Category Archives: Survivalism

For all our modern technological advancements, two sobering realities remain true: People go missing every day, and some corners of our world remain completely unexplored. Both facts are mysteries, and sources of fear. Where do people disappear to, and are they always the victim of mundane violence? Whats hiding in the oceans, jungles, and other locales so impenetrable that they reject humanitys presence?

Filmmaker Ben Wheatley (Free Fire, Kill List) combines these anxieties in his latest horror movie, In the Earth. Written and directed by Wheatley during the COVID-19 pandemic, In the Earth is explicitly informed by the last year of our collective lives. The films sparse script builds an image of self-isolation, government failure, and widespread loss, while the characters decision-making is shaped by an initial sense of wariness toward strangers, then a headfirst rushing into camaraderie and trust. The latter often isnt the right choice, but dont most people want to believe other humans are inherently good? Wheatley scoffs at the idea of innate altruism, and also questions the distinction between mythology and science. In the Earth is an immersive portrait of tribalism and madness, angst and survivalism. And in spite of the somewhat predictable narrative, the film builds to an unshakably tense, unsettlingly eerie conclusion.

In the Earth (which would make a solid double-header with Woodshock, The Happening, Midsommar, or the season 1 X-Files episode, Darkness Falls) begins with an act of destruction deep inside a verdant forest, a sequence that serves as a subtle nod to Stanley Kubricks science fiction classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. (Another film about wavering sanity in an alien location.) After the violent opening, the film moves to the UKs Gantalow Lodge research site, where scientist Dr. Martin Lowery (Love Wedding Repeats Joel Fry) has just arrived. Martin has been isolated for months due to an unnamed pandemic sweeping his world, and he seems almost desperate to connect with new people. But most of the scientists are in the field, and the lodge is disquietingly quiet.

The only people Martin spends time with are Frank (Mark Monero), the doctor who inspects him for symptoms of the spreading illness, and Alma (Ellora Torchia), the park ranger assigned to guide him into the forest to meet fellow scientist Dr. Olivia Wendle (Hayley Squires). Dr. Wendle, who is researching ways to make crop growth more efficient, is well-known for her theory that all the trees in a forest are connected, like one gigantic brain. (A not-uncommon belief, espoused by both groundbreaking ecologist Suzanne Simard and forester Peter Wohlleben, whose book The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate is an international bestseller.)

Martin clearly has a complicated personal past with Dr. Wendle, but her affection for the forest seems to have rubbed off on him. When Frank warns him that the forest is a hostile environment he shouldnt underestimate, a place where people have gotten lost and died, Frys quietly bemused, slightly dismissive OK is a sign that Wheatleys grim sense of humor, sharpened in his previous films High-Rise and Free Fire, remains intact.

Could anything have dissuaded Martin from his two-day trek through the forest to meet Olivia? It doesnt seem so. Franks warning doesnt discourage him. Neither does Almas explanation of a foreboding tapestry that depicts Parnag Fegg, the Spirit of the Woods, a local folk tale who has terrified children for decades. The imagery of Parnag Fegg includes skeletons, headless and blinded figures, floating children, imps and demons, and a hooded figure wearing a crown of sticks, but none of that deters Martin. The forest is something that you can sense, Alma says, which raises questions: What has Alma felt in the woods before? What is Martin feeling thats drawing him there? And what about Olivia, who spent months in the woods, and whose abrupt cease in communications with Martin partially inspired his decision to find her?

In the Earth becomes a sort of road movie as the capable Alma guides Martin through landscapes both barren and dense. They walk in the sunshine through fields of flowers, duck under densely grown tree boughs, and pass by purple mushrooms emitting little puffs of spores, to a soundtrack that sounds like Gregorian chants. The all-business Alma is at first patient with Martin, then increasingly irritated by his shortcomings, and perhaps his mistruths; Torchia memorably flexes her face into a wide range of exasperated reactions.

Martin, meanwhile, acts more like a wilderness novice than a seasoned scientist, and Wheatley uses his inexperience to heighten the dread. Bird calls in the forest mimic human screams. Martin develops a mysterious rash that looks like a configuration of runes. Wheatleys close-ups find importance in holes, and the emptiness they represent: a circular gap in a stone that looks like a portal, the gaping maw of an abandoned tent deep in the forest, a horrendous gash on Martins foot, spurting blood. Where does the mass that used to be in a hole go, and what happens to our ecosystem, our society, or our relationships when the center cannot hold?

Wheatley handles all this early setup deliberately, and per usual, he imbues his visual language with more spookiness via a brutal electronic score by longtime collaborator Clint Mansell. But also per usual, Wheatley tends toward self-indulgence. About half an hour in, In the Earth takes a turn thats tedious and thoroughly predictable. After one new character is introduced, there are no plot surprises, and the middle portion of the film admittedly drags.

But to be fair to the filmmaker, perhaps shock isnt exactly what hes trying to communicate with In the Earth. Instead, his curiosity is focused on the unexpected overlaps between rigid repetitions of folklore and mythology on one side, and inflexible belief in scientific evidence, data, and demonstrable patterns on the other. Cosmic horror films thrive in the tension between what we can and cannot rationally explain, and in the knowledge that our lives are often insignificant compared with the whims of larger existential forces. Like the recent cosmic-horror film Color Out of Space, Wheatley creates tension through inexplicability, and litters the plot with prickly details that snag Martin and Alma like stinging nettles, marking them as trespassers in this place.

In spite of the pairs knowledge and capability, the forest thwarts their assumed dominance over the natural world. When pressed, Martin cant exactly explain what drew him to Dr. Wendle, nor the connection they have. Alma, who knows these woods well, is unnerved by plant life that doesnt seem to fit the regions ecology. The film abruptly and intermittently cuts to black, and never acknowledges lost time. Wheatleys visual tricks include trees that look like human silhouettes, while a stone obelisk that appears out of nowhere takes on outsized importance. Singularly, these arent immediately scary elements. But altogether, they coalesce into an enveloping kind of strangeness where every element, from an innocuous rock shard to the Parnag Fegg legend, masks hidden danger. Its a pandemic vibe if there ever was one.

People get a bit funny in these woods sometimes, Frank tells Martin, and In the Earth uses that line to explore the acid-trip possibilities of the natural world, and how our human need for control pollutes it. The result is a film that arguably shows its hand too early by reducing its villains to mouthpieces for Wheatleys face-off between magic and technology, and belief vs. reason. But the unease that In the Earth builds is infectious, and its moments of gory brutality, prevailing awe, and kaleidoscopic conclusion make it worth watching.

In the Earth will release in theaters on April 16. Before visiting a movie theater, Polygon recommends reading our guide to local state-by-state COVID precautionary measures.

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In the Earth review: Cosmic horror in the void between technology and magic - Polygon

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released the fourth English-language update to its General Handbook on Wednesday, March 31, which includes four rewritten chapters, seven other chapters with section changes and four updates to policies and guidelines.

Those four policy updates include statements regarding vaccinations, affinity fraud, extreme preparation or survivalism and respecting local restrictions on sharing the gospel.

Formerly called Ward Leadership, Chapter 6 is now titled The Bishopric, which better reflects the content and summarizes the bishops responsibilities for the work of salvation and exaltation. The chapter also explains the differences between bishops and branch presidents and includes information about the ward executive secretary. Ward leadership roles and responsibilities are detailed in subsequent chapters.

Chapter 23 Sharing the Gospel and Strengthening New and Returning Members emphasizes the responsibilities of ward leaders for sharing the gospel and strengthening new and returning members. Updated information about the callings of ward mission leader and ward missionary is included.

Missionary Recommendation and Service the title of Chapter 24 includes updates on preparing and qualifying for missionary service as well as clarifying types of missionary service. It also updates policies on maximum age for younger sister missionaries and on setting apart senior service missionaries.

Chapter 29 Meetings in the Church includes overviews about various types of Church meetings and explanations that bishops and stake presidents may authorize streaming of meetings and virtual meetings when appropriate.

A new entry on vaccinations (38.7.13) reemphasizes direction the First Presidency has consistently given since at least 1978. Vaccinations administered by competent medical professionals protect health and preserve life, the handbook says. Members of the Church are encouraged to safeguard themselves, their children, and their communities through vaccination.

A new section about affinity fraud (38.8.2) says using friendship or a position of trust to take financial advantage of another is a shameful betrayal of trust and confidence. Its perpetrators may be subject to criminal prosecution. Church members who commit affinity fraud may also face membership restrictions or withdrawal. Members may not state or imply that their business dealings are sponsored by, endorsed by, or represent the Church or its leaders.

Latter-day Saints are to be wise in regards to self-reliance and emergency preparation, as stated in an added policy on extreme preparation or survivalism (38.8.16). The Church counsels against extreme or excessive preparation for possible catastrophic events. Efforts to prepare should be motivated by faith, not fear. Church leaders have counseled members not to go into debt to establish food storage. Instead, members should establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve over time.

A new section on respecting local restrictions for sharing the gospel (38.8.37) explains the Churchs missionaries serve only in countries where they are officially recognized and welcomed by local governments. The Church and its members respect all laws and requirements with regard to missionary efforts. For example, in some parts of the world, missionaries are sent only to serve humanitarian or other specialized missions. Those missionaries do not proselytize. The Church does not send missionaries to some countries.

Other updates include the expansion of callings that can be held by members in young single adult and single adult units as well as modified information throughout the handbook about members with disabilities.

Of sections 37.2.2, 37.3.2 and 37.5.2 detailing the expansion of callings in the aforementioned units, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles told Newsroom:

In recent months, our minds have been drawn with particular focus to Latter-day Saints who are single adults. We want you to know that you are loved and so very needed in building the kingdom of God. For this reason, we felt to search carefully for policies and misperceptions that might limit the Church service of single members. What we found was that Church policy already allows for broad service by single adults and it could be even broader. We feel todays policy adjustments can make a big difference. We hope your leaders know to put you to work including as counselors in bishoprics, on high councils, and as organization presidents and counselors.

Updates regarding members with disabilities include information about performing temple work for deceased persons who had intellectual disabilities; about members who are deaf or hard of hearing; about organizing special classes, programs or units; and about the calling of a stake or ward disability specialist.

Below is an index of new and revised sections and chapters of the General Handbook, as published on March 31, 2021, with rewritten chapters and new sections in bold:

Chapter 5: Stake Leadership

Chapter 6: The Bishopric (rewritten)

Chapter 14: Single Members

Chapter 23: Sharing the Gospel and Strengthening New and Returning Members (rewritten)

Chapter 24: Missionary Recommendations and Service (rewritten)

Chapter 27: Temple Ordinances for the Living

Chapter 28: Temple Ordinances for Ancestors

Chapter 29: Meetings in the Church (rewritten)

Chapter 33: Records and Reports

Chapter 37: Specialized Stakes, Wards, and Branches

Chapter 38: Church Policies and Guidelines

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Vaccines, affinity fraud, survivalism among policy updates ...

Its a sunny day in the mountains, just an hour away from Madrid, the Spanish capital.

A group has come from all over the country to take part in an unusual outdoor activity.

"You can use this as an arrowhead, a spear point, or an axe blade. You can also use it to start a fire," explains an instructor, showing a thin piece of silex he just broke off a larger rock.

It is one of the many survival courses organized throughout Spain. Participants are taught the basic skills needed to get through all manner of life-threatening scenarios.

Long-time survival instructor at 'the Spanish School of Survival' Juan Lopez is also a so-called prepper, or preparationist. A term defining those who are bracing for any disaster that could befall us at any time It's a belief that has been gaining ground with the pandemic says the instructor.

"People are beginning to think that living day by day is counterproductive," says Juan. "If we have the knowledge and can adapt our equipment to survive several days, then at the height of these pandemics, or of emergency situations, we can save ourselves."

Preparationism is gaining momentum in Spain, as it was hard hit by the pandemic. In less than a year, demand has increased by more than 30 percent according to Ignacio Ortega, the head of a survival school:

"One thing is to experience a survival situation if you are lost in the mountains. Another is to be in a survival situation when the whole State may be affected. When rescue teams, the social security system, the health system, collapse, people realize they can't rely on the help of outside professionals as they used to. So they need self-management, self-security. So it's normal that they seek training."

The Covid-19 crisis won Pascual over to preparationism. The entrepreneur came all the way from Valencia, 4 hours away, to follow the course; He says he wants to learn what to do, in order to protect his family if the worst comes to the worst.

"What motivated me to come basically is the situation of uncertainty that we are experiencing. It's not as much that I worry about the pandemic, as about what can happen after," Pascual clarifies.

"The economic crisis we are suffering through and which we are going to suffer from for years. When State aid dries up, we may start seeing mass layoffs in companies and so on. You may see food shortages in the cities, situations of chaos, there may be revolts. So I'd rather take the initiative of preparing myself, just in case."

Preppers' communities are thriving on social media, where members exchange concerns and tips, to cope with potential catastrophes. Gaining access to their private sphere is not easy.

One man who was supposed to show our crew some storage sites in Madrid changed his mind. It was the fourth time, a prepper who had agreed to this in different cities of Spain cancelled at the last minute.

One of our contacts did send us footage of the supplies he stocks in order to cope with potential disasters, on the condition of anonymity.

Fuel, survival kits, dehydrated or canned food, but also camouflage attire, anti-nuclear equipment, weapons and ammunition, are only a few of the items that preppers keep in individual or collective storage places, that are always kept secret.

Born in the United States during the cold war, and sometimes linked to far rights ideologies survivalism developed in Europe in often less radical forms. The philosophy of those who describe themselves as neo-survivalists, or preppers, is nonetheless worrying in the eyes of sociologist Bertrand Vidal who is an expert on survivalism.

"Survivalists organise themselves in communities, they try to share the means to overcome adversity. To that end, they use the fable of the grasshopper and the ant," says Vidal. "On one side, are the grasshoppers, who didn't see winter coming, the catastrophe. Otherwise known as us. And on the other side, are the survivalists, the ants, who organise themselves, who stock up and get organised especially in communities, like colonies. To get through crises."

"They would be the chosen ones of the Apocalypse, the chosen ones of the next world, the winners, while we grasshoppers would be the losers, and nearly would deserve to die, during the end of the world that's imagined, but also hoped for, by the survivalists."

The next world is what the families we are meeting near the city of Toledo, south of Madrid, are bracing for. They are not among those who wish grasshoppers any harm but rather, they are willing to share their knowledge.

These seasoned preppers take us to one of their familiar spots, where they sometimes come to reconnect with nature, and ancestral techniques, like this underground oven, going back to prehistory. But what is a hobby today could one day serve a more serious purpose.

"One thing is to be prepared for what might happen, and another is to be prepared for those who might want to harm you," warns prepper and survival instructor Javier Garcia Serrano. "Because unfortunately, when something bad happens, there are always people out to kill, out to rob, out to plunder."

"So you must always try to hide your belongings, to bury basic items in places that only you know. That can get you out of trouble. I hope nothing will happen. But one day or another, it will come."

Roberto and his wife Melania started Gaia Survival School a year ago. Burying goods in nature, in order to survive for several months, is part of their teachings. They prepared a preppers drum for us: medical equipment, canned food, seeds, candles, soap, ropes and knives, are just of few of the essential items of a preppers basic stocks. Once the drum is buried, a stone is used as a landmark to find it in case of need.

They make a demonstration for our camera, but the family's treasures are hidden elsewhere and in larger quantities.

"We are a family of 4 people, soon to be 5, so a bucket that small wouldn't be enough", explains Roberto Fernandez, founder of Gaa Survival School.

"We have three crates buried in at least two different points in Spain. One of them contains all the medical equipment, another is for food, and the third contains everything we need for self-defence."

Valerie Gauriat - euronews

"Are you convinced that you will need to use all these things one day?"

Melania Moreno Vara - Co-founder of Gaia Survival School

"There can be natural disasters because the planet keeps getting in a worse and worse shape. There can be other pandemics. There can be all sorts of conflicts. So yes, I think I might have to use it one day. If I don't need to, it's better. But if I do, then it will be at hand."

Roberto Fernandez - Co-founder of Gaia Survival School

"There are people who think that those who are getting ready for that kind of thing, are mad. But it's not the case! What's better than to reconnect with nature, while preparing yourself for what could happen? Without being obsessed by it, and spending your days thinking that the world will collapse the next day. No, we're not getting ready for the end of the world, we're getting prepared in case the world ends."

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What is 'survivalism' and why is it getting so popular in Spain? - Euronews

The Base, according to sources who spoke online and in person with Nazzaro, is an accelerationist project whose purpose is to hasten the collapse of American liberal democracy into civil war and bring about a white ethnostate. In encrypted chats, members discussed the methods and efficacy of such tactics as sabotaging infrastructure and guerrilla warfare. There is no suggestion that any of the Australian recruits have participated in these activities or had any plans to carry out terrorist activities in Australia.

But the leaked audio makes tangible the threat lurking in Australian suburbs while also laying bare what philosopher Hannah Arendt called the banality of evil. Some of the potential recruits still live at home, havent managed to actually read the key texts that inform The Bases ideology, or say they will have to take the bus to militant training events because they are about to lose their drivers licence.

Smith at times in his vetting interview sounds nervous and unsure, as if hes trying to convince himself of his views as he describes them to The Bases leaders. He offers a potted summary of his 12-month descent into extremism via his One Nation membership, his doomed tilt at an unwinnable political seat in Federal Parliament and his entry into Perth neo-Nazi group, the Society of West Australian Nationalists, which is run by former Liberal Party volunteer David Donis.

Being around that sort of party structure and political structure in Australia, I sort of lost faith in the whole thing. And then I decided to take more direct action, and then got pushed onto the Society of West Australian Nationalists, he said.

His loss of faith in Pauline Hansons One Nation, and then SWAN, led him to The Base as he became more and more extreme and passionate about my views and it was harder and harder to speak out about it for fear of losing my political career.

And I thought, well, I have to sell myself to the devil to have a career in politics, or I can leave my career in politics and live an authentic life. And I think that, you know, leaving politics behind is a much better option, he said.

Sara Qasem gives her victim impact statement during the sentencing hearing for Australian Brenton Tarrant.Credit:AP

All The Bases Australian applicants describe, to varying extents, the same frustration that society and the political system has failed them; some say direct action may be the only solution.

Three Australian Base applicants (Smith is not one of them) described supporting Brenton Tarrants murderous March 2019 mosque rampage in New Zealand. One of them, a 23-year-old calling himself RooReich, says of Tarrant: Theyre saying hes an alt-right fascist Nazi, blah, blah, blah. Im like, Well, if thats what he is then, OK. Ill just be that. If you want me to be the boogeyman, I guess, Im the f...ing boogeyman ... There is no political or democratic solution at all. Were not voting our way out of this.

Nazzaro, The Bases Russian-based leader, began advertising his group in July 2018, trying to recruit members. He was also active in the Read SIEGE group on the white power-friendly alt-tech platform Gab. The group was dedicated to promoting the work and ideas of neo-Nazi James Mason, author of the book, Siege, who advocated terrorism as a means of creating a white ethnostate.

Base propaganda posted on social media.

In autumn 2018, early recruiting material for The Base stopped short of explicitly advocating for terrorism. However, in most of the recorded vetting interviews, standard questions for potential recruits included whether they considered themselves national socialists and whether or not they had read Siege, a compilation of Masons newsletters that became the central text of the accelerationist movement. Recruits were also asked whether they believed a political solution could remedy the perceived genocide of white people.

The ideal recruit would answer, respectively, yes, yes and no.

While The Base was operating, Nazzaro reiterated its emphasis on action. He demanded that members engage in training and meet-ups, and that potential recruits detail any skills they could bring to the group or teach other members via communications on encrypted apps.

A photo included in a recent FBI court filing shows unidentified members of the neo-Nazi group The Base.

Eventually, some members of the group began acting on the hate that The Base fostered. Former members in New Jersey and Wisconsin stand accused of conspiring to vandalise synagogues; the Georgia cell is accused of plotting an assassination.

Charging documents for the cell based in Delaware and Maryland allege the men discussed firing at random into a pro-gun rally in Virginia in January 2020.

In late October 2019, members of The Bases vetting committee received a bundle of identically formatted PDF documents from five Australian men.

They had been emailed to Nazzaro from a sixth Australian, who operated under the alias Volkskrieger and who acted as a virtual local franchisee in bringing these recruits forward. Volkskrieger is a German word that means peoples warrior.

A recorded conversation between Nazzaro and Volkskrieger in May 2019 captures The Base leader telling his Australian point man that we need someone dedicated, who can really lead the charge and handle and keep the guys that do come in the door, keep the morale up and keep them motivated.

Volkskrieger responded: Thats fine. Yeah. Im, Im happy to do the role.

The Australian then asked Nazzaro about FBI attention and whether one of the more strident Base members who had been arrested had become a police informant.

If you go and talk all that talk and then suddenly when the heats up you crack like a f---ing egg, thats pathetic, Volkskrieger is recorded saying. The Age and Sydney Morning Herald have identified him as a young Perth tradesman living with his parents.

Among the biggest insights provided by the leaked tapes is the way Australian local neo-Nazi groups who publicly disavow terrorism, such as The Lads Society (which has morphed into the National Socialist Network) and David Donis SWAN, were viewed by The Base as recruiting grounds.

Volkskrieger told The Bases leadership cell he was trying to suss out members in the group and see which ones I could potentially bring up to The Base theres definitely blokes that I can slowly pull over.

Between Volkskrieger and the five applicants he brought to The Base, four claimed some involvement in The Lads Society or SWAN, including one who claimed to be The Lads Queensland chapter leader, Grant Fuller.

Fuller denied trying to join The Base, while Volkskrieger did not respond to efforts to contact him. Donis also declined to comment, although there is no suggestion he knew SWANs members were double-patching behind his back. There is also no suggestion that Donis, Fuller or Smith support domestic terrorism.

As each of the applicants were tested by Nazzaro, they seemed eager to impress him. RooReich, a Brisbane neo-Nazi, explained he sort of joined The Base because he was readying himself for societal collapse and the militant response needed to realise The Bases vision of white supremacy.

If it came to the cops, interrogation and stuff like that, I already have lies in my head already at what Im going to say to them. And I can remain pretty consistent and confident in those sort of lies, he told The Bases vetting committee in late 2019.

A Perth-based applicant calling himself James Jameson impressed on Nazzaro that I know how to f--- people up with minimum physical exertion and that he got enjoyment watching the Christchurch massacre of March 2019. Ive eaten several meals watching that, Jameson explained, while outlining his vision for an Australian group of networked survivalists across the country with access to firearms to act as an organised resistance.

Asked if The Base was a terrorist organisation, Nazzaro said it was an entirely legal survivalism and self-defence network. He also denied it was a neo-Nazi group. He had started a group in Australia because it aimed to be an international network of mutual support.

Grant Fuller, self-professed leader of The Lads Society, one of the countrys biggest neo-Nazi groups, who recently underwent a vetting interview with US neo-Nazi organisation The Base.

When the leaked vetting calls and social media records were obtained in early 2020, The Base had recruited two Australians, was preparing to vet two more and had interviewed another two, including Dean Smith, who withdrew their applications for their own reasons.

According to internal sources who asked not to be named, Smith discontinued his application, choosing to remain with SWAN, which does not allow so-called double-patching.

As groups such as The Lads expand and fracture, they soak up more and more ASIO resources (the agency has said 40 per cent of its caseload is dedicated to ideologically motivated extremist groups). State police are also keeping watch, with Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Hermans on Friday telling a media briefing how right-wing extremism activity had probably doubled in the past 18 months and was in a purple patch. He also cautioned that while The Base wasnt operating as an entity in Australia, its ability to connect with Australians remained.

In October 2019, Nazzaro asserted that a dozen people in total had applied but his vision was for many more recruits to join.

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While The Bases progress has been slowed by police attention in the US and its listing as a terrorist group in Canada, Nazzaro, from his home in Russia, remains active on social media. He recently delivered a critique of developments in Australias neo-Nazi networks.

We think that theres a lot of potential there, Nazzaro said of Australia in late 2019. And theres obviously a lot of like-minded individuals in Australia. Its just trying to get them plugged into one network, to where we can collaborate.

Nick McKenzie is an investigative reporter who has twice been named Australian Journalist of the Year. A winner of ten Walkley Awards, he investigates politics, business, foreign affairs/defence, human rights issues and policing/ criminal justice.

Joel is a producer for 60 Minutes.

Heather McNeill is a senior journalist at WAtoday.

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From One Nation to neo-Nazism: Australians being drawn into extremism - Sydney Morning Herald

Words by August BillyPhotos by David Harris

My mothers family moved here from England in the 1950s when my mum was just a toddler. I am a beneficiary of this move. I enjoyed a comfortable, lower-middle class upbringing and my life experiences havent been tarred by intergenerational trauma. As a consequence of the prevailing NSW public school curriculum of the 90s/00s and an embarrassing lack of curiosity my understanding of the history of this lands First Peoples was pretty surface-level until quite recently.

Its no overstatement to say that no one has taught me more about the disgusting treatment of the Stolen Generations and these generations corresponding resilience and spirited survivalism than Gunditjmara and Bundjalung man, Archie Roach.

Looking for more live reviews? Subscribe to Beathereand well send them straight to your inbox.

The chance to see Roach at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on whats likely his final ever Melbourne headline show was a true privilege. That it occurred on just our second day freed from lockdown and close to a year after Roachs Tell Me Why tour was originally scheduled made it even more so.

Roach suffers from chronic lung disease and was in ICU as recently as November. He arrived onstage in a wheelchair, clutching an oxygen tank, and kept a cannula in his nose throughout the performance. But, as with his exit from ICU to perform at the ARIAs last November, as soon as he stepped into the world of his songs, he was positively brimming with life.

The show title, Tell Me Why, is borrowed from Roachs award-winning memoir. The setlist drew exclusively from the books accompanying album, which Roach put together with jazz pianist and arranger Paul Grabowsky. The record predominantly contains old songs including epochal constructions Took the Children Away and Down City Streets into which Grabowsky has injected additional harmonic nuance thats fleshed out by guitarist Stephen Magnusson, drummer Dave Beck, violinist Erkki Veltheim and double bassist Sam Anning.

But what defines the album and indeed defined this performance is the emotional resonance of Roachs voice and storytelling. Now a sexagenarian with decades of smoking behind him, Roachs vocal timbre is totemic, embodying the pain and hard-learned lessons inherent in his songs.

The show began with A Child Was Born Here, which encourages us to tread lighter on country and not be so preoccupied with greed and selfish desire. It brought the excitable, doting amphitheatre into a kind of rapt union with the man on-stage. Its probably too late for this disclaimer, but while Id usually watch my use of superlatives, the emotional connectivity of this performance was such that it inspired a sort of born-again fervour.

This sensation was helped along by backing vocalist Sally Dastey (of Tiddas fame), who took the lead on a rendition of the gospel standard Just a Closer Walk With Thee. Paul Kelly also made an appearance for Rally Round the Drum, a song he wrote after hearing about Roachs time working for tent boxing spiv Billy Leach in the 1970s.

Roach spoke at length between songs, telling us of his experiences in foster care, his days drinking in the pubs, parks and laneways of Fitzroy and Collingwood, and his deep love for the late Ruby Hunter. As such, the show stretched out for over two hours despite including just 12 songs.

But rather than breaking the spell of the musical bewitchment, Roachs storytelling was integral in making this feel like not just his big night, but a night for all of us to connect, to process pain, to heal and to be reminded of our essential obligation to treat each other and the land we walk on with respect.

Closing number, Place of Fire, encompassed and potentially actualised many of these sentiments. Dont you realise, that we all come from this place, sang Roach, the band beginning to soar behind him. Open up your eyes, look and see. By the songs end, Roach looked renewed and absolutely at home.

Keep up to date with Archie Roach via his website.

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Archie Roach, we are unworthy of your benevolence and nobility - Beat Magazine

Come read the utterly bizarre story behind Little Nightmares 2.

Little Nightmares 2 is an adorably horrifying delight. However, due to the nature of the game, the story isn't exactly straightforward. With no dialogue between any of the characters, you have to piece together the plot from clues seen in the environments. Thankfully, we here at TheGamer are adept at deciphering obtuse narratives. So let's take a look at the story of Little Nightmares 2 and try to figure out exactly what has happened to this disturbing world of disgusting, fleshy, cannibalistic creatures.

Little Nightmares starsa young boy with a bag on his head named Mono. Throughout the game, Mono is drawn to television sets that display a transmission of a long hallway that ends at a door with an eyeball symbol. He is able to enter the TVs as if they were portals, but he can never quite reach the door before he's sucked back out to the real world. This will be very important later on.

He starts his adventure by traveling through a trap-infested forest before arriving at a creepy old house. Inside, he finds rotting meat and mannequins that are most likely the taxidermied remains of unlucky humans. He also finds a little girl playing with a music box who is being held hostage in the basement. He frees the girl by smashing the door with an ax, but instead of thanking him, she scurries away as fast as she can.

Mono finds the girlupstairs and the two begin working together in order to survive. They eventually discover the owner of the house who is a violent Hunter wearing a sack over his head. Upon seeing the children trying to escape, he chases after them with a shotgun. The two break into a small shed where a spare shotgun is being stored and shoot The Hunter, which presumably kills him. They find a large, discarded door and use it as a raft to cross a body of water. This takes them to the shores of a place known as The Pale City.

The two enter a school that is surprisingly populated with children. Of course, they're not normal children since this is Little Nightmares. They're actually strange living dolls with porcelain heads known as Bullies. They're all being taught by a woman called The Teacher, who has the bizarre ability to stretch out her neck to absurd lengths like Elastic Man. After the girl is captured by the Bullies, Mono rescues her again and the two barely escape from the school. They walk out into the streets during a heavy rainstorm. It is here that the little girl finds a familiar yellow raincoat and puts it on. So yeah, she's Six from the first game. What a twist!

Mono and Six make it through a dark hospital filled with living mannequins who can only be stopped by light. The two end up in the lower levels where they encounter a huge man called The Doctor. He's a grotesquely bulbous figure who scampers across the ceiling like some sort of spider. After a tense chase, Mono manages to trick The Doctor into entering an incinerator and burns him alive.

At this point, the two have seen a giant spire that's far off in the distance of the city. This is the Signal Tower and it's broadcasting a transmission that warps the bodies and minds of those who watch it. It explains the strange mutations that the characters we've come across have. It also explains the appearance of the hypnotized citizens known as The Viewers, whose faces have been turned into featureless, sunken flesh folds.

Mono has been lured to various TV sets a few times and almost reached the end of the hallway before being pulled away by Six. Mono finally enters one of the TVs and makes it to the end of the hallway. He opens the door with the eyeball on it, which turns out to be a big mistake. This unleashes a ghostly entity known as The Thin Man, who begins to hunt down the children upon his release. While Mono manages to hide from him, Six isn't as lucky and is sucked into the TV. The Thin Man continues to chase Mono until he's finally cornered in the middle of the city. It is here that we find out that Mono possesses similar powers to that of The Thin Man.He is able to use the transmission to defeat The Thin Man, which causes him to vanish. He then enters the Signal Tower to rescue Six once again.

Inside the Signal Tower is a strange, pinkish-purple alternate dimension where gravity and time seem to be distorted. After some searching, Mono finds Six. The only problem is that the Signal Tower has transformed her into a giant, twisted version of herself. This Six is obsessed with a music box that's similar to the one she was playing with when Mono originallysavedher. Seeing that this music box is the object behind her transformation, Mono destroys it. Six tries to stop him, but he succeeds and frees her from the influence of the transmission.

RELATED:Little Nightmares 2 Review: Won't Somebody Please Think of The Children?

The Signal Tower then suddenly begins to fall apart revealing that underneath the building is an overwhelming mass of gooey flesh and eyeballs. The two children run away as a wave of flesh tries to crush them. As a bridge towards the exit begins to crumble, Mono leaps towards a ledge, and Six manages to catch him. However, while she could easily lift him up, Six decides to let him go and Mono falls to the depths of the Signal Tower as Six nonchalantly escapes. She's not a very good friend.

Mono now finds himself stranded at the bottom of the tower. As he walks among the pulsating flesh and eyeballs, he comes across a single wooden chair. He sits down and hesuddenly seems to be in a normal-looking room. We then watch a montage of him aging. He grows taller and thinner. He has become The Thin Man.

In the secret ending, we see Six exit through a TV set. As she stands, a glitched, shadow version of herself appears and looks down toward a drawing of the massive ship from the first game, The Maw. We then hear the familiar rumbling of Six's stomach. The events of this game were a prequel to the original Little Nightmares, as it shows the origins of Six's selfish survivalism, her impetus to reach The Maw, and the birth of her constant hunger.

And that's the bizarre tale of Little Nightmares 2. These games are unsettling pieces of art that need to be experienced. Even though you've just read the entirety of the story, it's still worth playing just to see what has come out of the disturbing imagination of Tarsier Studios.

NEXT:Dystopian Visual Novel Dry Drowning Launches For Switch On February 22

Super Smash Bros Ultimate: Who Is Pyra?

Jamie Latour is a writer and actor based out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From his hyperactive childhood to his....Well, still hyperactive adulthood, he's been writing and performing in some capacity for practically his entire life. His love for video games goes all the way back to the age of 4, playing Mega Man 3 for the first time on his NES. He's an avid gamer and can be found nowadays either messing around in Red Dead 2, or being cheap as can be as Reaper in Overwatch. He's still starting out when it comes to making online content, but aside from his writing he can found on his Twitch page under the handle SpontaneousJames. You can also find him on social media as @SpontaneousJam on Twitter (because Spontaneous James was too long apparently).

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Little Nightmares 2: The Story Explained | TheGamer - TheGamer

The Canadian Department of Public Safety has designated a slew of several far-right organizations as terror groups.

In a press briefing the department said they were listing the Atomwaffen Division and the Base, two neo-Nazi terror groups founded in the U.S. and under an FBI crackdown; the well-known Proud Boys; and the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM), a St. Petersburg-based organization that has provided paramilitary training for neo-Nazis from around the world.

The goverment also listed several Islamist extremist groups: Ansar Dine, Front de Liberation du Macina, and Jamaat Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimin, as well as the ISIS-affiliated groups Islamic State-Bangladesh and Islamic State-East Asia, as new additions to the terror designation list. The designations allow for the government to lay terrorism charges to people connected to the group more easily, and prevent those within the group from fundraising, selling merchandise, and owning property on the groups behalf.

Based on their actions and ideologies, each group meets the legal threshold for listing as set out in the Criminal Code, which requires reasonable grounds to believe that an entity has knowingly participated in or facilitated a terrorist activity, or has knowingly acted on behalf of, at the direction of, or in association with such an entity, read a press release.

Senior officials in the department, who spoke to journalists on the condition they were unnamed, described the Proud Boys as a neo-fascist organization that engages in political violence and asserted they espouse misogynistic, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, and/or white supremacist ideologies and associate with white supremacist groups.

(Disclosure: Gavin McInnes, a Canadian, was a co-founder of VICE Media. He left the company in 2008 and has had no involvement since then. He founded the Proud Boys organization in 2016.)

The Proud Boys consists of semi-autonomous chapters located in the United States (U.S.), Canada, and internationally, the release reads. The group and its members have openly encouraged, planned, and conducted violent activities against those they perceive to be opposed to their ideology and political beliefs.

Importantly, the government is designating not just the groups themselves, but offshoots. The National Socialist Order, for example, is designated alongside AWD.

In response to the latest designation the leader and founder of the Base, who is based in Russia and is suspected of Kremlin ties, was defiant and claimed the group is still active in Canada.The Base is not a terrorist organization or a neo-Nazi group, Rinaldo Nazzaro, a former Pentagon contractor, said. It is a survivalism and self-defense network for nationalists. The Base operates within the law of every jurisdiction where it is active including Canada.

Nazzaro previously denied he had any links to the Russian government.

Do you have information about the Proud Boys or other extremists? Wed love to hear from you. You can contact Mack Lamoureux and Ben Makuch securely on Wire at @mlamoureux and@benmakuch or by email at mack.lamoureux@vice.com, and ben.makuch@vice.com, or via Signal or Telegram at 267-713-9832.

While the Canadian government previously labelled two other white supremacist organizations with ties to political violence as terror groups, the latest news comes on the heels of the insurrection on Capitol Hill in Washington and its ties to extremist groups like the Proud Boys, which was cause for debate in Canadian parliament.

Jagmeet Singh, the leader of Canadas third-largest federal party, the New Democratic Party, put forward a motion in Parliament demanding that the Proud Boysfounded by a Canadian and with a large contingent in the countrybe designated a terror group following the actions of January 6th. The motion was unbinding, which means it was symbolic and the government did not need to act on it. A group is not designated as a terror group as a result of a vote but instead listed via cabinet from a recommendation from the Minister of Public Safety, who typically works off guidance from intelligence officials. The groups listing on the watch list will be reconsidered after five years.

The move to mark this many white supremacist groups as designated terrorist organizations all at once, is unprecedented for a government. In May 2020, the U.S. nearly designated Atomwaffen Division a terrorist organization, but the group disbanded and instead RIM became only the first white supremacist group in the countrys history to ever be designated a terrorist organization.

Canada only recently began listing far-right groups on its terror watch list in 2019, starting with the international neo-Nazi groups Blood and Honour and Combat 18.

Stephanie Carvin, a former intelligence analyst with Canadas spy agency turned academic at Carleton University, said she believed the government has been investigating these groups since well before the 6th. Its really been months of work, she told VICE World News. Carvin, a veteran of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) had experience tracking groups like al-Qaeda, but believes the emergence of the far right as a terror threat has caught the attention of her former employer.

I strongly suspect the January 6 insurrection probably accelerated the desire to list these groups, she said. But speaking with various anti-hate groups and individuals that study these phenomena, theyve been consulted since last summer on how these groups may be listed.

I think this looks like the government is whip-snap responding to this but this is actually a process long in the making.

During a press briefing, senior officials stressed the use of the term ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE) rather than left-or right-wing extremism. They added that CSIS has shifted their resources to better combat IMVE actors. Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, said in a statement that the listings are an important step in our effort to combat violent extremism in all forms.

Canadians expect their Government to keep them safe and to keep pace with evolving threats and global trends, such as the growing threat of ideologically motivated violent extremism, said Blair. The Government of Canada will continue to take appropriate actions to counter terrorist threats to Canada, its citizens and its interests around the world.

One difficulty with designating groups like Atomwaffen Division and the Base is that they tend to rise quickly and self-immolate, or are broken up by law enforcement. While both the Base and Atomwaffen still exist in some form and have members, they are markedly smaller than they were at their height several years ago. Many previous members have moved onto new groups that are growing.

With Proud Boys, criticisms of the designations are more extreme. Critics have said that the designation could hurt left-leaning groups and people of colour as much as, if not more than, the group. One expert told VICE they could see right-leaning politicians designating Indegenous protestors blocking rail lines during the Wetsuweten crisis last year as terrorists.

Amarnath Amarasingam, an assistant professor at the school of religion at Queens University who researches terrorism, told VICE World News that he does think it's about time that some of these groups are listed.

They have operated for a long time out in the openrecruiting, fundraising, mobilizingand have grown as threats as a result, and their brazenness is only on the rise, said Amarasingam. It will give the government the tools it needs to investigate these groups as national security threats.

FollowMackandBenon Twitter.

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Canada Designates Proud Boys, Atomwaffen, and The Base as Terror Organizations - VICE

NEW YORK As I finished reading The Art of Her Deal, a biography on Melania Trump by Mary Jordan, it struck me that I could not remember anything relevant that the first lady has ever said that would be worth publishing. Nothing I have heard from Melania has ever been uplifting or even depressing. And in Jordan's book, there was nothing new in what Melania was saying, nothing inspiring, nothing we haven't heard before. It was as if Melania had kept repeating the same mantra again and again, like this phrase, largely used in Slovenian: "The sun always shines after the rain!"

In the book, Melania's expressions are packaged in small blurbs and read like haikus on survivalism that contain common-sense wisdom, rooted deeply in a rural mindset. Her words have an overtone of fatalism, restraining even the tiniest glimmer of hope. Most of the time, when she says something, it's just a dull expression of an obsolete weltanschauung.

Choosing words can be either an art or just the plain repetition of common sense expressions that we Slovenians inherited from our rural ancestors and the Habsburgs. Is it possible that Melania uses them to cover-up her misanthropic nature? She may also sound dull and reluctant for many reasons we do not know about: perhaps because of her looks, which to her mind might not be good enough for public appearance; or maybe she is simply not interested or is unsure about what to say. Maybe it's because a nondisclosure contract with her husband bans it. Or could she be putting the president of the United States on ice, ignoring him because he offended her? Perhaps she carries herself the way she does because her mother taught her how to survive in a world governed by men; how to defend herself and be desirable at the same time, a technique Melania applied to Donald Trump from their first encounter on.

Most of the time, when she says something, it's just a dull expression of an obsolete weltanschauung.

Melania lives in a cocoon, protected with layers of common sense wisdom she learned during her childhood. On rare occasions, when she steps out of her golden cage and opens her mouth, she reminds us of Chance the gardener (Peter Sellers) in Hal Ashby's 1979 cult movie Being There.

Chance lives in the townhouse of a wealthy old man in Washington D.C., tending to the garden. He never leaves the property. Other than gardening, he watches TV, his only contact with the outside world. When his benefactor dies, Chance finally leaves the house, wandering aimlessly. He passes a TV shop and sees himself captured by a camera in the store window. Entranced, he steps backward off the sidewalk and is struck by a chauffeured car, owned by mogul Ben Rand.

Rand's wife, Eve, who is in the car, brings Chance to their home to recover. Rand is a confidant and advisor to the president of the United States, whom he introduces to Chance. In a discussion about the economy, Chance takes his cue from the words "stimulate growth" and talks about the changing seasons of the garden. The president misinterprets this as optimistic political advice and quotes Chance in a speech. Chance now rises to national prominence, attends some important dinners, develops a close connection with the Soviet ambassador, and appears on a television talk show during which his detailed advice about what a serious gardener should do is misunderstood as his opinion on what his presidential policy would be.

The Trumps in November 2019 Photo: Andrea Hanks/White House

Being There is a comedy. It's a story about a misunderstanding between parallel worlds. As Chance, Melania is misread for what she really is. Or better, her parsimonious words are generic and open to loose interpretations, just like Chance's. "People do not know me," Melania says repeatedly, meaning, nobody understands her. She is right. One of the best insider moments that open a little crack into Melania's personal life is a quote about the spa Melania built in a section of the top floor of the Trump Tower penthouse in Manhattan. Melania described it in an interview for Allure magazine in 2008:

"I wanted some privacy and comfort when I needed to get a massage, manicure or pedicure, or have my hair or makeup done. It's 300 square feet, all white marble and silver fixtures with white towels and robes. Everything is from Italy and it's all very modern a very different look from the rest of the apartment which is more baroque."

Taking care of her body is essential central, the core business of Melania Trump. Her body is her most important asset, her looks are her passport. She spends most of her time in a spa or any place where she can recreate her image before she appears in public. She depicts her beauty parlor in aseptic, surgical terms, as space where she painstakingly works herself to perfection. When Melania was asked if Donald Trump ever joined her in the spa, Melania laughed. The spa is her sanctuary. Nobody could cross that threshold.

Of course, the interview with Allure is 12 years old, but according to a Vanity Fair report, Melania Trump's makeup artist of over a decade, Nicole Bryl, was responsible for setting up a designated room for hair, makeup and wardrobe in the White House. "Melania wants a room with the most perfect lighting scenario, which will make our jobs as a creative team that much more efficient since great lighting can make or break any look," she said. Bryl added that it takes "about one hour and 15 minutes of uninterrupted focus" to do the first lady's makeup.

Her looks are her passport.

But there is more. The fresh news comes from Jordan's book after she interviewed the housekeepers at the Bedminster Trump National Golf Club, one of the presidential couple's favorite places. "One of the worst jobs was cleaning up the residue from Melania's regular applications of tanning spray to make sure any traces were removed from all the white surfaces in the bathroom. The bronzer washed off in the shower, and Melania used it nearly every time she left the house," the housekeeper Victorina Morales said. Is this what Melania is all about? Devotion to her body? Solitude in her beauty?

As Mary Jordan observes, Melania's inner circle is small, her former staff sign non-disclosure agreements and old acquaintances in Europe are discouraged from speaking: "In three decades as a correspondent working all over the world, I have often written about the reluctant and the reclusive, including the head of a Mexican drug cartel and a Japanese princess, but nothing compared to trying to understand Melania," Jordan writes in the book.

In my own journalism career, I have always tried not to interview people like Trump and Berlusconi, as any dialog with them would be completely predictable and useless. Melania, I thought, was a different story. I wrote my first piece about her at the insistence of my friends and readers, who thought that I was in a unique position to do so. However, I soon understood the difficulty of the endeavor:

"A couple of years ago, as a Slovenian reporter, I started to follow Mrs. Trump's Twitter account, @MELANIATRUMP. I dropped the effort soon after because my former countrywoman did not show any signs of political life or any otherwise interesting activity. It was all about tacky mundanity interrupted by occasional close-up photos of a single rose. An attempt to demonstrate her artistic talent or just touting the fact that her Donald brought her a bouquet of roses? I did not pay attention to these details back then."

Writing about Melania can only be done by adding speculation and fiction.

I very quickly abandoned the effort to reach Melania for an interview. None of the contacts I had worked, all channels were blocked. There were people who in return for a payment were offering pieces of third-hand information on Melania. Disgusted, I refused all of them. Whichever way I turned, I bumped into a thick wall. I assume Jordan must have felt the same since she considered Melania to be a more reluctant and reclusive subject than the head of a Mexican drug cartel and a Japanese princess. My conclusion, more than four years ago, was that writing about Melania can only be done by adding speculation and fiction. I concluded my first piece on Melania Trump by writing:

To me, Melania is similar to a sleeper cell. She's not a terrorist of course, but she could be radicalized in the same way former Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi's wife, Veronica Lario, did. She was a B-list actress when Berlusconi approached her at a bus station in Milan. He went to see her in a theater. Veronica was nowhere to be seen for many years. She gave Berlusconi three children and lived in a "castle" as Melania does. Then Veronica met an intellectual a philosopher and former mayor of Venice, Massimo Cacciari and became radicalized. She'd had enough of her husband's nonsense. Illuminated by Cacciari, she didn't want her kids to be like their father. She filed for divorce and started the end of the Berlusconi era. All this after the whole country failed to get rid of him.

Unlike Veronica, Melania Trump has only one 10-year-old son with Donald Trump. She spends a lot of time with him and apparently talks to him in Slovenian. Is there the hope that Melania will do something similar to what Veronica did? And as a consequence deprive Trump of her support or stop him from being that violent, reckless person that he is? Or perhaps come out on the open and say something that will stop Mr. Donald Trump from running for president?

Lauren Collins of the New Yorker read correctly what I was trying to do:

"On the site Yonder News, the Slovenian-born journalist Andrej Mrevlje considered in what amounted to an inspired piece of non-fan fiction whether Melania could ever undergo a transformation similar to that of Veronica Lario, Silvio Berlusconi's ex-wife." In her great piece, Collins she too, was never able to interview Melania found a magnificent definition for the presidential couple: "For Trump, as it turns out, Melania is the perfect body on which to hang a brand."

Once I started to write about Melania, I received calls and emails from journalists who were trying to know more about her, checking in with me to see if Melania was a story worth writing. I told them about what I thought was the main difficulty, the challenge.

I thought that Melania could be a great character for a spy novel. An inspirational, beautiful woman planted as a spy in the White House by a group of former international diplomats with financial links to Silicon Valley. They are using the first lady to promote a new device that would enable corporations, with the help of the Chinese, to surveil the communications among "Five Eyes," intelligence agencies from the dilapidating Western world. The group organizes a cover-up operation, a horse parade on Pennsylvania Avenue. But the transport of 400 Lipizzaner horses gets hacked by Russians and becomes a cover-up for another big operation, in which the initial group of plotters plays the role of double agent for a Pan Slavic organization that smuggled trillions of dollars from Russia into Swiss banks.

In the novel, a famous young pop philosopher organizes lectures and workshops on film, Lacan, and Hegel in the Rose Garden of the White House. The presidential palace becomes an intellectual gathering spot, a booming cultural center like College de France in the age of Michel Foucault. But things get complicated when the beautiful female agent, the first lady, falls in love with the famous philosopher. The well-balanced spy business gets disrupted as the first lady starts to take over the White House, causing the president to have a massive heart attack when he realizes that his wife and philosopher speak the same language.

I thought that Melania could be a great character for a spy novel.

The Art of Her Deal, is, obviously, a completely different book. It has 280 pages of starkly different material, based on Jordan's 44 minutes of phone interviews with Melania in 2016. Nevertheless, the book has a fascinating opening. In the first chapters of the book, Melania Trump appears smart, balanced, and determined, with a strong agenda in mind. Melania is portrayed as the strategist who the 45th president of the United States depends on. She is the Melania who picked Pence as vice president, the wife who scolded her husband for being a wimp during the campaign, commanding him to go back to fight and win the election. Melania who stubbornly remained in New York for the first six months of Trump's presidency.

Refusing to go to the White House from day one, Melania must have remembered her mother's advice on how to use her charms (the words are mine). While she was away from the White House, she became aware, Jordan wrote, of the leverage she had when it came to her influence over her husband. Trump's team was pressing her to come to Washington and help stabilize the president. According to Jordan, Melania wanted to secure her son Barron's position with a new nuptial agreement, leveling his status to that of the other four Trump children. Melania won, earning a new nuptial agreement, writes Jordan. Her actions echo what Veronica Lario did to her husband, tycoon, and prime minister Silvio Berlusconi before she filed for divorce.

When I read the first part of the book, I thought it was promising. I loved the way Jordan demonstrates the rudeness of young Melania ascending the social ladder. She built good working relationships with the people who helped her modeling career. But as soon she managed to take it a step further, when she left Ljubljana for Milan, then went to Paris and eventually ended up in New York, she never looked back. She cut off all contacts and past relationships. There are plenty of interesting details in Jordan's book if you are interested in Melania's world. I for one did not know that Donald Trump suffers in small spaces and how obsessed he is about sleeping in his own bed. There is more.

But in my opinion, the interesting part of the book, unfortunately, dissolves into detailed reporting of Melania's modeling career. Jordan confirms many times that Melania is a so-called "commercial" model, good for catalogs and advertising, but nothing like a top, career model. But we kind of knew that. As I was reading the book I slowly lost interest and started to wonder who on earth would like to know the minutes of Melania's life with roommates, managers, rivals, in short, explaining all the petty networks that helped her to climb to Trump Tower.

It seems that Jordan got carried away by her journalistic ethics to report out facts. As the facts were scarce, she plunged into the microcosms of a person leading a totally uninteresting life. As a consequence, there are at least two Melanias in Jordan's book. Let's hope nobody tries will to write about a third one.

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What To Make Of The Mysterious Melania Trump - Worldcrunch

Fans of The Office loved seeing John Krasinski, who played Jim Halpert, romance Dunder Mifflin receptionist Pam Beesly, portrayed by Jenna Fischer. While the couple brought in a big audience, another duo on the show was also a big draw.

The running rivalry between Jim and Dwight Schrute, played by Rainn Wilson, helped make The Office Must See TV. With the two characters playing complete opposites, Krasinski and Wilson perfected their on-air personas which also had an affect on how they interacted off camera.

When producers on The Office began casting calls, Krasinski was originally being invited to play Dwight. Immediately the actor knew it wouldnt be a good fit.

When they asked me to audition for this, they actually sent the sides for Dwight, and there was something very weird, Krasinski told NPR in 2016. There was something in me that just said if I go in, I want to go with my best foot forward. I dont feel like Im Dwight. I feel like Im more Jim.

Apparently Krasinskis choice didnt sit with producers who saw the 13 Hours star as the office nerd Dwight. At first they rescinded their offer but fortunately came around to give the actor a chance.

RELATED:The Office: John Krasinski Kept One Memento When He Thought The Show Was Going to be Cancelled and its Not the Teapot

My manager at the time called and said, you know, he doesnt want to go in for Dwight. He wants to go in for Jim, and they said, great, then he wont come in at all, Krasinski recalled. There was about three weeks there where I thought the role was gone, the opportunity was gone. And then they called and they said, OK, he can come in and read for Jim, which was pretty amazing.

Wilson created an iconic character in his portrayal of Dwight. Playing the offbeat salesman with a penchant for Battlestar Galactica, ping pong, survivalism, and karate, Wilson soon tired of being seen as only the odd beet farmer rather than a versatile actor.

I am not Dwight Schrute, okay? Wilson said in aCrooked Mediapodcast, according toEntertainment Weekly. I played a character for 200 episodes, and it was an awesome character, and he was a beet farmer. That doesnt mean you should hand me beets or make beet jokes every time I go into Starbucks and ask if they have like a beet latte or something like that.

Often approached by fans, The Office alum prefers not to be barraged with a plethora of Dwight-isms.

RELATED:John Krasinski May Have Given The Offices Jim and Pam a Shout Out in A Quiet Place

Dont hand me reams of paper, and dont say fact to me, and dont ask me which is bear is best, he requested. And thank you for watching the Emmy-winning showThe Office.

Though Jim was frequently seen playing tricks on Dwight while Dwight would respond by hurling insults at Jim, Krasinski revealed that their onscreen sparring gave them a sort of familial relationship.

Ithink the rivalry made us become kind of like brothers, Krasinski said in his NPR interview. Theres that rivalry between brothers, obviously. And its not necessarily competitive. Its just this free spirited thing. I think that we really did become a family on that show.

As brothers often have their share of roughhousing, the script sometimes required Jim and Dwight to tussle which often resulted in an injury for Krasinski.

RELATED: Why John Krasinski Had To Use His Jim-from-The-Office Power for This Film

Another thing that was funny about Rainn and my relationship was like a brother, one of the things that I got nervous about was play fighting with him because hes a very good actor, Krasinski explained. But I, for some reason, would always end up injured when we did any play fighting. So the producers picked up on this and said, you know, Rainn, really just be fake on this. You know, just try to preserve Johns health.

The Jim-and-Dwight rivalry remains one of the most beloved in television history.

Excerpt from:

'The Office:' How the Jim-and-Dwight Rivalry Impacted the Actors' Offscreen Relationship - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Homegrown terrorismhas been a security concern in the United States for many years, focusing primarily on affiliates of al-Qaeda andISIS. Threats from these groups continue, and the prospects of an attack are worrisome.

However, equally troubling is the rapid growth and vocal intensity of white, racially motivatedviolent extremist groupsthat prioritize and engage in domestic terrorism.

The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that the number of white nationalist groups in the US has increased 55 percent for the last three years and that white nationalism poses a serious threat to national security and pluralistic democracy.

The Anti-Defamation League reported that the white supremacists have committed 78 percent of right-wing extremist-related murders over the last 10 years and that the right-wing extremists were responsible for 90 percent of domestic extremist-related murders. White supremacists, in particular, were responsible for 81 percent of extremist killings in 2019 alone.

Among these groups is The Base, a fairly new organization that warrants scrutiny. Perhaps by coincidence or by clever calculation, the groups name is the English translation of the Arabic word al-Qaeda, which also is the name of a Salafi jihadist terrorist organization.

Terrorist organizations, regardless of their ideology or goals, share the same apartment. Their ideologies represent different floors in the same building. While they seem to follow different pathways, their methods, tactics, and strategies for communicating with their target audiences are almost identical to those of their so-called adversaries.

In the United States, The Base exists to target Jews, Muslims, and anyone the group views as the other, including Westerners who indulgeimmigrants, Muslims, and Jews. Similarly, al-Qaedas archenemies are Jews, Westerners, infidels or nonbelievers, and Muslims who embrace Western values.If one compares the narratives, the main themes and justification for violence espoused in Norwegian white supremacist Anders Behring Breiviks 1,500-page manifesto2083: A European Declaration of Independencepublished in 2011 andOsama bin Ladens 1996Declaration of War, one might think that the same person could have written both pieces.

Bin Ladens narrativeabout the Muslim world being invaded by the Jewish-Christian alliance and their collaborators echoes Breiviks call for the execution of traitors, a war against non-whites and the deportation of all Muslims from Europe.

At first glance, al-Qaedas Salafi jihadist ideology and Breiviks white-supremacist ideology may seem opposite to each other, but they are actually twins. Both harbor a violent extremist ideology.

Similar parallels can be drawn between the English The Base and the Arabic The Base al-Qaeda.

The Base, awhite supremacist neo-Nazi group, was formed in 2018 by an American,Rinaldo Nazzaro, who uses the pseudonymsNorman Spear and Roman Wolf. He allegedly lives in Russia, where hecovertly leadsThe Base as itplots and carries outcriminal acts. Just like its namesake al-Qaeda, The Base is in a quest for a race war that pits a supreme white race against the others.

A second parallel is the process of radicalization. Both groups rely on indoctrination, the dehumanization of the other, and the legitimation of violence. A sense of being under constant attack and overwhelmed by the other-enemy motivates these groups to engage in extremelyviolent attacks on perceived enemies.

A third similarity is an autonomous or loosely connected hierarchical structure marked by leaderless resistance, self-motivated attacks, self-radicalization, a self-trained lone-wolf style of attacks, and the effective use of social media and encrypted messaging.

The final resemblance is the pursuit of anapocalyptic ideology. Both Salafi jihadists and white supremacists believe in a savior of their own version and that they are destined to prepare the groundwork for their savior. Both al-Qaeda and The Base also call for a change in the existing order and are motivated to engage inindiscriminate killingto achieve their desired change.

Members of The Base, therefore, embrace survivalism and accelerationism. Whilesurvivalismrefers to being prepared for apocalyptic destruction of society and catastrophe, accelerationism requires a desire for violence of any kind that can accelerate societys collapse and create chaos. Accordingly, members of The Base stockpile resources, including weapons and ammunition, and engage in acts of violence and terror believed to be essential for achieving the groups goals.

Looking at the number of terrorist activities and attacks,The Baseis a relatively insignificant group in terms of its capacity to engage in major terrorist attacks. However, its loosely connected and autonomous structure enables the group to engage in activities ranging from vandalism to self-initiated lone-wolf attacks and possibly the orchestration of massive ISIS-like attacks, such as those in Paris in 2015.

These groups are small, which makes them difficult to detect. Members of such groups can be in multiple locations while they plan attacks as lone actors. In late September 2019, for example, a member of The Base in New Jersey recruited two individuals and persuaded them tovandalize two synagoguesin two different states on two consecutive days.

Judging the threat from The Base and other racially motivated violent extremist groups as a lesser evil than al-Qaeda or ISIS would be a catastrophic mistake. Adherence to the concept of leaderless resistance helps these groups to avoid detection and early intervention by the intelligence agents and law enforcement officers.

Given the surge in The Bases recruitment activities and participation in terrorist attacks in the United States, white racially motivated violent extremist groups should be taken very seriously. These groups may be even more of a threat than some Salafi jihadist groups as most of these groups are based and operate in the US.

It is essential to be alert and ready, both tactically and strategically, to thwart the growing number and malicious efforts of white racially motivated violent extremist groups as earnestly as we do when it comes to Salafi jihadi groups.

Zakir Gul, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in Criminal Justice at State University of New York in Plattsburgh. His research and teaching focus on terrorism, cyberterrorism, homeland security, intelligence, and policing.

Suleyman Ozeren, Ph.D., is adjunct faculty and a research scholar at George Mason University. His research and teaching focus include terrorism and counterterrorism, countering violent extremism (CVE), conflict resolution, and the Kurdish issue.

Ismail Dincer Gunes, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Homeland Security & Criminal Justice at Sul Ross State University. His research and teaching focus on security studies including terrorism, homeland security, and policing.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Defense Post.

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What Does Al-Qaeda Tell Us About The Base? - The Defense Post