Now, I'm delighted to be able to welcome here this morning our very distinguished speaker, and that is Judith Sartentini, who needs no introduction, but I'm going to give her one anyway, very quickly. Judith has been a member of the European Parliament for the Green Party since 2009, and she's Vice-Chair both of the LIBE Committee and of the European Parliament's Special Committee on Terrorism, and in her very distinguished time as a member of the European Parliament, Ms Sartentini has been a rapporteur, I should say, on the anti-money laundering directive, as well as being shadow rapporteur on numerous other files, including asylum legislation and criminal law. Prior to being an MEP, Judith had various roles in communications and consultancy in the development and non-profit sector, and is a historian. She received her BA in Modern History and her MA in Arts from the University of Amsterdam. The topic that Judith is going to be talking about today is one that's a very, very topic at the moment, and that is the topic of defending the EU's values, and of course we're all aware of what's going on in Hungary, in Poland, and in other states in the Eastern part of the European Union at the moment, and the various processes that are beginning against them. Judith was the rapporteur of the European Parliament Report, which initiated Article 7 proceedings against Hungary, so we can expect her, I think, to focus on that to some extent, without in any way putting restrictions on what you want to say. I should just remind guests if I may to switch their phones to silent, if I could, but we do encourage you to tweet, and if you could tweet, if you do decide to tweet at some stage, if you just put in at IIBA, that would be wonderful. The initial address, what Judith has to say initially, will be on the record. The Q&A session afterwards is under the Chattom House Rule, which of course means that participants are free to use the information received, but not to reveal the identity or the affiliation of the speaker, or that of any other participant. So that's enough from me. I'll hand over to Judith. Thank you very much for inviting me. Indeed I wanted to talk about our shared values of democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights, and before I'll talk about the report on Hungary, on which you actually invited me here in Dublin, I would like to talk a little bit about these values. What are they anyway, and can you measure these values, and is there no cultural bias in them? So I asked the organizers to beam you the article two of the European, of the Treaty of the European Union, while I read it for you. I keep it on the screen because I think that's the basis on all we're working on. Although I'm working on article seven, this is the content, and it's beautiful I think. The union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to a minority. And it continues, these values are common to the member states in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail. And all European member states signed up to this, and I'm sure they will do so again tomorrow. But the question is, are they defending these values when the values are on the trend? And that I think is what we need to talk about today. We live in strange times. You may be state of late Tuesday night to get some idea of the midterms in the U.S. And it seems that the strong leaders that are there to protect us against evil are a lot in fashion nowadays. Not only Donald Trump, but think of the new Brazilian President Bolsonaro. Think of Duterte in the Philippines, Sisi in Egypt, Erdogan in Turkey and indeed Viktor Orban in Hungary. Which such strong leaders that are there to protect the citizens, who needs values anyway. But I'm a historian and it surprises me that the debate around values and principles can be flipped around so easily. Because did we forget where we came from? European history has been a very violent one and individuals are often trampled and for so called greater good. We live 73 years after the Second World War and 29 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Both experiences are engraved in our collective memory. It is that understanding of the past also that has inspired the preamble of the treaty and I promise you it's the last quote I do. The preamble of the treaty of the European Union which I think is fantastic as well. We draw inspiration from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe. From which have developed the universal values of the enviable and inalienable rights of the human person. Freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law. Recalling the historic importance of the ending of the division of the European continent and the need to create firm bases for the construction of the future of Europe. Confirming their attachment to the principles of liberty, democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law. It clarifies again for a second why are we actually in this process of the European Union. We overcame war, we overcame oppression and we found a future together in these principles. I joined the European Parliament in 2009 and that was five years after 10 new countries joined the European Union. Hungary and Poland to take two of them became member states in 2004. At a remarkable pace they came part of the Union. They faced decades of wars and occupations. They liberated themselves from Soviet Union oppression and a country like Hungary had its first free elections in May 1990. It applied for membership of the Union short afterwards in 1994 and at the first of May 2004 it was officially welcomed in the Union. But today in 2018 14 years later alarms bells are sounding loud. And how did we arrive here? Well since 2010 when Viktor Orban was first elected, first re-elected, that may be precise, as the Hungarian Prime Minister, he has been consistently tearing up its democracy and the rule of law by making or allowing invasive changes in the core elements of democracy. And my report includes a long list of developments but I'll name you a couple. Lowering the retirement age of judges to enable to replace them by judges that are more closely related to the current political leaders. Introducing a new system of administrative courts that you can then use to put forward fresh new judges that have no earlier background and that are again very close to the political leaders right now. And this new legislation has just this week been sent to the national parliament. Rewrite your higher education law in such a way that financial decisions in universities are taken not by the rector anymore but by somebody that is appointed by the state and in such a way actually also deciding on which academic staff to hire and to fire. Introducing a 25% tax to be paid up on foreign subsidies meant for civil society organizations. Civil society organizations that do services for migrants and refugees such as in integrating people in society. Changing the constitution to make homelessness a crime that can be prosecuted. But this is law. This is legislation change and the way the constitution has been changed in Hungary over the years is it's been very fast very rapid because twice already the ruling party had a two third majority in government. In fact there is a member of European parliament who is proud to say that he wrote the constitution on his iPads on the weekly flights Brussels, Budapest, Budapest Brussels. I don't think that is something to be proud about. Not all changes have been actually done through law and not all changes that have a chilling effect on society have to be done by law. The retirement aid for judges was returned back to the earlier status but after a European Court of Justice ruling. But the judges that were there had already been replaced and so they were never reinstated on the spot where they were taken off from. Members of parliament representing the ruling party turning up at the doorstep of NGOs and putting on placards saying these are foreign agents with rolling cameras is really quite dangerous for people working in these NGOs. The Central European University which is an outstanding institution that educates new leaders of this world has been kept in the dark about its legal status since autumn 2017. And it's now at the moment and you might have heard Michael Ignachief director of the of the university saying that if it's not getting clarity within a couple of weeks it will move to Vienna. That is a serious blow to the academic ambiance in Hungary. Ordinance wealthy friends bought newspapers and TV channels and turned them into government propaganda platforms or even closed them down overnight. Political parties were threatened with humongous fines just close to the European elections because they they were alleged used advertisement space below market prices. It only stayed a threat but if you shortly before for in a campaign short before elections fearing that you cannot pay the fine what does that do with your campaign and your campaign finances. European funding has been misused for pet projects of the government like a empty football stadium and a train from nowhere to nowhere both in the little village where Victor which Victor Orban calls home and then not to forget scaremongering under citizens via so-called national consultations and questionnaires called let's us stop Brussels or migration and terrorism mixing up migrants and security issues which is really devastating for a national and I can continue on this list but what I want to show is that sometimes smaller measures sometimes measures that have nothing to do with actually changing the law change the situation in a country and can combine lead to a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the union is built now some could argue that or you could argue that the fetish government is democratic elected and therefore it's representing the will of the people and indeed I am not denying that that fetish won three elections in a row but I like to point out again back to article two that when we're talking about individual freedom and human dignity and equality and the fact that a country freely signed up to a membership of the union respecting these different these values democracy in Europe is not a winner takes all thing democracy in Europe is about also about respecting minorities and respecting the public space to debate and to disagree the European Parliament has as a slogan united in diversity but that is actually what we what we're all are and I see definitions being mixed when European Prime Minister starts mixing up their own position as a leader of a government the government with the political party the party in the government with the people or the nation them were in big trouble and I have not only heard Prime Minister organ mixing up party politics with responsible governance but then also the the then Polish Prime Minister of the Peace Party Beata Zitzlo and recently the Romanian Prime Minister Fiorica Dancila also not making a distinction anymore between the party the government the old personality and the people let that someone said the French Sun King Louis the 14th the state it's me what did the European you to stop the deterioration in Hungary well the European Commission started different infringement proceedings but none led to real big changes the worry back then in 2010 even led to the European Commission proposing a pre-article 7 tool the so-called the rule of law framework or article 2 2 which is in fact an intensive communication correspondence with the particular member state on what's going on but why did the Commission only trigger that in the case of Poland and not the case of Hungary I think that's because the European Commission never felt politically protected by parliament and council to actually start such a procedure towards Poland because both in parliament as in council as well as in commission the the biggest party is the European people's party of which Fires the ruling party in Hungary is a member in Ireland that is Fin Gale but let's speak very or I'm pronouncing this completely wrong I know but they actually I appreciate that a lot voted in favor of of my report and has been have been quite clear on this topic so what has the parliament done since 2010 we've done hearings and debates and resolutions and we of course asked Hungary to change course we urged the European Commission we demanded from member states to show political will and step up but little happened and although we always had majorities in parliament since 2010 for all the actions we did we lacked support of that particular European people's party and that changed in 2017 when the Hungarian government decided to restrict academic freedom and issue around the Central European University came round and when these harsh legislation on NGOs was was introduced that heavily dissatisfied the members of the European people's party and in return and in turn it allowed us to start this article 7 procedure and in May 2017 finally there was a majority in the parliament to say yes let's start that procedure and that's when it landed up in my lap and I won't talk about the how and know what because that's internal maneuvering but also came down to the fact that the bigger parties were definitely not willing to take up that file I spend a year more or less before the final vote of my report on the 12th of of September because it was the first time the parliament did the report and I think you need to do this proper and careful because it is a delicate manner so I took my time and again we did hearings and and expert meetings and I visited Hungary and I drafted the report finally based on sources actually sources outside of the union based on sources that you cannot debate the council of europe fennis commission that crackle commission the united nations election observation reports by the ocse all actually my whole report is quotes quotes quotes quotes from reports written by others since 2010 and the big shock is how many reports have been done on different topics on the situation in Hungary that is scary but I did that to be sure that nobody could say this is biased this is factory wrong this is a green liberal west european that tries to tell you et cetera and I drank an awful lot of coffee a lot of coffee to talk with colleagues in the parliament and to try to sensitize them on the report and and this decision making because to start a real article seven procedure you need a two-third majority in the parliament with a minimum vote cast of 376 members which is half of the parliament so you need a serious amount of people and when I started it in july 2017 I actually thought I will not get that majority but I'll do my best and then I can say it's not the system it is the party politics but I got it I got it and I think it is a very good sign because it shows the bigger society that that european parliament debates help in in such a light and I think it really lifted the spirit of the people in Hungary because what this is about it is touching the core of the european union so I was very happy now now comes the council of course when since 2010 when Victor Orban was as I said re-elected the member states have been using the mantra that the european commission is the guardian of the treaties and they used it as an excuse to look away and I think that's irresponsible behavior responsible politics to me is like functioning in an extended family um what do you do and let's make it personal here what do you do when you know your uncle is beating his wife do you look away relief that it's not in your household the man is the master of his household isn't he leta c'est moi but she's your aunt and she might be living in another city so you don't not confront it day by day with the domestic violence personally but you know it's there and one you shy away will from addressing that will your uncle stop beating her will the beating not increase as he's getting away with it he might start to think that it is normal behavior in fact other uncles might think that this is indeed the way you run your household uh christmas parties in the family are not fun anymore cousins come to play more often because atmosphere at home tension at home is building you know you have to confront your uncle because it's breaking up your family and your aunt is suffering well i beg your pardon for this emotional comparison and you might think it's distasteful but the situation is very distasteful and it is emotional and it is about standing up for your family and ministers of the various member states have known for years that they have to talk to their uncle but they didn't because it wasn't their household the european commission is not the single guardian of the treaties and when nobody stepped in the parliament did and we made use of the powers that we've got while action of the council is long overdue and it's therefore it came as quite a shock for me that Teresa May the British Prime Minister ordered Tory members of the european parliament to vote against the reports that i've written because she needs all the help she can get when it comes to Brexit and Victor Orban is providing her that support in fact even yesterday when he was speaking on the podium in Helsinki at the european people's party conference he said we should have stopped migrants and prevented and prevented brexit and he made a very strange way of connecting that and we all should have prevented breakfast of course brexit of course but still and that i find that it actually should that kind of politics that sort of power politics makes i think makes people suffer now ladies and gentlemen i've been close i've been a member of european parliament close to 10 years and i've seen many crisis the economic crisis the security and the terrorism crisis of course the migration crisis but we've got a new crisis it's a new crisis in town it's the values crisis member states disrespecting the conditions they have agreed to and bound by that are the basis of our union and we have been witnessing the erosion of democracy and rule of law in Hungary for over eight years and i admit we should have stepped in much earlier and we see worrying developments in other countries as well Poland and Romania for instance they are using the handbook that Hungary has given them limiting the judiciary diminishing media pluralism appointing government friendly persons in important positions and we cannot stand by and watch how our societies within the union are backtracking to times that we thought belong to the past i am leaving politics now after 10 after next elections because i've been a member of i've been a politician for 20 years now first in city council and then 10 years in european parliament and i think i need to refresh and i think that gives me the possibility to talk about what are the next elections about as i'm not running anyway and i think the real campaign for the election should be about responsible politics for the commons for the european union in in in my view is our commons and i hope here in Dublin where you where you try to understand what brexit will actually bring this is a notion that you understand well when political leaders mistakes themselves for the people or for the nations or or when they think that european corporation is always fit for that they're not worth their votes thank you and i should have made a joke if it's for me i'm not there if european politicians think that european corporation is always fit for that they're not worth your vote now the european parliament has put forward already one and a half two years ago a proposal to the commission to the european commission called the drf pact democracy rule of law fundamental rights pact where we're urging a system where we do what the un is doing and what the council of europe more or less is doing and that is a periodical review peer review of all members because the union has not got systems like that it is kind of shameful i built my report on outside sources the fundamental rights agency in vienna is not allowed to do country specific reports what we and i think we need to go there and we need to make this a normal thing like the un peer review that is taking place every couple of years so i would like us i this is what i would like to conclude i would like us to here in this room and make our own pact our own drf pact and that is the european elections should be about europe as a common and a drf pact and politicians that sign up to that they award our voice our vote thank you very much


The Clyde Beatty Show! The world's greatest wild animal trainer Clyde Beatty with an exciting adventure from his brilliant career. The circus means thrills, excitement, snarling jungle beasts. The circus means fun for young folks and old. But under the big top you see only a part of the story. The real drama comes behind the scenes where 500 people live as one family. Where Clyde Beatty constantly risks death in the most dangerous act on earth. This master of the big cats has journeyed to Africa and India hunting down his beasts in their native jungle. All of this is part of the Clyde Beatty story. Here in Mr. Beatty's own words is the adventure he calls God of the White Nile. Contrary to popular opinion lions and tigers in captivity do not make good performers under the big top. Actually, I consider them far more unpredictable and dangerous than those born and raised in their native jungle. For this reason I almost never use anything but jungle bred animals in my act. Most of my charges are purchased from wild animal dealers, but sometimes I mix business with pleasure and spend my vacations on extended hunting expeditions. One such memorable trip took place several years ago in Central East Africa. My wife Harriet and a group of companions journeyed with me to Cairo by air then by steamer to Djibouti, the capital of French Somaliland, situated in the Gulf of Odden. The evening before starting off into the jungle, we were dining in Djibouti's finest hotel. We were in a merry mood and eager to begin our adventure. Well eat, hardly and drink deeply comrades for tomorrow we begin dining out of tin. What? No caviar and champagne on this safari? No my lovely it'll be bully beef and beans dried, fried, and maybe on Sunday's stew, powdered, milk evaporated, potatoes dehydrated. Oh dear will somebody please pass the salad? Uh another slice of this juicy steak here. Two. Take it easy.  Tomorrow has not come today is here so I think I'll have another glass of beer. Oh no! Hello Bob. Here we are trapped in the jungle with a poet laureate of Upper Sandusky. By the way you're late. Don't badger him Clyde. It's not every expedition that can boast of having a real live poet like Robert Chase Gordon along. And sit down Bob before Clyde and I eat all this wonderful food.  Sir you're speaking of the Ohio Valley Skeet Shooting Jet. Great if we run into any wild Skeet I'll call on you. Seriously Clyde what kind of country are we going into? Rugged Bob plenty rugged. How far into the interior will we go? Well we'll head west to the White Nile then south through the Masai country to Lake Victoria and wind up in Nairobi in the Kenya territory. Will we see plenty of big game? My friend you will see more wild animals than you've ever dreamed of. The biggest the most ferocious and the most dangerous beasts in the world. We return to Clyde Beatty in just a moment. And now back to Clyde Beatty's adventure entitled God of the White Nile. I suppose I was a bit over enthusiastic when I boasted to Bob Gordon about the number and quality of the big game our safari would encounter. Actually it was several weeks before we sighted any but the ordinary species of African jungle beasts. The trek into the White Nile country had been uneventful. One evening I led our guide Duke Colter away from the others who were gathered in board silence around the camp. Duke you're one of the best guides in this part of the world so don't take this as a criticism but uh why haven't we seen more game after traveling so far? I've been plenty worried about that Mr. Beatty. You suppose it's because of the exceptionally dry weather? And that may be partially it. Still we should have run into more game than we have. Well I don't mind waiting but the others are getting bored and they like some excitement. I don't blame them. There hadn't been much reward for such a rugged trip. There's something else been bothering me too Mr. Beatty. Huh? Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary? I can't say that I have except maybe the gunbearers and porters seem a bit restless. Yeah that's it. They're more than restless. I have a feeling they're afraid or something. Afraid of what? They're all natives of this territory. There shouldn't be anything around here. They don't understand. They're a superstitious lot. Plenty of things churned around inside their willy heads. We know nothing about. Well have you listened to their talk? Yeah or something definitely wrong. I noticed that as soon as we hit this district. Hmm what do they talk about? Something about a god. The god of the white Nile. You know anything about this god? They won't tell me. You see it's taboo. I see. Uh do you look for trouble with them Duke? I can't say but I do wish. I knew more about this god of theirs.  I don't suppose it'll mount anything but we better keep an eye on them. May have to do more than that. What do you mean? They've been tapping our supplies. But why? We give the boys all they want to eat. Why should they steal our supplies? They don't take any of the staples. Just the fresh meat. You mean the small game we shoot during the day? Yeah. But we shoot it for them. It's too gamey for our party to eat. They don't eat it either. That's the strange part and yet it disappears. I don't get it.  Then they bunch up and have a powwow. You've watched them? Yeah. So far they've done nothing but talk. Look if they have another gathering tonight let me know. I want to look in on one of those sessions myself. Mr. Beatty. Mr. Beatty. Oh it's you Duke. There's a gathering of the clan in progress. Good. Now where are they? A few hundred yards back of the trail in that big clearing. The powwow has just started. Let's go. A few minutes after Duke Colter awakened me we were hiding in the brush watching one of the strangest rituals I'd ever seen. Our native boys were squatting on their haunches in a tight circle in the center of the clearing. In the full moonlight their bodies glistened like oiled ebony. For what seemed like a long long time the eight natives sat still as statues. Suddenly one of them threw back his head raised his arms high and spoke. His voice came to us from across the clearing. Pantalizer. Pantalizer Patana. Punjika. As he spoke there was a flash of steel as eight knives were drawn and held at arm's length overhead. What was it the laser said Duke? Let's see. Pantalizer that means one has been vexed. Pantalizer Patana is we unite in agreement. Then Punjika it is not to be broken. What does it mean? Well it seems they're doing the equivalent of drawing straws. There's a dirty job to be done and one of them has to be selected. It's about it. Look they're getting on with it. The leader lowered his knife and slashed at his breast until the blade was stained crimson with his blood. Now he says one sharp knife has been lost. The leader dropped his bloodstained knife into a large skin pouch lying in the center of the circle. In turn each of the others dropped his knife into the pouch. He says eight sharp knives have been lost. The leader lifted the pouch and shook it carefully. When the knives inside were thoroughly mixed he lowered the pouch again. One by one each of them reached into the pouch withdrew a knife and placed it before him on the ground. The one who drew the bloodstained knife was the leader himself. The chosen one nodded his head in agreement. Got to his feet and marched solemnly to where a smooth heavy stake had been driven into the ground. Without another word being spoken the other natives proceeded to lash their leader securely to the stake. This completed they disappeared into the jungle leaving the chosen one alone in the moonlight. That does it. The one who slashed himself has been elected. For what? I'm afraid it's a sacrifice. A human sacrifice. But that's awful. Not to them. They're satisfying some god or other. The ones that's been vexed I suppose. Yeah.  Well this is one election I'm calling off. Oh wait. Don't need to fear.  Nothing we can do for him. If we free him he'll run for the others.  The victim himself would help them. Oh or what do you suppose this god of theirs is? Well probably an animal. Evidently a beast of prey. They've been feeding with our small game. Now he requires a bigger offering. Well this has gone far enough. Don't move. I told you the natives consider this taboo. But they find out we've been watching. Well I'd hate being responsible for the consequences. You mean we've got to stay here and watch that poor man get torn to shreds by some rotting jungle beast? That's it. Well I'm not going to do it. Yes you are Mr. Bailey.  Put up that gun. I'm sorry but my life is more important to me than that natives. But this is fantastic. Something out of the dark ages. Remember this is the dark continent Mr. Bailey. There must be something we can do. Look I've got an idea. If you're thinking of shooting the animal forget it. They'd massacre a lot of us. No we couldn't kill it. But since they think it's a god all we have to do is prove it isn't. That my friend will be the trick of the week. There's a way. Namely we'll have to show it up. Prove it to be ineffectual and impotent against a superior being. And just who is this superior being? I don't mean to sound immodest but I can handle that animal. Duke, do you think you could sneak out of here and get back to camp without being seen? I could try. Good. Get back there and bring me that coil of wire rope in my duffel. I'm going to hog tie me a jungle god. The next 10 minutes for the longest I've ever spent the native lash to the stake in the clearing remained silent. If there was a beast of prey nearby in the jungle I knew it wouldn't be long before it put in an appearance the blood that still trickled down the man's chest would soon attract it. Suddenly I heard a ferocious snarl. My heart leaped. So this god of theirs the god of the white Nile was only a lion. I'd handled as many as 40 of them in the steel arena. Surely I could handle just one even if it was in its native jungle. If only Duke would hurry with that coil of rope. I watched the man lash to the stake. In spite of himself he was frantic with fear. The whites of his eyes flashed in the moonlight. Suddenly he glanced fearfully over his shoulder as a huge beast entered the clearing. What I saw was too fabulous to believe. It was a lion, a tremendous one but not like any lion that had ever been seen before from the tip of his twitching tail to his snarl wrinkled nose he was completely white, a white lion. No wonder the natives considered him a god. For a moment there in the moonlight I thought so too. The magnificent animal posed momentarily at the edge of the clearing then still snarling. He advanced slowly toward the terrified native. We continue with God of the White Nile after this message. And now back to Clyde Beatty and God of the White Nile. Clyde Beatty and his wife Harriet with a party of friends embarked on a safari into Central East Africa. For several weeks their journey was uneventful except for the increasing restlessness of the native gun bearers and porters. In an effort to determine the cause Clyde Beatty and the guide Duke Coulter observed a ritual in which the natives prepared a human sacrifice to placate the God of the White Nile. Now Clyde watches as a native, lashed to a stake in the center of a clearing is stalked by the most fabulous beast ever seen in the jungle a pure white lion. Slowly, majestically as if taking only what was his due the white lion advanced upon the helpless native who now was almost unconscious from fear. There was a rustling sound near me in the brush. It was Duke Coulter and in his hand was the coil of wire rope I'd sent him for. Duke, you made it just in time. Look, there's your God of the White Nile. A white lion is why it's fantastic. He's magnificent. No wonder the natives think he's a God. What are you going to do? I'm going to capture that animal alive. He's getting ready to spring at the native. Duke, I'll need your help. I'm going to distract him. When I jump out, dash over and release the native. All right, but then what? I'll do the rest. This wire rope will hold him. I'm going to rope him and use that stake as a snubbing post. What if the native won't let me save him? He's practically unconscious. Just drag him away. All right, Mr. Beatty. Ready? Ready. Here I go. I leaped into the clearing waving my coil of rope in a stick. The white lion stopped and whirled in his tracks. I moved rapidly from side to side in an effort to keep him off balance. He seemed to be confused by my actions. And then I flicked one end of the rope in the white monster's face. The animal went crazy. I ducked between him and the stake in the center of the clearing. What followed was the most fantastic maypole dance in history. I kept flicking the rope in the beast's face. When I sensed my adversary was tiring me, I worked a lazy loop into the coil of rope. In just the proper time, I slung the loop around his massive head, making sure to include one of his paws so as not to strangle him. In a flash, I made a half dozen turns around the stake with the loose end of the rope and stepped back to watch the frenzied animal lash at the vans that tied him securely to the stake. You've got him. You've got the white lion over. I've got him all right. He's the greatest prize I've ever captured. I hope that rope holds. Don't worry. That rope would hold an elephant. Look at that critter fight. That's good. He'll tire himself out and soon. Then what do we do with him?  I can't believe my eyes. Look at him. Oh, Clyde, what a beautiful animal. Why, he's, it's indescribable. Even the great poet, is it a loss for words? I certainly am. What an incredible sight. How do you account for such a thing, Clyde? He's an albino. This lack of pigmentation can occur in any pigmented species. I thought that only happened with rabbits and smaller animals. No, you've heard of white elephants, and I've actually seen an albino giraffe. I must say, though, a white lion is rare.  And he'll be the star attraction of my circus. Providing, of course, we can move him out of here. Don't worry, we'll move him. But you said the natives consider the white lion a god. Will they let you keep him a captive? Oh, they're very superstitious, but one of their rules demands that they keep face. When they learn their god has lost face, his power over them will be broken. Now wait, here comes Duke Coler now. Oh, he doesn't look too happy. I'd say he looks plenty worried. Duke, did you find our boys? I found them all right. We're in for it, Mr. Bitty. What's the word? You've got to turn that lion loose. Turn him loose? Oh, no, a prize like that's almost worth dying. Then you'll die all right. We'll all die. Uh-oh.  That's right. They insist that you release the god of the white Nile. Well, they must be made to see that this lion is like any other, except that he's a freak, a freak of nature. It's human nature to make a fetish a freak. Duke, what'll they do if I refuse to release the lion? They'll do it themselves and don't try to stop them. They must be away. There's got to be. Please, Clyde, let the animal go. For our sake, let him go. Not without another try. If it fails, I'll do what they ask. Come on, Duke. Take me to them. I followed Duke Coler for about a mile to a tiny native village hidden in the jungle. We were greeted by a half-a-hundred angry and unfriendly tribesmen. As you can see, Mr. Bitty, they're in no mood to pull over.  Well, that's not far from wrong. They believed in that white lion for a long time. They were lucky to give him up. Now, you'd better stop. They're signaling it for you not to come any closer. What's the matter? They afraid I'll cast a spell on them, too? And they're not taking any chances. You stay here. I'll go and see what they have to say. Duke went forward and was greeted by much violent arm-waving and a confusion of speech. When he returned, he was shaking his head. Well, their leader says he can no longer hold the tribesmen back. If you don't release the white god immediately, you and your friends will be destroyed. Did you tell him about the lion being nothing but an albino or freak? Yes, and I think he understood. He's a pretty wise old bird, but he's having a tough time trying to hold back the young bucks. They're hot-headed and falling for your hide. I'm going to try something. If it doesn't work, I'll give in. Better make it good. Tell them that this so-called god of the white Nile has no power over me or them. Tell them I have proved this in hand-to-hand combat and that I'll do it again for all of them to see. Hey, take it easy. Aren't you taking on quite an order? Don't worry. This'll be the easiest scrap I've ever had. What about that wire rope? They won't let you use it this time. Tell them I'll face the beast without the rope or any other weapon, except that wide leather belt the chieftain has worn. You're crazy. Do as I say. I know what I'm doing. All right, but I still say you're crazy. Evidently what Duke told them I would do impressed them. They agreed to accept my boast.  You can't do this. It isn't worth it.  Please, I tell them what was all a mistake before. It's too late. Look here, you may think I'm being foolhardy, but believe me, I know exactly what I'm doing.  Employing all of the showmanship at my command, I carefully set the stage for my duel with the white lion. First, I insisted on a pit 30 feet square and 12 feet deep. A couple of dozen natives set to work, and in record time, the arena was ready. I carefully inspected it, and then announced dramatically that when the sun reached a point directly overhead, the battle would begin. Do you insist upon going on with this flag? Of course. There's absolutely nothing to fear. Harriet's half crazy. Somebody's going to have to tie her down to keep her from jumping into that pit with you. You take care of her, Bob. I promise that in 15 minutes, I'll climb out of that pit without a scratch. Well, Mr. Beatty, stage is set. The audience is waiting. Right. Tell my native fans I'm on my way. I've appeared in all sorts of places and before all kinds of audiences, but, well, I never expected to find myself in a situation just like this. One look at the stern-faced spectators, and I knew exactly how the Christian martyrs felt when they got the thumbs-down signal from the Romans. They squatted around the edge of the pit in stolid silence, but their expressions told me they'd like to see me torn to shreds. I signaled for the cage to be brought out. All right, Mr. Beatty, stage is at the edge of the pit. Be sure the front end is well over the edge. It's all set. Then let down the gate. All right, prod the lion. Force him to jump into the pit. There he goes. And here I go. I'm stopped. Course too late now, ma'am. Mr. Beatty jumped into the pit. He'll be killed. He'll be killed. Harriet, I told you to stay away. You'll only make Clyde nervous. Oh, this is terrible. What's he trying to prove? He's trying to prove that that creature is only an animal and not a god. Look. Look, the lion is clawing in the corner of the pit. He isn't even attacking, Clyde. I don't get it. The cat acts like he's scared. Come on, God of the White Nile. Come and get me.  He's got it confused. Hey, look. He's pulling out Big Cat's tail. Why doesn't it leap at him? Oh, it's lashing at him with the belt. Clyde, look out. He's going to leap. Clyde sidestepped. Cat missed him a mile. Pashed him to the side of the pit. Look. He knocked himself silly. Oh, it's amazing. Clyde's standing with one foot on the white lion's back. Oh, my. That's the saddest-looking jungle cat I've ever seen. There, men of Sherlock. What do you think of your white god now? Well, Clyde, you said you'd make that jungle god lose face, and you certainly did. Yeah, but I feel like a skunk. That's silly. Not many men would have done what you did. That cat never had a chance. The odds were stacked against him. I must admit, he looked pretty sad against you.  That took real courage. No, it didn't. Not really. I don't understand. That fight I had with the cat and the moonlight was on the level. He could have gotten me then. This one wasn't. I'm a little ashamed. What do you mean? That cat's an albino. At night, he can see like any other cat. Today, I fought him in the blaze of noon. He was practically blinded by the jungle sun. My gosh, I never thought of that. Albinos can't tolerate bright light. Well, I thought of it. I hated to do it, but we were all on a spot. And I had to take that advantage. Blind or not, you were still trapped in that pit with a killer. Mr. Beatty, Mr. Beatty, it worked like a charm. The natives have liquidated their jungle god. Liquidated? What do you mean? I, uh, well, I know how much you wanted to have that cat, but my enemy killed him. Oh, no. Oh, Clyde, that's too bad. How? The mighty have fallen. Sure. They thought he was a god. When they found he wasn't, they destroyed him. But it's just as well. That's right. They never would have let us take him out of here anyway. And if we'd turned him loose, the other lions would have killed him eventually anyway. You see, animals like some men can't tolerate anything different from the herd. Maybe there's a lesson in this. I don't know. Clyde will be back with a preview of our next exciting story, but now a message of interest to us all. Our next story deals with the exciting adventures the Beatty's experienced on a trip to the jungles of Malaya. Well, these are our quarters, honey. Technically known as a bamboo basher. Thatched roof, bare dirt floor. Yeah, reminds me of that motel in Albuquerque. What a thing to say. Oh, I guess we're lucky to have shelter of any kind. Clyde, is this trip really as dangerous as Lindsay tries to infer? He's been a guide in the country for a good long while, and he has typical British conservatism, so I wouldn't underestimate what he says. It's your being along that concerns him. Me? Well, I can certainly take care of myself. If there are any stray lions, tigers, or elephants in the path, I'll play like it's performance time and put them in their place. That's the kind of courage I like. Nobody's going to scare me out of a nice trek through the jungle. Well, Clyde. What's the matter? They're in the door of those eyes. My brave little wife was terrified at the sight of an innocent native boy who stared at us in curiosity. But when the going really got tough, Harriet came through like the trooper she is. I'll tell you all about our Malayan journey on our next broadcast. This story was based on incidents in the life of Clyde Beatty and the Clyde Beatty Circus. The Clyde Beatty show was produced by Shirley Thomas. God of the White Nile was written by Frank Hart Tossick. All names used were fictional, and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. This is a Commodore production.