Because of popular demand, I’ve decided to make a blog post of my own somewhat earlier than I wanted to. I think that I’ll even share more of the information that I have about the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve already made a post that includes my thoughts about this phenomenon, but, since it’s not going to go away any time soon, I can share some more of my thoughts about it. It seems that the authorities in Western states will keep milking this so-called pandemic for as long as possible.

Very rarely do I share information about my life on my blog, and, therefore, I think that it’s mostly a waste of time for people to attempt to deduce what I’m like and what I do based on my posts. Of course, this won’t stop people from trying to deduce what I’m like anyway. Therefore, my statement is only a suggestion for anyone who’ll listen. I’ve been running my blog for several years already, and I’ve made about two dozen posts of my own so far. This is a very small number. I can mention, for example, that I’ve been to Egypt and that I’ve seen the sphinx and the pyramids in Giza. I haven’t mentioned this information in any of my previous posts, however. I’m mentioning it now only to let people know that I’m not here to spill my guts about my life, as some people seem to think. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve made only about two dozen posts of my own in the last several years. Therefore, trying to figure out what my character is like based on these posts is fruitless. Still, my blog continues to grow, and I’m not here to discourage people. I’m only saying that my blog is not a complete representation of me.

The television series that I’ve been watching the most lately is Dallas, which began airing on CBS in 1978. I began watching Dallas about half a year ago out of curiosity because the heyday of this series was in the 1980s. In particular, I wanted to see Dallas as a period piece, with 1980s fashion and charm. So far, I’ve finished watching the first four seasons of the show. This may not seem like a lot, but that’s because I’ve been doing other things as well. Firstly, Dallas features hour-long episodes and not half-hour-long episodes. Secondly, Dallas isn’t the only show that I’ve been watching. For example, I’ve also been watching Magnum, P.I. (starring Tom Selleck). Magnum, P.I. is another series that I’ve grown to like after seeing the first several episodes. And I’ve been watching The X-Files (starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson), which began airing in 1993, as well. I got hooked on Dallas after watching the first few episodes, but I would say that this show becomes truly enjoyable in the second season. One of the reasons why the show is good is because it has a good cast. It’s worth remembering that in the 1970s and in the 1980s American actors could still act well, and this is one of the reasons why American shows and films used to be good. Back then, American actors weren’t simply going through the motions, as they do now. I can bring up the American flag as an example. The American flag used to be quite a good actor in Hollywood movies. In the last decade or two, however, the American flag has been delivering rather dull, one-note performances. I mean, you can look at the uninspired performance that the American flag delivered in Michael Bay’s masterpiece Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) as an example. Out of the main cast of Dallas, I think that Jim Davis and Larry Hagman did a particularly good job. All of the actors in the main cast were well suited for their roles, however. Dallas finally began to look and play like a show from the 1980s only in the fourth season. I enjoyed watching the first three seasons, but, in season four, that 1980s glamour finally became evident, with more memorable music, with 1980s fashion, and with more audacious stories. So, all in all, I can see why Dallas was popular in the 1980s. I’m still, however, not entirely sure what kind of propaganda is featured in Dallas. It is a show about a wealthy Texas oil man and his family. These people have millions of dollars at their disposal. For example, they buy pricey cars for one another as gifts. I think that before Dallas, in the 1970s, in the 1960s, and in the 1950s, American shows were mostly about average people and not about rich people. In the 1980s, however, when Ronald Reagan was president, and when oligarchical policies like neoliberalism appeared in the USA, rich people began to be glamourized and humanized on American television. Dynasty, a series that began airing in 1981, is another show that is characteristic of this trend, and it’s also a show that I began watching recently. The 1980s was also a time when oligarchical propaganda became more pervasive in the USA. This kind of propaganda has been making a comeback since 2008. One example of this propaganda is that people are told that if they don’t do well in life, it is their fault and not someone else’s fault. In other words, don’t look at what’s going on around you, look at yourself because you’re the problem if you don’t have a good job, for example. Anyway, Dallas does seem to feature a little criticism of rich people, but it also seems to humanize rich people. So, I’m not entirely sure what the intentions of this show’s creators were. Watching Dallas has certainly been a fine time for me. It doesn’t make me feel as good as when I watch the Indigo League season of Pokemon, however, because Dallas is not a show that I got to watch in my childhood. Sure, Pokemon is not one of the very best anime series out there, and it holds no surprises for me because I’ve already seen it, but it seems to be the only show that easily puts me at ease if I watch it. That’s probably because it’s one of the things that I fondly remember from my childhood. Watching this anime, and playing the Pokemon Red and Blue video game for the Game Boy, can bring back some good memories for me. Because of this, I understand why, for example, some people have a large collection of science-fiction novels. They read science-fiction when they were growing up in the 1950s, in the 1960s, or in the 1970s. Back then, the science-fiction genre was hugely popular. Their collections of science-fiction novels don’t only look good. They also remind them of their childhoods and of a time when everything seemed better and more simple. Adults do have a longing for their youth, after all. By the way, it’s after I began acquiring science-fiction novels of my own that I began to see the appeal of reading and collecting these novels. Many of these novels, from the 1950s to the 1990s, have fantastic covers and artwork. It’s enjoyable simply to look at the covers of these novels. I don’t have a large collection of science-fiction of my own. I have a few dozen novels, and some of them are science-fiction novels. I bought most of these novels in used books stores. In general, I prefer to buy used books. This is because I think that buying new books is a waste of money and paper. Why buy something new if you can buy something that already exists? This is why I buy books in used books stores or on the internet. I have a much larger collection of books and novels in electronic form on Google Books in my Google account. I was able to find and download almost all of these books on certain websites for free. After doing this, I uploaded them to Google Books. In this way, I can easily read books on my smartphone. This especially comes in handy when I’m outside and when I have nothing to do. If I’m waiting for a train, for example, I can take out my smartphone and easily read a book instead of wasting time by standing and doing nothing. Anyway, I have a few hundred science-fiction novels in my Google account. I downloaded most of them after looking at Jim Harris’s lists (https://auxiliarymemory.com/2013/04/09/the-defining-science-fiction-books-of-the-1970s/). I’ve already read a few dozen of them, including Inherit the Stars (1977), which is one of my personal favorites, Tau Zero (1970), Blood Music (1985), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Beyond Apollo (1972), Moonwar (1998), Venus (2000), Starship Troopers (1959), The Gentle Giants of Ganymede (1978), Jurassic Park (1990), The Lost World (1995), Ender’s Game (1985), Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968), Speaker for the Dead (1986), Desolation Road (1988), Icehenge (1984), Downward to the Earth (1970), Dune (1965), The Robots of Dawn (1983), Titan (1979), The Visitors (1980), The Running Man (1982), In the Ocean of Night (1977), Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (1980), and Gateway (1977). I enjoyed reading almost all of these novels. In fact, several years ago, I had a particularly good time reading some of these novels in the morning, in the summer, while I was on a ferry crossing Burrard Inlet, on my way to work. Beyond Apollo is worth reading simply for the humor and the science facts that it contains. Beyond the Blue Event Horizon is worth reading because of its story. I suggest looking at the plot of this novel on Wikipedia. I understand why Isaac Asimov is one of the most popular science-fiction writers. His novels are easy to read and they’re not boring. The same goes for Arthur C. Clarke’s novels. 2001: A Space Odyssey is an impressive novel, especially for its time. Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is very memorable. It’s quite different from the 1982 film Blade Runner. Dune is not one of my favorite novels, but it’s clear to me that it’s a well-written novel. I understand why it’s popular. Its popularity, however, is not entirely natural. Dune has been heavily promoted by the publishing industry and by the establishment because of its propaganda. First of all, Dune is one of the novels that marked a change in the science-fiction genre in the West. It’s different from almost all of the science-fiction novels that came before it. It’s not a story that features optimism, and it’s not about ordinary people exploring space. Instead, it’s a story in which the main characters are members of noble houses or their servants. The protagonist, Paul Atreides, is not some commoner but the son of a duke. I suppose that Paul can be called a messiah or a prophet, kind of like Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, or Rich Evans. In the novel, the author, Frank Herbert, wrote in detail about the behavior and the affairs of Dune’s noblemen. Democracy doesn’t exist in the world of Dune. In addition, the novel features an environmental message, which is also something that Western oligarchs approve of. Dune does feature fantastic world-building and a fantastic story, but it’s a novel that has been heavily promoted in the West because of the propaganda that it contains. This is why there have been numerous attempts to make Dune into a film, despite of the fact that it’s not easy to adapt this thick novel to film. A film finally got made and released in 1984. This effort by the director David Lynch, as flawed as it is, still appeals to me a lot. I like the cast, I like the special effects, and I like the music. Some of the well-known science-fiction novels in the West that followed Dune are also sour in theme and feature propaganda that oligarchs approve of. In fact, even back then, in the 1970s, a few critics noticed that a change occurred in the science-fiction genre, and they didn’t really like this change. Anyway, the science-fiction novels that I’m enjoying reading at this time are Planet of the Apes (1963), 2010: Odyssey Two (1982), and Prelude to Foundation (1988).

When it comes to the films that I’ve seen in the last several months, I can say that I very much enjoyed seeing the first four Star Trek films again (Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). These four films are some of my personal favorite films. The other Star Trek films don’t really interest me. I definitely like the main cast. I think that William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley were very good in their roles. They were good in their roles even in the original series, which began airing in 1966, and this is the main reason why I was able to endure watching it. As good as the show was in the 1960s, I must say that it became silly and outdated already in the 1970s because the science-fiction genre became more fact based and more sophisticated in the 1970s. By the way, in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Christopher Lloyd, who played Dr. Emmett Brown in Back to the Future (1985), played the valiant Muslim Commander Kruge. This is something that I didn’t notice before. Another film that I enjoyed seeing again is Blue Thunder (1983). This film was my favorite when I was a child because it’s an action movie with good-looking helicopters. Blue Thunder is still a film that I like. There isn’t only the exciting action. There’s also a memorable score by Arthur B. Rubinstein and a good cast. The score for Blue Thunder is one of the music albums that I’ve been listening to lately. I’ve also been listening to the first two albums by Animotion, which is one of my favorite bands, and I’ve been listening to blaxploitation soundtracks. These soundtracks are some of my favorite albums, though my favorite among them is not Shaft by Isaac Hayes or Super Fly by Curtis Mayfield but The Mack by Willie Hutch. I also like Hutch’s soundtrack for Foxy Brown. I think that I found out about Hutch after getting the soundtrack for The Last Dragon (1985), which is another one of my favorite music albums. He provided two tracks, The Glow and Inside You, for the film. Well, I have many music albums, but the ones that I’ve listed are the ones that I’ve been listening to the most lately. Moreover, the soundtrack for The Secret of My Success (1987) and the soundtrack for About Last Night (1986) have also become my favorites recently. By the way, About Last Night was remade in 2014. Interestingly, this remake is good as well. This is a rare occurrence for modern comedies. But Blue Thunder is not the only film that I’ve rediscovered recently. I can say that Full Metal Jacket (1987) is now one of my favorite films of the 1980s. I’ve seen it twice before, but I was much younger back then, and I didn’t think much of it. Having seen it for the third time recently, I can now say that Stanley Kubrick’s direction appeals to me more. Full Metal Jacket has many good scenes, like just about every other film directed by Kubrick. Now that I’m an adult, I like Kubrick’s films a lot more. The thing about Kubrick is that he didn’t make standard films, and this is the big reason why I didn’t appreciate his films when I was younger. Full Metal Jacket is not like Platoon (1987), which is an entertaining film that just about anyone can like, and it wasn’t meant to be. The first third of Full Metal Jacket is hilarious and shocking at the same time. The last third of the film is thrilling and shocking at the same time. The death of Sergeant “Cowboy” Evans actually made me feel sad this time. This means that the characters were developed enough for the viewer to care about them.

I think that I’ve already mentioned in one of my posts that I haven’t bought a Nintendo Switch console. This is still the case. Even the release of the new and improved Nintendo Switch OLED hasn’t changed my mind about buying this console. My main reason for not buying the Switch is because Nintendo has been actively going after video game ROM sites in the last few years and suing the owners of these websites for large sums of money. Before Nintendo began doing this, I had nothing against this company. I like many of the games that this company has released, but, for me, Nintendo finally crossed the line when it began its crackdown against ROM sites. As long as this continues, I won’t be buying anything from Nintendo. Even if Nintendo puts an end to this crackdown, I still won’t be eager to buy anything from this company because of the damage that it has already done. Frankly, the reason why Nintendo has been successful in the last several years with the Switch is not because the console itself is awesome. It’s because Nintendo has finally released a console that has mass appeal and that many people want to buy. Let’s face it. It’s not like video game players around the world have many options when it comes to consoles. Except for Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, there are almost no other companies that make video game consoles that can easily be purchased. But the demand for video games and for consoles continues to grow. So, it’s not surprising that even an adequate but faulty console like the Switch can become very successful. The demand is there, but the choices aren’t there. The video games that Nintendo has made for the Switch are fine but nothing great. They’re mostly sequels and remakes, as usual. I don’t really have a problem with sequels and remakes as long as they’re good, but most of the ones that have been made for the Switch don’t impress me. The only truly great new game that has been released for this console is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which features addictive gameplay but a mediocre story. I don’t need to play a passable game like Metroid Dread in order to feel good. I can play a better game, like Metroid Fusion, instead. And I don’t need to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons because I can play a more original game, like Animal Crossing, instead. What I’m getting at is that I’m not one of those many people (consumers) that get to feel good and satisfied only after buying something new. I’d rather save my time and money and buy something older, better, and more original instead. For example, I bought the Dead Space trilogy on Steam at a discount a few months ago, and I bought Dead Space: Extraction for my PlayStation 3 console. Dead Space is a game that’s more than a decade old but it’s better than almost anything that’s available for the Switch. So, I’ve definitely been enjoying playing the Dead Space games. The scenery in these games is so good that I often stopped just to look at the surroundings. Another video game that I very much enjoyed playing not that long ago is Persona 4. Before I began playing this game, I haven’t played any of the other Persona games. Therefore, I didn’t know anything about the peculiar gameplay of Persona 4. Effective time management is one of the things that make this game addictive and enjoyable. Because I didn’t know this, I wasted the first several hours playing this game either doing things that aren’t important or simply skipping over things that are important. Therefore, once I got hooked on this game, after playing it for several hours and after getting used to the gameplay, I regretted wasting time earlier because this game has a deadline. The version of the game that I played first is Persona 4 Golden on my PlayStation Vita. After I finished playing it, I soon began playing Persona 4 on my laptop by using a PlayStation 2 emulator and a controller. Of course, Persona 4 Golden is the version of this game that you should get because it’s a definite improvement over the original. It’s also available on Steam. Persona 4 is now one of my favorite video games. Playing it became as much of a pleasant surprise for me as playing The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker or Silent Hill 2, for example.

Finally, because of popular demand, I’ll share some more information that I have about the COVID-19 pandemic. I did listen to what Andrei Fursov has to say about this pandemic. Fursov makes public appearances and talks rather often, but I’m not one of those people who always wait for his latest interview. Actually, nowadays, I rarely watch videos in which he appears. This isn’t mostly because of something that he has done, however. I simply prefer to do other things at this time. I also rarely watch the news now, and this has been the case for a long time already. Because I generally know where many states in the world are headed, I don’t really need to watch the news every day or every week. News channels are created for propaganda purposes, but I’m knowledgeable enough to realize what’s the truth and what’s deception. I still translate the lectures featuring Fursov because my followers ask me to do this. I don’t do this as often as I used to, however, because YouTube has been making things difficult for independent creators like me for a long time already. According to Fursov, a pandemic does exist, but this is how it’s called officially. In reality, it’s not much of a pandemic because it’s not as deadly as a real pandemic and it doesn’t spread as fast. Fursov said that what has been happening in Western countries as a result of it can be called madness. The restrictions that have been imposed on the masses by the establishment are outlandish and severe. Fursov said that these measures are in part a kind of training in order to make people accept a tougher regime. Just before this pandemic struck, the Western economy had been heading for another crash, similar to the one in 2008. According to Fursov, capitalism has reached a dead end. Before a crash happened, however, this so-called pandemic appeared, and tough measures began to be introduced. By the way, during the pandemic, the economic situation in Western countries hasn’t improved but has become even worse. The COVID-19 pandemic has also demonstrated the harmfulness of the so-called neoliberal model yet again because states in the West and elsewhere in the world are finding it difficult to treat people because there’s a shortage of hospitals, facilities, and doctors. This is one of the reasons why social distancing and isolation got introduced. Fursov said that the economic crisis that appeared in 2008 hasn’t gone away and that the reason why it hasn’t been as severe as it could have been so far is because a lot of money was poured into the economy in order to alleviate this crisis. This had been a temporary solution. I have to say that some of the measures that have been introduced are certainly ridiculous. Firstly, even if COVID-19 had been a deadly disease, wearing masks wouldn’t have helped much in stopping its spread. Masks are mostly useless in this case, and wearing a mask for someone like me, who has to wear glasses, becomes painful after a few hours because my ears begin to hurt. Wearing a mask is also harmful because a person has to breathe air that’s not fresh. So, wearing a mask is perhaps the most ridiculous measure that has been forced on people. But there are other ridiculous measures as well, like the mandatory vaccine jabs. The masses are being forced to accept an injection of something that hasn’t been thoroughly tested, of something that has very unpleasant side effects for some people, and of something that doesn’t even work well. I think that something like this has never happened in human history before. I think that this measure and the other measures are abusive and dumb.

A few questions:

• Do you fancy yourself a patriot?
• Do you bleed red, piss white and shit blue?
• Do you firmly believe that God should bless America and no place else?
• Is drinking discretely in public something you enjoy?
• Does the American flag arouse you?

If you answered yes to a few of these questions than this is the flask for you. If you answered yes to all of these questions, then you might want to seek help, because although it is clear that you really love your country, the color of your stool sounds like it’s highly problematic.

That’s all I have to say. This flask sells itself. My God, just look how fucking sexy it is. Not to mention that it’s 53% RIGHT NOW.

Stratfor just released a paper (The Syria Crisis: Assessing Foreign Intervention) detailing how the actions in Libya and Syria were low intensity psyops designed by Western governments (globalists) to force regime change on those two countries. They also state that the reports coming from the NGOs in those countries are certainly exaggerated to make the current regimes look bad.

The least risky and least detectable option for a country pursuing intervention is to ramp up intelligence activities in the target country. Such activities can involve clandestine activities like developing contact with opposition figures or encouraging generals to conduct a coup or defect to the opposition.

Clandestine efforts can also include working with opposition groups and nongovernmental organizations to improve their information warfare activities. These activities may progress to more obvious covert actions, such as assassinations or sabotage. Most of the actions taken in the covert intelligence war against Iran can be placed in this level.

Clandestine and covert activities often are accompanied or preceded by overt diplomatic pressure. This includes press statements denouncing the leadership of the target country, the initiation of resolutions in international organizations, such as the Arab League or the United Nations, and international economic sanctions” Stratfor

Clearly Democracy NOW! has become a go-to vehicle for passing along propaganda from the Obama/Clinton regime in their information warfare activities. They are constantly providing a venue for NGOs and opposition group leaders to spread their disinformation to the left wing supporters of Obama.

Above is Democracy NOW!’s banner on their “Libya Uprising” page followed by a few headlines from old DN stories which helped build support for Obama’s illegal invasion of Libya.

Thousands Feared Dead in Gaddafi’s Crackdown on Libyan Uprising

“Everywhere There is Graffiti Saying, ‘Welcome to the New Free Libya‘”: Democracy Now! Correspondent Anjali Kamat Reports

Massacre in Libya: Witnesses Say Protesters Have Taken Control of Benghazi Despite Gov’t Violence

Now take a look at DN!’s Syrian topic button. Look familiar?

As Syria Toll Tops 5,000, Activist in Hiding Urges Global Action to Stop Assad Regime Crackdown

Syrian Human Rights Lawyer Razan Zaitouneh Speaks from Hiding, Says Over 4,000 Killed in Uprising

Syria Attacks Protesters with Tanks, Naval Bombardment: “The Regime Has Made War Against the People“

These are not “uprisings” but rather carefully planned destabilization campaigns which have cost thousands their lives and perhaps millions their livelihoods in Libya and and soon Syria. Everything Amy Goodman ever stood for is being bastardized right now and people will pay the price for her compliance in this new world order being fashioned by Obama and Clinton.

A government probe has been launched after officials in New South Wales, Australia, shot and killed shelter dogs that were due to be rescued by volunteers – allegedly in an effort to prevent the volunteers spreading Covid-19.

The dogs, one of which had just given birth to puppies, were housed in a pound in the northwest of the state, and were due to be picked up by volunteers from a Cobar-based animal shelter. However, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Sunday that workers with the Bourke Shire Council had shot them dead last week.

The council ruled that having the volunteers come and collect the animals would somehow put council employees and the local community, including “vulnerable Aboriginal populations” at risk of catching and spreading Covid-19, the Herald reported, citing the Office of Local Government, the council’s watchdog group. The group is now investigating whether animal cruelty laws were broken by the council.

The volunteers say they had Covid-safe measures in place for their trip to the pound, and are reportedly distressed by the mass killing of the abandoned animals. Moreover, it is unclear why the council considered their trip to pose such a threat, given that there have been no recent cases of Covid-19 reported in the Cobar area.

The shootings triggered an outcry on social media. “Killing innocent rescue dogs over human paranoia of a virus that has a 99.8% chance of survival is beyond cruel,” one commenter wrote on Twitter. “The world has gone mad.”

International commenters soon joined in to express their disgust at the animal executions.

“We are deeply distressed and completely appalled by this callous dog shooting and we totally reject the council’s unacceptable justifications that this killing was apparently undertaken as part of a COVID-safe plan,” Lisa Ryan, a spokeswoman for Animal Liberation, said in a statement.

Much of Australia remains under some of the world’s most draconian lockdown policies, with Prime Minister Scott Morrisson promising to keep restrictions in place until 70% of the population is vaccinated. At present less than a third of Australian adults are fully inoculated.

In New South Wales, people in the Greater Sydney area have been ordered to remain at home until the end of September. Even outside Sydney, leaving the home is forbidden in much of the state without a “reasonable excuse,” car travel is banned save for in emergencies, home visits are not allowed, and all residents must carry proof of address outside the home. Police have brutally cracked down on protests against the lockdown rules.

The first new Orthodox church to be built in Warsaw for over 100 years opened yesterday. It is now the third in Poland’s capital, serving a growing number of Orthodox believers.

Both its name – Hagia Sophia – and its outer appearance refer to its famous namesake in Istanbul, which was originally built as a Byzantine cathedral, converted to a mosque by the Ottoman Turks, then deconsecrated into a museum in 1934 – and finally again turned into a mosque in July this year.

The church is located in southern Warsaw, near the Ursynów and Wilanów districts. Its location will save nearby worshippers from longer trips to the city’s other two Orthodox churches: the 19th-century Metropolitan Cathedral of St Mary Magdalene in the Praga district, and the church of Saint John Climacus in Wola, built in 1905. There are also several smaller chapels dispersed around the capital.

The last Orthodox church to be built in Warsaw was opened in 1912, when the city was part of the Russian Empire.

The Alexander Nevsky cathedral – which was then Warsaw’s tallest building and located at the heart of the city in what is today Piłsudski Square – was demolished in the 1920s after Poland regained its independence, along with many other Orthodox places of worship.

At the opening of the new building, Archbishop Sawa – the head of the Polish Orthodox Church – said that it would be dedicated to Polish Orthodox believers “over the centuries” and “especially those who died in camps in the east and west, and those who, strong in faith, gave their lives during the Warsaw Uprising”.

The parish priest, Adam Siemieniuk, says that the new church should “be a tribute to the cradle of Christianity, which is the Hagia Sophia [in Istanbul],” reports Radio Plus.

The temple’s construction began in 2015. Earlier this year, its western bell tower and nine bells were consecrated, but services took place in a temporary wooden chapel near the building site. Now the church itself is open for services, with only final touches being made to the interior.

The building was designed by Andrzej Markowski, who died last year. It is 35 metres wide, with a dome limited to being only 22 metres high, as it stands on the approach path for planes landing at the nearby Chopin airport.

The new church was funded entirely from collections among Orthodox believers. “We did not receive any funds from the state budget, so we can say that the whole thing was financed by our Orthodox community,” said Siemieniuk, quoted by Nasze Miasto, a local news site.

The church will also function as the venue for a Sunday school for Orthodox children.

The current Polish Orthodox Church was established in 1924, and has been headed by Archbishop Sawa since 1998. It claims to have around 500,000 members, although exact figures are difficult to come by.

According to data from the 2011 census, membership stood at 150,000, including 40,000 in Warsaw. However, an estimate for 2019, published earlier this year by Statistics Poland (GUS), a government agency, put the church’s membership at just over 500,000.

A separate recent report by GUS estimates the number of all Orthodox believers in Poland at 0.9% of the population (up from 0.7% in 2016), which would mean around 400,000.

One reason for growing numbers of Orthodox faithful in recent years has been the unprecedented influx of Ukrainian immigrants, an estimated 1.35 million of whom now live in Poland.

Having been battered, bullied, burned and bombed so many times in the past it’s perhaps surprising that possibly the grandest pre-war structure in Warsaw was actually torn down by the locals, no less than 14 years after it was completed.

Commissioned by the Governor General of Poland, Joseph Vladimirovich Gourko, work commenced on St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in 1893 and continued until 1914. Earmarked to serve as place of worship for Warsaw’s ruling Russian community the building was the work of the architect Leontij Benois, a professor in The Tsarist Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg.

The site, on what is today Pl. Piłsudskiego was not chosen by accident; in 1840 the same patch of land was occupied by an obelisk commemorating Polish generals who had collaborated with the Russians during the 1830 November Uprising. It was financed by huge taxes levied by the insufferable Gourko, as well as a collection of funds ordered by Tsar Alexander III, though Russia’s looming economic crisis meant that construction took 18 years.

The results though were staggering. Consisting of five gold plated domes, and a 70 metre bell tower (then the tallest building in Warsaw), the cathedral proved even more dazzling on the inside. Raising comparisons to St. Mark’s in Venice, copper and oak main doors led to an interior dripping with oil paintings and icons. Sixteen mosaic panels were designed by Viktor Asnetsov, and the building was heavily adorned with precious stones. The cathedral operated as a Russian shrine until 1915 when Warsaw was captured by German forces. The next three years saw it function as a German military church, though the moment Poland gained independence plans were floated to demolish this symbol of Russian hegemony. The debate on what to do with it reigned for years, with arguments including that the building had no artistic value, that the square needed to be freed up for military parades and that the foundations were already sinking.

Finally in 1922 the tower was taken down, and between 1924-1926 some 15,000 detonations were set off to rid Warsaw of the cathedral. Not one to miss a mark, the Warsaw magistrate sold public bonds so as to allow every Pole the chance to take part in the iconoclasm. The resulting rubble was used to strengthen the banks of the Wisła and the rescued Finnish granite put to effect in many Warsaw churches.

Of the surviving decorations a few of the mosaics can now be viewed at the St. Mary Magdalene Church in Praga (one of only two Warsaw orthodox churches to survive the 20s), pulpit and altar pieces in the Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Pyry and icons in the Pokrovy Orthodox Church in Baranowicze, Belarus.