Archeology isn’t geology just because you found fossils.
How long have homo sapiens been around? That number is definitely a moving target. It always makes me think of the fact our species have survived through numerous ice ages. That must be tough without technology. Though living near the equator must help immensely.
These are the “Republicans” that back the latest amnesty bill. Do they really think this will get them democrat votes? Or Republican votes for that matter? I have donated to the campaigns of several of these like Jennifer Kiggans, Zach Nunn, David Valadao, and Young Kim. No more.
Those Republicans who are now co-sponsors of the Dignity Act are:
* Rep. Michael Lawler (R-NY)
* Rep. David G. Valadao (R-CA)
* Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA)
* Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA)
* Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
* Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO)
* Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN)
* Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE)
* Rep. Young Kim (R-CA)
* Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
* Rep. James Baird (R-IN)
* Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA)
* Del. Kimberlyn King-Hinds (R-MP-At Large)
* Del. James Moylan (R-GU-At Large)
* Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX)
* Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY)
* Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL)
* Rep. Jennifer Kiggans (R-VA)
* Rep. Zachary Nunn (R-IA)
On Youtube, at least, they’re touting what seems like fifty or a hundred new archeological discoveries and theories which supposedly “rewrite” and “change everything,” the gist of which is that recognizably human beings have a history here on Earth which is far longer than currently imagined in the standard interpretation.
Moreover, that it is likely that the many of the key findings–the outline and narrative of ancient history–we have been educated to believe and to accept are very incomplete and may, perhaps, be almost completely wrong.
There is a lot of evidence for Catastrophism i.e. planet wide catastrophes—usually strikes by meteorites which have–over and over again–toppled civilizations, the memories of which are recorded in myth and legend.
Finally, that there may have been several predecessor civilizations before the civilizations we have been told were the first ones, the evidence for which has been washed away, submerged, or buried by these various catastrophes.
The backdrop to all of this being that institutional archeology is very resistant to change and ignores, belittles, and sometimes tries to destroy the reputations of people who advance disruptive new theories.
Not admirable, but understandable really.
If your career, status, and body of work is based on a certain accepted body of facts and interpretations–one particular, generally agreed on set of “facts,” and a narrative–and someone comes along with ideas which might well demolish that narrative and with it your status, career, and the body of work it stood on, well, of course–not likely to be a Saint–you’ll try to ignore, ridicule, or even try to destroy that person’s reputation.
Zineb Riboua substack essay — “The War the Arab World Is Watching
The Middle East Has a Different Story and the West Is Not Hearing It”
The first is the Arab relationship with Iran. From the vantage point of Brussels or London, Iran presents itself as a resistance movement with a grievance against American hegemony and Israeli occupation, and this presentation maps comfortably onto familiar Western anticolonial frameworks.
What it does not map onto is the lived experience of Arab populations in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, and across the Gulf. In those countries, Iran’s presence meant Hezbollah holding the Lebanese state hostage to Tehran’s decisions, thirty-five armed factions in Iraq drawing salaries from Iranian funds channeled through the Iraqi national treasury, and Houthi commanders answering to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps while firing on Arab civilians from Yemeni soil. Freedom is not the word any serious Arab observer would use for what Iran brought.
Indeed, the Arab world’s quarrel with Iran runs far deeper than American bases or Israeli airstrikes. What drives it is the systematic subversion of Arab sovereignty by a foreign power that uses the language of Islamic solidarity as cover for an imperial project conducted through proxies.
The second dimension is the proxy question itself, where Western analysis fails most comprehensively. Iran goes far beyond supporting armed groups. Parallel state structures get built inside Arab countries, financial systems get captured, and political figures get installed who owe their existence and survival entirely to Tehran.
The Iranians who have administered this project understand it as the export of a revolution, but what Arab populations have experienced is closer to a colonial occupation conducted through intermediaries, and as of now, they’re not mourning the Islamic Republic.
When Westerners treat these proxy networks as instruments of legitimate resistance rather than as mechanisms of subjugation, they endorse an imperial project while believing themselves to be opposing one, and as a matter of fact, make themselves the legitimizing force behind Iran’s war against the Arab world.
The third dimension is the most counterintuitive for a Western audience, and it is the one most consequential for how the current war is understood and misunderstood. For Arab nationalists, including secular nationalists and even those with deep reservations about Israeli policy, Iran represents a greater and more immediate threat than Israel does.
This is a position that Western media are structurally ill-equipped to render intelligible, because Western discourse on the Middle East has been organized for decades around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the primary axis of regional injustice.
The result is that when Western governments and Western publics take strong positions against Israel’s actions against Iran’s operations, they believe themselves to be standing with the Arab world. In reality, they are advancing a position that the Arab world does not share and has not asked for, while ignoring the threat that Arab governments and Arab populations actually live with.
The rhetorical use of Israel as a perpetual alibi for Iranian aggression has been one of the Islamic Republic’s most durable tools, and Western opinion has served as the unwitting amplifier of that tool across the entire duration of the Islamic Republic’s existence.
when they make such broad claims, one is doubtful,
of course the lack of a more complete archaelogical record is used to undermine biblical accounts, tails you lose, heads we win, as with historical records of Jesus presence, which don’t seem surprising when one considers where he was living a relative backwater,
they have made the claim of six extinction events, how true is that,
now the collapse of the bronze age, around the time of the santorini event, the fall of the Roman Empire do track in the big scheme of things,
@ sdferr > “Zineb Riboua substack essay”
Excellent points – the irony of the No Kings, anti-colonialist, “hate has no home here,” “at some point you have enough money,” wing supporting Iran is … priceless.
Dan Newhouse is in a district with a large agricultural economic base and a population of 51% white and 40% Hispanic (Mexican). He’s also not running for re-election.
I think we need some sort of legalization of these workers. A yellow card status, which gives them the right to work in the US, but no path to citizenship, as opposed to green card holders, that allow application for citizenship after five years. To become citizens, they need to return to their country of origin and apply.
Ella Al-Shamashi is the narrator of this BBC piece titled “Jebel Irhoud”, which neo found to share with us. Jebel is the name of a cave in Morocco. Her name indicates she is Islamic, despite her Brit accent, superciliousness, and feminine manner of hair-tossing.
Perhaps her unseen Muslim husband allowed her to appear to the BBC without a hijab.
thats what the Dignity Act is about, it sounds much like the amnesty of 2006, which demoralized many base voters that year, (this is what they are working on,) instead of going after rogue judges, or any of a dozen other things,
These are the “Republicans” that back the latest amnesty bill. Do they really think this will get them democrat votes? Or Republican votes for that matter?
–Bob Wilson
Some of those names are familiar from previous such efforts. ‘The usual suspects’ I call them. Don Bacon in particular.
As for the motive, when you cut away all the high sounding blather, it really boils down to business interests and their desire for cheap, scared labor. The pressure from that direction is unrelenting.
“As for the motive, when you cut away all the high sounding blather, it really boils down to business interests and their desire for cheap, scared labor.” – HC68
That doesn’t make any sense. The people wanting cheap, scared labor want to keep these people working in the shadows.
Here are the elements of the bill:
Main Points and Key Provisions
1. Border Security and Enforcement
Requires full operational control of the southern border using physical barriers, drones, radar, sensors, surveillance technology, and 24/7 monitoring where needed.
Mandates nationwide E-Verify for all employers (phased in) to prevent unauthorized hiring.
Cracks down on human traffickers, smugglers, repeat border crossers, and fraudulent claims with higher penalties and expedited removal.
Uses DNA testing to verify family relationships at the border.
Increases resources for Border Patrol (pay, training, personnel).
2. Asylum System Reform
Ends “catch-and-release” policies.
Establishes at least 3 Humanitarian Campuses near the border for expedited processing of asylum claims (background checks, credible fear interviews, medical screening).
Aims to decide most asylum cases within 60 days.
Allows for regional processing centers in Latin America and penalties for fraudulent claims.
3. Dignity Program (for Long-Term Undocumented Immigrants)
Available to most undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. before December 31, 2020.
Provides a 7-year renewable legal status with work authorization and ability to travel (but no path to citizenship and no access to most federal benefits).
Requirements: Pass criminal background check, pay ~$7,000 in restitution/fees, pay owed taxes, regular check-ins with DHS, and remain in good standing.
Renewable if compliant; fully funded by these payments.
4. Dreamers / American Promise
Provides Dreamers (including DACA recipients) with 10-year conditional permanent resident status.
Path to full permanent residency (green card) if they meet requirements like education, military service, or work history, plus background checks.
No direct path to citizenship in the base program for non-Dreamers.
5. American Workers and Economy
Creates a $70 billion American Workforce Fund for apprenticeships, retraining, and education — one American worker trained per Dignity participant.
Modernizes legal immigration: Expands certain visas (e.g., STEM PhDs get easier O visas), raises per-country green card caps, reduces backlogs, improves student/employment visas, and creates flexibility for seasonal/agricultural workers.
6. Funding and Other
Self-funded through restitution, fees, and payroll contributions — projected to reduce the national debt by at least $50 billion.
Emphasizes “no amnesty” and “Americans first” while providing a practical solution for long-term residents in key industries.
The problem with the 2006 compromise was the order of securing the border and then amnesty. Conservatives didn’t/don’t trust Congress, since many are fine with a porous border– and a “cheap/scared labor force.”
So we got the “Secure Fence Act of 2006”– which was anyone but a wall.
There may be many poisonous elements in the fine print of this bill– which is pretty standard for Congress, but for the next three years, the border is secure. The elements that the President has used to secure the border need to be written into the law– making it harder for the next Democrat to resume the scam of “the border is secure” nonsense.
This shouldn’t make it more beneficial for illegals to enter– since it deals with people already in the country for years. The next Democrat can just ignore the law– open the border and allow illegals to receive government benefits.
I suppose the name of the bill makes it suspect, but on the face of it, seems like a good way to deal with people that have been here for decades,
Someone should ask Swalwell what the underside of the bus looks like.
Brian E on April 10, 2026 at 8:31 pm
From your bill summary:
“Requirements: Pass criminal background check, pay ~$7,000 in restitution/fees, pay owed taxes,…Self-funded through restitution, fees, and payroll contributions …”
I was going to say this sounded like a good way to avoid paying the border crossing coyotes, but then I remembered they are people who are already here and who have already paid for coyote services if they got here via that route.
I am not so sure about the need or wisdom for this:
“Creates a $70 billion American Workforce Fund for apprenticeships, retraining, and education — one American worker trained per Dignity participant.” Part of the core value of the dreamers was that they already had acquired English and work skills due to long presence here, even if sometimes in the shadows. Not clear why they need a specific training/ apprenticeship program or why it should be tied to the Dignity participants. Better to keep this concept separate (and clearly focused on “disadvantaged” native born Americans?
R2L, I agree. The illegals I’m talking about have been in the workforce for years/decades. They aren’t taking anyone’s jobs. In many areas, they are the backbone of the semi-skilled/un-skilled jobs.
The “Workforce Fund” supposedly goes to Americans displaced by this newly minted legal immigrant– not to the immigrant. Congress just can’t help itself. They just have to spend money.
They have been content being non -citizens for decades, so who has been paying for their health care, children’s education, etc. for those decades? A profound unsolvable mystery? (sarc x 11)
The backbone of local economies, subsidized by other taxpayers (citizens).
That dog don’t hunt.
om, this isn’t about citizenship for most. It’s about legal status.
3. Dignity Program (for Long-Term Undocumented Immigrants)
Available to most undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. before December 31, 2020.
Provides a 7-year renewable legal status with work authorization and ability to travel (but no path to citizenship and no access to most federal benefits).
Requirements: Pass criminal background check, pay ~$7,000 in restitution/fees, pay owed taxes, regular check-ins with DHS, and remain in good standing.
Renewable if compliant; fully funded by these payments.
I can’t say I support this bill, given that Congress is famous for hiding exemptions/exclusions in the fine print of many of their bills proposing to fix some problem or another. But on the face of it, it looks like it’s a better attempt than previous proposals– especially the monstrosity proposed by the Biden administration.
“…Western opinion has served as the unwitting amplifier…”
Unwitting, eh?
So make the illegals legal. Something about rewarding bad behaviour and what happens doesn’t seem to be understood.
Que bono
@TommyJay: How long have homo sapiens been around? That number is definitely a moving target. It always makes me think of the fact our species have survived through numerous ice ages.
So now scientists say that Homo Sapiens have been around for 300,000. However, we only developed civilization in the past ~10,000 years.
What were our ancestors doing for 290,000 years, given that they had roughly the same mental and physical endowments as we do? Why did it take so long for civilization to emerge?
The Lost Civilization advocates have a point. We had the time to develop previous civilizations. Perhaps we did.
The Gobekli Tepe site in Turkey and the Giza pyramids are hard to fit into the conventional archaeological timeline. Perhaps they are instead remnants or inheritors of a previous civilization. I’m half-convinced.
Anyway. I’ve enjoyed going down this rabbit hole over the past year. It seems to me that archaeologists need to do less attacking and more explaining.
_______________________________
Stuff just keeps on getting older.
–Graham Hancock
@Huxley, I agree there is still a lot of uncertainty about most of our longish human pre-history. But the assertion that they were anatomically very similar to people now probably works for most of our characteristics of size, mechanics, etc., but it does seem the view that we were/are the same mentally and cognitively might still be questioned. Perhaps even if the homo sapiens skull case did not change substantially in size or shape, the number and quality of neurons therein encased might still have evolved to greater complexity and capability. One slice of evidence for this is a rather “sudden” increase in the number and type and variety of tools and other implements being found in sites dated around 50K BP vs. earlier periods.
It is possible tools older than 50K years might have been less likely to survive, but if skulls and bones are found from prior periods, it seems bone and stone and a few wooden devices might have survived as well. My understanding is that they have not been found.
Fascinating topic to think about.
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Archeology isn’t geology just because you found fossils.
How long have homo sapiens been around? That number is definitely a moving target. It always makes me think of the fact our species have survived through numerous ice ages. That must be tough without technology. Though living near the equator must help immensely.
These are the “Republicans” that back the latest amnesty bill. Do they really think this will get them democrat votes? Or Republican votes for that matter? I have donated to the campaigns of several of these like Jennifer Kiggans, Zach Nunn, David Valadao, and Young Kim. No more.
Those Republicans who are now co-sponsors of the Dignity Act are:
* Rep. Michael Lawler (R-NY)
* Rep. David G. Valadao (R-CA)
* Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA)
* Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA)
* Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
* Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO)
* Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN)
* Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE)
* Rep. Young Kim (R-CA)
* Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
* Rep. James Baird (R-IN)
* Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA)
* Del. Kimberlyn King-Hinds (R-MP-At Large)
* Del. James Moylan (R-GU-At Large)
* Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX)
* Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY)
* Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL)
* Rep. Jennifer Kiggans (R-VA)
* Rep. Zachary Nunn (R-IA)
On Youtube, at least, they’re touting what seems like fifty or a hundred new archeological discoveries and theories which supposedly “rewrite” and “change everything,” the gist of which is that recognizably human beings have a history here on Earth which is far longer than currently imagined in the standard interpretation.
Moreover, that it is likely that the many of the key findings–the outline and narrative of ancient history–we have been educated to believe and to accept are very incomplete and may, perhaps, be almost completely wrong.
There is a lot of evidence for Catastrophism i.e. planet wide catastrophes—usually strikes by meteorites which have–over and over again–toppled civilizations, the memories of which are recorded in myth and legend.
Finally, that there may have been several predecessor civilizations before the civilizations we have been told were the first ones, the evidence for which has been washed away, submerged, or buried by these various catastrophes.
The backdrop to all of this being that institutional archeology is very resistant to change and ignores, belittles, and sometimes tries to destroy the reputations of people who advance disruptive new theories.
Not admirable, but understandable really.
If your career, status, and body of work is based on a certain accepted body of facts and interpretations–one particular, generally agreed on set of “facts,” and a narrative–and someone comes along with ideas which might well demolish that narrative and with it your status, career, and the body of work it stood on, well, of course–not likely to be a Saint–you’ll try to ignore, ridicule, or even try to destroy that person’s reputation.
Zineb Riboua substack essay — “The War the Arab World Is Watching
The Middle East Has a Different Story and the West Is Not Hearing It”
https://www.zinebriboua.com/p/the-war-the-arab-world-is-watching
when they make such broad claims, one is doubtful,
of course the lack of a more complete archaelogical record is used to undermine biblical accounts, tails you lose, heads we win, as with historical records of Jesus presence, which don’t seem surprising when one considers where he was living a relative backwater,
they have made the claim of six extinction events, how true is that,
now the collapse of the bronze age, around the time of the santorini event, the fall of the Roman Empire do track in the big scheme of things,
@ sdferr > “Zineb Riboua substack essay”
Excellent points – the irony of the No Kings, anti-colonialist, “hate has no home here,” “at some point you have enough money,” wing supporting Iran is … priceless.
Dan Newhouse is in a district with a large agricultural economic base and a population of 51% white and 40% Hispanic (Mexican). He’s also not running for re-election.
I think we need some sort of legalization of these workers. A yellow card status, which gives them the right to work in the US, but no path to citizenship, as opposed to green card holders, that allow application for citizenship after five years. To become citizens, they need to return to their country of origin and apply.
Ella Al-Shamashi is the narrator of this BBC piece titled “Jebel Irhoud”, which neo found to share with us. Jebel is the name of a cave in Morocco. Her name indicates she is Islamic, despite her Brit accent, superciliousness, and feminine manner of hair-tossing.
Perhaps her unseen Muslim husband allowed her to appear to the BBC without a hijab.
thats what the Dignity Act is about, it sounds much like the amnesty of 2006, which demoralized many base voters that year, (this is what they are working on,) instead of going after rogue judges, or any of a dozen other things,
on other matters
https://x.com/ginamilan_/status/2042411196381348236
–Bob Wilson
Some of those names are familiar from previous such efforts. ‘The usual suspects’ I call them. Don Bacon in particular.
As for the motive, when you cut away all the high sounding blather, it really boils down to business interests and their desire for cheap, scared labor. The pressure from that direction is unrelenting.
“As for the motive, when you cut away all the high sounding blather, it really boils down to business interests and their desire for cheap, scared labor.” – HC68
That doesn’t make any sense. The people wanting cheap, scared labor want to keep these people working in the shadows.
Here are the elements of the bill:
The problem with the 2006 compromise was the order of securing the border and then amnesty. Conservatives didn’t/don’t trust Congress, since many are fine with a porous border– and a “cheap/scared labor force.”
So we got the “Secure Fence Act of 2006”– which was anyone but a wall.
There may be many poisonous elements in the fine print of this bill– which is pretty standard for Congress, but for the next three years, the border is secure. The elements that the President has used to secure the border need to be written into the law– making it harder for the next Democrat to resume the scam of “the border is secure” nonsense.
This shouldn’t make it more beneficial for illegals to enter– since it deals with people already in the country for years. The next Democrat can just ignore the law– open the border and allow illegals to receive government benefits.
I suppose the name of the bill makes it suspect, but on the face of it, seems like a good way to deal with people that have been here for decades,
Someone should ask Swalwell what the underside of the bus looks like.
Brian E on April 10, 2026 at 8:31 pm
From your bill summary:
“Requirements: Pass criminal background check, pay ~$7,000 in restitution/fees, pay owed taxes,…Self-funded through restitution, fees, and payroll contributions …”
I was going to say this sounded like a good way to avoid paying the border crossing coyotes, but then I remembered they are people who are already here and who have already paid for coyote services if they got here via that route.
I am not so sure about the need or wisdom for this:
“Creates a $70 billion American Workforce Fund for apprenticeships, retraining, and education — one American worker trained per Dignity participant.” Part of the core value of the dreamers was that they already had acquired English and work skills due to long presence here, even if sometimes in the shadows. Not clear why they need a specific training/ apprenticeship program or why it should be tied to the Dignity participants. Better to keep this concept separate (and clearly focused on “disadvantaged” native born Americans?
R2L, I agree. The illegals I’m talking about have been in the workforce for years/decades. They aren’t taking anyone’s jobs. In many areas, they are the backbone of the semi-skilled/un-skilled jobs.
The “Workforce Fund” supposedly goes to Americans displaced by this newly minted legal immigrant– not to the immigrant. Congress just can’t help itself. They just have to spend money.
They have been content being non -citizens for decades, so who has been paying for their health care, children’s education, etc. for those decades? A profound unsolvable mystery? (sarc x 11)
The backbone of local economies, subsidized by other taxpayers (citizens).
That dog don’t hunt.
om, this isn’t about citizenship for most. It’s about legal status.
I can’t say I support this bill, given that Congress is famous for hiding exemptions/exclusions in the fine print of many of their bills proposing to fix some problem or another. But on the face of it, it looks like it’s a better attempt than previous proposals– especially the monstrosity proposed by the Biden administration.
“…Western opinion has served as the unwitting amplifier…”
Unwitting, eh?
So make the illegals legal. Something about rewarding bad behaviour and what happens doesn’t seem to be understood.
Que bono
@TommyJay: How long have homo sapiens been around? That number is definitely a moving target. It always makes me think of the fact our species have survived through numerous ice ages.
So now scientists say that Homo Sapiens have been around for 300,000. However, we only developed civilization in the past ~10,000 years.
What were our ancestors doing for 290,000 years, given that they had roughly the same mental and physical endowments as we do? Why did it take so long for civilization to emerge?
The Lost Civilization advocates have a point. We had the time to develop previous civilizations. Perhaps we did.
The Gobekli Tepe site in Turkey and the Giza pyramids are hard to fit into the conventional archaeological timeline. Perhaps they are instead remnants or inheritors of a previous civilization. I’m half-convinced.
Anyway. I’ve enjoyed going down this rabbit hole over the past year. It seems to me that archaeologists need to do less attacking and more explaining.
_______________________________
Stuff just keeps on getting older.
–Graham Hancock
@Huxley, I agree there is still a lot of uncertainty about most of our longish human pre-history. But the assertion that they were anatomically very similar to people now probably works for most of our characteristics of size, mechanics, etc., but it does seem the view that we were/are the same mentally and cognitively might still be questioned. Perhaps even if the homo sapiens skull case did not change substantially in size or shape, the number and quality of neurons therein encased might still have evolved to greater complexity and capability. One slice of evidence for this is a rather “sudden” increase in the number and type and variety of tools and other implements being found in sites dated around 50K BP vs. earlier periods.
It is possible tools older than 50K years might have been less likely to survive, but if skulls and bones are found from prior periods, it seems bone and stone and a few wooden devices might have survived as well. My understanding is that they have not been found.
Fascinating topic to think about.