Category Archives: Ww3

Unusual Comparisons: An ED Original content style, where we take 2 very opposite and different items and show you, exactly how similar they might be.

In the beginning of 2020, rumours of WW3 surfaced with the President of the USA, Trump air-strike killing the Iranian General. Somehow the events took a different turn and we are in the middle of a pandemic. However, if we look closely, the fight against coronavirus seems to be the modern WW3, different from WW1 or WW2 but quite similar in its effects on humanity, society and economy.

War claims millions of lives, displaces families and leaves a void with every life lost. The death toll of WW2 was 85 million in a span of six years. We are just a few months into this pandemic and the death count has already surpassed 20k. Similar mass destruction would have been observed if WW3 had commenced but owing to the number of deaths we are already in a war.

Particular groups or states are put under Curfew during war which would likely be the scenario had WW3 erupted. Looking at the current scenario, it is worse than any war could have been. Australia has imposed a 6 months long lock down to escape the atrocities of coronavirus. Many other countries have also adopted the same measures but for fewer months.

Day to day activities would be disrupted during war as people cannot continue to work or keep their businesses open, causing damages to the economy. Amidst the pandemic, complete lockdown has been issued having a negative impact on the economy. IMF says we are already in recession due to Covid-19.

Due to conflict during WW3, education would have suffered as an economic crisis arises and schools would be shut. Deaths and fear has had the same effect on education today. Schools are unable to operate and most of the exams have been cancelled or postponed affecting a large population. Poor people cannot afford to keep their kids in school due to lack of earning sources as everything is shut down.

During war, soldiers play an important role and fight for their country giving up their lives in the process. Amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, doctors have taken over the role of the army, fighting against the virus day and night, not caring about their own lives.

In many ways, WW3 would have been quite similar to the crisis we are in right now. The only difference is, during WW3 countries would be turned against each other whereas now every country stands united against a common enemy, COVID-19.

Lets pray we win this war and claim victory over the evil that has taken over our earth.

Image Credits-Google Images

Sources- hindustantimes.com, Business Today, World Population Review

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Unusual Comparisons Isnt The Fight Against Coronavirus Exactly Like The WW3 We Dreaded? - ED Times

Last week I offered some tips for a daily routine for the elderly in isolation which hopefully were taken onboard and tweaked to suit whoever embarked on a routine to pass the time more fruitfully in these long days of quarantine.

This time among other tips my suggestions are aimed to help you rationalise in your shopping, because we discovered that wonderful as the delivery shopping is, there is a minimum value which you can order.

For example if you were to order from two separate establishments on the same day you would probably have to spend 50 and end up buying more than what two people really need, so think carefully in order to avoid wastage and stockpiling. This is not WW3 yet by any stretch of the imagination.

If you are not on supplements yet perhaps now is a good time to think of including some to improve your health and build up your reserves at a time when we move about much less and we may inadvertently not be caring for ourselves as well as we should.

However before we take any supplements we need to check that there are no contra indications to other medicines that we may already be taking. If you are not sure and dont read up on any - dont take them.

Vitamin C is a good start and apart from your daily intake of fresh fruit which should include bananas, apples, oranges and tangerines apart from a handful of dried red fruit and nuts, a vitamin C supplement will help to support immune system.

Turmeric is an anti inflammatory which is quite beneficial as well. Cod liver oil is a fish oil supplement which can be bought with included vitamins A and D plus Glucosamine for joint support. Better than WD 40! Ive been taking all of the above for years and I noted that omega in fish oil also helps in keeping down levels of cholesterol. Our local heath shops all stock a variety of these supplements so give them a ring and discuss but dont go overboard on them.

Sensible and nostalgic cooking will keep us in good shape and remind us of a certain age about the days when there were no other menus!

Nobody eats enough greens nowadays and the easiest way to change that is to make it a point to have green salads and green beans regularly.

Green beans in glass jars can make a delicious omelette meal for two by using just a half jar of them at a time.

Simply heat up a little oil and add two finely diced garlic cloves till they start to go golden, add the drained beans and toss them around for a bit, then add two beaten eggs to make a torta de habichuelas which are a healthier substitute to the usual torta patatas any day. This serves two for a light supper. Double up on beans and on eggs and you can have four servings but not as light.

Two bunches of broccoli and a medium, chopped cauliflower can be boiled together and garnished with a little lemon juice and a touch of olive oil. The mix can be kept in the fridge and you can have regular meals with added salad for a few occasions.

Remember the old corned beef pie? Well start by mashing up four good sized potatoes into a creamy mix perhaps adding a little butter, salt and a dash of milk to taste. In an oiled pan heat up a diced onion, garlic clove and mix in the contents of a tin of corned beef into a creamy paste. Roll out a pack of frozen short crust pastry and make a bottom and a top for your pie dish.

Place the bottom layer of pastry weighted down and cook lightly in medium oven. Once ready spread the corned beef paste evenly all round and cover the top of the pastry with a brushed beaten egg for gloss. Bake until golden brown and this will serve two for a good lunch (seconds allowed). Keep the other half of the pie for next day in the fridge. Recommended for lunch.

Stuffed green peppers are also an old favourite and easy to make. Six generous peppers washed and opened at their tops. The stuffing needs breadcrumbs, a couple of eggs, two or three chopped slices of ham or luncheon meat, marjoram, grated cheese and finely chopped garlic then mash into a fairly thick paste that can be spooned into the peppers. Seal stuffed ends by dipping into flour after compacting, always leaving some space for expansion during frying.

Cook peppers in a pan with a tin of tomate frito and a carton of tomate triturado (which should first be cooked separately in the pan of oil). When both tomatoes units are blended mix in 2 teaspoons of sugar and place the stuffed peppers to cook in the tomatoe sauce for a half hour or until you can pierce them to test. If during cooking there is too much stuffing remove it before the peppers burst.

Theres enough here for one generous meal or for two light meals if you add mash or fries as a side. As with all recipes you can tweak and season with your favourite spices and add your favourite sides, however go easy because we seniors shouldnt go out to exercise during quarantine. Pimientos rellenos are recommended for lunch and not supper.

Remember we have more time on our hands and cooking is a great pastime so help out if you dont cook yourself bearing in mind that this is a part of the daily routine which you should have mapped out and be executing in order to better spend the time in isolation and come out sane and fit when we get through this. Stay safe and keep busy and positive, that too is contagious in a good way. Till next time enjoy the recipes.

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Features Helpful Tips for the elderly in Isolation ------ week two By Joe Adambery 30th March 2020 - Gibraltar Chronicle

On January 3, 2020, all other programming was suspended as the likeness of General Qasem Soleimani flashed over television screens across Iran. In the early hours of the day, the commander of the al-Quds brigade of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard had been killed by a U.S. airstrike at the Baghdad International Airport.

The reaction online was instantaneous and overwhelming.

Social media heralded the arrival of World War III, and subsequent hysteria ensued. Twitter and Instagram were flooded with posts that paradoxically satirized and validated the notion of a looming war.

Although the U.S. military draft has been abolished for almost fifty years, talk of resurgence resulted in the government website responsible for registration to crash. The U.S. Army had to issue a statement debunking widely-circulated fake texts that called conscripted Americans to Iran.

In a statement released by the Pentagon, the United States claimed responsibility for the strike that killed Soleimani, calling it an act of deterrence.

This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world, the statement read.

Official responses from news sources and experts on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) were divided into several camps. Northeastern University Political Science Professor Max Abrahms outlines three major perspectives: that the U.S. had lost credibility in the region and needed to restore deterrence against Iran; that Soleimani posed an imminent threat and needed to be preemptively eliminated; and that Soleimanis killing was an act of war that eliminated prospects of negotiation, the sentiment largely echoed by social media.

The differences between the concepts of deterrence, preemption, and war begs the question: today, what does war really mean?

War has historically been conceptualized as existing between states, fought by militaries. However, a decline in this sort of conventional warfare has been met with an increase in unconventional warfare. Political Science Professor and expert in transnational security Adel El-Adawy, of the American University in Cairo, explains:

You can be at war without having a military fighting a military you have third-party entities fighting each other on behalf of statesthere can be economic warfare, political warfare, there can be psychological warfare.

When the definition of war is broadened to include the unconventional, it can hardly be said that the United States and Iran are at risk of war; rather, it has already begun.

In September of 2019, Iran-allied Yemeni Houthis launched an attack on two oil refineries in Saudi Arabia, shutting off 5% of global oil production. In late December, the militia group Kataib Hezbollah, which has ties to Iran, launched an attack in Iraq that killed an American contractor. Trump then retaliated by ordering airstrikes on assumed Hezbollah camps in parts of Syria and Iraq. Days later, Hezbollah supporters stormed the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. These events ultimately increased tensions to the point of General Soleimanis assassination on January 2, only days into 2020.

War is no longer strictly characterized by boots on the ground. The above acts, reliant on proxies and carried out in third-party states, illustrate an unconventional but increasingly common war.

El-Adawy says that Soleimanis assassination was unprecedented because of his status as a state official. Although assassinations may well be considered acts of conventional war, that logic cannot be as quickly applied to a man who also has ties to unconventional modes of war. Because of Soleimanis association with Hezbollah and other proxy groups, his assassination is hampering the unconventional activities of the Iranian regime. Although the United States didnt use deterrence in the conventional sense, it effectively deterred Iran from waging unconventional war.

Yet, when the terms used to describe acts of aggression are in flux, both news correspondents and the public must be wary of their politicization. Abrahms highlights the differences in connotation between the word assassination and surgical terms like targeted killing or precision strike, the latter of which was used by the White House to describe the attack.

You can tell a lot about ones politics depending on which word is used, Abrahms told The Cairo Review. Surgical terms like targeted killing are more accepted around the world When one speaks about targeted killing, the emphasis is on connection to the militant groups under the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps command. The fact that both terms can be applied to Soleimani, who was uniquely situated as commanding both state and non-state authority, is a testament to the increasing unconventionality of warfare.

An analysis on the changes in conventional war and conflict would not be complete without also addressing the shifts in public response. Now that news breaks in real time, often through social media platforms, instantaneous reaction is the norm.

Some experts and officials may dismiss the explosion of a potential WWIII on social media sites as sensationalized, uninformed, and unimportant reactions. Insiders Andria Moore interviewed younger internet users who explained that humor is often used as a coping mechanism when faced with uncertainty.

Others believe it is merely an exaggerated but age-old human response. Abrahms explains, This is a human reaction that goes back. If you were to go back through the archives of World War II, for example, you would find humor attempts in characterizations of Stalin or Hitler.

Discussions of World War III post-Soleimani killing were hyperbolic, he continues, but maybe not entirely unfounded.

The fact that things did not escalate further do not invalidate the very legitimate concerns of a serious escalation factor that Soleimani was killedthe reason why there wasnt further escalation was left to chance.

Even if some may not believe the chance of an outright World War is high, most can agree the overwhelming response warrants a second look.

On Instagram, searching the hashtag #ww3 yields a little under 600,000 posts. An account that seemingly devoted itself to only this content has around 75,000 followers. The thread r/ww3memes on reddit surged to 40,000 members in a week. On Twitter, the top-trending hashtags the day of the assassination speak for themselves.

At the very least, internet culture (specifically meme culture, where media users insert themselves into existing narratives by combining relevant text with popular images unrelated to the topic) is a reflection of the way the younger generation understands and perceives world events.

Most of the content that surfaced online was humorous and largely theoretical. However, tangible responses like the crash of the government draft website are indicators of real fears.

An article titled The Memeification of International Security by Jamie Withorne, a Research Assistant at the Middlebury Institute in Washington D.C., looked at the trends in datasets she gathered that try to analyse this far-reaching social media response. She concluded that it was driven by generational issues, popular culture, identity politics, and more.

Wilthone discussed generational issues; the younger generations (namely millennials and Generation Z) are constantly inundated with distressing news, and tend to use self-deprecating humor to cope with widespread high levels anxiety. Popular culture references from modern video games and TV shows Friends, 30 Rock, and The Office were all woven into the memes posted about World War III.

But, to look only at the American experience is to take a narrow view of the phenomenon. At the same time that #WW3 was trending on Twitter, memes in Arabic popped up on social media users phones across the Arab world.

A Twitter user hashtags Third World War in Arabic

One user reposts a meme showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, tweeting this one looks very nice in Farsi.

However, social media users in the Middle East and in the United States inserted their geographical perspectives into their memes, as seen above. Memes were generated in both regions in response to Soleimanis death, but it remained known (though not always acknowledged) that people in the Middle East would be the most directly affected by World War III.

In general, People on social media [in the Middle East] were talking about escalation, but not reallyabout World War III, El-Adawy said.

That kind of talk usually came from people that are not really in touch with the region. he explained. Indeed, American memes references to learning Arabic (Iranians speak Farsi) and using the AUX cord in a military tank show a population out-of-touch with reality in a country where objective education in Middle Eastern studies is largely exempt from middle and high school curricula.

At its core in both spheres, social media became a manifestation of anxiety. Anxiety has been transformed into trendy and relatable content that comprises an entire genre of memes. Scrolling through Buzzfeeds 55 Memes About Anxiety That Will Make You Say Me merits pause: are meme consuming/producing millennials and Generation Z okay?

Studies argue no, in fact. Findings from a study on millennials at Berkleys Goldman School of Public Policy explains, As the first generation raised on the Internet and social media, as a generation that came of age in the wake of one of the worst recessions in modern history, and as a generation still grappling with increased economic uncertainty and worsening financial prospects, millennials are experiencing anxiety like no other generation. While there are many factors contributing to this spike in anxiety, the impact of the Internet is hard to overlook.

Social media was adapted by millennials with age as it grew and expanded. Gen Zersanyone younger than the millennials, who were aged 23-38 in 2019 according to Pew Research Centersimply do not know a world without it. While millennials grew up using the internet, Generation Z grew up engulfed in it; by the time the first iPhone came out, the oldest of this generation was 10 years old.

In the same way that millennials and Gen Z grew up with the Internet, they grew up surrounded by unconventional war. Members of Generation Z were born either after or shortly before 9/11, perhaps the most potent example of unconventional warfare. The first war that many of them experienced was the War on Terror, waged by a state against non-state groups. They dont know conventionality in war, so why would they have a conventionalserious response to it?

The next generations memeification of international crises, while humorous, shouldnt be ignored as it can tell us a great deal about the people facing conflict, and maybe even the future of conflict itself, explains Wilthone.

The Soleimani assassination, then, is part of a broader shift in the meaning of war and how we understand it. As states become embroiled in new modes of aggression, they have also developed new modes of response. In step, the public has evolved its perception of war and the methods used to cope.

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Meme-ifying World War III - The Cairo Review of Global Affairs

"Climate change is the defining issue of our time. Science tells us that on our current path, we face at least 3 degrees Celsius of global heating by the end of the century. I will not be there, but my granddaughters will. I refuse to be an accomplice in the destruction of their one and only home." Antnio Guterres, UN Secretary General

"Our house is on fire. Act like it." Greta Thunberg

As a longtime advocate for children and the Earthand in this year when my song "Baby Beluga" turns 40I feel I must speak out for the sake of my beloved fans, the "beluga grads" and their kids, on the climate emergency we all face.

People live with faith that one day will lead to another, that their future lives are not in question, that their kids can imagine adulthood. For many, that's getting increasingly difficult. As New York Yankee catcher Yogi Berra said, "The future ain't what it used to be." Humanity's future is in jeopardy.

Australia is burning in unprecedented megafires. Its climate-denying government just mobilized a military response. And their summer's extreme heat will likely bring more devastation, and an even greater deployment of military support.

"We have ten years to secure the future. To do what's never been done before."

As we run out of time to respond to the existential climate emergency our world faces, I've run out of patience. Since 1989, when I first learned about the global warming danger, in my climate songs and in essays I've done my best to rouse people to action. In a 2011 essay The Right To A Future, I wrote, "Nobody can guarantee a future, but who has the right to steal it?" During the 2019 climate strikes worldwide, young people all over the world were repeatedly protesting their stolen futures.

Given the failure of the last three decades to mount effective action against global warming, given the recent failure of the UN COP25 climate conference in Madrid, and given the 2018 IPCC Report directive to reduce GHG emissions in half by 2030, I am now adding my voice and support to those who recognize the urgent need for nothing less than a wartime response to the climate emergencya massive mobilization of clean energy resources in order to make unprecedented annual GHG cuts, year after year. And I am calling this massive new effort by a solemn name: "Climate World War III."

We have ten years to secure the future. To do what's never been done before.

In a 2016 essay, A World At War, author and climate activist Bill McKibben wrote: "It's not that global warming is like a world war, it is a world war. And we are losing."

Both World War I and World War II pitted nation against nation, resulting in tens of millions killed and wounded and populations traumatized. The Climate WW3 I speak of here is entirely different. This is a truly global war, a cooperative multinational effort to safeguard the right of the world's children to a stable climate, and to speed the transition from fossil fuels to clean renewable energy. Climate WW3 involves a wartime mobilization fueled by love. For all that we hold precious.

In Canada, MP Elizabeth May has been a longtime climate crusader and in a recent stirring speech in Parliament had this to say: "I've had a ringside seat, Mr. Speaker, to decades in which we could have arrested climate change before our glaciers were melting, before we were losing the Arctic, before our forests were on fire... we had a chance in the 1990s and we blew it."

"Climate WW3 involves a wartime mobilization fueled by love. For all that we hold precious."

Who's to blame? There's plenty of blame to go around. Politicians, governments have played deaf, dumb, and blind to the climate science warnings from a number of sourcesincluding the Union Of Concerned Scientists, who issued clear calls to contain climate change before it grew impossible to do so. Decades ago, the oil and gas giant ExxonMobil knew of the possible catastrophic impacts of global heating and the greenhouse effect. They withheld the information, spent millions to cover it up, and deceived the public.

Spring forward 10 years to the year 2030.

Imagine Its 2030

How do we want to feel in 2030? What might we regret? What will we applaud?

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In 2030 I will be 82 years old. I want to feel, looking back, that during the decade of the 2020s I did all I could in the effort to stabilize global climate to secure our children's future. I want to feel that I helped fight the impending climate catastrophe with all my might.

"As a climate emergency responder, I hereby enlist myself in Climate WW3, a war of survival against runaway climate changea 10-year campaign, a decade long war."

As a climate emergency responder, I hereby enlist myself in Climate WW3, a war of survival against runaway climate changea 10-year campaign, a decade long war.

In the fall of 2019, an estimated 7.5 million people in over 150 countries took part in climate strike rallies. I recorded the rousing song "Young People Marching" to commemorate the Fridays For Future movement that the brave young Greta Thunberg made popular. This Is Zero Hour co-founder Jamie Margolin of the US and climate striker Leah Namugerwa of Uganda are two other teen leaders in a rising tide of youth voices shouting in unisonsave our future!

At the UN Climate Summit in September of 2019, Greta Thunbergs emotional "How dare you!" speech had me in tears. Its moral truth is undeniable. "The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say, we will never forgive you."

Wartime Mobilization

"Defeating the Nazis required more than brave soldiers. It required building big factories, and building them really, really fast." Bill McKibben

In both Canada and the United States, World War II brought sweeping government mandated changes to the economy. Civilian factories were ordered to change their output to military hardware: airplanes, tanks, munitions. Rationing of goods was mandated, and a steady stream of public service announcements extolled the virtues of sacrifice for the war effort. It was a massive undertaking and a huge success. (McKibben's essay is full of detailed numbers on the dollars spent and the production output.)

This year, pressure on elected leaders will grow to a fever pitch. The US presidential election may herald a total reversal of the climate denial of past years. Green New Deal legislation has already been proposed for the Congress to transform the economy.

Facing The Climate Emergency, a book by ClimateMobilization.org co-founder Margaret Klein Salamon, is one of several notable climate books due this year. Ms. Klein Salamon encourages us to feel the fright of the climate peril, so that we can effectively rise to meet the threat. She urges us to live in "emergency mode."

Living In A Long Emergency

Enlisting in Climate WW3, we're in for the long haul. As we pressure elected officials to enact World War II-style climate mobilization, we'll be living in two streams: daily life and emergency mode. At home, school and at work, we'll talk and share. We need age appropriate dialogue with kids, and climate education in the school curriculum.

"Whatever our conscience bids us to change in our personal lives to lower our own carbon footprint, this must be amplified by a commitment to actively call for systemic change."

Whatever our conscience bids us to change in our personal lives to lower our own carbon footprint, this must be amplified by a commitment to actively call for systemic change. Just as groups of friends and entire families are going on climate strikes, they can also make their views heard in other ways. Emails and calls to the regional and federal offices of our elected officials is essential. A count is kept of how many contact them and why. You do have some influence, provided you act.

For a vision of a restorative future, The Raffi Foundation For Child Honouring offers an online course in Child Honouring, based on 9 principles for conscious living. Among them are Diversity, Sustainability and Ethical Commerce. One way to feel empowered is to take the course, get energized and become a changemaker.

This year as we celebrate Baby Beluga's 40th anniversary, join memake a vow to do your utmost to help win Climate WW3 and secure the future. Enlist today.

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Forty Years After "Baby Beluga," Here's Why I'm Enlisting in War World III to Defeat the Climate Crisis - Common Dreams

After the news broke the first week of January that President Trump had ordered the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, one of the most rapid reactions to emerge amid the surprise and confusion was the memes.

Jokes about the possible fallout of Soleimanis death were instantly everywhere. They especially proliferated on TikTok and Twitter, where hashtags like #WW3 drove major trends for several days. A member of the subreddit r/ww3memes, created over two years ago, announced on January 3, Its time for this sub to rise. Its currently got over 43,000 subscribers.

You might think this type of reaction is juvenile or dismissive, but its really just human. Memes frequently operate as exemplars of larger trends, as well as stand-ins for cultural anxieties and ways to express and alleviate fears or other emotions through humor. The collectivism of memes, too, is a crucial part of their popularity, because their rapid and visible spread helps us all figure out how were feeling about some news trend or other issue.

So what were the memes telling us, if anything, about how teenage meme makers are perceiving the Iranian conflict and the larger, more abstract idea of a third World War?

Surprisingly, many of them seem to demonstrate far less fear than you might expect. In fact, the overall tone of the memes boiled down to a kind of cheerful ambivalence about the prospect of war.

There are definite gaps in the tone and subject of the memes from platform to platform. And they may already be part of a larger tonal shift away from the wholesome meme toward something a bit more suited to an era of apocalypse: a determination to party through the hard times to come.

After the news broke of Soleimanis assassination on January 2, memes about the turn of events exploded across Twitter, TikTok, and other social media platforms. The memes proliferated ideas about the prospect of World War III; about Iran and its culture; and about the hilarity and absurdity of sending a modern generation of teens and young adults off to war.

Despite having some universal themes across platforms, most memes about the war looked and felt much, much different from platform to platform. But the vast majority of them joked about people getting drafted to fight the war.

The American government eliminated the draft in 1973, but that didnt matter to the meme makers which makes sense, because fears about the draft being reinstated have always circulated among teens and young adults. In 2016, a false claim that Trump wanted to bring back the draft circulated around the internet as a part of the larger cultural anxiety over his campaign.

As it often does, Black Twitter was the first community to drive this meme. That also makes sense, given that a recurrent fear of the draft has been especially prevalent in black culture since the Vietnam War, when black men were disproportionately affected by the draft.

In other words, despite fears of a possible draft temporarily crashing the Selective Service website, the meme makers probably werent proliferating the idea that the draft still exists out of ignorance, but out of a sense of anxiety about the country fighting another war.

That ironic sense of merriment was a crucial component in all the memes. One thing that immediately struck me about the World War III memes on both Twitter and TikTok was how lighthearted their tone was despite the seriousness of the subject matter.

What was that about?

Again and again, the predominant theme associated with the World War III memes was the idea of Gen Zs general unpreparedness to fight in a war of any kind.

This humorous anxiety took the form of jokes framing normal millennials and Gen Z-ers showing up to the war just to party, or approaching it like a typical game of Fortnite or Call of Duty:

Do you have zero skills that can prepare you for battle? Are you learning Persian via Google? The memes tell you youre not alone in being hilariously underprepared for a real global emergency.

Theres another recurring theme that accompanies all this comedic haplessness in the face of an impending global crisis. On TikTok especially, theres a subset of memes that seem to relish the excitement and pure adrenaline of going to war.

Its rare to see any TikToks of the meme that say something serious about the war they do exist, but theyre far outnumbered by attempts to represent WWIII as a party.

As CNNs Fernando Alfonso III pointed out, World War III memes have been a thing on the internet for a while, particularly as conflict escalated between Trump and North Korea in 2017. And as the Atlantics Ian Bogost pointed out, the idea of World War III itself has been a looming specter since the Cold War, along with its threat of impending nuclear disaster.

The apocryphal nature of the next world war might help explain why so many of the memes are ambivalent about whether the war itself would be a good or bad thing for the country. But theres probably a simpler reason behind the ambivalence: When we make these jokes, were not thinking too deeply about what they all mean.

Theyre not very exciting to look at, to tell you frankly, Dr. Saleem Alhabash told me in a phone interview when I asked him if hed seen the World War III memes. Alhabash, a professor at Michigan State Universitys media psychology department, studies social media and the way people use memes as intercultural communication. Part of the meme response is about glorifying the war for sure, he told me, but also not realizing what war really is and what it means. So dealing with it in a laissez-faire kind of way.

Alhabashs research shows that whenever social media users participate online, often people arent thinking too deeply about what to post or share.

None of us would see something online and look at it for five, 10, or 20 or 30 minutes and discuss what the ramifications are of posting this or not, he explained.

Were also driven to make content based on what we think other people want to see on social media which might explain why memes themselves get reified so easily: They show us what we think people want to see, so we make more of them. Alhabashs point, however, is that this can be a very knee-jerk experience, which doesnt really lend itself to reflective war memes.

Theres also an issue of jumping on the wagon the feeling that I have to be part of the conversation, I have to remain relevant on social media and be part of the general discussion at times without really understanding the issue in depth, he said.

To Alhabash, the non-linear nature of memes in spaces like TikTok has a huge role to play in shaping public discourse. Think of TikTok as a place where memes arent so much purely copied like a straightforward retweet as they are shared with additional commentary. Only the share usually involves the next user adding new personal imprints to the original footage, usually either new music to existing footage or new footage to existing music.

Theres a certain level of originality [on TikTok] and putting yourself within the narrative of that particular team, Alhabash said. You become part of the narrative and it becomes part of you.

So a meme that might start out calling attention to one idea in one way might wind up calling attention to a completely different idea in another way. By the time a meme has been shared numerous times, it might have a completely different meaning in a completely different context.

Take this changing perspective on the dancer in the memes below. In both memes, the main joke is about assimilation into the war. But in the first meme, the memes point of view is from the dancer; in the second, its from the kidnapped men around her.

These are significantly different ways of framing our relationship to Iran and its people, but theyre both equally important examples of how people are thinking about the war. Because as the memes and their narratives travel and spread, they help shape the larger cultural narrative about Iran itself just as all memes, from toxic to wholesome, help create cultural narratives.

Things just unfold and keep on unfolding. And then [the topic] becomes so dynamic that theres no way to pinpoint what is the cause of someone thinking in a particular way about the world in 2020, Alhabash said. Because, after all, theyre part of making that narrative and influencing how it evolves over time.

Despite Alhabashs reservations about how effective the WWIII memes were at making salient political points, he pointed out that the anxiety the memes expressed is real. These memes, the way that people are communicating, could be a reflection of the general feeling that people are having this uncertainty about what is going to happen, and how severe this trend is. So while they might appear humorous or [dismissive] of the seriousness, they can reflect [public] sentiment.

The memes seem to follow a recent trend of viral internet humor as a coping mechanism memes that are more overtly psychological than the usual wholesome meme, and more upfront about the touch of nihilism that drives them. There are two obvious recent references for this self-aware state of mind. The first is the are you in the right headspace? meme, which spawned last month as a deeply sarcastic response to a Twitter thread inviting people to ask their friends if theyre in the right headspace to receive information that can possibly hurt you. The resulting meme has been frequently used to ironically frame its subjects as overblown drama. World War III? No exception:

The second example is the do what you need to cope meme, which emerged near the end of 2019 and has been hugely popular into the beginning of 2020. The format usually involves a fictional character and starts with the banal canceling plans is okay only to then rapidly escalate through overdramatic plot points before coming to rest at do what you need to cope.

There are WWIII variants of this meme as well, though theyre a bit bleaker than the norm.

The basic idea here, as Alhabash points out, is that the World War III meme itself isnt just about war. Its about the larger cultural mood and the ways in which we receive, express, and amplify that mood. Alhabash expressed doubts about how self-aware this process was. But for a subset of the meme makers and their audience, the war jokes are helping quell anxiety and keep things lighthearted.

In other words, the making of memes is a form of doing what you need to cope.

Its worth noting, however, that some situations do seem to be utterly too dark to meme there are virtually no memes about the Australian bushfires, for example and that ironically might be cause for hope. If the potential global conflict is something we can joke about, then it might mean that our prevailing emotion is still hope that it wont happen.

Still, Alhabash cautioned that the memes are a kind of canary in the coal mine for a larger social media response to future emergent political situations.

In any kind of political tension, whether it is local, regional, national or global, social media is part of the warfare, he said. And this is something to look for in any future crisis.

In other words, keep your eye on the memes and not just because they might help you figure out how you feel about an increasingly complicated world.

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World War 3 memes as therapy: Coping with war and crisis through memes - Vox.com

Iran has accused the European nations of abusing the process.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said: The usage of the dispute mechanism is legally baseless and a strategic mistake from a political standpoint.

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the Iran nuclear deal should be replaced.

Mr Johnson has recognised US concerns that the 2015 deal was flawed, but has underlined the need for a solution to preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast he said: If were going to get rid of it then we need a replacement. Lets replace it with the Trump deal.

However, Irans President Hassan Rouhani has dismissed the proposed new Trump deal aimed at resolving the growing nuclear conflict.

He has said it was a strange offer and has criticised President Trump for breaking promises.

In a televised speech, the Iranian President told Washington to return to the 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers, adding that Iran could reverse its moves to scale back its commitments under the pact.

Given the escalated tensions between Iran, the US and Europe, it seems likely World War 3 would break out between these countries.

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World War 3 predictions: Where would WW3 be fought? Is there going to be a WW3? - Express.co.uk

The horrific clip was released by the state-controlled Fars News Agency on January 10, and shows officials from Iran plotting their revenge following the killing of top general and Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani. The Middle East Media Research Institute TV Monitor Project posted a transcript of the video. It begins with a group of men hearing of the assassination of Soleimani, whose vehicle was hit during an air strike by US forces near Baghdad Airport on earlier this month.

They can be seen gathering around a board which has a hit list and pictures of possible targets, including US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Saudi Crown Prince Bin Salman.

One Iranian officialssaid: We are going for the big fish. A fish rots from the head down.

Another said: We should target his head.

They then discuss a possible attack, before agreeing to it after one of the men says: Lets do it.

The men can be seen meeting and talking about the attack, with one says: Take note - we will not be using walkie-talkies.

I know that this will make coordination more difficult.

Our cue will be the firing of an RPG? Are we clear?

The remaining men in the room then voice their approval to this.

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Armed men target and surround the Capitol Building in Washington before it bursts into flames amid loud screaming.

Several of the men then rush into the building and shoot hundreds of bullets at it from a distance, shouting: Go, go, go, go, go, go!

The men, still armed, are then seen walking over the fake blood-stained and lifeless bodies, including that of Donald Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, which are surrounded by flames.

A voice clip of Mr Trump confirming the killing of Soleimani can then be heard, in which the US President labelled him the number one terrorist in the world.

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The shocking video comes as Iran announced it had made arrests over the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane.

Irans judiciary last night claimed several people have been detained over the accidental shooting down of the passenger plane with a missile.

Spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said investigations into the incident were continuing, while President Hassan Rouhani said the probe would be overseen by a special court.

He told a news conference in Tehran: We will investigate the extent to which US warmongering caused this event. Several people have been detained and the investigation continues.

President Rouhani said the judiciary would assemble a special court with a high-ranking judge and dozens of experts to oversee the investigation.

He said in a televised speech: This will not be a regular and usual case. The whole world will be watching this court.

Irans President also stressed the tragic event should not be blamed on one individual.

He added: Its not only the person who pulled the trigger, but also others who are responsible.

Ukrainian International Airlines flight PS752 was shot down by a missile shortly after taking off from Tehran last Wednesday.

It killed all 176 people on board, most of whom were Iranian and Canadian citizens.

Iran had initially denied had shot down the Boeing 737-800, instead blaming the crash on a technical failure.

But as evidence and suggestions of a cover-up mounted, the Revolutionary Guards claimed the operator of a missile defence system had mistaken the aircraft for a US cruise missile, and shot it down.

Tensions had been mounting significantly since the killing of Soleimani, with Iran then firing ballistic missiles at two US bases in Iraq in retaliation.

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WW3 chaos: Iran releases terrifying video showing Trump being assassinated and US attacked - Express.co.uk

Rockets have been fired at a US air base in Iraq, according to reports. Sky News has reported a missile landed near Camp Taji, north of Baghdad in Iraq.

Unconfirmed reports say at least three people have been injured, including one member of the Iraqi security forces.

Danny Makki, a freelance journalist based in the Middle East tweeted the injured security member is reportedly Iraqi".

He added: One of the Katyusha rockets landed near one of the gates, with a member of security forces apparently wounded. 2 katyusha rockets have reportedly hit Camp Taji.

The BBC's correspondent covering Iraq, Nafiseh Kohnavard, says no rocket hit the base itself.

Heightened tensions between Iran and the US has sparked fears World War 3 is on the horizon.

In response to the killing of General Soleimani, Iranian leaders and politicians issued fiery statements promising revenge.

The Iranian retaliation saw two precise missile strikes on military bases in Iraq where US and allied troops were stationed.

Irans foreign minister, Javad Zarif, tweeted after the strikes: We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.

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WW3 news: Rockets fired at US base - Is World War 3 about to happen? - Express.co.uk

At least four rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday according to the Israeli military. Israel then responded with airstrikes against facilities belonging to the Hamas militant group.

Despite the tit-for-tat attacks, no one was injured on either side of the Israel-Gaza border.

The Israeli military said in a statement their Iron Dome air defence system had shot down two of the rockets.

Israel's Channel 13 television said the other two struck uninhabited areas.

Warning sirens sounded in Israeli communities close to Gaza, pre-empting the rocket impacts.

Read More:US President's fury with UK after Middle East intervention revealed

Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service said no injuries or damage were reported in the first such attack in three weeks.

The Gaza Strip did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack.

Israel keeps the Strip under blockade stating this is due to security concerns over Hamas - the dominant armed movement in the Palestinian territory.

The Israeli military said in response to the rocket attack, its warplanes struck several "Hamas terror targets" in the northern Gaza Strip, including a weapons manufacturing facility and an armed compound.

Ehud Yaari, an Israel-based fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told the New York Times: They have a tendency to try and stretch the terms and improve what theyre getting by flexing their muscles.

However, it could be a stray rocket killing innocent civilians or political changes could trigger all-out conflict.

Elsewhere, tensions have grown of late following the US assassination of a top Iranian general and the retaliation against US airbases in Iraq.

However, the conflict between the US and Iran has appeared to have eased, despite harsh sanctions imposed on the Middle Eastern country by President Donald Trump.

Now attentions have turned to Iran withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal - which has resulted in the UK, Germany and France accusing the country of breaking the agreement or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as it is known.

The 2015 nuclear accord limits Irans nuclear capabilities but a statement released from Tehran on January 5 read: From here on, Iran's nuclear program will be developed solely based on its technical needs.

Now a joint statement from Britain, France and Germany threatened action against Iran for this move away from compliance.

The statement said they had warned Iran on December 6 unless it reversed course, we would have no choice but to take action, but Iran has chosen to further reduce compliance.

On Tuesday, the countries set in motion the nuclear deals dispute resolution process, stating, in good faith, with the overarching objective of preserving the JCPOA and in the sincere hope of finding a way forward through constructive diplomatic dialogue.

The countries said they did not agree with Mr Trump withdrawing from the JCPOA in 2018 and added they would not be adding to his campaign of maximum pressure to the detriment of Irans economy.

They said: Our hope is to bring Iran back into full compliance.

As yet there has been no response from Iran on the statement.

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WW3 fears: Rockets fired from Gaza at Israel - Is the world on brink of war? - Express.co.uk

On Friday, January 3, a US drone strike killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani - triggering outrage and pledges for retaliation from Iran. World leaders called for de-escalations following the assassination US PresidentDonald Trump sanctioned, but Iran responded on Wedensday with 20 rockets hitting US bases in Iraq.

The attack - carried out on Wednesday morning - saw Iran send around 20 ballistic missiles to airbases housing US troops in Iraq.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said the attack was in retaliation for the death of General Soleimani on Friday.

Soleimani was regarded as the second-most important person in Iran, behind only Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah.

Now, following his death,Iran has said it will not be respecting the restrictions laid out in the 2015 nuclear accord.

A statement released last Sunday said: Iran will continue its nuclear enrichment with no limitations and based on its technical needs.

Read More:WATCH Iran plane crash: Unseen footage shows moment of fiery blast

The head of the European Commission said on Monday that Iran must comply with the 2015 nuclear deal adding her voice to international calls for Iran to help salvage the pact that US PresidentDonald Trumpwithdrew from in 2018.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement: We are deeply concerned by Iran's announcement that it will not respect the limit set by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) any longer,"

"From a European viewpoint, it is important for Iran to return to the nuclear deal. We have to convince Iran that it's also in its own interest.

Ms Von der Leyen confirmed EU foreign ministers will hold a special session on Friday.

All eyes are on the promised retaliation from Iran, who has vowed severe revenge against the US.

But after the Iranian missile attacks, the nation's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter: Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defence under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched.

We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.

There has as of yet been no declaration of war between the US and Iran.

Many fear the recent attacks could be the start ofWorld War 3with the hashtags #WW3 and #WorldWar3 trending on Twitter shortly after Soleimani's death was announced.

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Ali Alfoneh, a senior fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington said: "Iran has no choice but to strike back and retaliate for the assassination of Major General Soleimani.

"But the Islamic Republic is patient and the timing and nature of that strike is not yet known to us."

US President Donald Trump has published a series of tweets following Irans decision to not respect the 2015 accord.

In his tweets, he spoke of the US military being by far the BEST in the World and vowing to return any attack Iran made against the US.

Mr Trump wrote: The United States just spent Two Trillion Dollars on Military Equipment. We are the biggest and by far the BEST in the World!

If Iran attacks an American Base or any American, we will be sending some of that brand new beautiful equipment their way...and without hesitation!

He later tweeted: They [Iran] attacked us, & we hit back.

If they attack again, which I would strongly advise them not to do, we will hit them harder than they have ever been hit before!

He also tweeted in entirely capital letters: IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!

Mr Trump reiterated this in an address from the White House on Wednesday, saying while he was in office he would make sure Iran would never possess nuclear weapons.

He called on the UK, Germany, France, Greece, China and Russia to abandon the Nuclear accord which the US withdrew from in 2018.

The US President said:"Iran must abandon its nuclear ambitions and end its support for terrorism.The time has come for the United Kingdom,Germany,France, Russia and China to recognize this reality.

"They must now break away from the remnants of the Iran deal -- or JCPOA -- and we must all work together toward making a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place."

Iran has now announced its military "unintentionally" shot down the Ukrainian jetliner which crashed earlier this week, killing all 176 aboard.

The Iranian government had previously repeatedly denied Western accusations that it was responsible.

The plane was shot down early on Wednesday, hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on two military bases housing US troops in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in an American airstrike in Baghdad. No-one was wounded in the attack on the bases.

A military statement carried by state media said the plane was mistaken for a "hostile target" after it turned towards a "sensitive military centre" of the Revolutionary Guard.

The military was at its "highest level of readiness," it said, amid the heightened tensions with the US.

"In such a condition, because of human error and in an unintentional way, the flight was hit," the military said. It apologised and said it would upgrade its systems to prevent future tragedies.

Allies of both Iran and the US have weighed in on the conflict, calling for a de-escalation.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab became the latest Government figure to distance the UK from US President Donald Trump's suggestion that Iranian cultural sites could be targeted.

He said: "We have been very clear that cultural sites are protected under international law and we would expect that to be respected."

Speaking after a meeting of senior ministers to discuss the crisis, Mr Raab said: "Clearly our first priority is to make sure that UK nationals, citizens, shipping, diplomatic missions and military personnel are safe.

"We've changed our travel advice, we are going to be reinforcing in due course the Royal Navy protection for shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

"On a diplomatic front our overwhelming message that the Prime Minister and I are conveying to our European and American counterparts, and also critically our partners in the Middle East, is the importance of deescalating the tensions and finding a diplomatic way through this crisis."

However, Mr Trump has been adamant the US took action to stop a war, not to start one.

However Iranian general Esmail Ghaani, who has taken Soleimanis place as head of Irans Quds Force, has stated Iran will be taking actions against the US as revenge for the death of Soleimani.

Ghaani told Iranian state television on Monday: God the almighty has promised to get his revenge, and God is the main avenger. Certainly, actions will be taken.

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WW3: Is World War 3 about to happen? Will there be another war? - Express.co.uk