocretans as one of the groups inhabiting Crete. Strabo, in the 1st century BCE, also mentioned them. Strabo included the significant detail that the Eteocretans were particularly associated with the region of Praisos on Crete. Furthermore, he made a point of describing them as the native inhabitants of the island.   This being so, they were evidently not Greek. Since they were said to have lived at Praisos, this leads to the obvious conclusion that the non-Greek inscriptions in that very area were written by the Eteocretans. What does this mean for the Minoans? Put simply, this evidence indicates that some Minoans actually survived as a distinct language-speaking group in eastern Crete long after the Bronze Age, after most of the Minoans had died.   What Happened to the Minoans After the Fall of the Civilization? Part of a fresco found at the Minoan settlement of Akrotiri, Santorini, c. 16th century BCE. Source: Wikimedia Commons   So, what happened to the Minoans after the fall of their civilization? While they were conquered by the Mycenaeans and their settlements disrupted, they did not completely die off, and nor were they completely absorbed into the new dominant Greek society. Archaeological evidence suggests that a distinct Minoan community survived near Praisos on the eastern part of Crete until as late as the 10th century BCE. The “refugee settlement” in that area was abandoned in c. 900 BCE, but even then, written evidence suggests that the descendants of the Minoans preserved their language and, by necessity, a distinct identity. They had become the Eteocretans, where the Greeks remembered them as Crete’s original inhabitants.