Saturday, August 31

Protests against war in Syria and "Paltalk Leaks": exposing the conspiracy










Right picture: protests in USA and left one in UK.
Watch the enlightening video that was uploaded on 29 Apr 2011 by Mosaic News.



"Syrian television releases its "Paltalk Leaks," exposing the conspirators behind the Syrian revolution. The state-run channel reports that satellite phones, computers, and cameras were smuggled into Syria with the intention of fabricating news and spreading lies to the media about the protests in Syria."

Paltalk is a known Zionist and racist chat-room network.

Tuesday, August 27

Thursday, August 22

Bradley Manning came out as transgender in 2011

This article was published on July, 2011:

Bradley Manning Considered Switching His Gender
'BRADLEY FELT HE WAS FEMALE': COUNSELOR

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff
Posted Jul 4, 2011 10:20 AM CDT

"Bradley Manning “felt he was female," and looked into changing his gender, his former counselor tells New York. Though the suspected WikiLeaker “really wanted to do surgery,” the counselor says, “he was mostly afraid of being alone, being ostracized or somehow weird.” Manning used the Internet as a release: Online he could be “gay, patriotic, and powerful, too,” writes Steve Fishman. But in real life, his gender struggles and wartime deeds made him "feel like a monster," he sometimes wrote.

Meanwhile, other soldiers “started figuring me out, making fun of me, mocking me, harassing me,” he IMed an online acquaintance. That led to "one or two physical attacks." He was deeply disturbed by his work in Iraq, particularly his role in providing information that led to an questionable killing. “I was a *part* of something … i was actively involved in something that i was completely against,” he wrote. The month he contacted the counselor, November 2009, was the same month he allegedly allied himself with Julian Assange"

Source: Newuser.


Tuesday, August 20

Alison Hymes case: Second message to governor Bob McDowell, Virginia




I wrote a second message to governor Bob McDowell (right) about Alison Hymes:




Dear Mr. McDowell,

This is the second time I am writing to inform that Alison Hymes is receiving a criminal treatment in Western State Hospital.
As a Brazilian citizen I do not understand how can it be that a woman is left in such situation in a facility that is making her sicker.

This is what Alison Hymes has already endured:

"VIRGINIA WOMAN'S KIDNEY AILMENTS AND BRAIN ANEURYSM IGNORED BY STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS

Woman in psychiatric hospital now suffers a brain aneurysm, is left untreated and neglected, to face death.

A Virginia woman was locked in irons and chains in August, and driven by state police to Western State Hospital, even though she is accused of no crime. A judge ruled then that Alison Hymes may be committed to the state hospital, citing a lack of insight regarding the amount of water she was drinking.

Doctors placed severe restrictions on her food and water and are treating her kidney disorder as a psychiatric condition.

Alison had a kidney transplant three years ago, after lithium toxicity caused renal failure. Psychiatrists refused to treat her kidney problems, and compounded the issue by prescribing Trilafon, a drug that has clear warnings about dangers to renal function. As a result, she has been having difficulty swallowing and has become physically weak.

A friend and advocate had a chilling prediction that may now prove to be true. "At best, Alison won't receive any real medical care for her kidney problems," said Tina, a friend of Alison's and psychiatric advocate in New York said in August. "At worst, I know there is a very real probability that this confinement and lack of medical care will kill her."

NOW it is even more urgent. A brain aneurysm has been discovered, and Alison still sits in a psychiatric ward. Her brain aneurysm could well be causing all of her psychiatric symptoms. If the aneurysm bursts, Hymes will suffer a stroke, and ALL of the psychiatric medications Alison is being given, cause an INCREASED RISK OF STROKE. Yet, Alison has been told that her brain aneurysm will not be treated. This is now a matter of life and death, for a woman with disability, perpetuated and caused by an institution that poses to help.

Her case highlights the failure of the Virginia medical system by continuing to ignore legitimate health problems and trying to mask them with psychiatric drugs that worsen her health and hasten her death."

It happened in 2011 and Dr. Jack Barber was the psychiatrist who said that her aneurysm would not be treated.
What kind of hospital is this?
I am in touch with mental health advocates in America so I know this is not an isolated case but she is in Virginia so I believe that if there is someone who can and may help this woman is Virginia's governor.
I appeal for your mercy and your humanity.
Alison Hymes has already been tortured enough. It is time to set her free so that she can recover from the crimes that are being committed to her in the Western State Hospital.
I believe that this hospital should receive a visit from Virginia state because this is not a hospital. This is a prison.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Sincerelly yours,
Ana Luiza Lima

I just found out that governor Bob McDowell is amid a scandal involving money during his campaign.
Will he have time to think about a citizen that is in such situation?

(first message here.)

Update 10/9/2013

This is the answer from Virginia's government:
Judith Ahern
11:04 (4 minutes ago)

"This is in response to your email to Governor McDonnell regarding Ms. Alison Hymes.

Periodically, friends, advocates and persons on various mailing lists connected to or contacted on behalf of Alison Hymes have conveyed concerns about her care and wellbeing to me and/or members of Congress, the Governor, members of the General Assembly, and staff of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS).

Federal and state laws prevent disclosure of information about persons served in DBHDS facilities and even whether a specific, named person is being, or has ever been, served.  These laws are designed to protect patients’ privacy and rights to confidentiality.  Information cannot be released to anyone without the informed consent of the person for each and every specific and limited release of any protected information.  Accordingly, I cannot respond to your inquiry except in a general manner.

I can, however, offer some assurances about the care that is provided in state DBHDS facilities.  These hospitals, including Western State Hospital (WSH), are fully accredited by The Joint Commission (a national hospital accreditation and quality assurance organization,http://www.jointcommission.org/) and certified by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Provider-Enrollment-and-Certification/CertificationandComplianc/index.html).  Accreditation involves periodic, unannounced on-site inspections by teams of national hospital experts.  The reviews measure compliance with standards of care concerning every aspect of patient care, including guarantees of patient rights and dignity, adequacy of medical care, and safety concerns.  In addition, each hospital functions under DBHDS Human Rights regulations (http://lis.virginia.gov/000/reg/TOC12035.HTM#C0115) that stipulate the rights that persons served are guaranteed and provide a structure of human rights advocates and committees to resolve complaints.  The vast majority of persons served in DBHDS facilities are committed to DBHDS care by courts under provisions of the Code of Virginia.  These laws prescribe the conditions under which a person may be committed and are conducted by judges, with independent medical evaluators and attorneys for the persons for whom commitment is being proposed.  The rights and service quality of persons served are also protected by the independent oversight of the Office of the State Inspector General and the disAbility Law Center of Virginia (formerly the Virginia Office of Protection and Advocacy).  Finally, persons served may have family or legal aid supporting and advocating to help them.

Virginia’s behavioral health facilities take very seriously their responsibilities to provide the highest quality, recovery-focused care in a safe and supportive environment that fully respects the rights and dignity of the persons we serve.

We appreciate your concern that individual human rights are being honored.  Hopefully, the information above helps allay your concerns."

William A. Hazel, Jr., M.D.
Secretary of Health and Human Resources
1111 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia  23219

Allay my concerns... no. This e-mail makes me more concerned and worried but I rather say nothing for the moment.


Sunday, August 18

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay helping crimes against humanity

I'm appalled with the work of this woman. 

Navi Pillay, 'an imperialist tool' - Renowned political commentators declare
Sat, 2013-03-09 03:40 — editor
Washington, D.C. 09 March 

"Navi Pillay, the High Commissioner of the Office of Human Rights at the United Nations, is a very noted figure these days at a time the 22nd Session of the UN Human Rights Commission is convened in Geneva. Most notably, she, though the UNHRC process, endeavors to haul Sri Lanka before an international tribunal for alleged violation of International Humanitarian law (IHL), war crimes and genocide.

In her most recent report to the UNHRC she recommends that Sri Lanka should be brought before an international court.

The Periodic Resolution, which the Asian Tribune carries elsewhere, sponsored by the United States supports Ms. Pillay's proposition.

We did some research about her past. And was very interesting to find that the knowledgeable and widely popular political commentators describe her as an 'imperialist tool'. The two commentators we quote here declare Ms. Pillay as serving the interests of the United States.

And most interestingly, Navi Pillay who now scrutinizes Sri Lanka of her human rights record has been covering up the United States culpability in the Rwanda genocide in 1994.

It has been now established that the current Rwandan president Paul Kagame, with military assistance and training in the United States, invaded Rwanda that resulted in the mass massacre, a genocide, and that as the president of the International Tribunal for Rwanda she was instrumental in absolving the culprits and their collaborators.

In this research, Asian Tribune found what the celebrated political commentator Stephen Lendman said about Navi Pillay.

She's UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Her job involves spurning them. She's a reliable imperial tool. She's up to her old tricks.

On January 18, she addressed the Security Council in closed session. About Syria.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) lists her credentials. Post-apartheid in 1995, she was appointed a South African High Court judge.

The same year, she was chosen to serve on the International Tribunal for Rwanda (ICRT). From 1999 - 2003, she served as president.

ICRT lacked credibility. It served imperial interests. It pointed fingers the wrong way. Guilty parties were absolved. Victims were prosecuted. While president, Pillay bore full responsibility.

(In fact Asian Tribune carried an analysis about the report produced by the US State Department Office of War Crimes head Stephen Rapp in late 2009 about Sri Lanka's conduct of the Eelam War IV, and the credentials of Mr. Rapp who was the prosecutor at ICTR who brilliantly concealed the American culpability of the Rwanda genocide)

Stephen Lendman continues: OHCHR claimed otherwise. It lied. It turned truth on its head. It said Pillay "played a critical role in the ICTR's groundbreaking jurisprudence on rape as genocide, as well as on issues of freedom of speech and hate propaganda."

Michel Chossudovsky (who is quoted elsewhere in this Asian Tribune Note) explained Washington's hidden Rwanda agenda. It prioritized "establishing an American sphere of influence in a region historically dominated by France and Belgium."

Rwanda's civil war and "ethnic massacres were an integral part of US foreign policy, carefully staged in accordance with precise strategic and economic objective."

Pillay's ICTR mandate was suppressing truth.

In 2003, she was appointed an International Criminal Court (ICC) judge. She served until August 2008.

ICC functions solely as an imperial tool. It targets victims Washington and other Western powers want charged with crimes of war, against humanity and genocide. Crimes of aggression will be included later.

Responsible major powers are absolved. Victims have no chance. Guilt by accusation is policy. Pillay advanced her career by going along. She sold her soul in the process. She did it before. She's doing it now. It's getting to be a habit.

That's what the celebrated political commentator Stephen Lendman said about Navi Pillay.

Let's find out what another well-known political analyst/commentator Michel Chossudovsky's description about the Rwandan genocidal war for the readers understanding.

Here it is:

From the outset of the Rwandan civil war in 1990, Washington's hidden agenda consisted in establishing an American sphere of influence in a region historically dominated by France and Belgium. America's design was to displace France by supporting the Rwandan Patriotic Front (Led by the current president of Rwanda who was trained in a military installation in the United States) and by arming and equipping its military arm, the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA)

From the mid-1980s, the Kampala (Uganda) government under President Yoweri Musaveni had become Washington's African showpiece of "democracy". Uganda had also become a launch pad for US sponsored guerilla movements into the Sudan, Rwanda and the Congo. Major General Paul Kagame had been head of military intelligence in the Ugandan Armed Forces; he had been trained at the U.S. Army Command and Staff College (CGSC) in Leavenworth, Kansas which focuses on war fighting and military strategy. Kagame returned from Leavenworth to lead the RPA, shortly after the 1990 invasion.

Prior to the outbreak of the Rwandan civil war, the RPA was part of the Ugandan Armed Forces. Shortly prior to the October 1990 invasion of Rwanda, military labels were switched. From one day to the next, large numbers of Ugandan soldiers joined the ranks of the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA). Throughout the civil war, the RPA was supplied from United People's Defense Forces (UPDF) military bases inside Uganda. The Tutsi commissioned officers in the Ugandan army took over positions in the RPA. The October 1990 invasion by Ugandan forces was presented to public opinion as a war of liberation by a Tutsi led guerilla army.

Civil War in the Congo

Following the installation of a US client regime (of Paul Kagame) in Rwanda in 1994, US trained Rwandan and Ugandan forces intervened in former Zaire --a stronghold of French and Belgian influence under President Mobutu Sese Seko. Amply documented, US special operations troops -- mainly Green Berets from the 3rd Special Forces Group based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in the U.S.-- had been actively training the RPA. This program was a continuation of the covert support and military aid provided to the RPA prior to 1994. In turn, the tragic outcome of the Rwandan civil war including the refugee crisis had set the stage for the participation of Ugandan and Rwandan RPA in the civil war in the Congo:

"Washington pumped military aid into Kagame's army, and U.S. Army Special Forces and other military personnel trained hundreds of Rwandan troops. But Kagame and his colleagues had designs of their own.

While the Green Berets trained the Rwandan Patriotic Army, that army was itself secretly training Zairian rebels.… [In] Rwanda, U.S. officials publicly portrayed their engagement with the army as almost entirely devoted to human rights training. But the Special Forces exercises also covered other areas, including combat skills… Hundreds of soldiers and officers were enrolled in U.S. training programs, both in Rwanda and in the United States… Conducted by U.S. Special Forces, Rwandans studied camouflage techniques, small-unit movement, troop-leading procedures, soldier-team development, [etc]… And while the training went on, U.S. officials were meeting regularly with Kagame and other senior Rwandan leaders to discuss the continuing military threat faced by the [former Rwandan] government [in exile] from inside Zaire… Clearly, the focus of Rwandan-U.S. military discussion had shifted from how to build human rights to how to combat an insurgency… With [Ugandan President] Museveni's support, Kagame conceived a plan to back a rebel movement in eastern Zaire [headed by Laurent Desire Kabila] ... The operation was launched in October 1996, just a few weeks after Kagame's trip to Washington and the completion of the Special Forces training mission… Once the war [in the Congo] started, the United States provided "political assistance" to Rwanda,… An official of the U.S. Embassy in Kigali traveled to eastern Zaire numerous times to liaise with Kabila. Soon, the rebels had moved on. Brushing off the Zairian army with the help of the Rwandan forces, they marched through Africa's third-largest nation in seven months, with only a few significant military engagements. Mobutu fled the capital, Kinshasa, in May 1997, and Kabila took power, changing the name of the country to Congo…U.S. officials deny that there were any U.S. military personnel with Rwandan troops in Zaire during the war, although unconfirmed reports of a U.S. advisory presence have circulated in the region since the war's earliest days.

That was Michel Chossudovsky's description, and the International Tribunal for Rwanda whose president was Navi Pillay was entrusted to find the truth and prosecute the culprits.

Instead there was a white wash.

Whether she is an imperialist tool is left for the readers to determine."

Nothing was said about Libya and Syria. 


Saturday, August 17

Me? A psychoanalyst?







I'm enrolling on a formation of psychoanalyst course.
In Brazil psychoanalysis is practiced by numerous great professionals and, of course, some not that great and even unethical.

I did psychoanalysis myself  but sitting on the chair instead of the sofa is not an easy choice.
I thought a lot and, funny, suffered a lot to have the guts to come up with the conclusion that this is something I have to do.

I still cannot explain clearly. It is as if psychoanalysis have chosen me and not the opposite. I have been preparing myself to do it without noticing. I don't believe that people go to be a therapist in a very happy mood: "Yippee! Yippee! I'm going to be a therapist!"
I have an idea of what is to come and... OMY! it is not easy. The responsibility, the numerous problems people have...

I want to thank all of you who received me so well and treated me so kindly. I feel part of a group here and it empowered me to take this decision.

I just hope I can do something to help people.

First published at justAna.


Friday, August 16

US mental institutions are prisons: Alison Hymes case

We are told over and over again that US is democratic or even that it is the most democratic country. The facts reveals the opposite. We have recently the cases of Brad Manning and Edward Snowden as examples of a regime that is far from being democratic.
Other cases that are not very known involve tasering people till death like what happened to 18 years-old artist Israel Hernandez tasered in the heart till death by Miami police.

If "normal" citizens are being treated this way those who are in mental institutions don't count. Once someone is labelled a mental illness they are not considered human anymore. This is a fact.

I wrote about Alison Hymes at this post. Nothing is being done and she continues to suffer the most heinous treatment in the Western State Hospital, Virginia.
Alison has already had her condition worsened due to the treatment the Virginia's hospital is giving her in a very deep degree. They keep on treating her like an animal.
Being tortured by physicians in a hospital; receiving a treatment that is causing more harm...*
This is surreal but we are living in the most dark of all humankind ages. History will tell the story.
Alison Hymes? Until when?

*Iatrogenesis is the leading cause of death in US.

Update:
I wrote to Virginia's governor Bob McDowell this message:

Dear Mr. McDowell,

I'm a Brazilian citizens and as a mental health advocate I would like to call to your attention what is happening to Alison Hymes at the From Western State Hospital.
This is the the report of one of her friends that is at Mindfreedom:

"Resident and longtime MindFreedom member Alison Hymes, on Wednesday, 7/3/13, had a re-commitment hearing. This hearing marked the 6 month, 1/2 year point, in her imprisonment at Western State Hospital in Staunton, Virginia.

The result of this hearing is that she was given another 45 days in the hospital after which she will be given another hearing. The result could have been worse as potentially she could have had to wait another 6 months for a hearing.

The bad news, according to Alison, is that the staff at the hospital are not talking about releasing her. She wishes to return to her condominium, her community, and the life she was living before imprisonment at Western State Hospital.

Talking to her over the phone it is not always easy to understand what she is saying. Her words are slurred and garbled. She claims that this is so because the hospital staff won't return  her dentures to her. Dentures they took from her.

In a previous alert we claimed she was taking lamictal rather than a neuroleptic. Following a previous hearing with her treatment team this is no longer true. Apparently her doctor thought it necessary to put her back on the drug prolixin. She is receiving shots of prolixin, a long acting injectable, every two weeks. She is also still receiving a daily dose of anti-convulsion drug lamictal.

She had gained much weight since being put on seroquel, the atypical neuroleptic she was receiving during her last hospitalization, and she is very sensitive, as you can well imagine anybody would be, about this issue. She doesn't like the effects of the prolixin, she understands it is a harmful substance, with a potential for doing her a great deal of damage, and she wishes to be taken off it.

Alison was the recipient of a kidney following lithium poisoning after a previous incident of psychiatric malpractice. Her friends and allies worry that keeping her at Western State Hospital
for any length of time will only further endanger her health. She says the medical staff at Western say she needs an operation, on an ulcer, but that the hospital is slow to get around to operating.

Asked what she would tell other members of MindFreedom she said, "I need to get out as soon as possible. I need to get out.""

The treatment Alison Hymes is receiving is criminal.
I hope Alison can count on your mercy to stop being tortured this way.

Sincerely yours,
Ana Luiza Lima

Let's hope for the better.


Wednesday, August 14

Veterans for peace: support the troops


Veterans for peace:

'Veterans For Peace is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of peace by using our experiences and lifting our voices. We inform the public of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars, with an obligation to heal the wounds of wars. Our network is comprised of over 140 chapters worldwide whose work includes: educating the public, advocating for a dismantling of the war economy, providing services that assist veterans and victims of war, and most significantly, working to end all wars.' (Visit the site)



Friday, August 9

Luxurious brands "Made in China"? Gucci, Prada, Mizuno, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike...





I bought a Tommy Hilfiger bag and there is the label: "Made in China".
I'm totally famous-brand blind and didn't know who Tommy Hilfiger was. This man created a billion dollar market.

While I was putting the stuffs inside the bag... there it was at the bottom: the tiny white label "Made in China".

Mizuno has the "Made in Taiwan" label.

What the heck!  I did a research and there are numerous luxurious brands, I don't want them even for free because I don't need this kind of display of status, on the contrary, are "Made in China".
Prada? "Made in China; Channel? "Made in China", Gucci? "Made in China"... the list is long.
"And just because certain luxury labels are manufactured in China does not mean the goods are any lower quality. People often misunderstand the Chinese wholesale factories. In fact, many brands have set up factories in China to reproduce according to exactly the same strict European regulatory system. In an honest and sound society, no brand with hundreds of years of history would risk damaging its image by using a cheap “Made in China” label. Instead they choose to use Chinese workers because of the simple laws of economics: China’s labour is much cheaper*. (emphasis mine)
Nevertheless, in China, the image of a luxury brand risks being undermined. It is likely to happen to any of these houses. But the fault is with their clients. Most luxury goods are discredited by association; for instance, Hermès now makes people think of Guo Meimei, the scandal ridden Chinese celebrity queen who showed off the real as well as fake luxury goods she owns; while Rolex is considered a brand of the nouveau riche."
(read the whole article)
There is a work in Japanese: Karoshi that means "death from overwork". I don't know any other language that has this concept.
I'm thinking about creating a watermark to put on products that uses Chinese labour work: "Original product. Made in China". *Cheap labour= slavery


Wednesday, August 7

Watermarked world by Mathieu Tremblin


French artist Mathieu Tremblin graffitied a wall making a watermark effect turning reality itself
a Getty's corporation and partners's archive.


Tuesday, August 6

Are primitive societies more 'democratic'?





In "Totem and Taboo" Freud describes how the rulers have to be protected in such a degree that among natives of  "Sierra Leone the resistance against accepting the kingly honour was so great that most of the tribes were compelled to make strangers their king".

These excerpts give an idea of what was demanded from a ruler:

"The behaviour of primitive races towards their chiefs, kings, and priests, is controlled by two principles which seem rather to supplement than to contradict each other. They must both be guarded and be guarded against[53]."

"It seems like an obvious contradiction that persons of such perfection of power should themselves require the greatest care to guard them against threatening dangers, but this is not the only contradiction revealed in the treatment of royal persons on the part of savages. These races consider it necessary to watch over their kings to see that they use their powers in the right way; they are by no means sure of their good intentions or of their conscientiousness. A strain of mistrust is mingled with the motivation of the taboo rules for the king. “The idea that early kingdoms are despotisms”, says Frazer[59], “in which the people exist only for the sovereign, is wholly inapplicable to the monarchies we are considering. On the contrary, the sovereign in them exists only for his subjects: his life is only valuable so long as he discharges the duties of his position by ordering the course of nature for his people’s benefit. So soon as he fails to do so, the care, the devotion, the religious homage which they had hitherto lavished on him cease and are changed into hatred and contempt; he is ignominiously dismissed and may be thankful if he escapes with his life. Worshipped as a god one day, he is killed as a criminal the next. But in this changed behaviour of the people there is nothing capricious or inconsistent. On the contrary, their conduct is quite consistent. If their king is their god he is or should be, also their preserver; and if he will not preserve them he must make room for another who will." (emphasis added)

Source: "Totem and Taboo" by Freud

Malinovski and other anthropologists made it clear that primitive societies have their own rules, structure and social bonds that mus not be considered as inferior. Just by taking a glimpse on some aspects of the world today might help some people understand that rather than consider this civilization as superior is a complete absurd.


World's axis of evil


Remembering Hiroshima: today is the 68th day of Hiroshima bombing that killed instantly 80.000 innocent civilians. Japan has already capitulated but US didn't receive the message because they couldn't hardly wait to play with their new toys.

Three days later Nagasaki was bombed.
For a real understanding of what has happened read this articlby Dr. Gary G. Kols.


Monday, August 5

Savages vs US treatment of their enemies


"We came, we saw, he died."*
were the words of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton after the brutal murder without trial of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
She was cheering in a very happy disposition.
Libya was destroyed and 80.000 innocent civilians were killed, tortured and the chaos is installed.

It is obscene the way US government announces their crimes against humanity. Each invasion or manipulations to create chaos in a country is celebrated in the most amoral way.

Never in the history of humankind killing people was a reason of such joy and proud.
Not even in the Roman Empire.
Savages? No. On the contrary.
"In the book "Totem and Taboo" Freud makes an analogy between the savages and obsessive neurosis.
He did use the work of anthropologists and describe how savages treated their enemies. Take a look at this little excerpt:.


 THE TREATMENT OF ENEMIES

"Inclined as we may have been to ascribe to savage and semi-savage races uninhibited and remorseless cruelty towards their enemies, it is of great interest to us to learn that with them, too, the killing of a person compels the observation of a series of rules which are associated with taboo customs. These rules are easily brought under four groups; they demand 1. reconciliation with the slain enemy, 2. restrictions, 3. acts of expiation, and purifications of the manslayer, and 4. certain ceremonial rites. The incomplete reports do not allow us to decide with certainty how general or how isolated such taboo customs may be among these races, but this is a matter of indifference as far as our interest in these occurrences is concerned. Still, it may be assumed that we are dealing with widespread customs and not with isolated peculiarities.

The reconciliation customs practised on the island of Timor, after a victorious band of warriors has returned with the severed heads of the vanquished enemy, are especially significant because the leader of the expedition is subject to heavy additional restrictions. “At the solemn entry of the victors, sacrifices are made to conciliate the souls of the enemy; otherwise one would have to expect harm to come to the victors. A dance is given and a song is sung in which the slain enemy is mourned and his forgiveness is implored: ‘Be not angry’, they say ‘because your head is here with us; had we been less lucky, our heads might have been exposed in your village. We have offered the sacrifice to appease you. Your spirit may now rest and leave us at peace. Why were you our enemy? Would it not have been better that we should remain friends? Then your blood would not have been spilt and your head would not have been cut off’”[46].

Similar customs are found among the Palu in Celebes; the Gallas sacrifice to the spirits of their dead enemies before they return to their home villages[47].
Other races have found methods of making friends, guardians and protectors out of their former enemies after they are dead. This consists in the tender treatment of the severed heads, of which many wild tribes of Borneo boast. When the See-Dayaks of Sarawak bring home a head from a war expedition, they treat it for months with the greatest kindness and courtesy and address it with the most endearing names in their language. The best morsels from their meals are put into its mouth, together with titbits and cigars. The dead enemy is repeatedly entreated to hate his former friends and to bestow his love upon his new hosts because he has now become one of them. It would be a great mistake to think that any derision is attached to this treatment, horrible though it may seem to us[48].

Observers have been struck by the mourning for the enemy after he is slain and scalped, among several of the wild tribe of North America. When a Choctaw had killed an enemy he began a month’s mourning during which he submitted himself to serious restrictions. The Dakota Indians mourned in the same way. One authority mentions that the Osaga Indians after mourning for their own dead mourned for their foes as if they had been friends[49].

Source: Gutenberg Project.

*"We came, we saw, he died" is a parody of Julius Caesar's words:

"In May of 47 B.C., after Julius Caesar had left a pregnant Cleopatra, soon to bear their son Caesarion, Caesar defeated Pharnaces of Pontus near the town of Zela. Caesar claimed he routed and captured the enemy in 4 hours. To inform the Senate of his victory, Caesar succinctly wrote, veni, vidi, vici 'I came, I saw, I conquered'.


Friday, August 2