Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Summary

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Summary

This is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation and CDC will provide updated information as it becomes available, in addition to updated guidance.

Updated February 29, 2020

Background

CDC is responding to an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel (new) coronavirus that was first detected in China and which has now been detected in 60 locations internationally, including in the United States. The virus has been named “SARS-CoV-2” and the disease it causes has been named “coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”).

On January 30, 2020, the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concernexternal icon” (PHEIC). On January 31, 2020, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency (PHE) for the United States to aid the nation’s healthcare community in responding to COVID-19.

Source and Spread of the Virus
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in people and many different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats. Rarely, animal coronaviruses can infect people and then spread between people such as with MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, and now with this new virus (named SARS-CoV-2).

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is a betacoronavirus, like MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV.  All three of these viruses have their origins in bats. The sequences from U.S. patients are similar to the one that China initially posted, suggesting a likely single, recent emergence of this virus from an animal reservoir.

Early on, many of the patients at the epicenter of the outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China had some link to a large seafood and live animal market, suggesting animal-to-person spread. Later, a growing number of patients reportedly did not have exposure to animal markets, indicating person-to-person spread. Person-to-person spread was subsequently reported outside Hubei and in countries outside China, including in the United States. Some international destinations now have apparent community spread with the virus that causes COVID-19, meaning some people have been infected who are not sure how or where they became infected. Learn what is known about the spread of newly emerged coronaviruses.

Situation in U.S.

• Imported cases of COVID-19 in travelers have been detected in the U.S.
• Person-to-person spread of COVID-19 was first reported among close contacts of returned travelers from Wuhan.
• During the week of February 23, CDC reported community spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 in California (in two places), Oregon and Washington. Community spread in Washington resulted in the first death in the United States from COVID-19, as well as the first reported case of COVID-19 in a health care worker, and the first potential outbreak in a long-term care facility.

Illness Severity

Both MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV have been known to cause severe illness in people. The complete clinical picture with regard to COVID-19 is not fully understood. Reported illnesses have ranged from mild to severe, including illness resulting in death. Learn more about the symptoms associated with COVID-19.

There are ongoing investigations to learn more. This is a rapidly evolving situation and information will be updated as it becomes available.

Risk Assessment

Outbreaks of novel virus infections among people are always of public health concern. The risk from these outbreaks depends on characteristics of the virus, including how well it spreads between people, the severity of resulting illness, and the medical or other measures available to control the impact of the virus (for example, vaccine or treatment medications). The fact that this disease has caused illness, including illness resulting in death, and sustained person-to-person spread is concerning. These factors meet two of the criteria of a pandemic. As community spread is detected in more and more countries, the world moves closer toward meeting the third criteria, worldwide spread of the new virus.

While there is still much to learn about the unfolding situations in California, Oregon and Washington, preliminary information raises the level of concern about the immediate threat for COVID-19 for certain communities in the United States. The potential public health threat posed by COVID-19 is very high, to the United States and globally.

At this time, however, most people in the United States will have little immediate risk of exposure to this virus. This virus is NOT currently spreading widely in the United States. However, it is important to note that current global circumstances suggest it is likely that this virus will cause a pandemic. This is a rapidly evolving situation and the risk assessment will be updated as needed.

Current risk assessment:

• For the general American public, who are unlikely to be exposed to this virus at this time, the immediate health risk from COVID-19 is considered low.
• People in communities where ongoing community spread with the virus that causes COVID-19 has been reported are at elevated though still relatively low risk of exposure.
• Healthcare workers caring for patients with COVID-19 are at elevated risk of exposure.
• Close contacts of persons with COVID-19 also are at elevated risk of exposure.
• Travelers returning from affected international locations where community spread is occurring also are at elevated risk of exposure.

CDC has developed guidance to help in the risk assessment and management of people with potential exposures to COVID-19.

What May Happen

More cases of COVID-19 are likely to be identified in the coming days, including more cases in the United States. It’s also likely that person-to-person spread will continue to occur, including in communities in the United States. It’s likely that at some point, widespread transmission of COVID-19 in the United States will occur.

Widespread transmission of COVID-19 would translate into large numbers of people needing medical care at the same time. Schools, childcare centers, workplaces, and other places for mass gatherings may experience more absenteeism. Public health and healthcare systems may become overloaded, with elevated rates of hospitalizations and deaths. Other critical infrastructure, such as law enforcement, emergency medical services, and transportation industry may also be affected. Health care providers and hospitals may be overwhelmed. At this time, there is no vaccine to protect against COVID-19 and no medications approved to treat it. Nonpharmaceutical interventions would be the most important response strategy.

CDC Response

Global efforts at this time are focused concurrently on containing the spread and mitigating the impact of this virus. The federal government is working closely with state, local, tribal, and territorial partners, as well as public health partners, to respond to this public health threat. The public health response is multi-layered, with the goal of detecting and minimizing introductions of this virus in the United States. CDC is operationalizing all of its pandemic preparedness and response plans, working on multiple fronts to meet these goals, including specific measures to prepare communities to respond to local transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19. There is an abundance of pandemic guidance developed in anticipation of an influenza pandemic that is being repurposed and adapted for a COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights of CDC’s Response

• CDC established a COVID-19 Incident Management System on January 7, 2020. On January 21, CDC activated its Emergency Operations Center to better provide ongoing support to the COVID-19 response.
• The U.S. government has taken unprecedented steps with respect to travel in response to the growing public health threat posed by this new coronavirus:

1. Effective February 2, at 5pm, the U.S. government suspended entry of foreign nationals who have been in China within the past 14 days.

• U.S. citizens, residents, and their immediate family members who have been in Hubei province and other parts of mainland China are allowed to enter the United States, but they are subject to health monitoring and possible quarantine for up to 14 days.

1. On February 29, the U.S. government announced it was suspending entry of foreign nationals who have been in Iran within the past 14 days.
2. CDC has issued the following travel guidance related to COVID-19:

• China — Level 3, Avoid Nonessential Travel — updated February 22;
• Hong Kong — Level 1, Practice Usual Precautions — issued February 19;
• Iran — Level 3, Avoid Nonessential Travel — updated February 28;
• Italy — Level 3, Avoid Nonessential Travel — updated February 28;
• Japan — Level 2, Practice Enhanced Precautions — updated February 22;
• South Korea — Level 3, Avoid Nonessential Travel — updated February 24.

1. CDC also recommends that all travelers reconsider cruise ship voyages into or within Asia at this time.

• CDC is issuing clinical guidance, including:

1. On January 30, CDC published guidance for healthcare professionals on the clinical care of  COVID-19 patients.
2. On February 3, CDC posted guidance for assessing the potential risk for various exposures to COVID-19 and managing those people appropriately.
3. On February 27, CDC updated its criteria to guide evaluation of persons under investigation for COVID-19.
4. On February 28, CDC issued a Health Alert Network (HAN): Update and Interim Guidance on Outbreak of COVID-19.

• CDC has deployed multidisciplinary teams to support state health departments case identification, contact tracing, clinical management, and communications.
• CDC has worked with the Department of State, supporting the safe return of Americans who have been stranded as a result of the ongoing outbreaks of COVID-19 and related travel restrictions. CDC has worked to assess the health of passengers as they return to the United States and provided continued daily monitoring of people who are quarantined.

An important part of CDC’s role during a public health emergency is to develop a test for the pathogen and equip state and local public health labs with testing capacity.

• After distribution of a CDC rRT-PCR test to diagnose COVID-19 to state and local public health labs started, performance issues were identified related to a problem in the manufacturing of one of the reagents.  Laboratories were not able to verify the test performance.
• CDC worked on two potential resolutions to this problem.
• CDC developed a new protocol that uses two of the three components of the original CDC test kit to detect the virus that causes COVID-19 after establishing that the third component, which was the problem with the original test, can be excluded from testing without affecting accuracy. CDC is working with FDA to amend the existing Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the test, but in the meantime, FDA granted discretionary authority for the use of the original test kits.
• Public health laboratories can use the original CDC test kit to test for the virus that causes COVID-19 using the new protocol.
• Further, newly manufactured kits have been provided to the International Reagent Resource for distribution.
• Combined with other reagents that CDC has procured, there are enough testing kits to test more than 75,000 people.
• In addition, CDC has two laboratories conducting testing for the virus that causes COVID-19. CDC can test approximately 350 specimens per day.
• Commercial labs are working to develop their own tests that hopefully will be available soon. This will allow a greater number of tests to happen close to where potential cases are.
• CDC has grown the COVID-19 virus in cell culture, which is necessary for further studies, including for additional genetic characterization. The cell-grown virus was sent to NIH’s BEI Resources Repository for use by the broad scientific community.
• CDC Recommends
• Everyone can do their part to help us respond to this emerging public health threat:
• It’s currently flu and respiratory disease season and CDC recommends getting a flu vaccine, taking everyday preventive actions to help stop the spread of germs, and taking flu antivirals if prescribed.
• If you are a healthcare provider, be on the look-out for:
• People who recently traveled from China or another affected area and who have symptoms associated with COVID-19, and
• People who have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19 or pneumonia of unknown cause. (Consult the most recent definition for patients under investigation [PUIs].)
• If you are a healthcare provider or a public health responder caring for a COVID-19 patient, please take care of yourself and follow recommended infection control procedures.
• If you are a close contact of someone with COVID-19 and develop symptoms of COVID-19, call your healthcare provider and tell them about your symptoms and your exposure.
• If you are a resident in a community where person-to-person spread of COVID-19 has been detected and you develop COVID-19 symptoms, call your healthcare provider and tell them about your symptoms.
• For people who are ill with COVID-19, but are not sick enough to be hospitalized, please follow CDC guidance on how to reduce the risk of spreading your illness to others. People who are mildly ill with COVID-19 are able to isolate at home during their illness.
• If you have been in China or another affected area or have been exposed to someone sick with COVID-19 in the last 14 days, you will face some limitations on your movement and activity for up to 14 days. Please follow instructions during this time. Your cooperation is integral to the ongoing public health response to try to slow spread of this virus.
• Other Available Resources
• The following resources are available with information on COVID-19
• 
  
• U.S. Department of State China Travel Advisoryexternal icon
• World Health Organization, Coronavirusexternal icon

Deadliest Viruses on Earth

Compiled by Malik Shabazz from various sources; CDC

The 9 Deadliest Viruses on Earth

By Anne Harding - Contributing Writer October 27, 2016

Five of the world's deadliest diseases known to man

By Amelia Butterly Newsbeat reporter

Humans have been battling viruses since before our species had even evolved into its modern form. For some viral diseases, vaccines and antiviral drugs have allowed us to keep infections from spreading widely, and have helped sick people recover. For one disease — smallpox — we've been able to eradicate it, ridding the world of new cases.

But as the Ebola outbreak now devastating West Africa demonstrates, we're a long way from winning the fight against viruses.

The strain that is driving the current epidemic, Ebola Zaire, kills up to 90 percent of the people it infects, making it the most lethal member of the Ebola family. "It couldn't be worse," said Elke Muhlberger, an Ebola virus expert and associate professor of microbiology at Boston University.


But there are other viruses out there that are equally deadly, and some that are even deadlier. Here are the nine worst killers, based on the likelihood that a person will die if they are infected with one of them, the sheer numbers of people they have killed, and whether they represent a growing threat.

Marburg virus

Scientists identified Marburg virus in 1967, when small outbreaks occurred among lab workers in Germany who were exposed to infected monkeys imported from Uganda. Marburg virus is similar to Ebola in that both can cause hemorrhagic fever, meaning that infected people develop high fevers and bleeding throughout the body that can lead to shock, organ failure and death.


The mortality rate in the first outbreak was 25 percent, but it was more than 80 percent in the 1998-2000 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as in the 2005 outbreak in Angola, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Ebola virus

The first known Ebola outbreaks in humans struck simultaneously in the Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976. Ebola is spread through contact with blood or other body fluids, or tissue from infected people or animals. The known strains vary dramatically in their deadliness, Muhlberger said.

One strain, Ebola Reston, doesn't even make people sick. But for the Bundibugyo strain, the fatality rate is up to 50 percent, and it is up to 71 percent percent for the Sudan strain, according to WHO.

The outbreak underway in West Africa began in early 2014, and is the largest and most complex outbreak of the disease to date, according to WHO.

Rabies

Although rabies vaccines for pets, which were introduced in the 1920s, have helped make the disease exceedingly rare in the developed world, this condition remains a serious problem in India and parts of Africa.

"It destroys the brain, it's a really, really bad disease," Muhlberger said. "We have a vaccine against rabies, and we have antibodies that work against rabies, so if someone gets bitten by a rabid animal we can treat this person," she said.

However, she said, "if you don't get treatment, there's a 100 percent possibility you will die."

HIV(Human immunodeficiency virus)

In the modern world, the deadliest virus of all may be HIV. "It is still the one that is the biggest killer," said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician and spokesman for the Infectious Disease Society of America.

An estimated 36 million people have died from HIV since the disease was first recognized in the early 1980s. "The infectious disease that takes the biggest toll on mankind right now is HIV," Adalja said.

Powerful antiviral drugs have made it possible for people to live for years with HIV. But the disease continues to devastate many low- and middle-income countries, where 95 percent of new HIV infections occur. Nearly 1 in every 20 adults in Sub-Saharan Africa is HIV-positive, according to WHO.

Smallpox

In 1980, the World Health Assembly declared the world free of smallpox. But before that, humans battled smallpox for thousands of years, and the disease killed about 1 in 3 of those it infected. It left survivors with deep, permanent scars and, often, blindness.

Mortality rates were far higher in populations outside of Europe, where people had little contact with the virus before visitors brought it to their regions.  For example, historians estimate 90 percent of the native population of the Americas died from smallpox introduced by European explorers. In the 20th century alone, smallpox killed 300 million people.

"It was something that had a huge burden on the planet, not just death but also blindness, and that's what spurred the campaign to eradicate from the Earth," Adalja said.

Hantavirus

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) first gained wide attention in the U.S. in 1993, when a healthy, young Navajo man and his fiancée living in the Four Corners area of the United States died within days of developing shortness of breath. A few months later, health authorities isolated hantavirus from a deer mouse living in the home of one of the infected people. More than 600 people in the U.S. have now contracted HPS, and 36 percent have died from the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The virus is not transmitted from one person to another, rather, people contract the disease from exposure to the droppings of infected mice.

Previously, a different hantavirus caused an outbreak in the early 1950s, during the Korean War, according to a 2010 paper in the journal Clinical Microbiology Reviews. More than 3,000 troops became infected, and about 12 percent of them died.

While the virus was new to Western medicine when it was discovered in the U.S., researchers realized later that Navajo medical traditions describe a similar illness, and linked the disease to mice.

Influenza

During a typical flu season, up to 500,000 people worldwide will die from the illness, according to WHO. But occasionally, when a new flu strain emerges, a pandemic results with a faster spread of disease and, often, higher mortality rates.

The most deadly flu pandemic, sometimes called the Spanish flu, began in 1918 and sickened up to 40 percent of the world's population, killing an estimated 50 million people.

"I think that it is possible that something like the 1918 flu outbreak could occur again," Muhlberger said. "If a new influenza strain found its way in the human population,and could be transmitted easily between humans, and caused severe illness, we would have a big problem."

Dengue

Dengue virus first appeared in the 1950s in the Philippines and Thailand, and has since spread throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the globe. Up to 40 percent of the world's population now lives in areas where dengue is endemic, and the disease — with the mosquitoes that carry it — is likely to spread farther as the world warms.

Dengue sickens 50 to 100 million people a year, according to WHO. Although the mortality rate for dengue fever is lower than some other viruses, at 2.5 percent, the virus can cause an Ebola-like disease called dengue hemorrhagic fever, and that condition has a mortality rate of 20 percent if left untreated.

"We really need to think more about dengue virus because it is a real threat to us," Muhlberger said. There is no current vaccine against dengue, but large clinical trials of an experimental vaccine developed by French drug maker Sanofi have had promising results.

Rotavirus

Two vaccines are now available to protect children from rotavirus, the leading cause of severe diarrheal illness among babies and young children. The virus can spread rapidly, through what researchers call the fecal-oral route (meaning that small particles of feces end up being consumed).

Although children in the developed world rarely die from rotavirus infection, the disease is a killer in the developing world, where rehydration treatments are not widely available.

The WHO estimates that worldwide, 453,000 children younger than age 5 died from rotavirus infection in 2008. But countries that have introduced the vaccine have reported sharp declines in rotavirus hospitalizations and deaths.

Sars

In 2003 doctors from WHO became aware of the virus Sars, or severe acute respiratory syndrome.

The virus, first spotted in China, went on to infect more than 8,000 people and kill more than 750.

Sars causes sufferers to run a fever, have flu-like symptoms and have difficulty breathing. There is currently no known cure or vaccine.

Malaria

Malaria is present in almost 100 countries and threatens half of the world's population, says WHO.

The organisation's latest estimates suggest 207m people were infected with malaria in 2012, with about 627,000 deaths, mostly in children under five.

The disease, transmitted through the bite of mosquitoes, is both preventable and treatable.

People going from the UK to countries where the disease is prevalent are advised to speak to their doctor before they travel.

Lassa virus

A nurse in Nigeria was the first person to be infected with the Lassa virus. The virus is transmitted by rodents. Cases can be endemic - which means the virus occurs in a specific region, such as in western Africa, and can reoccur there at any time. Scientists assume that 15 percent of rodents in western Africa carry the virus.

Lassa fever, also known as Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF), is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus. Many of those infected by the virus do not develop symptoms. When symptoms occur they typically include fever, weakness, headaches, vomiting, and muscle pains.

Other names: Lassa hemorrhagic fever

Differential diagnosis: Ebola, malaria, typhoid f...

Symptoms: Fever, headaches, bleeding

Risk factors: Exposure to rodents in West Africa

Junin virus

The Junin virus is associated with Argentine hemorrhagic fever. People infected with the virus suffer from tissue inflammation, sepsis and skin bleeding. The problem is that the symptoms can appear to be so common that the disease is rarely detected or identified in the first instance.

Machupo virus

The Machupo virus is associated with Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, also known as black typhus. The infection causes high fever, accompanied by heavy bleedings. It progresses similar to the Junin virus. The virus can be transmitted from human to human, and rodents often carry it.

Corona Virus Update: 1st US death from COVID-19 reported in Washington state

A man who was a patient at EvergreenHealth, a hospital in Kirkland, Wash., died of COVID-19. The man, who was in his 50s, had underlying health conditions.

(Image: © Shutterstock)

1st US death from COVID-19 reported in Washington state

By Tia Ghose - Assistant Managing Editor 28 minutes ago

Two other people tested positive at a long-term care facility, and dozens of others have symptoms.

The U.S. reported its first death from COVID-19, a man in his 50s with underlying health conditions in Washington state, officials said in a news conference today (Feb. 29).

The man was a patient at EvergreenHealth, a hospital in Kirkland, Washington, a suburb of Seattle.
In addition, a long-term care facility in the same city is facing a possible outbreak, with two presumptive positive cases, Dr. Jeffrey S. Duchin, the chief health officer for Seattle and King County, Washington, said in the news conference. One of those cases is a health care worker in her 40s, and the other is a woman in her 70s who is in serious condition. That facility, Life Care Center in Kirkland, has 180 staff and 108 residents. So far, 52 other people, including staff and patients, are reporting respiratory symptoms, but have not been tested yet, Duchin said. Health department officials have yet to find a link between the two cases, he added.


"In Washington, we are starting to see some spread in the community. Therefore, we feel the risk to the public is increasing," Dr. Kathy Lofy, State Health Officer and the Chief Science Officer for Washington State Department of Health, said in the news conference.
If the virus seems to be spreading, they may recommend certain measures to contain the spread, such as canceling large public gatherings, Lofy said.

The man who died was not tested until yesterday (Feb. 28) by a lab in Washington state, in part because the lab only recently acquired the ability to test suspected cases, and in part because the man only recently met the testing criteria issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Duchin said. Until this week, the CDC recommended testing only for those with COVID-19 symptoms who had recently traveled to China. 

While local spread in certain communities may be occurring, the overall risk from the virus remains low for most Americans, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, said at the news conference.

"Most people in the U.S. will have little immediate risk of exposure to the virus," Messonnier said. 

As a result, guidelines to reduce the spread of the disease will be tailored to each community, depending on the level of disease transmission found, she said.


"What will be appropriate for communities with local transmission won't necessarily be appropriate for communities with no local transmission," Messonnier said.

Hip-Hop: Exploring the Birth of the B-Boy in 70s New York

Exploring the Birth of the B-Boy in 70s New York

“It’s a story about art and the resilience of human beings,” says Bronx street photographer Ricky Flores, who captured the nascent b-boy subculture.

By Cassidy George

04 January 2019, 8:00pm

The first rule of b-boying is that it is not called breakdancing. Most b-boys consider the term “breakdancing” to be an obsolete one, invented by the white media as an umbrella term, which conveniently packaged together a number of street dances into a unified, nonthreatening spectacle. Breaking’s explosion into mainstream culture robbed it of its historical, social and political context, turning it into a frivolous form of “urban” expression.

Today, those distracted by awe-inspiring head spins are likely unaware of the integral role b-boys and the b-boying subculture played in the creation and development of hip hop culture at large. Breaking was one of the five foundational pillars of the movement that emerged from the Bronx in the 70s, when the neighborhood was subject to extreme urban decay. As property values crashed, over 40% of the South Bronx was burned (by landlords for their insurance value) or abandoned between 1970 and 1980. Breaking, along with DJing, Mcing and “writing” (graffiti), rose from the ashes.

“It’s a story about art and human beings’ resilience, and their ability to use art as a tool to rebuild themselves and create beautiful things out of tragic situations,” says Bronx native Ricky Flores, the celebrated street photographer and who captured the spirit of the nascent b-boy subculture.

Ricky Flores South Bronx Photos

“Some say hip hop some begins with the DJ. But actually hip hop culture itself begins with the b-boy. We’re the x factor,” says first generation b-boy Cholly Rock aka Anthony Horne. He traces breaking back to the 60s, when Latinos across New York started “rocking” or “uprocking,” setting mambo-inspired moves to the latest rock and soul hits. Rocking was inspired by battle dances and performed like a showdown. Those who honed in on its more aggressive components called these elaborate dance-disses “burning.” The provocative style became popular amongst feuding New York City gangs, and took hold in one borough in particular: the Bronx.

“B-boying, the way we were doing it, was at that time exclusive to the Bronx,” says Rock. Him and his teen peers put their own spin (literally) on burning, creating a new style of dance inspired by the sonic mother of hip hop, “the break.” B-boys like Rock shared a distaste for the glamour and escapism of the era’s burgeoning disco scene. “[B-boying] was born out of teen rebellion, says Rock. “Disco at the time was still a subculture in the Bronx, popular only with Latinos. So we were a subculture within a subculture.”

Unlike the rockers before them, who battled simultaneously, b-boys took turns dancing during a song’s break in the “cypher” – a space created by a surrounding circle of onlookers. While rockers danced vertically, b-boys gravitated downwards, incorporating freezes, drops, and spins.

B-boying emerged from a highly specific canon of fast-tempo music from the early 70s, that combines Latin percussion with African-American melodies. “If you were a first generation b-boy, you can name very specifically, the set of records, maybe 12 or 13, that we went off to,” says Rock. These songs, like “Apache” by the Incredible Bongo Band, “Give it Up or Turn it Loose” by James Brown, and “T Plays it Cool” by Marvin Gaye, all make use of stop time and amplify the song’s “break,” when rhythm instruments fall silent and the beat is reduced to its most fundamental aspects. “All of the original b-boy records were obscure. With the exception of ‘Scorpio’ by Dennis Coffey, they were b-side records. They weren’t the hits. In the early days of hip hop, “Apache” was a record so cherished and hard to find, b-boys would bring it to parties with them. It became so popular through b-boying that it got reissued,” says Rock.

It was partly because of the music’s specificity that Bronx DJs became the patron saints of b-boying. “If you were really good and you wanted to prove yourself you had to go to a Kool Herc party or a [Grandmaster] Flash party,” explains Rock. “Only certain DJs played b-boy records, so if you were a b-boy you had to be at those parties.” But very quickly, the b-boys’ presence grew to be the loudest in the room. “We weren’t going to the parties to see the DJs or rappers,” recalls Flores. “We went to see the dancers go off! You’d go to stand in the circle and see your friend or your neighbour throwing down!”

It was the DJs' support of the b-boy mission that led to musical innovations centered around prolonging the break, which would become a cornerstone of hip hop sound. DJ Kool Herc famously started to play two copies of the same record on separate turntables to repeat the break over and over, in order to extend the b-boys’ performance time. The name b-boy was coined by Herc himself, though what the first B stands for — either beat boy, Bronx boy, battle boy, or break boy — is still up for debate amongst dancers and historians.

Although the first generation of b-boys developed certified street reputations and became some of the first celebrities of their neighborhood, Cholly Rock says their raw, aggressive, and unapologetic energy was met by most “with hostility”. B-boys were symbols of counter culture and discontent with the status quo. They were harbingers of new style, and as is so often the case with true innovators, were not immediately accepted or understood by their community. “The term hip hop, in its origins, was a derogatory term that they applied to b-boys. They had pejoratives for us, based on the way we danced, that were dismissive and belittling. Floor sweepers, yo-yos, rabbits, hippidy-hoppers — you know, because we bounced up and down. These weren’t terms of endearment,” says Rock.

The early b-boys’ bad boy reputation was bolstered by gang affiliations. As the subculture developed and the earliest b-boy “crews” (a term taken directly from gang culture) were created, dance, rather than violence, became the lynchpin of these neighborhood collectives. Although b-boy crews looked like gangs, because they used fashion as an outward expression of their “tribe” — rocking outlaw looks with Lee jeans and color-coded sweatshirts featuring their crew names — they advocated for settling turf disputes by way of creative expression. Dance offered an alternative outlet for aggressive energy, a physical but non-violent way to duel.

It’s not a coincidence that the birth of b-boying dates almost exactly to the year when Bruce Lee achieved popularity in America, becoming the most beloved non-white action hero. B-boying — beyond incorporating actual martial arts moves — came to embody the spirituality and dedication inherent in martial traditions. Cholly Rock was part of one of the earliest b-boy crews, the Mighty Zulu Kings, established by hip hop legend Afrika Bambaataa. Dancers translated the positive aspects of gang culture into their b-boy crews, like loyalty, respect, mutual aid, and collective responsibility, while sublimating confrontation into an art form.

When Rock and his peers were retiring around the ripe old age of 18, it was the Bronx’s Puerto Rican community that sustained the dance’s vitality. “The Puerto Rican kids picked it up from us and provided the bridge from our early model to the breaking you see today,” says Rock. The second-gen b-boys began to shift their focus to elaborate floor work, adding air moves (which showcase acrobatic ability) and power moves (which showcase strength) to their 20-30 second sets. A standardized format for breaking emerged, with a distinctive beginning, middle, and end: dancers begin with an uprock, building tension and announcing their style, before dropping to the floor and dancing low to the ground, using a six-step rotational floor move as a foundation to launch into air and power moves, before concluding with a single “freeze” pose. The addition of cardboard or linoleum to the cypher made all kinds of new and exciting moves possible, like corkscrew spins and windmilling. “They innovated no doubt,” says Rock of the proceeding generation. “They added more structure to it, creating and naming moves, and codified it.”

One influential second-gen group came to epitomize breaking’s next chapter in the early 80s -- the Rock Steady Crew. As other aspects of hip hop culture exploded into the mainstream, breaking came along with it. The Rock Steady Crew played a huge role in bringing b-boying out of the Bronx and into popular consciousness. The iconic breaking scene in Flashdance featured a number of Rock Steady Crew members and ignited international interest in the subculture. Rock Steady eventually released a single and made another massive appearance in the film Beat Street. Shortly after, Rock Steady went on a world tour, planting the seeds for the subculture to grow in far corners of the globe.

Ricky Flores South Bronx Photos

Without question, the majority of b-boys were boys, but the significance of young women in facilitating the dance’s development is often overlooked. B-girl hero Baby Love, a.k.a. Daisy Castro Cutajar, was the sole female member of Rock Steady Crew for three years. The Upper West Sider was introduced to breaking by her brother, while hanging out at a park on 98th and Amsterdam (which was eventually renamed “Rock Steady Park”, after its dancers). “I started in early 1983. I just watched my brother and his friends breakdance, and I started to copy the footwork and any move that I could do… since I was tiny,” says Love.

Despite Rock Steady’s popularity and success, the scene’s blatant gender imbalance didn’t always produce the most inviting environments. “It was empowering yet lonely, because all I wanted was to fit in and I never felt that way,” she says. “The guys had each other but I didn’t have anyone to build with, to continue my growth in the scene.” Despite being the outlier, Baby Love’s visibility during her Rock Steady years proved there was a place for women in the dancing subculture. Baby Love was the original b-girl icon, inspiring countless b-girls for years to come.

“It’s difficult to fathom the impact we had and how its translated worldwide. That’s a profound thing to happen... the destruction of a community and the development of a culture in spite of that,” explains Flores.” Today, breaking is practiced by people of varying colors, genders, sexual orientations, and economic backgrounds. Yet, there is a kind of universal b-boy spirit among purists, that has come to stand for resilience in the name of oppression, and the triumph of artistic expression – a spirit tethered to the dance’s origin story. Today, the distinction still carries weight in the subculture: a b-boy is someone attuned to the dance’s roots and accompanying philosophy, who respects its history and significance. A “breakdancer” is someone who just learns the moves.

This article originally appeared on VICE US.

NYC detective who interrogated 13-year-old murder suspect in Tessa Majors case has a checkered history on force, beat female inmate: lawyers

Detective Wilfredo Acevedo is pictured before testifying in Family Court on Tuesday. (Alec Tabak/for New York Daily News)

NYC detective who interrogated 13-year-old murder suspect in Tessa Majors case has a checkered history on force, beat female inmate: lawyers

By MOLLY CRANE-NEWMAN

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |

FEB 25, 2020 | 6:46 PM

A New York City detective who interrogated a 13-year-old murder suspect connected to the death of Barnard College freshman Tessa Majors has a checkered history on the NYPD that includes once beating a female inmate so badly she required hospitalization, the boy’s lawyers claimed Tuesday.

A first-year Barnard College student was fatally stabbed during a robbery gone wrong in Morningside Park Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019, just steps away from Columbia University, police sources said. Tessa Majors, pictured, was walking down a set of steps to the park on W. 116th St. near Morningside Drive when a group of young men confronted her and tried to rob her, sources said. One of the men knifed her repeatedly in the stomach, and the group scattered, according to sources.

Hannah Kaplan of the Legal Aid Society grilled Det. Wilfredo Acevedo of Manhattan North’s Homicide squad at a hearing in Manhattan family court about a number of substantiated complaints against him dating back to 2008.

“(On Sept. 24, 2014), isn’t it true that you approached a woman inside a cell at the 32nd Precinct and attacked her. Do you recall that?” Kaplan asked, citing internal disciplinary findings from the NYPD.

“That is incorrect, I’ve never attacked anyone,” Acevedo replied.
Kaplan then asked if he remembered how the woman ended up in Bellevue Hospital with swelling to her arms and wrists, which he declined to answer.


Defense attorneys claim Acevedo misled the Harlem boy and his uncle about their rights to have an attorney present when he conducted the initial interrogation Dec. 12 at Manhattan’s 26th Precinct. Majors was fatally stabbed during a mugging in Morningside Park in Harlem Dec. 11.

Acevedo testified Tuesday during a one-day training session he attended on interrogating suspects, he was taught how to “lie” and “deceive” his subject.

“You are taught to suggest to a suspect that confessing is in their best interest?” Kaplan asked.

“That is correct,” the detective said.

“You did not tell (the uncle) that if (he) requested an attorney — that even if (his nephew) was refusing to answer questions, you would stop questioning?” Kaplan asked.


“No, I did not,” Acevedo said.
Acevedo has been sued a number of times for false arrests, withholding exculpatory evidence, and fabricating accusations, court papers show.

The NYPD did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The detective and others were sued last year by Darius Roseborough for busting into his home without a warrant and falsely arresting him for a shooting for which they knew he was innocent. Roseborough claims in his Manhattan Civil Supreme Court suit the shooting victim was in intensive care and unable to identify his assailants.

Roseborough further alleges Acevedo falsely claimed to have recovered gun parts in his apartment and failed to share exculpatory evidence showing no fingerprints or DNA on the firearms, court papers show.

The youngest suspect in custody for Majors’ death faces felony murder, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon charges.

Cops claim the 5-foot-5 suspect, who has been in police custody since his interrogation, told detectives his friend dropped a knife, and that he picked it up and handed it back shortly before Majors was killed.


Though the child is not believed to be responsible for stabbing Majors, authorities say his own admissions and proximity to the crime make him responsible.
Rashaun Weaver, 14, was arrested and charged as an adult with robbery and murder on Feb. 15 after his DNA was discovered beneath Majors’ fingernails, authorities said. Luciano Lewis, 14, surrendered to police four days later and was hit with the same charges.

Amazon opens a grocery store with no cashiers

Amazon opens a grocery store with no cashiers 

Shoppers can load up their bags and walk right out of the supermarket. 

By Catherine Thorbecke
February 25, 2020, 11:04 AM


Amazon's first Go Grocery store will open its doors in Seattle on Tuesday, welcoming shoppers to walk in, grab what they need and walk out without ever having to interact with a cashier. 
The e-commerce giant that has already shaken up the way people shop for pretty much everything is now expanding into the grocery business and is aiming to change the way people go to the supermarket by eliminating lines and checkout registers. 
Customers simply scan an app as they enter, fill up their bag with groceries and leave, using what Amazon dubs "Just Walk Out Technology."

They will be sent a receipt and charged to their Amazon account as soon as they exit the store. 
The shopping experience employs "the same types of technologies used in self-driving cars: computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning," according to Amazon Go's website.

The high-tech store keeps track of when products are taken or returned to the shelves and tracks them in a virtual cart, the company added.

In order to shop at the store, you must have an Amazon account, the Amazon Go app and a "recent-generation" iPhone or Android phone. 
While Amazon has a handful of smaller Go convenience stores that already use some of the technology, the Seattle location opening Tuesday is its first full-sized supermarket.

The 10,400 square-foot grocery store is also featuring some beloved local vendors such as Seattle Bagel Bakery, La Parisienne and Lopez Island Creamery. Amazon says its staff taste-tested a range of products as well in order to stock the store with tasty and high-quality goods. 
While this is Amazon's first Go Grocery store, it also owns approximately 500 Whole Foods across the country after acquiring the chain in 2017. Dilip Kumar, the vice president of Amazon Go, told the Wall Street Journal it currently has no plans to put cashier-less tech into Whole Foods stores yet. 

Lemuria the Lost Continent

Lemuria, or Mu, is a mythical continent that allegedly was located in the Pacific Ocean area or the Pacific Ring of Fire. Today we read about accelerating natural disasters in that area - earthquakes, tsunamis - dormant volcanoes becoming active - as the tectonic plates continue to shift. This takes us to creation myths - thousands of flood stories around the world - the destruction of a continent and civilization by water, and the creation of something new to replace it in the cycles of time by the consciousness hologram that creates the illusion that this is all real.

Linked to Lemuria

The Japan Yonaguni Ruins

The islands within the Ring of Fire have ancient monuments, petroglyphs, and caves that hold clues to one of many ancient civilizations that once existed there - the most famous Easter Island. The legends of Easter Island speak of 'Hiva' which sank beneath the waves as people fled.

Nan Madol is an archaeological site adjacent to the eastern shore of the Island of Pohnpei linked to Lemuria.

Samoans speak of a mythical place called Bolutu. It was stocked with trees and plants bearing fruits and flowers, which were immediately replaced when picked. On Bolutu men could walk through trees, houses, and other physical objects without any resistance. The Maoris of New Zealand still talk about arriving long ago from a sinking island called Hawaiki linked with Samoan legends.

Dolphins

Spiritually we associate that area with dolphins and their connection to other worlds and entities (aliens) who monitor the planet and either create the accelerating natural disasters or prevent them from destroying it. This all seems to be part of a greater plan as the journey of humanity evolves into something else. Some speculate that the Lemurians were at some point telepathically linked to the dolphins. - their tones called "Dolphin Codes."

The Rig Veda speaks of "the three continents that were"; the third was home to a race called the Danavas.

A sunken land called Rutas was an immense continent far to the east of India and home to a race of sun-worshippers. Rutas was torn asunder by a volcanic upheaval and sent to the ocean depths. Fragments remained as Indonesia and the Pacific islands, and a few survivors reached India, where they allegedly became the elite Brahman caste.



Herodotus chronicles a reign of 340 Dynasties of Kings and High Priests who ruled Kemet before Hellenistic occupation. He says that the Kemetic Priests he spoke to said, "...On four separate occasions, the Sun moved from its wonted course, twice rising where it now sets, and twice setting where it now rises...." This is reference to the Precession of the Equinoxes, a phenomena caused by the Earth's wobbly rotation. The wobble in the Earth's rotation causes the zodiacal constellations that are on the Eastern Horizon at Sunrise on the Equinox to change over time. It takes about 2,160 years for the Equinox sunrise to process through one sign, and about 25,690 years to move 360 degrees through all 12 signs of the Zodiac. This means that the Kemites have a chronology that dates back about 52,000 years (two full Precessions of the Equinox).

Let us examine our past of which many of us have been denied. Let us see how far back does our history really go back despite being taught that the knowledge of human recorded history only goes back a few thousand years. Some of the evidence is in what follows.
Do You Believe In Atlantis? After reading this I would love some feed back.
'Lemuria' (a French word that means "Land of The Moors") is an antediluvian nation (A nation that existed before the Great Flood) that memory of has been retained by various cultural traditions. In Western terms, Lemuria is supposed be a continent that was once where the Pacific Ocean is now located. It connected India, East Africa, and South America. It is also referred to as Gondwanaland, the lost continent below the Pacific. Lemuria is supposed to be the most ancient of nations and the original birthplace of humanity. When this continent sank due to cataclysmic Earth changes, a remnant of humanity was saved and founded what is known as Atlantis. Atlantis is considered another antediluvian nation. Ancient Egyptian civilization is supposed to be the offspring of Atlantis, a remnant escaping its cataclysmic sinking to the bottom of where the Atlantic Ocean is currently located.

Most of the Western World's knowledge of Antediluvian cultures comes from the Greek Philosophers Aristotle and his mentor Solon. Solon learned of Atlantis while studying with the priests of Sais - the school of priests within lower Kemet. These Kemetic Priests recounted to Solon the story of a great and mighty nation whose power and authority stretched around the entire planet. This nation was destroyed by a cataclysmic Earth change that caused massive flooding. However, before recounting these historical accounts to Solon, they ridiculed him and Greek history, for they considered Solon and his kindred 'children'.

O Solon, Solon, you Hellenes are but children… As for the genealogies of yours, which you have recounted to us, Solon, they are no better than the tales of children; for in the first place; you remember one deluge only, whereas there were many of them….
This statement is very important when considering Atlantis and Lemuria. If Solon's source for information on Atlantis and Lemuria is Kemetic, Egyptian historical accounts should be explored for a more accurate overstanding of these antediluvian nations.
What Does Kemetic Sources Reveal of Antediluvian Culture?
'Egyptologists' like to paint the picture that Kemetic High Culture sprang up suddenly with the 1st Dynasty of Menes/Aha around 3100 BCE (some say 4240 BCE). However, Kemetic accounts of their history date back around 33,000 to 52,000 years before the First Dynasty was founded.
One source is referred to as The Royal Papyrus of Turin, which lists all of the Kings who ruled Kemet from Menes through the New Kingdom of the 18th Dynasty. However, before this royal list, they have recorded the rule of Ten 'Neter' - Ptah, Ra, Shu, Geb, Asar, Set, Heru, Tehuti, Maat, and Heru who reigned on the planet. These Neter were said to have collectively ruled for 23,200 years. Following the rule of Gods are Nine Dynasties of Shemsu Hor: 'Followers of Heru'. The Followers of Heru are depicted as Demi-Gods; immortal humans who were the children of the Neter. They ruled for 13,420 years before the reign of Menes. The Papyrus of Turin as a result accounts for 33,620 years of 'pre-history'.
Diodorus of Sicily, in his Library of History, says that Kemetic sources he spoke to chronicled a rule of Gods and Heroes that lasted 18,000 years. Divine Humans then ruled for a span of 15,000 years, for a span of 33,000 years of culture before the reign of Menes.
Herodotus chronicles a reign of 340 Dynasties of King
and High Priests who ruled Kemet before Hellenistic occupation. He says that the Kemetic Priests he spoke to said, "...On four separate occasions, the Sun moved from its wonted course, twice rising where it now sets, and twice setting where it now rises...." This is reference to the Precession of the Equinoxes, a phenomena caused by the Earth's wobbly rotation. The wobble in the Earth's rotation causes the zodiacal constellations that are on the Eastern Horizon at Sunrise on the Equinox to change over time. It takes about 2,160 years for the Equinox sunrise to process through one sign, and about 25,690 years to move 360 degrees through all 12 signs of the Zodiac. This means that the Kemites have a chronology that dates back about 52,000 years (two full Precessions {Precession is a change in the orientation of the rotational axis of a rotating body. In an appropriate reference frame it can be defined as a change in the first Euler angle, whereas the third Euler angle defines the rotation itself.} of the Equinox).
There is more: Manetho chronicles 15,150 years of 'Divine Dynasties and 9,777 years of mortal Kings before Menes. This totals 24,927 years of History. Another Kemetic chronologer of antiquity - George the Syncellus, recounts that the Kemites possessed a tablet that chronicled thirty dynasties preceded by a reign of Neter - all of which occurred during twenty-five "Sothic Cycles". Sothic Cycles are also known as the "Long Year", which records the movement of the helical rising of Sirius through the dates of the civil calendar. Every four years, the helical rising of Sirius (the day Sirius is on the Eastern horizon as the Sun rises) occurs one calendar day later. This occurs because a civil calendar year is 365 days; but a solar year is actually 365 ¼ days long. Therefore, if a 'leap year' were not incorporated into the civil calendar, solar events (Equinoxes/solstices/ helical risings of stars) would occur one day later every four years.
The Kemites tracked Sirius' helical rising as it moved through the civil calendar. They noted that if the helical rising occurred on July 23rd for example, it would take 1,461 years for the helical rising to occur on that date again. This 1,461-year period is the "Sothic Long Year".
25 times 1,461 years is approximately 36,525 years of chronicled History.
However, within all of these chronicles, there is no mention of 'Atlantis'. From where does the Kemetic root origin of this word spring? Gerald Massey in Ancient Egypt: Light of the World explores the language of the Nile Valley for a root of the Greek term Atlantis. He says that Atlantis is a compound word composed of two Kemetic terms: Atl-Antu. Atl is associated with water, and implies a limit or boundary marked by water. Massey says that Antu denotes a measure of land, nome, or mound. Therefore, the seven islands of Atlantis were the seven nomes of Kemet; canals and/or rivers defined the boundaries of these city-states. Massey continues:
And among the nomes of Egypt we find the nome of the Prince of Annu; the nome of the Prince of Lower Egypt; the nome of Supti (Sut); the nome of Sanhutit (Heru); the nome of Sebek; the nome of Shu; the nome of Hapi. Here then, if anywhere on earth, we find a geographical prototype for the Atlantis that was lost in seven islands, according to the records kept by the astronomers, which are preserved in the mythography…
So, in this sense, the Antediluvian Land is the Nile Valley topography from its origins in the Great Lakes South all the way North to the Delta; and Atlantis refers to a time before the Flood Waters in Kemet.
Reaffirming this perspective is an account of a 'Great Deluge' in Kemetic tradition that clearly identifies the antediluvian geography. In the Book of Coming Forth By Day (Egyptian Book of the Dead), Chapter CLXXV recounts the Destruction of Mankind by Ra-Temu. Ra-Temu is dismayed at humanity because some rebels were plotting to overthrow his supremacy. He ascends above the Earth's surface in his 'Ark of a Million Years', and commanded Sekhet the heavenly lioness to unleash the waters of heaven and flood the planet. Sekhet does so, and the waters flood the seven nomes of mankind from Henensu in Upper Kemet (Edfu, the Greek Herakleopolis) all the way north to the nome of Lower Egypt.
There is archeological evidence that supports that the Nile Valley has been completely inundated. For example, seashells have been unearthed in the sands right by the Great Pyramid of Giza. Moreover, the Sphinx of Giza shows definite signs of water erosion, even though it never rains in the Nile Valley. The pattern and position of the erosion
and High Priests who ruled Kemet before Hellenistic occupation. He says that the Kemetic Priests he spoke to said, "...On four separate occasions, the Sun moved from its wonted course, twice rising where it now sets, and twice setting where it now rises...." This is reference to the Precession of the Equinoxes, a phenomena caused by the Earth's wobbly rotation. The wobble in the Earth's rotation causes the zodiacal constellations that are on the Eastern Horizon at Sunrise on the Equinox to change over time. It takes about 2,160 years for the Equinox sunrise to process through one sign, and about 25,690 years to move 360 degrees through all 12 signs of the Zodiac. This means that the Kemites have a chronology that dates back about 52,000 years (two full Precessions of the Equinox).
There is more: Manetho chronicles 15,150 years of 'Divine Dynasties and 9,777 years of mortal Kings before Menes. This totals 24,927 years of History. Another Kemetic chronologer of antiquity - George the Syncellus, recounts that the Kemites possessed a tablet that chronicled thirty dynasties preceded by a reign of Neter - all of which occurred during twenty-five "Sothic Cycles". Sothic Cycles are also known as the "Long Year", which records the movement of the helical rising of Sirius through the dates of the civil calendar. Every four years, the helical rising of Sirius (the day Sirius is on the Eastern horizon as the Sun rises) occurs one calendar day later. This occurs because a civil calendar year is 365 days; but a solar year is actually 365 ¼ days long. Therefore, if a 'leap year' were not incorporated into the civil calendar, solar events (Equinoxes/solstices/ helical risings of stars) would occur one day later every four years.
The Kemites tracked Sirius' helical rising as it moved through the civil calendar. They noted that if the helical rising occurred on July 23rd for example, it would take 1,461 years for the helical rising to occur on that date again. This 1,461-year period is the "Sothic Long Year".
25 times 1,461 years is approximately 36,525 years of chronicled History.
However, within all of these chronicles, there is no mention of 'Atlantis'. From where does the Kemetic root origin of this word spring? Gerald Massey in Ancient Egypt: Light of the World explores the language of the Nile Valley for a root of the Greek term Atlantis. He says that Atlantis is a compound word composed of two Kemetic terms: Atl-Antu. Atl is associated with water, and implies a limit or boundary marked by water. Massey says that Antu denotes a measure of land, nome, or mound. Therefore, the seven islands of Atlantis were the seven nomes of Kemet; canals and/or rivers defined the boundaries of these city-states. Massey continues:
And among the nomes of Egypt we find the nome of the Prince of Annu; the nome of the Prince of Lower Egypt; the nome of Supti (Sut); the nome of Sanhutit (Heru); the nome of Sebek; the nome of Shu; the nome of Hapi. Here then, if anywhere on earth, we find a geographical prototype for the Atlantis that was lost in seven islands, according to the records kept by the astronomers, which are preserved in the mythography…
So, in this sense, the Antediluvian Land is the Nile Valley topography from its origins in the Great Lakes South all the way North to the Delta; and Atlantis refers to a time before the Flood Waters in Kemet.
Reaffirming this perspective is an account of a 'Great Deluge' in Kemetic tradition that clearly identifies the antediluvian geography. In the Book of Coming Forth By Day (Egyptian Book of the Dead), Chapter CLXXV recounts the Destruction of Mankind by Ra-Temu. Ra-Temu is dismayed at humanity because some rebels were plotting to overthrow his supremacy. He ascends above the Earth's surface in his 'Ark of a Million Years', and commanded Sekhet the heavenly lioness to unleash the waters of heaven and flood the planet. Sekhet does so, and the waters flood the seven nomes of mankind from Henensu in Upper Kemet (Edfu, the Greek Herakleopolis) all the way north to the nome of Lower Egypt.
There is archeological evidence that supports that the Nile Valley has been completely inundated. For example, seashells have been unearthed in the sands right by the Great Pyramid of Giza. Moreover, the Sphinx of Giza shows definite signs of water erosion, even though it never rains in the Nile Valley. The pattern and position of the erosion indicates that the lower portion of the Sphinx - from the base of the neck down - was under water.
Ta-Neter: The Kemetic Lemuria
Kemetic cosmology - the chronicling of creation and divine origins of humans - reveals more about Antediluvian High Culture. According to Kemetic tradition, their earliest ancestors were a people called the Anu. The Anu originated in the highlands of the Upper Nile region where the Blue and White Nile begin. The Anu, 'The Fish People', also known as "The Black-Headed", founded a nation in this Edenic region named Ta-Neter: Land of the Gods. The Kemites also called these regions Apta: 'The Summit of the Earth'. Apta is the Original Mountain of the Gods, the Kemetic Mount 'Hetep', the Hindu Mount Meru (Meroe), and the Greek Mount Olympus. This region is a vast plateau in modern Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, and Eastern Zaire. The average altitude of these regions is 5000 feet above sea level. The runoff of the Great Lakes in these regions is the source of the White Nile.
In Kemetic cosmology, Ta Neter is depicted as an Earthly paradise where the Hue-man Gods who lived there were immortal. This original Garden of Eden was a place where water and vegetation were in continual abundance. In this Kush oasis, fresh water perpetually wells up from Amen-ta - the Underworld.
According to the Kemetic Star Clock that measures the Precession of the Equinoxes, the Anu had to found Ta-Neter either 26,000 years ago or 52,000 years ago (Since the Anu are referred to as the 'Fish People', they probably founded their culture in the Age of Pisces, which last occurred from circa 26,000-24,000 years ago. The one prior was about 52,000 BCE).
Ta-Neter is more than likely the actual Lemuria - the very first antediluvian nation. Modern archeological and anthropological research into the origins of humanity all point to highland plateaus of Eastern Africa as the birthplace of humanity, verifying Kemetic chronicles and reaffirming the consistency of Lemuria being this land.
Ta-Seti: The Kemetic Atlantis
Kemetic cosmology chronicles that around 19,000 years ago, in the Age of Sagittarius according to the Precession of the Equinoxes, a nation called Ta-Seti was founded. Ta Seti literally means 'Land of Set'. It was also known as the 'Land of the Bow' and its icon symbol was the arched bow.
The land of the Bow was in Eastern-Central Africa north of Ta-Neter, but still south of Kemet Proper. This region of the White Nile begins when the 'Mountain Nile' of Ta Neter runs down to the plains of the Sudan. This begins abruptly at the sixth cataract, near modern-day Khartoum, Sudan. Ta-Seti extended north to around the 1st-2nd cataract, this northern extension ending at the southern frontier of Kemet.
More than likely, the nation of Ta-Seti is the mythical Atlantis. Several classical sources lend credence to this. Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History, says that the Ethiopians were originally known as the Atlantae.
As stated, much of what is known about Atlantis in the West comes from the accounts of Aristotle and Solon, the well-known Greek philosophers. Solon learned of Atlantis while studying with the priests of Sais - the school of priests within lower Kemet. The Priests relate to Solon that about 9000 years prior to Hellenistic times, a mighty nation arose which practically conquered the whole world. Its territory stretched throughout the entire African continent (Libya from the Straits of Hercules in the West to Kemet in the East). This nation also consumed "the whole of Europe and Asia".
According to Solon, the progenitor of Atlantis was a God: Poseidon. He mated with a mortal human and begot ten children. The last of the ten was named Atlas, whom became an immortal king over Atlantis. Solon said that for a long time, the Atlanteans were righteous. However, over time, they grew vain, weak, and greedy. It is said that Poseidon created a large island over the Atlantic Ocean for the rulers of Atlantis to reign from. They built elaborate palaces and temples that were covered in gold, silver, tin, and brass. The Atlanteans dug all manner of metal and stone from the Earth, including a special stone named orichalum. They were aggressive warriors with advanced technologies, and exploited the entire planet.
The God Zeus grew vex with Atlantean exploits, and in one day destroyed its world supremacy: "...Afterward there occurred violent earthquakes and floods, and in a single day and night of rain...the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared, and was sunk beneath the sea..."
Comparing Greek mythoforms to their original cosmological characters in Kemet, Poseidon corresponds to Nun: The male ruler of celestial and terrestrial waters. Nun was the national deity of the Nile Valley in distant antiquity, around 21,730-19,570 BCE during the Age of Capricorn according to the Precession of the Equinoxes. The Age of Capricorn is the Age prior to the Age of Sagittarius, (the Precession of the Equinoxes travels retrograde - backward through the zodiac) the age in which Ta-Seti (Land of the Bow) emerged. Therefore, Nun (Poseidon), being ruler of the previous age, is considered the Father of Atlas (Atlantis/Ta-Seti).
Therefore, it can be deduced from Solon's account of Atlantis that Ta-Seti was founded in the Age of Sagittarius, around 19,500 BCE. The nation was righteous for close to 10,000 years, at which time it grew corrupt, culminating in the catastrophic events Solon says occurred around 9000 years prior to Grecian times.
9000 years prior to Solon's age is about 9500 BCE. According to the Precession of the Equinoxes, this time frame would fall within the Age of Leo.
Placing a cataclysmic flooding in this Age would shed light on one of the great mysteries about Kemet: The Sphinx. The Sphinx is a Lion-Headed monolithic (one stone) monument found near the Great Pyramid complex in Giza, Lower Kemet. It is a known fact that the Sphinx was not constructed during Pharaohnic Kemet. It would be anachronistic (out of synch with time) to create a Lion-Headed edifice in the Age of Taurus, when Pharaohnic Kemet was founded. All edifices of this age were made in the image of a Bull, calf or cow. Moreover, there are no references to the Sphinx at all during the Early and Middle Kingdom Periods. It is not until the 18th Dynasty that Tutmosis IV had a dream in which the 'Khar' revealed himself and asked him to unearth him. Tutmosis did so and excavated the buried temple. He recorded the deed on a stone tablet around 1400 BCE, and this if the 1st reference to the Khar since Menes founded Kemet around 4240BCE.
Furthermore, it was stated that the erosion visible on the Khar is clearly caused by water, not sand or wind. Sand and wind erosion would cause randomly placed spots of erosion that would be most prevalent at the top of the structure. However, the sphinx has striated (lined) patterns of erosion that starts from the bottom and rises to the top. Only continual submersion in waves of water causes this type of erosion. Add to this that sea shells are found in the sand around this temple, it is almost conclusive that about 11,000 years ago - in the Age of Leo according to the Precession of the Equinoxes - there was a highly advanced culture in the Nile Valley that was submerged in a flood and subsequently buried in seas of sand.

There is yet another significant archeological piece of evidence that supports this: The Zodiac of Dendera. This is a circular set of mdu ntr that depicts in astrological symbols the nature of the historical ages in the Nile Valley. On the zodiac of Dendera, the Lion, symbol for Leo, is riding in a boat. This shows within Kemetic chronicling of the Ages, the Sign Leo is associated with a time of flooding.

Zulu Reaffirmations from Credo Mutwa

Credo Mutwa, the last Sangoma - Keeper of Culture - for the Zulu Nation, shares the Zulu account of Lemuria and Atlantis. He says this story comes from the 'The Wise Ones of the Bakongo [and] The Holy Ones of Kariba Gorge'. These are two African peoples who live in the original territory of Ta-Neter. They say that they - the Bantu (Anu) - are the first humans on the planet. They say originally everybody looked the same and spoke the same language. There was no giant Wa-tutsi, or short Ba-twa, yellow Khoisan Bushman, or long-bearded Arabi. There was peace in the sky, peace in the forest. Man was one with wild animals, and did not fear them. There were no feelings like anger and hate, greed or selfishness (Ancient Lemuria/Ta-Neter).
However, a terrible thing happened one day. A beautiful woman named Kei-Lei-Si gave birth to a deformed child. It had only one eye and one nostril. Its mouth was twisted to one side, with drool slobbering from it copiously. Its limbs were stumped and stiff, and its torso distended. The sacred birds of the land told Kei-Lei-Si to destroy the monster, because they sensed that - beyond looking beastly - the soul in this thing was pure evil. Kei-Lei-Si refused to believe her child could be evil, so she ran off with her spawn. This evil being is named Zah-Ha-Rrellel, The Wicked.
Kei-Lei-Si took her evil seed and fled to a cave. There, the two lived on crabs and fish that lived in an underwater stream. The evil Zah-Ha-Rrellel did not speak to his mother - the only sounds he made was a disturbing gurgling whistle while he breathed. However, one day Kei-Lei-Si left the cave for a while to gather some materials. When she returned, she heard Zah-Ha-Rrellel humming a bizarre tune. When she looked closely, she realized he was actually incanting a strange metallic being into existence. She screamed in horror, wishing she had listened to the Kaa-U-La birds. However, it was too late. The metallic zombie of Zah-Ha-Rrellel, a tokoloshe pounced on the defenseless mother. A strange needle-like object came out of it and plunged deep in Kei-Lei-Si's belly. It sucked out all of her ovaries, and with them the evil one generated thousands of demonic beast. Kei-Lei-Si's last sight before she died was four winged tokoloshes carrying Zah-Ha-Rrellel aloft out of the cave.
The Kaa-U-La birds, when they saw the wicked one and his army of zombie-demons leave out of the cave, amassed an army and waged war against them. However, the metallic claws and saber-like tails of the tokoloshe decimated the beautiful birds. As they slew the birds, the tokoloshes would suck the blood out of them, and then spawn hundreds more of their kind in the process.
Humanity knew not evil, they had no concept of war, fighting, and conflict. The first humans stood defenseless against the wicked one. Zah-Ha-Rrellel made himself King of the planet, and ruler of all people. The name of Zah-Ha-Rrellel 's Empire was called Amarire or Murire. He deceived humanity by saying that God sent him to uplift humanity out of primitive existence. He would build shelters for them, kill off all of the dangerous animals, and create metal slaves to cultivate the land. People no longer had to do anything to live - they did not have to grow their food, cook their food, light a fire, or even walk long distances. Everything they wanted was automatically provided for them.
However, laziness began to decay the health of these lavish-living people. They began to lose mobility in their limbs, and they grew grotesquely fat. Over time, they also lost the ability to reproduce. So Zah-Ha-Rrellel taught them wicked things - like how to take other people's body parts and the secrets of immortality through blood-sucking and genetic manipulation.
Ma, The 'Great Spirit that Lives in the Tree of Life' saw the wickedness of Murire, and decided to send them a message. She sent rain clouds to cover the whole planet and a great flood that submerged half of the Wicked Empire in one day. Zah-Ha-Rrellel commanded his metallic and sub-human tokoloshe to create giant ships - each one over a hundred miles long. On these floating masses the wicked one built cities of pure gold, and created an artificial Sun to light the sky below the clouds. He then did something inconceivable. Zah-Ha-Rrellel thought that if he could capture the Great Spirit that Lives in the Tree of Life, he would not only be ruler of planet Earth, but also ruler of Eternity and the Universe. So, he conjured up a metallic army of flying insects. They resembled giant horseflies crossed with hornets. Stingers came from out of the mouths and hind parts of these beasts. He then transported them to the celestial home of Ma. There they attacked and slashed until they separated the Great Mother of Heaven from her home. They then brought her back to Earth.
However, this was Zah-Ha-Rrellel's fatal move, for the mere presence of the Ma on the planet caused massive Earth changes to occur. Ma, in her anger and rage, called out to the planet to help her. Massive Earthquakes resounded, volcanic eruptions exploded, whole landmasses sunk. The chaos of the revolting Earth awakened the Tokoloshes out of their zombie-like enslavement. They rose up and rebelled against their evil oppressor. One in particular - Odu, took a double-headed axe and cut out the heart and lungs of Zah-Ha-Rrellel as massive waves of waters flooded out the remaining areas of the empire. Amarire was no more - Murire was destroyed completely.
The accounts of the Ba-Kongo and the Tonga-Ile (the Holy Ones of Kariba Gorge) are consistent with Solon's account of Atlantis, and have definite correspondences with Kemetic cosmology. Within Kemetic cosmology, Zah-Ha-Rrellel is the Kemetic Set. According to Kemetic cosmology, the Setians were once noble, and Set was a favored Neter of the Most High in Kemetic cosmology - Ra. However, over time Set's character became wicked, and depending on the age of the cosmology, Set is depicted in one of three ways:
Rebelling against Ra his Heavenly Father:
Engaging in perpetual warfare against his brother Heru;
Killing his brother Asar and abdicating his throne.
That fact that such a detailed account of Murire (Mu - Lemuria) that is consistent with the tales of Lemuria/Atlantis is found in the region that was formerly Ta-Neter - the Tonga-Ile are originally from Northern Zimbabwe near Lake Kariba; the Ba-Kongo stretch from these same regions East to the Crystal Mountains of the Congo River Basin - is very significant, and is yet another reaffirmation that antediluvian civilization was centered in Africa, not sunken continents in the Ocean.
The Wise One Of the Ba-Kongo and Holy Ones of Kariba as African-Crystal Earth Keepers
Another significant factor to consider when looking at the region of Ta-Neter/Ta-Seti as the center of Lemurian/Atlantean culture is that the contemporary inhabitants of these regions are crystal-keepers just like the fabled Atlanteans & Lemurians are portrayed as being.
The capitol of the Ba-Kongo Nation, Mbanza, is situated in a range of mountains called the Crystal Mountains. These are a range of mountains situated about 200 miles East of where the Congo feeds into the Atlantic. The priests of the Ba-Kongo maintained their shrines in giant crystal caves deep in the mountain - huge caverns that were walls of shiny quartz points. These caves were illuminated naturally. In these sacred vaults of the Earth, Ba'Kongo priests would create elaborate ancestral shrines and alters to various deities. They would perform rituals that kept the planet in balance with the space-time continuum, as well as combat the forces of wickedness and corruption on the planet. (For more in-depth reasonings on the Ba-Kongo, check out
"The Ba'kongo Nation from the Crystal Mountains of Congo, West-Central Africa: Little-Known
Ancestral Source of Crystal High Science among Africans-in-America").

The Tonga-Ila, also known as the Ba'Tonga, performed similar functions in crystal caves in South-Eastern Africa. The Ba'Tonga are considered the Elder branch of all Ba'ntu who live South of the Limpopo River. They are highly revered among the Ba'ntu throughout the Continent. Credo Mutwa says that the Tonga-Ila were "...famous for their power of settling disputes without using weapons, famous for their legends, their songs, and the degree to which they had developed the Great powers of the human brain... Tonga-Ila men could walk unmolested into the heat of a savage tribal fight and command both warring sides to lay down their weapons - and the fight would stop immediately..."
The Tonga-Ila lived in Kariba Gorge, a large, rocky outcropping that the Zambezi river runs through. Kariba is a most sacred land to the Ba'Ntu. They consider it "The Naval of the Earth" because they noticed that it was an equidistant migration from the land of Katanga, Nyasa, Mashona, and Zambia.
Moreover, Kariba Gorge was considered the Gates of the Underworld. There was a crevice of two rocks from which one could hear the raging of a Great underground river deep in the Earth. The river - Lulungwa Mangakatsi, or "The river that flows down below", led to the path to the spirit-world within the planet.
There was also a very sacred cave in Kariba known as "the Knot of Time". This cave was a place where the Past, Present, and Future all came together and was held in balance. It too was a crystal cave, where the sacred priests who maintained it could see the visions of time. (These sacred sites are referred to in the past tense because the wicked Cecil Rhodes commissioned a dam to be built on the Zambezi, which flooded the Kariba Gorge and displaced/killed, the Tonga-Ila. These sacred sites are now under Kariba Lake.)
Extraterrestrial Origins of African People
What does the Lemurian Seed Crystals have to do with the Ba-Kongo, the Tonga-Ila, and their sacred crystal caves? The answer lies in the extraterrestrial origins of African People.
African-centered scholars have not adequately explored the extraterrestrial origins of African people. A strange phenomena has occurred within the Ebony towers. African-centered scholars, in their zeal to claim the Nile Valley cultures of Kemet and Kush as Classical African civilizations, rejected any research that indicated that Kemetic civilization appeared extraterrestrial in its origin. The response was that this was yet another Euro centric attempt to once again deny the African a place in History; for if Europeans are not responsible for Kemetic culture, then extraterrestrials are.
This line of reasoning is contrary to the concept of African Deep Thought manifested by Dr. Jacob Carruthers, and it is particularly contrary to the beliefs and teachings of our African ancestors. For almost every indigenous African cultural group acknowledges that the first African Ancestors to walk this planet came from the stars.
Credo Mutwa says it clearly: "...The people of Rwanda, the Hutu people, as well as the Watusi people, state, and they are not the only people in Africa who state this, that their very oldest ancestors were a race of beings whom they called the Imanujela, which means "the Lords who have come". And some tribes in West Africa, such as a Bambara people, also say the same thing. They say that they came from the sky, many, many generations ago, a race of highly advanced and fearsome creatures, which looked like men, and they call them Zishwezi. The word Zishwezi means the dival or the glidal-creatures that can glide down from the sky or glide through water. Everybody has heard about the Dogon people in Western Africa who all say that they were given culture by the normal beings, but they are not-the Dogon people are but ONE of many, many peoples in Africa who claim that their tribe or their king were first founded by the supernatural race of creatures that came from the sky... The Zulu people, who are famous as a warrior people, the people to whom King Shaka Zulu, of the last century, belonged. When you ask a South African White anthropologist what the name of Zulu means, he will say it means "the sky" (laughter), and therefore the Zulu call themselves "people of the sky". That, sir, is non-sense. In the Zulu language, our name for the sky, the blue sky, is sibakabaka. Our name for inter-planetary space, however, is izulu and the weduzulu, which means "inter-planetary space, the dark sky that you see with stars in it every night", also has to do with traveling, sir. The Zulu word for traveling at random, like a nomad or a gypsy, is izula. Now, you can see that the Zulu people in South Africa were aware of
the fact that you can travel through space-not through the sky like a bird-but you can travel through space...
The Dogon of Mali are clear and explicit on the exact star system, which is our original homeland: the Sirius Star system. The Dogon dwell in a mountainous terrain near the border of Mali and Upper Volta in West Africa. The Dogon revealed some of their cosmological science through their interaction with two French anthropologists: Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen. Most of Griaule and Dieterlen's work has been translated into English in the two books, Conversations with Ogotemmeli and The Pale Fox. The Dogon have been the center of anthropological debate, for they have knowledge of the Sirius Star system that Western Scientist was able to confirm only by using high powered telescopes.

The Dogon say that the first eight Ancestors - the Nommo, amphibious beings who were like a cross between dolphins and humans - traveled from Sirius to Earth in a pyramidal-shaped craft called the Kora-Na. Beyond carrying the Unum (progenitors) of Hue-manity, the Kora-Na also contained the seeds of eight 'celestial grains' - millet, black rice, chickpea, teff, sorghum, wheat/kamut, brown rice, maize, and gungun /pidgeon pea. The Dogon say that the Kora-Na contained all of the materials, information and science hue-manity would need for making Earth's environment compatible and conducive for human existence.

Have Scientists Discovered Proof for the Lost Continent of Lemuria?

Most people have heard of the lost continent of Atlantis. Some know about the legendary lost continent of Lemuria and the semi-mythical land of Kumari Kandam as well. But have you heard of the continent of Mauritia? This landmass formed a part of Madagascar and India and scientists say the rest of the continent is now lying at the bottom of the Indian Ocean.

That is where they think it has been for approximately the last 85 million years. Scientist have now confirmed that the ancient continental crust underneath the island of Mauritius is a remnant of the break-up of the supercontinent, Gondwana, that happened about 200 million years ago.


Gondwana broke up to become Antarctica, Africa, Australia, and South America. There are still some amazing remnants of the supercontinent that can be seen around the world, but much of its story has been covered over by other geological forces. The discovery of Mauritia is another example attesting to Gondwana’s former glory and break-up.

The continents Laurasia and Gondwana 200 million years ago. ( CC BY 3.0 )


New Scientist says “The first clues to the continent’s existence came when some parts of the Indian Ocean were found to have stronger gravitational fields than others, indicating thicker crusts. One theory was that chunks of land had sunk and become attached to the ocean crust below.”
The scientists noted that Mauritius was one of the places with a stronger gravitational pull, and, upon closer inspection of some zircon crystals of the island’s beaches, they discovered that the crystals are up to 3 billion years old. This is surprising as Mauritius is only 8 million years old.

Le Morne Brabant Peninsula, Mauritius. (Sofitel So Mauritius/ CC BY NC ND 2.0 )

When India and Madagascar began to move apart about 85 million years ago, the continent of Mauritia started to stretch and break up. As Martin Van Kranendonk at the University of New South Wales in Australia explained: “It’s like plasticine: when continents are stretched they become thinner and split apart. It’s these thin pieces that sink below the ocean.”


Study lead author Lewis Ashwal of the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa suggests that there are more parts of the “undiscovered continent” which is collectively called Mauritia spread across the Indian Ocean. He said : “According to the new results, this break-up did not involve a simple splitting of the ancient super-continent of Gondwana, but rather, a complex splintering took place with fragments of continental crust of variable sizes left adrift within the evolving Indian Ocean basin.”



The location of this continent also pertains to the space of the ‘lost continent’ of Lemuria – a place that is frequently connected to the legend of Kumari Kandam by Tamil speakers, who have claimed that “there was a portion of land that was once ruled by the Pandiyan kings and was swallowed by the sea.”

Evidence of The Great Flood – Real or a Myth? Part I

Mount Shasta: Sacred Mountain and a Strange Destination for Many


As Ancient Origins has previously reported , the name Lemuria came from the “English geologist Philip Sclater [who] was puzzled by the presence of lemur fossils in Madagascar and India but not in mainland Africa and the Middle East […] Sclater proposed that Madagascar and India were once part of a larger continent, and named this missing landmass ‘ Lemuria’.” This hypothesis was accepted by the scientific community during Sclater’s time, but discredited by later scientists who deemed it implausible due to the concepts of continental drift and plate tectonics.

Proposed location of Kumari Kandam. ( Youtube screenshot )

However, this new study suggests that Sciater could have been on to something with his ideas about Lemuria and Tamil people may have some scientific evidence supporting their ideas as well. Although the notion that “Pandiyan kings of Kumari Kandam were the rulers of the whole Indian continent, and that Tamil civilisation is the oldest civilisation in the world” is still open for debate, the continent of Mauritia suggests that there may be some truth to the Tamil legends of Kumari Kandam.