Episode 14 Etruscan Warriors and Warfare

The Mysterious Etruscans

Dr Steven L Tuck (2016)

Film Review

According to Tuck, the Etruscans were almost continually at war, conducting annual raids on their sister cities for livestock, slaves and booty. Casualties tended to be extremely low, in part due to effective armor, and it was typical to keep fighting until your opponent ran away.

Prior to the 5th century, most armor and weapons were made of bronze. The two main Etruscan weapons were a flanged ax and a single edged sword. Both were wielded in a slashing motion like a machete. The Etruscan cavalry sometimes carried javelins.

Bronze Etruscan flanged ax head

Estruscan warriors also carried shields, which were either bronze or wood covered in bronze and wore bronze helmets and breast plates. Around 475 BC the breast plates were replaced by the bronze cuirass (molded to fit the abdominal musculature).

The cuirass was replaced by linen armor (either soaked in glue to stiffen it or covered with bronze plates).

The Etruscans never adopted the Greek (Spartan) hoplite battle formations. Instead, after charging their opponents on horses, they dismounted and engaged in arm-to-arm combat.

Most of the armies were clan-based and feudal, recruited and armed by local aristocrats. Because warriors weren’t paid, their main aim wasn’t to win battles but to acquire as much loot as possible. In contrast, Greek citizen soldiers were motivated to win battles to protect their democracies. The aristocrats who recruited Etruscan warriors  lost control of them once battle began.

When three or four Etruscan cities occasionally united to declare war on a foreign state, each city contributed approximately four to five thousand troops.

Etruscan Warriors At Sea

Etruscan sailing ships sailed the length of the Mediterranean and made an unsuccessful attempt to start a colony on the Atlantic coast of Spain (at modern day Cadiz). They also routinely attacked and looted trading Spanish, French and Corsican trading vessels, as well of those of other Etruscan cities and even those of Athens in the 4th century BC. Between 485-475 BC they occupied Liperi near Sicily. In 364 BC, Alexander the Great was so concerned about Etruscan piracy, he asked Rome to use her navy to attack them.

Significant Etruscan naval battles with the Greeks:

• 535 BC Battle of Alalia – the Etuscans united with the Carthaginians to prevail against the Greek navy and briefly occupied the Greek island of Corsica.
• 474 BC Battle of Cumae – (the Etruscans lost their cities in southern Italy to Greece)
• 453 BC – Etruscans suffered major defeat from Greek navy on their coast.
• 384 BC – Syracuse navy sacked the main Etruscan sanctuary at Volutumnae with 100 ships.
• 335 BC – Etruscans defeated by Athenian navy on west coast of Italy.

As with their military forces, each Etruscan city had their own navy with no centralized control or organization. Another problem for the Etrucans was that they continued to rely on the pentaconter (rowed by 50 oarsmen) when their enemies had adopted the Greek tireme rowed by 150 oarsmen (see The Ultimate Warship of Ancient Greece). The latter was faster and easier to maneuver, as well as having more deck space to facilitate forcible boarding.

The Etruscan pentaconter

*The Greek hoplite was a heavily armored infantryman who fought in a phalanx formation. The typical formation was eight ranks deep.

Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/239710/239637

Paul Joseph Watson

Al Gore says that people having access to information outside of mainstream media sources is a threat to “democracy” and that social media algorithms “ought to be banned.”

Yes, really.

Gore made the comments during an appearance at the Cop28 climate change hysteria conference in Dubai.

https://twitter.com/ElanderNews/status/1732872897155174481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1732872897155174481%7Ctwgr%5Ec0e7f6dfc78b9d2ce1ce9cfb204a4baee5257080%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmodernity.news%2F2023%2F12%2F10%2Fal-gore-says-people-having-access-to-non-mainstream-information-threatens-democracy%2F

Gore whined that social media had “disrupted the balances that used to exist that made representative democracy work much better.”

The former Vice President said that functioning democracy relied on a “shared base of knowledge that serves as a basis for reasoning together collectively” but that “social media that is dominated by algorithms” upsets this balance.

According to Gore, people are being pulled down “rabbit holes” by algorithms that are “the digital equivalent of AR-15s – they ought to be banned, they really ought to be banned!”

Gore claimed, “It’s an abuse of the public forum” and that people were being sucked into echo chambers.

“If you spend too much time in the echo chamber, what’s weaponized is another form of AI, not artificial intelligence, artificial insanity! I’m serious!” he added.

Apparently, the only echo chamber that should be allowed to exist is Gore’s own rabbit hole, wherein the earth is constantly on the brink of destruction thanks to people not obeying his technocratic mandates.

Perhaps Gore is unhappy at his own misinformation being fact checked by individuals who have access to information not produced by corporate media sources that are friendly to him.

Gore infamously predicted that the north polar ice cap would be “ice free” within 5 to 7 years.

It never happened.

As Thomas Cartenacci documents, Gore has a storied history of making climate change predictions that turn out to be spectacularly wrong.

No wonder he wants to ban dissent.

Via https://modernity.news/2023/12/10/al-gore-says-people-having-access-to-non-mainstream-information-threatens-democracy/

Sputnik

The New York Times – generally considered a mouthpiece for US militarism and ruling class interests – published an article Saturday agonizing over the possibility that former President Trump would withdraw from NATO in a second term.

The report, although rife with opinion and speculation, was published as a news item in the Saturday edition of the controversial newspaper.

“For 74 years, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been America’s most important military alliance,” read the article. The authors went on to suggest there is “enormous uncertainty and anxiety” throughout Europe and among “American supporters of the country’s traditional foreign-policy role” (which has resulted in the death of at least 4.5 million since 2001).

“There is great fear in Europe that a second Trump presidency would result in an actual pullout of the United States from NATO,” said James G. Stavridis, a former NATO supreme allied commander. “That would be an enormous strategic and historic failure on the part of our nation.”

Despite NATO’s ostensible existence as an “alliance” between the United States and European countries Stavridis, like every other NATO supreme commander, is American.

Benjamin Norton, the founder and editor-in-chief of Geopolitical Economy Report, has derisively labeled the alliance as the “Nazi Arming and Training Organization” for their support of Nazi elements. Historically, the alliance elevated former German Nazis to key positions of power throughout the Cold War and supported terrorism, assassinations, psychological warfare, and false flag operations through a covert effort known as Operation Gladio.

The strategy was duplicated in Latin America where the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) utilized and provided safe haven for former Nazis like Klaus Barbie.

Despite ostensibly existing as an anticommunist alliance, NATO remained hostile to Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and continued expanding east in violation of the agreement with the country during the final days of the Cold War. Recently the US government-backed Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe laid bare the country’s intention to balkanize Russia in a conference advocating for “decolonization” even as the United States continues to support the “colonization” of the Gaza Strip.

Recently the consequences of US hegemony in Europe have been made clear as Germany endures a deep economic crisis brought about by the country’s participation in US-led sanctions on Russia.

Via https://sputnikglobe.com/20231211/us-ruling-class-fears-trump-would-withdraw-from-nato-1115515681.html

By Troy Aidan Sambajon

Christian Science Monitor

Earlier this year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new vision for the San Quentin State Penitentiary, centered on rehabilitation and job training, inspired by another prison system that has halved its recidivism rate – in Norway.

The re-imagining of California’s most notorious prison, infamous for housing the nation’s largest death row population, could prove pivotal in how the United States rethinks rehabilitation and staff wellness within prisons.

About 2 out of 3 Americans released from jails and prisons per year are arrested again, and 50% are re-incarcerated, according to the Harvard Political Review. In Norway, that rate is as low as 20%.

As more U.S. states seek to improve their correctional systems, the Norwegian model could prove key. It aims to create a less hostile environment, both for people serving time and for prison staff, with the goal of more successfully helping incarcerated people reintegrate into society.

Why are U.S. prisons in need of reform?

While the United States makes up less than 5% of the global population, its prison system holds approximately 20% of the world’s total prison population. And even though it’s been on a slight decline since 2008, the total population of incarcerated Americans has increased by 500% since 1970, according to The Sentencing Project.

“Overcrowding, violence, and long sentences are common in U.S. prisons, often creating a climate of hopelessness for incarcerated people, as well as people who work there,” says Jordan Hyatt, associate professor of criminology and justice studies at Drexel University.

Correctional employees experience some of the highest rates of mental illness, sleep disorders, and physical health issues of all U.S. workers, a 2018 Lexipol report found.

Nearly 19% of prison workers reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder – a rate six times higher than that found in the general population. Moreover, 100% of correctional officers were exposed to at least one VID (violence, injury, death) event during their career, according to a 2011 survey by the Department of Justice.

So why try Norway’s model?

Making a prison environment more humane will translate to a more efficient prison system overall, experts say. And the Norwegian model prioritizes rehabilitation and reintegration over punishment. Safety, transparency, and innovation are considered fundamental to its approach. Core practices aim to create a feeling that life as part of a community continues even behind walls and bars, says Synøve Andersen, postdoctoral research criminologist at the University of Oslo.

In some Norwegian prisons, incarcerated people wear their own clothes, cook their own meals, and work in jobs that prepare them for employment, says Dr. Andersen. They have their own space, too, since single-unit cells are the norm. “There is a goal to provide people living in a unit together with a shared common space with a kitchen, washer and dryer, and lounging space,” she says.

While critics argue that people in prison should not have access to daily comforts, Dr. Andersen disagrees. “Imprisonment, the deprivation of liberty itself, that is the punishment.”

Instead, while they are separated from society, incarcerated people should experience normal, daily routines so they can have increased opportunities to reform without being preoccupied with fear of violence from other inmates, she argues.

The principle of dynamic security means correctional officers also must have more complex social duties besides safety and security, including actively observing and engaging with the prison population, understanding individuals’ unique needs, calculating flight risks, and developing individualized treatment plans.

Washington state’s Lt. Lance Graham works within restricted housing and solitary confinement units, an environment he says lacks empathy and connection with those incarcerated. “We never had the opportunity to connect with the people in our care.”

But when visiting Norway’s isolation units, he saw their staff was much more engaged with the prison population – and was much happier.

“This program really promotes staff wellness, changing the relationship that you have with the people in your care,” says Lieutenant Graham. “So you’re not going to have as many instances of fight or flight syndrome in your daily work. You reach common ground and talk like normal folks.”

“If you actually want to change the prison environment, invest in staff,” says Dr. Andersen. “They’re there all the time. They’re doing the work.”

Who is trying the Norwegian model?

Amend, a nonprofit from the University of California, San Francisco, partnered with four states – California, South Dakota, Oregon, and Washington – to introduce resources inspired by Norwegian principles and sponsor educational trips to Norway for U.S. correctional leaders.

At California’s San Quentin, Governor Newsom hopes to emphasize inmate job training for high-paying trades such as plumbers, electricians, or truck drivers. His budget proposal allocates $380 million to repurpose a factory into a center for innovation focused on providing social services and breaking cycles of crime. Mr. Newsom aims to complete the project before he leaves office in 2025.

In Washington state, prison staff began developing supportive working relationships with the incarcerated in their care by developing individual rehabilitation plans.

“Basically, we find out as a person, what their goals and interests are and then we work with them on that, which had never really been happening a lot in restricted housing,” says Lieutenant Graham. “So it’s brought massive changes to the state.”

In North Dakota, former Director of Corrections Leann Bertsch says after revamping the training and responsibilities of prison officers, interactions between staff and inmates felt respectful and calmer.

“Instead of getting as many grievances from the resident population, I started getting what we call positive behavior reports on our staff. … I think it really helped shift the culture to one that’s more restorative versus punitive,” says Ms. Bertsch.

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections collaborated with the Norwegian Correctional Services to pilot Little Scandinavia, a transformed housing unit operated at half the regular capacity to allow for individual cells. The on-duty officers at Little Scandinavia have reported enjoying their work much more now and there haven’t been any reports of violence since its opening in May 2022, says Dr. Andersen.

Norway receives much attention for its low rate of recidivism, but some experts disagree on the measure as a rate of success. “[Recidivism] is not just a product of the correctional system. It has everything to do with your social safety net, your network, your support structure, and your job opportunities,” said Dr. Andersen.

Also, the physical dimensions and layouts of prisons differ drastically between the U.S. and Norway. Instead of large, centralized prisons in the U.S., Norway utilizes a system of small, community-based correctional facilities that focus on rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

While 8% of prisons in the U.S. are private prisons, according to the National Institute of Corrections, all Norwegian prisons fall under the public sector, and some collaborate with nongovernmental and volunteer organizations to provide services to people.

[…]

Via https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2023/1206/Can-US-prisons-take-a-page-from-Norway-Five-questions

LeoHohmamn.com

Could this be the latest predictive programming, similar to ‘Event 201’ was for the Covid pandemic?

As we approach December 31, you will inevitably hear people across the world celebrating the end of another dreadful year and cheering on the arrival of brighter times in 2024.

It can only get better, right?

I beseech you, dear readers, not to participate in this fantasy. We should expect and prepare for things to get worse before they get better. The globalists who run the world have told us in the wide open what they have planned and it’s not pretty.

The year 2023 was no cakewalk, for sure, but it could very well be the last year in which we enjoyed a semblance of normalcy. There was no pandemic. War broke out but it didn’t come to our shores. Our paper money still buys food for our Christmas table and energy to heat our homes, even if it’s more expensive than in previous years. The fact that this worthless fiat paper is still capable of being traded for food, shelter and other hard assets is a blessing that might not be available to us one year from now. You might want to take full advantage of this while you can.

With the world’s superpowers remaining far apart in terms of how we move forward into a new era marked by artificial intelligence, digital currencies and total information awareness (i.e. the surveillance state), we should expect that the globalists will succeed in pushing the world closer to full-blown World War III next year. When the powderkeg finally blows, that war will come to U.S. soil.

We also face the destabilizing effects of another U.S. presidential election in November 2024. Regardless of which way that election goes, I see the globalists exploiting it for more chaos, confusion and division, an environment in which their Luciferian agenda thrives.

The globalist elites have done their best to inform us ahead of time of what to expect. They talk a lot about cyber attacks. Not the little ones we hear about daily. No, they’re talking about massive ones that will cause widespread panic among the people.

In fact, they are fond of using words like “catastrophic” and “apocalypse.” (See article from Jan. 25, 2023, by Popular Mechanics titled A Catastrophic Mutating Event Will Strike the World in 2 Years, Report Says)

Jeremy Jurgens, the managing director of the World Economic Forum, stated at the WEF’s annual summit in January 2023 that a disrupting cyber event would likely take place before 2025. Well, 2023 has come and gone and we have not seen any debilitating cyber event. If Jurgens’ prediction proves accurate, then that would leave 2024 as the year for this horrific event to go down, because it would need to happen before 2025.

Klaus Schwab himself, the top dog at the WEF, warned a couple of years ago about a coming major cyber attack that will make Covid look like “a small disturbance,” shutting down the power grid, which would upend the communications, transportation, banking and healthcare sectors.

We know that something catastrophic needs to happen in order for the globalists to be able to fully implement their plans for a “Great Reset” of the world order.

It could be an EMP or nuclear war. But a series of major cyber attacks shutting down the banking and communications infrastructure seems like a more likely scenario because it would allow the globalists to shut down online truthtellers and use the chaos and confusion to round up their enemies. Then, when their mission is accomplished, they simply turn the infrastructure back on and continue on the road to total dictatorship, minus the annoying truthtellers like myself and so many others.

An EMP attack, on the other hand, would take 10 years or more to recover from and set the globalist surveillance state back decades.

We have been warning about the death of the petrodollar for many months, and while the movement in that direction has been very slow, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t happening.

There have been some developments that perhaps keep the normies of the world fast asleep and unaware of where we are heading economically.

Take, for example, the U.S. stock market, which has continued on an upward trend in recent months.

The price of gold spiked upward for a brief few days last week, then ticked back down.

But don’t be fooled. The U.S. dollar is doomed.

And a huge news story basically ignored by the corporate media and little noticed even by the conservative media took place at the end of November.

Wall Street seemed not even to notice.

A major global oil producer, the United Arab Emirates, abruptly stopped selling its oil in U.S. dollars and is joining forces with the BRICS nations, of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to forge ahead into a de-dollarized world. BRICS recently expanded its membership to include the UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and Argentina (Argentina rescinded its membership after electing conservative firebrand Javier Milei).

What this means is the U.S. will no longer be able to benefit from a situation in which it continuously increases its military budgets and runs massive deficits financed by China, Saudi Arabia and other sovereign states. In fact, China and Saudi Arabia, two of the biggest financiers of U.S. debt, have already started unloading hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. treasuries. This marks the beginning of the end for global dollar dominance and, unless the U.S. wins World War III and is able dictate the terms of the peace, it will mean the end of U.S. geopolitical dominance.

Changes of this magnitude in the global economic pecking order do not happen without a fight on the battlefield. That’s the real reason why we are heading to World War III. It has nothing to do with Ukraine’s or Israel’s difficulty in protecting their borders, or even the confrontation between Taiwan and China or mounting tensions between the two Koreas. The fact that all of these flashpoints are showing signs of exploding is simply a symptom, not a cause, of the economic upheaval enveloping the world. Pax Americana, which has ruled the day since the U.S. emerged from World War II as the stongest nation standing, is being unraveled as we speak.

As the world shifts from fiat currencies to digital currencies it remains to be seen who or what will be in control of this new digital system. The fiat paper system was dominated by the United States, but we see myriad countries forming a coalition that believes perhaps the new digitized system should not be so weighted toward the benefit of one Western country and its closest allies. We will only find out which dog in this fight ends up on top after World War III has been fought and we end up with a clear winner and loser, and who knows how long that will take.

The plan to upend the world order by ditching the petrodollar could still backfire on the BRICS. But at the moment, things seem to be moving ahead, albeit slowly, in their favor.

As noted by the site QTR Fringe Finance, the BRICS nations now control most of the world’s nuclear arsenals, oil, precious metals, diamonds and rare-earth minerals. It’s time to wake up, folks, and take note of what’s happening. This transition to local currencies being used in global transactions will bring down the fiat currency known as the petrodollar and usher in a new global order. This is likely the reason why the U.S. and NATO are reacting so aggressively to put down Putin because in order to preserve what’s left of the post-World War II liberal rules-based order, led by the United States, it’s paramount that the U.S. separate Russia from the other global power backing BRICS, which is China.

As long as China, Russia and the major oil-producing states are allied, there is no future for U.S. hegemony in global affairs. The days of the U.S. browbeating and blackmailing the leaders of nations around the world will be over — its foreign policy would actually be forced to treat foreign heads of state as equals, rather than vassals. That would mean the end of the U.S. military-industrial complex, which would also bring an end to the endless wars the U.S. military has been forced to fight since the end of World War II. So while it will come with much economic pain, perhaps there will be a silver lining?

[…]

Via https://leohohmann.com/2023/12/10/wef-warns-2024-likely-to-bring-catastrophic-cyber-event/