Labro

1.9K posts

Labro

Labro

@labrouli

เข้าร่วม Kasım 2017
2.5K กำลังติดตาม165 ผู้ติดตาม
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Fascinating
Fascinating@fasc1nate·
A great way to see Van Gogh's "Starry Night" is to stare at the center of the spiral for 20 seconds and then look at the painting. Why Starry Night was so famous: bit.ly/49VNzyl
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Labro@labrouli·
@Tradermayne It’s actually more cause you pay sales tax on everything you buy. And if you own a property you get taxed on that too.
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Mayne
Mayne@Tradermayne·
Canadians be like let’s pay 54% of my income in taxes.
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Ryan Gerritsen🇨🇦🇳🇱
To believe that these two just get to walk off into the sunset without ever answering for what they did to our Country is beyond infuriating to think about. And both of them are complicit in helping to install our current Government which only continues our slow march towards complete destruction of the Canada we once knew.
Ryan Gerritsen🇨🇦🇳🇱 tweet media
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Dan Bilzerian
Dan Bilzerian@DanBilzerian·
The odds of jews randomly filling 18/18 leadership positions are roughly 1 in 3.8 octillion. If you bet a penny on that outcome you would win: $38,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 — tens of TRILLIONS of times more than ALL the wealth on Earth combined.
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Dan Bilzerian
Dan Bilzerian@DanBilzerian·
Who controls the media? Meta owns: Facebook Instagram WhatsApp Messenger Threads Oculus / Meta Quest VR Meta AI Meta is controlled by Mark Zuckerberg who is jewish Alphabet owns: Google YouTube Android Gmail Chrome Pixel phones Nest smart home devices Fitbit (acquired in 2021) DeepMind Gemini AI assistant/model family Waymo — self-driving cars Verily — health technology Calico — longevity research Wing — drone delivery Alphabet is controlled by Larry Page and Sergey Brin who are both jewish Tic Tok U.S. algorithm, cybersecurity and infrastructure is controlled by Oracle Oracle is controlled by Larry Ellison and he’s jewish Hookup Apps Match Group owns: Tinder Hinge OkCupid Match.com Plenty of Fish Meetic The League BLK Archer OurTime Was founded by Barry Diller who is jewish Grindr Was founded by Joel Simkhai who is jewish Bumble Was founded by Whitney Wolfe Herd who is jewish Porn Onlyfans Owned by Leonid Radvinsky who is jewish Vixen Media Group owns: Blacked Blacked Raw Vixen Tushy Deeper Founded by Greg Lansky who is jewish Aylo/MindGeek Owns/owned: Pornhub YouPorn RedTube Brazzers Reality Kings Digital Playground Men.com Sean Cody Tube8 Solomon Friedman is the owner of Aylo and he’s jewish Gamma Entertainment owns/operates: Adult Time Pure Taboo Wicked Girlsway many affiliate studios/platforms Founded by Karl Bernard who is jewish Movies/TV/News Warner Brothers Discovery owns: Warner Bros. Pictures HBO CNN DC Studios Cartoon Network Discovery Channel TNT TBS Max (formerly HBO Max) Adult Swim HGTV Food Network Animal Planet Warner Brothers is run by David Zaslav who is jewish Disney owns: ESPN ABC Marvel Studios Lucasfilm Pixar 20th Century Studios Disney+ Hulu (major controlling stake) National Geographic Disney is run by Bob Iger who is jewish Paramount Global owns: Broadcast & News CBS CBS News CBS Sports Local CBS stations Film Studios Paramount Pictures Paramount Animation Paramount Players Cable Networks MTV Nickelodeon Comedy Central BET VH1 CMT TV Land Smithsonian Channel Logo TV Pop TV Streaming & Premium Paramount+ Showtime Pluto TV Major franchises/IP Top Gun Mission: Impossible Star Trek South Park (licensing/streaming arrangements) SpongeBob SquarePants Transformers Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Paramount Global is controlled by Sheri Redstone, who is jewish Comcast owns: * NBCUniversal * NBC * Universal Pictures * Peacock * MSNBC * CNBC * Telemundo * Sky (Europe) * DreamWorks Animation * Xfinity Comcast is controlled by Roberts family who is Jewish AI/Data Centers OpenAI/ChatGPT Run by Sam Altman who is jewish Palentir provides advanced data integration, surveillance, AI, and analytics infrastructure used by military, intelligence, law enforcement, and major corporations. Its platforms help organizations combine massive amounts of fragmented data into real-time operational intelligence for warfare, policing, logistics, cybersecurity, manufacturing, and decision-making, making it one of the most strategically influential data and defense technology companies in the world. Owned and operated by Peter Thiel and Alex Karp both jewish Oracle owns: Oracle Database Java MySQL NetSuite Cerner Sun Microsystems technologies It’s important because it owns core infrastructure software that powers governments, banks, hospitals, corporations, and large parts of the internet. Its control of technologies like Oracle Database, Java, MySQL, and Cerner gives it enormous influence over the backend systems modern society depends on. Owned by Larry Ellison who is jewish
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Echoes of Hellas 🇬🇷
Echoes of Hellas 🇬🇷@HellenicEchoes·
They Byzantine castle of Mystras finished restoration works and is fully reoponed now for visitors! The court of the Palailogos dynasty retreated to this place after Constantinople fell in 1453 and continued resisting the Ottomans from there.
Echoes of Hellas 🇬🇷 tweet mediaEchoes of Hellas 🇬🇷 tweet mediaEchoes of Hellas 🇬🇷 tweet media
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Bullish
Bullish@bullishbruk·
Subject: Urgent Demand: Approve ANKTIVA + BCG for Papillary-Only NMIBC NOW – Patients Cannot Wait Until January 2027 Dear FDA @FDAOncology Leadership, Oncology Center of Excellence, and Review Team: As a patient advocate, I issue this urgent plea and formal demand for immediate approval of the sBLA expanding ANKTIVA (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln) + BCG to BCG-unresponsive papillary disease without CIS. The January 6, 2027 PDUFA date is unacceptable. Patients are progressing and suffering today. Papillary and CIS Are Biologically the Same Disease At the FDA’s own workshop on May 18, 2026, the majority of panelists and clinicians confirmed that papillary disease and CIS arise from the same cancer clone, are biologically the same, and are treated identically in real-world practice. This directly supports expanding the existing approval for CIS ± papillary to papillary-only disease. 80,000 Patients in Crisis Cannot Wait 7+ Months Papillary disease comprises ~85% of NMIBC cases. Tens of thousands of BCG-unresponsive patients face repeated recurrences, painful procedures, and high risk of progression to muscle-invasive cancer. Many are elderly or frail and cannot safely undergo radical cystectomy. With no approved bladder-sparing options, they endure preventable suffering, bladder loss, and fear while ANKTIVA + BCG has already demonstrated durable responses and high cystectomy-free survival in papillary cohorts. These patients need ANKTIVA now. Demand: Approve ANKTIVA for papillary-only BCG-unresponsive NMIBC immediately. Align with your workshop consensus and put desperate patients first. Delay is no longer ethical. Sincerely, Bullish Patient Advocate @WSJopinion @SenRonJohnson @SecKennedy @DrPatrick $IBRX
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NPF-FPN
NPF-FPN@npffpn·
RCMP Members and Veterans were intentionally tricked into critical and humiliating interviews for a taxpayer-funded CBC/APTN production. We are calling for an immediate halt and a full inquiry into how this was approved, funded, and executed. Read our full release: npf-fpn.com/news-item/rcmp…
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Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸
It’s not an antisemitic conspiracy theory when a foreign lobby openly brags that they bought two congressional seats with candidates who will be loyal to Israel.
Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 tweet media
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Labro@labrouli·
@Sergeynikon @adamfeuerstein “Approval isn’t guaranteed” is the safest sentence in biotech. Congrats. The news is FDA accepted the sBLA, set a PDUFA, and is formally reviewing the CIS/papillary extrapolation argument instead of shutting it down. That’s objectively bullish. The rest is cope.
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Sergeynikon
Sergeynikon@Sergeynikon·
@adamfeuerstein Amazing.. You ar still spitting negative toxic energy despite the good positive progress of $IBRX.. Fantastic S-hole 🤦🏻‍♂️
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Adam Feuerstein ✡️
Adam Feuerstein ✡️@adamfeuerstein·
$IBRX -- The FDA accepted the sBLA to expand Anktiva to include the treatment of MNBIC papillary. The PDUFA date is Jan. 6, 2027. Standard review. A positive development for ImmunityBio, but like all things, details matter. Approval is not a given. In fact, the FDA reiterated its "concerns relating to single-arm trials in papillary disease alone..." ImmunityBio acknowledged. I'd love to read the entire FDA letter, and not just the company's curated excerpt. If ImmunityBio wins approval to expand Anktiva's use based on single-arm study data, the agency will establish a new approval standard that can, and likely will, be used by other companies to seek the same. The same competitive risks that are impacting ImmunityBio and Anktiva in bladder cancer today will remain because $JNJ, for instance, can accelerate expanded approval of Inlexzo.
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Hawkeye Enjoyer 🐤
Hawkeye Enjoyer 🐤@HawkGuyEnjoyer·
Someone who nobody has ever heard of, declined 8 debates, and took $20 million in donations from Israel “won” a primary from an 8 year constituent. We’re cooked.
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Bullish
Bullish@bullishbruk·
Dear Dr. Pat, @DrPatrick Thank you for your tireless dedication and unwavering commitment to cancer patients. Your relentless quest to find a cure and deliver innovative therapies like ANKTIVA brings real hope to those who need it most. We are deeply grateful for your visionary leadership and the difference you continue to make in the fight against cancer. If you’re reading this, I invite you to join me in supporting Dr. Pat and ImmunityBio $IBRX on this important journey. With sincere appreciation, BullishBruk @LoriMills4CA42
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Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸
I am proud and thankful to have served in the U.S. House of Representatives with my friend Thomas Massie, a giant among weak pathetic men. Releasing the Epstein files was our demise. But it was worth every single bit because now everyone knows the truth. You are ruled by the Epstein class that cares nothing about you and your elected leaders are bought and controlled by a foreign lobby. Tonight the future of the Republican Party was destroyed. The Real America First Movement will rise led by the younger generations, who hate the old guard with an unquenchable passion. Let us pray that we have a country left by the time these creatures are gone.
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Bullish
Bullish@bullishbruk·
$IBRX with FDA’s mission to address serious conditions with limited options. @FDAOncology should grant Priority Review to ImmunityBio’s sBLA for ANKTIVA + BCG in BCG-unresponsive papillary-only NMIBC, accelerating the PDUFA from January 6, 2027, to July 2026. This fills a dire unmet need: high-grade Ta/T1 papillary disease (no CIS) where patients endure repeated recurrences, high progression risk, and radical cystectomy—with no approved bladder-sparing therapy. QUILT-3.032 long-term data deliver strong results: 58% 12-month disease-free survival and >80% cystectomy-free survival at 36 months. Priority Review is justified and precedented (e.g., Keytruda in BCG-unresponsive NMIBC). Patients deserve this immunotherapy months sooner. We urge the good people at the @FDAOncology Target: July 2026 PDUFA. @LoriMills4CA42 @DrPatrick
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Labro@labrouli·
@adamfeuerstein You missed the point. The takeaway wasn’t “only Anktiva deserves approval.” It’s that FDA and leading clinicians are questioning whether CIS and papillary should even be treated separately. Then the differentiator becomes efficacy, safety, durability, and bladder preservation.
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Adam Feuerstein ✡️
Adam Feuerstein ✡️@adamfeuerstein·
A lot of words but no clarity on whether the FDA accepted $IBRX sBLA for Anktiva in NMIBC papillary disease. PDUFA date? Also, if cis and papillary are the same disease, then all currently approved treatments for cis should receive approval for papillary. This is not the Anktiva advantage @DrPatrick suggests.
Dr. Pat Soon-Shiong@DrPatrick

Yesterday was an important day for FDA to hear from physicians treating patients with bladder cancer and with papillary disease without CIS and listening to the real-world evidence of the struggle (and that is the word the clinicians in the panel discussion used) that faces clinicians addressing patients with bladder cancer. The BCG shortage has such incredible implications and even ethical implications in which the doctors reveal that while they feel an ethical dilemma in order for patients to receive access to BCG, they have to force the patient into a clinical trial. Today, I will address the issue of Panel 1 (Is CIS and Papillary the same disease and how do we treat it in the real-world?) and my takeaway and tomorrow of Panel 2 (BCG Shortage and how it affects America today after 14-years of shortage). The Key Takeaways from Panel 1 (I will also add further details in a future Article on my X): Here we go of what I learned from listening to the panel of thought leaders in the field and I sat in the audience quietly taking notes. The feedback and conclusions I understood that were made by these thought leaders and shared with the FDA are as follows that: 1. Papillary disease and CIS disease are the SAME DISEASE – this was the core of the discussion since it affects how patients are treated in the real-world. 2. This conclusion came from TWO relevant findings 1. The biological basis of the disease and 2. The real-world diagnosis of papillary disease alone and once such a diagnosis is made, the real-world treatment that urologists apply. These conclusions and statements made by the panelists were of great significance to educating the FDA and more importantly on behalf of a patient diagnosed with papillary disease since it affects the decision of how patients with papillary disease alone are treated today in the real-world and not some hypothetical approach to making therapies available. 3. One basis for the conclusion that the panelists made that papillary disease and CIS disease is the same was based on the BIOLOGY of the origin of CIS and papillary cancer in the bladder: that papillary and CIS cancer arise from the SAME CANCER GENERATING CLONE, and that CIS (flat) is just a different phenotypic evolution into papillary (the raised form and grape like). In fact, there was some statements that perhaps papillary is just a further growth which starts from CIS which has not been recognized or missed before. 4. The second and REAL WORLD BASIS OF HOW UROLOGISTS IN THE REAL-WORLD make a diagnosis that CIS is present was highly revealing to even to some of the panelists in the audience, as well as to the FDA: that in the real-world only ~6% percent of urologists use a type of light (blue) that helps identifying CIS even if CIS was present with the papillary disease and in most cases the presence of CIS is missed during the initial cystoscopy. 5. But, the most revealing statement made by the clinicians in the panel were when a diagnosis of papillary alone is made, CIS actually probably exists we just don’t see it (and in some cases, the panelists went on to say, once we have diagnosed high-grade papillary, we don’t bother to look for CIS since the decision of how to treat the patient with papillary disease alone IS THE SAME as if the patient had CIS and the presence of CIS was irrelevant to the panelist treatment decision)...  this is worthy repeating... that the treatment in the decision making of the clinicians that once they find high-grade papillary alone, they go on to TREAT NO DIFFERENTLY THAN WITH CIS AND PAPILLARY in high-grade BCG unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer! But here is the rub: THE FDA has not approved any therapy for papillary disease alone since they insist on doing a randomized trial (which some of the panelists state may take hundreds of patients and many years… and furthermore what would be the control to compare to since nothing in the treatment of papillary disease alone is approved??? The FDA wants to consider CHEMO as the control and even named a project during the panel discussion to advance more chemo! (yet we NOW KNOW based on the FDAs own recent approval for chemo on behalf of a large pharma, in BCG unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer in CIS and papillary that chemo (gemcitabine) results in a 1.2% percent fatality and a 24% percent lymphopenia in patients with bladder cancer receiving chemotherapy and worse we also now know in peer reviewed scientific articles that lymphopenia results in more rapid progression to muscle invasive disease (the whole point of what we are trying to prevent) and early mortality! We did not have this information years ago. But we do have the information today. In fact, in 2026 NCCN panelists consisting of ~30 thought leaders treating patients with bladder cancer from NCI comprehensive cancer centers voted that a chemo free, immunotherapy with BCG and an IL-15 superagonist is a viable treatment for BCG unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer of patients with papillary disease alone, based on the data published in peer review journal and sitting in the hands of FDA for review as a supplemental approval for the already approved indication of BCG unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer with CIS and papillary. This already approved indication is important to note when you hear what the panelists in the real-world do when faced with a patient with papillary disease alone. This treatment decision is made in the real-world by clinicians, and was revealed to the FDA at this workshop as follows: • This reveal by the clinicians in the real-world to the FDA is THE MOST TELLING. When asked by the FDA of the panel, what do these clinicians do when they find a patient with papillary disease alone they state: "WE USE AS ON OFF-LABEL TREATMENT THE THERAPIES THE FDA HAS ALRADY APPROVED FOR CIS AND PAPILLARY SINCE THE FDA HAS NEVER APPROVED ANYTHING FOR PAPILLARY ALONE!!" Boom!!! That is the real-world and I hope the reviewers heard this loud and clear. So what was not said on behalf of the patients and the doctors in that meeting to the FDA was “Why should both the doctor and patient have to go through the pain of arguing with their insurance companies to be allowed to use the non-FDA approved drug (but in essence already approved) in an off-label setting??” • This treatment decision by the panelists of trying everything to spare the patients from losing their bladder was consistent amongst them. Ironically the day before the panelist meeting, I had a podcast interview with one of the most respected bladder specialists, Dr. Ashish Kamat, who was instrumental in developing guidelines for FDA in 2016 as to how to manage and design clinical trials for patients with BCG unresponsive bladder cancer and the co-editor with Dr. Peter Black on the book entitled, “Bladder Cancer, A Practical Guide”, Dr. Kamat volunteered during our taped conversation together that he too treats high-grade PAPILLARY DISEASE THE SAME WHETHER IT IS PAPILLARY ALONE OR PAPILLARY WITH CIS!... especially since most miss the CIS component even if it is there! So that was my takeaway and the rationale  we have been  making with FDA for years now. Please listen to the workshop meeting that the FDA recorded and see what you think. Our sBLA is in the hands of the FDA now. I truly hope they listen to the real-world pleas of both the thought leader panelists they convened as well as the interests of the patients suffering from bladder cancer and looking for any way in which the patients could avoid the high morbidity and life changing event of having their bladder removed. Any treatment that could avoid a loss of an organ should be made available to Americans as rapidly as possible. Cancer is a war against time. The most encouraging statement I heard from the FDA was a question near the end of the session to the panelists that, “should high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer be considered a single unit of identification for the indication?”. I took that to mean that finally the reviewers understood that currently approved treatment for NMIBC was the treatment of the biology (high-grade non-responsive to BCG, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer) and not the indication as currently limited to the treatment of a compartmentalized anatomy of whether the patient had CIS alone, or CIS with papillary, or papillary alone. In fact, this question posed by the FDA reviewers to the panelists was exactly the right question and my answer (even though I was not invited to participate) is absolutely yes – that the indication for the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer that is non-responsive to BCG should be “for the treatment of BCG exposed high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer”. This is the real-world. By the way, I think the FDA may have been surprised by the statement of the panelists that in the real-world, there is no such thing as a clinical diagnosis of BCG unresponsive disease and in fact clinicians go through contortions of 5+2 BCG treatment just to accommodate this artificial non-clinical terminology. BCG exposed and non-responsiveness is the real-world. Next, I will present more details based on peer reviewed scientific evidence in the Articles section of X on panel 1 and will address panel 2 (BCG shortage on how it affects Americans).

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Houman David Hemmati, MD, PhD
Houman David Hemmati, MD, PhD@houmanhemmati·
The FDA Commissioner role is open. This is a pivotal moment for American medicine — & for American patients. Here’s what I believe the next Commissioner should stand for. Not as a wish list. As a baseline. 🔬 1. BRING BACK THE ADCOMS — AND MAKE THEM COUNT. Advisory Committee meetings are one of the FDA’s most powerful tools for transparency. They should return in full force. Open. Public. And real. Patients, doctors, scientists, advocates, & skeptics should all be able to speak. But if you want to speak, you fill out a financial conflict-of-interest form under penalty of perjury — & you read it out loud at the podium before you say another word. Every single person. And if the issues are complex and the science requires more than one day, then take the time. Don’t cut people off because the schedule says so. The public deserves to see exactly how these decisions are made. Real transparency builds real trust. ⚖️ 2. STOP ASKING ONLY “IS IT SAFE ENOUGH TO APPROVE?” — START ASKING “WHAT HAPPENS IF WE DON’T?” For rare diseases. For serious conditions with no good options. For patients who don’t have ten years to wait for traditional trials that may never be feasible. Every regulatory decision carries two risks: the risk of approving something, and the risk of not approving it. Both are real. Both affect real people. When traditional gold-standard trials aren’t practical, we should still be able to move with urgency — but only when paired with strong post-approval commitments and rigorous safety monitoring. We can give desperate patients a chance without abandoning scientific integrity. 🇺🇸 3. THE FDA’S ONLY CLIENT IS THE AMERICAN PATIENT. FULL STOP. The FDA exists to serve patients — not outside interests or external pressures of any kind. It must continue protecting the public from products that carry real, known risks but offer no meaningful clinical benefit. At the same time, when there is credible evidence that a treatment can help patients with serious conditions, Americans and their physicians should be trusted to make informed decisions once they have complete and honest information about the risks, benefits, and alternatives. The FDA’s job is to make sure the science is sound and the information is clear. Then let patients and doctors do what’s best for them. These principles matter because the FDA’s decisions affect every family in this country. Note: This is a simple social media post and not a massive policy document. The issues are FAR more nuanced, there are challenges and risks with each of the things I said above, and I recognize that. But it's intended to serve as a discussion starter. We must always strive to improve, and we can when we have open debate and dialogue.
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Dan Bilzerian
Dan Bilzerian@DanBilzerian·
The Epstein files were legally supposed to be released 146 days ago. If citizens ignored court orders and federal law for 146 days, they’d be in jail. When the government officials do it, nothing happens.
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Isaac’s Army
Isaac’s Army@ReturnOfKappy·
The same man who aggressively pushed the COVID vaccines is now the one standing on the hantavirus cruise ship… Reading from a script..? Oh… and he did an internship in Jerusalem… Same players…. Different virus…. You still think it’s random…?
Isaac’s Army tweet media
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Homer Pavlos
Homer Pavlos@HomerPavlos·
They say that the words "gay" and "homosexuality" did not exist in ancient Greece because it was completely normal, just like pederasty. WRONG. I will easily humiliate everyone who tries to manipulate the Classics. The words existed, and they clearly denoted something reprehensible. In this post, I will prove why everyone is lying. First, let me clarify that I do not deny that homosexuality existed, that would be false. However, it is anti-scientific and insidious to deliberately try to turn the entire Greek history, mythology, and personalities into homosexuals without original primary sources to support it. This is done with malice and deceit. I cite some words from ancient Greek that carried the etymology of "gay" with a very negative meaning: 1. κίναιδος (kinaidos) = κινεῖν τὴν αἰδῶ = the lewd man, the one who stirs pleasure, the fornicator. The "ai" is a diphthong. The one who stirs shame and disgrace for himself. It is derived from moving the shame (αἰδῶ), or from moving the genitals. 2. ἀνδροβάτης (androbates) = ἀνήρ + βαίνω = the active kinaidos (the active homosexual male). 3. ἀρρενοκοίτης (arrenokoites) = ἄρσην + κοι- (from κεῖμαι, to lie down) + -της = the man who lies with males, who has intercourse with men, homosexual ≈ synonyms: sodomite. 4. καταπύγων (katapygon) = κατα- + πυγ(ή) + -ων = lustful, vulgar, worthless, lewd, kinaidos. These four words were insulting characterizations. In ancient Greek texts, they are used to mock the "gay" man of the time. This alone shows that it was not a normal institution or something natural, but something condemned. The issue with the vases is also anti-scientific. Out of the half a million vases that exist, depictions of homosexuality appear in only 0.001% of them. Is this a serious argument or source to claim that homosexuality was an institution and the norm? Anyone who supports this is lying. Also the 95% of this 0.001% can't be proven that depict homosexuality, it's just a theory from some "academics". Now let’s move on to some laws from our sources. 1. "I think I should also speak about eros (love) for boys, since this too has to do with education. Other Greeks, either the Boeotians who live together in close pairs of men and boys, or the Eleans who enjoy the bloom of youth, have different customs. Some completely forbid lovers from conversing with boys. Lycurgus, however, in contrast to all these, approved of the following: if a worthy man admired the soul and virtue of a boy and tried to make him a perfect friend and associate with him, he praised this relationship and considered it the best form of education. But if someone appeared to desire the boy’s body, he considered this shameful and legislated that lovers should abstain from their beloved boys in the same way parents abstain from sexual relations with their children or siblings with each other. I am not surprised that some do not believe this, because in many cities the laws do not oppose desires toward boys." Source: Xenophon, Constitution of the Lacedaemonians, Chapter 2. 2. "The Spartan love had nothing shameful in it. If ever an adolescent dared to commit lewd acts with another, it was in no one’s interest for the two to disgrace Sparta; they were either exiled from their homeland or, even worse, lost their lives." Source: Claudius Aelianus, Varia Historia, Book 3. 3. "You may take this matter seriously or as a joke, but you must always remember that when a man unites with a woman to produce a child, the pleasure they feel is entirely natural. Homosexual intercourse, however, is contrary to nature and is committed because men and women cannot restrain their desire for pleasure." Source: Plato, Laws 636c. 4. "If someone appeared to desire the body of the boy, Lycurgus considered this very shameful and legislated that the lovers of the boys should abstain from sexual acts (Aphrodisia) as much as parents abstain from their children and brothers from brothers." Source: Xenophon, Constitution of the Lacedaemonians 2.13.5–14.1. 5. "It was permitted to fall in love with the noble soul of a boy, but to approach boys erotically was something shameful and disgraceful, because in that case they loved the body and not the soul. Whoever was convicted of approaching a boy in a shameful erotic way was punished with lifelong atimia (loss of civic rights)." Source: Plutarch, Ancient Customs of the Spartans, Chapter 7. 6. Solon restricted many practices of society that created an atmosphere of “disorder” (lack of order and organization, but also meaning marital infidelity) and “akolasia” (lack of moral restraint and surrender to pleasures, especially sexual ones). The prohibition of excessive female laments and dirges at funerals of strangers aimed to limit excessive passion, which the ancients identified with the emotional female nature and considered dangerous to the male life that had to be based on reason, calculation, and composure. Plutarch specifically notes in the ancient text that it does not befit men to display excessive passion in mourning (but of course nowhere else either), because it was “unmanly” and “womanish” (something that did not fit the Greek ideal). Source: Plutarch, Solon 21.4. 7. Socrates explains the myth of Ganymede and refers to Achilles and Patroclus: "I wish finally, Callias, to prove to you also through mythology that not only humans but also gods and heroes prefer the friendship of the soul rather than the use of the body. Zeus, as is known, after having relations with mortal women he fell in love with for their physical beauty, left them mortal. But those he loved for the beauty of their soul, he made immortal. Among them are Heracles, the Dioscuri, and others. I also maintain that Ganymede was taken up to Olympus not for the beauty of his body, but for the beauty of his soul. The name itself confirms my opinion, because in a passage of Homer it says 'γάνυται δέ τ’ ἀκούων' which means 'he enjoys listening to him.' There is also another Homeric passage: 'πυκινὰ φρεσὶ μήδεα εἰδώς,' meaning 'he who had wise thoughts.' From these two things, therefore, Ganymede, having received his name not as pleasant-bodied but as pleasant-minded, has been honored among the gods. (i.e., not because of a beautiful body but because of wisdom. Zeus symbolized the Mind/Intellect and was the father of Athena, the goddess of Wisdom. Our mind begets wisdom.) But also Achilles, Niceratus, is portrayed by Homer as having most gloriously avenged the death of Patroclus not as his lover, but as his friend. And also Orestes and Pylades, Theseus and Pirithous, and many other of the best demigods are extolled not because they sleep together, but because each admired the other and together they performed the greatest and most glorious deeds." Source: Xenophon, Symposium [8.28–31]. 8. Proclus gives us the meaning of the terms "lover" (erastes) and "beloved" (eromenos), which had nothing to do with their modern meanings: "After calling Parmenides and Zeno lover and beloved, or the one teacher (guide) and the other initiated disciple (perfected by the verb τελέω, meaning to initiate), [he makes] the lover and teacher cross such a great sea of words toward the beloved and the disciple initiated by him." Source: Proclus, Commentary on Plato’s Parmenides. In classical antiquity, the lover and the beloved, in correspondence, are considered, at least for those who have studied Plato’s dialogue Phaedrus in depth, as teacher and student. In this work, Plato presents this relationship as an erotic one, meaning a relationship of attraction, between the one who seeks knowledge and the one who provides it. By the term “eros,” therefore, is meant the relationship based on feelings of deepest friendship and respect between two people. In the eyes of the adolescent or child, the teacher-lover was the embodiment of the ideal, the ideal person he aspired to imitate, to adopt the love of beauty, and to pursue moral virtues. After all, this was the meaning of Paideia (education) in antiquity. When we talk about pederasty in antiquity, we should not equate it with modern homosexuality. Primarily because it was a pedagogical relationship. I emphasize: pederasty had nothing to do with romantic-sexual love as we say today, but with upbringing and education, in the spirit of that era. It was a relationship between an older man and a younger one, which ended when the youth reached adulthood. The continuation of the relationship was a social stigma. Of course, the relationship could sometimes take on a sexual character (in some cities, as Xenophon informs us, but not in Athens and Sparta), but rarely in the form of sodomy, and it was always condemned by society. It is wrong to equate pederasty with homosexuality. Many Greek academics and foreign historians equate these two concepts. This happens because many newer historians, both foreign and Greek, who deal with ancient texts, do not know them from the originals. Unfortunately, many younger historians do not know ancient Greek and read the ancient authors mainly through bad translations that are paraphrases.What I have to tell you is that pederasty does not mean the renunciation of the youth by his friend, i.e., of his masculine identity. It was not an act that operated against his manliness. In classical Athens, this institution was an element of the upbringing of young men of the upper social class. It certainly included the initiation of the youth by the mentor-elder into erotic life and what a young boy needs to know (today, doesn’t the mother do the same with her daughter or the father with his son?).It is characteristic that most depictions (on vases) include only touching and not sexual intercourse as we understand it. What is of great importance for the value of societies is that in Athens this institution appears either quite limited or is treated with mockery in the comedies of Aristophanes and in other poets, historians, and writers in general. If it were something established and natural, then why would Aristophanes emit such harsh mockery? What should impress us is the legal protection of young people from the possibility of their prostitution. A foreign historian writes that adolescence was not an easy matter for attractive young Athenians. They had to avoid the stigma of those who submitted to unnatural contact. Homosexuality for emotionally immature youths was like walking a tightrope, as social disapproval and comments would not be long in coming. Thus we understand that what is disapproved of is not an institution. And it cannot be an institution, because there is also a multitude of words that exist to condemn these unnatural pleasures (ἀνδροβάτης, ἀρρενοκοίτης, καταπύγων, γυναικάνηρ, γυναικείας, γυναικίζω, etc.). Homer Pavlos
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