Rules, 1989 Form - 1 To The........................................: Fill & Download for Free

The Battle of Kosovo was a rather obscure episode of medieval Serbian history, but which became a centerpiece of its own peculiar and complex mythology. The said mythology, in turn, has grown out of all proportions in retelling, and in modern times became centerpiece of Serbian nationalism of the worst kind. The so-called Kosovo Myth, or Kosovo vow has been a driving force in conflicts between Serbia and many of its neighbors, often with disastrous consequences for Serbs themselves. In our own times, it still serves to fuel the conflict between Serbs and Albanians, in what was once Yugoslavia’s autonomous province of Kosovo, and nowadays its own independent Republic.So brace yourself for an excruciatingly long, through and tedious answer, as I shall attempt to illustrate the development of Serbian legends and traditions around Battle of Kosovo, and their transformation into a nationalistic ideology, to which Serbian politics chained itself, and remains firmly so to this day.I. History behind the mythTo begin with, there was no region of Kosovo as such in medieval times, only a number of individual localities bearing that name. “Kosovo” is a very old and common Slavic toponym, originating from the word *kosъ, meaning “blackbird”; and as you may well imagine, the “[place] of blackbirds” was only a too common name for a number of plains, meadows, moors and heaths, scattered all across the Balkans. In Croatia alone, I can think of several dozen localities variously named Kosova, Kosovac, Kosovača, Kosovica, Kosović, etc. In fact, the earliest record of that name comes from the late 12th century legend about the death of Croatian king Demetrius Zvonimir. Supposedly, it was in a place called “five churches in Kosovo”, where he announced to Croats they’re about to go on a crusade, and then got stabbed to death by a disagreeing assembly.The particular Kosovo field which came to be the most famous of all the various Kosovos, and in modern age gave its name to this entire region, is a long karst plain on Sitnica river, practically in the very heart of the Balkans. Its fame stems from the fact that in 14th and 15th centuries, it was the site of not one, but two medieval battles between Christians and Turks.^ Map of modern-day Kosovo with its main localities.I said Christians, because in both cases, the army opposing Ottoman advance was composed out of various Christian lords and their retinues, and not just of Serbs. The first battle, fought on 15th of June 1389, saw the Ottoman army of sultan Murad I pitted against the coalition of two most powerful Serbian nobles, prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and his son-in law, Vuk Branković, together with Bosnian duke Vlatko Vuković Kosača, Croatian viceroy Ivan Palisna, and possibly some Hungarian and Albanian lords as well.However, as it’s usually the case with events at the heart of myths, what actually happened in this battle is fairly obscure. The only thing certain is that both Murad and Lazar, as leaders of their respective forces, perished in it, and both armies eventually retreated from the field. Contemporary Christian sources tried to spin this as a victory for their side, and went into a full propaganda mode to glorify fallen Lazar and his warriors as martyrs, who gave their lives to defeat the Turkish menace.Fortunate, most fortunate are those hands of the twelve loyal lords who, having opened their way with the sword and having penetrated the enemy lines and the circle of chained camels, heroically reached the tent of Murad himself. Fortunate above all is that one who so forcefully killed such a strong warlord by stabbing him with a sword in the throat and belly. And blessed are all those who gave their lives and blood through the glorious manner of martyrdom as victims of the dead leader over his ugly corpse.Coluccio Salutati, Florentine humanist in a letter to Tvrtko I of Bosnia, from 1389. [1]And such an united and countless multitude, together with a good and great lord, of courageous soul and firmest faith, as onto a fair hall and arousing feast, rushed onto the enemy and trampled the true serpent, and slayed the wild beast and a great enemy, and the insatiable Hades devouring all: the great Murad and his son, the spawn of asp and adder, the whelp of lion and basilisk, and along with them quite many others. Oh, wonders of divine destinies!Oh friends! This courageous martyr was caught by the lawless Saracen hands, and he took well the end of his suffering, and a martyr of Christ became the great prince Lazar. For he was cut down by none other, than by the hand Murad’s son, that butcher.And all that was said here transpired in the year 6897 [1387 A.D.], in 12th indiction, on 15th day of month of June, on Tuesday, in 6th or 7th hour. I don’t know, God knows.Stefan Lazarević, Lazar’s son, in memorial to his father, c. 1404. [2] [3]…There rose the czar of all East, of Ishmael’s sons, named Murad; and taking all of Greek and Bulgar land, he rose with countless multitude: sons of Saracens with Tatars, Karamanids with Sarukhanids, Greeks and Bulgars and Arvanites. That one [Murad] marched forth with godless nations, and this one [Lazar] would not allow the destruction of godliness. And there was a battle between them, and in this battle the infidel tyrant fell by the sword in the middle of the field, body and soul, with many of his godless soldiers; but one of his sons remained. And toward the end of this battle - I do not know what to say in truth about this, whether he [Lazar] was betrayed by one of his own or whether God's judgment was fulfilled in this - he [Bayezid] took him [Lazar] in his hands, and after much torture he himself cut off his venerable, God-fearing head.unknown author of an early Lazar’s hagiography, c. 1405. [4]^ 16th century French tapestry from Château de Chenonceau, depicting the Kosovo Battle as Christian victory: the central figure of Orthodox patriarch prays with Lazar’s family and knights in the foreground, while in the background the elephant-mounted Turkish army retreats, persecuted by avenging angels.What is much better historically attested, and much more interesting, is what happened after this battle. Lazar’s death created a power vacuum among Serbs, which his surviving son-in-law, Vuk Branković, sought to fill with the backing of Hungarians. To thwart Branković, Lazar’s widow, princess Milica, allied herself with the Turks, and made her son Stefan Lazarević vassal to the new sultan Bayezid. This was paralleled with the split in Serbian Orthodox church after the death of old patriarch Spiridon in August of 1389. Each of two sides now backed their own claimant for a new patriarch, but Lazarević’s man cleverly proclaimed the fallen prince Lazar a saint, and thus legitimized himself and his patron, as heirs to a divinely ordained ruler. It worked, and by 1396, Lazarević became ruler of all Serbia under Ottoman overlordship, while Branković was captured by Turks, and perished in sultan’s prison.Mind you, this was nothing unusual at the time. During late 14th and early 15th century, a whole bunch of Christian lords in Balkans were allies or vassals to Ottomans, because Turkish power was a game-changer in any of their feudal squabbles. Furthermore, Stefan Lazarević was in fact a pretty damn good ruler, whose cultured reign brought a sort of a mini-renaissance to Serbia. He considerably expand his father’s domains, strengthened Serbia internally by dealing with unruly nobles, and even upgraded his title from Slavic knez to Byzantine despot, all the while trying to remain on best terms with various Ottoman sultans.^ The Italianate fresco of despot Stefan Lazarević, from his fortified monastery of Manasija.Things went downhill for Serbs after Lazarević was succeeded by his rebellious nephew Đurađ, the son of Vuk Branković, who tried, without much luck, to balance his loyalties between Hungarians and Ottomans. When the Turks preemptively overran his lands in 1430s, the unfortunate Đurađ joined the ill-fated Crusade of Varna, which not only failed against Ottomans, but devastated Serbian lands worse than the Turks did. It was in the aftermath of this crusade that the second battle of Kosovo occurred in 1448, about whose outcome there is far less ambiguity: Christian forces lead by Hungarian regent John Hunyadi were decisively defeated by the Ottoman sultan Murad II. The Serbian despot, however, didn’t participate in this battle of Kosovo; rather, in its aftermath he captured the fleeing John Hunyadi, and attempted to extort from him war reparations for his ravaged lands. This made both the Hungarians and Ottomans hate the poor Đurađ Branković and, long story short, by 1459 carved his realm between themselves. All that remained of once prosperous Serbian Despotate was subjugated into the Ottoman Sanjak of Smederevo.^ Because of his failed shenanigans after the second battle of Kosovo, Đurađ Branković (second from the left in the family photo above), was labeled by Hungarians as a traitor to the Christian cause - an idea which will become an important element in future Kosovo legends.II. Origins of the mythThere were three main lines in early development of Kosovo myth. The first and earliest was canonization of fallen prince Lazar as a saint and a martyr, which came as a result of power play between two rival families ruling Serbian despotate: the aforementioned Lazarevićs and Brankovićs. Stefan Lazarević had his father expressly canonized, and made him a central figure of his state-sponsored cult, precisely to legitimize his own rule. On the other hand, Đurađ Branković sought to backtrack on a lot of that religious imagery, and carefully avoided naming Lazar as a saint in his various inscriptions. This, in combination with the bad reputation he earned himself among Hungarians, lead to the development of legend about a Christ-like saint Lazar, and a Judas-like traitor Vuk Branković (Đurađ’s father, as pater familias of the opposing line), who abandons his master on the field of Kosovo to the Turks.^ Relics of prince Lazar, in his monastery of Ravanica, where they were transferred in 1989, during the celebrations of 600th anniversary of Kosovo Battle.The second line came from the Turks, among whom a rival tradition of Murad’s martyrdom was developing. However, the idea of sultan dying in a fight against what were at first vassals, and then conquered subjects, came to be increasingly seen as an embarrassment. Therefore, Ottoman historians started to backtrack on a lot of that early Christian propaganda - particularly on the idea that Murad was killed in thick of an action by a heroic charge - and developed their own story about what really happened on Kosovo:7119: The knights on horseback chased away the enemy / Only remained the shah [Murad] and a few of his slaves.7120: He stayed there so the returning soldiers / could find their chieftain.7121: Covered in blood from head to toe / apparently, an infidel was lying there.7122: Hiding among the bodies / he saw Ghazi Khan clearly.7123: By fate he stood up where he was lying / Jumped and struck the shah with his dagger.7124: At that moment the Sultan graced by God / who was a Ghazi, became a true martyr.Taceddin Ahmedi, Iskendername, c. 1410. [5]Nearby, an infidel by the name of Miloş Kübile approached the khan [Murad] dragging his spear and with his hat in his hand. The ghazis stopped him. But the infidel said: “Go and tell him that I have come to kiss his hand and bring him good news.” They held the Serb with his son. Ghazis stepped back when it was announced: “They are coming”. When that infidel came close, he turned his spear and struck the khan. They left Beyazid [Murad’s son] by his side. On the other side, Yakub Çelebi [Murad’s other son], had dealt defeat on the infidels. They came and said to Yakub Çelebi: “Your father summons you”. When he entered the tent, they made him like his father [i.e., dead]. They brought the Serb and his son and killed them there.Aşıkpaşazade, Tevârîh-i Âli Osmân, c. 1470. [Ed. M.A.Y. Saraç & K. Yavuz. Istanbul: Gökkubbe. 2018. pp. 102 & 332.] [6]It is said that the infidel army was defeated and an incomparable amount of infidels were put to the sword. The ghazis chased the broken infidel. Even Murad Ghazi Khan had entered the battle thinking he would be martyred. But the infidels were defeated. No sign of martyrdom made itself manifest to him. He was surprised. As he rode among the lying corpses with a few companions, an infidel approached. He was called Miloş Kopile. The accursed was brave and warlike. He put it into his head: “I will be famous among the Serbs, I will kill the lord of the Turks” and hid a dagger on his person. When he was approaching with this intent, the ghazis knocked this infidel to the ground and wounded him. Wounded and bloodied, he hid among the corpses. Ghazi Murad Khan approached him, and this infidel got up and staggered towards the sovereign. The sergeants wanted to finish him off but Ghazi Murad Khan showed him mercy. He said: “If he has a purpose, let him approach”. That accursed was hiding a dagger by his side. He came and pretended to kiss the Sultan’s stirrup, and immediately stabbed the sovereign. İzâ câe’l-kaza amye’l-basar. [a proverb directly quoted from Arabic, meaning: When an accident comes, the eye turns blind] Death was fated for him. Immediately, the bird of his soul flew to paradise like an angel. He was an absolute ghazi. He became a true martyr. The infidel was cut to pieces.Mehmed Neşrî, Kitab-ı Cihan Nümâ, c. 1510 [Ed. F.R. Unat & M.A. Köymen. Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 1949. p. 305] [7]And here I’d like to make a short pit-stop, to thank my fellow scholar and gentleman Yagiz Ozyol, for graciously providing me with these references, as well as their English translations.^ Thanks, dawg!Anyway, to return on topic. One can clearly see here the evolution of Turkish story about Murad’s death: from what was at first almost an accident in battle, to the killer then being given a name and a more elaborate plan, to the final account, which transports the entire episode after the battle has been squarely won, and gives minute details about what the killer was like, what he thought, how he got past the guards, etc.Thus from Turkish anti-propaganda was born one of the most important characters of Kosovo myths, the knight avenger nowadays known as Miloš Obilić, but in earlier times variously referred to as Kopilić, Kobilić, or Kobilović. Interestingly enough, some people went on to speculate whether that particular surname - otherwise next to unknown among Serbs - might have been of Albanian origin. Kopil in Albanian has an archaic meaning of “servant, slave”, but can also mean “illegitimate son, bastard”, and consequently “sly, clever, devious person” (as in “Clever bastard!”) - which all fit rather well into Turkish descriptions of Murad’s assassin. On the other hand, in Slavic languages, kobila means “mare, female horse”, and Kobilić would therefore be “son of mare” - not a very fitting surname for a heroic avenger. Consequently, from 18th and 19th centuries, Serbian writers began to drop the initial K inherent in earlier records, to produce the more modern and proper-sounding Obilić.^ Murad’s tomb in the middle of Kosovo plain, containing his internal organs. One of the oldest surviving Ottoman monuments in the Balkans, it was vandalized sometime during 1990s, and restored to its present form in 2005.Finally, the third line of development came from Catholic populations in Dalmatia and Dubrovnik, which by now became the Christian frontier against Ottoman empire. It was in this kind of siege-mentality that the the leitmotif of an “end of an empire” developed, with Kosovo becoming the ruin of once glorious Slavdom in the Balkans. The historic memory of two Kosovo battles got merged into one (made all the more easier by the fact that, in both of them, the enemy sultan was named Murad), with the clash of “czar Lazar and czar Murad” from the 1389 battle tied immediately to the dismal outcome of 1448 battle, and the fall of Serbian despotate (which became “Serbian empire”, and therefore, mutatis mutandis, “Slavic realm”). The later was, coincidentally, the title of 1601 chronicle by Dubrovnik’s historian Mavro Orbini, in which we really get the earliest written version of Kosovo myth; but his account drew heavily on earlier records by Dubrovnik’s noble Ludovicus Tubero and Slovene diplomat Benedikt Kuripečić. Consequently, Orbini’s Il Regno de gli Slavi became the main source for 18th century Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya (“Slavic-Bulgarian History”), written by a Bulgarian orthodox monk and national revivalist saint Paisius - but who established himself in the Serbian national monastery of Hilandar on Mount Athos.More importantly, Catholic influence is seen most clearly in the date of the battle. The 1389 battle of Kosovo, by all accounts, occurred on 15th of June. In Orthodox calendar, as I’m sure you all don’t know, this is the day of minor prophet Amos. In Catholic calendar, however, 15th of June is the day of a well-known Sicilian martyr, Saint Vitus. The later is almost unknown in Orthodox countries, but enormously popular among Catholics, and especially among Catholic Slavs. In Dalmatia in particular, the cult of Saint Vitus is so all-present, that you can hardly swing a dead goat around without hitting a church, chapel, village or a hilltop named Sveti Vid, Vid, Vidov, Sutvid, Suvij, etc. The fact that the Serbian folklore remembers the day of Kosovo battle as Vidovdan - “The day of Vid”, i.e., Vitus - while at the same time Saint Vitus as such is next to unknown among the Serbs, indicates pretty strongly that this particular tradition came from their Catholic neighbors.^ A random mountain peak in Dalmatia.Consequently, Vidovdan will became Serbian national holiday by the end of 19th century, and Serbian Orthodox Church will officially incorporate it into its liturgical calendar in 1896 - but not as the feast day of its namesake saint, but as “Celebration of All New Martyrs of the Serbian Land.” Of course, due to discrepancy between Julian and Gregorian (i.e., Orthodox and Catholic) calendars by that time, what is 15th June in liturgy will came to be 28th June in real-time. In other words: Serbs will come to celebrate the memorial day of Kosovo battle 13 days after the actual date of battle.III. Synthesis^ Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, the last grand vizier of Suleiman the Magnificent and de facto ruler of Ottoman empire in period between 1566 and 1579, was a descendant from the Bosnian Serb clan of Sokolovići.The medieval Serbian Patriarchate, with its seat in the monastery of Peć, was effectively abolished after the fall of Serbian despotate in 1459, and the Ottomans put the Serbian lands under jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, in what is nowadays (North) Macedonia. That would change by 1555, when a series of South-Slavic grand viziers one came to rule the Ottoman empire, one after another : Croatian Rüstem Pasha Hirvati, Bosnian Ali Pasha Semiz and the famed Serbian Mehmed Pasha Sokolović, whose brother (or uncle? or cousin? or possibly no relative at all?) Makarije Sokolović came to be the first new patriarch of newly restored Serbian Orthodox Church.Now, lest some people still entertain old victimization narratives about this, allow me to quote an old answer by one of Quora’s best and brightest, on what was the general status of Orthodox Church under the “Turkish yoke”:Within the empire, the Ottomans repurposed the Church as part of the bureaucracy, and gave it over to the reactionary, anti-Latin elements that had all along disliked the Paleologue status quo.The millet-system gave the Church much more power over Christians than it had ever held in Roman times … and in turn raised the authority of bishops to great heights. The “mitre” worn by Orthodox bishops is actually a version of royal crown - implying a semi-royal authority - that would never have been tolerated by the Roman Emperors; and the title still popularly held by Greek bishops - Despot or Dominus, the title assumed by the deified emperors after Diocletian in the 3rd century - was similarly unthinkable before Ottoman rule.Dimitris Almyrantis, How much of the Byzantine culture and tradition was adopted by the Ottomans after the 1453 conquest? [8]Among the Orthodox Slavs, likewise, the term for bishop became vladika, meaning “ruler”, which in old Church Slavonic texts was a title for the emperor or Christ himself.In other words, Orthodox Church was part of religious apparatus of Ottoman state, tasked with organizing and ruling its Christian subjects; and the newly founded Patriarchate of Peć, financed by a series of wealthy Slavic viziers, was no exception. It was given vastly increased authority and jurisdiction - much greater than it ever had under various medieval Serbian states - and was in turn tasked with keeping all of its Christian subjects in line, ensuring they pay their taxes and do not rebel. For all practical purpose, the Patriarchate of Peć was a Slavic vassal state inside the Ottoman empire, with Patriarch as its ethnarch.^ Ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Peć’s Patriarch under the Ottoman rule; essentially, he was given reign over all Orthodox subjects in the western reaches of the empire, as well as the title “Patriarch of Serbs and Bulgarians”.It was this incarnation of Serbian Orthodox Church that created Kosovo Myth, but not in a way or for reasons you may think. Far from lamenting the fall of medieval Serbian realm, or calling for liberation against Turks, the original version of Kosovo myth actually sought to legitimize Ottoman rule, and deter rebellions and uprisings against it. The Serbian clergy knit various traditions about Kosovo battle(s) into a coherent if not unified story, infused with a subtly Christian message of "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God what is God's" (an advice which, coincidentally, Jesus gave when asked a trick-question if it was OK for God’s chosen people to pay taxes to a godless empire.)Thus, the saintly prince Lazar (whose title was already being upgraded into “czar”) became a Christ-like figure, and Kosovo battle his Calvary, complete with the Last Supper he held in preparation of it. The historic figure of Vuk Branković became his Judas (who will hand his master to the Turks) and the legendary character of Miloš Obilić his St. Paul (who will carry on his master’s struggle, sword in hand). One the eve of battle, troubled like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Lazar receives a vision from the holy city of Jerusalem, in which Prophet Elijah and Virgin Mary offer him a choice: fight in the upcoming battle and defend your earthly kingdom, or perish in battle and win the kingdom of heaven as a martyr.And when czar heard those words,He thought all kinds of thoughts:"Dear God, what and how now?Which kingdom shall I choose?Shall I kingdom of heaven?Shall I kingdom of earth?If I choose the kingdom,choose the kingdom of earth,the earthly is a fleeting kingdom,but heavenly is always and forever.”Czar choose the heavenly kingdomrather than the earthly kingdom,and fashioned a church on Kosovo -built not on bedrock of marble,but of pure silk and scarlet,and he summoned the Serbian patriarch,and twelve high lords bishops,and had the army partake communion.And as soon as prince gave orders,The Turks descended on Kosovo.Vojislav Djurić, Antologija narodnih junačkih pesama [9]^Prince Lazar’s last supper, by 19th century Serbian painter Adam Stefanović.Note how the choice of heavenly kingdom is equated with foundation of the church, built not on “bedrock of marble”, but “of pure silk and scarlet”, (i.e., the vestments of clergy), and in presence of Patriarch and twelve lord-bishops (vladike). Lazar thus willingly chooses to abandon his earthly power as a ruler, and meekly goes into the battle against sultan, knowing it will be his doom.However, the sultan is no longer the bad guy here! Gone is the Murad from early Christian sources, “the spawn of asp and adder”, the “infidel tyrant” “marching with godless nations”, seeking only to destroy all that is godly. The Murad of Kosovo epics became a sort of Pontius Pilate of Lazar’s passion, an imperial overlord whose main concern is the maintenance of law and order:Czar Murad on Kosovo fell;and a tiny scroll he wrote,and sent it to Kruševac-city,onto knees of Serb-prince Lazar:“O Lazar, of Serbia head,never there was nor can be:One land with two masters;one flock paying twice the taxes.We cannot both reign,So send me keys and taxes,Gold keys of all the citiesAnd taxes worth of seven years;And if you do not send me that,Come to the field of Kosovo -and we’ll divide the land by sword.Vojislav Djurić, Antologija narodnih junačkih pesama [9]These are the verses which would resonate strongly with any medieval peasant or serf, who more than anything dreaded the state of feudal anarchy, “one land with two masters”, where various competing lords would force him each to “pay twice the taxes”, with no supreme ruler in sight to rein them in. So Murad’s arrival on Kosovo is that of a long overdue imperial authority, who wants to impose a clear-cut hierarchical order, by violence if need be, and end the state of confusion where the common people (Turkish: rayah, literally “flock”) are unsure who their real shepherd is.^ Sultan Murad, by the Internet.The mythical drama thus set is resolved with saintly czar Lazar winning the kingdom of heaven, and becoming the martyr of Serbian church, the visible form of that kingdom; while the earthly czar Murad takes over the earthly kingdom of Serbia, emptying a whole can of whoop-ass on its sinful nobility in the process. And to further hammer the point of how “earthly is a fleeting kingdom”, Murad gets stabbed shortly after by the avenging Miloš Obilić. But note now what final words another Serbian poem puts into the mouth of dying sultan:Turks, brothers, comrades and vezirsI die, and the empire falls to you!So that your empire may endure long,Do not be cruel to the flock,But be very good to the flock.…Do not levy fines or special taxes.Do not impose grief upon the flock.Do not touch their church;Neither its law nor its observation.Do not take revenge upon the flock,Just because Miloš has cut me.For that was military fortune,And one cannot win an empireWhile smoking tobacco on a mattress.…Watch over the flock as if they were your own sons;In that way the empire will last you long.But if you begin to oppress the flock,You will then lose the empire.Alexander Greenwalt, Kosovo Myths: Karadzic, Njegos, and theTransformation of Serb Memory [10]Another poem ends with a dying Murad praising his killer Miloš for his loyalty and courage, stating how, if he could overcome his wounds, he would make him a member of his own retinue - implying a transfer of warrior’s loyalties (the essence of “earthly kingdom”) onto a new master. A third poem ends with a long description of Lazar’s and Murad’s funeral, making a point how two “czars” ought to lie side by side - a potent symbol of translatio imperiii from old Serbian to new Ottoman dynasty.So in conclusion, the original Kosovo myth, which emerges from Serbian epic poems, developed under patronage of Serbian Orthodox Church from 16th to 18th century, had pretty much the opposite meaning of the one the later-day nationalists infused into it. Instead of a national loss to be mourned (and avenged), the symbolism of Kosovo was that of a feudal vow to be honored. Far from calling a crusade to liberate Serbs from Turks, it actually sought to accommodate Serbs and Turks living side by side; the “earthly kingdom” of war, trade, taxation and feudal loyalties now ruled by Turkish “czar”; and the “heavenly kingdom” of saints and monasteries, sacred traditions and communal laws, managed by the autonomous Serbian patriarch. It was a lot more complex and contradictory world than what the later-day reuductionists, writing national(istic) historiographies, made it to be; and for all its faults and cruelties, it nevertheless was a world in which Christians and Muslims could and did coexist in peace.And, to give final credit where it is due; while the Serbian Orthodox Church was the first to mythologize Kosovo battle, it was also first to deconstruct those myths. When in 19th century nationalism began to rear its ugly head, it was the Serbian Orthodox priest Ilarion Ruvarac who emerged as one of the first and finest of Serbian critical historians. In his studies he repeatedly pointed out: a) how epic poems and folk songs simply cannot be used as valid sources for reconstruction of past they purportedly describe, and b) how those poems weren’t a product of any kind of Serbian volksgeist, but top-down creations of literate clerics, whose preaching formed the basis of oral tradition.^ Consequently, Ilarion Ruvarac often got slandered by his 19th century contemporaries as an “enemy of Serbian people”. Which ties rather nicely into the final part of this study...IV. Metamorphosis^ Prince Eugene of Savoy: vanquisher of Turks, defender of Christian Europe, liberator of Belgrade and, by all accounts, the biggest moffie of his day.The beginnings of early modern Serbia are to be found in great wars fought between Ottomans and Habsburgs at the turn of 17th to 18th century. It was in 1718 that above mentioned princess Eugene of Savoy conquered Sanjak of Smederevo, and established in its place the short-lived Kingdom of Serbia as an Austrian vassal state; the Ottomans will reconquer it in 1739, but they will never again manage to subjugate it. Various Austrian-inspired rebellions will continue in that territory through much of 18th and 19th century, until at last, Principality of Serbia will emerge as an independent, internationally recognized state in 1878; and with Austrian backing, became a Kingdom again in 1882.The Orthodox Patriarchs in Peć, however, didn’t fare well through those tumultuous times. Being forced to balance their loyalties between Ottomans and Habsurgs, they found themselves in the unfortunate shoes of the old despot Đurađ Branković. The Ottomans thus had their office abolished in 1766, and put Serbian church once again under the rule of more reliable Patriarch in Constantinople. However, several patriarchs managed to escape to Austrian (or better said, Hungarian) territory before that happened, leading large populations of their flocks with them. The Habsurgs accepted them and settled them in the area of modern-day Vojvodina, (literally: “Dukedom”) and confirmed them their old privileges of ethno-religious self-rule (although they had the patriarchal title demoted to that of metropolitan, whose seat now became the town of Sremski Karlovci).^ The map above illustrates political situation through much of 18th and 19th century, when effectively two Serbias existed, on the frontiers of their respective empires: Habsburg and Ottoman.People like to forget their history, or to project onto it their contemporary prejudices and ideologies. After two world wars, Iron Curtain and two Yugoslavias between them, hardly anyone cares to remember that Panslavism was originally an Austrian movement; that the Slavs were the first, last and fiercest line of defense of Habsburg monarchy, often more loyal to the venerable empire than its German, Hungarian or Italian subjects; or that Austria essentially built modern-day South-Slavic nations (with possible exception of Bulgarians), together with their common language (which should rightly be called Viennese language, because that’s from where it really originates). Serbia was no exception; its emerging 19th-century national intelligentsia were all Austrian-educated, German-speaking bourgeois, mingling with their like-minded Czech, Croat, Slovenian or Slovak counterparts in saloons or coffee-houses of Vienna, Prague and Budapest.It was among these circles that the Serbian linguist and a language reformer, Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, from 1820s onward began to publish volume after volume of South-Slavic folk songs (whom he all labeled as Serbian). In his native (Ottoman) Serbia, his publications were banned on account of being potentially too political; and furthermore, his linguistic reforms were attacked by the Orthodox church, on account of them making the literary church language obsolete (in one of his publications, Karadžić complains how they accuse him of making the language sound too Croatian, i.e., too Catholic). A small part of Karadžić’s voluminous collection were by now half-forgotten Kosovo epics, which captured the imagination of one of his numerous pen-pals: the German-speaking, Czech-born Jew Siegfried Vitezslav Kapper (real name Isaac Salomon). This physician-turned-politician, poet and Panslavist, in 1851 published his opus magnum:Or, as it became known when it was translated from the original German into Serbian: the epic poem “Lazarica”. Here’s what one contemporary Croatian writer (himself also a German-speaking Slovak by origin) wrote in review of this masterpiece:We do not doubt that in Serbian nation there once existed a complete oral poem known as “Lazarica” … But what little of that Vuk managed to uncover was, unfortunately, just a few fragments. To reconstruct from those beautiful excerpts the entirety of poem on the basis of living national tradition - that was obviously the task which the poet Kapper set for himself; and the way in which he resolved it gives it all the rights of original poem, composed with magnificent epic plasticity. Not the least of her features is that the supplemental divination and fresh original spirit by which it is embedded, allow it to be considered a true folk poem, greatly surpassing all similar attempts, even of Serbian poets. Had Kapper written his “Lazarica” in Serbian, he would reap the glory of giving Serbs their national epic.August Šenoa, review of Kapper’s “Furst Lazar” in 1865. issue of “Slaevicher Blatt” [11]Kapper was essentially a Serbian Tolkien: on the basis of real knowledge of folklore and epic tradition, he wrote a new mythology which immediately inflamed the imaginations of Serbian literate class. The original Kosovo myth, as any real myth, never existed as a single, unified piece of literature; only as individual songs and poems which all alluded upon parts of communal narrative everyone understood back then. Kapper rectified that with his “Prince Lazar”, and created for Serbs an unified, literary Kosovo story, centered around ideas of national liberation, medieval Christian heroes, and struggle against Turkish oppression.Again, this was nothing unusual at the time: it was the same process which saw Swiss-born German romantic Johann Jakob Bodmer dig up half-forgotten medieval legends about Nibelungs, and rework them into a “German Iliad” of Nibelungenlied, which gave Germans their national unification, Wagner’s antisemitic operas, two world wars and Stab-in-the-back myth between them. The Serbs - and indeed, the Slavs - of Habsburg monarchy were only keeping up with general 19th century zeitgeist, which saw folk traditions, ancient histories, neopagan romanticism, revolutionary fervor and imperialistic ambitions mixed into a toxic quagmire of blood-and-soil nationalism.Kapper started working on his “Prince Lazar” in 1847, and that very year two other Slavic epics were published in Austria, packing an equally charged ideological message. The first was the ”The Mountain Wreath” by Montenegrin “founding-father”, the prince-bishop Petar II Petrović-Njegoš. It is a poem about a series of massacres, purported to have occurred in aftermath of Great Turkish War of 1683–1699, when the Orthodox Montenegrins rose to kill a whole lot of their Muslim neighbors. Njegoš presents this as liberation of Montenegro from “Turkish yoke”, and glorifies those Montenegrins of old as descendants of medieval Serbian heroes, who survived the battle of Kosovo and fled into mountains to continue the good fight. In particular, Njegoš reinvents the character of Miloš Obilić as a sort of an all-Serbian revolutionary hero, who forfeits his own life to assassinate the tyrannical sultan, and thus avenge his conquered people.^ Fresco of Miloš Obilić, as a Byzantine warrior-saint, in the halls Serbian Monastery of Hilandar - but it was added there only in 19th century!The second epic was The Death of Smail-aga Čengić, written by Croatian poet, politician and future viceroy Ivan Mažuranić. That poem lauds contemporary Montenegrin struggle against Turks, which culminates in their killing of Bosnian lord Smail-aga in 1840. In reality, Smail-aga was by all accounts a just and noble Turkish lord, whose death at the hands of what were essentially Montenegrin brigands was denounced as foul play even by many Christians at the time. Yet Mažuranić spins his story to portray Smail-aga as a power-mad tyrant, and his murderers as oppressed rayah who finally had it enough. The battle-cry he put into mouths of his rebel heroes - “Za krst časni i slobodu zlatnu!” (“For the revered cross and golden liberty!”) - became the favorite motto of Serbian nationalists, well into 20th century.Such proliferation of anti-Turkish, pro-Slavic epics in the middle of 19th century was hardly a coincidence. It came as a result of a deliberate Habsburg policy, which nurtured the rise of South-Slavic, and particularly Serbian nationalism as: a) a counterweight to its much more troublesome Hungarian counterpart, and b) a stepping stone in its Drang nach Osten policy of reconquest of Ottoman Balkans. When in 1878 by now Austro-Hungarian empire occupied Bosnia, the imperial armies, lead by Croat-Serb duo of general Josip Filipović and lieutenant field-marshal Stevan Jovanović, were marching under the tune of symphonic overture “Kosovo”, written by a Slovenian composer Davorin Jenko (otherwise also the author of Serbian anthem, ”Bože pravde”). That same year, Principality of Serbia finished its final war for independance, which resulted in expulsion of possibly as much as 70 000 Muslims from its newly liberated territories. All this lead, in the aftermath of 1878 Berlin Congress, to territorial reorganization of Ottoman empire, where its westernmost province (other than Bosnia, which was now effectively in Austrian hands) became the ill-named Vilayet of Kosovo.^ Even though the vilayet was much bigger than modern-day Kosovo, including the territories of what today is North Macedonia and south Serbia, it was nevertheless the first time that the Kosovo became a name of clearly-defined political region.This gave the emerging nationalistic myth its geopolitical aim: Kosovo was no longer just a symbol in epic poems, a lost battle to be avenged, but clearly-cut geographical reality, whose (re)conquest was to bring about resurrection of once glorious Serbian empire over Balkans. The early 19th century ideologues of Serbian expansionism didn’t so much as mention Kosovo in their political plans; but by the end of 19th century, Serbian political elites became obsessed with it. The Serbian satirist Radoje Domanović, writting in 1902, described Serbian society as traumatized by the loss of Kosovo as it pretty much still is today, with political parties rallying their followers against the vile Arbanasi (i.e., Albanians) massacring Serbian infants over there.Not that such massacres weren’t really happening, mind you! But the point is, the driving force and dividing line in - by today centuries old - Serbian-Albanian conflict wasn’t one of ethnicity or demographics, but of religion. A significant number of Kosovar Albanians were descendants of early 19th century Slavic Muslims, who, when confronted with national liberation policies of “Convert or die!”, fled and merged into the nearest ethnic groups which shared their religion, bringing their grudges with them. And when Serbia finally conquered Kosovo Vilayet in Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913, instead of trying to integrate those people (the way that Austria-Hungary, to its credit, managed to do with Bosnian Muslims), it attempted to carry out, in the words of one noble Serbian soldier witnessing those events, “the premeditated murder of an entire nation.” This attempted genocide, and the following subjugation of Albanian Muslims, is very much at the root of present-day conflict over Kosovo sovereignty.By that time, of course, Serbian nationalism will come to backfire spectacularly into Austria-Hungary’s face. In 1881, Dual Monarchy and Serbia forged an alliance which essentially made the later into a Habsburg vassal state; and the said alliance lasted for almost quarter of century, until the bloody May Coup of 1903, when the pro-Austrian royal family of Serbia was murdered by its army officers. Thus, as it once again turned out, fueling of pseudo-religious extremism into a developing proxy state in hopes it will serve in your imperial machinations was somethingwhich.Never!WORKED!WELL!!!^ Some completely unrelated pictures.But with the proverbial jinn of Islamophobic nationalism already out of the bottle, there was no stuffing it back anymore. With Austria-Hungary turned against it, Serbia found new western allies in France, Great Britain and ultimately USA, who all began to pour gasoline onto the flame of Kosovo myth with the advent of WWI. Dozens of publications about Kosovo were published among Serbian emigres in America; Kosovo epics were being translated into French; Great Britain was celebrating Vidovdan (on the customary wrong date of 28th of June) in St. Paul’s cathedral in London, in a service presided by the Archbishop of Canterbury himself. The pro-Yugoslavian Croat sculptor Ivan Meštrović was touring the world during those war years with his exhibition about Kosovo myth, for which he made sculptures of various characters from Kosovo epics, as well as a model of a huge temple that would house them all, a church “dedicated to the religion of ultimate sacrifice.” This piece of neopagan lunacy was fortunately never built, but it shows how close the Kosovo myth was to becoming a Serbian state religion.^ Meštrović’s temple was modeled on the cathedral in Dalmatian city of Split, itself a former mausoleum of Roman emperor Diocletian - a fitting symbol of imperial state-worship.ConclusionAs for the question of what could have been, I have no answer. But it can be said with some certainty that the history of Serbia and Serb society would have taken a different course, if hundred years ago its elites were more interested in consolidation of state and society, rather than in territorial expansion. With Pyrrhic victory in Balkan wars of 1912/1913, Serbian state loaded itself with baggage it never managed to deal with. Serbia could have been a highly developed country. There certainly was a potential for it. But it was sacrificed in the name of “Great idea”, which in 1990s turned Serbia back for an entire century.Holm Sundhaussen, Istorija Srbije od 19. do 21. veka [12]The fuel for that “Great idea” was the nationalistic myth of Kosovo battle: of ruin, revenge and rebirth of once glorious Serb empire. In a sense, that myth found its fulfillment in calamity of WWI, during which the Kingdom of Serbia was practically destroyed, and a terrible amount of Serbian lives was lost - only to be reborn after the war as the much greater Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, i.e. Yugoslavia, in which all the dreams of Serbian nationalist finally seemed to be fulfilled.But, as it is usually the case with nationalistic myths, the reality turned out a lot bleaker than the glorious visions. Serbs soon found themselves practically trapped inside their new state, outnumbered by and unable to control all of its other ethnicities, none of which was too thrilled about being shoved into this surrogate Serbian empire. Worse yet, the Serbs now became surrogate Turks in liberation myths of other Yugoslav nations; and all the means and methods they used in their own national liberation against “the Turks”, would soon be used against them with vengeance.Thus, by mid-20th century, two options now presented themselves to the Serbs: the first was to deconstruct the entire edifice of Kosovo myth, through critical study of historiography and ethnography, and tone down on political myth-making all across the board, for the sake of tolerable coexistence with other nations inside the common Yugoslav state. Arguably, that was kind of being done through the ‘50s, ’60s and ‘70s, when more critical research on the subject of Kosovo battle and medieval Serbian history was being produced.The second was to crank up Kosovo myth up to eleventh, and use it once again as a fuel for conflict in which Serbs would try to take as much as possible of Yugoslavia, and finally turn it into an ethnically pure Great Serbian state. This is the option for which Serbian leadership under Slobodan Milošević opted in late 1980s; and the frenzied nationalism which arose on the 600th anniversary of Kosovo battle in 1989 (celebrated, again, on the wrong date of June the 28th), is now rightly seen by historians as the beginning of end of Yugoslavia, and the ensuing wars in which Serbia lost everything it could, including Kosovo itself in the end.^ Gazimestan (“The place of heroes”), on the field of Kosovo itself, where a massive rally was held on 28th of June 1989, when Slobodan Milošević made his infamous speech about how Serbian people are once again to face battles - ”not armed ones, although such cannot yet be excluded.” The monument is inscribed with the so-called Kosovo curse, supposedly uttered by prince Lazar himself:Whoever is a Serb and of Serb birthAnd of Serb blood and heritageAnd comes not to fight at Kosovo,May he never have the progeny of his heart!Neither male nor female;May nothing grow that his hand sows!Neither red wine nor white wheat.Aside the obvious fact that historic Lazar never said anything like that, this curse is in fact a nationalistic reworking of an authentic Serbian folk poem, whose original record from 1813 reads simply:Whoever will not fight at Kosovo,May nothing grow that his hand sows,Neither the white wheat in the field,Nor grape vines in the hills.In conclusion, what’s really tragic is the complete moral and cultural degradation one can trace through the development of Kosovo Myth. For all their ahistoric fantasy, Kosovo epics produced by the Serbian Orthododx Church in 16th and 17th centuries had nevertheless a deeply Christian message. Faced with the dilema of loosing his territory or loosing his soul, the legendary prince Lazar opts for the former, and becomes a saint for it. He rather chooses to die in battle than “repay evil with evil” to his enemies; and this self-sacrifice redeems his people before their conquerors, securing them a place inside the new imperial order. The nationalist ideologues turned this morale on its head, and made Kosovo myth a story not of remission and redemption, but of victimization and revenge. Instead of seeking the kingdom of heaven, everything is sacrificed for the kingdom of earth, no matter how fleeting or corrupt it turns out to be.^ 18th century engraving of saint Lazar, depicting him as a cephalophore, i.e., a head-carrying martyr, the likes of which were popular in Western Christianity.

LOL.Oddly, the only people who seem to have noticed this "hoax" are fossil fuel and libertarian lobbyists and their spokespeople, plus a bunch of ideological and political hacks and denier conspiracy blogs and wingnut conservative propaganda blogs poorly drag queened as “newspapers” and their creationist Ship of fools friends who can't seem to understand even the most basic science.There is a dangerous and shameful anti science idiot wind blowing in the US right now. All the extremists have united in a devastating attack on science.No, this is not the Dark ages, this is the (former) science nation USA in 2019!! The Anti science league are still around like a pest. Like a second black death plague:Thats why we see creationists fighting to get creationism into schools,Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District - Wikipediaand attacking science:that’s why we also see anti vaxxers attacking science,Vaccine opponents attack U.S. science panelthat’s why we see mighty polluters industries fighting the science just like tobacco industry did.https://www.washingtonpost.com/n..."As early as the 1950s, the groups shared scientists and publicists to downplay dangers of smoking and climate change".https://www.scientificamerican.c...DENIERS FAVOURITE DENIER THINK TANK THE HEARTLAND INSTITUTE ARE STILL TALKING DOWN THE HAZARDS OF TOBACCO SMOKING USING THE VERY SAME ARGUMENTS.You got to see this to believe it:Anthony Watts - SourceWatchDeniers favorite fossil fuel think tank front group, the Heartland Institutes view on tobacco and tobacco smoking. Now where have we heard these arguments before?This is chilling:Heartland Institute 2019:"The public health community's campaign to demonize smokers and all forms of tobacco is based on junk science"."The anti-smoking movement is hardly a grassroots phenomenon: It is largely funded by taxpayers and a few major foundations with left-liberal agendas."Smoker's Lounge | Heartland InstituteTHE WORLD WIDE CONSPIRACY - DENIERS WET DREAMThis is how deniers wet dream of a world wide conspiracy looks like. I just had to write it out for them:climate scientists from all over the world- have for about the last 150 years - contrived the world into believing that people are contributing to climate change by putting plant food into the atmosphere. All the world's governments have paid trillions and trillions of dollars (add as many zeroes you like) to these scientists for this hoaxy conclusion so that these authorities and governments can impose all kinds of taxes and regulations on their citizens and impose further restrictions and obstacles in the way of the fossil fuel industry. (Like they did to the innocent, cool and clean tobacco industry).A secret green industry is very soon ready to get mega rich by doing a global wealth redistribution and turning the world into a large wind farm park where there are all sorts of socialist welfare like silly free health care and education etc, but first, the oil and coal industry and all the kind free marked fundamentalists - who innocently sits in their garden coaches (and blames everything wrong in this world on “poor people and immigrants”) - must be stopped and placed on a remote island north of Greenland.Naturally, it’s the communists in the United Nations Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that manage all this through their headmaster Al Gore and the gay wizard of Dumbledore -all extended through the Illuminati agreement (the Paris agreement).Everything has been kept hidden until now, using the secret PC media (the political cartel), and environmental organizations, which is, of course, governed by the same authorities.but all this is finally exposed by a plucky band ofbloggers, amateur-deniers, boys room conspiracy drivlers, cranks, astroturf front groups, web-trolls, russian troll bots, youtube-videos, denier blog doctored graphs with childish handwritten arrows and comments added, desperate alt-right white supremacy nationalist madcap wingnuts, bible mums, creationists, very old conservative white men, political hacks, conservative propaganda blogs poorly draq queened as “newspapers”, Fox News-hosts, Breitbart blog commentary field readers, corrupt republican politicians, PragerU-sheeples, Ayn Rand-worshippers, government hating free market fundamentalists AND the fossil fuel industry.The leftist alarmist media are naturally pushing the “hoax”:Even without El Nino last year, Earth keeps warmingThe truth;In actuality, the science of AGW is apolitical, being based on credible evidence and physics. The denial of climate science, is based on no credible evidence and no physics, and is all-political.The denial of science is also like a true religion, for its acolytes also deny evidence and physics based on no evidence and no physics.When think tanks and fossil fuel front groups started to lobby for the fossil fuel self interests 75 years ago, the first thing they did was to camouflage those interests as an anti government anti regulation anti tax ideological anti socialist "struggle".“Back in the late 1980s, when it became pretty clear that there was no persistent Soviet threat, conservatives needed a new bogeyman, and they found it in the environmental movement. “Green is the new Red.[…] Cries for environmental regulation were twisted into calls for socialism and the end of economic progress.”The irony of this thinking is hilarious;While the scientific work of agencies like NOAA and NASA is higly respected and acknowledged world wide, in america, they are hated by the denial movement, and in such way, if this was the 50s, climate deniers would been locked away for anti american behaviour by the McCarthy process.Which side has the money?Think about it.Forbes list over richest people of the world shows most of them are from coal and oil industries. Yes, we are talking about one of the wealthiest industries ever.If there ever was such a thing as agovernment conspiracy working globally to turn America into a socialist dictatorship of huge wind mill parks and land of solar panels run by UN leftists:ask yourself these 7 question;1.why then has America and the World been polluted for 120 years with lead, asbestos, DDT, mercury, arsenic, teflon, nicotine and now CO2?Can you spot the “green deal dragon”?Look more like a dirty black deal to me.2. why then is Government agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, intended to protect the public from pollution, now being run by former fossil fuel lobbyists of those very polluters and every environmental law demolished?Trump taps former coal lobbyist to lead EPAE.P.A. Plans to Get Thousands of Pollution Deaths Off the Books by Changing Its Math83 Environmental Rules Being Rolled Back Under Trump3. Why then did Senators Not Backing Green New Deal Receive On Average 7 Times As Much Fossil Fuel Cash?Senators Not Backing Green New Deal Received On Average 7 Times As Much Fossil Fuel Cash4. why then are these "green" governments giving out multi billions in socialist subsidies to fossil fuels , not to “green” energy??Green energy feels the heat as subsidies go to fossil fuelsGlobal fossil fuel subsidies totaled $544 billion in 2012, compared to only $101 billion for renewables. The International Monetary Fund estimates fossil fuel subsidies for 2015 to be $5.3 trillion - an amount equal to 6.5% of global GDP. More than 40% of this represents subsidies for coal, the most environmentally damaging of all fossil fuels. Although not good news on its face, the disproportionate funding for fossil fuels represents a tremendous opportunity to shift funding to renewable energy without an overall increase in costs.Global Subsidies - Fossil Fuels vs. Renewables — Environmental Graphiti5. Why are there 180 climate deniers in the Republican party?How US climate machine has left 180 deniers in Congress - Michael West6. Why then is it republicans in 2019 seems to forget or ignore that the 3 main environmental issues in modern times were all initiated and fulfilled by REPUBLICAN presidents?7. Why then did the US say goodbye to the Kyoto and Paris Accord?8. Why dont climate deniers understand that their undermining and smearing of american institutions like NASA, NAS and The Pentagon would had been seen upon as anti-american back in the 50s, and they would had been locked away for being communists?if there is an ongoing “green conspiracy”,Can someone tell me where this “green conspiracy” is?Now ask yourself a new question;Doesn't it look much more like a fossil fuel industry that uses huge sums of money to bribe everyone they can to protect its cash flow?What’s more plausible?A world wide conspiracy involving tens of thousands of scientists and 200 nations over a period of 200 years?Polluters industries are hiding their self interests in ideology and politics to pander their tribe and bribes anyone they can - because they don’t have any science on their side? Just like tobacco did?Lets look closer at the 7 questions:1 AMERICA THE POLLUTED:America the polluted2. WHY ARE THE EPA NOW A JOKE AND EVERY ENVIRONMENTAL LAW DESTROYED BY THEIR FOSSIL FUEL PUPPETS?The EPA was created to protect citizens from pollutions and environmental hazards. But he EPA is now a joke in Trumps America. It’s been hijacked by fossil fuel puppets and climate deniers. FFS, their new chief is a former coal lobbyist.Trump taps former coal lobbyist to lead EPAAnd when fossil fuel interests get bogged down in the candy store alone, this is what happens:Donald Trump has announced a replacement for the Clean Power Plan, one that would create hundreds of millions more tons of carbon pollutionThe Oil Industry’s Covert Campaign to Rewrite American Car Emissions RulesThe Environmental Protection Agency plans to change the way it calculates the health risks of air pollution, a shift that would make it easier to roll back a key climate change rule because it would result in far fewer predicted deaths from pollution, according to five people with knowledge of the agency’s plans.E.P.A. Plans to Get Thousands of Pollution Deaths Off the Books by Changing Its MathMercury Limits on Coal Plants No Longer ‘Appropriate,’ EPA SaysEPA Says Limiting Mercury Pollution From Power Plants Is No Longer 'Appropriate and Necessary'Trump's New Power Plan Comes With a Deadly Price83 Environmental Rules Being Rolled Back Under TrumpThe Trump Administration’s War on Wildlife Should Be a ScandalNational Parks Getting Trashed During Government ShutdownFlorida Court Orders Oil Drilling In Everglades To Move Aheadhttps://www.facebook.com/yearswa...Corporate funding and ideological polarization about climate changePublic Citizen report on Koch-Trump connectionsTrumps America is fossil fuels America. How proud deniers must be. Leat them eat mercury, as they did lead, asbestos, DDT, nicotine and C02, you know, those other "hoaxes" science warned about. And as usual, these environmental laws will be renamed "tax scams" by the fossil fuels front group propaganda machine, to pander their bent over tribe of gullibles who, as usual, will swallow any anti-governmental lie they design, just because they believe being pro-government makes you a socialist.3. Senators Not Backing Green New Deal Received On Average 7 Times As Much Fossil Fuel CashSenators Not Backing Green New Deal Received On Average 7 Times As Much Fossil Fuel Cash4. GLOBAL SUBSIDIES FOR FOSSIL FUELSThe United States has spent more subsidizing fossil fuels in recent years than it has on defense spending, according to a new report from the International Monetary Fund.The IMF found that direct and indirect subsidies for coal, oil and gas in the U.S. reached $649 billion in 2015. Pentagon spending that same year was $599 billion.Study: U.S. Fossil Fuel Subsidies Exceed Pentagon SpendingIMF Survey : Counting the Cost of Energy SubsidiesWhy are taxpayers subsidising the oil and gas companies that jeopardise our future?Instead of hoping market forces solve the climate crisis, the government needs to stop giving tax breaks to pollutersWhy are taxpayers subsidising the oil and gas companies that jeopardise our future? | Clive LewisGreen energy feels the heat as subsidies go to fossil fuelsGlobal fossil fuel subsidies totaled $544 billion in 2012, compared to only $101 billion for renewables. The International Monetary Fund estimates fossil fuel subsidies for 2015 to be $5.3 trillion - an amount equal to 6.5% of global GDP. More than 40% of this represents subsidies for coal, the most environmentally damaging of all fossil fuels. Although not good news on its face, the disproportionate funding for fossil fuels represents a tremendous opportunity to shift funding to renewable energy without an overall increase in costs.Global Subsidies - Fossil Fuels vs. Renewables — Environmental GraphitiGlobal fossil fuel subsidies totaled $544 billion in 2012, compared to only $101 billion for renewables. The International Monetary Fund estimates fossil fuel subsidies for 2015 to be $5.3 trillion - an amount equal to 6.5% of global GDP.How Big Oil Clings to Billions in Government Giveawayshttps://www.motherjones.com/poli...Fossil fuel subsidies are a staggering $5 tn per yearA new study finds 6.5% of global GDP goes to subsidizing dirty fossil fuelshttps://www.theguardian.com/envi...https://www.sciencedirect.com/sc...Over the past century, the federal government has pumped more than $470 billion into the oil and gas industry in the form of generous, never-expiring tax breaks. Once intended to jump-start struggling domestic drillers, these incentives have become a tidy bonus for some of the world’s most profitable companies.Taxpayers currently subsidize the oil industry by as much as $4.8 billion a year, with about half of that going to the big five oil companies—ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, and ConocoPhillips—which get an average tax break of $3.34 on every barrel of domestic crude they produce. With Washington looking under the couch cushions for sources of new revenue, oil prices topping $100 a barrel, and the world feeling the heat from its dependence on fossil fuels, there’s been a renewed push to close these decades-old loopholes. But history suggests that Big Oil won’t let go of its perks without a brawl.https://www.sciencedirect.com/sc...A new paper published in Climatic Change estimates that when we account for the pollution costs associated with our energy sources, gasoline costs an extra $3.80 per gallon, diesel an additional $4.80 per gallon, coal a further 24 cents per kilowatt-hour, and natural gas another 11 cents per kilowatt-hour that we don’t see in our fuel or energy bills.https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-ene...5. Most republican politicians are puppets for the fossil fuel interests.In the US, at least 180 congressional members and senators are declared climate deniers. They’ve received more than US$82 million in campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry and its partners.How US climate machine has left 180 deniers in Congress - Michael West6. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTS WERE BEHIND ALL THE MAYOR ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN MODERN TIMES:The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency.), founded by President Richard Nixon in 1970, was created to protect citizens from pollutions and environmental hazards.1987: Reagan signed the Montreal Protocol (to ban ozone-depleting pollutants), and created a huge climate report in 1989:Ronald Reagan’s 1989 EPA REPORT ON CLIMATE CHANGEPage 28: http://bit.ly/2w8YMuVGeorge H W Bush introduce cap-and-trade (to deal with the acid rain problem).The Political History of Cap and TradeAnd what about George W Bush?Well Dubbya of course ran against the single politician--Al Gore--who is most closely associated with the cause of climate action in modern U.S. history.So I suppose it isn't too surprising that we heard lines like this spoken on the campaign trail:“As we promote electricity and renewable energy, we will work to make our air cleaner. With the help of Congress, environmental groups and industry, we will require all power plants to meet clean air standards in order to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon dioxide within a reasonable period of time. And we will provide market-based incentives, such as emissions trading, to help industry achieve the required reductions.”What might be surprising for you to learn, however, is that it wasn't Al Gore--but George W Bush--who made that statement in the run-up to the election. It was Bush who had committed to combat climate change through the regulation of carbon emissions.Vice: A Commentary on the Politics of Climate DenialGeorge W. Bush administration 2001 National Academies report:Committee on the Science of Climate ChangeDivision on Earth and Life StudiesNational Research Council“Greenhouse gases are accumulating in Earth's atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise.[…] Human-induced warming and associated sea level rises are expected to continue through the 21st century[….] The predicted warming of 3°C (5.4°F) by the end of the 21st century is consistent with the assumptions about how clouds and atmospheric relative humidity will react to global warming.The National Academies PressTRUMP?Trump's 2018 National Climate Assessment. ️Based on extensive evidence … it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century,”For the warming over the last century,“there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence.”Climate Science Special Report: Executive Summary7. If there ever was a “powerful leftist green side” in the USA, why did they not enter the Kyoto and the Paris accord?Senators who urged Trump to leave Paris climate accord took millions from oil companiesThe corruption knows no limits:When Mother Jones first reported in December 2017 that the Environmental Protection Agency had hired a hyper-partisan GOP opposition research firm known for its aggressive tactics to handle the agency’s news-clipping work, the politically appointed flacks in the agency’s press office insisted the decision was about saving money and the hiring had been handled through normal procurement channels. As we reported Thursday, we now know that was not the case. Internal emails obtained by FOIA show that political appointees in the EPA press office demanded career staff push through the hiring of Definers Public Affairs—best known for its work for Republican campaigns and recently for its role as Facebook’s attack dog on Capitol Hill, which included attempts to smear George Soros for his critiques of the social media network.Now, thanks to another batch of internal emails, we have even more evidence that the motivation for hiring Definers came from the top agency political appointees who were ticked off at the old service, because it was collecting too many news clips that portrayed then-EPA administrator Scott Pruitt negatively.- Russ Choma & Rebecca Leber, Politics, Mother Jones, Jan 7, 2019The EPA hired GOP oppo firm because it was sick of "fake news"“If the internet had been around in the 60s and 70s, climate deniers would be arguing against the health effects of smoking, and dredging up historical/anecdotal examples to insist that lung cancer was "natural", while warning that smoking cessation efforts were all part of a global conspiracy of taxation and socio-economic control.”"As early as the 1950s, the groups shared scientists and publicists to downplay dangers of smoking and climate change".Tobacco and Oil Industries Used Same Researchers to Sway PublicThe goal of the fossil fuel industry is to keep its profits rolling in without interference by government or by new, competing energy sources. The polluters know they dont have any science to back up their arguments. So instead they use the best defence method they can. Which is to polarize and politicize the science.To keep their money flow going they need the public embroiled in doubt and suspicion; they need to degrade public confidence in science and scientists; they need to harm America’s future—and the world’s future—so that one of the wealthiest industries on Earth can engorge itself in even more wealth.Keep the people dumb and fogged in fear rethoric.College is Bad for America, Say Majority of RepublicansRead more at: College is Bad for America, Say Majority of RepublicansEducation for the masses is bad for the assesEducation leads to socialism and democracy. Socialism and democracy leads to communism.The difference between capitalism and socialism, is equivalent to the difference between freedom for the asses and freedom for the masses.To pander their gullible bent over “people on the streets” its often enough for the polluters to label environmental laws for “tax scams”. This will trigger their tribe into believing its about them and some (imaginary) battle against the “evil” government (who is only out to protect its citizens from environmental hazards).Libertarian and free-market ideology has traditionally had difficulty dealing with negative externalities, as detailed in the non-libertarian FAQ; denial allows a person to simply ignore the limitations of their ideology. American conservatives in particular tend to distrust government, dislike regulations and hate taxes, so that any problem whose solution is a tax or a regulation naturally attracts distrust.When think tanks and fossil fuel front groups started to lobby for the fossil fuel self interests 70 years ago, the first thing they did was to camouflage those interests as an anti government anti regulation anti tax ideological anti socialist "struggle".Climate Science Denial Explained: The Denial Personality“They connected their audience’s underlying ideologies to climate change: Because cutting GHG emissions requires intervention regulation or increased taxation of carbon emissions—that curtail free market economics, people whose identity and worldview centers around free markets became particularly likely to reject the findings from climate science when the logic was laid bare.”“Back in the late 1980s, when it became pretty clear that there was no persistent Soviet threat, conservatives needed a new bogeyman, and they found it in the environmental movement. “Green is the new Red,” became a common phrase in the conservative magazines of that era. Rather than suggesting that America strip away protections designed to keep air and water clean, commentators and pols railed against controls on less visible threats, like pesticides, ozone holes, and global warming. Cries for environmental regulation were twisted into calls for socialism and the end of economic progress.”“It’s not surprising that high-profile deniers are almost exclusively conservative white men, since they have most benefited from the industrial capitalist system, and therefore have the most skin in the game when it comes to protecting the powers that be — even if they aren’t those powers."[...] “conservative white males are likely to favour protection of the current industrial capitalist order which has historically served them well”. It added that “heightened emotional and psychic investment in defending in-group claims may translate into misperceived understanding about problems like climate change that threaten the continued order of the system.”Cool dudes: The denial of climate change among conservative white males in the United StatesClimate change denial strongly linked to right-wing nationalismHow Is Climate Change Denial Still a Thing?LETS LOOK AT THE MONEY SPENT ON LOBBYISM:Increasingly they are using social media to successfully push their agenda to weaken and oppose any meaningful legislation to tackle global warming.In the run-up to the US midterm elections last year (2018) $2m was spent on targeted Facebook and Instagram ads by global oil giants and their industry bodies, promoting the benefits of increased fossil fuel production, according to the report published by InfluenceMap.Top oil firms spending millions lobbying to block climate change policies, says reportA study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that over the last 20 years, private funding has had an important influence on the overall polarization of climate change as a topic in the United States.Corporate funding and ideological polarization about climate changeTruth is these interests are spending billions on lobbying officials:"Lobbying is conducted away from the public eye," explained Brulle. "There is no open debate or refutation of viewpoints offered by professional lobbyists meeting in private with government officials. Control over the nature and flow of information to government decision-makers can be significantly altered by the lobbying process and creates a situation of systematically distorted communication. This process may limit the communication of accurate scientific information in the decision-making process."As the study concludes, “the environmental organization and the renewable energy sectors were outspent by the corporate sectors involved in the production or use of fossil fuels by a ratio of approximately 10 to 1.”How lobbyists buy climate change legislationhttp://www.drexel.edu/~/media/Fi...About $2 billion USD was spent between 2000 and 2016 by a variety of fossil-fuel related actors on US lobbying alone to confuse the issue on climate change, deny the science and prevent action. This is according to a peer-reviewed study published in the Springer journal Climatic Change, a long-lasting interdisciplinary journal with a solid impact factor of 3.537. The study is The climate lobby: a sectoral analysis of lobbying spending on climate change in the USA, 2000 to 2016 by Robert Brulle of Drexel University.As Brulle points out in his abstract,Major sectors involved in lobbying were fossil fuel and transportation corporations, utilities, and affiliated trade associations. Expenditures by these sectors dwarf those of environmental organizations and renewable energy corporations.https://phys.org/news/2013-12-ko...https://cleantechnica.com/2016/0...Exclusive: Billionaires secretly fund attacks on climate science’IT WAS ALL BIPARTISAN UNTIL FOSSIL FUEL MONEY FLOODED THE REPUBLICAN PART CA 20 YEARS AGO.Even the oil giants knew:http://iopscience.iop.org/articl...Exxon Knew about Climate Change Almost 40 Years AgoBonus: Our CO2 IS causing the warming:As confirmed by GOVERNMENT founded scientist and denier darling Roy Spencer:"Greenhouse components in the atmosphere (mostly water vapor, clouds, carbon dioxide, and methane) exert strong controls over how fast the Earth loses IR energy to outer space. Mankind’s burning of fossil fuels creates more atmospheric carbon dioxide. As we add more CO2, more infrared energy is trapped, strengthing the Earth’s greenhouse effect. This causes a warming tendency in the lower atmosphere and at the surface”He even calls out for deniers to stop questioning the GHE because it makes them look like idiots....hilarious:"Please stop the “no greenhouse effect” stuff. It’s making us skeptics look bad. "http://www.drroyspencer.com/2014/04/skeptical-arguments-that-dont-hold-water/Roger Fjellstad Olsen's answer to Why is opposition to climate science more common in the United States than other countries?

This answer may contain sensitive images. Click on an image to unblur it.Violence and crime stain the pages of U.S. history, and sadly, they're all but certain to be part of our future.Still, the criminal mind fascinates us, and you couldn't name or number all the TV shows, movies and novels that all but glamorize true crime.Selecting 10 of America's most notorious criminals is a daunting task. Of course, there is no single criterion, and morbid factors, such as body count, sadism and notoriety must all be considered. Keeping that in mind, we've assembled a list of some of America's most dangerous and violent villains.Chicago mobster Al Capone on Jan. 19, 1931.1. Al CaponeInfamous American crime czar Al “Scarface” Capone was once king of the Chicago rackets. A Prohibition-era gangster, he ruled a multimillion-dollar empire in the 1920s that was fueled by illegal booze, gambling and prostitution. Capone is also suspected of being the mastermind behind the 1929 Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre in Lincoln Park that left seven of his enemies dead. Capone’s reign as ruler of Chicago’s gangland ended in 1931 when he pleaded guilty to tax evasion and prohibition charges. After serving seven years and six months in federal prison, which included a stay at Alcatraz, Capone was paroled on Nov. 16, 1939. By that time, however, he suffered from paresis derived from syphilis. Capone went into seclusion at an estate near Miami, Fla., where he died of a stroke and pneumonia on Jan. 25, 1947.Charles Manson in 1986.2. Charles MansonCharles Manson was leader of the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that he formed in California in the late 1960s. Manson believed in an impending apocalyptic race war, which he termed "Helter Skelter." He orchestrated a series of gruesome murders on consecutive nights in an effort to help precipitate the race war. In 1969, Manson and his followers were convicted in the slaying of actress Sharon Tate and several others. Initially sentenced to death, Manson's sentence was later commuted to life in prison. Manson was denied parole for the 12th time in April 2012.Theodore Kaczynski in a photo taken on April 4, 1996.3. Ted KaczynskiAuthorities accused Ted Kaczynski of being the domestic terrorist responsible for more than a dozen bomb attacks in multiple states between 1978 and 1995 that killed three people and injured 23 others. The attacker, who called for the "destruction of the worldwide industrial system," was dubbed the Unabomber because many of his early targets worked at universities and airlines. Investigators zeroed in on Kaczynski after his brother, David Kaczynski, informed the FBI that a manifesto attributed to the Unabomber appearing in The New York Times and The Washington Post was similar to papers his brother had written. Ted Kaczynski was ultimately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.Tom Horn was executed on Nov. 20, 1903.4. Tom HornTom Horn was a man of many hats. He was an Army scout, a lawman, an assassin and an outlaw. His name may not be as well-known as that of Billy the Kid or Jesse James, but he was certainly one of the most cold-blooded killers of the Wild West. During the late 1880s, Horn worked for the Pinkerton Detective Agency as a bounty hunter. While he initially seemed like a good fit, his capacity for violence did not go unnoticed. In 1894, he was forced to resign after he was linked to 17 murders. Stripped of his badge, Horn became a killer-for-hire. His typical target was cattle rustlers and he is believed responsible for the deaths of at least 20 rustlers. In 1901, Horn was linked to the murder of 14-year-old Willie Nickell. The teen was the son of a rancher. Horn's guilt remains a subject of debate for historians. Regardless of his level of responsibility, Horn was executed by hanging in Cheyenne, Wyo., on November 20, 1903, the day before his 43rd birthday.Undated photo of Adam Lanza released April 3, 2013.5. Adam LanzaAdam Lanza, a 20-year-old recluse from Connecticut, brought terror to Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012. The troubled young man, armed with a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun, entered the school and fired 154 shots in a span of about five minutes. In the aftermath, 20 first-graders and six educators were left dead. Lanza then took his own life. It was not until later that day that authorities discovered an additional casualty — Lanza's mother, Nancy. He had killed her in their Newtown home prior to the school shooting.Undated photo of Andrew Kehoe.6. Andrew KehoeThe deadliest mass murder at a U.S. elementary school occurred in Bath Township, Michigan, in 1927. Andrew Kehoe, a 55-year-old school board treasurer and farmer, was supposedly angry about his financial troubles and his defeat in an election for township clerk. On May 18, 1927, Kehoe used timed detonators to trigger several incendiary devices he had planted inside Bath Consolidated School. The resulting explosion destroyed much of the school and claimed the lives of 43 people, including 38 children. Kehoe took his own life by detonating dynamite in his truck. Prior to the bombing, Kehoe had killed his wife and set off incendiary devices at his farm, destroying his home and all the buildings. In the aftermath, investigators found a wooden sign Kehoe had apparently wired to a fence on his farm that read, "Criminals are made, not born."Serial killer John Wayne Gacy in 1978.7. John Wayne GacyJohn Wayne Gacy was convicted of murdering 33 young men and boys between 1972 and 1978. Most of the bodies were found buried underneath the crawl space of his Chicago-area home. At the time of his arrest, Gacy claimed he was responsible for at least 45 murders. Gacy was given the nickname "The Killer Clown," because he sometimes adopted the persona of "Pogo the Clown" and participated in charity fundraising events. He was ultimately sentenced to death and executed at the Stateville Correctional Center in 1994 by lethal injection. His notorious last words: "Kiss my ass."Serial killer Ted Bundy acting up in court.8. Ted BundyIn the 1970s, Ted Bundy had a bright future in the Washington State Republican Party; instead, he became one of the most famous serial killers and necrophiliacs in U.S. history. He often deceived his victims, all women, into thinking that he was injured and in need of help before attacking them. In 1976, he was arrested for an attempted kidnapping, but while acting as his own lawyer, he escaped. He migrated to Florida, where he killed two women in a Florida State University sorority house and 12-year-old Kimberly Diane Leach. He was convicted of those murders and, while on death row in 1989, he confessed to 50 other murders. The true total remains unknown. Bundy died in the electric chair at Raiford Prison in Starke, Fla., on Jan. 24, 1989.Police mug shot of Timothy McVeigh.9. Timothy McVeighA homegrown terrorist, Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. The attack, commonly referred to as the Oklahoma City bombing, claimed the lives of 168 people, including 19 children. A Gulf War veteran, McVeigh was seeking revenge against the federal government for the 1993 siege of a compound belonging to the religious group Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. The siege ended in the deaths of sect leader David Koresh and 75 of his followers. The bombing of the Murrah building took place on the two-year anniversary of the Davidians' deaths. McVeigh was convicted of 11 federal offenses and was executed on June 11, 2001.Rev. Jimmy Jones, founder of People's temple, on Nov. 18, 1978.10. Jim JonesJim Jones, the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, fled California in 1974 with his followers and set up a compound in Guyana, which he dubbed Jonestown. Jones, a charismatic and disturbed individual, had become paranoid that the CIA and FBI were watching him. Jones ruled his community with an iron fist and did not permit anyone to leave. His actions made it back to officials in the U.S. and, on November 18, 1978, California Congressman Leo J. Ryan paid a visit to Jonestown. After touring the facility, Ryan left the compound with a number of defectors. Angered, Jones sent some of his men to the airstrip in Port Kaituma, where they gunned down Ryan and four others. Later that same day, 909 of Jones' followers, 303 of which were children, died of apparent cyanide poisoning. Jones died from a gunshot wound to the head consistent with suicide. "We didn’t commit suicide; we committed an act of revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world," Jones said in a 45-minute audio recording that was made that day. The incident was, until Sept. 11, 2001, the single greatest loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster.Dead bodies lie around the compound of the People's Temple on Nov. 18, 1978.Source: The 10 Most Notorious Criminals In American History==================================================================================================================You would also find these interesting.FBI Ten Most Wanted FugitivesThe World's 10 Most WantedWho is now on the World's Most Wanted list?10 Most Dangerous Prison Gangs in the WorldTop 15 Crime Bosses and Drug Lords in 2012 - ListverseThe world's 15 most wanted criminals: meet the men the FBI are hunting