A poignant film about a man living inside the hell of the ovens of Auschwitz. A tangible, significant blow to all those who have lost understanding of the true meaning of the word “fascism.”
1944 concentration camp Auschwitz. To make life easier for their soldiers, the camp leadership assembles a Sonderkommando from among the strongest prisoners; it is these men who are charged with killing their compatriots, destroying their corpses and burning their clothes. During the next “purge,” a Hungarian Jew named Saul sees among the bodies a boy who seems to him to be a long-lost son. Having failed to save the boy’s life, Saul wants to at least bury him, observing the rituals of his religion. To do this, the body must be rescued from the fire, an autopsy must be avoided, and a funeral service must be held. While searching for a rabbi among the prisoners, Saul finds himself at the center of a conspiracy to escape the prisoners from the walls of the “death factory.”
Still from the film "Son of Saul"
The director insisted that the main character be played by a Hungarian, but could not find a suitable actor for the role of Saul. As a result, the role went to the poet Geza Roerig, originally taken for a cameo role, who had not acted in films since 1980
Back in the 80s, it was difficult to imagine how much they would be devalued, how the capacious, sonorous words “fascism”, “Gestapo”, “concentration camp” would be hackneyed. For the generation that went through the war, for the children of the post-war Soviet Union, even for grandchildren who had, albeit briefly, the opportunity to speak with their grandfathers who walked from the Volga to Berlin, the terrible words associated with World War II were “magical”, “special” . They were not uttered in vain, they contained pain and power, hatred of the enemy and the joy of Victory. Today, through the efforts of insane propaganda, the sanctity of the memory of the most terrible war in the history of mankind has been trampled, the annual Victory Parade has turned into a carnival, the symbol of the great medal adorns car antennas, handbags and dog collars, and the word “fascist” can be used to describe anyone from a former friend from neighboring Ukraine to the sneaky guy who got to the checkout without waiting in line.
Still from the film "Son of Saul"
The Russian language, as expected, has digested what happened seventy years ago, but the very concepts of fascism, Nazism, and the Holocaust have remained unshakable, no matter how hard they try to “comb them” according to new interpretations of history. And the best vaccinations, the best serum for awakening memory today is cinema. An honest, fair, tough movie about the horrors of war. Not created at the behest of the Ministry of Culture, which is looking for everything patriotic education, but coming from pain in the heart, from the desire to prevent a repetition. “Son of Saul” is a colossus that stands in the way of oblivion of the horrors of Auschwitz, it is a wall separating mythology from human experience gained in the most terrible conditions.
Still from the film "Son of Saul"
The picture is unusually difficult to watch, and its comparison with the drama “Come and See” by Elem Klimov is no coincidence; both films have colossal power. And it’s not even that scary footage is shown on the screen last minutes the life of death row prisoners in the gas chambers, not in the fact that the corpses in the frame are as ordinary decoration as furniture or the windows of the barracks, not even in the terrifying ordinariness of what is happening - just think, you need to shovel a mountain of ashes into the river. The presentation of the material knocks you off your feet - cameraman Matthias Erdei's camera is invariably in maximum proximity to the main character's face. In fact, the entire film is one big close-up of Saul, from behind whose shoulder we look at terrible world Auschwitz. We don’t even look, but become part of his life, part of his work, terrible work that drives us crazy.
Still from the film "Son of Saul"
It’s incomprehensible, but the film has absorbed both the horror of death from gas and daily work Sonderkommando, and faith in the power of religious rituals, and a desperate desire for freedom, made by a debutant director. However, the debut of Laszlo Nemes was preceded by a grandiose preparation - Nemes became interested in making a film about members of the Sonderkommando back in 2005, and the script was completed only in 2011. During this time, the future director managed to go through many authorities, met dozens of concentration camp prisoners who have survived to this day, found like-minded people among famous Holocaust historians, but never found the support of the authorities European countries. All the brighter is the decision of the Hungarian National Film Fund, which found funds for the filming of the film, which brought Nemes, all of Hungary and everyone who remembers the war, the main prizes in the world of cinema - the Oscar and the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
10Collector of Life
Who said that the end of the world will come at once? This can be a limited or very, very extended process in time of the death of all living things.
Drawing by Alexey Merinov
What did Jules Verne predict?
As a child, I came across the book “The Fate of the Scientific Foresights of Jules Verne.” It talked about how brilliantly the writer predicted the introduction of technical innovations in human life. Since then, I have often thought about these truly amazing predictions.
But what has a much greater effect on me today is not the technical insight of an undoubtedly outstanding science fiction writer, but the everyday pictures captured in his books. It was these fleeting, so to speak, hidden details and sketches between scientific insights, illustrating man’s relationship to nature, that turned out to be much more insightful. The most famous novel“Mysterious Island”: five travelers and a dog find themselves on an unknown piece of land lost in the ocean. This is a true paradise, it has everything: a wonderful lake, a deep river, an abundance of animals and birds that existed in complete harmony before the arrival of man. What are the aliens doing? They begin to exterminate the world- and not only for the sake of food and survival or for the sake of its scientific study, but just like that. A 15-meter snake turned up, and it was also not poisonous; it was killed. Dozens of eggs are removed from bird nests. The high shore of the lake is being blasted to lower the water level. Everything is easy, simple, playful and fun. Without thinking about the consequences of his invasion. Without realizing what they are destroying unique world. Pioneers, discoverers, heroes... They are allowed (they allowed themselves) to behave as they please. There is plenty of everything around... So why and what to regret?
Fulfilled prophecies
The prophecies of the ancient sages are coming true: times are coming when there will be no place left for people on the planet. Chernobyl, the tragedy at the nuclear power plant in Japan, harmful wastewater that poisoned the waters of rivers and seas... Local and widespread incidents sharply narrow the possibility of human existence... One city will die out, then another... The population will move towards uninfected spaces... But where can he escape from the invisible, everywhere-penetrating radiation sickness?
The planet is great - but there is nowhere to go on it! The seas are poisoned. The oceans are contaminated. Where to fish and drinking water? There are huge landfills everywhere, the infection from which spreads throughout the entire earth... Epidemics and diseases emanating from these landfills...
People themselves are reducing the areas of their salvation - they are destroying forests, destroying medicinal herbs.
Fairy tale
“You people need me! - exclaimed the crocodile. “You can use my skin to make high-strength belts and cool shoes!”
His request was heard.
Following the crocodile, the frogs croaked: “You need us, people!”
Both the life of the frogs and their place in the evolutionary chain of survival were preserved - in exchange for the culinary and delicacy component of their bodies.
The snails followed the example of the croaking brethren. And they also survived - having managed to prove that they are fit to be present on the restaurant table.
Not all animals have the strength and ability for full-scale self-reproduction for the needs of the kitchen, but only in this way, on the basis of inequality, do they have a chance to survive.
At someone else's expense
A person prospers at someone else's expense. When I see how well-fed, well-fed, and calm people live, carelessly drinking coffee on the verandas of restaurants, and sparkling clean cars running along the highways, I can’t help but think: how many forests had to be cut down, how many animals had to be destitute, how many of them had to be skinned and skinned, how many did you have to be shot to dress up in fashionable fur coats and smell exquisite aromas?
Crab
Before the start of the tourist season in Cyprus, tractors rake up algae washed ashore during winter storms. They are stacked in large stacks and taken away on trucks, perhaps to the fields, as fertilizer.
A small crab emerged from one such stack, barely moving its paws. It was all twisted, twisted by a huge bulldozer scraper, the claws were broken off. Almost crushed, along with sand and heavy wet plants, it is unclear how he survived and managed to crawl out from under their pile. But when the tractor began to approach him again, the crab rose on its hind legs and took a fighting stance, ready to fight for life to the last. It was touching and hopeless. The stupid machine didn’t even notice his heroic efforts and finally crushed him into future compost.
Homeless
An animal whose house was destroyed, whose burrow was destroyed... How many of them are there! They cut down a forest plot, but before that, did they calculate how many birds and animals were deprived of their shelter? And so they, destitute, rush to take refuge in the thicket, but everything there has long been divided and distributed among other inhabitants of the forest. And clashes begin over a piece of land for herbivores, over hunting grounds for predators. And the loggers move on, freeing new spaces from the thickets. They, these cutters, could only imagine for a moment that they would return home after working weeks and months - but there were no houses. How would they continue cutting down after this if they felt themselves in the place of homeless animals? But they lack imagination. And those who have more than it, rush around the planet in search of a green untouched island of forest, taiga, jungle... But no - trees, animals, birds are being destroyed everywhere. Humans give birth and protect their young, while the young of other living beings are doomed to death.
It is when the fish go to spawn, covering the northern rivers in several layers, that they begin to be caught for their caviar. Easy prey! The military adjusts the equipment, blocks the river and literally scoops up the fish - like water. They gut and pickle the caviar in jars. Then, without eating, they store too much and throw it in the trash.
But how should a fish that cannot help but spawn feel when it realizes that it is dying? Having failed to fulfill its purpose. What if pregnant women were caught like this and not allowed to give birth? Were you pulled out of maternity hospital wards?
Bullet
Animals do not understand that they can be killed from a distance. And the person does not fully understand, although the target has already been chosen and is at gunpoint. He doesn't understand what he's doing. But if it is already prescribed to kill for food or pleasure, is it not possible to make this process more gentle? No, they harpoon, take them to the place of collective executions, force those waiting in line to watch their relatives die...
And at the same time, how much food is not bought, not eaten, or thrown away! IN big cities It is difficult to calculate by eye the amount of food consumed; it is prepared for future use and in obviously larger quantities than required. Cows, sheep, octopuses and squids are killed in vain.
From childhood
A friend invited me to the pond. It was a small, rather swamp, covered with duckweed. He caught and blew the frog through a straw. The frog stared, not understanding what was being done to it. The living creature did not understand why someone, undoubtedly stronger and more powerful, needed to do something unimaginable over her? But what could she do? She was at the mercy of two-legged and two-armed gods. And for some reason they needed to do what they did on her.
I waited to see what he would do next. Will he throw her back into the pond or step on her? And it will burst like an inflated bag. This creature no longer belonged to itself. It belonged to us. But I could change something. I first began to ask him to release the captive. Then he got into a fight. The frog splashed into the water. What's the point - she couldn't dive. She senselessly moved her webbed paws over the surface. She still wouldn't survive.
Lion and stone
Do animals have generosity? I watched a family of lions at the zoo. He and she, enclosed in a tight enclosure, lay with their sides touching and did not look at people. People made noise, trying to stir up the couple. One of the visitors picked up and threw a stone at the king of beasts. When the lion raised his head and looked at the offender, only disdain was visible in his gaze. “You put us in a cage,” said this look, “well, here is your level of development, pathetic bipeds...”
Animals understand us better than we understand them.
In the same zoo (private), attackers, in order to annoy its owner, poisoned monkeys and zebras. The animals got it again!
Exterior
If Darwin's theory is correct, then what survival qualities will remain in wild animals that are subjected to the monstrous onslaught of humans? Domestication? Shredding? Inconspicuousness? Homeliness? So that it would be difficult for a bullet to hit a tiny body, and the skin, horns, and exterior would not attract those who like to brag about hunting trophies?
Empty bamboo
In the Nikitsky Botanical Garden near Yalta, despite prohibitory signs hung everywhere, inscriptions like “Vasya was here” were carved out on unique trees with sharp blades. The bamboo is all torn to pieces by such “memos”.
It is forbidden!
Just as it is impossible to remove organ after organ from the human body with impunity (they are all needed for something and exist only in a harmonious unity), so it is impossible to consistently uproot and completely destroy plants, microorganisms, animals, and insects from the surrounding world.
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VANGA'S PREDICTION CAME TRUE! SYRIA (ASSYRIA) FALLED AT THE FEET OF THE WINNER - RUSSIA!
Vanga's prediction came true! Syria (Assyria) fell at the feet of the winner - Russia!
Syria (Assyria) fell at the feet of the winner! Vanga's prediction came true!
Everyone was waiting for this moment when Syria would fall. But no one, or almost no one, noticed how this event happened - Syria fell. The date of this event is known to everyone - 09/30/15, when Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad personally wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which he asked him for military support. From what do such conclusions follow? Syria is almost captured by ISIS terrorists, 80% of its territory is under their control. Assad's troops are melting and over 4 years of struggle they have become fairly exhausted and worn out. The United States and Western countries were starving out Syria, waiting for the regime to fall. They created and fed ISIS. But why did they need it? Through Syria it was possible to lay a gas pipeline to Europe, as well as oil at more low prices. Complete energy independence from Russia.
So what did Vanga say: it began with the fact that the Bulgarian seer, back in 1978, spoke about the coming into the world of a new ancient teaching of a certain “White Brotherhood”, which Vanga associated with changes in Syria: “They ask me: “Will this time come soon? » No, not soon. Assyria has not fallen yet! Syria will collapse at the feet of the winner, but the winner will not be the same!” After this, according to the fortuneteller, a renewal will begin in Russia, which will spread throughout the world.
Vanga spoke not about Syria, but about Assyria - ancient state in Northern Mesopotamia, on the territory of modern Iraq. Assyria lay north of Babylonia along the upper Tigris and the basins of the Greater Zab and Lesser Zab rivers; in our time, its borders would be the borders of Iran in the east, Turkey in the north and Syria in the west. Overall, modern Iraq north of the Euphrates includes most ancient territory Babylonia and Assyria. Now most of this territory has been captured by ISIS.
If you believe the words of the seer, then the Third World War will begin with the fall of Syria and spread to Europe; in 2016, Europe will be empty and cold. Now it’s 2015 and we see how the Syrian people are fleeing to Europe in an endless stream, but the people of the country, in part, are the country. That is, what is essentially happening is the fall of Syria, at the feet of the winner. Syria will collapse at the feet of the winner, but the winner will not be the same, Vanga’s words.
In this situation, Europe is partly the winner, because they helped the United States bomb Syria, of course they are not exactly winners, only partly, but they can still be considered as winners in this confrontation, Europe achieved the results for which it was intended to rock the Middle East. Therefore, the countries of Europe are the winners, and the Syrian people are crumbling at their feet.
But suddenly, on September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the Federation Council to allow the use of a contingent of Russian Armed Forces outside the country, at the request of the legitimate government of Syria.
Syria fell at the feet of the United States and Europe, but they were never able to completely conquer this country; Russia prevented it. So it turns out from Vanga’s prediction: Syria will collapse at the feet of the United States and Europe, but Russia will be the winner! Russia will help destroy ISIS, liberate Syria and Iraq, together with Iran, Hezbollah, Syrians, Iraqis, etc.
We are on the verge of great changes that are happening here and now. Be prepared: the appearance of the Virgin Mary to American clairvoyant Veronica Luken: “ mother of God now he looks sad. I see she's pointing to what looks like a map. My God! I look at the map. Oh, I see Jerusalem and Egypt and Arabia and French Morocco in Africa. Oh my god! These countries are currently in very deep darkness. My God! The Mother of God says: “The beginning of the Third World War, my child.” Now another card. I see Israel and neighboring countries. They were all burning...
The war is growing, the carnage is intensifying. The living will envy the dead, so great will be the suffering of humanity.”
"Syria will
Will begin in the future big war. It will coincide with the war in the Middle East.”
"Syria will be the key to peace or World War III. It will be the destruction of three quarters globe. The world is on fire because of the Redemption Ball."
The Redemption Ball is what Veronica Luken calls an unusual comet star that will appear in the sky of our planet in the near future.
Vanga did not say why global changes await humanity after the fall of Syria. But the answer to this question can be found if you look in the Bible. In ancient times, Syria once already became a place that changed the fate of the world: the first thing on Earth happened here ritual murder. In Damascus, pilgrims are shown the place where Cain, the eldest son of Adam and Eve, killed his brother Abel. It is called the "Cave of First Blood". Local theologians, both Muslim and Christian, provide evidence that the tragedy occurred here:
– Firstly, the crevice resembles a mouth open in a scream with tongue and teeth - the mountain screamed in horror when the atrocity was committed. Secondly, on the stone there is a handprint of the Archangel Gabriel, whom the Lord sent to hold the rock that was about to crush the murderer. God gave the villain a different punishment - for forty years he carried his brother’s body with him everywhere, seeking death, but neither man nor beast dared to touch him. Abel is buried twenty kilometers from Damascus. And now blood is being shed there again. It turns out that the mystical circle of murders that began in Syria back in biblical times has now closed - here again brother went against brother!
Many politicians are now saying that humanity is on the verge of a third world war and that the Syrian conflict could be the impetus for it. But the wise Vanga believed in the victory of good. Remember her words that after the fall of Syria a new teaching will come to the world. Here is Vanga's prophecy about him:
“The day will come when lies will disappear from the face of the Earth, there will be no violence and theft. Wars will stop, the survivors will know the value of life and will protect it. The earth is entering a new period of time, which can be characterized as a time of virtues. This new state of the planet does not depend on us; it comes whether we want it or not. New times will require new thinking, a different consciousness, qualitatively new people, so that the harmony in the Universe is not disturbed.”
God grant that the conflict in Syria becomes the last war on the ground!
Will Western countries and the United States have enough intelligence and wisdom to establish peace, or has the energy moment eclipsed their heads? Will they accept a clear defeat in Syria, because Russia has done so much in just half a month that the Westerners have not been able to do in years.
What about Russia?
Vanga - about the future of Russia
1 “Everything will melt like ice, and only one thing will remain - the glory of Vladimir, the glory of Russia. Too much has been sacrificed. No one can stop Russia. She will sweep away everything from her path and will not only survive, but will also become the ruler of the world.”
2 “Russia will lose weight and take its place again.”
3 “Many new people will be born in Russia who will be able to change the world.”
4 “Life will be found in space, and it will become clear how life appeared on Earth.”
5 “They will dig up in the ground Big city, through which people learn more about their past.”
6 “In 2018, trains will fly on wires from the sun. Oil production will stop, the earth will rest.”
All in our hands!
Source
Vitaly Nikolaev
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The co-organizer is the National Liberation Movement.
The purpose of the event: to demonstrate the cohesion and unity of the Russian multinational people.
Over the past twenty years, Russia was dominated by the American-Western occupation regime, the entire system worked for an external master, who insidiously and mercilessly destroyed the great Soviet Union. For 20 years, the American occupation regime destroyed the economy, army, industry, science, education, and so on...
America conquered our country not with traditional military methods (as in World War II), but with new modern information methods, indirect and immediately imperceptible. Russia's policies under Gorbachev and Yeltsin did not correspond to national interests. And only with the arrival of Putin everything changed. Putin – true patriot, a strong leader who challenged the system of global American hegemony and declared that Russia would not obey the rules imposed on it. Russia is a distinctive country, it has its own unique path of development. However, not only Russia... Today Russia is becoming a leader Liberation Movement different countries Worldwide. In the history of Russia, our people had to endure many trials. On this day in 1612, the militia led by Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky defeated the Polish invaders and liberated Moscow. External interventionists are still trying to humiliate Russia again and completely subjugate it. Another thing has come Time of Troubles, Russia is being challenged again! We have always won every “trouble” thanks to our loyalty to the ideals of Goodness and Justice, selfless Love for the Motherland and our unity. Today we must be united again: Orthodox Christians, Muslims, young people, and people with Soviet identity! And the residents of Moscow, and St. Petersburg, and the Urals, and Siberia, and Ukraine, and Belarus, and Kazakhstan and Armenia and all the former Soviet republics... Let's unite before the attack of an external enemy! November 4 - Day national unity! We call on all patriots to join the action of the national liberation movement.
DAY OF NATIONAL UNITY. Action of the National Liberation Movement.
We're all going to Moscow for a rally - you give a million people (or better yet, two)))!
The hottest corners of hell are reserved for those who remained neutral during times of greatest moral crisis.
Dante Alighieri
). The poor fellow maintained until the last that he was not guilty of murder, but who would listen to the criminal? However, the humane American executioners allowed the condemned man to eat pizza before death, this is a plus for them...
Meanwhile, very strange, frightening events are happening in the world. All over the planet, scientists are recording mass deaths of birds, fish and crustaceans. I will quote a few typical messages:
Start of press reports ---
http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=418992&cid=9
“American scientists are trying to explain an extremely mysterious phenomenon: entire flocks of birds are dying in the country. Such cases have been noted in the states of Arkansas and Louisiana, and the reasons for the mass pestilence can only be speculated upon. There was even an assumption that thousands of blackbirds in America died due to secret tests chemical weapons. But then it is difficult to explain why the same thing happened on the other side of the Atlantic - in Sweden.
The frightened residents of a small quiet town in Arkansas do not know what to assume: they have only seen this in films about the end of the world. The birds seemed to have gone crazy, flying like drunken people, eyewitnesses of the eerie spectacle say. This happened in New Year's Eve. The next morning, the streets and lawns in front of houses were strewn with blackbird carcasses.”
“When millions of dead fish were discovered this week on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, and earlier birds began falling from the sky in Arkansas and Louisiana, the public immediately rejected official scientific explanations and began talking about the end of the world, writes the Los Angeles Times. The blogosphere, Facebook and Twitter are filled with conspiracy theories and panicked messages: “They say birds are dying from too much noise, and fish are dying from too much noise.” cold water. Do they really think that we will believe this?!"; "We will all die!"
“In the United States, cases of mysterious cases have been reported in several states at once. mass death birds. According to the New-York Daily News, following the state of Arkansas, hundreds of thousands of dead blackbirds were shocked by the “rain” dead birds were found on the streets of Murray in American state Kentucky. Earlier, hundreds of dead birds littered the streets of the town of Gilbertsville in the same state. A similar incident was noted in the state of Louisiana: ornithologists there found about 500 dead birds.
Meanwhile, in Arkansas, following the mass death of blackbirds, American conservationists are investigating the causes of the mass death of fish that washed up on the banks of the Arkansas River, reports Examiner.com, citing Keith Stevens, a representative of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
According to Stevens, the first reports of fish deaths appeared on December 30, and the very next day biologists arrived at the scene of the incident. In total, about 100 thousand individuals died. Several fish were sent to the University of Arkansas for laboratory research, Rosbalt reports. However, according to scientists, this phenomenon was not caused by pollution. environment, since in this case many more individuals would die.
A similar inexplicable incident was noted on the other side of the world: 40 thousand (!) dead crabs washed up on the coast of Great Britain.”
“Dozens of dead birds that were found on Wednesday night in southwestern Sweden did not die from poisoning or any infection, but from external influences, Swedish television SVT reported, citing an analysis made by experts from the State Medical and Veterinary Institute (SVA ).
"We can state that the birds died from severe internal bleeding caused by external exposure," institute specialist Marianne Elvander told Swedish television.
“On Wednesday, GeaPress reported hundreds — possibly thousands — of dead and dying birds in Italy. Countless turtle doves were found scattered in the streets, in flower beds and hanging tragically from trees "like Christmas balls" in the town of Faenza"
--- End press reports ---
Meanwhile, former US Presidential Advisor Colonel John Wheeler was killed (link). What exactly John Wheeler did is unknown. According to official information, Wheeler was allegedly busy raising funds to erect a memorial to American soldiers killed in Vietnam. Some media, however, believe that the murder of the colonel is directly related to the death of birds (link). The colonel had valuable information about what was happening, and some powerful forces really did not want this information to come out.
What is really happening in the world?
Five versions of what is happening are widely discussed on the RuNet. Here they are.
Version 1. Stopping the Gulf Stream.
After the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, when over 9k tons of oil leaked from an exploding oil well, for a long time Rumors circulated that a thin film of oil could trigger a change in water temperature, which would slow down or even stop the Gulf Stream (link).
In September they laughed at these rumors. However, now that Europe has been overwhelmed by a wave of snow disasters (example), even skeptics are beginning to realize that something really wrong is going on with the climate.
A changing climate - abnormally high or abnormally low temperatures - could well cause the death of living beings around the world. At the same time, it is obvious that if the Gulf Stream really rises, the death of birds will be only the beginning of a series of monstrous disasters: glaciation of the continents caused by crop failure, mass starvation, inevitable wars for warm territories...
Version 2. The Americans' climate weapon is HAARP.
The HAARP laboratory is located in Alaska and, according to the Americans, serves exclusively for studying auroras (link).
Many scientists, however, do not believe the Americans and assume that HAARP is actually a prototype of a geophysical or ionospheric weapon. Weapons, the testing of which could well have resulted in the unexpected death of some representatives of the fauna. For example, even a slight shift in the Earth’s magnetic poles could easily lead to a disruption in the navigational instincts of migratory birds.
Indeed, it is no secret that the United States is now experiencing serious economic problems. Some analysts predict the collapse of the dollar, which will entail a global weakening of the superpower. A the best way out out of crisis, this is, as we know, war.
Version 3. The Large Hadron Collider.
Scientists warned back in 2008 about the dangers of launching the collider. Straplets, nanoholes... I wrote more about this here (link). The creators of the collider then assured us with a cynical smile that everything would be fine. They say that they have calculated everything, and the probability of a global ass is one in 50 million.
The problem, however, is that if scientists really knew what consequences the launch of the collider would entail... they would not need to launch it. After all, the collider is launched precisely in order to see how matter behaves if it is exposed to hyper-high energies. Having launched the collider, humanity has entered unknown territory, where anything can be expected.
I really, really hope that the BAC has nothing to do with the death of birds. Because if the pessimists’ predictions about the collider come true, the living will soon envy the dead.
Version 4. Alien intervention.
The other day I read news about the 32 nanometer process technology, which one of Intel's factories switched to in December. Very surprised, I looked at the materials on the topic and discovered that the 10 nanometer technical process was already being developed in full swing. And 10 nanometers is, for a second, only 40 silicon atoms. For reference: the famous Intel 8086, which was released some thirty years ago, was produced using a technical process... 3,000 nanometers. Roughly speaking, the transistors in it were 10,000 times larger than in modern processors.
As they joked a few decades ago, if aviation developed at the same speed as computers, you could fly from Moscow to New York in one second, and the flight itself would cost less than one cent.
The question inevitably arises: why is our microprocessor technology developing so quickly? Why is humanity achieving progress in months that once took decades? And why does Moore's Law, according to which the number of transistors on a chip doubles every two years, continue to apply for 45 years?
The idea involuntarily arises that someone from outside is pumping human civilization technologies. And now, looking at the dead animals, one can assume that this someone had extremely good reasons to hurry.
Version 5. Phosgene.
After the successful capture of Iraq, the US military managed to get its hands on several tens of thousands of tons of phosgene, a powerful toxic substance prohibited for use by various international conventions.
There are persistent rumors that the Americans have begun to use phosgene, for example, against the Taliban in Afghanistan. In general, this is not the first time for Americans - just remember Vietnam, which was flooded with dioxin. The generals of the Country of Victorious Democracy never suffered from excessive scrupulousness.
Well, since the United States of America protects its domestic interests around the world, phosgene leaks also occasionally occur in different places. At the same time, which is typical, no dead birds are observed either on the territory of Russia or on the territory of China - perhaps precisely because American military planes and ships do not enter our territory.
News and announcements
01.10.2009
In No. 8/9 (August-September) of the magazine “Reading Together” for 2009, an article by Konstantin Dushenko “The Living Envy the Dead” from the series “The History of Famous Quotes” was published.
The living will envy the dead
Who said that? There are three main versions in use:
1. One-Eyed John Silver in Treasure Island.
2. Apostle John in the Apocalypse.
3. Nikita Khrushchev, threatening Americans during the Cuban Crisis.
All three versions are correct - and all three are incorrect.
Having opened “Treasure Island” translated by Nikolai Chukovsky, we read: “In an hour, I will heat up your old blockhouse like a barrel of rum. Laugh, thunder, laugh! In an hour you will laugh differently. And those of you who remain alive will envy the dead!” The last phrase was remembered from the Soviet film adaptations of the novel, and there were four of them, including a cartoon with Dzhigarkhanyan - Silver.
However, Stevenson has neither the word “living” nor the word “envy”. He only says: “Those who die will still be lucky” (“Them that die’ll be the lucky ones”).
But our writers used this phrase long before Stevenson. In Karamzin’s story “Marfa the Posadnitsa” (1803), Marfa warns the Novgorodians before the battle with the Moscow army: “If you return defeated, (...) then the living will envy the dead!” Later, in “The History of the Russian State,” Karamzin will write about Batu’s invasion: “The living then envied the peace of the dead.”
In the summer of 1812, during the invasion of seventy languages, the Rzhev landowner Pyotr Demyanov prophesied: “The hour will soon come when the living will envy the dead” (according to “Letters of a Russian Officer” by Fyodor Glinka).
IN " Yuletide Stories“Nikolai Polevoy (1826) speaks directly about the end of the world: “There will be (...) a time when the living will envy the dead.”
So the saying was taken from the Bible? The Bible literally does not contain these words, although there is something very close: “In those days people will seek death, but will not find it; they will wish to die, but death will flee from them” (Apocalypse, 9:6); “And I made the dead (...) more blessed than the living” (Ecclesiastes 4:4).
But besides biblical prophecies, this phrase could have another source - “The Jewish War” by Josephus. Josephus's work on the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans was a favorite reading in Ancient Rus'. About the “left-radical” group of Zealots, as we would say, it was said here: “The Zealots (...) equally deprived of burial both those killed on the roads and those tortured in the city (...). Whoever buried one of his loved ones was punished with death along with defectors (...). From the living their anger spread to the dead, and from the dead again to the living. Those who survived considered those who had been exterminated before to be blessed.” An early English edition of The Jewish War (1767) translated: "It made the living jealous of the dead."
This saying became truly popular in the West with the advent of nuclear weapons. In 1960, the treatise “On Thermonuclear War” by the American futurist Herman Kahn was published. Chapter 2 of the book was called: “WILL SURVIVORS BE ENVY OF THE DEAD?” This question was considered in detail, with tables and diagrams, and the answer was given, in general, negative: a final catastrophe will not happen, the percentage of deaths from the direct and long-term consequences of the war will be much less than they think. Kahn probably wanted to fight back against “defeatist” sentiments in Western societies (“better to be red than dead”).
The Cuban crisis that brought the world to the brink nuclear war, happened in the fall of 1962. And in the summer next year Khrushchev, who had already completely fallen out with Mao, stated: “When they say that the people who have made a revolution must start a war, (...) in order (...) to create a more prosperous society on the ruins of the world, it is impossible to understand, comrades! (...) There will be such contamination of the earth’s atmosphere that it is unknown in what state the surviving people will be - will they envy the dead?” (speech in Moscow on July 19, 1963).
Khrushchev, therefore, did not intimidate the Americans, but objected to the Chinese. This statement was met with understanding in America. After the assassination of John Kennedy, his widow Jacqueline wrote to Khrushchev: “He more than once quoted your words in his speeches: “ In a future war, the survivors will envy the dead”».
In the West, this phrase is still often considered a quote from Nikita Sergeevich.
We have a decisively prevailing opinion about the authorship of the one-eyed Silver.
This is such a discrepancy.
Konstantin Dushenko
“Reading Together”, 2009, No. 8/9 (August-September).
