Exploring Ancient Understandings Of Meteorites In Archaic Societies

• by: Andrew Califf

Andrew Califf – Independent Media Institute

02-25-2025 ~ Five times a day, approximately one-fourth of the world’s population turns toward Mecca to bow their heads in prayer. The Kaaba at the center of this global genuflection has a cornerstone that some speculate is a meteor.

Meteoritic artifacts appear as early as the dawn of Egypt’s Early Dynastic Period, approximately 4,500 years ago. Archaeological teams in the 1920s reported that beads from the Gerzeh cemetery in northern Egypt had very high concentrations of nickel, typical of meteoritic iron. These are the earliest analyzed artifacts, and modern metal testing technologies mean that chemists can now identify and catalog the presence of meteoritic iron in archaeological collections across Eurasia. Since 2013, this has led to many discoveries reframing the prominence of extraterrestrial resources in the archaeological record, including identifying that King Tutankhamun’s dagger was crafted from a meteor.

Experts believe this opulent weapon was a gift to the boy king’s grandfather Amenhotep III around 1300 BCE, from the king of the Mitanni region, based on the Amarna tablets. This high-status gift is one of the many ways meteoritic iron was revered by ancient civilizations. One of the earliest Egyptian hieroglyphics for iron seems to be derived from a longer phrase translating to: “iron from the sky.”

This word has cosmological connotations associated with the Egyptian belief that the sky was an iron pot or tub filled with water, and bits of it fell to the Earth in the form of meteorites.

“We have evidence for the idea that the sky was a dome made of iron in a few different civilizations,” explains Victoria Almansa-Villatoro, the Egyptologist who analyzed the hieroglyphic for iron (and sky), during an interview. “If all of these civilizations had this idea and they are so spread apart, it is possible that the idea goes way back in time, maybe before writing was invented.”

Almansa-Villatoro emphasizes tracing any common meanings or beliefs linking such cultures is purely speculation. Contemporaneously to the Mitanni, it is believed the Hittites used meteoritic iron by 3,000 to 2,000 BCE as one iron dagger excavated in Alaca Höyük in modern-day Turkey was made from a meteor and dated to 2,500 BCE. Iron pendants from Umm el-Marra in Syria and an iron axe from Ugarit in Lebanon are other key examples of hammered meteoritic iron. Read more

Sri Lanka’s New Government Struggles To Increase Public Investment Amid IMF Constraints

• by: Shiran Illanperuma

02-26-2025 ~ The maiden budget by Sri Lanka’s new government reflects the limitations of austerity and the need to reinstill confidence in ideas of investment-led growth and industrialisation.

On 17 February 2025, Sri Lanka’s Anura Kumara Dissanayake delivered his maiden budget speech. Dissanayake, who is both president and finance minister, stated that the budget was based on principles of productive growth, active public engagement, and equitable distribution.

This much-anticipated budget is the first since the country held presidential and parliamentary elections in late 2024 during which voters rejected the mainstream ruling parties and placed their hopes in National People’s Power (NPP). The latter is a relatively new political formation consisting of various civil society groups and anchored by its core party the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

While Sri Lanka has elected a new president and government, its policy space remains restricted by its 17th support package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which was entered into by the preceding government. In a panel discussion held a few days after his budget speech, Dissanayake conceded, ‘Our economy is running on conditions. There is no economic independence or sovereignty – it is under probation and being monitored’. This is a stark admission from Dissanayake, whose government has so far backed down from its campaign promise of renegotiating the unfavourable debt restructuring agreement brokered by the IMF. Read more

German Election Solidifies Europe’s Sharp Rightward Turn As Far Right Surges

• by: C.J. Polychroniou

C.J. Polychroniou

02-25-2025 ~ AfD saw the biggest victory of a far right party since WWII as Social Democrats suffered their largest postwar defeat.

The results of Germany’s February 23 election have cemented a chilling trend that has increasingly characterized European politics in the 21st century: the collapse of social democracy and the subsequent resurgence of far right parties and movements, with some of their followers openly glorifying fascism.

The snap national election left no room for doubt about Germany’s sharp rightward shift. The racist, far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) emerged as the country’s second-strongest party, with 20.8 percent — roughly twice the votes it had received in 2021. This is the biggest victory a far right party has scored in Germany since World War II, and the AfD is surely the biggest winner in this federal parliamentary election. As for Elon Musk’s interference in German politics, his endorsement of the AfD appears to have played no significant role in the outcome of the election. Musk drew outrage in December for posting on X that, “Only the AfD can save Germany” and has continued to actively advocate for the party, but the far right performed no better than what polls had predicted when the snap election was called.

At the same time, the once mighty Social Democratic Party (SPD) suffered its worst defeat since World War II, with 16.4 percent of the vote share. The SPD is the country’s oldest political party and has historically drawn support from industrial workers and trade unions. It has seen its vote share significantly decline over the last couple of decades, even if it did manage to win a narrow victory in the 2021 election with 25.7 percent of the vote, marking an end to 16 years of conservative-led government under Angela Merkel.

As was expected, the conservative alliance of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) emerged victorious, with their leader Friedrich Merz set to become the new chancellor, but fell way short of preelection polls. In fact, CDU/CSU scored its second-worst postwar result, with 28.5 percent of the vote. They will need to enter a coalition with another party, most likely with the SPD, as CDU has ruled out including the AfD in a coalition government. Read more

Trump’s Executive Orders Build Toward Dictatorial “Unitary Executive” Power

• by: C.J. Polychroniou

David M. Driesen – Syracuse University

02-22-2025 ~ The president’s power grab over federal agencies is the latest example of his use of the controversial legal theory.

During his first month in office, President Donald Trump has signed a plethora of executive orders that have proclaimed a dramatic expansion of the powers of the executive branch. In his latest, issued on February 18 and entitled Ensuring Accountability for all Agencies, Trump aims to bring all independent federal regulatory agencies under the direct control of the chief executive. Unsurprisingly, the 47th president of the United States has already referred to himself as the “king” and may even envision himself as emperor, making the Napoleonic statement “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law” after several judges blocked a slew of his executive actions.

David M. Driesen, university professor at Syracuse University College of Law, says that Trump’s executive order to curb the authority of independent agencies is illegal and that the president is using unitary executive theory to establish a dictatorship. In the interview that follows, Driesen addresses Trump’s recent actions as well as the debate over unitary executive theory — a legal theory which says that the U.S. president can rule over the executive branch with absolute power. In two recent cases the far right Supreme Court has signaled increasing openness to this theory, once considered a fringe interpretation of the Constitution. Legal scholars and advocates, including Driesen, are now sounding the alarm that Trump’s seizure of dictatorial executive power may succeed with the court’s approval.

Driesen is the author of many academic articles and books, including The Specter of Dictatorship: Judicial Enabling of Presidential Power.

C. J. Polychroniou: On February 15, Donald Trump proclaimed on his Truth Social network that “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” The post raised a lot of eyebrows, as this quote is often attributed to Napoleon, who crowned himself emperor. Trump then went on to sign an executive order that allows him to claim power over independent agencies, which would turn the presidency into an office of almost unlimited powers. Many constitutional experts say that he cannot do that — so what are the constitutional powers and limits on the U.S. presidency?

David M. Driesen: Demagogues and tyrants frequently claim that they are saving the country and denigrate the need to follow law. But the Constitution requires the president to “take care that the law be faithfully executed,” and Trump is doing the opposite, attacking law at every turn.

The order asserting control over independent agencies usurps congressional authority to structure the government under the Necessary and Proper Clause. It also asserts a power to “adjust” statutes (referred to as “obligations” of independent agencies) to fit the president’s political preferences. This amounts to usurping congressional authority to amend statutes. It also calls for defunding activities that the president does not support, thereby usurping the power of the purse. The fundamental limit on executive power is that it must be used to faithfully implement, not violate or impede, statutes and further their purposes. Read more

‘Only The People Can Save The People,’ Say Migrant Workers

• by: Sonali Kolhatkar

Sonali Kolhatkar

02-22-2025 ~ The National Day Laborers Organizing Network (NDLON) embodies an ethos of “solidarity, not charity,” in both fire relief and immigrant rights.

When the Eaton Fire began on January 7, 2025, in Altadena, California, it blazed through residential neighborhoods, destroying thousands of family homes. On the morning of January 8, as businesses burned on North Lake Avenue, a group of migrant workers met 2 miles to the south in neighboring Pasadena. They gathered at 6 a.m. to discuss an emergency response to the fires.

For the past 25 years, the Pasadena Community Job Center on South Lake Avenue has connected employers with skilled migrant labor, ensuring safe work environments, a living wage for workers, and quality work for customers.

Run by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), the job center has also been a hub for much more: strengthening rights and protections for migrant workers, being of service to the local community, and sharing the culture, stories, and music of its members. NDLON’s work is intersectional, bringing together labor rights, fair pay, immigration, racial justice, climate resiliency, and community solidarity.

Less than two weeks before Donald Trump’s January 20 inauguration, migrant workers, who were poised to oppose the incoming administration’s anti-immigrant agenda, quickly pivoted to emergency fire relief. Omar Leone, NDLON’s arts director, helped organize “fire relief brigades,” to clear debris and brush from burned and smoke-damaged areas in the wake of the deadly 100 miles per hour winds.

NDLON put the call out for volunteers and workers and, over several weeks, trained members of the brigades outfitted them with protective gear and cleaning equipment, and sent them to impacted neighborhoods with trucks bearing the slogan “Solo El Pueblo, Salva Al Pueblo,” translated to “Only the People Can Save the People.” Immigrants worked alongside citizens, and workers stood shoulder to shoulder with employers. Leone, in an interview on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali, explained how the brigades consisted of “day laborers, household workers, and many community volunteers from various areas of the greater Los Angeles area.” Read more

An Actual Neofascist Coup Is Now Underway In The United States

• by: C.J. Polychroniou

02-20-2025 ~ Trump’s attempt to incite a coup in 2021 and his subsequent victory in the 2024 presidential election speak volumes of the democratic decline in the United States. We must admit exactly where we are at this point in time.

Over the past few years, there has been an alarming surge of coups d’état across the world, particularly in Africa. The most common definition of a coup is an illegal attempt to seize control of the government. The seizure of power by coup leaders is often justified by pointing to poor governance and/or deteriorating security situations.

Coups are typically irregular transfers of power that occur in countries with weak democratic institutions and may be carried out by military or civilian elites. Consolidated democracies have long prided themselves of being immune to the conditions that generate coups d’etat, but the Trump phenomenon in U.S. politics seems to suggest that there are no absolutes, and that liberal democracy can be brought down.

The storming of the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021, was a coup attempt incited by outgoing president Donald Trump, and can be best described as an “attempted auto-coup.” Yet, shockingly enough, not only wasn’t Trump held accountable in the end for being criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 election but was allowed to run again for the presidency in 2024. And what is even more shocking is that he prevailed in his third presidential bid by winning both the electoral college and the popular vote.

Both Trump’s attempt to incite a coup in 2021 and his subsequent victory in the 2024 presidential election speak volumes of the democratic decline in the United States. Citizens’ support not just for a democracy-eroding leader but for one who repeatedly promised during his campaign to be a dictator, even if only for one day, is ample evidence to make the case that the end of democracy in the U.S. (or whatever is left of it as the country was never designed to be democratic) is upon us.

Indeed, an actual neo-fascist coup is now underway. Trump and his Nazi buddy Elon Musk are trying to destroy civil society by dismantling the State. Trump had promised on numerous occasions during his campaign to “demolish the deep state,” and even offered specific details for how he planned to do so. And this is exactly what is happening right now. Read more