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The dark COMEDY podcast about everything mysterious. From unsolved history & true crime to folklore & the supernatural, nothing is off the table. Listener discretion is always advised. All aboard!
Episodes
Tuesday Nov 22, 2022
Tuesday Nov 22, 2022
Yep! We're talking about the mysterious STONEHENGE! Monolithic, glorious and... what the hell is it? Did aliens create a musical instrument? Is it a gateway to the center of hell? Is it Mother Earth's "special spot"?
Let's discuss!
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Thanks for listening!
Monday Nov 07, 2022
Monday Nov 07, 2022
Monday Oct 31, 2022
Monday Oct 31, 2022
Happy Halloween!
This year we decided to recite paranormal stories from our passengers, as well as some stories from some of our podcast friends;
The Phantom Jukebox Podcast
Happy Hour Podcast
Yuh Like That? Podcast
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Tuesday Oct 25, 2022
Tuesday Oct 25, 2022
www.themidnighttrainpodcast.com
Yep....as recently as THIS YEAR (2022), there have been issues with Satanic rituals and everything involved with it. The question is, and always will be... is/was it real?
Let's get into it!
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Monday Oct 17, 2022
Monday Oct 17, 2022
Creepy Russia.
We dive deep into the history of Russia before getting creepy and telling you some of the countries most unnerving tales, just in time for the Halloween season.
Head to www.themidnighttrainpodcast.com for everything related to the show.
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Monday Oct 10, 2022
Monday Oct 10, 2022
Bible John is an unidentified, alleged serial killer who is thought to have murdered three young women between 1968 and 1969 in Glasgow, Scotland. Was this murderer an over zealous religious redeemer, two killers playing the odds, a police officer or something else?
Climb aboard and let's dive into the story of "Bible John."
Listener discretion is always advised.
www.themidnighttrainpodcast.com
"America's Second Favorite Podcast"
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Wednesday Oct 05, 2022
Wednesday Oct 05, 2022
Hello Passengers! Thanks for listening!
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Units 731 is a hardcore metal band formed in Pittsburgh, PA, in 2005. The band combines death metal, hardcore, and slam to create a heavy and chaotic sound for which Pittsburgh bands are notable. Influences include Dying Fetus, All Out War, Irate, and Built Upon Frustration.
Ok, wait… wrong notes. Um… ok, here it is. The Unit 731 we're here to talk about is short for Manshu Detachment 731. It was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that participated in lethal human experimentation and the production of biological weapons during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and World War II. Unit 731 was based in the Pingfang district of Harbin, the largest city in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Manchukuo's government was dissolved in 1945 after the surrender of Imperial Japan at the end of World War II. The territories claimed by Manchukuo were first seized in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945 and then formally transferred to the Chinese administration in the following year.
For those of you wondering, "what in the Jim Henson hell is a puppet state," well, according to Wikipedia, a puppet state "is a state that is legally recognized as independent but, in fact, completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders. Puppet states have nominal sovereignty, but a foreign power effectively exercises control through financial interests and economic or military support.
The United States also had some puppet states during the Cold War:
- Cuba (United States), (before 1959)
- Guatemala (United States), (until 1991)
- South Korea A.K.A. United States Army Military Government in Korea (United States), (Until 1948)
- The Republic of Vietnam A.K.A. South Vietnam (United States), (Until 1975)
- Japan A.K.A. Allied Occupation of Japan (United States), (Until 1952)
Some of the most infamous war crimes committed by the Japanese military forces were caused by this Unit. Internally dehumanized and referred to as "logs," humans were regularly used in Unit 731 testing.
Some atrocious experiments included: disease injections, controlled dehydration, hypobaric chamber experiments, biological weapons testing, vivisection, amputation, and weapons testing. Babies, children, and pregnant women were among the victims. Although the victims were from various countries, the majority were Chinese. Additionally, Unit 731 created biological weapons employed in regions of China, including Chinese cities and towns, water supplies, and farms, that were not held by Japanese soldiers.
Up to 500,000 people are thought to have been murdered by Unit 731 and its related activities. It was called "The Kwantung Army's Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department." Unit 731 was first established by the Kenpeitai military police of the Empire of Japan. General Shiro Ishii, a combat medic officer in the Kwantung Army, took control and oversaw the unit until the war's conclusion. Ishii and his crew used the facility, constructed in 1935 to replace the Zhongma Fortress, to increase their capabilities.
Up to the end of the war in 1945, the Japanese government generously supported the initiative. Facilities for the manufacturing, testing, deployment and storage of biological weapons were controlled by Unit 731 and the other units of the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department. While researchers from Unit 731 detained by Soviet troops were convicted in the Khabarovsk war crime trials in December 1949, those seized by American forces were secretly granted immunity in exchange for the information obtained during their human experimentation.
As if we needed more bullshit to make us question the tactics of the U.S. government, The U.S. quelled the talk of the human experiments and paid the accused of doing it an actual salary. So then, similar to what they did with German researchers during Operation Paperclip, the Americans siphoned and took their knowledge of and expertise with bioweapons for use in their own program for biological warfare. Japan started its biological weapons program in the 1930s, partly because biological weapons were banned by the Geneva Convention of 1925; they reasoned that the ban verified its effectiveness as a weapon.
This begs the question, does this type of government appropriation, paying off and hiring those guilty of explicit acts on humans to use their knowledge to create our own versions of what they committed, considered an act "for the greater good?" Does allowing these turds' immunity to extract their heinous experience worth it?
Japan's occupation of Manchuria began in 1931 after the Japanese invasion. Japan decided to build Unit 731 in Manchuria because the occupation not only gave the Japanese advantage of separating the research station from their island but also gave them access to as many Chinese individuals as they wanted for use as human experimental subjects. They viewed the Chinese as no-cost research subjects and hoped they could use this advantage to lead the world in biological warfare. Most research subjects were Chinese, but many were of different nationalities.
Sound familiar? Maybe a precursor to what a bunch of mind fucked Nazis attempted AND SUCCEEDED IN DOING to so many Jews and Jewish sympathizers?
In 1932, Surgeon General Shirō Ishii, chief medical officer of the Imperial Japanese Army and protégé of Army Minister Sadao Araki, was placed in command of the Army Epidemic Prevention Research Laboratory (AEPRL). Ishii organized a secret research group, the "Tōgō Unit," for chemical and biological experimentation in Manchuria. Ishii proposed the creation of a Japanese biological and chemical research unit in 1930, after a two-year study trip abroad, because Western powers were developing their own programs. Colonel Chikahiko Koizumi, who eventually served as Japan's Health Minister from 1941 to 1945, was one of Ishii's most fierce supporters inside the Army. In 1915, during World War I, Koizumi and other Imperial Japanese Army officers were inspired by the Germans' successful use of chlorine gas at the Second Battle of Ypres (EEPRUH), in which the Allies suffered 5,000 fatalities and 15,000 injuries as a result of the chemical attack. As a result, they joined a covert poison gas research committee. As a result, unit Togo was started in the Zhongma Fortress, a prison/experimentation camp in Beiyinhe, a hamlet on the South Manchuria Railway 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Harbin.
To start the tests on those in good health, prisoners were often well-fed on a diet of rice or wheat, meat, fish, and perhaps even wine. The inmates were then starved of food and drink and had their blood drained over many days. Finally, it was noted that their health was declining. Shocker.
Some were vivisected as well. For those who don't watch or listen to disturbing documentaries, vivisection is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structures. Others had been purposefully exposed to the plague bacterium and other pathogens. Ishii had to close down Zhongma Fortress due to a jailbreak in the fall of 1934 that jeopardized the facility's secret and an explosion in 1935 that was thought to be sabotage. Then he was given permission to relocate to Pingfang, which is 24 km (15 mi) south of Harbin, to set up a new, much larger facility.
Emperor Hirohito signed a decree in 1936 approving the unit's growth and its incorporation as the Epidemic Prevention Department into the Kwantung Army. It had bases at Hsinking and was split into the "Ishii Unit" and "Wakamatsu Unit." The units were collectively referred to as the "Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army" from August 1940 onward. Hirohito's younger brother, Prince Mikasa, toured the Unit 731 headquarters in China and wrote in his memoir that he watched films showing how Chinese prisoners were "made to march on the plains of Manchuria for poison gas experiments on humans." The decree also mandated the construction of a chemical warfare development unit, the Kwantung Army Technical Testing Department, and a biological warfare development unit, the Kwantung Army Military Horse Epidemic Prevention Workshop (later known as Manchuria Unit 100). (subsequently referred to as Manchuria Unit 516).
Sister chemical and biological warfare organizations known as Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Units were established in significant Chinese towns during the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. Unit 1855 in Beijing, Unit Ei 1644 in Nanjing, Unit 8604 in Guangzhou, and Unit 9420 in Singapore were among the detachments. Ishii's network, which at its height in 1939 had control over 10,000 people, was made up of all these organizations. In addition, Japanese medical practitioners and academics were drawn to Unit 731 by the opportunity to perform human experiments, which was highly unusual, and the Army's robust financial support.
Experiments
Human subjects were used in studies for a specific project with the codename Maruta. Test subjects were selected from the local populace and were referred to as "logs," as in the phrase "How many logs fell?" Since the facility's official cover story to local authorities was that it was a timber mill, the personnel first used the word as a joke. The initiative was internally known as "Holzklotz," which is German, meaning log, according to a junior uniformed civilian employee of the Imperial Japanese Army working in Unit 731. Nothing like dehumanizing the poor people you're experimenting on.
Another similarity was the cremation of the "sacrificed" participants' corpses. Additionally, Unit 731 researchers published some findings in peer-reviewed publications while posing as non-human primates termed "Manchurian monkeys" or "long-tailed monkeys" to do the research.
According to American historian Sheldon H. Harris:
"The Togo Unit employed gruesome tactics to secure specimens of select body organs. If Ishii or one of his co-workers wished to do research on the human brain, then they would order the guards to find them a useful sample. A prisoner would be taken from his cell. Guards would hold him while another guard would smash the victim's head open with an ax. His brain would be extracted off to the pathologist, and then to the crematorium for the usual disposal."
Nakagawa Yonezo, professor emeritus at Osaka University, studied at Kyoto University during the war. While there, he watched footage of human experiments and executions from Unit 731. He later testified about the "playfulness of the experimenters:"
'Some of the experiments had nothing to do with advancing the capability of germ warfare, or of medicine. There is such a thing as professional curiosity: 'What would happen if we did such and such?' What medical purpose was served by performing and studying beheadings? None at all. That was just playing around. Professional people, too, like to play.""
Prisoners were injected with diseases disguised as vaccinations to study their effects. For example, to analyze the results of untreated venereal diseases, male and female prisoners were deliberately infected with syphilis and gonorrhea, then studied. Prisoners were also repeatedly subjected to rape by guards.
Vivisection
Thousands of people held in prisoner of war camps were subjected to vivisection (You all know what that is now. Organizations against animal experimentation generally use the phrase as a derogatory catch-all term for experiments on living animals, whereas practicing scientists seldom ever do. Live organ harvesting and other forms of human vivisection, as we also know, have been used as torture.), which was frequently done without anesthetic and was typically fatal. Okawa Fukumatsu, a former member of Unit 731, said in a video interview that he had vivisected a pregnant woman. Prisoners were infected with numerous illnesses before having their bodies vivisected. Invasive surgery was conducted on inmates to remove organs and learn how the condition affects the human body.
Inmates' limbs were severed so researchers could monitor blood loss. Sometimes the victims' corpses' severed limbs were reattached to their opposite sides. In addition, some convicts had surgical procedures to remove their stomachs and reconnect their esophagus to their intestines. Others had parts of their organs removed, including the brain, the liver, and the lungs. According to Imperial Japanese Army physician Ken Yuasa, at least 1,000 Japanese soldiers participated in vivisection on humans in mainland China, suggesting that the practice was commonly done outside Unit 731.
Biological warfare
Throughout World War II, Unit 731 and its related units—including Unit 1644 and Unit 100—were engaged in the study, production, and experimental use of epidemic-producing biowarfare weapons in attacks against the Chinese population (both military and civilian). For example, in 1940 and 1941, low-flying aircraft carried plague-carrying fleas over Chinese towns, notably coastal Ningbo and Changde, in the Hunan Province. These fleas were produced in the labs of Unit 731 and Unit 1644.
With bubonic plague epidemics, these flea bombs claimed tens of thousands of lives. During an expedition to Nanjing, typhoid and paratyphoid virus were dispersed into water supplies across the city's wells, marshes, and residences and infused into snacks served to inhabitants. Soon after, epidemics spread to the joy of many scientists, who concluded that paratyphoid fever was "the most effective" of the diseases.
At least 12 large-scale bioweapon field tests were conducted, and biological weapons were used to target 11 Chinese cities. According to reports, a 1941 raid on Changde resulted in some 10,000 biological injuries and 1,700 deaths among poorly equipped Japanese soldiers, most of which died of cholera. In addition, Japanese researchers conducted experiments on inmates suffering from cholera, smallpox, bubonic plague, and other illnesses. The defoliation bacilli bomb and the flea bomb, which were used to spread the bubonic plague, were developed as a result of this study. Ishii presented the concept of designing some of these bombs using porcelain shells in 1938.
These bombs allowed Japanese forces to launch biological strikes, infecting crops, water supplies, and other places with cholera, typhoid, anthrax, and other deadly illnesses via fleas. Researchers would study the victims dying during biological bomb trials while protected by protective suits. Aircraft would deliver contaminated food and clothes into parts of China that were not under Japanese control. Additionally, innocent people received candies and food that had been tainted.
On several targets, bombs containing plague fleas, contaminated clothes, and infected goods were dropped upon the unsuspecting citizens. As a result, at least 400,000 Chinese citizens were killed due to cholera, anthrax, and plague. Also tested on Chinese citizens was tularemia, Also known as rabbit fever or deer fly fever, which typically attacks the skin, eyes, lymph nodes, and lungs.
Chiang Kai-shek dispatched military and international medical specialists delegation to document the evidence and treat the sick in November 1941 in response to pressure from various stories of the biowarfare assaults. However, the Allied Powers did not respond to a report on the Japanese deployment of plague-infected fleas on Changde until Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a public warning in 1943 denouncing the attacks. The announcement was made publicly available the following year.
Obviously, this is ridiculous and inhumane, but it couldn't be used on us here in the U.S. of "Don't Tread On Me" A, right?
Well, hold on to your stars and stripes because during the final months of World War II, codenamed "Cherry Blossoms at Night," Unit 731 planned to use kamikaze pilots to infest San Diego, California, with the plague. The plan was scheduled to launch on September 22, 1945, but Japan surrendered five weeks earlier. So yep, if the United States had not dropped Fat Man and Little Boy on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there could have been a man-made plague set upon the west coast.
Weapons testing
Human targets were used to test grenades positioned at various distances and positions. Flamethrowers were also tested on people. Victims were also tied to stakes and used as targets to test pathogen-releasing bombs, chemical weapons, shrapnel bombs with varying amounts of fragments, explosive bombs, and bayonets and knives.
To determine the best course of treatment for varying degrees of shrapnel wounds sustained on the field by Japanese Soldiers, Chinese prisoners were exposed to direct bomb blasts. They were strapped, unprotected, to wooden planks staked into the ground at increasing distances around a bomb that was then detonated. After that, it was surgery for most and autopsies for the rest.
This info was taken from the documentary — Unit 731, Nightmare in Manchuria
Other experiments
In other diplorable tests, subjects were deprived of food and water to determine the length of time until death. They would then be placed into low-pressure chambers until their eyes popped from the sockets. Next, victims were tested to determine the relationship between temperature, burns, and human survival. Next, they were hung upside down until death; crushed with heavy objects; electrocuted; dehydrated with hot fans, placed into centrifuges, and spun until they died. People were also injected with animal blood, notably horse blood; exposed to lethal doses of X-rays; subjected to various chemical weapons inside gas chambers; injected with seawater; and burned or buried alive.
The Unit also looked at the characteristics of several other poisons and chemical agents. Prisoners were subjected to substances like tetrodotoxin (the venom of pufferfish or fugu), heroin, Korean bindweed, bactal, and castor-oil seeds, to mention a few (ricin). In addition, according to former Unit 731 vivisectionist Okawa Fukumatsu, large volumes of blood were removed from some detainees to research the consequences of blood loss. At least half a liter of blood was taken in one instance at intervals of two to three days.
The human body only contains 5 liters.
As we mentioned, dehydration experiments were performed on the victims. These tests aimed to determine the amount of water in an individual's body and how long one could survive with little to no water intake. Victims were also starved before these tests began. The deteriorating physical states of these victims were documented by staff at periodic intervals.
"It was said that a small number of these poor men, women, and children who became marutas were also mummified alive in total dehydration experiments. They sweated themselves to death under the heat of several hot dry fans. At death, the corpses would only weigh ≈1/5 normal bodyweight."
— Hal Gold, Japan's Infamous Unit 731, (2019)
Unit 731 also performed transfusion experiments with different blood types. For example, unit member Naeo Ikeda wrote:
In my experience, when 100 cc A type blood was transfused to an O-type subject, whose pulse was 87 per minute and temperature was 35.4 degrees C, 30 minutes later, their temperature rose to 38.6 degrees with slight trepidation. Sixty minutes later, their pulse was 106 per minute, and the temperature was 39.4 degrees. The temperature was 37.7 degrees two hours later, and the subject recovered three hours later. When 120 cc of AB-type blood was transfused to an O-type subject, an hour after the subject described malaise and psychroesthesia (feeling cold) in both legs. When 100 cc of A.B. type blood was transfused to a B-type subject, there seemed to be no side effects.
Taken from— "Man, Medicine, and the State: The Human Body as an Object of Government Sponsored Medical Research in the 20th Century" (2006) pp. 38–39
Unit 731 tested a slew of chemical agents on prisoners and had a building dedicated to gas experiments. Some of the agents tested were mustard gas, lewisite, cyanic acid gas, white phosphorus, adamsite, and phosgene gas. To put things in horrific perspective, the mortality rate from mustard gas was only 2-3%. Still, those who suffered chemical burns and respiratory problems had prolonged hospitalizations and, if they recovered, were thought to be at higher risk of developing cancers during later life. The toxic effects of lewisite are rapid onset and result from acute exposures. The vesicant properties of lewisite result from direct skin contact; it has been estimated that as little as 2 ml to an adult human (equivalent to 37.6 mg/kg) can be fatal within several hours. Airborne release of cyanide gas, in the form of hydrogen cyanide or cyanogen chloride, would be expected to be lethal to 50% of those exposed (LCt50) at levels of 2,500-5,000 mg•min/m^3 and 11,000 mg•min/m^3, respectively. When ingested as sodium or potassium cyanide, the lethal dose is 100-200 mg. According to a medical report prepared during the hostilities by the ministry of health, "[w]hite phosphorus can cause serious injury and death when it comes into contact with the skin, is inhaled or is swallowed." The report states that burns on less than 10 percent of the body can be fatal because of liver, kidneys, and heart damage. Adamsite (D.M.) is a vomiting compound used as a riot-control agent (military designation, D.M.). It is released as an aerosol. Adverse health effects from exposure to adamsite (D.M.) are generally self-limited and do not require specific therapy. Most adverse health effects resolve within 30 minutes. Exposure to large concentrations of adamsite (D.M.), or exposure to adamsite (D.M.) within an enclosed space or under adverse weather conditions, may result in more severe adverse health effects, serious illness, or death.
Phosgene is highly toxic by acute (short-term) inhalation exposure. Severe respiratory effects, including pulmonary edema, pulmonary emphysema, and death, have been reported in humans. Severe ocular irritation and dermal burns may result following eye or skin exposure. It is estimated that as many as 85% of the 91,000 gas deaths in WWI were a result of phosgene or the related agent, diphosgene
A former army major and technician gave the following testimony anonymously (at the time of the interview, this man was a professor emeritus at a national university):
"In 1943, I attended a poison gas test held at the Unit 731 test facilities. A glass-walled chamber about three meters square [97 sq ft] and two meters [6.6 ft] high was used. Inside of it, a Chinese man was blindfolded, with his hands tied around a post behind him. The gas was adamsite (sneezing gas), and as the gas filled the chamber the man went into violent coughing convulsions and began to suffer excruciating pain. More than ten doctors and technicians were present. After I had watched for about ten minutes, I could not stand it any more, and left the area. I understand that other types of gasses were also tested there."
Taken from— Hal Gold, Japan's Infamous Unit 731, p. 349 (2019)
Super gross.
Takeo Wano, a former medical employee of Unit 731, claimed to have observed a Western man being pickled in formaldehyde after being chopped in half vertically. Because so many Russians were residing in the neighborhood at the time, Wano suspected that the man was Russian.
Additionally, Unit 100 experimented with poisonous gas. The captives were housed in mobile gas chambers that resembled phone booths. Others donned military uniforms, while others were made to wear various sorts of gas masks, and other people wore nothing at all.
It's been said that some of the tests are "psychopathically cruel, with no possible military purpose." One experiment, for instance, measured how long it took for three-day-old newborns to freeze to death. Jesus christ.
Additionally, Unit 731 conducted field tests of chemical weapons on detainees. An unknown researcher at the Kamo Unit (Unit 731) wrote a paper that details a significant (mustard gas) experiment on humans from September 7–10, 1940. Twenty participants were split into three groups and put in observation gazebos, trenches, and fighting emplacements. One group received up to 1,800 field cannon rounds of mustard gas for 25 minutes while wearing Chinese underpants, without a cap or a mask. Another set had shoes and a summer military outfit; three wore masks, while the others did not.
They also were exposed to as many as 1,800 rounds of mustard gas. A third group was clothed in summer military uniform, three with masks and two without masks, and were exposed to as many as 4,800 rounds. Then their general symptoms and damage to the skin, eye, respiratory organs, and digestive organs were observed at 4 hours, 24 hours, and 2, 3, and 5 days after the shots.
Holy shit. Then the psychopaths injected the blister fluid from one subject into another, and analyses of blood and soil were also performed. Finally, five subjects were forced to drink a water solution of mustard and lewisite gas, with or without decontamination. The report describes the conditions of every subject precisely without mentioning what happened to them in the long run. The following is an excerpt of one of these reports:
"Number 376, dugout of the first area:
September 7, 1940, 6 pm: Tired and exhausted. Looks with hollow eyes. Weeping redness of the skin of the upper part of the body. Eyelids edematous (uh-dim-uh-tose)(Swollen with fluid), swollen. Epiphora. (excessive watering), Hyperemic conjunctivae (ocular redness).
September 8, 1940, 6 am: Neck, breast, upper abdomen, and scrotum weeping, reddened, swollen. Covered with millet-seed-size to bean-size blisters. Eyelids and conjunctivae hyperemic and edematous. Had difficulties opening the eyes.
September 8, 6 pm: Tired and exhausted. Feels sick. Body temperature 37 degrees Celsius. Mucous and bloody erosions across the shoulder girdle. Abundant mucus nose secretions. Abdominal pain. Mucous and bloody diarrhea. Proteinuria (excess protein in urinal, possibly meaning kidney damage).
September 9, 1940, 7 am: Tired and exhausted. Weakness of all four extremities.
Low morale. Body temperature 37 degrees Celsius. Skin of the face still weeping.
Taken from— "Man, Medicine, and the State: The Human Body as an Object of Government Sponsored Medical Research in the 20th Century" (2006) p. 187
Frostbite testing
Hisato Yoshimura, an Army engineer, carried out tests by forcing captives to stand outside, putting various limbs into water at multiple temperatures, and letting the limb freeze. Yoshimura would then use a small stick to whack the victims' frozen limbs while "producing a sound similar to that which a board emits when it is struck." The damaged region was then treated with different methods, such as dousing it in water or exposing it to the heat of a fire once the ice had been chipped away.
The sadistic fuck, Yoshimura, was described to the members of the Unit as a "scientific devil" and a "cold-blooded animal" because of the strictness with which he would carry out his evil experiments. In an interview from the 1980s, Unit 731 member Naoji Uezono revealed a super uncool and nightmare-inducing incident when Yoshimura had "Researchers placed two nude males in an area that was 40–50 degrees below zero and documented the entire process until the individuals passed away. [The victims] were in such pain that they were tearing at each other's flesh with their nails ". In a 1950 essay for the Journal Of Japanese Physiology, Yoshimura revealed his lack of regret for torturing 20 kids and a three-day-old baby in tests that subjected them to ice water and ice temperatures below zero.
Although this article drew criticism, Yoshimura denied any guilt when contacted by a reporter from the Mainichi Shimbun. Yoshimura developed a "resistance index of frostbite" based on the mean temperature of 5 to 30 minutes after immersion in freezing water, the temperature of the first rise after immersion, and the time until the temperature rises after immersion. In several separate experiments, it was then determined how these parameters depend on the time of day a victim's body part was immersed in freezing water, the surrounding temperature and humidity during immersion, and how the victim had been treated before the immersion. Variables like ("after keeping awake for a night", "after hunger for 24 hours", "after hunger for 48 hours", "immediately after heavy meal", "immediately after hot meal", "immediately after muscular exercise", "immediately after cold bath", "immediately after hot bath"), what type of food the victim had been fed over the five days preceding the immersions concerning dietary nutrient intake ("high protein (of animal nature)", "high protein (of vegetable nature)", "low protein intake", and "standard diet"), and salt intake (45 g NaCl per day, 15 g NaCl per day, no salt).
Oh, science....
Then there's syphilis.
For those that may not know, syphilis is a chronic bacterial disease contracted chiefly by infection during sexual intercourse but also congenitally by infection of a developing fetus. The first sign of syphilis is a small, brownish dot on the infected person's left hand. How many of you looked? You dirty birds!
Actually, the first stage of syphilis involves a painless sore on the genitals, rectum, or mouth. After the initial sore heals, the second stage is characterized by a rash. Then, there are no symptoms until the final stage, which may occur years later. This final stage can result in damage to the brain, nerves, eyes, or heart.
Syphilis is treated with penicillin. Sexual partners should also be treated.
Unit members orchestrated forced sex acts between infected and noninfected prisoners to transmit syphilis, as the testimony of a prison guard on the subject of devising a method for transmission of syphilis between patients shows:
"Infection of venereal disease by injection was abandoned, and the researchers started forcing the prisoners into sexual acts with each other. Four or five unit members, dressed in white laboratory clothing completely covering the body with only eyes and mouth visible, rest covered, handled the tests. A male and female, one infected with syphilis, would be brought together in a cell and forced into sex with each other. It was made clear that anyone resisting would be shot."
These unfortunate victims were infected and then vivisected at various stages of infection to view the interior and exterior organs as the disease developed. Despite being forcefully infected, many guards testified that the female victims were the viruses' hosts. Guards used the term "jam-filled buns" to refer to the syphilis-infected female detainees' genitalia.
And THAT is so gross on just about every level.
Inside the confines of Unit 731, several syphilis-infected children grew up. "One was a Chinese mother carrying a baby, one was a White Russian woman with a daughter of four or five years of age, and the final was a White Russian woman with a kid of around six or seven," recounted a Youth Corps member who was sent to train at Unit 731. Similar tests were performed on these women's offspring, focusing on how prolonged infection times influenced the success of therapies.
Just when you thought this shit was bad enough, the rape and forced pregnancies came.
For use in experiments, nonpregnant female convicts were made to get pregnant. The declared justification for the torture was the possible danger of infections, notably syphilis, being transmitted vertically (from mother to kid). In addition, their interests included maternal reproductive organ injury and fetal survival. There have been no reports of any Unit 731 survivors, including children, even though "a considerable number of newborns were born in captivity." Female captives' offspring are said to have either been aborted or murdered after birth.
While male prisoners were often used in single studies so that the results of the experimentation on them would not be clouded by other variables, women were sometimes used in bacteriological or physiological experiments, sex experiments, and as the victims of sex crimes. The testimony of a unit member that served as a guard graphically demonstrated this violent and disturbing reality:
"One of the former researchers I located told me that one day he had a human experiment scheduled, but there was still time to kill. So he and another unit member took the keys to the cells and opened one that housed a Chinese woman. One of the unit members raped her; the other member took the keys and opened another cell. There was a Chinese woman in there who had been used in a frostbite experiment. She had several fingers missing and her bones were black, with gangrene set in. He was about to rape her anyway, then he saw that her sex organ was festering, with pus oozing to the surface. He gave up the idea, left and locked the door, then later went on to his experimental work."
What in the actual fuck.
Prisoners and victims
An "International Symposium on the Crimes of Bacteriological Warfare" was convened in Changde, China, the scene of the plague flea bombardment, as mentioned earlier, in 2002. There, it was calculated that around 580,000 people had been killed by the Imperial Japanese Army's germ warfare and other human experimentation. According to American historian Sheldon H. Harris, more than 200,000 people perished. In addition, 1,700 Japanese soldiers in Zhejiang during the Zhejiang-Jiangxi war were killed by their own biological weapons while attempting to release the biological agent, showing major distribution problems in addition to the Chinese deaths. Additionally, according to Harris, animals infected with the plague were released close to the war's conclusion, leading to plague outbreaks that, between 1946 and 1948, killed at least 30,000 people in the Harbin region.
Those chosen as test subjects included common criminals, captured bandits, anti-Japanese partisans, political prisoners, homeless people, and people with mental disabilities, including infants, men, elderly people, and pregnant women, in addition to those detained by the Kenpeitai military police for alleged "suspicious activities." About 300 researchers worked at Unit 731, including medical professionals and bacteriologists. However, many people have become numb to carrying out harsh tests due to their experience with animal experimentation.
Without considering victims from other medical research facilities like Unit 100, at least 3,000 men, women, and children: 117—of which at least 600 each year were given by the Kenpeitai—were subjected to Unit 731 experimentation at the Pingfang camp alone. Although the literature generally accepts the number of 3,000 internal casualties, former Unit member Okawa Fukumatsu challenged it in a video interview. He claimed that the Unit had at least 10,000 internal experiments victims and that he had personally vivisected thousands of them.
- S. Wells said that Chinese people made up most of the casualties, with smaller proportions of Russian, Mongolian, and Korean people. A few European, American, Indian, Australian, and New Zealander prisoners of war may have also been among them. According to a Yokusan Sonendan paramilitary political youth branch member who worked for Unit 731, Americans, British, and French were present, in addition to Chinese, Russians, and Koreans. According to Sheldon H. Harris' research, the victims were primarily political dissidents, communist sympathizers, common criminals, low-income residents, and those with mental disabilities. According to estimates by author Seiichi Morimura, about 70% of the Pingfang camp's fatalities (both military and civilian) were Chinese, while roughly 30% were Russian.
Nobody who went inside Unit 731 survived. Let me repeat that: "Nobody that went inside Unit 731 survived".
At night, prisoners were usually brought into Unit 731 in black cars with no windows but only a ventilation hole. One of the drivers would exit the vehicle at the main gates and head to the guardroom to report to the guard. The "Special Team" in the inner jail, which was led by Shiro Ishii's brother, would then get a call from that guard. The convicts would then be taken to the inner prisons via an underground tunnel excavated beneath the center building's exterior.
Building 8 was one of the jails housing men and women while building 7 held just women. Once inside the inner jail, technicians would take blood and feces samples from the inmates, assess their kidney function, and gather other physical information. Prisoners found healthy and suitable for research were given a three-digit number instead of their names, which they kept until they passed away. Every time a prisoner passed away following the tests they had undergone, a clerk from the 1st Division crossed their names off of an index card and took their shackles to be worn by newly arrived captives.
At least one "friendly" social interaction between inmates and Unit 731 employees has been documented. Two female convicts were engaged by technician Naokata Ishibashi. One prisoner was a Chinese woman, age 21, while the other was a Soviet woman, age 19. Ishibashi discovered that she was from Ukraine after asking where she was from. The two inmates urged Ishibashi to acquire a mirror since they claimed to have not seen their own faces since being taken prisoner. Through a gap in the cell door, Ishibashi managed to covertly get a mirror to them. As long as they were healthy enough, prisoners were regularly employed for experimentation. Once a prisoner had been admitted to the Unit, they had a two-month life expectancy on average. Many female convicts gave birth there, and some inmates remained alive in the unit for nearly a year. The jail cells each featured a squat toilet and wood floors. The prison's exterior walls and the cells' outer walls were separated by space, allowing the guards to pass behind the cells. There was a little window in each cell door. When shown the inner jail, Chief of the Personnel Division of the Kwantung Army Headquarters, Tamura Tadashi, stated that he glanced inside the cells and observed live individuals in chains, some of whom moved around, while others lay on the bare floor and were in a very ill and helpless condition.
Yoshio Shinozuka, a former Unit 731 Youth Corps member, testified that it was difficult to look through these prison doors because of their tiny windows. Cast iron doors and a high level of security made up the inner jail. No one was allowed admission without specific authorization, a picture I.D. pass, and the entry/exit timings were recorded. These two inner-prison structures were the "special team's" workspaces. This group wore white overalls, army caps, rubber boots, and carried guns.
A former member of the Special Team (who insisted on anonymity) recalled in 1995 his first vivisection conducted at the Unit:
"He didn't struggle when they led him into the room and tied him down. But when I picked up the scalpel, that's when he began screaming. I cut him open from the chest to the stomach, and he screamed terribly, and his face was all twisted in agony. He made this unimaginable sound, he was screaming so horribly. But then finally he stopped. This was all in a day's work for the surgeons, but it really left an impression on me because it was my first time."
— Anonymous, The New York Times (March 17 1995)
According to some reports, it was standard procedure at the Unit for doctors to place a piece of cloth (or a portion of medical gauze) inside a prisoner's lips before starting vivisection to muffle any screams.
Even though the jail was pretty secure, there was at least one effort to break out... That failed.
According to Corporal Kikuchi Norimitsu's testimony, a fellow unit member informed him that a prisoner had been taken "jumped out of the cell and ran down the corridor, grabbed the keys, and opened the iron doors and some of the cells" after "having shown violence and had struck the experimenter with a door handle." Only the bravest of the inmates were able to jump free, though. These brave ones were killed ". Seiichi Morimura goes into further depth about this attempt at escapology in his book The Devil's Feast.
Two male Russian prisoners were being held in handcuffs in a cell. One of them was lying flat on the ground and acting like he was sick. One of the staff members noticed and decided to go inside the cell. The Russian on the ground, suddenly sprang up and overpowered the guard. The two Russians yelled, unlocked their shackles, grabbed the keys, and opened a few more cells. Other Russian and Chinese prisoners were freaking out, up and down the halls while shouting and screaming. Finally, one Russian yelled at the members of Unit 731, pleading with them to shoot him rather than use him as a test subject.
This Russian was gunned down and murdered. One employee who saw the attempted escape remembered what happened: "In comparison to the "marutas," who had both freedom and weapons, we were all spiritually lost. We knew in our hearts at the moment that justice was not on our side ". Even if the prisoners had been able to leave the quadrangle, a vigorously defended facility staffed with guards, they would have had to traverse a dry moat lined with electric wire and a three-meter-high brick wall to get to the complex's outside.
Even members of Unit 731 weren't free from being subjects of experiments. Yoshio Tamura, an assistant in the Special Team, recalled that Yoshio Sudō, an employee of the first Division at Unit 731, became infected with bubonic plague due to the production of plague bacteria. The Special Team was then ordered to vivisect Sudō. About this Tamura said:
"Sudō had, a few days previously, been interested in talking about women, but now he was thin as a rake, with many purple spots over his body. A large area of scratches on his chest were bleeding. He painfully cried and breathed with difficulty. I sanitised his whole body with disinfectant. Whenever he moved, a rope around his neck tightened. After Sudō's body was carefully checked [by the surgeon], I handed a scalpel to [the surgeon] who, reversely gripping the scalpel, touched Sudō's stomach skin and sliced downward. Sudō shouted "brute!" and died with this last word."
Taken from— Criminal History of Unit 731 of the Japanese Military, pp. 118–119 (1991)
Additionally, Unit 731 Youth Corps member Yoshio Shinozuka testified that his friend, junior assistant Mitsuo Hirakawa, was vivisected due to being accidentally infected with the plague.
Surrender and immunity
Operations and experiments continued until the end of the war. Ishii had wanted to use biological weapons in the Pacific War since May 1944, but he was repeatedly told to fuck off.
With the coming of the Red Army in August 1945, the unit had to abandon its work in a hurry. Ministries in Tokyo ordered the destruction of all incriminating materials, including those in Pingfang. Potential witnesses, such as the 300 remaining prisoners, were either gassed or fed poison while the 600 Chinese and Manchurian laborers were all frigging shot. Ishii ordered every group member to disappear and "take the secret to the grave." Potassium cyanide vials were issued for use in case the remaining personnel was captured.
Skeleton crews of Ishii's Japanese troops blew up the compound in the war's final days to destroy any evidence of their activities. Still, many were sturdy enough to remain somewhat intact.
Among the individuals in Japan after its 1945 surrender was Lieutenant Colonel Murray Sanders, whose name doesn't really sound Japanese and who arrived in Yokohama via the American ship Sturgess in September 1945. Sanders was a highly regarded microbiologist and a member of America's military center for biological weapons. Sanders' duty was to investigate Japanese biological warfare activity, and B.O.Y. was there a shit ton!
At the time of his arrival in Japan, he had no knowledge of what Unit 731 was. Until he finally threatened the Japanese with bringing the Soviets into the picture, little information about their biological warfare was being shared with the Americans. The Japanese wanted to avoid prosecution under the Soviet legal system, so the morning after he made his threat, Sanders received a manuscript describing Japan's involvement in biological warfare. Sanders took this information to General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers responsible for rebuilding Japan during the Allied occupation. As a result, MacArthur struck a deal with Japanese informants: he secretly granted immunity to the physicians of Unit 731, including their leader, in exchange for providing America, but not the other wartime allies, with their research on biological warfare and data from human experimentation. Yessiree, bob! You heard that correctly!
American occupation authorities monitored the activities of former unit members, including going through and messing with their mail. The Americans believed the research data was valuable and didn't want other nations, especially those guys with the sickle, you know... the Soviet Union, to get their red hands on the data for biological weapons.
The Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal heard only one reference to Japanese experiments with "poisonous serums" on Chinese civilians. This took place in August 1946 and was instigated by David Sutton, assistant to the Chinese prosecutor. The Japanese defense counsel argued that the claim was vague and uncorroborated, and it was dismissed by the tribunal president, Sir William Webb, for lack of evidence! The subject was not pursued further by Sutton, who was probably unaware of Unit 731's activities and allegedly a fucking idiot. His reference to it at the trial is believed to have been "accidental."
While German physicians were brought to trial and had their crimes publicized, the U.S. concealed information about Japanese biological warfare experiments and secured immunity for the monsters. I mean perpetrators.
Critics argue that racism led to the double standard in the American postwar responses to the experiments conducted on different nationalities. For example, whereas the perpetrators of Unit 731 were exempt from prosecution, the U.S. held a tribunal in Yokohama in 1948 that indicted nine Japanese physician professors and medical students for conducting vivisection upon captured American pilots; two professors were sentenced to death and others to 15–20 years' imprisonment. So, it's one thing to do it to THOUSANDS OF CHINESE AND RUSSIANS, but HOW DARE you do that to one of us! The fuck?
Although publicly silent on the issue at the Tokyo Trials, the Soviet Union pursued the case and prosecuted 12 top military leaders and scientists from Unit 731 and its affiliated biological-war prisons Unit 1644 in Nanjing and Unit 100 in Changchun in the Khabarovsk war crimes trials. Among those accused of war crimes, including germ warfare, was General Otozō Yamada, commander-in-chief of the million-man Kwantung Army occupying Manchuria.
The trial of the Japanese monsters was held in Khabarovsk in December 1949; a lengthy partial transcript of trial proceedings was published in different languages the following year by the Moscow foreign languages press, including an English-language edition. The lead prosecuting attorney at the Khabarovsk trial was Lev Smirnov, one of the top Soviet prosecutors at the Nuremberg Trials. The Japanese doctors and army commanders who had perpetrated the Unit 731 experiments received sentences from the Khabarovsk court ranging from 2 to 25 years in a Siberian labor camp. The United States refused to acknowledge the trials, branding them communist propaganda. The sentences doled out to the Japanese perpetrators were unusually lenient by Soviet standards. All but two of the defendants returned to Japan by the 1950s (with one prisoner dying in prison and the other committing suicide inside his cell). In addition to the accusations of propaganda, the U.S. also asserted that the trials were to only serve as a distraction from the Soviet treatment of several hundred thousand Japanese prisoners of war; meanwhile, the USSR asserted that the U.S. had given the Japanese diplomatic leniency in exchange for information regarding their human experimentation. The accusations of both the U.S. and the USSR were true. It is believed that the Japanese had also given information to the Soviets regarding their biological experimentation for judicial leniency. This was evidenced by the Soviet Union building a biological weapons facility in Sverdlovsk using documentation captured from Unit 731 in Manchuria.
Official silence during the American occupation of Japan
As we, unfortunately, mentioned earlier, during the United States occupation of Japan, the members of Unit 731 and the members of other experimental units were set free. However, on May 6, 1947, Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, wrote to Washington to inform it that "additional data, possibly some statements from Ishii, can probably be obtained by informing Japanese involved that information will be retained in intelligence channels and will not be employed as 'war crimes' evidence."
One graduate of Unit 1644, Masami Kitaoka, continued to perform experiments on unwilling Japanese subjects from 1947 to 1956. While working for Japan's National Institute of Health Sciences, he completed his experiments. He infected prisoners with rickettsia and infected mentally-ill patients with typhus. As the unit's chief, Shiro Ishii was granted immunity from prosecution for war crimes by the American occupation authorities because he had provided human experimentation research materials to them. However, from 1948 to 1958, less than five percent of the documents were transferred onto microfilm and stored in the U.S. National Archives before they were shipped back to Japan.
Post-occupation Japanese media coverage and debate
Japanese discussions of Unit 731's activity began in the 1950s after the American occupation of Japan ended. In 1952, human experiments carried out in Nagoya City Pediatric Hospital, which resulted in one death, were publicly tied to former members of Unit 731. Later in that decade, journalists suspected that the murders attributed by the government to Sadamichi Hirasawa were actually carried out by members of Unit 731. In 1958, Japanese author Shūsaku Endō published The Sea and Poison about human experimentation in Fukuoka, which is thought to have been based on an actual incident.
The author Seiichi Morimura published The Devil's Gluttony in 1981, followed by The Devil's Gluttony: A Sequel in 1983. These books purported to reveal the "true" operations of Unit 731 but falsely attributed unrelated photos to the Unit, which raised questions about their accuracy.
Also, in 1981, the first direct testimony of human vivisection in China was given by Ken Yuasa. Since then, much more in-depth testimony has been given in Japan. For example, the 2001 documentary Japanese Devils primarily consists of interviews with fourteen Unit 731 staff members taken prisoner by China and later released.
Significance in postwar research on bio-warfare and medicine
Japanese Biological Warfare operations were by far the largest during WWII, and "possibly with more people and resources than the B.W. producing nations of France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and the Soviet Union combined, between the world wars. Although the dissemination methods of delivering plague-infected fleas by aircraft were crude, the method, among others, allowed the Japanese to "conduct the most extensive employment of biological weapons during WWII." However, the amount of effort devoted to B.W. was not matched by its results. Ultimately, inadequate scientific and engineering foundations limited the effectiveness of the Japanese program. Harris speculates that U.S. scientists generally wanted to acquire it due to the concept of forbidden fruit, believing that lawful and ethical prohibitions could affect the outcomes of their research.
Unit 731 presents a particular problem since, unlike Nazi human experimentation, which the United States publicly condemned, the activities of Unit 731 are known to the general public only from the testimonies of willing former unit members.
Japanese history textbooks usually reference Unit 731 but do not detail allegations following there strict principles. However, Saburō Ienaga's New History of Japan included a detailed description based on officers' testimony. The Ministry for Education attempted to remove this passage from his textbook before it was taught in public schools because the testimony was insufficient. The Supreme Court of Japan ruled in 1997 that the testimony was sufficient and that requiring it to be removed was an illegal violation of freedom of speech.
In 1997, international lawyer Kōnen Tsuchiya filed a class action suit against the Japanese government, demanding reparations for the actions of Unit 731, using evidence filed by Professor Makoto Ueda of Rikkyo University. All levels of the Japanese court system found the suit baseless. No findings of fact were made about the existence of human experimentation, but the court's ruling was that reparations are determined by international treaties, not national courts.
In August 2002, the Tokyo district court ruled that Japan had engaged in biological warfare for the first time. Presiding judge Koji Iwata ruled that Unit 731, on the orders of the Imperial Japanese Army headquarters, used bacteriological weapons on Chinese civilians between 1940 and 1942, spreading diseases, including plague and typhoid, in the cities of Quzhou, Ningbo, and Changde. However, he rejected victims' compensation claims because they had already been settled by international peace treaties.
In October 2003, a Japan's House of Representatives member filed an inquiry. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi responded that the Japanese government did not then possess any records related to Unit 731 but recognized the gravity of the matter and would publicize any records located in the future. As a result, in April 2018, the National Archives of Japan released the names of 3,607 members of Unit 731 in response to a request by Professor Katsuo Nishiyama of the Shiga University of Medical Science.
After World War II, the Office of Special Investigations created a watchlist of suspected Axis collaborators and persecutors who were banned from entering the United States. While they have added over 60,000 names to the watchlist, they have only been able to identify under 100 Japanese participants. In a 1998 correspondence letter between the D.O.J. and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Eli Rosenbaum, director of O.S.I., stated that this was due to two factors:
While most documents captured by the U.S. in Europe were microfilmed before being returned to their respective governments, the Department of Defense decided to not microfilm its vast collection of records before returning them to the Japanese government.
The Japanese government has also failed to grant the O.S.I. meaningful access to these and related records after the war. In contrast, European countries, on the other hand, have been largely cooperative, the cumulative effect of which is that information on identifying these individuals is, in effect, impossible to recover.
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Do you happen to swear? Is it something you happen to do when you stub your pinky toe on the coffee table? What about when you've just finished dinner and you pull that glorious lasagna out of the oven, burn yourself and then drop your Italian masterpiece on the floor, in turn burning yourself once again? Odds are that if you’re listening to this show, you have a rather colorful vernacular and aren’t offended by those that share in your “darker” linguistic abilities. Those dramatic and often harsh, yet exceedingly hilarious words, have a pretty amazing history. Were they written in manuscripts by monks? Or, did we find them used by regular people and found in prose like the names of places, personal names, and animal names? Well, could they tell us more about our medieval past other than just that sex, torture, plagues and incest was all the rage? Let’s find out!
Fuck
Let’s start with our favorite word. Let’s all say it together, kids. “Fuck!” This most versatile yet often considered one of the worst of the “bad words” doesn’t seem to have been around in the English language prior to the fifteenth century and may have arrived later from the German or th Dutch. Leave it to those beautiful Germans to introduce us to such a colorful word. In fact, the Oxford English Dictionary says it wasn’t actually used until 1500. However, the name of a specific place may have been used even earlier.
Many early instances of fuck were said to actually have been used to mean “to strike” rather than being anything to do with fornicating. The more common Middle English word for sex was ”swive”, which has developed into the Modern English word swivel, as in: go swivel on it. Some of the earliest instances of fuck, seen to mean “hitting” or “striking,” such as Simon Fuckebotere (from in 1290), who was more than likely in the milk industry, hitting butter, or Henry Fuckebeggar (1286/7) who may have, hit the poor.
The earliest examples of the word fuck in the English language appeared in the names of places. The first of these is said to be found near Sherwood in 1287: Ric Wyndfuk and Ric Wyndfuck de Wodehous. These both feature a kestrel known as the Windfucker which, we must assume, went in the wind. The next definite example comes from Bristol 1373 in Fockynggroue, which may have been named for a grove where couples went for “some quiet alone time.”
However, Somewhere among the indictment rolls of the county court of Chester (1310/11), studied by Dr. Paul Booth of Keele University (Staffordshire), a man whose Christian name was Roger is mentioned three times. His less Christian last name is also recorded. The name being mentioned repetitively pretty much means it did not result from a spelling mistake but rather it’s the real thing. Meaning, the man’s full name was Roger Fuckebythenavele. Not only does his second name move back the earliest use of fuck in its modern sense by quite a few decades; it also verifies that it is, in fact, a Middle English word. But of course, there are those fuckers that will undoubtedly debate it’s fucking origin.
The stem *fukkō-, with its characteristic double consonant, is easy to explain as a Germanic iterative verb – one of a large family of similar forms. They originated as combinations of various Indo-European roots with *-nah₂-, a suffix indicating repeated action. The formation is not, strictly speaking, Proto-Indo-European; the suffix owes its existence to the reanalysis of an older morphological structure (reanalysis happens when people fail to analyze an inherited structure in the same way as their predecessors). Still, verbs of this kind are older than Proto-Germanic.
*fukkō- apparently meant to ‘strike repeatedly, beat’ (like, say, “dashing” the cream with a plunger in a traditional butter churn). Note also windfucker and fuckwind – old, obsolete words for ‘kestrel’.
A number of words in other Germanic languages may also be related to fuck. One of them is Old Icelandic fjúka ‘to be tossed or driven by the wind’ < *feuka-; cf. also fjúk ‘drifting snowstorm’ (or, as one might put it in present-day English, a fucking blizzard). These words fit a recurrent morphological pattern observed by Kroonen (2012): Germanic iteratives with a voiceless geminate produced by Kluge’s Law often give rise to “de-iterativised” verbs in which the double stop is simplified if the full vocalism or the root (here, *eu rather than *u) is restored.
Kluge's law had a noticeable effect on Proto-Germanic morphology. Because of its dependence on ablaut and accent, it operated in some parts of declension and conjugation, but not in others, giving rise to alternations of short and long consonants in both nominal and verbal paradigms.
If the verb is really native (“Anglo-Saxon”), one would expect Old English *fuccian (3sg. *fuccaþ, pl. *fucciaþ, 1/3sg. preterite *fuccode, etc.). If these forms already had “impolite” connotations in Old English, their absence from the Old English literary corpus is understandable. We may be absolutely sure that *feortan (1/3 sg. pret. *feart, pret. pl. *furton, p.p. *forten) existed in Old English, since fart exists today (attested since about 1300, just like the word fuck) and has an impeccable Indo-European etymology, with cognates in several branches. Still, not a single one of these reconstructed Old English verb forms is actually documented (all we have is the scantily attested verbal noun feorting ‘fart(ing)’).
One has to remember that written records give us a strongly distorted picture of how people really spoke in the past. If you look at the frequency of fuck, fucking and fucker in written English over the last 200 years, you may get the impression that these words disappeared from English completely ca. 1820 and magically reappeared 140 years later. Even the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary pretended they didn’t exist. The volume that should have contained FUCK was published in 1900, and Queen Victoria was still alive.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary:
Forms:
α. 1500s fucke, 1500s– fuck; also Scottish pre-1700 fuk.
Frequency (in current use): Show frequency band information
Origin: Probably a word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Probably cognate with Dutch fokken …
In coarse slang.
- In these senses typically, esp. in early use, with a man as the subject of the verb.
Thesaurus »
Categories »
- intransitive. To have sexual intercourse.
▸ ?a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 106 Be his feirris he wald haue fukkit.
- transitive. To have sexual intercourse with (a person).
In quot. a1500 in Latin-English macaronic verse; the last four words are enciphered by replacing each letter with the following letter of the alphabet, and fuccant has a Latin third-person plural ending. The passage translates as ‘They [sc. monks] are not in heaven because they fuck the wives of Ely.’
[a1500 Flen, Flyys (Harl. 3362) f. 47, in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1841) I. 91 Non sunt in cœli, quia gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk [= fuccant uuiuys of heli].]
- transitive. With an orifice, part of the body, or something inanimate as an object. Also occasionally intransitive with prepositional objects of this type.
[1680 School of Venus ii. 99 An hour after, he Ferked my Arse again in the same manner.]
- transitive. To damage, ruin, spoil, botch; to destroy, put an end to; = to fuck up 1a at Phrasal verbs 1. Also (chiefly in passive): to put into a difficult or hopeless situation; to ‘do for’.
Cf. also mind-fuck v.
1776 Frisky Songster (new ed.) 36 O, says the breeches, I shall be duck'd, Aye, says the petticoat, I shall be f—d.
- transitive. U.S. To cheat; to deceive, betray. Frequently without.
1866 G. Washington Affidavit 20 Oct. in I. Berlin et al. Black Mil. Experience in Civil War (1982) v. xviii. 792 Mr. Baker replied that deponent would be fucked out of his money by Mr. Brown.
- transitive. In oaths and imprecations (chiefly in optative with no subject expressed): expressing annoyance, hatred, dismissal, etc. Cf. damn v. 6, bugger v. 2a. See also fuck it at Phrases 2, fuck you at Phrases 1b.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xv. [Circe] 560 God fuck old Bennett!
Phrases
Imprecatory and exclamatory phrases (typically in imperative or optative with no subject expressed sense).
P1. Expressing hostility, contempt, or defiant indifference.
Categories »
- go fuck yourself and variants.
1895 Rep. Senate Comm. Police Dept. N.Y. III. 3158 By Senator Bradley: Q. Repeat what he said to you? A. He said, ‘Go on, fuck yourself, you son-of-a-bitch; I will give you a hundred dollars’; he tried to punch me, and I went out.
- fuck you.
1905 L. Schindler Testimony 20 Dec. in People State of N.Y. Respondent, against Charles McKenna (1907) (N.Y. Supreme Court) 37 Murray said to me, ‘Fuck you, I will give you more the same.’ And as he said that, I grabbed the two of them.
P2. fuck it: expressing dismissal, exasperation, resignation, or impetuousness.
1922 E. E. Cummings Enormous Room iv. 64 I said, ‘F— it, I don't want it.’
P3. fuck me and elaborated variants: expressing astonishment or exasperation.
1929 F. Manning Middle Parts of Fortune II. xi. 229 ‘Well, you can fuck me!’ exclaimed the astonished Martlow.
Cunt
Cunt is a vulgar word for the vulva or vagina. It is used in a variety of ways, including as a term of disparagement. Reflecting national variations, cunt can be used as a disparaging and obscene term for a woman in the United States, an unpleasant or stupid man or woman in the United Kingdom, or a contemptible man in Australia and New Zealand. However, in Australia and New Zealand it can also be a neutral or positive term when used with a positive qualifier (e.g., "He's a good cunt"). The term has various derivative senses, including adjective and verb uses.
Feminist writer and English professor Germaine Greer argues that cunt "is one of the few remaining words in the English language with a genuine power to shock".
The earliest known use of the word, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, was as part of a placename of a London street, Gropecunt Lane. Use of the word as a term of abuse is relatively recent, dating from the late nineteenth century. The word appears not to have been taboo in the Middle Ages, but became that way toward the end of the eighteenth century, and was then not generally not allowed to be printed until the latter part of the twentieth century.
There is some disagreement on the origin of the term cunt, although most sources agree that it came from the Germanic word (Proto-Germanic *kunto, stem *kunton-), which emerged as kunta in Old Norse. The Proto-Germanic form's actual origin is a matter of debate among scholars. Most Germanic languages have cognates, including Swedish, Faroese, and Nynorsk (kunta), West Frisian, and Middle Low German (kunte), Middle Dutch (conte), Dutch kut (cunt), and Dutch kont (butt), Middle Low German kutte, Middle High German kotze ("prostitute"), German kott, and maybe Old English cot. The Proto-Germanic term's etymology ia questionable.
It may have arisen by Grimm's law operating on the Proto-Indo-European root *gen/gon "create, become" seen in gonads, genital, gamete, genetics, gene, or the Proto-Indo-European root guneh or "woman" (Greek: gunê, seen in gynaecology). Relationships to similar-sounding words such as the Latin cunnus ("vulva"), and its derivatives French con, Spanish coño, and Portuguese cona, or in Persian kos (کُس), have not been conclusively demonstrated. Other Latin words related to cunnus are cuneus ("wedge") and its derivative cunēre ("to fasten with a wedge", (figurative) "to squeeze in"), leading to English words such as cuneiform ("wedge-shaped"). In Middle English, cunt appeared with many spellings, such as coynte, cunte and queynte, which did not always reflect the actual pronunciation of the word.
The word, in its modern meaning, is attested in Middle English. Proverbs of Hendyng, a manuscript from some time before 1325, includes the advice:
(Give your cunt wisely and make [your] demands after the wedding.) from wikipedia.
The word cunt is generally regarded in English-speaking countries as unsuitable for normal publicconversations. It has been described as "the most heavily tabooed word of all English words".
Quoted from wikipedia:
Some American feminists of the 1970s sought to eliminate disparaging terms for women, including "bitch" and "cunt". In the context of pornography, Catharine MacKinnon argued that use of the word acts to reinforce a dehumanisation of women by reducing them to mere body parts; and in 1979 Andrea Dworkin described the word as reducing women to "the one essential – 'cunt: our essence ... our offence'".
While “vagina” is used much more commonly in colloquial speech to refer to the genitals of people with vulvas than “cunt” is, its origins are defined by its service to male sexuality, making “cunt” — interestingly enough — the least historically misogynistic of the two. “Cunt” has also been used in Renaissance bawdy verse and in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, but it was not until Shakespeare’s era that its meaning began to fundamentally shift, during the dawn of Christian doctrine.
Arguably, if cunt simply means and refers to “vagina”, then why would that be bad? Vaginas are pretty great! They provide people with pleasure, they give life, and they’re even a naturally developed lunar calendar! So, why would a person refer to another, assumedly pissy person as a vagina?
So, should we as society fight the negative stereotypes and embrace the term cunt again? It’s a tiny word that bears a lot of weight, but it should be anything but scary or offensive. It can be a massive dose of love instead of an enormous force of hate if we actively define our vocabulary rather than letting it define us.
Words only have that type of power when the uptight, vanilla flavored, missionary only Karen’s and Kevin’s of the world decide they don’t like them. This has been going on for as long as we’ve been using words. So, let’s take it back.
We love you, ya cunts!
coarse slang in later use.
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- The female genitals; the vulva or vagina. Cf. quaint n.1
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 172 In wymmen þe necke of þe bladdre is schort, & is maad fast to the cunte.
1552 D. Lindsay Satyre Procl. 144 First lat me lok thy cunt, Syne lat me keip the key.
1680 Earl of Rochester et al. Poems 77 I fear you have with interest repaid, Those eager thrusts, which at your Cunt he made.
1865 ‘Philocomus’ Love Feast iii. 21 I faint! I die! I spend! My cunt is sick! Suck me and fuck me!
- A woman as a source of sexual gratification; a promiscuous woman; a slut. Also as a general term of abuse for a woman.
1663 S. Pepys Diary 1 July (1971) IV. 209 Mr. Batten..acting all the postures of lust and buggery that could be imagined, and..saying that the he hath to sell such a pouder as should make all the cunts in town run after him.
As a term of abuse for a man.
1860 in M. E. Neely Abraham Lincoln Encycl. (1982) 154 And when they got to Charleston, they had to, as is wont Look around to find a chairman, and so they took a Cunt
A despised, unpleasant, or annoying place, thing, or task.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. iv. [Calypso] 59 The grey sunken cunt of the world.
Bitch
Women were frequently equated to dogs in Ancient Greek literature, which was used to dehumanize and shame them for their alleged lack of restraint and sexual urges. This is believed to have originated from the hunter goddess Artemis, who was frequently depicted as a pack of hounds and was perceived to be both beautiful and frigid and savage. According to popular belief, the term "bitch" as we use it today evolved from the Old English word "bicce," which meant a female dog, about the year 1000 AD. The phrase started out as a critique of a woman's sexuality in the 15th century but eventually evolved to signify that the lady was rude or disagreeable.
Clare Bayley has connected this growth of the term "bitch" as an insult to the suffrage struggle and the final passage of women's suffrage in the early 20th century, particularly the 1920s. Men were intimidated when women started to challenge their subordinate roles in the patriarchal power structure, and the phrase started to be used to ferocious and irate females. Men's respect for women and the prevalence of the term are clearly correlated, since usage of the term rapidly decreased during World War II as men's appreciation of women's contributions to the war effort increased.
However, as they competed with women for employment after the war ended and the men went back to work, the word's usage increased once more. As the housewife paradigm started to fade away during the war, the position of women in the workplace and society as a whole underwent an irreparable change. However, males perceived the presence of women in the workforce as a challenge to their supremacy in society.
With songs like Elton John's "The Bitch is Back" ascending the charts in 1974, the slur became more common in mainstream culture and music in the latter decades of the 20th century. As a result of artists like Kanye West and Eminem using the term "bitch" to denigrate women and depict violence against them in their lyrics, hip-hop culture has also long been accused of being misogynistic.
We just need to look at Hillary Clinton's recent campaign for president in 2016 to understand how frequently this slur is leveled at women, especially those in positions of authority who are defying patriarchal expectations and shattering glass ceilings. Rep. AOC being called a "fucking bitch" by a GOP Rep. is another similar example. It is evident that the usage of the phrase and the degree to which males regard women to be a danger are related.
bitch (v.)
"to complain," attested from at least 1930, perhaps from the sense in bitchy, perhaps influenced by the verb meaning "to bungle, spoil," which is recorded from 1823. But bitched in this sense seems to echo Middle English bicched "cursed, bad," a general term of opprobrium (as in Chaucer's bicched bones "unlucky dice"), which despite the hesitation of OED, seems to be a derivative of bitch (n.).
bitchy (adj.)
1925, U.S. slang, "sexually provocative;" later (1930s) "spiteful, catty, bad-tempered" (usually of females); from bitch + -y (2). Earlier in reference to male dogs thought to look less rough or coarse than usual.
The earliest use of "bitch" specifically as a derogatory term for women dates to the fifteenth century. Its earliest slang meaning mainly referred to sexual behavior, according to the English language historian Geoffrey Hughes:
The early applications were to a promiscuous or sensual woman, a metaphorical extension of the behavior of a bitch in heat. Herein lies the original point of the powerful insult son of a bitch, found as biche sone ca. 1330 in Arthur and Merlin ... while in a spirited exchange in the Chester Play (ca. 1400) a character demands: "Whom callest thou queine, skabde bitch?" ("Who are you calling a whore, you miserable bitch?").
In modern usage, the slang term bitch has different meanings depending largely on social context and may vary from very offensive to endearing, and as with many slang terms, its meaning and nuances can vary depending on the region in which it is used.
The term bitch can refer to a person or thing that is very difficult, as in "Life's a bitch" or "He sure got the bitch end of that deal". It is common for insults to lose intensity as their meaning broadens ("bastard" is another example). In the film The Women (1939), Joan Crawford could only allude to the word: "And by the way, there's a name for you ladies, but it isn't used in high society - outside of a kennel." At the time, use of the actual word would have been censored by the Hays Office. By 1974, Elton John had a hit single (#4 in the U.S. and #14 in the U.K.) with "The Bitch Is Back", in which he says "bitch" repeatedly. It was, however, censored by some radio stations. On late night U.S. television, the character Emily Litella (1976-1978) on Saturday Night Live (portrayed by Gilda Radner) would frequently refer to Jane Curtin under her breath at the end of their Weekend Update routine in this way: "Oh! Never mind...! Bitch!"
Bitchin' arose in the 1950s to describe something found to be cool or rad.
Modern use can include self-description, often as an unfairly difficult person. For example, in the New York Times bestseller The Bitch in the House, a woman describes her marriage: "I'm fine all day at work, but as soon as I get home, I'm a horror....I'm the bitch in the house."Boy George admitted "I was being a bitch" in a falling out with Elton John.
Generally, the term bitch is still considered offensive, and not accepted in formal situations. According to linguist Deborah Tannen, "Bitch is the most contemptible thing you can say about a woman. Save perhaps the four-letter C word." It's common for the word to be censored on Prime time TV, often rendered as "the b-word". During the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, a John McCain supporter referred to Hillary Clinton by asking, "How do we beat the bitch?" The event was reported in censored format:
On CNN's "The Situation Room," Washington Post media critic and CNN "Reliable Sources" host Howard Kurtz observed that "Senator McCain did not embrace the 'b' word that this woman in the audience used." ABC reporter Kate Snow adopted the same location. On CNN's "Out in the Open," Rick Sanchez characterized the word without using it by saying, "Last night, we showed you a clip of one of his supporters calling Hillary Clinton the b-word that rhymes with witch." A local Fox 25 news reporter made the same move when he rhymed the unspoken word with rich.
A study reported that, when used on social media, bitch "aims to promote traditional, cultural beliefs about femininity". Used hundreds of thousands of times per day on such platforms, it is associated with sexist harassment, "victimizing targets", and "shaming" victims who do not abide by degrading notions about femininity
Son of a bitch
The first known appearance of "son-of-a-bitch" in a work of American fiction is Seventy-Six (1823), a historical fiction novel set during the American Revolutionary War by eccentric writer and critic John Neal. The protagonist, Jonathan Oadley, recounts a battle scene in which he is mounted on a horse: "I wheeled, made a dead set at the son-of-a-bitch in my rear, unhorsed him, and actually broke through the line."
The term's use as an insult is as old as that of bitch. Euphemistic terms are often substituted, such as gun in the phrase "son of a gun" as opposed to "son of a bitch", or "s.o.b." for the same phrase. Like bitch, the severity of the insult has diminished. Roy Blount Jr. in 2008 extolled the virtues of "son of a bitch" (particularly in comparison to "asshole") in common speech and deed. Son of a bitch can also be used as a "how about that" reaction, or as a reaction to excruciating pain.
In politics the phrase "Yes, he is a son of a bitch, but he is our son of a bitch" has been attributed, probably apocryphally, to various U.S. presidents from Franklin Roosevelt to Richard Nixon. Immediately after the detonation of the first atomic bomb in Alamogordo, New Mexico, in July 1945 (the device codenamed Gadget), the Manhattan Project scientist who served as the director of the test, Kenneth Tompkins Bainbridge, exclaimed to Robert Oppenheimer "Now we're all sons-of-bitches."
In January 2022, United States President Joe Biden was recorded on a hot mic responding to Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asking, "Do you think inflation is a political liability ahead of the midterms?" Biden responded sarcastically, saying, "It's a great asset — more inflation. What a stupid son of a bitch."
The 19th-century British racehorse Filho da Puta took its name from "Son of a Bitch" in Portuguese.
The Curtiss SB2C, a World War 2 U.S. Navy dive bomber, was called "Son-of-a-Bitch 2nd Class" by some of its pilots and crewmen.
In American popular culture, the slang word "basic" is used to derogatorily refer to persons who are thought to favor mainstream goods, fashions, and music. Hip-hop culture gave rise to "basic bitch," which gained popularity through rap music, lyrics, blogs, and videos from 2011 to 2014. "Bros" is a common word for their male counterparts. Other English-speaking nations have terms like "basic bitch" or "airhead," such as modern British "Essex girls" and "Sloane Rangers," as well as Australian "haul girls," who are noted for their love of shopping for expensive clothing and uploading films of their purchases on YouTube.
Oxford English Dictionary
- transitive. To call (a person, esp. a woman) a bitch.
1707 Diverting Muse 131 Why how now, crys Venus, altho you're my Spouse, [If] you Bitch me, you Brute, have a care of your Brows
- transitive. To behave like a bitch towards (a person); to be spiteful, malicious, or unfair to (a person); to let (a person) down.
1764 D. Garrick Let. 23 Aug. (1963) II. 423 I am a little at a loss what You will do for a Woman Tragedian to stare & tremble wth yr Heroes, if Yates should bitch You—but she must come.
- intransitive. To engage in spiteful or malicious criticism or gossip, esp. about another person; to talk spitefully or cattily about.
1915 G. Cannan Young Earnest i. x. 92 It's the women bitching at you got into your blood.
intransitive. Originally U.S. To grumble, to complain (about something, or at someone).
Frequently collocated with moan.
1930 Amer. Speech 5 238 [Colgate University slang] He bitched about the course.
†3. intransitive. To back down, to yield. Obsolete. rare.
1777 E. Burke Let. 9 May in Corr. (1961) III. 339 Norton bitched a little at last, but though he would recede; Fox stuck to his motion.
Shit
shit (v.)
Old English scitan, from Proto-Germanic *skit- (source also of North Frisian skitj, Dutch schijten, German scheissen), from PIE(proto indo-european) root *skei- "to cut, split." The notion is of "separation" from the body (compare Latin excrementum, from excernere "to separate," Old English scearn "dung, muck," from scieran "to cut, shear;" see sharn). It is thus a cousin to science and conscience.
"Shit" is not an acronym. Nor is it a recent word. But it was taboo from 1600 and rarely appeared in print (neither Shakespeare nor the KJV has it), and even in the "vulgar" publications of the late 18c. it is disguised by dashes. It drew the wrath of censors as late as 1922 ("Ulysses" and "The Enormous Room"), scandalized magazine subscribers in 1957 (a Hemingway story in Atlantic Monthly) and was omitted from some dictionaries as recently as 1970 ("Webster's New World"). [Rawson]
It has extensive slang usage; the meaning "to lie, to tease'' is from 1934; that of "to disrespect" is from 1903. Also see shite. Shat is a humorous past tense form, not etymological, first recorded 18th century.
To shit bricks "be very frightened" attested by 1961. The connection between fear and involuntary defecation has generated expressions in English since the 14th century. (the image also is in Latin), and probably also is behind scared shitless (1936).
shit (n.)
Middle English shit "diarrhea," from Old English scitte "purging, diarrhea," from source of shit (v.). The general sense of "excrement" dates from 1580s (Old English had scytel, Middle English shitel for "dung, excrement;" the usual 14c. noun for natural discharges of the bodies of men or beasts seems to have been turd or filth). As an exclamation attested in print by 1920 but certainly older. Use for "obnoxious person" is by 1508; meaning "misfortune, trouble" is attested from 1937.
Shit-faced "drunk" is 1960s student slang; shit list is from 1942. Shit-hole is by 1937 as "rectum," by 1969 in reference to undesirable locations. Shitload (also shit-load) for "a great many" is by 1970. Shitticism is Robert Frost's word for scatological writing.
Up shit creek "in trouble" is by 1868 in a South Carolina context (compare the metaphoric salt river, of which it is perhaps a coarse variant). Slang not give a shit "not care" is by 1922. Pessimistic expression same shit different day is attested by 1989. To get (one's) shit together "manage one's affairs" is by 1969. Emphatic shit out of luck is by 1942.
The expression when the shit hits the fan "alluding to a moment of crisis or its disastrous consequences" is attested by 1967.
Expressing anger, despair, surprise, frustration, resignation, excitement, etc.
1865 Proc. Court Martial U.S. Army (Judge Advocate General's Office) U.S. National Arch.: Rec. group 153, File MM-2412 3 Charge II. Private James Sullivan...did in contemptuous and disrespectful manner reply..‘Oh, shit, I can't’ or words to that effect.
Ass/Asshole
The word arse in English derives from the Proto-Germanic (reconstructed) word *arsaz, from the Proto-Indo-European word *ors-, meaning "buttocks" or "backside". The combined form arsehole is first attested from 1500 in its literal use to refer to the anus. The metaphorical use of the word to refer to the worst place in a region (e.g., "the arsehole of the world"), is first attested in print in 1865; the use to refer to a contemptible person is first attested in 1933. In the ninth chapter of his 1945 autobiography, Black Boy, Richard Wright quotes a snippet of verse that uses the term: "All these white folks dressed so fine / Their ass-holes smell just like mine ...". Its earliest known usage in newspapers as an insult was 1965. As with other vulgarities, these uses of the word may have been common in oral speech for some time before their first appearances in print. By the 1970s, Hustler magazine featured people they did not like as "Asshole of the Month." In 1972, Jonathan Richman of Modern Lovers recorded his song "Pablo Picasso", which includes the line "Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole."
Until the early 1990s, the word was considered one of a number of words that could not be uttered on commercial television in the United States. Comedian Andrew Dice Clay caused a major shock when he uttered the word during a televised MTV awards show in 1989. However, there were PG-13 and R-rated films in the 1980s that featured use of the word, such as the R-rated The Terminator (1984), the PG-13-rated National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), and the PG-rated Back to the Future (1985). By 1994, however, vulgarity had become more acceptable, and the word was featured in dialog on the long-running television series NYPD Blue, though it has yet to become anything close to commonplace on network TV. In some broadcast edits (such as the syndication airings of South Park), the word is partially bleeped out, as "assh—". A variant of the term, "ass clown", was coined and popularized by the 1999 comedy film Office Space.
The word is mainly used as a vulgarity, generally to describe people who are viewed as stupid, incompetent, unpleasant, or detestable. Moral philosopher Aaron James, in his 2012 book, Assholes: A Theory, gives a more precise meaning of the word, particularly to its connotation in the United States: A person, who is almost always male, who considers himself of much greater moral or social importance than everyone else; who allows himself to enjoy special advantages and does so systematically; who does this out of an entrenched sense of entitlement; and who is immunized by his sense of entitlement against the complaints of other people. He feels he is not to be questioned, and he is the one who is chiefly wronged.
Many would believe the term ass to be used to describe an ungulate or a hoofed mammal of the smaller variety. Those people would be correct. However ass would be used as slang to describe the incompetence of people as they seem to resemble that of a donkey. Slow and stupid. We don't see donkeys in this manner but the people of old may have.
A stupid, irritating, or contemptible person; a person who behaves despicably. Cf. arsehole n. 3, shithole n. 2.
Quot. 1954, from a story originally told in 1933, provides evidence for the development of this sense from figurative uses of sense 1.
[1954 V. Randolph Pissing in Snow (1976) lxx. 106 When God got the job [of making men and women] done,..there was a big pile of ass-holes left over. It looks to me like the Almighty just throwed all them ass-holes together, and made the Easton family.]
Dick/dickhead
Dick is a common English language slang word for the human penis. It is also used by extension for a variety of slang purposes, generally considered vulgar, including: as a verb to describe sexual activity; and as a term for individuals who are considered to be rude, abrasive, inconsiderate, or otherwise contemptible. In this context, it can be used interchangeably with jerk, and can also be used as a verb to describe rude or deceitful actions. Variants include dickhead, which literally refers to the glans. The offensiveness of the word dick is complicated by the continued use of the word in inoffensive contexts, including as both a given name (often a nickname for Richard) and a surname, the popular British dessert spotted dick, the classic novel Moby-Dick, the Dick and Jane series of children's books, and the American retailer Dick's Sporting Goods. Uses like these have given comic writers a foundation to use double entendre to capitalize on this contradiction.
In the mid-17th century, dick became slang for a man as a sexual partner. For example, in the 1665 satire The English Rogue by Richard Head, a "dick" procured to impregnate a character that is having difficulty conceiving:
“The next Dick I pickt up for her was a man of a colour as contrary to the former, as light is to darkness, being swarthy; whose hair was as black as a sloe; middle statur'd, well set, both strong and active, a man so universally tryed, and so fruitfully successful, that there was hardly any female within ten miles gotten with child in hugger-mugger, but he was more than suspected to be Father of all the legitimate. Yet this too, proved an ineffectual Operator.”
An 1869 slang dictionary offered definitions of dick including "a riding whip" and an abbreviation of dictionary, also noting that in the North Country, it was used as a verb to indicate that a policeman was eyeing the subject. The term came to be associated with the penis through usage by men in the military around the 1880s.
The term "dick" was originally used to describe a vile or repulsive individual in the 1960s.
- A stupid, annoying, or objectionable person (esp. a male); one whose behaviour is considered knowingly obnoxious, provocative, or disruptive. Cf. dick n.1 6.
1960 S. Martinelli Let. 28 Dec. in C. Bukowski & S. Martinelli Beerspit Night & Cursing. (2001) 132 You shd listen to yr own work being broadcast [on the radio]... You cd at least tell ME when to list[en] dickhead!
Twat
noun Slang: Vulgar.
vulva.
First recorded in 1650–60; perhaps originally a dialectal variant of thwat, thwot (unattested), presumed Modern English outcome of Old English thwāt, (unattested), akin to Old Norse thveit “cut, slit, forest clearing” (from northern English dialect thwaite “forest clearing”)
What does twat mean?
Twat is vulgar slang for “vagina.” It’s also used, especially in British English slang, a way to call someone as stupid, useless, or otherwise contemptible person.
While twat has been recorded since the 1650s, we don’t exactly know where it comes from. One theory connects twat to the Old English term for “to cut off.” The (bizarre) implication could be that women’s genitalia were thought to be just shorter versions of men’s.
Twat was popularized in the mid-1800s completely by accident. The great English poet Robert Browning had read a 1660 poem that referred, in a derogatory way, to a “nun’s twat.” Browning thought a twat must have been a kind of hat, so he incorporated it into his own work.
Words for genitalia and other taboo body parts (especially female body parts) have a long history of being turned into abusive terms. Consider a**, d*ck, p***y, among many others. In the 1920s, English speakers started using twat as an insult in the same way some use a word like c**t, although twat has come to have a far less offensive force than the c-word in American English. In the 1930s, twat was sometimes used as a term of abuse for “woman” more generally, and over the second half of the 1900s, twat was occasionally used as slang for “butt” or “anus” in gay slang.
Twat made headlines in June 2018 when British actor Danny Dyer called former British Prime Minister David Cameron a twat for his role in initiating the Brexit referendum in 2016—and then stepping down after it passed.
Twat is still common in contemporary use as an insult implying stupidity, especially among British English speakers.
Even though it’s a common term, twat is still vulgar and causes a stir when used in a public setting, especially due to its sexist nature. Public figures that call someone a twat are often publicly derided. Online, users sometimes censor the term, rendering it as tw*t or tw@t.
If you’re annoying, you might be accused of twattiness; if you’re messing around or procrastinating, you might be twatting around; if you’re going on about something, you might be twatting on. Twatting is also sometimes substituted for the intensifier ”fucking”.
As a term of abuse: a contemptible or obnoxious person; a person who behaves stupidly; a fool, an idiot. Now chiefly British.
The force of this term can vary widely. Especially when applied to a woman, it can be as derogatory and offensive as the term cunt (cunt n. 2a), but it can also be used (especially of men) as a milder form of abuse without conscious reference to the female genitals, often implying that a person's behaviour, appearance, etc., is stupid or idiotic, with little or no greater force than twit (twit n.1 2b).
1922 ‘J. H. Ross’ Mint (1936) xxxv. 110 The silly twat didn't know if his arse-hole was bored, punched, drilled, or countersunk.
The top 10 movies with the most swear words:
- The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013) – 715
- Uncut Gems (Josh and Benny Safide, 2019) – 646
- Casino (Martin Scorsese, 1995) – 606
- Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (Kevin Smith, 2001) – 509
- Fury (David Ayer, 2014) – 489
- Straight Outta Compton (F. Gary Gray, 2015) – 468
- Summer of Sam (Spike Lee, 1999) – 467
- Nil By Mouth (Gary Oldman, 1997) – 432
- Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992) – 418
- Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (Mike Judge, 1996) – 414
Tuesday Sep 20, 2022
Tuesday Sep 20, 2022
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The Illuminati
So, you're standing amongst the council, being tried by a jury of a higher order. Your crime; Being the most dangerous person across the multiverse. You look shockingly at Mordo, Richards, and the other members of this definitive group of beings as you defend your alleged crimes, for you are facing the… Illuminati!
Or some shit like that.
We are exploring the super, double extra wannabe cult or the underground rulers of everything evil, depending on your take after today, the "Real Illuminati." At first, we’ll dive into what they SAY IS THE REAL STORY OF THE ILLUMINATI Wink Wink! (Be we all know the truth) and then we’re going to jump right in to what mainstream media (which is controlled by the illuminati) says are “conspiracies”. Strap on your tinfoil hats, Passengers! We’re going for a ride!!
The term "Illuminati" refers to several genuine and imagined organizations. However, the term historically refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, a secret society from the Age of Enlightenment that was established on May 1, 1776, in Bavaria, which is now a part of Germany and that has the most delicious cream donuts. The association aimed to combat abuses of governmental authority, superstition, obscurantism (intentionally providing information in a vague or complex way to prevent further investigation and understanding or, simply, spewing a bunch of word vomit to confuse people), and religious influence in public life. In its general laws, they stated that controlling the perpetrators without conquering them was the "rule of the day."
Later, the term "Illuminati" was used to describe many groups that are said to represent a continuation of the original Bavarian Illuminati (even though these links have not been proven). To obtain political power and influence and create a "New World Order," these organizations have frequently been charged with plotting to manipulate events and install operatives inside of governments and companies. The Illuminati are portrayed as lurking in the shadows and manipulating the strings and levers of power. They play a crucial role in some of the most well-known and intricate conspiracy theories. This interpretation of the Illuminati has found its way into popular culture, appearing in various books, movies, T.V. episodes, comic books, video games, and music videos.
At the University of Ingolstadt, Adam Weishaupt (1748–1830) started teaching canon law and practical philosophy in 1773. (Canon Law, according to Wikipedia, is "how the Church organizes and governs herself." It is the system of laws and religious legal principles made and enforced by the hierarchical authorities of the Catholic Church to regulate its external organization and government and to order and direct the activities of Catholics toward the mission of the Church.) He taught in a school-sponsored by Jesuits, whose order Pope Clement XIV (14th) had suppressed in 1773, and was the only non-clerical professor there. The university's finances and some authority, which they continued to see as belonging to them, were still in the hands of the Ingolstadt Jesuits. When course content featured anything they deemed liberal or Protestant, they made constant attempts to frustrate and discredit non-clerical employees, especially in those instances. Weishaupt had a strong anti-clerical stance and decided to use a covert organization of like-minded people to propagate the Aufklärung (Enlightenment) beliefs. The word clerical in this sense means "referring to anything to do with the clergy — those ordained for religious work, usually in the Christian faith."
He said "screw it" and established his own society, which was to have a ranking or grading system modeled after Freemasonry, but with his own goals because he felt Freemasonry was too costly and not open to his ideas. Bund der Perfektibilisten, or Covenant of Perfectibility (Perfectibilists), was the new order's initial name and a horrible one, to boot. Still, it was later modified since it sounded like some pretentious bullshit. Weishaupt established the Perfectibilists on May 1, 1776, choosing the Owl of Minerva as their emblem. The Owl of Minerva is often called the "owl of Athena." It has been a symbol of knowledge and wisdom throughout the Western world.
The members were to use aliases within the society. Weishaupt became Spartacus. Law students Massenhausen, Bauhof, Merz, and Sutor, became Ajax, Agathon, Tiberius, and Erasmus Roterodamus. Logan would have been dubbed Hasentus Everseenamovieus, whereas I would have been known as Dopus Asfuckasus. Weishaupt later booted Sutor for being a lazy turd.
In April 1778, the order became the Illuminatenorden, or Order of Illuminati, after Weishaupt seriously considered calling it the "Bee order." Massenhausen was the first to step up and be most engaged in advancing society. Significantly, he hired Xavier von Zwack, a former pupil of Weishaupt who was just beginning his distinguished administrative career while studying at Munich not long after the order started. He was the head of the Bavarian National Lottery at the time, where if you won, you got all the donuts. And, of course, that's not true, but it should be.
Weishaupt quickly viewed Massenhausen's "go get em attitude" as a liability because it frequently led to attempts to hire the wrong people. Later, his unpredictable love life caused him to become careless. As Weishaupt turned over the leadership of the Munich group to Zwack, it was discovered that Massenhausen had stolen subscription money and read Weishaupt and Zwack's communications. After earning his degree in 1778, Massenhausen accepted a position outside Bavaria and lost interest in the order. The order had nominally twelve members at this point.
After Massenhausen left, Zwack put all his effort into finding more responsible and significant recruits. This included Hertel, a canon of the Munich Frauenkirche and a childhood friend of Weishaupt, who was considered a hell of a guy. By the end of the summer of 1778, the order had five territories: Munich (Athens), Ingolstadt (Eleusis), Ravensberg (Sparta), Freysingen (Thebes), and Eichstaedt, with a total of 27 members (including Massenhausen).
The order had three membership levels at the time—novice, minerval, and illuminated minerval—but only the minerval level required a problematic ceremony. In this, a password and code were supplied to the candidate. Weishaupt was kept informed on the actions and personalities of his members through a system of mutual espionage, with his favorites joining the Areopagus, the ruling council. Some newbies were allowed to join the army and become insinuates. Jews, pagans, women, monks, and members of other secret societies were told to fuck off, but upright Christians were what they wanted. Favored candidates were wealthy, submissive, eager to learn, and between 18 and 30.
After unsuccessfully trying to stop some of his followers from becoming Freemasons, Weishaupt decided to join them to gather resources for developing his own ritual. Early in February 1777, he was accepted into lodge "Prudence" of the Rite of Strict Observance. He learned nothing about the more advanced degrees of "blue lodge" masonry as he excelled through its three degrees. Still, the following year, a priest by the name of Abbé Marotti told Zwack that these deeper secrets depended on an understanding of the earlier religion and the primitive Church. Weishaupt was persuaded by Zwack that their own order should establish cordial ties with Freemasonry and acquire permission to develop their own lodge. At this stage (December 1778), adding the first three degrees of Freemasonry was considered a secondary project.
Quickly, a warrant was obtained from the Grand Lodge of Prussia called the Royal York for Friendship. The new lodge was named Theodore of the Good Council to flatter Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria. It was founded in Munich on March 21, 1779, and quickly packed with Illuminati. However, the first master, Radl, was persuaded to return home to Baden and ran the lodge by July, per Weishaupt's order.
The next step involved independence from their Grand Lodge. By establishing masonic relations with the Union lodge in Frankfurt, affiliated to the Premier Grand Lodge of England, lodge Theodore became independently recognized and able to declare its independence. As a new mother lodge, it could now spawn its own lodges. The recruiting drive amongst the Frankfurt masons also obtained the allegiance of Adolph Freiherr Knigge.
Knigge was recruited late in 1780 at a convention of the Rite of Strict Observance by Costanzo Marchese di Costanzo, an infantry captain in the Bavarian army and a fellow Freemason. As he was still in his twenties, Knigge had already reached the highest initiatory grades of his order and had arrived with his own grand plans for reform. Disappointed that his plan found no support, Knigge was immediately intrigued when Costanzo informed him that the order he sought to create already existed. Knigge and three of his friends expressed a strong interest in learning more of this order, and Costanzo showed them material relating to the Minerval grade. The teaching material for the stage was "liberal" literature which was banned in Bavaria but common knowledge in the Protestant German states.
Knigge's three colleagues lost interest in Costanzo after becoming disillusioned and extremely confused, like the rest of us. Still, he persisted and was rewarded in November 1780 with a letter from Weishaupt. Knigge was a perfect candidate because of his ties inside and outside Freemasonry. For his part, Knigge was charmed by the attention and drawn to the order's proclaimed goals of educating people and shielding them against oppression. Moreover, Weishaupt recognized Knigge's interest in alchemy and the "higher sciences" and promised to promote them. In response to Weishaupt, Knigge laid out his ideas for reforming Freemasonry when the Strict Observance was beginning to doubt its history.
Before he could be admitted to the higher ranks of the order, Weishaupt put Knigge in charge of recruitment. Knigge agreed, but with the stipulation that he be given the freedom to select the recruitment locations. Many additional masons joined the Illuminati's Minerval grade after finding Knigge's depiction of the new masonic order appealing. At this point, Knigge seemed to respect the "Most Serene Superiors" Weishaupt said he served. To delay providing any assistance, Weishaupt assigned him an additional duty despite his embarrassing failure to explain anything about the upper degrees of the order. Because he was full of shit.
Knigge then created pamphlets documenting the actions of the illegal Jesuits, claiming to show how they continued to thrive and recruit, particularly in Bavaria, using material provided by Weishaupt. Finally, Knigge wrote to Weishaupt that his position was becoming damn near impossible because he couldn't offer his recruits any real answers to their question about the higher grades. Weishaupt finally broke down and admitted in January 1781 that his superiors and the purported antiquity of the order were bullshit and that the higher degrees had not yet been created as he faced the possibility of losing Knigge and his masonic recruits.
Knigge was unusually composed in response to Weishaupt's admittance, even though he was looking forward to learning the promised intricate Freemasonry secrets found in the upper degrees of the Illuminati. Weishaupt pledged to give Knigge complete creative control over the development of the higher degrees and to send him his own notes. Knigge, for his part, enjoyed the chance to express himself through the order. He asserted that his new strategy would increase the appeal of the Illuminati to potential members in Germany's Protestant counties. Knigge received a 50 florins advance from the Areopagus in November 1781 to travel to Bavaria, where he met and partied with fellow Illuminati members.
The order had now developed extensive internal divisions. In July 1780, the Eichstaedt command had formed an autonomous province, and a rift was growing between Weishaupt and the Areopagus. They found him stubborn, dictatorial, inconsistent, and obviously full of shit. As a result, Knigge was constantly thrown into the role of peacemaker.
In discussions with the Areopagus and Weishaupt, Knigge identified two problematic areas. First, Weishaupt's emphasis on recruiting university students meant that young men with little practical experience often had to fill senior positions in the order. Secondly, the anti-Jesuit ethos of the order at its inception had generally become anti-religious. Knigge knew it would be a problem recruiting the senior Freemasons that the order was looking to bring in. Knigge felt the stifling grip of conservative Catholicism in Bavaria and understood the anti-religious feelings that this produced in the liberal Illuminati. Still, he also saw the negative impression these feelings would provide in Protestant states, making the spread of the order in greater Germany much more difficult. The Areopagus and Weishaupt felt powerless to do anything less than give Knigge a free hand. He had the contacts within and outside of Freemasonry that they needed, and he had the skill as a ritualist to build their projected grade structure, where they had ground to a halt at Illuminatus Minor, with only the Minerval grade below and the merest sketches of higher grades. The only restrictions imposed were the need to discuss the inner secrets of the highest degrees and the necessity of submitting his new grades for approval.
Meanwhile, the scheme to propagate Illuminatism as a legitimate branch of Freemasonry had farted out. While Lodge Theodore was now in their control, a chapter of "Elect Masters" attached to it only had one member from the order and still had a constitutional superiority to the craft lodge controlled by the Illuminati. The chapter would be difficult to persuade to submit to the Areopagus and formed a real barrier to Lodge Theodore becoming the first mother-lodge of a new Illuminated Freemasonry. A treaty of alliance was signed between the order and the chapter, and by the end of January 1781, four daughter lodges had been created, but independence was not on the chapter's agenda.
Costanza wrote to the Royal York, pointing out the discrepancy between the fees dispatched to their new Grand Lodge and the returned service they had received. The Royal York, unwilling to lose the money they were bringing in, offered to confer Freemasonry's "higher" secrets on a representative that their Munich brethren would dispatch to Berlin. Accordingly, Costanza set off for Prussia on April 4, 1780, with instructions to negotiate a reduction in Theodore's fees while he was there. On the way, he argued with a Frenchman about a lady with whom they shared a carriage. The Frenchman sent a message ahead to the king sometime before they reached Berlin, calling Costanza a spy and having him arrested. He was only freed from prison with the help of the Grand Master of Royal York and was kicked out of Prussia, having accomplished fuck all.
Knigge's recruitment from German Freemasonry was far from random. He targeted the masters and wardens, the men who ran the lodges and were often able to place the entire club at the disposal of the Illuminati. For example, Baron de Witte, master of Constancy lodge in Aachen, caused every member to join the order. This way, the order expanded rapidly in central and southern Germany and obtained a foothold in Austria. Moving into the Spring of 1782, the handful of students who had started the order had swelled to about 300 members, with only 20 new recruits being students.
In Munich, the first half of 1782 saw considerable changes in the government of Lodge Theodore. In February, Weishaupt had offered to split the lodge, with the Illuminati going their own way and the chapter taking any remaining traditionalists into their continuation of Theodore. At this point, the chapter unexpectedly surrendered, and the Illuminati had complete control of the lodge and chapter. In June, both club and chapter sent letters severing relations with Royal York, citing their faithfulness in paying for their recognition and Royal York's failure to provide any instruction in the higher grades. Their neglect of Costanza, and inability to defend him from negative charges or prevent his expulsion from Prussia, were also brought up. They had made no effort to provide Costanza with the promised secrets, and the Munich masons now suspected that their brethren in Berlin relied on the mystical French higher grades which they sought to avoid. Lodge Theodore was now independent.
The Rite of Strict Observance was now in a critical state. Its leader was Prince Carl of Södermanland (later Charles XIII (13th) of Sweden), openly suspected of trying to absorb the rite into the Swedish Rite, which he already controlled. The German lodges looked to Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel for leadership. However, suspicion turned to open contempt when Carl regarded the Stuart heir to the British throne as the true GrandMaster, and the lodges of the Strict Observance all but ignored their Grand Master. This bullshit led to the Convent of Wilhelmsbad.
The last Strict Observance convention, postponed since October 15, 1781, eventually began on July 16, 1782, at the spa town of Wilhelmsbad, which is located outside of (and now a part of) Hanau. The 35 participants in a discussion about the future of the order knew that the Strict Observance in its current form was doomed. Also, the Convent of Wilhelmsbad would be a battle over the pieces between the Martinists, led by Jean-Baptiste Willermoz, and the German mystics, led by Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and their host Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel. Only Franz Dietrich von Ditfurth, and Johann Joachim Christoph Bode, objected to mystical higher grades. Ditfurth actively advocated for a return to the fundamental three degrees of Freemasonry, which was the convention's least likely choice. The mystics had previously developed logical replacement plans for the higher degrees.
(Martinism is a type of arcane Christianity and Christian mysticism that is focused on the fall of the first man, his material seclusion from his spiritual source, and the process of his return, known as "Reintegration.")
The Illuminati were able to promote themselves as a viable option since there wasn't an effective alternative to the two schools of mysticism. Knigge, who now had complete authority to speak for the order, encouraged and helped Ditfurth, who took on the role of their spokesperson. Weishaupt rejected Knigge's initial proposal to form an alliance between the two orders because he didn't see the benefit of working with a dying order. His new strategy was to enlist the masons opposed to the higher degree of "Templar" Strict Observance.
At the convent, Ditfurth prevented Willermoz and Hesse from introducing their own higher grades by demanding that the delegates be informed in full of such degrees. Due to their frustration, the German mystics enrolled Count Kollowrat in the Illuminati as a later affiliate. With no claims to additional masonic revelations, Ditfurth's goal was to replace all higher degrees with a single fourth degree. He left the convent early after finding no support for his proposal and reported to the Areopagus that he had no hopes for the gathering.
In an attempt to satisfy everybody, the Convent of Wilhelmsbad didn't achieve shit. They renounced the Templar origins of their ritual while retaining the Templar titles, trappings, and administrative structure. Charles of Hesse and Ferdinand of Brunswick remained at the head of the order, but the lodges were almost independent in practice. The Germans adopted the name of the French order of Willermoz, Les Chevaliers Bienfaisants de la Cité Sainte (Good Knights of the Holy City). Some Martinist mysticism was imported into the first three degrees, now the only essential degrees of Freemasonry. Crucially, individual lodges of the order were now allowed to mingle with clubs of other systems. The new "Scottish Grade" introduced with the Lyon ritual of Willermoz was not mandatory. Each province and prefecture was free to decide what, if anything, happened after the three craft degrees. Finally, the convent regulated etiquette, titles, and a new numbering for the provinces to show that something had been achieved.
The Strict Observance was ended by the Convent of Wilhelmsbad. Along with the higher degrees that bound its most significant and influential members, it rejected its founding tale. It eliminated the rigorous regulations that had maintained the order's cohesion and alienated many Germans who did not trust Martinism. Martinism repulsed Bode, who immediately began negotiating with Knigge before joining the Illuminati in January 1783. The following month, Charles of Hesse joined.
Knigge's first efforts at an alliance with the intact German Grand Lodges failed, but Weishaupt persisted. He proposed a new federation where all German lodges would practice an agreed, unified system in the essential three degrees of Freemasonry and be left to their own devices as to which, if any, system of higher degrees they wished to pursue. This would be a federation of Grand Lodges, and members would be free to visit any of the "blue" lodges in any jurisdiction. All lodge masters would be elected, and no fees would be paid to any central authority. Groups of lodges would be subject to a "Scottish Directorate" composed of members delegated by lodges to audit finances, settle disputes and authorize new lodges. These, in turn, would elect Provincial Directorates, who would elect inspectors, who would elect the national director. This system would correct the current imbalance in German Freemasonry, where masonic ideals of equality were preserved only in the lower three "symbolic" degrees. The various methods of higher degrees were dominated by the elite who could afford research in alchemy and mysticism. To Weishaupt and Knigge, the proposed federation was also a vehicle to propagate Illuminism throughout German Freemasonry. Their intention was to use their new union, with its emphasis on the fundamental degrees, to remove all allegiance to Strict Observance, allowing the "eclectic" system of the Illuminati to take its place.
The newsletter announcing the new federation outlined the faults of German Freemasonry; unsuitable men with money were often admitted based on their wealth, and the corruption of civil society had infected the lodges. Having advocated the deregulation of the higher grades of the German lodges, the Illuminati now announced their own from their "unknown Superiors." Lodge Theodore, newly independent from Royal York, set itself up as a provincial Grand Lodge. In a letter to all the Royal York lodges, Knigge now accused the Grand Lodge of corruption. Their Freemasonry had allegedly been corrupted by the Jesuits. Strict Observance was now attacked as a creation of the Stuarts, devoid of all moral virtue. The Zinnendorf rite of the Grand Landlodge of the Freemasons of Germany was suspect because its author was in league with the Swedes. This direct attack had the opposite effect to that intended by Weishaupt. It offended many of its readers. The Grand Lodge of the Grand Orient of Warsaw, which controlled Freemasonry in Poland and Lithuania, was happy to participate in the federation only as far as the first three degrees. Their insistence on independence had kept them from the Strict Observance and would now keep them from the Illuminati, whose plan to annex Freemasonry rested on their own higher degrees. By the end of January 1783, the Illuminati's masonic party had seven lodges.
It wasn't just the clumsy appeal of the Illuminati that left the federation short of members. Lodge Theodore was recently formed and did not command respect like the older lodges. Most of all, the Freemasons most likely to be attracted to the federation, saw the Illuminati as an ally against the mystics and Martinists. Moreover, they valued their freedom too highly to be caught in another restrictive organization. Even Ditfurth, the supposed representative of the Illuminati at Wilhelmsbad, had pursued his own agenda at the convent.
The non-mystical Frankfurt lodges created an "Eclectic Alliance," was almost indistinguishable in structure from the Illuminati's federation. Far from seeing this as a threat, the Illuminati lodges joined the new alliance after some discussion. Three Illuminati now sat on the committee that wrote the new masonic statutes. Aside from strengthening relations between their three lodges, the Illuminati seem to have gained no advantage from this maneuver. Ditfurth, having founded a masonic organization that worked towards his ambitions for Freemasonry, took little interest in the Illuminati after he adhered to the Eclectic Alliance. In reality, the Eclectic Alliance's creation undermined the Illuminati's plans to spread their own ideologies through Freemasonry.
The final decline of the Illuminati was brought about by the indiscretions of their own Minervals in Bavaria, and especially in Munich. Despite efforts by their superiors to curb loose talk, politically dangerous boasts of power and criticism of monarchy caused the "secret" order's existence to become common knowledge, along with the names of many important members. The presence of the Illuminati in positions of power now led to some public unease. There were Illuminati in many civic and state governing bodies. Despite their small number, there were claims that success in a legal dispute depended on the person's standing with the order. In addition, the Illuminati were blamed for several anti-religious publications appearing in Bavaria. Much of this criticism sprang from vindictiveness and jealousy, but it is clear that many Illuminati court officials gave preferential treatment to their brethren. In Bavaria, the energy of their two members of the Ecclesiastical Council had one of them elected treasurer. Their opposition to Jesuits resulted in the banned order losing key academic and Church positions. In Ingolstadt, the Jesuit heads of departments were replaced by Illuminati.
Alarmed, Charles Theodore and his government banned all secret societies, including the Illuminati. A government mandate dated March 2, 1785, "seems to have been a deathblow to the Illuminati in Bavaria." Weishaupt had fled. Documents and internal correspondence, seized in 1786 and 1787, were then published by the government in 1787. In addition, von Zwack's home was searched, and much of the group's literature was disclosed.
So, that was exhausting and supposedly all about the "real Illuminati," right? But, according to the www.illuminatiofficial.org website, this may not be the case.
"Since the formation of the Illuminati, many citizens have inaccurately portrayed our organization in a negative manner. These misconceptions have been perpetuated for centuries through videos, photos, articles, books, and unofficial online resources claiming to understand our mission and members. In creating this online destination, we strive to alleviate the concerns voiced by the people of this planet and provide insight into our goals and operations."
"Their Purpose"
"Ensuring the survival of over 7 billion humans is a daunting task. Our duty to this planet has spanned across centuries and survived even the most established government entities. To continue functioning throughout societal and generational changes, The Illuminati's operations often require anonymity for both our members and our work. In 2013, the Illuminati authorized the formation of the Department Of Citizen Outreach. Through various initiatives and campaigns, including this website, the modern Illuminati has committed itself to furthering our relationship with our citizens.You may not find us praised in any history book or document. However, the Illuminati has helped with every major movement on this planet since the first human government was established. Our work is often marked by distinct symbols as a means of tracing our influence through history for those wishing to investigate. With gentle guidance from our organization, the human species is allowed to function in their natural order while playing the part of gears in a machine for the betterment of the world."
Also, according to their website, they discuss the symbols of their cult… I mean organization.
"THE PYRAMID
In popular culture, a great amount of focus is placed on the Illuminati's belief that money is not evil. Some view our encouragement of work and wealth as a promotion of selfishness – overlooking the true meaning of the Pyramid and its underlying messages that motivate our diligence. In the tenets of the Illuminati, wealth is not simply a means of personal enrichment. Instead, money is a tool that can be used to fulfill each person's duty to the advancement of the human species. The selfish pursuit of money is a hollow goal, but the pursuit of the goodness that money can create is one of humanity's greatest responsibilities. The more money a person owns, the more ability they have to positively change the lives of those who are in need. If you are poor and of good heart, and your friend's house is burned in a fire, you will remain a good person but have no ability to help them with what they need the most. If the same house burns but you are rich, you can give your friend a place to stay and a new home because you have more than enough for yourself and anyone around you who needs it. Money has no feeling, no voice, and no soul – its choice between good or evil is decided by those who use it. Though it is not wrong to be poor, the celebration of poverty is rooted in selfishness. A person who is poor can save a life, but a person who is rich can build a hospital and save ten thousand. The poor can do little to help the poor, but the rich can help as many as they are able. If a person is rich, they have the opportunity to do good, but if they are poor they are unable to help anyone but themselves. Those with little can still do much. Money is merely paper and numbers that are traded for a person's time and effort. Therefore if a person does not have money, they can instead use their time and efforts to further the advancement of humanity – positive actions that are of equal value to any charitable donations. The greater a person's fortune, the greater their responsibility to their fellow humans. Like the Pyramid, those with the greatest power can do the greatest good for the largest number of those below them."
"THE EYE
We Are Always Watching Out For You
The human species is guarded and preserved by a coalition of its most elite members called the Illuminati. Since our origination, Illuminati members have guided Earth's most dominant creature through periods of interpersonal chaos, environmental outbreaks, and other mass attacks that threaten humanity with extinction. The human has made itself this planet's most dominant and advanced species. Even the weakest human is born master of the strongest of all other species on Earth. Through natural selection, every human generation is made of a genetic structure that is stronger and more advanced than the previous. Living humans evolve at a rapid pace, and can continue to advance in ability through study, practice, and a commitment to self-improvement. As a human absorbs knowledge and wisdom, some will experience their Awakening: a pivotal moment when their minds evolve to a level of understanding that is higher than the majority. They begin to see themselves as strings in a universal tapestry with a duty to uplift their fellow humans, and quickly understand the inner workings of wealth, power, and authority. Those who have experienced their Awakening often describe it as the moment their Eye was opened. The Illuminati is made of individuals who have reached this Awakening. Leaders, innovators, and other influential members of this planet have joined together to shape the face of human society and guide its masses into finding their own individual place in the Universal Design. To create a better world, unique beings with unique objectives and beliefs must forgo their differences and work together for the good of all. Progress requires cooperation. Humans must suppress their natural defensive selfishness and aid others who appear, believe, or act in ways that are different from themselves. Unfortunately, many humans are only concerned with their own wellbeing and thus cannot understand the positive intentions of a higher authority. Many would rather this planet remain in turmoil instead of following the directions that will lead them to happiness. Historically, the greatest enemies of human progression have been humans themselves. For this reason, those who have experienced their Awakening understand the need for it to remain secret – for their own safety and the ultimate good of a humanity that often does not know what is best for it. It is the Illuminati's responsibility to ensure the ongoing survival and advancement of the human species, so that all people, in all places, can live in Abundance."
"THE LIGHT
Follow The Light
Every human is guided by an inner compass that points toward the Light, revealing truth and direction when facing decisions. Given many names by spiritual leaders and unexplainable by science, the Light is an invisible guide that many believe has led them to joy, success, and lives of Abundance. It communicates directly to every human, urging them to strive for goodness and forgo their natural selfishness. All human religions and spiritual beliefs ultimately seek the Light in ways differing only in form and function. Some religions refer to the Light with a name, such as God or Elohim. The core of every religion is founded on the human species' innate desire to understand this invisible force. Even without a formal religious affiliation, every human is naturally drawn to the Light. Individual members of the Illuminati adhere to every variety of personal spiritual beliefs –– but by recognizing that all of our paths lead to the same destination, we find that the Light brings all people into an ultimate unity. There is no proof that a God exists but there is also no proof that a God does not.
The Illuminati's spiritual foundation is based upon this universal conundrum of faith and doubt. Our organization does not question whether a god does or does not exist but instead focuses on the betterment of the humans living on this planet. Though the human mind in its physical form is not capable of fully understanding the Light, conscious thought and intention reveal many of its inner workings and effects. By studying the wisdom of this planet's greatest minds, humans can discover ways to increase the Light's powerful influence in their lives. The Light, under many names, has been attributed to supernatural changes in the physical realm, including increases in wealth, power, prestige, health, and happiness.
Miracles, attraction, and the belief in unseen powers that can alter the physical world have some basis in truth. Though scientific advancements have explored both this planet's environment and the inner workings of the human mind, there are still countless mysteries that remain unsolved. Thus many occurrences that are attributed to the supernatural are merely the result of the human mind processing a concept it cannot explain naturally. Some humans attempt to form a deeper connection with the Light through rituals that have been passed down for centuries. Though these ceremonies often involve complicated steps and requirements, their true effect is not found in their directions or decorations but rather in the state of mind that results within its participants. Many of the Illuminati's traditions include rituals and oaths designed to explain higher concepts, and use the power of focused repetition to strengthen the ability of the human consciousness. The Illuminati prohibits rituals that include human or animal sacrifice. Learn More. A desire to understand the Light is an integral part of the path to illumination. By rising through the levels of illumination, Illuminati members discover more about their world and the true power that hides within their minds. Whatever you seek, whatever you dream, whatever you hope: all is possible if you follow the Light."
"THE ETERNAL CIRCLE
Every human is one part of a larger, eternal design – individual gears in a clock that has no end.
Your actions have the power to alter the future of the entire world.
Though you may not fully understand your purpose, your part is just as important as the greatest kings and queens of this planet. Some feel as though their temporary lack of wealth or influence makes them powerless to create change. But does a clockmaker favor the larger gears over the smaller? Does the hour hand become jealous of the minutes because it turns slower? Every part has a role in the functioning of a timepiece. Every part supports those around it in ways it may never see. Your absence would undo the order of our universe, even if you do not realize your importance. The world began before you and will continue after you, but it will be different because of the decisions you made. Every generation inherits the world left by the one before it, just as a king inherits the crown of his father. Your pursuit of wisdom and goodness could lay the foundation for your great-great-grandchild's rise into power – the same descendant who might steer a country from war and save lives by the millions. Did the ancestors of Aristotle or Alexander The Great know who their actions would create? Though you will never understand the full influence of your actions, the results of your dedication to humanity are still yours to claim. As you climb the great Pyramid seeking the Light at its top, you will look down and see that you are an integral part of our universe's most intricate mechanism. Though our human members may perish and fade into the annals of time, the Illuminati will continue to stand into eternity."
Why a secret society?
"Freedom is an idol of the human species.
The Illuminati operates in defense of you and all humans, in all places, and of all generations. Our duty to this planet has spanned across centuries and survived even the most established government entities. But the cultivation of trillions of human lives is a daunting responsibility, and while the human would not exist today without our protection, many uninformed masses mistake our guidance for a restriction of liberty.
Every human desires to be free of oppression, free of hardship, free of poverty, free of hunger, free of rules and laws — but as you understand, the nature of your species leaves true freedom impossible. Are you free to murder? Are you free to steal? Are others free to murder and steal from you? Or are there certain freedoms that must be given up for the benefit of all? For happiness, the human desires freedom; for prosperity, the human requires leadership. This is the reason behind our anonymity. To continue functioning throughout societal changes and generational differences, the Illuminati must remain behind the curtain — an outsider, belonging to none and loyal to all. You may never understand how your life can be free while guided by our organization. You may never fully comprehend our purpose and why you are safest and happiest with us. Simply open your mind and release your apprehensions, and you will find the relief of truth. We will never take your hand and pull you down the path like a slave to our whims. You must find and travel the road on your own. But your quality of life is our greatest concern, and the reason our symbols are placed in your society as a map for you to follow if you desire."
What about the modern-day "Illuminati" or "New World Order?"
According to an article from theweek.co.uk,
In a 2017 interview with the BBC, David Bramwell, "a man who has dedicated himself to documenting the origins of the myth," said the modern-day Illuminati legend was influenced not by Weishaupt but rather by LSD, the 1960s counter-culture, and specifically a text called Principia Discordia.
The book praised an alternative belief system – Discordianism – which preached a form of anarchism and gave birth to the Discordian movement, which ultimately wished to cause civil disobedience through practical jokes and hoaxes.
One of the leading proponents of this new ideology was a writer called Robert Anton Wilson, who wanted to bring chaos back into society by "disseminating misinformation through all portals – through counter-culture, through the mainstream media," claims Bramwell.
He did this by sending fake letters to the men's magazine Playboy, where he worked, attributing cover-ups and conspiracy theories, such as the JFK assassination, to a secret elite organization called the Illuminati.
Wilson turned these theories into a book, The Illuminatus Trilogy, which became a surprise cult success and was even made into a stage play in Liverpool, launching the careers of British actors Bill Nighy and Jim Broadbent.
What is the New World Order?
The idea of a powerful modern Illuminati conspiring to rule the world remained a niche belief a handful of enthusiasts upheld until the 1990s.
The internet changed all that, giving conspiracy theorists a global platform to perpetuate their beliefs and present their evidence to a massive audience.
Theories about how the New World Order operates run from relatively straightforward ideas to the outright bizarre.
Conspiracy theorists obsessively analyze public events for "evidence" of Illuminati influence. The symbols most associated with the Illuminati include triangles, pentagrams, goats, the all-seeing eye – such as the one that appears on U.S. banknotes - and the number 666.
This has led to claims some of the American Founding Fathers were members, with Thomas Jefferson accused in the aftermath of the War of Independence.
Another commonly cited Illuminati symbol, which appears on U.S. currency, is the so-called Eye of Providence, which is said to represent the omniscience of God watching over humanity.
According to a 2013 survey by Public Policy Polling, 28% of U.S. voters believe that a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian global government. In addition, it found that 34% of Republicans and 35% of independents believe in the New World Order threat compared to just 15% of Democrats.
Who is supposedly a member?
As well as being king and queen of the charts, Beyonce and Jay-Z are frequently depicted as lords of the New World Order. Beyonce's immense fame and popularity have long made her a favorite target for conspiracy theorists.
Illuminati "experts" seized upon her half-time performance at the 2013 Super Bowl as an example of her "devil-worshipping" choreography, even accusing her on-stage alter ego Sasha Fierce of being a "demonic entity."
However, some musicians enjoy deliberately playing with symbols connected to secret societies.
For instance, Rihanna frequently incorporates Illuminati images into her music videos and even joked about the theories in the video for S&M, which featured a fake newspaper with a headline declaring her "Princess of the Illuminati."
Jay Z has also been accused of hiding secret symbols such as goat imagery and devil horns in his music videos. But, most damningly, the logo for his music label, Roc-A-Fella Records, is a pyramid – one of the most well-known Illuminati logos.
Rob Brotherton, a professor at Barnard College and author of Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe in Conspiracy Theories, explains that real-life government conspiracies targeting black people in America, such as FBI infiltration of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 60s, planted the seeds for Illuminati theory's popularity among hip-hop artists and fans.
Speaking to Complex, he said: "Hip-hop served as this [soapbox] for people to talk about issues that were relevant to them, things like discrimination, poverty, the criminal justice system, which are often seemingly slanted against African-Americans".
"It's a short leap to go from noticing some kind of injustice to thinking about whether there's something behind it. Hip-hop was just a good candidate to revive this myth," he says.
What do celebrities have to say about the theories?
Katy Perry told Rolling Stone in 2014 that the theory was the preserve of "weird people on the internet" but admitted she was flattered to be named among the supposed members: "I guess you've kind of made it when they think you're in the Illuminati!" However, she added she was tolerant of people who wanted to believe in the theory because: "I believe in aliens."
On the other hand, Madonna might just be a believer – all the more interesting given that she has frequently been accused of being a member herself. Speaking to Rolling Stone, she hinted that she had secret knowledge of the group. The claim is not so shocking given that she released a single titled 'Illuminati.' She said: "People often accuse me of being a member of the Illuminati, but the thing is, I know who the real Illuminati are."
In 2016, Beyonce thrilled her fans by unexpectedly releasing a new single, Formation, in February – but conspiracy theorists were excited for another reason. The very first line of the track acknowledged the rumors: "Y'all haters corny with that Illuminati mess."
When Prince died suddenly of an accidental overdose in April of the same year, a small but vocal corner of the internet accused the Illuminati of killing the singer-songwriter, who was famous for fiercely protecting his copyrights and artistic freedom from industry interference.
"The Illuminati talk won't stop coming and what doesn't help is that Prince himself seems to have been genuinely convinced that the organisation existed," reports one gossip website.
In 2009, the singer appeared on T.V. to warn of influential mystery figures controlling the world through "chemtrails" – chemicals pumped into the air via jet planes to manipulate human behavior.
Some other conspiracies are
. The Illuminati killed Paul Walker.
After starring in 7 films in the Fast and Furious franchise, Paul Walker fans were shocked by his ironic death in 2013. He was the passenger in a Porsche that careened out of control and crashed into a pole — or so the media said. But if you ask conspiracy theorists, the Illuminati is actually to blame.
According to the YouTuber known as Shane, the Illuminati murdered Walker after he threatened to expose the group. The story goes that Walker was involved in charity work when he came across a bunch of wrongdoings like embezzlement behind the scenes that he wanted to go public with. But, of course, the Illuminati couldn’t let that happen and took him out via drone strike.
The Illuminati killed JFK.
History buffs know JFK died after being shot twice by Lee Harvey Oswald, but many people aren’t convinced. According to TIME, 70% of Americans believe the assassination is part of something way bigger… So did the Illuminati have something to do with it? According to The Conspiracy Zone, the answer is ABSO FUCKIN LUTELY.
Their evidence is fascinating: JFK was shot in a triangle. ‘John Kennedy’ has 11 letters in it. The assassination date (11/22/63) includes multiples of 11. His limo was traveling 11 miles an hour… the list goes on.
Why would the Illuminati want JFK dead? Apparently, JFK planned on bringing U.S. troops home from Vietnam and wanted to end the Federal Reserve to end the national debt, which would take away the Illuminati’s control over the country. He was killed just days after replacing Federal Reserve Notes. Conspiracy theorists have pointed to audio from the day of his assassination that proves there was more than one shooter, as well as a bullet trajectory that doesn’t match that of Oswald’s position.
Kesha’s song ‘Die Young’ is an Illuminati anthem.
Theorists say Kesha’s music also addresses the secret society, whose symbols abound in her early music videos. Take, for example, the video for ‘Die Young:
The Illuminati symbolism is so blatant that even Billboard called it out, referencing the numerous triangles, an upside-down cross, and all-seeing one eye. The video even begins with a flashing skull and crossbones. According to conspiracy theorist The Vigilant Citizen, “Illuminati symbols are becoming more prevalent because that was the plan all along: To gradually make them part of popular culture.” Oh boy.
Lady Gaga is an “Illuminati puppet.”
Lady Gaga is another pop star rumored to be part of the Illuminati. Again, theorists call out the overt symbolism in her videos and persona, calling it a “tribute to mind control.” They say her stage name ‘Gaga’ refers to being totally absent-minded, which can be achieved through mind control. Furthermore, in her early days, many of her videos were rife with triangles and all-seeing eye symbolism.
However, some say her newest project proves that she’s broken free from the Illuminati. After a little hiatus, she boasts a more subdued, realistic image and more meaningful, artistic music. So, then, why didn't they just kill her?
In an appearance at Harvard, Gaga talked about how unhappy she was in the entertainment industry. She calls herself a ‘Stefanie/Gaga hybrid,’ which Illuminati theorists saw as proof that she became an alternate, demonic personality under Illuminati control. She also says she disliked “being used to make people money,” another potential dig as being an “Illuminati puppet.”
Donald Trump is an Illuminati mind controller.
If all of these stars are under Illuminati mind control, who’s doing the controlling? Aside from alleged Illuminati king Jay-Z, Donald Trump’s hand signals reveal his status as a top Illuminati member. While using your hands when you talk is normal, conspiracy theorists say Trump’s rather odd gestures are secret messages.
The classic “a-ok” symbol apparently means the devil’s number ‘666.’ However, he also frequently makes the triangle symbol with his hands when he’s at ease — which could be the same Illuminati gesture Jay-Z always makes or a reference to the vagina.
The Kanye West/Kim Kardashian/Taylor Swift feud was fabricated by the Illuminati.
Apparently, when West humiliated Swift on stage at the 2009 VMAs, he welcomed her to the Illuminati.
As we know, they’ve managed to keep the feud in the media for years. While most people have begun to agree that anything these people do is just for publicity, according to The Vigilant Citizen, it’s actually an Illuminati “psychological operation” aimed at kids “to precondition them to start believing in fabricated events.”
OK, lastly, let’s talk about the lizard Illuminati.
David Icke, the nut job conspiracy theorist, is the leading proponent of this theory.
This should explain it from an article on Time.com,
They are among us. Blood-drinking, flesh-eating, shape-shifting extraterrestrial reptilian humanoids with only one objective in their cold-blooded little heads: to enslave the human race. They are our leaders, corporate executives, beloved Oscar-winning actors, and Grammy-winning singers. They're responsible for the Holocaust, the Oklahoma City bombings, and the 9/11 attacks ... at least according to former BBC sports reporter David Icke, who became the poster human for the theory in 1998 after publishing his first book, The Biggest Secret, which contained interviews with two Brits who claimed members of the royal family are nothing more than reptiles with crowns. (Picture Dracula meets Swamp Thing).
The conspiracy theorist and New Age philosopher, who wore only turquoise for a time and insisted on being called Son of God-Head, says these "Annunaki" (the reptiles) have controlled humankind since ancient times; they count among their number Queen Elizabeth, George W. Bush, Henry Kissinger, Bill and Hillary Clinton and Bob Hope. Encroaching other conspiracy theorists' territory, Icke even claims that the lizards are behind secret societies like the Freemasons and the Illuminati. Since earning the dubious title of "paranoid of the decade" in the late 1990s, Icke has written several books on the topic, including his latest work, The David Icke Guide to the Global Conspiracy, while operating his own website — complete with merchandise and advertisements.
The Top Ten Illuminati Movies
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Imagine the scene:
A serial murderer is guided by a specific “code” that kills only those who are guilty. He has access to crime scenes as a blood splatter analyst for the Miami police, gathering information and analyzing DNA to confirm a target’s guilt before killing them.
Sound familiar? It should, it’s the premise of the TV show, “Dexter.”
Ah, yes, Dexter. I love that show. We figured we would talk about the life of Dexter even though Logan, of course, has never seen it. Jk.
Obviously, murder is never acceptable, right? It’s the worst crime we can commit against one another, right? But what if, someone who didn’t believe in the “thou shall not kill” premise decided to murder someone you love? What if someone raped or beat someone you love? What if a child was purposefully abused, raped, or arguably worse, murdered? Does that horrendous situation change the narrative? Would you, COULD YOU, take the life of the person or persons responsible for your now substantial and debilitating loss? I want you to honestly think about that as we go through today’s episode.
Bottom line, do specific human piles of shit DESERVE TO DIE?
Pedro Rodrigues Filho, or Killer Petey, is a Brazilian serial murderer. He was convicted and is notorious for hunting out and murdering only criminals as a teenager, between the ages of 14 and 19, particularly an entire gang in retaliation for the killing of his pregnant girlfriend.
He served 34 years in prison before being released in 2007, having been formally imprisoned for 71 murders but claimed to have killed over 100 drug traffickers, rapists, and murderers. Filho was initially sentenced to eight more years in jail in 2011 on accusations of inciting violence and deprivation of liberty. However, he was released in 2018 after serving seven years on the condition that he behaved himself. Nevertheless, he murdered 47 inmates inside the prisons where he was held captive, most of whom were rapists.
Since his second release from prison in 2018, when he declared himself to be reformed from his self-declared vigilantism as a youth and committed to not committing any more crimes, Filho has gained notoriety as a YouTube personality in Brazil. He runs the channel Pedrinho EX Matador, later renamed 2P Entretenimento, where he comments on current crimes and teaches the general public that committing crimes is not something to be proud of.
South of Minas Gerais in Santa Rita do Sapuca, on a farm, Rodrigues was born. His father was abusive and, all in all, a piece of shit and had kicked his mother’s belly during a fight while she was pregnant, leaving the poor unborn child with a bruised skull.
In a quarrel with an older relative at age 13, he shoved the young man into a sugar cane press, nearly killing him, and had pondered leaving him there to die before deciding to save him. He claimed that this was the first time he had felt the urge to kill.
When Filho was fourteen years old, his father was accused of stealing food from the high school kitchen where he worked as a security guard, resulting in him losing his job. In vengeance, Filho killed the vice-mayor of Alfenas with Filho’s Grandfather’s shotgun, as he was the one who fired his father. A month later, he killed another guard at the school whom he believed to be the real thief.
On the run, Rodrigues took refuge in Mogi das Cruzes, Greater São Paulo, where he began robbing drug dens and killing drug traffickers, making him a celebrity in the news media as the vigilante “Pedrinho Matador” (Lil’ Petey Killer). Filho killed one of the gang leaders in the area he was ransacking. After killing the gang leader, he took over his role and began running the same gang, almost like a Riddick moment where you keep what you kill.
During this time, he met a woman named Maria Aparecida Olympia, nicknamed Botinha. After they found out they were pregnant, Filho proposed! So awesome to see that this man, with what could be perceived as a savage beast-like mentality, actually has a pretty big heart.
Unfortunately, a rival gang leader brutally murdered Filho’s fiancee during Olympia’s pregnancy.
After finding out about the murder, Filho kind of went full John Wick. He and a few of his friends went to the wedding of the rival gang member. The hit squad brutally massacred all involved in the death of his soon-to-be wife and the mother of his child. He killed 7 at the wedding and injured 16 more. All of this came after Filho went on a torture spree to find out who was involved initially. We don’t know precisely how many were killed or hurt leading up to this point. Dudes an absolute monster and gave zero fucks.
Speaking of giving zero fucks, the boyfriend of Filho's favorite cousin knocked her up! Pretty exciting news. Except for the fact that the boyfriend refused to marry her, so… Filho shot and killed him.
Remember how we mentioned that Filho’s Father was a piece of shit? Well, it gets worse. A few months after the massacre at the wedding, Filho found out that his mother had been killed. By his father. Who had butchered and dismembered her with a machete. After his father was committed to prison, Filho went and paid him a visit! While at the conjugal, Filho stabbed him 22 times! Not only did he kill his father, but he carved his heart out of him and took a rather large bite out of it. Amazing that he still somehow doesn’t have any jail time or was even caught! Brazil, what’s up down there?
Well, after a few years of Filho continuing his lifestyle of a gang leader, it’s known that he killed a few more before good old Johnny Law caught up to him in 1973. After he was sentenced to 126 years in prison, he was transported in a police car with another inmate, where he supposedly murdered him in the police car.
Filho served only 34 years, however, while in prison. This is because the maximum time a criminal can serve is thirty years when convicted, according to Brazilian law. This was later changed to 40 years in 2019.
While in prison, he didn’t slow down much on the killing. He murdered 47 other criminals serving time in the same prison as him. They were the worst of the worst, though. Murderers, rapists, sex traffickers, etc. That’s valiant, right?
But being a killer of killers creates a pretty strong and bad reputation among other criminals. Especially when most of the prison population has that on their rap sheet. So he made some enemies while there.
He was ambushed by some of these people. During the ambush, he killed three of his attackers and injured the other two. One bad motherfucker.
He was up for release in 2003 but because of the murders within the prison, he was given an extra four years. But he only murdered bad guys. I mean, there was just the one-off murder of his cellmate because he snored too loud, but I mean, come on, who hasn't thought about that? No? Just me? Hmm. Anyways. He did mention that he enjoyed a few of the murders just because they were terrible people, and he wanted to kill them.
He was formally let free on April 24, 2007, but on September 15, 2011, he was detained at his home and later found guilty of riot and false imprisonment. He acknowledged that the fact that his girlfriend was not in jail was his primary reason for wanting to be released. However, he was ultimately sentenced to 128 years for these offenses.
Filho was released in 2018 due to Brazil’s repeal of the law stating that those with a diagnosis of psychopathy can be imprisoned indefinitely and that the country’s maximum penalty is 30 years. Since then, he has created a YouTube channel where he shares his experiences. In addition, he tries to teach others to not follow in his footsteps.
So let’s sum this guy up:
Most of the time, Filho hunted down the various types of offenders he wanted to kill by looking up their names and addresses. He then brutally killed them in several methods. However, he admitted that his preferred method was to hack or stab them to death with swords. Usually, when he learned of a crime, that prompted him to take action. When driven by rage rather than thrill, he would occasionally capture criminals (usually professional criminals and drug dealers) and torture them to death. He sometimes modified his approach by following the path taken by his victims when they committed their own crimes, such as when he murdered his father or when he murdered seven people in one day.
Now how about we look at some other folks with the same motifs? Now they may not have as extensive of a rap sheet as Filho, but these following people had decided to make it known for taking justice into their own hands when the Justice system didn’t seem to do enough for them.
Marianne Bachmeier
She was a struggling single mother who learned with horror that her daughter Anna, age 7, had died. The girl missed school on May 5, 1980, and somehow ended up at the home of Klaus Grabowski, a 35-year-old butcher who lived next door. Later, a cardboard box containing Anna’s remains was discovered on the side of a nearby canal. Grabowski was detained very quickly after his fiancée called the police to report the incident since he already had a criminal record for child abuse. Grabowski argued that he hadn’t sexually molested the little girl before killing her, even after confessing to the crime.
Instead, Grabowski made the strange claim that the young girl had attempted to “blackmail” him by saying she would tell her mother he had assaulted her if he didn’t give her money. Grabowski further claimed that the primary motivation for his decision to kill the kid in the first place was this alleged “blackmailing.”
The murder of Marianne Bachmeier’s daughter had already infuriated her. But when the murderer related this tale, she grew even more irate. She was determined to get retribution when the man was put on trial a year later.
At Grabowski’s 1981 trial in the Lübeck district court, his defense claimed that since he had been deliberately castrated for his crimes years earlier, he had only committed the offense due to a hormone imbalance.
The third day of the trial was Bachmeier’s breaking point. She concealed a .22-caliber Beretta handgun in her handbag, took it out in the courtroom, and fired eight shots at the murderer. Grabowski received six rounds of fire before passing away in a pool of blood on the courthouse floor. Bachmeier reportedly responded, “I wanted to kill him,” according to Judge Guenther Kroeger.
Although it was evident from the several witnesses and Bachmeier’s comments that it was indeed her who killed Grabowski, she was shortly placed on trial for the crime. She said, “He killed my daughter... I meant to shoot him in the face but I shot him in the back... I hope he’s dead.”
With some celebrating Bachmeier as a hero and others denouncing her conduct, the “Revenge Mother” case swiftly gained notoriety in Germany. Before shooting Grabowski, Bachmeier said that she saw visions of Anna in the trial and could no longer stand for him to misrepresent her daughter. She allegedly sold her story to Stern magazine to pay her defense lawyers for $158,000.
In the end, the courts found Bachmeier guilty in 1983 of deliberate manslaughter. For her acts, she received a six-year prison term.
Jason Vukovich
Unlike other real-life vigilantes, Jason Vukovich’s search for justice began years before he set out to pursue it. Vukovich, born to a single mother in Anchorage, Alaska, on June 25, 1975, was quickly adopted by his mother’s new husband, Larry Fulton. Fulton seemed devout in public, but in reality, he molested Vukovich during his nightly “prayer sessions.”
Vukovich and his brother were often beaten with belts and pieces of wood in addition to sexual torture. And to make matters worse, Fulton got away with all these horrific offenses, which infuriated Vukovich. As a result, Vukovich, who fled terrified at 16, spent years getting by on narcotics and small-time thievery.
He returned to Alaska in 2008, but his desire to get revenge on pedophiles like Fulton didn’t go away. It culminated in 2016. Vukovich started by browsing the neighborhood sex offenders list. He then attacked and stole from three of the guys on the list as the last act.
In June 2016, Vukovich went after the three guys. Targeting Albee first, he drove to the residences of Andres Barbosa, Charles Albee, and Wesley Demarest. Then, on the morning of June 24, Vukovich broke into the man’s house and smacked the 68-year-old before robbing him and fleeing.
Two days later, he approached Barbosa in a very identical manner. However, he arrived at the door at 4 a.m. this time. He assaulted Barbosa with a punch to the face, stole his truck, and fled the scene with two female accomplices and a hammer. Demarest was instructed to get on his knees as Vukovich struck him in the fucking face with a hammer.
Vukovich claimed, “I am an angel of vengeance. “I’m going to administer justice to those you injured.”
Shortly after, the hammer, stolen items, and a notepad with the names of the persons in it were all discovered by police on Vukovich who was hiding in a nearby car. As a result, 18 charges of assault, robbery, burglary, and theft were brought against him. He decidedly took a plea deal.
According to allthatsintersting.com, in 2018, Vukovich was sentenced to 28 years in prison, after which the judge stated that “vigilantism won’t be accepted in our society.”
Vukovich has since expressed regret for his actions and urged others in his position not to follow in his footsteps: “I began my life sentence many, many years ago, it was handed down to me by an ignorant, hateful, poor substitute for a father. I now face losing most of the rest of my life due to a decision to lash out at people like him. To all those who have suffered like I have, love yourself and those around you, this is truly the only way forward.”
Gary Plauché
Now I’m pretty sure we all already know this story, but it fits the agenda of what we share.
Jeff Doucet, a 25-year-old karate teacher in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, enjoyed the total confidence of his young pupils and their parents. But on February 19, 1984, when Doucet took Jody Plauché, then 11 years old, for what was intended to be a 15-minute automobile journey, that confidence was horribly betrayed.
When their son didn’t come home that day, Gary and June Plauché became quite concerned—and with good reason. Doucet had taken their small boy hostage and was transporting him to the West Coast. Before booking a room at a hotel in Anaheim, California, Doucet shaved his beard and colored Jody’s hair to ward off suspicion.
The youngster was repeatedly assaulted there by Doucet until he eventually gave Jody permission to phone his parents. Jody was returned to his family after the police quickly tracked down the call and apprehended Doucet. In the meantime, Gary Plauché, Jody’s father, traveled to the Baton Rouge airport to meet Doucet at arrivals and murder him.
Plauché drew a .38 pistol from his boot on March 16, 1984, as soon as he spotted Doucet at the airport. He had been talking to a friend on the other end of a payphone while waiting for Doucet to show up. Even saying, “Look out, he’s coming. A shot is soon to be heard. The subsequent gunshot was recorded on tape since television cameras were filming.
Plauché had murdered the abuser of his kid, shooting a hollow-point bullet into Doucet’s head from three feet away. Later, he was put on trial for murder, but the judge sitting on the opposing side of the courtroom was lenient. As a result, Plauché was shortly released after receiving a sentence of seven years with a suspended term, five years of probation, and 300 hours of community service.
Jody Plauché, on the other hand, took a while to comprehend all the trauma that had occurred to him at a young age. "I was outraged with what my father did after the incident," Jody said. “I did not want Jeff killed. I felt like he was going to go to jail, and that was enough for me.”
He continued, “But my parents, they didn’t force me into recovery. They kind of let me recover at my own pace, and it took a while… but I was able to work through it and eventually accept my dad back in my life.” Jody eventually turned his experience into a book titled Why, Gary, Why?.
Tityana Coppage
Tityana Coppage is a woman from Kansas City, Missouri. She was known as a strong woman who tried to help and lead her family as a young adult.
She was only 21 when she lost her brother – and it wasn’t the first loss her family had to come to terms with.
Her family was extended to several younger brothers with different last names who she cared for equally and passionately.
The brother she lost was Jayson Ugwuh Jr. He was a 16-year-old high school student who loved basketball and rap. He was a bright, cheerful kid despite knowing personal tragedies from mere years beforehand.
He was gunned down in public on January 10 while walking with some of his friends.
A car came up, opened fire, and then sped away. What provoked the incident remained a mystery. The only solid fact was that Jayson Jr. was the primary victim.
Tityana and Jayson both endured a shocking loss in 2016 when a drive-by shooting claimed the lives of her young brother Jayden Ugwuh and younger cousin Montell Ross.
The boys were just 9 and 8, respectively, at the time of death. Jayson was present for the shooting and held his little brother Jayden as he faded and died from the bullet wounds.
The killer was never found. Tityana was only 16 when the incident occurred, leaving her mentally changed.
A few days before the killing of Lars, Coppage posted a tribute to her brother on Facebook.
The post read: “I tried to shield y’all from everything I had to witness as a kid. I supported anything and everything you wanted to do in life. I tried to give you the best so you wouldn’t have to look for fake love in the streets,” she wrote in the January 11 post. “I worked hard and long hours to keep a roof over y’all head, nice clothes and shoes on y’all feet refrigerator full of groceries. The streets didn’t rise y’all I did this sh*t 10 toes down. I was at those games as much as I could, I was paying for your studio time for your trips no matter the cost. All I wanted is to see you happy finish school and make it to the top. But some how I still failed you. This wasn’t you Jayson you was so sweet so quite a honorable young man why didn’t you just hear me out I only wanted more time with you that’s all.”
The object of Tityana’s vengeance was Keith Lars. Just two days after her brother's death and burial, she gathered as much evidence as possible to affirm the identity of her brother’s murderer.
She traced him as the car owner that carried the gunman who killed her brother and armed herself before they met. Lars didn’t go down quietly.
They exchanged gunfire, but Tityana came alive and left Lars dead in his car in the parking lot in the city’s northeast section.
Court records state that Lars was found in the back of a Toyota near Virginia Avenue and Admiral Boulevard in Kansas City on January 13, with officers determining that the shooting had occurred close to the 500 block of Benton Boulevard.
At that scene, police found 23 shell casings from two types of bullets. 8
were .45 caliber, and 15 were 9mm.
Was Tityana just an ordinary woman pushed beyond the brink to perform such a murderous act?
She had already seen injustice win with the still-unsolved deaths of her young siblings, and she didn’t have enough trust in the system to properly avenge her brother’s death.
She assumed the guilt of Lars and got in contact with someone called “Auntie” to arm herself with a .45 pistol, saying “I used to many on Bro!”
The fact that multiple gunshots were fired proves she was an amateur with a firearm.
Thanks to witnesses who came forward and surveillance footage in the parking lot where the murder took place, authorities quickly identified Coppage. They arrested her for the murder, booking her into Jackson County Jail on a $200,000 bond.
Evidence was quickly collected against Coppage, and she did not deny the charges.
She insisted that she got justice for her dead brother, even going as far as to text his cell phone to assure him that she was sending his killer to him.
At the time, no formal evidence was collected, or investigations were pending towards Lars as the suspect, though he was armed and did drive the same, or very similar, truck seen at Jayson’s murder scene.
She admitted during questioning that she knew Lars would be in the parking lot when she shot him. However, Tityana initially claimed that the murder was accidental and that she only shot him in self-defense because he fired his weapon at her first.
Coppage was spurred toward Lars by members of her community who seemed to indicate a shared but hushed knowledge of events that led to her brother’s death.
The police weren’t able to corroborate as much in their reporting. So all anyone seemed to know was that Lars may as well have been guilty and could have had his own criminal history.
Therefore, the extended family of the community assisted Coppage’s vigilante act she grew up around.
Coppage does not deny what she did or why and is charged with second-degree murder, which is murder without premeditation or planning.
By her admission, she fired her gun at the vehicle with Lars in it, but she claimed that he fired first and her weapon was meant for protection.
She was celebratory over his death, particularly over vengeance, meaning she went there assuming he was guilty and was armed to act.
Coppage contacted Lars before the meeting to tell him she was coming to ask questions.
She claimed to call him to try and settle differences between him and her father, knowing that if she didn’t take action, he absolutely would.
COPPAGE TEXTED HER DECEASED BROTHER AFTER KILLING LARS AS WELL.
The message sent to Her brother’s phone read: “I owe em that body,” according to an affidavit. This message and the ones sent to “Auntie” led authorities to file murder charges.
Rap artists DaBaby and 42 Dugg made public posts on Instagram voicing solidarity and have reached out to pay $20,000 each of her bond as support.
She is currently awaiting trial.
Jorge Porto-Sierra
Ok, so here we have someone that TECHNICALLY didn’t kill anyone, but that wasn’t for lack of trying.
When authorities responded to the scene at the Friendly Village Inn & Motel on U.S. Route 192 in Florida in 2018, witnesses recalled seeing Jorge shout, “I’m going to kill you, child molester,” as he drenched the property in gasoline with a cigarette in his hand.
Porto-Sierra then returned to the parking lot and attacked two individuals sitting in their car. After that, he rammed his Ford Focus into their vehicle and poured gasoline into it through an open window.
Just as Porto-Sierra was preparing to set the car on fire, police arrived on the scene. He was quickly surrounded and told to surrender.
The 50-year-old Porto-Sierra admitted that he had planned to “barbecue all the child molesters on fire and kill them.” However, when police asked him why he didn’t, Porto-Sierra claimed that the police had arrived too fast for him to do so.
Authorities soon discovered that at least two of the men Porto-Sierra targeted were indeed convicted, sex offenders. One man had been standing outside his room when Porto-Sierra leaped out of his car and launched into a tirade, prompting him to rush inside his room.
“They raped kids, they are all child molesters that all live here and deserve to die,” Porto-Sierra later said as he justified his actions to the police.
While the Friendly Village Inn & Motel is indeed a popular place for convicted sex offenders (because it’s far away from schools and playgrounds), and at least two of Porto-Sierra’s targets were known sex offenders, the real-life vigilante still broke the law and thus found himself arrested for his actions.
As of 2020, Porto-Sierra is being held on no bond at the Osceola County Jail and charged with 4 counts of attempted murder.
André Bamberski
Andre was born to Polish immigrants in France in the 1930s. He was in the thick of the war that affected him growing up. Later, Andre became a chartered accountant and married Danièle Gonnin, having two kids. However, at the time of the incident, Andre and Danièle were divorced, and the latter was married to Dieter Krombach, a doctor, in Lindau, Germany.
Danièle initially told Andre that Dieter believed Kalinka died due to a heat stroke or the effects of a concussion from a few years prior. However, Andre wasn’t so sure. Dieter had stated that on the morning of Kalinka’s death, he had found her in bed, unresponsive; rigor mortis had already set in. However, Dieter tried to revive her by injecting her with a nervous system stimulant and two other stimulants. But that didn’t work, and Kalinka was dead.
The autopsy report read by Andre later showed that Kalinka had blood around her torn vagina. Inside, there was a whitish substance that was never tested. Besides injection marks on her arms, Kalinka had undigested food in her stomach. Experts later believed she died from asphyxiation from regurgitating her own food. All of this left Andre with only one theory: Dieter was responsible for the death.
Andre believed Dieter raped and then killed Kalinka with an injection, possibly to keep her from talking about it. While the German prosecution closed the case, saying Kalinka died of natural causes, Andre didn’t give up, following Dieter across Europe for years to bring him to justice. About a year after Kalinka’s death, Andre went to Lindau, handing out fliers accusing Dieter of murder. He was arrested and then fined and sentenced in absentia.
However, that didn’t stop Andre. He then prodded the French authorities, eventually leading to Kalinka’s body’s exhumation; she was a French citizen. This time, it was revealed that her genitals had been missing since the autopsy, and there was no trace of them. Andre’s work paid off when a French court convicted Dieter in absentia of violence, bringing on death without intention to do so, and sentenced him to 15 years.
But with Germany refusing extradition, Dieter essentially remained a free man for many years. Then, in 1997, Dieter was convicted of raping a 16-year-old in his clinic. He received a two-year suspended sentence in addition to his license being revoked. But a couple of years later, Dieter moved around and worked in several clinics by providing a photocopy of his license as proof.
Andre didn’t give up, even hiring private detectives to find out what Dieter was up to. He said, “All my friends and family, including my father, told me to quit it at this point. They said, ‘You’re not going to achieve anything.’ But I’m a Slav, you see, and the Slavs are very emotional. I cried all the time when I thought about Kalinka. It was a question for me of moral duty. That was the most important thing: to get the truth.”
While Dieter received a 26-month prison sentence, he was released early, and Andre learned he was back to work yet again. Andre then resolved to bring Dieter to France in any way possible. He was in Bregenz, Austria, hoping to look for more information about Dieter in Scheidegg, Germany. Andre talked about kidnapping Dieter and eventually heard from Anton Krasniqi, who agreed to help him. In October 2009, Dieter was taken from his house by Anton and two other accomplices and left outside a building in Mulhouse, France, paving the way for Dieter’s trial.
While Dieter’s pattern of drugging and raping women came to light, he was sentenced to 15 years behind bars. As for Andre, he admitted to knowing about the kidnapping plot but insisted he wasn’t involved in the actual act. In June 2014, he was found guilty of ordering the kidnap and received a one-year suspended sentence. In the end, Andre was happy with the result. He believed that he had kept his promise to Kalinka about giving her justice.
Regarding why Dieter would kill Kalinka, Andre said, “Kalinka had asked to move back to Toulouse, and to no longer stay with Krombach. She was about to escape from him: That could have been a motive. But one will never know. One can never know.” Andre quit his full-time job in 1999 to dedicate himself to bringing Dieter to justice. Through it all, he was supported by his partner (also called Danièle) for several years. Now in his 80s, Andre seems to live in Toulouse, France, and enjoying some much-needed time off.
This one is a DOOZY!
Drąsius Kedys was born on September 4, 1972, in Garliava, Lithuania. He and his former girlfriend Laimutė Stankūnaitė had a daughter in February 2004. Stankūnaitė was underage when she gave birth to Kedys’ daughter. The couple split in 2006, and the parents got embroiled in a bitter custody battle. His former girlfriend, with the help of Andrius Ūsas, a politician and advisor to the former Speaker of the Seimas Viktoras Muntianas, obtained custody in November 2006. Kedys had visitation rights every other weekend, But later Stankunaite gave up her custody rights, giving them to the father.
On November 29, 2008, Kedys submitted a formal complaint to the police, claiming Ūsas paid Stankūnaitė to sexually molest his daughter. In December 2008, Kedys obtained full custody of his daughter with no visitation rights for Stankūnaitė. The courts repeatedly confirmed that Stankūnaitė had no case to answer, thus dismissing Kedys’ allegations against his former girlfriend as unsubstantiated. Nevertheless, the pre-trial investigation against Ūsas continued. In February 2009, Kedys further pressed accusations against Violeta Naruševičienė, Stankūnaitė’s sister, claiming the former had participated in allowing men to molest her 4-year-old daughter. Finally, in July 2009, Kedys accused Jonas Furmanavičius, a district judge, and an individual known as Aidas of partaking in the molestation. All those people (except for Aidas) professed their innocence and accused Kedys of slander, criminal libel, and death threats.
Kedys was frustrated with the apparent lack of progress in official investigations and convinced that the case was being deliberately stonewalled. So, he sent out 200 DVDs to Lithuanian politicians, media outlets, and law-enforcement agencies, featuring homemade video footage of his daughter’s explicit testimony against three “uncles.” In addition, he promised to send the subtitled version to Members of the European Parliament. However, many sources criticized Kedys, who acted as the cameraman, for asking his daughter leading questions and heavily editing the film (it contained 50 segments filmed across nine occasions).
On October 5, 2009, Furmanavičius and Naruševičienė were shot dead in Kaunas. Kedys became the prime suspect. On the same day, a national search of Kedys was announced, soon followed by an announcement of an international investigation, as he was thought to have left the country shortly after the murders. Kedys' friends Raimundas Ivanauskas and Eglė Barauskaitė were charged with accessory to murder.
The story caused an uproar in Lithuania, with much of the public siding with Kedys. In the public mind, the case was seen as a father’s futile attempts to pursue justice and protect his daughter and being driven to desperate measures by anger at the injustice. Others questioned whether the killings were actually commissioned by Kedys himself.
On April 17, 2010, at 6:49 a.m., after six months of a police search, a man fishing found Drąsius Kedys' body near Kaunas Reservoir. An autopsy concluded he had died between the evening of April 15 and the morning of the 16th. According to the official report, the cause of death was “choking on vomit” while being heavily intoxicated. However, his relatives were convinced that Kedys was murdered, pointing out wounds on his body. Kedys’ relatives demanded a second opinion from independent experts. Finally, in April 2011, a report was received from the Swedish National Forensic Service confirming Kedys had died from alcohol and drug poisoning and that he choked on the contents of his own stomach. The Swedish report differed from the Lithuanian experts in determining “the injuries on the body appeared before his death” and that the “possibility of drowning is not excluded.”
On April 24, Kedys was buried in Jonučiai cemetery. According to media reports, 6-10,000 people from across the country attended the ceremony.
Ūsas, the main suspect in the pedophilia case, was officially charged with the sexual molestation of a minor. However, he was found drowned in a swamp in June 2010. The death was ruled an accident. Nevertheless, the court case against Ūsas continued, and the court found him innocent in November 2012.
Mirriam Rodriguez
Miriam’s 20-year-old daughter mysteriously disappeared in 2012. Her daughter had been kidnapped and subsequently murdered, and several men were perpetrators of the crime. Dissatisfied with the Mexican justice system, Miriam decided to take matters into her own hands. To fool authorities and her daughter’s kidnappers, Miriam changed her appearance as best she could and used fake identification to make it more difficult to trace her.
One of Miriam’s first “victims” was a member of a Mexican cartel who was implicit in the kidnapping and murder of her daughter. She cornered him, held him at gunpoint, and told him, “If you move, I’ll shoot you.”
But she was just getting started. She eventually tracked down her daughter’s killers one by one all across the country. But unfortunately, her vigilantism led to her ultimate downfall when multiple gunmen managed to kill her outside her home.
Becoming a vigilante against organized criminals is a considerable risk, but it was one that Miriam was willing to take to seek justice for her daughter.
Speaking of people standing up against gangs…
El Salvador’s Mara Salvatrucha gang is better known as MS-13. Formed in Los Angeles in the 1980s, many members were deported for vicious crimes. However, several of them continued their criminal activity back home. The gang terrorized a nation plagued by a high poverty rate and a virtually helpless police force — until real-life vigilantes stepped up to help.
Spanish for “Black Shadow,” Sombra Negra was first formed around the early 1990s due to El Salvador’s authorities being glaringly overpowered by MS-13. Frustrated by the situation, Sombra Negra started targeting gang members for execution — especially MS-13 members.
Sombra Negra members come dressed in black with bandanas over their faces. They patrol the streets in unlicensed vehicles and with tinted windows. And one of their primary missions is to capture MS-13 members — and make them “disappear.” As Sombra Negra has grown more powerful over the years, so have the legends of their brutal retribution against the gang members.
From sexual torture to dismemberment, the paramilitary group of vigilantes became more of a death squad than a traditional band of crimefighters. In El Salvador, it seemed that only extreme measures would stop MS-13.
“Most of the victims were blindfolded, their hands or thumbs tied behind their backs, and they had received tiros de gracia (a coup de grâce), shots to the base of the skull at close range by weapons such as assault rifles and machine guns,” a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services report said.
From home invasions to sudden killings in the streets, Sombra Negra carries out its mission ruthlessly and describes it as a “social cleansing.” And some authorities are grateful. Even El Salvador’s head of National Assembly Guillermo Gallegos has admitted: “Morally I support this type of expression because people are tired of the way of delinquency.”
In the end, it’s worth noting that many people have mixed feelings about real-life vigilantes. While they may sympathize with their motives in some cases, they may also find some of their choices reckless or unnecessarily dangerous. But there’s no question that these vigilantes have left a massive impression on the world — for better or worse.
And there’s another set of gang-fighting vigilantes…
Pablo Escobar needs little, if any, introduction. One of the most infamous drug lords in modern history, the Colombian kingpin ran a colossal cocaine empire that saw thousands of people killed. Yet, with corrupt authority figures in his pocket, Escobar’s reign appeared resolute — until it wasn’t.
In the early 1990s, Escobar had two rival cartel members murdered when they visited him in an opulent prison (which he had built for himself). Fidel Castano, the other cartel’s boss, was none too pleased. And so he helped form Los Pepes. Short for “Perseguidos por Pablos Escobar,” the paramilitary group welcomed “People Persecuted by Pablo Escobar.”
Escobar was marked after he walked out of his prison in July 1992. At this point, even the U.S. government and CIA were aiding Los Pepes in their quest to find the kingpin. But unfortunately, Los Pepes also engaged in bloody bombings against Escobar that killed and injured civilians.
Some of these nearly killed their target, including a car bomb that injured Escobar’s daughter. For more than a year, Los Pepes ruthlessly attacked anyone in Escobar’s circle — from friends and relatives to public supporters and officials. Finally, it was in 1993 when they closed in on the man himself.
After Los Pepes forced Escobar into hiding, Colombian intelligence intercepted a phone call from Escobar to his son. Now confident of his whereabouts, Colombian police and military forces headed for Escobar’s newfound hiding place in the neighborhood of Los Olivos — ready for retribution after years of brutal violence in the country.
Whether Los Pepes members played an active role in killing him remains hotly contested, but one thing is sure: Without their vigilant quest to find Escobar, he would likely lead many more to their deaths. Ultimately, he was chased across rooftops and gunned down while on the run.
And lastly, what happens when an ENTIRE TOWN decides a lousy guy needs to die?
It didn’t take long for Ken McElroy to become the resident “bully” of Skidmore, Missouri. And considering his crimes, the “bully” label was putting things lightly. For years after he dropped out of school, he was accused of everything from theft and arson to child molestation and statutory rape. But despite being indicted 21 times, he dodged convictions at every turn.
After McElroy raped a 12-year-old girl, he divorced his wife and married the child when she was 14 to avoid a statutory rape charge. When her parents objected, he shot their dog and burned down their house. And after he shot a farmer in 1976, he somehow produced two witnesses who claimed that McElroy was nowhere near the scene of the crime that day.
Ken McElroy was a true terror for Skidmore residents, who wanted him removed immediately. McElroy’s downfall was a long time coming, but it truly fell into motion in 1980 after he shot the town’s elderly grocer in the neck. Though McElroy was charged with attempted murder and eventually convicted, he appealed the case and was released on bond.
Soon afterward, it seemed the entire town was present at a gathering on July 10, 1981, to discuss Ken McElroy. Though exactly what they said is unclear, there’s no question that they decided McElroy had to go.
Residents heard that McElroy had gone to the D&G Tavern for a drink. In a prime example of real-life vigilantes in action, the community walked to the bar to confront him. And with no warning, someone began shooting.
Some accounts describe up to 50 vigilantes involved in the onslaught. In the end, McElroy was shot multiple times and struck by at least two firearms. He succumbed to the wounds in his truck. No one called an ambulance — or agreed to testify against another person in court.
To this day, no one has ever been charged with his death.
Top 10 Vigilante Films
https://screenrant.com/best-vigilante-films/