The magic lantern, or zoetrope, is little known today but it amazed and delighted audiences in Victorian drawing rooms. It also led, in the 20th century, to the invention of the slide projector and the cinema. In its final form, the zoetrope was a cylinder-shaped canopy of thin material suspended over a lamp. Vanes placed at the top caught the hot air rising from the lamp and made the cylinder rotate slowly.
On the sides of the canopy were thin panes of paper on which were painted pictures. As the cylinder revolved around the lamp, the light shone through the succession of pictures to give the illusion that the painted figures were moving — exactly the same principle as that behind modern motion pictures.
From Athanasius Kirchner’s “An Magna Lucis et Umbrae” of 1671
In 1868 Mr. W.B. Carpenter, the vice president of the Royal Society of London, stated with some confidence that the magic lantern had been invented by Michael Faraday, the famous pioneer of electricity as recently as 1836. He was certainly wrong, as one John Bate had already written about the zoetrope early in the 17th century. However, even Bate was merely describing a device long known elsewhere.
The principal of using heat to make small figures rotate is extremely ancient. In the Near East it goes back to Heron of Alexandria, who invented a toy with moving dancers in the 1st century AD. The Chinese version is even older, and far more advanced, as it involved the projection of images.
In 121 BC, a magician named Shao Ong staged a sort of seance for the Emperor Han Wu-ti, using moving images projected onto a screen. An earlier emperor, Han Gaozu, had a lamp in his possession in 207 BC that, when lit, showed the sparkling scales of turning dragons.
Around 180 AD the inventor Ting Huan created a “nine-storied hill censer,” which was apparently an extremely complicated multiple magic lantern. On it were strange birds and unusual animals, which turned around as the lamp burned.
By the 12th century AD, the most common form of zoetrope was the “horse-riding” or the “horse-pacing” lamp. After the lamp was lit a succession of prancing horses was projected onto the walls, moving as if they were alive. More sophisticated examples probably used lenses to produce stronger images. This was the type of magic lantern seen by early European visitors, and is undoubtedly provided the inspiration for the Jesuit priest of the China Mission Martin Martini (1614-1661). Martini presented the first lantern slides in Europe at Louvain, Belgium, in 1654, soon followed by other European scientists fascinated by the properties of light.
Much speculation has gone into discovering the origins of American football. Perhaps this was where the game originated…..in the 1st millenium B.C.? From “Ancient Inventions:”
“The most extraordinary sport of the ancient world was without doubt the sacred ball game of Central America and the southern United States. It was first played in about 1000 B.C. by the Olmecs, who lived along the Bay of Mexico, and by all the later great civilizations of the region.
From its very start, it was played by the most important members of society. The colossal Olmec heads — carved from basalt brought down from mountains 50 miles away and weighing up to 44 tons — show Olmec rulers wearing head coverings. A plausible explanation is that these are protective helmets (like those of modern football players) worn by the Olmecs when playing their sacred ball game.
Olmec Heads
The earliest ball courts were simple basins with earthen retaining walls, but by 1000 A.D., they had become far more elaborate. At Chichen Itza the parallel walls were 283 feet long, 100 feet apart and 27 feet high. In Aztec times, ball courts were shaped like a capital “I,” with temples at both ends and banks of seating along the sides. In the middle of the walls, which were usually 12 feet high, were set stone or wooden rings. The ball was a solid rubber sphere about 6 inches in diameter.
Detail from the 15th century Codex Magliabecciano, showing the Mexican ball game about to start. The rings, here shown outside the court, actually projected into it at right angles to the side walls.
To protect themselves against injuries from the heavy ball, the noble players (and a sprinkling of professionals) wore protective helmets, wide belts of hard wood and leather, hip pads, knee pads, and a single glove.
Representation of Protective Gear
After the ball was thrown into play, players had to pass it to their teammates using their hips, elbows, or legs, without letting it run into the other side’s end of the court, for this counted as a point against them. The excited crowd would bet on the outcome: according to a Spanish chronicler they would wager “gold, turquoises, slaves, rich mantles, even cornfields and houses.”
Star players were able to hit the ball up through the ring on the side of the court, thereby winning the game. The victorious side had the right to grab the clothes and jewelry of any spectators who couldn’t get away fast enough. That the game also had a religious significance is shown by the fact that omens were read from the movements of the ball and the nature of the victory.
Pre-Columbian art often depicts acts of decapitation as authors such as Christopher L. Moserhave pointed out. The practice is also known from the ball court game that was commonly played by all the Mesoamerican cultures prior to the arrival of the Spanish, from the Olmecs to the Aztecs. The game began to feature sacrificial elements when the Maya took it over from the Toltecs. Archaeologists had mostly dismissed these depictions as figurative, but recent evidence, including the discovery of a collection of decapitated human heads, has provided physical proof of its existence among Pre-Columbian cultures.
That the losing team may have paid the ultimate price for defeat is suggested by the sculptural reliefs found next to many ball courts, which show a ball player being decapitated as a sacrifice to the gods.
We have all now seen with our own eyes how our elected officials hide their shenanigans from the People. A clear example is the obscure hurricane bill passed under the public’s radar in 2015 that also conferred freedom from liability to Big Pharma (Glenn Beck). I gathered the following information via the Patriots For America blog back in 2014. This is going to be a long one, guys! Sorry – I tried to cut it down but….
I mentioned to Pat about there being an official process to revoke one’s United States citizenship, regain one’s own individual Sovereignty, and become strictly a State citizen. The process is very lengthy and complicated, of course – the instruction packet from SEDM (Sovereignty Education and Defense Ministry, a Christian-based group) is 17 pages long. You can only read it on-line if you are a member of the site (https://sedm.org/) but it was posted at PFA years ago, and I printed it out.
Two pictures from that document: – first page:
Last page:
Rechayahu Ben Harvey in 2014:
“There was a coup d’etat that occurred in 1871 in the United States. Both Senate and House of Republicans abandoned the de jure Constitution and seats of Congress for the United States of America, and joined the municipal corporate UNITED STATES, INC., giving the People the impression that their Country and Government had not made any major changes. It has been masquerading as the de jure “Nation” and “Country,” of United States of America to the American people and the world for over 150 years.”
UNITED STATES LLC – How the ACT of 1871 changed the US from a CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC to a CORPORATION
“The Republic can be restored by returning to Common Law, but you must be ready to Constitutionally enforce it with Article I, Section 8, Clause 15. If not, back down and continue to be Sheeple for the next 150 years, for you have let all peaceful means slip away while you complain, petition, and seek assistance from traitors in the de facto Congress.
The people have been made submissive or dumbed down, and don’t recognize the authority that they have, that was given to them, in this founding document by the Founding Fathers–an authority no other country in the world has: 1776 Declaration of Independence.”
So, what is Article I, Section 8, Clause 15???
Article I, Section 8, Clause 15:
[The Congress shall have Power . . . ] “…to provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; . . .
The states as well as Congress may prescribe penalties for failure to obey the President’s call of the militia. They also have a concurrent power to aid the National Government by calls under their own authority, and in emergencies may use the militia to put down armed insurrection.1 The Federal Government may call out the militia in case of civil war; its authority to suppress rebellion is found in the power to suppress insurrection and to carry on war.2 The act of February 28, 1795,3 which delegated to the President the power to call out the militia, was held constitutional.4 A militiaman who refused to obey such a call was not employed in the service of the United States so as to be subject to the article of war, but was liable to be tried for disobedience of the act of 1795.5″
As with all legislation, this Act alone caused a cascade of secondary ramifications that have just gotten more convoluted, incomprehensible and corrupt with every year that passes.
Ben Harvey: “Even the most powerful and the most despotic government cannot hold a society together by sheer force; to that extent, there was a limited truth to the old belief that governments are produced by consent. Whatever corruption and tyranny that is being thrown at The People by this de facto government, it is with the People’s consent.”
The following was written in 2007 by Augustus Blackstone, Attorney, Spokane, WA:
1. The only remaining access to common (constitutional) law under original jurisdiction lies with the Admiralty Courts under “Savings to Suitors” through Rule 9(h). The political maggots had to leave this escape hatch, else they could legitimately be charged with treason.
2. Suits in Admiralty are under the exclusive original jurisdiction of the (Article 111) district courts of the United States of America….which is not the same thing as Article 1 (administrative) or Article IV (territorial) “United States District Courts”.
3. At present, there are only 13 judges vested with original jurisdiction Article 111 judicial authority and who are properly bound by original jurisdiction Article VI oath. They are the judges of the Court of International Trade and they have the authority to sit the bench in any case in any court anywhere in the United States of America. (The CIT is located in New York.)
4. Any case (state or federal) can be re-opened and/or removed to the Admiralty as a Libel in Review, Counterclaim, and Injunction under (common law remedies) “Savings to Suitors.” An original action in Admiralty can be brought in much the same way.
5. The Admiralty courts have exclusive jurisdiction of the property in Maritime Law. The State courts can have concurrent jurisdiction only over the personage of the parties. The entire subject of insurance (of any kind, including SSA) falls within the Maritime aspect of Contract (common) Law. Hence, the phrase “law of the contract.” Today, Maritime insurance touches every part of an average American’s life. Even the nation’s currency is Maritime insured.
6. Trust entities (“strawman,” etc.) are treated as corporation entities because they are artificial creatures without inherent conscience or sentient volition of their own. Corporation entities are treated in the Admiralty as “vessels” (for similar reasons). For Maritime insurance (contract) purposes, each “vessel” must not only have a hull (body) number, but each “vessel” must also be “personified” with a name (usually all caps spelling).
7. What most people think of as federal, state, and local “government” today is, in truth, nothing more than a bunch of affiliated (Maritime insured) corporation entities (“vessels”). Each entity (Justice Dept., Judicial Dept., Treasury Dept., United States, State of ______, IRS, SSA, FBI, etc.) has its own Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN), which number cannot be obtained without certification of corporation “vessel” character/status (Form SS-4).
8. The most compelling evidence of proof of the corporation status, which can be obtained via public disclosure request (FOIA), is written verification of the FEIN assigned to a particular “government” agency/department.
9. The officers and crew of these corporation vessels, whether elected, appointed or hired, are nothing more than corporation “public policy” employees (without Public Law authority) and are, therefore, subject to removal/employment termination for any malfeasance, misfeasance or non-feasance, including false personification (of a Public Law officer).
10. The most compelling evidence of proof of the (corporation) “employee” status of any of today’s so-called “civil servants,” is written verification of their individual membership account in the (state) Public Employee’s Retirement System (PERS) or the Federal Employee’s Retirement System (FERS). You won’t be able to get any account balances or other more personal information, but verification of the existence or non-existence of the account is not “exempt” from disclosure under FOIA.
11. With this sort of evidence in hand, the issue (in court) then becomes: by what lawful authority do (or did) you, a mere employee of a mere corporation, exercise legitimate Public Law power to my detriment?
12. The procedures in Admiralty courts are not so dissimilar from those of other courts. It is mainly understanding the actual body of law being applied to the case without confusing it with what you think it ought to be. The de jure government of our nation is, for the most part, dormant. And it’s Offices are, for the most part, vacant. The de facto “government” and it’s employees can be brought to task only in the Admiralty courts (under Contract Law).
13. Admiralty jurisdiction has another aspect which, for various valid reasons, directly corresponds to Law Martial. It is that aspect (in a corrupted ‘quasi’ or
‘colorable’ form) which is currently in use by the federal corporation “vessels” most people tend to think of as federal, state and local “government.” There is a distinction to be made between a “criminal action” (Public Law exercise of the collective power of the People) and a “penal code violation” (exercise of federal corporation “public policy” authority). A Public Law crime requires an actual victim (corpus delicti). A federal corporation “(Public) policy” offense only requires an infraction violation of the corporation’s penal code. The easiest way to make the distinction between the two is: the punishment for a (real) crime makes no provision for amercement (bribe). The penalty for a federal corporation’s penal code violation typically includes time in the “vessel’s” brig/stockade or a “fine,” or both. Thus, the Maritime insurance/Contract Law becomes apparent.
14. It is a fundamental precept of English/American jurisprudence that “justice shall be administered without purchase.” In other words, “justice” is not for sale or hire. That is why those who advocate (practice law) on behalf of incompetent person, e.g., the insane, infants, etc., must do so pro bono and be appointed by the court on a case-by-case basis (which is how practitioners lawfully acquire the character/status of “officer of the court.”
15. That is also why those who advocate (practice law) for hire on behalf of a corporation entity must do so under “license” issued by and under the official Seal of the State(s)….which an attorney’s BAR card is not. The BAR card carries no more legal significance than a AAA membership card….which is not a “license” (to drive) issued by and under the official Seal of the State(s). The State BARs, without federal corporation “vessels” styled as “LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF _______” and/or “JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT.”
16. The BAR number assigned to each member is (or can be referred to as) a mixed war Letter of Marque (document) number, by which they are seemingly authorized to make inland raids and seizures (in the capacity of privateers) upon “enemies” of the (corporation) “state.” (Ref. the Trading With The Enemy Act).
17. When in the Admiralty courts, one must use the proper terms to properly identify the parties and their actions. The Maritime insured federal corporation vessel styled as “(insert TITLE/NAME)” operates inland under U.S. tax registry number (insert FEIN). The officers and crew thereof are Maritime insured “employees.” Get the idea?
The foregoing has very little directly to do with restoring and maintaining one’s individual sovereign character/status. It does, however, help one to understand the true nature of the game (and its rules) in which we find ourselves, and the remedies available.
Sew Colorful 