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kirikiss · 1 month

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Condition of Love - Part One

ミ☆ kids, am I right? ミ☆ Pro hero!Iida x reader

ミ☆ Iida and Y/N must renew their hero licenses, but the only way to pass their final test is to follow the unpredictable demands of a group of eager children. As the kids conspire to play matchmaker, the heroes are forced to navigate an unexpected challenge that could determine their futures.

ミ☆ pt. 1, no warnings, reader uses she/her. fluff ;D, not fully proofread

Hero licenses are not indefinite; they expire every two years, no matter who holds them. Whether you're the number one hero celebrated across the nation or a lesser-known hero ranked in the lower hundreds, the rules apply to everyone. When the time comes, each hero must renew their license and complete randomized training designed to assess whether they are still capable of serving society effectively.

This was a critical detail that had somehow slipped past Iida. Despite his meticulous nature and dedication to his hero duties, he was completely unaware that his license was due for renewal. A perk of being a UA student was that the school automatically renewed your license for you. They did not make any student in the hero course take training since it was a part of their day-to-day curriculum. So when the realization that he would have to prove himself all over again—just like any other hero—came as a surprise.

It was a crisp fall night as Iida patrolled the streets. The rain from the previous evening had left a lingering scent of petrichor in the air—a smell he found soothing. Lost in the moment, he failed to notice the brooding police officer standing directly in his path.

Most officers and heroes got along well, but there were always a few on the police force who harbored a one-sided disdain for heroes. Many people often compared the two, dismissively labeling police officers as "watered-down heroes," claiming they weren’t cool enough and believing that only heroes did the real crime fighting. It seemed that Iida’s luck had run out that night because he had encountered exactly that type of officer—a moody, resentful one.

“Good evening, Ingenium. Have the streets been treating you well tonight?” the officer inquired with a cocky smile.

“Good evening, sir! Not much activity tonight, but we should be thankful for that, correct?” Iida replied through his thick iron mask. The mask gave him a formidable appearance, fitting for someone as serious as he was.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, very thankful… Would you mind showing me your hero license?” the officer asked, still smiling smugly.

‘Why is he asking for my hero license? Did I do something wrong?’ Iida wondered, a flicker of concern crossing his mind.

“Of course, sir! Here you are,” he said as he retrieved a laminated card from one of the many compartments built into his suit. Among the other items he carried with him were a Swiss army knife, a map, two protein bars, and not one but two extra pairs of glasses—just in case.

The officer examined the white card, which bore Iida’s photo—his eyes closed due to the flash being too bright, and they hadn’t allowed him to retake the picture. In small, off-white lettering, the card displayed an expiration date, something Iida had blissfully overlooked. This oversight was surprising for a man who was usually meticulous about such important details.

The egoist ready to ruin the upcoming hero's night began to chuckle. “You see here, your hero license expired last month. I'm going to have to fine you.” This isn't the first time the officer has stopped a hero in hopes of catching this error. He had stopped The Fresh Picked Hero: Grape Juice, Froppy, and even Todoroki, but the young up-and-coming heroes seemed to know this concealed information.

“I sincerely apologize and fully understand why I've been fined," Iida said, his words punctuated by his signature hand chop. "But could you please assist me in renewing my license? What steps do I need to take?”

"First, you'll need to fill out the necessary paperwork and complete a randomized test," the officer explained, his tone firm but matter-of-fact. Iida, feeling the weight of the situation, wiped the sweat from his brow, his intense focus on every word the officer was saying.

"You can start the process as early as tomorrow, once the Hero License Agency opens. Just be sure to clear your schedule; those trainings can be unpredictable and might take longer than expected," the lanky officer continued, his voice tinged with a hint of warning.

"However," the officer added, his expression turning serious, “Until you complete the renewal process, you cannot operate under the hero Ingenium. Should I take you in for being a vigilante?”

The officer's words struck Iida like a bolt of lightning, and to his surprise, he instinctively raised his hands, as if the officer had shouted a command.

"No, sir! I will handle it immediately—I assure you!" Iida responded, his voice filled with urgency.

The officer couldn’t help but chuckle as he adjusted his navy uniform, a smirk playing on his lips. "I'll see you around, kid. You're lucky you’re amusing," he said, his tone lightening as he turned and walked off into the night, making him seem like an off-brand Batman. The way he disappeared into the shadows left Iida standing there, momentarily dazed by the unexpected encounter

》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚《》* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 。* 。° 。* 。 • ˚《》* 。

It was a crisp, refreshing day, and Iida was eager to reclaim a valid hero license. After returning home from his patrol the previous night, he had swiftly filled out the necessary paperwork online—one of the many conveniences of modern technology.

Arriving at the Hero License Agency, Iida pushed open the door, only to realize that this was his second visit to the building; the first had been during his first year at U.A. High School. As he entered, he noticed a woman in a hero uniform walking in behind him.

"You must be here for training as well. Good luck," Iida said with a warm smile, his voice carrying a gentle tone despite the intimidating presence of his mask.

The woman smiled back, her demeanor friendly. "Thanks! Good luck to you too. I’m Harmonic, but you can call me y/n.”

She extended her hand in a gesture of camaraderie. He had recognized her from various hero events. They waved in passing but never had an honest conversation.

"I appreciate that," Iida replied, shaking her hand. "I go by Ingenium professionally, but please feel free to call me Iida."

With introductions made, the pair walked together into the building, both eager to discover what their training would entail. The anticipation of the challenges ahead was palpable as they prepared to face the tasks that would determine their readiness to continue serving as heroes.

The former strangers were greeted by a man who seemed more suited for a role as a Secret Service agent than a trainer. Dressed in a sleek black suit, polished black dress shoes, and blacked-out sunglasses, he exuded an aura of professionalism. An earpiece rested snugly in his ear, and he pressed a button on it to speak.

“They are here. Inform me when you are ready to commence,” he said, his voice calm but authoritative. The tense tone of his message started to unnerve Iida, hinting that the test ahead was going to be quite intense.

The man pressed his earpiece again, listening intently before responding. “Please follow me,” he instructed, leading the way down a long, dimly lit hallway. Iida was initially unsure he would be paired with y/n, but the presence of a familiar face did ease his nerves slightly.

The hallway seemed to stretch on endlessly until they arrived at a comically oversized door, which contrasted sharply with the otherwise serious atmosphere. The man stopped in front of the door and turned to face them.

“Behind this door is the test you need to pass in order to renew your hero license,” he explained. “If you fail, you will be required to wait two weeks before being assigned a different training session.” To Iida, two weeks felt like an eternity. He was determined not to let that happen.

“You two are tasked with observing whatever lies beyond this door. The results will determine your fate,” the man concluded.

Iida and Y/N exchanged glances, their faces reflecting a shared sense of apprehension. ‘So ominous,’ they both thought as they steeled themselves for the challenge ahead. The daunting task began with the oversized door in front of them, which seemed to resist their attempts to open it.

Iida stepped forward and activated his quirk, using a burst of speed to forcefully push the heavy door. With a creak and groan, the door finally gave way, revealing what lay beyond.

As the door swung open, they were met with a startling sight. Twenty pairs of eyes were fixed on them from within the room, each gaze sharp and curious. The intensity of the stares was palpable, and Iida and y/nfelt an immediate pressure to perform well under the watchful eyes of those who would determine their fate.

Those watchful eyes being the obese of children, who couldn’t be older than seven years old. One young boy, unable to contain his excitement, leaned towards his friend and attempted a whisper that came out more like an exclamation.

“Ohmygoditsproheroingenium!”

The boy’s awe was reminiscent of Midoriya’s starstruck reactions in the halls of UA High, and Iida couldn’t help but be reminded of those days.

“His mask looks so cool. Do you think he’d let me try it on? What if it smells like sweat?” the boy’s friend replied, clearly intrigued but equally curious about the details of Iida’s heroic persona.

While the boys were busy fawning over Iida, the girls turned their attention to y/n. “HARMONIC!! SHE’S SO PRETTY IN REAL LIFE!” one little girl exclaimed, her face lighting up with a wide, toothy grin.

The excitement spread through the group as they began to chatter among themselves, their voices a mix of admiration and playful speculation. Although the intimidating man in the suit had instructed them to be stern, the children’s natural exuberance quickly took over.

Amidst their giggles and excited whispers, the children’s playful enthusiasm led them to a new scheme: setting up Iida and y/n. With their matchmaking plans in full swing, they momentarily forgot the seriousness of the test, focusing instead on their own innocent amusement.

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taglist: @sofiascripts

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dontmeantobepoliticalbut · 3 months

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Donald Trump, recently convicted on 34 felony charges related to falsifying business records, admitted to New York officials that he had not surrendered a gun he possesses in Florida but that was registered in New York, according to CNN. It is a federal crime for someone convicted of a felony to possess a firearm or ammunition.

An official who was briefed on the pre-sentencing meeting told CNN that Trump admitted to still possessing one of the three fireams listed on his New York City permit to carry concealed weapons. Two of the three pistols he was licensed to carry were handed over to police in March 2023, after his gun license was suspended in light of his arrest by the Manhattan District Attorney's office. The third gun was "lawfully moved to Florida," presumably to his estate at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, where Trump was for the remotely-conducted hearing.

Palm Beach police told CNN that they were not told of any gun that Trump might have, and none were turned over to them since his conviction in May. The New York City Police Department has now notified police in Florida and asked them to take appropriate action.

Trump, who promised the National Rifle Association to reverse President Joe Biden's gun control measures, has long bragged about his guns and what he would do with them. After the deadly 2016 terrorist attacks in Paris, Trump told a French magazine that "I always carry a weapon on me" and that if he was there, he would have opened fire on the assailants.

MORE FROM NICHOLAS LIU

#us politics #news #republicans #conservatives #donald trump #gop #gun rights #gun control #new york #florida #convicted felon #hush money trial #2024 #New York City Police Department #salon

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beardedmrbean · 6 months

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“Cuckooing” could become a new criminal offence in plans under discussion by the Home Office.

A total of 48 MPs have backed a proposal that would make the act of occupying or exercising control over another person’s home in connection with criminal activity illegal for the first time.

The practice, known as “cuckooing”, is most commonly perpetrated by county lines gangs who often occupy a vulnerable person’s home to store or distribute drugs.

Problem highlighted in popular TV dramas

The problem has been highlighted in such popular television dramas as Line of Duty and Happy Valley - but is in itself not a criminal offence.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith has put forward an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill that would make “cuckooing” punishable by up to seven years in prison.

The former Conservative leader has had a meeting with Home Office officials to discuss the proposals, which have the backing of 40 Tory MPs including Suella Braverman, the ex-home secretary.

Police visited more than 1,200 “cuckooed” addresses within one week last month, as part of a national “country lines intensification week”.

There are tools, both civil and criminal, available to police and local authorities to disrupt “cuckooing”, and perpetrators can be prosecuted for the crime that they commit within a property, such as drugs offences.

But backers of the amendment, including Sir Robert Buckland, the former justice secretary, believe that using a vulnerable person’s property as a base for such activities itself needs to become a recognised crime.

‘People with vulnerabilities being exploited’

“I think that ‘cuckooing’ is another example of how we can reflect the sad reality that there are still many, many people out there who have vulnerabilities who are being exploited by criminal gangs or more sophisticated operators, who use these people as a human shield in order to conceal their criminal activities.

“Therefore, I think anything we can do to strip away that last shield has got to be a good thing in terms of really meeting the criminality where it lies.”

He warned that currently victims of “cuckooing”, which can include people with mental health issues, the elderly or those with learning disabilities, currently risk facing criminal sanctions themselves for criminal activity going on in their home.

He added: “I think it is important that we seek to use the full force of the criminal law to tackle this type of exploitation.”

The proposed new law would mean that a person will have committed an offence if they occupy or exercise control over the home of another person in connection with carrying out a criminal offence.

‘Police need more powers’

Means of exercising such control range from the threat of use of force or other coercive behaviour, fraud, or the giving of payments or other benefits to achieve consent of the victim.

Louise Gleich, of the Joint Modern Slavery Unit at the Centre for Social Justice and Justice and Care, said: “The police need more powers to go after the criminals who cause such devastation in the lives of vulnerable people.

“Simply prosecuting offenders for other crimes takes no account of the harm done to the victims. Civil orders are inadequate to properly disrupt this behaviour and stop offenders just moving on to other victims.

“A specific criminal offence is needed and we urge the Government to use the Criminal Justice Bill to update the law.”

The Home Office said: “Cuckooing is unacceptable, and the police already have a range of powers to step in and protect vulnerable people if they are being exploited in this way, including possible jail time for the perpetrator.

“We will consider the amendment and engage with parliamentary colleagues in the usual way.”

#nunyas news #wild

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ukrfeminism · 1 year

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3 minute read

Dozens of women suspected of having illegal abortions have faced criminal investigations from the police in recent years, new figures show.

Information obtained under freedom of information (FOI) laws reveal at least 36 women endured criminal investigations after being accused of having illegal abortions from April 2014 to December 2021.

The data, obtained by National World and based on responses from 35 police forces, looked at recorded crimes for the two charges of procuring an illegal abortion and the intentional destruction of a viable unborn child.

It comes after Carla Foster, 44, was sentenced to 28 months in jail earlier in the month, having obtained drugs to end her pregnancy at 32 to 34 weeks during lockdown.

Dr Jonathon Lord, who represented medical organisations in the case, told The Independent the sentencing of the mother-of-three “brought back the horrors of the 1960s”.

The consultant NHS gynaecologist at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust added: “The really big fear is that we know the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are sitting on lots more cases - waiting to see whether this one would be jailed and thereby prove a public interest in prosecuting.

“So we now expect anything between six to 40 proceeding - it is so hard to know numbers as it’s all so secretive. We don't know if these cases will be charged. Another issue is that patients are told to speak to nobody. So one woman had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for over six months before we heard she’d had a premature delivery that arose suspicion.”

Dr Lord explained the CPS evidence in the recent headline-grabbing case involving Foster included the fact she searched for ways to cause physical harm such as “Can being hit in the stomach cause a miscarriage?”, adding this demonstrates “she was so desperate she was even considering self-harm”.

Dr Lord noted she had been imprisoned under a law from 1861 - “an era when public hangings drew large crowds and 67 years before women were able to vote”.

The latest Home Office data show the number of Britons being investigated by police over suspected illegal abortions has more than tripled in the last decade.

Recorded crimes for abortions surged from eight in 2013/2014 to 27 cases in April to December 2022 so far.

This includes recorded crimes for three separate charges of procuring an illegal abortion, the intentional destruction of a viable unborn child and concealing an infant death pre-birth. While the first two charges are punishable by life imprisonment, the latter carries a three-year prison sentence.

Some of the cases included in the government data could relate to investigations into abusive partners forcing a woman into having an abortion, those who sell abortion pills, and individuals whose violence against a woman or person with a womb causes them to lose their pregnancy.

Earlier in the month, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Foster was between 32 to 34 weeks pregnant when she took the abortion pills – with Justice Pepperall saying she felt “very deep and genuine remorse”, was “racked with guilt” and still had nightmares over her actions.

Kate Osborne, a Labour MP who sits on the women and equalities committee, told The Independent the imprisonment of Foster was a “disgrace” and was “perverse” as she called for abortion care to be decriminalised.

“This case shows that the current legislation is unsafe for women and could potentially open the door for more prosecutions,” she added.

Labour MP Stella Creasy, an outspoken campaigner for abortion rights, noted “no other healthcare service sits on a criminal foundation” as warned “it’s time to treat all patients equally and introduce a proper medical framework to guide access rather than use the threat of prosecution to deter it.”

A spokesperson for the CPS said: “These exceptionally rare cases are complex and traumatic. Our prosecutors have a duty to ensure that laws set by parliament are properly considered and applied when making difficult charging decisions.”

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keirmoonrock · 1 year

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Top Five Update and the Ao3 Attack

Hey guys :) i know I don’t really come on here much with something serious to say, but honestly the Ao3 DDOS has really thrown me for a loop. Hopefully the site will be back up soon, but for now I wanted to post the next chapter of Top Five, along with its document, here. On Ao3, they would show up as:

Chapter 150: One of Them

Chapter 151: DOCUMENT: #MAF-2: Kal Snydar

Again, I really hope the website comes back up soon, but in case you missed it, here’s your Top Five fix:

One of Them

The fastest way to intimidate someone, Mello learned, was through one’s silhouette. This was certainly not a novel discovery; Hitler, Stalin, and Napoleon had uncovered it far before the bloodied man. In any case, it was true, and Mello carried it down the desert road with him on the drive to pay his hostage a visit.

She had arrived early in the morning littered with struggle wounds, a set of damaged goods on a transcontinental plane. Go figure, the chief’s daughter had inherited some of his stubbornness. However, Mello’s men assured him that the girl was taken care of, that any package could be fixed with a bit of duct tape.

As he ripped it off of Sayu Yagami’s mouth, all she could focus on were the pricks of fur along the hood of his coat, the way his bangs swept evenly above his eyes, concealing his eyebrows. Worst of all, the young woman took note of his smile, how it spread across his chin like butter as she whimpered.

Flipping the on-button of his tape recorder, the man teased, “There she is… Sayu Yagami.”

Blood dripping from her lips, the woman sobbed, “Who are you?”

“If you really want to know, ask your father. It’s his fault you’re here, anyway. If I were you, I’d just pray he comes to pick you up.”

Sayu only stared, her pupils shrunken into grains of sand.

“Oh my God…” As the realization struck him, Mello’s face lit up. “That’s right. You don’t speak much English, do you?”

“She didn’t speak any to us,” Jack said from behind the pair, sitting on a stair. “She said something, naturally, but I couldn’t tell you what it was.”

“Keep your mouth closed,” The boss grumbled. “And you… ohayou.”

The woman shriveled into her chair, gasping for breath as the rope burned into her arms.

“Come on, you’ve never seen a white guy speak Japanese? Well, you’ll be glad you did when I’m through with you… listen, you just answer my questions, don’t cause trouble, and you’ll be out of here in no time. Can you do that, Sayu?”

“I… I don’t—”

Mello sighed, his hair sticking to his cheeks as he shook his head. “No, I don’t know why I ask… I’m not tied to a chair, am I?”

His men snickered behind him, and for the first time since he had left the Wammy House, Mello truly felt invincible.

“Alright then,” he muttered, pulling up a chair. “It’s your turn to talk. What does your father do for a living?”

“You must already know that,” Sayu answered, her voice trembling. “I don’t understand why you’re asking me.”

Already aggravated, the boss struck her once across the face, her cheek pink as he pulled back his hand.

She was right, of course. As long as none of the officers had dropped out of the Kira Task Force since L’s death, Mello knew the names and titles of everyone involved. But this was a baseline, a test to see whether the chief’s daughter would lie to him.

“Don’t get smart with me,” he warned. “You’ll only be hurting yourself.”

“He’s the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency!” the woman rushed, tears streaming down her face. “They- they said he resigned a long time ago, at the start of the Kira case, but he’s been working behind the scenes this whole time!”

“On what?”

“The Kira Task Force. He’s the second in command, after L.”

“What does he do on it?”

The woman flinched, her voice dripping with remorse as she shyly explained, “I- I don’t know… he doesn’t tell me.”

“Fine, then. Who else is on it?”

“I don’t know everyone there…”

With a dull expression, Mello flicked his chocolate wrapper at the woman’s head. “Hurry up, I don’t have time for you to be vague. Tell me everyone who works on the Kira Task Force, to the best of your knowledge.”

Fearing another slap, Sayu turned her head from the man, her hair in tangles as she caved in. “Touta Matsuda… I-I’m sorry, but I only know his full name. For the rest of them, I only have last names.”

“And what are they?” Mello growled, raising his hand as a threat. “Aizawa! Aizawa! And there’s him, Yamagishi, and a woman named Akiyama. There are two more, both men, but I… I don’t know them well.”

“How long have they all been working on the Kira case?”

“From the beginning, I think… I remember Yamagishi visiting us a few months after it started, and I’m sure Matsuda and Aizawa were there as well.”

“Fine. What–”

“Wait!”

Mello tilted his head, and the woman quickly averted her gaze, panic-stricken.

“I’m sorry, there- there was just another person. Hirokazu Ukita worked with them too, from the beginning, but he died in the first few months.”

“I understand. Do you know what any of them do within the Task Force?”

“I don’t… I’m sorry.”

“Quit apologizing, you sound like a child.” Shifting his weight in the chair, pressing his chin against its top, Mello narrowed his eyes. “How are they these days?” “They’re fine,” Sayu breathed. “I… I don’t know, I only ever really see Matsuda, Yamagishi, and Akiyama.” “God, that’s what they’re calling her now?”

“Akiyama?”

“She can only go through so many names, for God’s sake… this must be the third.”

“I don’t understand.”

“And you’re not supposed to. Well, Akiyama and Yamagishi… are they still dating?”

“Y-yeah. How did you know?”

“You know, Sayu, I’m starting to understand why they had to bring out the duct tape. You want me to leave you with those lunatics again?”

“No!” the woman screeched. “No, stay! I’ll answer anything you want!” “Do they live together, then? Akiyama and Yamagishi?” “I’m pretty sure…”

“Are they married?”

“Not to my knowledge. He just calls her his girlfriend.”

“How often do you see them?”

“Oh, I… maybe a couple of times a year? I don’t know. They’re pretty busy.”

“It doesn’t matter. Where does the Kira Task Force work?”

“I don’t know… probably in the police headquarters.”

Mello’s face fell flat. “If you think L is stupid enough to do that, I’m amazed you managed to get into university at all.”

“I don’t know!” the woman repeated, curling her fingers into fists. “I’ve been awake for hours, and I’m starving, and I don’t know what you want from me, damnit! I don’t know!”

“Your choice, then.”

His coat crinkling as he stood, Mello raised his hand and gestured for Jack and the others to follow him.

“No!” Sayu begged, her voice raising an octave in her moment of desperation. “No, I didn’t mean it!” Mello paid the woman no mind, staring her down as he asked, “Do you guys want to know what she said?”

Behind him, a group of mafiosi turned their heads, obedient to his every word.

All but Jack, that is.

The man kept his gaze to the ground, his eyes listless, two voids stacked over his cracking skin as he sighed.

“That includes you, you bozo,” Mello grunted, making a point of flicking Jack’s forehead. “God, maybe you and her are meant for each other…”

“What’d she say, boss?” the man finally snapped, obviously annoyed.

“She doesn’t want to answer anything I say, that’s all… remind you of someone, Jack?”

“My bad, I was thinking about something.”

“There’s a first for everything.”

Jack lit a cigarette, his laugh slicing through the bitter air, though it resolved none of his disdain for the chocoholic teenager he called a don. “Well, what do you want us to do about the broad in the chair?”

Glancing purposefully at Sayu, Mello chuckled. “I thought I would leave that up to you guys. I have a flight to catch.”

He turned, then, his footsteps ringing against the cold steel of the room like a fork against a wine glass. Sayu shrieked as he walked away, much preferring the company of her Japanophone captor to his pawns.

Expecting only her cries to trail his exit, Mello was surprised to hear Jack walking behind him. Having handed his cigarette to Miller, who in turn pressed it into the young woman’s neck, he approached empty-handed. Even so, a bizarre and brazen curiosity filled the edges of his whittled face.

Mello huffed as he turned. “You take too much crack or something? You’re supposed to be over there.”

“It was you I was thinking about,” Jack replied, seamlessly. “I was wondering why you still wear that big cross on your neck after everything you’ve done.”

“Is that your idea of a joke?”

If he were slightly more sober, the man may just have cackled. “Oh, I’m much too old for jokes. I’m being honest, boss. It’s a question.”

“A question you don’t need an answer to,” Mello hissed. “I wear it because I want to, and if that isn’t enough to satisfy you, you should remember that there’s plenty of space back there for another chair.”

“Calm down, will you?”

“I’ll calm down when you learn your place. Why the hell are you asking questions like that?”

“It’s just that in my experience,” Jack mumbled, “The people who go out of their way to show their devotion to God have the most to hide from Him…” Inexplicably, with the cunning false innocence of a child, the man’s face shifted into the slightest whisper of a grin. “I wanted to see if you were one of them.”

In that moment, the ground beneath Mello’s feet seemed to warp, tilting the two closer to each other by a trick of the light. His skin grew hot, almost unbearably so, his blood boiling in a mix of anger and anxiety he could not understand.

He struggled to form a response, so taken aback by Jack’s assumption that he could not connect his brain to his lips.

Fortunately, Jack answered on his own, barely narrowing his eyes as he muttered, “I think I know now.”

Pulling the man by the collar of his shirt, Mello pressed his forehead to Jack’s, their eyes so close together he could practically see into the bartender’s body.

His voice razor-sharp, he simply uttered, “Tell me shit like that when I’m the one answering to you.”

Then, throwing Jack to the floor, Mello unwrapped a bar of chocolate and stumbled off.

However, he would never fully shake the man’s judgement, following him like a curse.

By the time he arrived in the capital, Mello had persuaded himself that Jack’s insult was the result of an inhumanly high dosage of crack cocaine combined with a pre-existing hatred of his boss.

Something about the man’s boldness disturbed him, and had from the moment they met. Indeed, Jack carried himself as though he had no fear of death, like he had given up on himself ages ago.

However grating he was, Mello was not annoyed with Jack; he simply feared that one day, he would turn into him.

Plunging him away from that primordial terror, the door creaked open, and in walked the man of the hour, the practical messiah of the Paragon gang, a true D.C. insider, the dubiously-named Supervisory Special Agent Ill Ratt.

“Sean,” Mello greeted, sliding his feet off of the desk. “You finally made it.”

“I came as soon as I could, boss.”

“Near must be working you to death, then… I guess that checks out. As clever as he thinks he is, he’s useless on his own.”

“No, it’s not that, although I suppose you’re right.” His head throbbing, frazzled from a hard day’s work, the rat slumped into the seat across from Mello. “You have to admit, though, we’ve got a lot of work to do now that you’ve kidnapped the Commissioner General’s daughter.”

Mello frowned. “So he already knows. Did the Task Force reach out to him?”

“No, we contacted them as soon as we heard that Takimura had disappeared. Actually, they thought it was us at first.”

“No kidding… I didn’t think Near had it in him. Well, did he and Light have a chance to catch up?”

“He’s braver than I thought,” Sean sighed. “Not only did he reveal he’s working on the case, he outright accused him of being Kira.”

Playing with the beads of his rosary, Mello was quick to correct the agent. “That’s not bravery, that’s stupidity. The first time he talks to the Task Force in years, and he’s already made himself their enemy… he really hasn’t changed.”

“To be fair, boss… I don’t think we’re exactly their friend, either.”

Mello chuckled. “You have a point. But knowing Near, he plans on getting through to the Task Force by working with them… it’s a pretty terrible job for a kid who never had a friend in his life, don’t you think? No wonder he had to bring Linda with him…

“Tell me, Sean,” the man continued after a brief pause. “What do they have you doing there?”

“My job is to investigate your whereabouts and activities, along with the entire gang. It’s a balancing act, for sure, but I’ve managed to keep myself in check. As far as I know, no one suspects a thing.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“You… mean to say that you think they know I’m a rat?”

“I’ll let you in on something: there’s a difference between being stupid and being dumb. A stupid person looks at someone like you and never suspects a thing. A dumb person, on the other hand, sees what you are and decides to keep their knowledge to themself. Near is dumb, but not stupid. Touta Matsuda—the bastard that snuck into the Yotsuba Headquarters—is stupid, but not dumb.”

“Isn’t there anyone who’s both?”

“Of course there is,” Mello sneered. “That’s Jack.”

Withholding his laughter, Sean nodded. “I understand, boss.”

“So you’ve been investigating me… you and who else?”

“Well, you’ll be happy to know that I’m the head of the operation.” The rat slipped his hand into his jacket, unzipping a hidden pouch and pushing past wires in order to find the report. “Working under me are nine agents… actually, one of them sort of reminds me of you.”

The stack of papers fell onto the desk with little fanfare.

“No kidding?” Mello hummed, scrolling through the list of names.

“Not at all, boss. His name is Stephen Loud—code name, Stephen Gevanni. He’s some kind of a genius, I tell you what… one of the most successful young agents the Bureau’s seen in a while.”

“He must be… you keep talking to him on your tapes.”

“I would argue that he talks to me. I think he knows something fishy is going on between us. It’s not like me to act so lazy.”

“Then don’t be lazy,” Mello blasted. “Let them investigate me all they want, there’s not a hole they can dig that’ll lead to me.”

Sean pursed his lips, not convinced by the man’s claim, yet too timid to argue. “Right.”

In front of him, the fruits of his labor slid through his boss’s fingers, unimpressed. “So who are these other groups? Do they all investigate different parts of the case?”

“You could say that, yes. There are six of us, in total. Group A is made up of only the Commander, Near, and Linda—they oversee the operation, of course. Group B investigates you, Group C investigates Matt, Group D has been trying to track the members of the Kira Task Force, Group E is in charge of studying Kira worshippers and supporters, and Group F is focused on all current and former suspects.”

Mello’s eyes shot up from the list. “And who’s on that list of suspects, exactly?”

“Hideki Ide, Koreyoshi Kitamura and his family, uncleared members of the NPA, the Yotsuba Group, Teru Mikami, Ichiro Harada, and Kiyomi Takada. Essentially… everyone L ever suspected of being Kira that haven’t been involved with the investigation the entire time.”

“Ide still works for the police,” Mello reasoned. “And never even met Light and Mimi. You guys are wasting your time looking into him. Kitamura I’m not concerned with, and the Yotsuba Group is dead… but how about those last three? What have they been up to?”

“That’s been a major concern for the group, actually. After L’s death, Teru returned to civilian life, but was often seen associating with Ichiro and Kiyomi. He was bitter enemies with Kiyomi’s boyfriend, Daiki Nobushi, from what we know… and as fate would have it, the one time Daiki visited the two together, he left in a stupor. That wasn’t like him… he was extremely possessive of Kiyomi, and had shown up to the apartment furious.”

Mello narrowed his eyes, his breath caught momentarily in his throat.

Was it not him who had studied the camera footage of Arayoshi Hatori as he stumbled out of Higuchi’s home? Who saw the emptiness in his eyes as he returned to his wife and children, locking the door behind him, sealing his own inferno?

Even then, he could picture the desperation hidden beneath Hatori’s blank expression, the sense of panic that followed him home that night as he realized he had become little more than a shinigami’s marionette.

“He died then,” Mello whispered. “Didn’t he?”

Gravely, the rat nodded. “A few days later, he suffocated in his sleep. Not too long after that, it seems that Teru and Kiyomi started dating. Within two months of Daiki’s death, she deleted most of her internet posts, especially those with identifying information like photographs or pieces of her name. A week or go, give or take, she and Teru got married.”

“That son of a bitch…”

“Even worse, Kiyomi has grown close to Light and Mimi. The SPK has reached the conclusion that she learned of Teru’s identity as Kira by accident, and that he must have killed Nobushi in the heat of the moment. Light and Mimi were seen rushing to the apartment after he had left, which led Linda to believe that they allowed Teru to keep her alive because of her pro-Kira attitudes. From what we can infer, Kiyomi has been fully accepted by the three Kiras, and could potentially be acting as Kira herself.”

Standing up, too tense to sit, Mello rolled his shoulders, admitting with a sigh, “I wrote her suspect profile myself, you know. I should have figured something like this would happen… I guess it makes our job a little more difficult, doesn’t it? I never met her. Well, what about Harada? How is he now that he and Mikami are reunited?”

“It’s funny you should ask,” Sean chuckled. “We have no reason to believe he’s aware that Teru or Kiyomi are acting as Kira, but he’s still somehow gotten caught up in the case.”

Mello spun around without a second thought, almost stunned by the absurdity of the notion. “Light is trying to frame him?”

“Not to my knowledge… see, he was an employee at Yotsuba during Higuchi’s time as Kira. He never spoke to him, but on the day the six members of the group died, the last person Suguru Shimura ever spoke to was him.”

“Damnit, that’s right! I remember reading about it… God, you must have seen the reporting on their deaths, didn’t you? Maybe it was Takada who killed them, then… I don’t think Light would want to attract that much attention while he killed them off. It’s a whole conspiracy at this point…”

“That’s our theory, as well.”

“Too bad,” Mello mumbled, shaking his head. “I’m lucky you can get all of this information out of Near, but I really do hate to be associated with him… I guess that doesn’t matter, though. Go on.”

Sean shifted his weight. “There’s not much more to say, I’m afraid. Harada was one of the several hundred employees to resign from Yotsuba after the Corporate Suicides, along with his now-wife, Natsumi Enomoto. She’s been writing a book about the events, which is scheduled to come out this year… Ichiro is less involved. From what we can tell, he just wants to move on with his life and forget whatever brief encounter he had with Suguru Shimura.”

“I don’t blame him. Don’t you find it odd, though? What Shimura told him?”

“I’m sorry,” Sean flushed, biting the tip of his tongue. “I never really cared much for that whole mess. What did he say?”

Mello drew his finger over his lips, his thumb tucked beneath his chin as he thought. “I believe his exact words to Harada were… ‘I wanted to wish you good luck. I don’t think you know what’s coming to you.’”

The rat hummed without an indication of shock or intrigue, evidently clueless as to the words’ meaning.

“Well,” his boss sighed. “I think it’s interesting. Shimura… he had this intuition to him, one of the strangest traits I ever saw in a person. Everything he guessed about the case was true, and he only knew it from a gut feeling. For heaven’s sake, Sean, he knew Taro Matsui wasn’t really dead, he knew Midori Ashikaga was a plant to capture Kira… and if you ask me, I think he was onto something when he said he was certain Namikawa was speaking to Kira on the phone.”

Sean only pursed his lips, squeezing half a breath into the air, suggesting he had come up with a question.

Of course, he would never ask it.

“Jesus Christ,” Mello grumbled. “You need to start studying those emails I sent you. If you’re going to be a double agent, you at least need to catch up on the case! Talk about rats… Namikawa was never this confused, come to think of it.”

“I’m sorry, boss, I—”

“Save it. All I mean is, it’s funny Harada keeps getting himself involved in the case. His own damn cousin is Kira, his boss was part of the Yotsuba Group, and he’s none the wiser… he’ll need all the luck he can get, that’s for sure. If he takes one step closer to Mikami, he’ll get himself killed.”

“I understand.”

“Oh, finally. Well, let’s get on with it. What does the FBI know about me?”

Sean took a deep breath in, not exactly thrilled to arouse his boss’s anger. “They know your name, for starters.”

As expected, Mello’s face curled into that all-too-familiar snarl, his eyes wide, two razor-sharp icicles against his flaming red skin. “They what?! You useless piece of— Jesus, Sean, you didn’t think to tell me sooner? What, did they give it to Light?”

The rat threw his hands in the air, guiltless. “They don’t have a last name. By the rules of the Death Note, that’s not enough to kill you.”

“Well how did they get it?”

“Matt gave it to Near before he left the Wammy House. He told him your name was Mihael, that you had been living under the alias of Immanuel Feigel, and that you had run away in an attempt to capture Kira yourself.”

If he were less concerned with his reputation, Mello would have easily slammed his head into the wall, pulling his forehead away with bloodied chunks of drywall stuck to his skin.

One tiny mistake five years ago had been enough to lead the SPK down his path. While he snuck through alleyways in New York City, having all but forgotten his old life, Matt had been dead-set on revenge, giving away everything he knew about his former boyfriend to earn back the thousand dollars he stole.

Suffice it to say, Mello would never rummage through a drawer so loudly again.

“Is that how he feels about me?” the man asked no one in particular. “After everything I did for him?”

“It seems like you and Near both have been trying to convince him to join you.”

“No shit, Sean… I already sent the postcard; if he hands that over to Near, he’ll have the address of the nightclub.”

“I can try to intercept it, but—”

“Damnit!” Mello dragged one hand down his face, his nail polish chipping against his skin as the gravity of the situation dawned on him. “There’s nothing else I can do, is there? Unless Matt decides to join us, we’re fucked.”

“Would it be so terrible to close the nightclub?” Sean posed. “We’ve got plenty of revenue coming in, now, thanks to you… it’s not our only laundering front, anyway.”

“If we close it, then Matt will show up to the address and find no one. It’s bad enough he’s given information to Near, but we don’t really need him just to keep the SPK off our backs. He’s a technical genius.”

“I don’t understand… What are you planning that would require someone like him?”

In spite of everything, Mello began to laugh, unable to believe his rat’s stupidity. “God, you have no idea… don’t you even know who your boss is?”

“Commander Rester,” Sean answered, furrowing his brow.

“Better than him.”

“Near and Linda?”

“Better.”

“The… attorney general?”

“You’re hopeless,” Mello scoffed. “Forget it. Just know that once my plan goes through, we won’t have an SPK to worry about anymore… or, if it doesn’t go as planned, at least we won’t have Hoope in our way.”

Sean’s jaw dropped. “You’re going to assassinate him?”

“Leave that to me. Now, has the SPK found anything on Matt?”

“Not much,” the rat admitted, still reeling from the revelation. “All we know, really, is that he went to college in Montreal after graduating. We can only assume he’s still there, but without his real name, we’ll stay at square one forever.”

“That’s fine, as long as they can’t contact him.” Unbothered, Mello pried open a bar of chocolate. “Now, aside from that… Sean, when Chief Yagami comes to pay the ransom, would you do me a little favor?”

“Oh… of course.”

“I don’t want to be anywhere near LA when it happens, you know. God knows how much crazier Light’s gotten in the past few years… he could blow the whole base up easily, or kill all of us… hell, Yagami could just go rogue and take out anyone he thinks hurt his daughter.”

Sean tilted his head. “I suppose so, but what are you asking me to do?”

“If it wouldn’t bother you, I was hoping I could stay with you here. It should only be a few days, and—” The man extended his bitten chocolate to his subordinate. “I won’t need much to eat, or bring a lot of luggage with me. The bare minimum, you know?”

Truly, there was no way Sean could refuse an order from his boss. Knowing this full-well, he plastered a smile as he responded, “That’d be perfectly fine.”

“I had a feeling you’d say that.”

“So did I, boss.”

Hearing that, Mello cackled. No matter how much blood stained his name, it seemed that man had never lost his sense of humor. After all, he was only nineteen.

“You know what, Sean? Jack needs to take a lesson from you, that bastard… I’ll be sad to see you go, someday, man.”

Oblivious, Sean smiled. “Then you’ll be glad to know I’ve got thirty years before I retire.”

“Right… right…” Mello unceremoniously grabbed his coat from off of his chair, throwing it over one shoulder as he held onto his chocolate bar. “Well then, I guess we’re through. Do you have any other nosy questions about my plans?”

“Just one, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Oh, God, I didn’t think you’d say yes… but go ahead.”

“You mentioned holding Sayu Yagami for ransom.” Genuinely curious, Sean crossed his arms. “But… we’ve already agreed that the gang has no need for money. I doubt that it’s money you’re after, anyway, so… what exactly do you want the chief to trade for his daughter?”

“That’s easy,” Mello snickered, folding his rat’s list of names into a tight square. “I want Higuchi’s Death Note.”

Document: #MAF-2: Kal Snydar

Kal Snydar: A New York/Los Angeles Mafioso

Born:

23 February 1976, New York City, USA

Current Residence:

Unknown (Likely Los Angeles, USA)

Previous Residences:

42 Barness Street, Suite 273, New York City, USA

Known Health Issues:

Crack Cocaine Addiction

Relationships to Other Figures:

Mello (suspected associate)

Contacts:

N/A

Kal Snydar is an associate of the mafia syndicate outlined by the SPK, believed to be harboring Mello. Because he lacks Italian ancestry, he is presumably low-ranking. He has also been arrested four times, but was cleared each time due to lack of evidence.

Born in Brooklyn, New York City, Snydar appears to have been raised in an insular Hasidic Jewish community, which he ran away from in 1990. He was reported missing by his father, Aron Snydar, that same year. He was later discovered by a member of the New York Police Department at the age of eighteen, but refused to return home.

His first arrest was in 1993 for distributing crack cocaine. The following two arrests, in 1996 and 2002, were both for selling handguns without a license. In 2005, he was arrested on suspicion of murder. Again, he was released each time due to a lack of evidence, though he remained in FBI records as a suspicious person.

At some point between 2002 and 2005, he moved from New York to Los Angeles, and has presumably been living there ever since. We do not know what his job or address is, although he has been spotted crossing the US-Mexican border several times, and must speak some level of Spanish.

Like most criminals these days, he must be living under an alias to protect himself from Kira. The SPK is currently trying to figure out what that alias is, although they’re not getting very far.

Analysis

He’s just another piece in whatever Mello is doing… not a very important one, but he’s one of the only pieces we have. We should keep an eye on him.

Author: Light

#Death note fanfiction #death note #Top Five

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xlntwtch2 · 1 year

Text

from september 26, 2023 AP news article...

"...The federal government already taxes the sale of guns and ammunition at either 10% or 11%, depending on the type of gun. The law Newsom signed adds another 11% tax on top of that — making it the only state with its own tax on guns and ammunition, according to the gun control advocacy group Brady...

"Newsom is in the middle of a national campaign to amend the U.S. Constitution to restrict gun sales to people over 21, require extensive background checks, impose a waiting period for purchases and ban the sale of assault-style weapons. Restrictions like that are in place in some states, but not in the Constitution...

"Also on Tuesday, Newsom signed a law overhauling the state’s rules for carrying concealed weapons. The new rules are a reaction to a new standard for interpreting the nation’s gun laws that the U.S. Supreme Court issued last year. California’s new law bans people from carrying guns in nearly all public places — including public parks and playgrounds — public demonstrations and gatherings, amusement parks, churches, banks and any place where alcohol is sold...

"Chuck Michel, president of the California Rifle and Pistol Association, criticized the new laws — calling them unconstitutional...

"...The tax has some exceptions. It would not apply to police officers and it would not apply to businesses with sales of less than $5,000 over a three-month period. State officials estimate it would generate about $159 million annually.

The law says the first $75 million of that money must go to the California Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant Program. The program has funded projects targeting young people in gangs, including sports programs, life coaching and tattoo removal.

The next $50 million would go to the State Department of Education to boost security at public schools. That includes things like physical security improvements, safety assessments, after-school programs for at-risk students and mental and behavioral health services for students, teachers and other school employees.

California has some of the lowest gun death rates in the country, ranking 43rd out of 50 states with 9 deaths for every 100,000 people, according to 2021 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention..."

#AP news from california on september 26 '23 #gun laws

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tridaofakemonk · 11 months

Text

Harry Hai Hoang

FAKE Monk Tri Dao

FAR FROM A VENERABLE

STEALS OTHER REALIZED MASTERS WORKS & USES AS HIS OWN - SCAM

Born Jun 1988

1200 37Th St N Apt 208, St Petersburg, FL 33713

HARRY HAI HOANG stop CONNING & SCAMMING people & using SUICIDE and MENTAL HEALTH as your scapegoat & faulty cause as a way to take ADVANTAGE of people & their hard earned money & donations.

KARMA will return to YOU full force for IMPERSONATING & disrespecting the Sangha. You are FAR from a Venerable so CUT IT OUT & KNOCK IT OFF. Stop using other realized masters works & realizations & proclaiming it as your own. YOU are a FAKE & the TRUTH will come to LIGHT. WHAT A SHAME YOUR FAMILY ALLOWS YOU TO BE A CHARLATAN & CONMAN.

727-637-3490

727-527-2235

727-492-3962

[email protected]

https://twitter.com/usmarshal215

Charges Filed Date

Mar 20, 2023

Case Number

AH6IJPE

Charges/Offenses

Charges Filed Date - Sep 27, 2017

Offense Description - Lewd Or Lascivious Battery

National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Code - 800.04(4)(B)/F

Case Type - Felony

Case Number - 15-11053-CF-1

Charges Filed Date - Sep 27, 2017

Charge Category - Arrest

Offense Description - Falsely Personating An Officer

National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Code - 843.08/F

Case Type - Felony

Case Number - 17-02724-CF-1

Charges Filed Date - Sep 27, 2017

Charge Category - Arrest

Offense Description

Possession Of Firearm During Comm/Felony#2 Falsely Personating An Officer#3 Lewd Or Lascivious Battery#4 Lewd Or Lascivious Battery National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Code - 790.07(2)/F

Case Type - Felony

Case Number - 17-02724-CF-3

Charges Filed Date - Mar 15, 2017

Charge Category

Arrest

Offense Description

Lewd Or Lascivious Battery#2 Lewd Or Lascivious Battery#3 False Personation#4 Possession Of Weapon During Comm Felony#5 Possession Of Firearm During Comm/Felony

National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Code - 800.04(4)(B)/F

Case Type - Felony

Case Number - 15-11053-CF-2

Offense Date - Jan 27, 2017

Charges Filed Date - Mar 7, 2017

Crime Location - Pinellas, FL

Charge Category

Criminal Crime Classification - F

Offense Code - 790.07(2)

Offense Description - Possession Of Firearm During The Commission Of A[ ]Felony

Comments

Defendant Spn(S): 02773574, 02201550

Grade Of Offense - FELONY SECOND DEGREE

National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Code - 790.07(2)

Case Type - Second Degree Felony

Case Number - 1702724CF

Arrest Date -Mar 7, 2017

Charges Filed Date - Oct 2, 2015

Crime Location - Pinellas, Pinellas, FL

Offense Code - 800.04(4)(B)/794.0115

Offense Description - Lewd Or Lascivious Battery

Degree Of Offense - Felony 2

Case Number - 15-11053-CF

Arrest Date - Oct 2, 2015

Charges Filed Date - Dec 12, 2007

Crime Location - Pinellas, Pinellas, FL

Offense Code - 784047 5005

Offense Description - Violation Of Inj For Protection Against Repeat Dom

National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Code - 5005 (Contempt Of Court-Remarks)

Case Number - 02773574012010

Charges Filed Date - Jul 21, 2007

Crime Location - Pinellas, Pinellas, FL

Offense Code - 87703 5311

Offense Description - Disorderly Conduct

Counts - 01

Case Number - 02773574010010

#buddhism #tridao #tri dao #fake monk #harry hoang #harry hai hoang #tiktokmonk #venerable tri dao

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mariacallous · 2 years

Text

MITROVICA, Kosovo—A Kalashnikov fires through the darkness. It’s a short staccato burst upward, north of a bridge that separates two embittered communities living in a fragile peace, more than 22 years after a brutal civil war.

The conflict ended following an unprecedented NATO military air campaign, international sanctions, and the threat of a ground invasion—all to stop the genocidal actions of Serbian nationalist leader Slobodan Milosevic’s forces in Kosovo. By October 2000, in the face of growing opposition, Milosevic resigned from office. A brittle peace and nascent independent Kosovar state then took root in the Western Balkans.

Underlying issues, however, remain unresolved. Particularly in northern Kosovo’s city of Mitrovica, where a proud Serbian minority—surrounded by ethnic Kosovar Albanians—continues to maintain close ties to Belgrade and Moscow, occasionally participating in acts of violent defiance against the ethnic Albanian-led government in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital.

Mitrovica is a city divided. It is separated by the Ibar river. Serbs live north and Albanians south, while waning Bosniak and other minority communities remain stuck in the middle. It is an area rich in natural resources but torn across ethnic, religious, and political lines that prevent them from being exploited. Its demographics also make it ripe for a proxy battle between great powers.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, things have gotten worse. Police actions from Kosovo’s special operations forces have increased, as have attacks on them—some involving hand grenades and automatic weapons. Politicians have used inflammatory rhetoric. And graffiti marks shabby streets with the symbol “Z” in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s so-called special military operation in Ukraine.

“Both sides are fucking us,” a local ethnic Serb police officer said, referring to Kosovo and Serbia, who in turn have allegiances to NATO and Moscow, during a visit to Mitrovica by Serbia’s prime minister, Ana Brnabic. As she left Belgrade, Brnabic’s convoy to Kosovo was joined by the Russian ambassador to Serbia, who was stopped at the border by Kosovo security forces and denied entry.

Brnabic’s appearance followed unrest that saw barricades erected and shots fired due to a dispute between Belgrade and Pristina over license plates, freedom of movement, and identification documents. Kosovo’s government insists that local Serbs must obtain Kosovo IDs and license plates—or they will use force to uphold the law. They will start impounding cars from April. These are obligations that the minority Serb population views as an oppressive assault on who they are.

They look like harmless abbreviations. Serbian plates read SRB, from Serbia; Kosovo’s, RKS. A small flag sometimes adorns the middle. However, the most common sight is white tape masking the letters, like a brown paper bag for a bottle of liquor on New York City streets—an unofficial shortcut to concealing a misdemeanor and avoiding trouble with the authorities.

Yet these abbreviations carry meaning. Particularly in a place where, not so long ago, mass graves were filled with the bodies of families forced to hold their infants and children in front of them before execution in an effort to save ammunition. Identity matters—and not only in Kosovo. In Israel and Palestine, Israelis and Palestinians possess different license plates, which prohibit movement and lead to greater scrutiny at checkpoints for Palestinians. In Iraq, national ID cards state the religion of the bearer, which sometimes leads to summary executions by militiamen, terrorist groups, and vigilantes.

“If we lose this [the license plate], then there is no Serbia here anymore,” said Damjan Petrovic, a local Serb who had turned out to watch the prime minister’s visit. “We will lose our identity.”

One police officer’s house was burned after he changed plates to the required ones. “Traitor,” read a comment posted on a local Serbian Facebook group. “He needs to burn along with his children.”

At the time of writing, only 13 cars had changed their license plates. Their owners have paid the price, with three of them having their properties burned—and some their cars.

“We are more determined than ever that order and law extend to every corner of the Republic of Kosovo,” Xhelal Svecla, Kosovo’s interior minister, said in a Facebook post following one of the arson attacks.

“The fact that a spat over official documentation … sparked such tensions is a testament to the fragility of the situation,” said Petrit Selimi, Kosovo’s former foreign minister.

“History in Kosovo didn’t start in 1999,” local activist Miodrag Milicevic said, referring to NATO’s intervention and the bombing of Belgrade. Milicevic is an ethnic Serb originally from Pristina. “I didn’t come here voluntarily,” he said. He now works with the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Aktiv, whose mission he describes as “strengthening civil society and facilitating progressive trends” within the community. It receives funding from various sources including the U.S. and British embassies.

The collapse of Yugoslavia, and the savage wars that followed, saw untold thousands killed and millions more displaced. In Kosovo, 8,661 ethnic Albanian civilians were killed or disappeared, as well as 1,797 Serbs and 447 Roma, Bosniaks, and other non-Albanians, according to the Humanitarian Law Center, an NGO documenting human rights abuses in the Balkans.

Civil war led to NATO’s intervention and a 78-day bombing campaign, striking targets inside Kosovo and Serbia. That act of intervention has left bitter memories among Serbs. “NATO go home!” reads the graffiti on the sidewalks of Mitrovica. Also visible is a swastika sandwiched between “US” and “EU.” Hatred of the United States still runs deep. On a visit to Mitrovica not long after the NATO intervention, I recall postcards being sold depicting a Serbian paramilitary soldier raping Mickey Mouse.

NATO’s intervention, however, earned the gratitude of ethnic Albanians. Pristina even bears streets named after Bill Clinton and Tony Blair—and numerous memorials to NATO forces.

External powers from Brussels to Beijing each have their competing interests in Kosovo. “We are a geopolitical chessboard for the EU, Russia, [and] China,” said Igor Markovic, Milivec’s colleague at Aktiv.

A local activist who wishes to remain anonymous because they live in a high-risk area said there have been reports of Chinese-manufactured facial-recognition cameras being installed in northern Kosovo. Police have carried out operations taking down surveillance cameras in the past, which, they said, are tied to foreign governments.

Serbs in northern Kosovo have long seen Moscow as a protector. They share faith, ethnic roots, cultural ties, and disdain of U.S.-led hegemony. However, the Kosovo government has in the past occasionally declared staff of the Russian official representative office in Pristina “persona non grata,” removing their diplomatic immunity. The most recent case occurred in December 2021, when a Russian U.N. diplomat was expelled for “harmful activity,” according to Kosovo’s foreign minister. Two other Russian diplomats were kicked out that October.

During the same period, Russian-Serbian ties strengthened. And, last month, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, and Nikola Selakovic, then Serbia’s foreign minister, signed a document dubbed a “plan on consultations,” much to the chagrin of Brussels and the White House, prompting the U.S. ambassador to Serbia, Christopher Hill, to say, “The United States would like to hear some clarification of what this agreement or what this protocol really was.”

“To be frank, nobody should be signing anything with Russia right now,” Hill said.

The Serbia-Russia agreement was “a very clear sign about their intention to strengthen their ties,” said Peter Stano, the lead spokesperson for external affairs of the EU, who noted that the new Russian-Serbian consultation document had been signed just days after Moscow announced a mobilization for the war with Ukraine and began to stage sham referendums for the territory it had captured.

Yet with Russia at war, rhetoric, actions, and provocations have accelerated in Mitrovica. This summer, when Pristina announced its implementation of the license plate regulations, barricades were erected as air raid sirens sounded. Videos circulating on Kosovo media seemingly showed Serbian paramilitary groups handing out weapons. In recent months, a new group seemingly representing Serbs in Kosovo, called the Northern Brigade, has made its presence known in Mitrovica.

“Don’t worry!” their stencils read. “We are here! Waiting!”

Asked, “Who is the Northern Brigade?” Markovic, who himself has Russian roots, shrugged and smiled. “We have many groups,” he said.

The Albanian newspaper Albanian Post reported that European intelligence officials said the Northern Brigade number around 300 well-armed paramilitaries, some of them foreign nationals.

Moscow has long been accused of having links to Serbian paramilitaries, and, when Russia invaded Ukraine, the first rally in support of Russia was held in Belgrade in March.

“Crimea is Russia; Kosovo is Serbia,” crowds chanted. The same slogan is emblazoned on the walls of Mitrovica.

“Serbia has cultivated for years, even decades, various groups operating in between the paramilitary world and organized crime, and even sports hooliganism. These seem to belong to that spectrum of troublemaker,” Selimi, Kosovo’s former foreign minister, said, referring to the Northern Brigade.

Concern also surrounds the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Center in Nis, Serbia, close to Mitrovica and the Kosovo border. “There are, of course, allegations that it is being used as a local spy center. … My feeling is that by demanding diplomatic status for its staff (so far denied by Serbia), Russia is playing a symbolic game with the West and simultaneously putting pressure on Belgrade,” said Srdjan Cvijic, a Serbian political scientist.

The U.S. and other Western governments have alleged that the center is a base for Russian espionage. The request by Russia for diplomatic immunity for its staff “betrays the real purpose of the center,” Selimi said. Recently, the Kosovo government reported that operatives form the center have been illegally crossing into northern Kosovo from Nis.

Asked whether foreign agents were acting on Kosovo soil, Emilija Redzepi, a deputy prime minister for Kosovo, held her breath and waited before saying, “We must be very careful.”

NATO has increased troop numbers in Kosovo for what a NATO official described as “training activities to maintain their high level of readiness and contribute to the preservation of a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all the people in Kosovo.”

The deployment is said to be temporary; however, jobs are being advertised to hire Kosovars on military bases, including cooks, carpenters, and construction workers, which may indicate a longer-term commitment by NATO amid rising tensions. A NATO force would likely be accepted by Serbia, Cvijic said, because ethnic Serbs view Kosovo police, particularly special operations forces, with fear.

According to Labinot Hoxha, a former Kosovo diplomat now in Brussels, “Europe is facing a long, hard, cold, polluted winter” as it struggles to find alternative energy sources and the global economy faces another potential recession. This crisis could spell an opportunity for Kosovo, however, which has coal. The once-vast Obilic power complex, fueled with coal from mines around Mitrovica, supplied electrical power to Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, and what is now North Macedonia.

Redzepi has been speaking with several international companies about extracting and exporting Kosovo’s energy resources.

Kosovo’s story is not just one of Serbs and Albanians, but also Bosniaks, Croats, Gorani, Ashkali, and others. Speaking in a cafe in Mitrovica, leaders of the local Bosniak community said they felt trapped between Pristina and Belgrade.

“We’re between the fires, and we don’t know who will burn us,” said Nurmina Mulic, a civil activist.

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steelbluehome · 2 months

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Forbes

What Is Agenda 47? What To Know About Trump’s Policy Agenda If Elected As He Speaks At RNC.

(Excerpts from full article)

Education: Trump’s proposals for K-12 schools include having parents elect school principals, cutting federal funding to any school teaching “critical race theory,” ending teacher tenure, creating a new credentialing body to only certify teachers “who embrace patriotic values,” encouraging prayer in schools, making it easier to kick “out-of-control troublemakers” out of school, supporting school districts that allow teachers to carry concealed firearms and pushing “school choice” policies.

Universities: Trump has proposed getting rid of existing accreditors for colleges and universities and creating new ones who impose his party’s values on institutions, along with levying significant fines on colleges and universities that he believes “discriminate” against students—with a plan to use those fines to create a free online “American Academy” that “cover[s] the full spectrum of human knowledge and skills.”

Climate Change: The U.S. would again leave the Paris Climate Accord, and the ex-president has proposed getting rid of President Joe Biden’s policies restricting emissions . . . and massively scaling up oil and gas production.

Justice Department: Trump has pledged to appoint 100 U.S. attorneys who would be aligned with his policies and investigate some left-leaning local district attorneys, also pledging to establish a DOJ task force on “protecting the right to self-defense” and fight purported anti-conservative bias at law schools and law firms.

Crime: Trump has vowed to invest in hiring and retaining police officers (and increase their protections from legal liability), push policies like “stop and frisk,” direct the DOJ “to dismantle every gang, street crew, and drug network in America,” deploy federal troops including the National Guard “to restore law and order” when local officers “refuse to act” and impose the death penalty for drug dealers, drug cartels and human traffickers.

Immigration. . . reinstitute a “travel ban” from certain countries, pause refugee admissions, mandate “extreme vetting of foreign nationals,” block federal grants to sanctuary cities, end the “catch-and-release” practice of releasing migrants while they await immigration hearings, close the southern border to asylum seekers and suspend visa programs including the visa lottery and family visas.

Economy: Trump proposes cutting taxes and slashing federal regulations, also proposing baseline tariffs on foreign goods in hopes of spurring American manufacturing, which will go up for countries who have “unfair trade practices.”

Healthcare: Trump has proposed requiring federal agencies to buy medicines and medical devices manufactured in the U.S. and barring federal agencies from other countries from purchasing “essential” drugs; he also has plans for an executive order saying the government will only pay pharmaceutical companies the “best price they offer to foreign nations.”

Foreign Policy and Defense: Trump wants European allies to pay back the U.S. for depleting its military stockpiles sending weapons to Ukraine; he has also taken a hardline stance on China, calling for new restrictions on Chinese-owned infrastructure in the U.S., and wants to build a missile defense shield.

Social Security: In a shift from some pre-Trump GOP politicians’ views, Trump has said there should be no cuts to Social Security or Medicare “under any circumstances.”

Homelessness: Trump plans to work with states to ban “public camping” by homeless people and instead give them the choice of receiving treatment or being arrested, and calls for creating large “tent cities” where homeless people would be relocated, which would have doctors and social workers on site, along with expanding mental institutions.

Transgender Rights: Trump takes a hard stance against transgender rights, calling for any healthcare provider providing gender-affirming care for youth to be terminated from Medicare and Medicaid, stripping federal funding from any school where an official or teacher suggests a child could be “trapped in the wrong body,” and encouraging Congress to pass legislation saying “the only genders recognized by the U.S. government are male and female—and they are assigned at birth.”

Big Tech: In line with conservatives’ claims that social media platforms are biased against them, Trump said he’ll pass an executive order barring any federal department from working with other entities to “censor” Americans and prohibit federal money being used to combat misinformation, also announcing steps like altering Section 230 to open up social media platforms to more legal liability.

Is this the America you want to live in?

Vote blue no matter who!

Vote a straight ticket democrat!

Do you think none of this will affect you? I assure you, it will!

For just one example, your mortgage le Der can decide it wants you to pay ALL of the mortgage you owe in 30 days. You can't? Guess what, you are now homeless and forcibly re-located to a tent city. There you can agree to "treatment" or be arrested. How long will your sentence be? What will happen to your children or pets? What about your job? Will homeless people be allowed to vote? (Unlikely)

Will all of your assets be taken and sold to pay your "debt"?

Will this lead to "poor houses" and "work houses". If homelessness is a crime, it would seem to follow that poverty is also a crime.

And this is only ONE way I which these new policies could affect you.

#vote #usa politics #vote blue no matter who #sorry this.is so long but it needed to be

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reasoningdaily · 3 months

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Hook Sharp and Ready fi wuk

Read This and find out why I am Holding a Legal Garden Tool that can be used for many purposes and IS NOT ON THE BAN LIST

THIS BTW IS a family heirloom used still to cut cane and bush today

It’s now illegal to have these weapons in your home

Sarah McGee

As of yesterday (14 July), it is now illegal to possess certain dangerous weapons- even in your own home.

The aim of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 is to bring in tough new measures that strengthen law enforcement’s response to violent crime.

It was already illegal to possess a knife or offensive weapon in public, but the Offensive Weapons Act makes it unlawful to possess certain rapid firing rifles, specific types of knives and other offensive weapons in private.

Some weapons covered in the ban include knuckledusters, zombie knives and death star knives.

Anyone unlawfully possessing a firearm covered by the ban will face up to 10 years in prison, and anyone who owns another weapon covered could face up to six months behind bars and a fine.

Soon, further parts of the act will come into play and you have to verify you are over 18 to buy bladed items from the internet.

You won’t be able to have bladed items delivered to a locker or other automated pick up point.

Items will be clearly labelled as bladed articles, and those delivering the items may ask you for proof of age.

National Police Chiefs' Council lead on knife crime, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Graham McNulty, said: “The harm caused to families and communities through the tragic loss of life relating to knife crime is devastating and that is why focusing on this issue remains a top priority for policing.

“We welcome the changes to legislation being introduced by the Offensive Weapons Act.

"These measures will help officers to take dangerous weapons off the streets, deal with those intent on using them to cause harm and suffering, and crucially, make it more difficult for young people to get hold of knives and other dangerous items in the first place.

“Knife crime is not something that can be solved by policing alone. We are working with businesses, schools, charities and community schemes to educate young people and explain why carrying a knife is never the right choice.

"This early intervention plays a vitally important role in stopping young people from turning to a life of crime.”

Which weapons can you no longer possess?

Section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 provides that it is an offence to manufacture, sell or hire, offer for sale or hire, expose or have in his possession for the purpose of sale or hire of or lending or giving to any other person certain specified weapons.

Here is a full list:

A knuckleduster, that is, a band of metal or other hard material worn on one or more fingers, and designed to cause injury, and any weapon incorporating a knuckleduster.

A swordstick, that is, a hollow walking-stick or cane containing a blade which may be used as a sword.

‘Handclaw’- being a band of metal or other hard material from which a number of sharp spikes protrude, and worn around the hand.

‘Belt buckle knife’- being a buckle, which incorporates or conceals a knife.

‘Push dagger’, being a knife, the handle of which fits within a clenched fist and the blade of which protrudes from between two fingers.

‘Hollow kubotan’, being a cylindrical container containing a number of sharp spikes.

‘Footclaw’, being a bar of metal or other hard material from which a number of sharp spikes protrude, and worn strapped to the foot.

‘Shuriken’, ‘shaken’ or ‘death star’, being a hard, non-flexible plate having three or more sharp radiating points and designed to be thrown.

‘Balisong’ or ‘butterfly knife’, being a blade enclosed by its handle, which is designed to split down the middle, without the operation of a spring or other mechanical means, to reveal the blade.

‘Telescopic truncheon’, being a truncheon which extends automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in or attached to its handle.

‘Blowpipe’ or ‘blow gun’, being a hollow tube out of which hard pellets or darts are shot by the use of breath.

‘Kusari gama’, being a length of rope, cord, wire or chain fastened at one end to a sickle.

‘Kyoketsu shoge’, being a length of rope, cord, wire or chain fastened at one end to a hooked knife.

‘Manrikigusari’ or ‘kusari’, being a length of rope, cord, wire or chain fastened at each end to a hard weight or hand grip.

A disguised knife, that is any knife which has a concealed blade or concealed sharp point and is designed to appear to be an everyday object of a kind commonly carried on the person or in a handbag, briefcase, or other hand luggage.

A stealth knife, that is a knife or spike, which has a blade, or sharp point, made from a material that is not readily detectable by apparatus used for detecting metal and which is not designed for domestic use or for use in the processing, preparation or consumption of food or as a toy.

A straight, side-handled or friction-lock truncheon (sometimes known as a baton).

A sword with a curved blade of 50 centimetres or over in length; and for the purposes of this sub-paragraph, the length of the blade shall be the straight line distance from the top of the handle to the tip of the blade.

“Zombie knife”, “zombie killer knife” or “zombie slayer knife”, being a blade with — (i) a cutting edge; (ii) a serrated edge; and (iii) images or words (whether on the blade or handle) that suggest that it is to be used for the purpose of violence.

“Cyclone knife” or “spiral knife”, being a weapon with — (i) a handle; (ii) a blade with two or more cutting edges, each of which forms a helix; and (ii) a sharp point at the end of the blade

#Sharp and Ready for work #machete #cane cutter #ghanian machette #ausetkmt

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