#record stores st petersburg

[justforbooks]

The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad by Simon Parkin

This fascinating history of Nikolai Vavilov and the staff at his plant institute tells a story of almost unbelievable self-sacrifice while under siege during the second world war

Is there any human endeavour as heroic or under-appreciated as plant collecting? When in 1921, at the age of 33, Nikolai Vavilov arrived in Petrograd (now St Petersburg) to take charge of the bureau of applied botany and plant breeding, he found a city racked by hunger. War followed by civil conflict had crippled Russia’s food production and distribution systems – a situation compounded by the seizure of peasants’ grain stores by the Bolsheviks – and Petrograd, once the cradle of the Russian empire, had been transformed into a graveyard. Walking along Nevsky Prospekt, Vavilov was appalled to see starving citizens queueing for mouldy bread. “Westward the sun is dropping,” observed the poet Anna Akhmatova, “and already death is chalking the doors with crosses.”

On entering the bureau, Vavilov was even more dismayed to find the heating pipes had burst and the storage units containing nearly 14,000 varieties of wheat, barley, oat and rye collected by his predecessor had been eaten by famished staff. It was, recorded a member of Vavilov’s team, “a picture of almost complete destruction”.

Yet by 1940, Vavilov had secured new premises in a former tsarist palace in the centre of the city and had amassed the largest collection of seeds in the world. It was a collection brimming with “latent life”, writes Simon Parkin in his riveting account of Vavilov’s plant institute, “a Noah’s Ark of plant matter”. Once cultivated and harvested, the seeds contained sufficient genetic material to feed not only the citizens of Leningrad, as the city had been renamed following Lenin’s death in 1924, but the entire population of the Soviet Union. In the process, Vavilov, a tireless polyglot, would become the most celebrated botanist in the world, feted by scientists from Edinburgh to New York. All the more extraordinary, then, that today he is all but forgotten, a victim of the Soviet state’s desire to erase memories of the siege and the millions who perished in the Nazi onslaught.

Karl Marx wrote that “history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce”. The tragedy is that having amassed a collection with the potential to banish famine, Vavilov was arrested on the eve of war and branded “an enemy of the people”. In this, he appears to have been a victim of a bitter struggle with the peasant-agronomist Trofim Lysenko, who had rejected Mendelian genetics for Lamarckism – the idea that plants and other organisms acquire superior traits from their environments rather than from inherited genetic material. Lysenko believed that through a combination of agronomical knowhow and political will, these traits could be passed down to future generations – a theory that Stalin found appealing.

The result was that when in July 1941, the Soviet authorities began fortifying Leningrad in preparation for the German siege and evacuated precious artworks from the Hermitage, Vavilov’s collection was ignored, though whether this was deliberate or a bureaucratic oversight, Parkin cannot say. What he shows, brilliantly, is how the farce of the seeds’ non-evacuation nearly ended in a second tragedy as Vavilov’s colleagues fought to preserve the collection from raids by starving citizens and their own gnawing hunger. Incredibly, of the 250,000 seeds that Vavilov had amassed at the outbreak of war, the majority survived and by 1967, 100m acres of Russian agricultural land had been planted with material from the institute’s collection. Not only that, but wheat collected by Vavilov in Spain, Japan, Italy and Argentina was crossbred to create high-yielding winter varieties, while potatoes from Bolivia were used to breed hybrids resistant to disease. Today, 90% of the seeds and planted crops in the institute’s collection are found in no other in the world.

Writing in 1737, Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy, observed: “When I consider the melancholy fate of so many of botany’s votaries, I am tempted to ask whether men are in their right mind who so desperately risk life and everything else through the love of collecting’ plants.” Imprisoned for the duration of the war, Vavilov would never return to his beloved institute and died of hunger in 1943 at a prison in western Russia. Afterwards, ashamed of their persecution of the world-renowned botanist, the authorities destroyed Vavilov’s case file and did their best to discourage journalists from writing about his achievements. The result was that it was not until the late 1970s that Vavilov’s story and the fate of his employees became more widely known. Even so, Parkin’s is the first book to have been published on the subject outside Russia.

To recreate the story, the author has drawn on the institute’s archives and the diaries and letters of the two-dozen staff to whom it fell to guard the collection during the near-900-day siege, one of the longest of any city in history. In the process, he restores Vavilov and his scientific colleagues to their rightful places in the pantheon of Soviet heroes. But perhaps Parkin’s biggest achievement is to explain how the botanists who sat out the siege resisted the temptation to consume the collection. Instead, he details how they defended the seed bank from looters and braved German bombs to plant potatoes at a field station on the perimeter of the city, thereby ensuring they would produce new tubers that could be stored and preserved for the following year.

In the process, 19 staff died, most of them of starvation while surrounded by containers that could have saved their lives. In this they were guided by the conviction that many of the samples were irreplaceable because of the loss of natural habitats from which they had been collected and that they could contain unrecognised genetic qualities. Their resolve was also a product of their loyalty to Vavilov and their belief in the importance of the scientific endeavour. As one survivor told Parkin: “It was impossible to eat [the collection], for what was involved was the cause of your life, the cause of your comrades’ lives.” Astonishingly, this resolve held despite an explicit order from Moscow to “spare nothing” to save the lives of their fellow citizens.

Although Parkin has done a remarkable job of resurrecting the story of this “forbidden garden”, he admits to frustration that his efforts “could not transport me to the white-hot centre of the story”. It is a frustration this reader shares. Despite a wealth of information about the siege, the thoughts, feelings and cravings of Vavilov’s staff remain tantalisingly out of reach. Instead, Parkin ends on a deflationary note, admitting he has no answer to the question of whether in opting to sacrifice the lives of people in the present for the benefit of future generations, the botanists made the correct moral choice.

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[ouroboros-hideout]

WIP WHENEVER

@chevvy-yates tagged me for this. Thank you a lot 💚

This will be a huge wall of text aswell, since I am not really of the „visual“ side of creating atm.

Writing // Worldbuilding

I'm still writing the next two chapters for my fanfiction, but would rather briefly introduce my other OCs here (yes, Aon isn´t the only one by now). Maybe I can create all of them ingame at some point, depending on how stupid I´ll act with modding etc. when I start. Since things can change quickly in the story while I'm writing, I wouldn't say that everything is 100% set in stone, a lot of it isn't finished yet. But it's a good base. Most of them appear in my „Like Napalm“ fic. Some of them will be in my main GARMR fic aswell. So prepare for half backed character data entries and some rambling.

Gan

Gan Tomobataar, or Iron as he is usually called, is a mysterious man. Many stories surround the Mongolian giant and it always depends on who asks him whether he affirms or denies these tales. It is therefore uncertain which of them are true or fictional and he really enjoys keeping his past in the dark. He is said to have served in an elite military unit. The metal teeth that earned him his iconic nickname are said to have been lost in numerous boxing matches as he tried to turn pro to make a better life for himself and his family, and he is allegedly a descendant of Ginghis Khan (which is probably one of his favorite rumors). One can assume that his closest confidants have more clarity, but none of them would dare say a word about it. Undeniably true is that he has two brothers, of whom he is the second-born. Together with them, he leads one of the largest nomadic clans in eastern Europe and Asia. The Tomobataar nomads are divided into three large families, each led by one of the three brothers. Iron's family stays mainly in Mongolia and Russia, but he would also travel to more distant parts of the Soviet Union for profitable contracts. He doesn't have many vices, but one of them is definitely greed.

By sheer luck, at least that's what he claimed, he picked up Aon on the street when she was trying to flee Moscow on her own. He promised to protect her from the Secret Police and other bounty hunters if she proved to be a useful member of his clan. However, his methods for testing her worth would put the young woman to the test.

Yakov

Yakov always had problems finding his place in the world. He grew up in St. Petersburg, studying or an education other than working in his father's car repair shop were never an option financially, but the young man always yearned for something greater than being stuck in the alleys and streets of his childhood. He decided to join the military when he was old enough, but was discharged immediately after basic training for insubordination and general unsuitability. What remained for him was to work in his father's garage until he died after a long illness. Yakov tried to keep the store running on his own for a while, but he found it difficult to do good business without proper management and eventually had to sell the store. This was followed by a relatively dark period. He saw himself as a failure, was unable to find a new job and drank away the money he had received for the workshop in the bars in his neighborhood. One evening, a man came into his local pub. His car had broken down outside, he wouldn't get any further that night and kept him company for a few hours. The next day, Yakov repaired his car for the man called Gan and left the town with him to live with the Tomobataar nomads.

Gregori

Gregori's mother, a singer from New York, came to the Russian capital for a gig and met a military officer there. The two got together and the result was little Greg. Shortly afterwards, however, the couple fell apart and she took her son back to America, where he spent most of his childhood and youth being raised by babysitters and nannies, while the singer preferred to spend her time on tour or in the recording studio. Gregori at least inherited much of her creativity, starting to make music himself at an early age and drawing a lot. Just what small children do when they need to keep themselves busy.

When he was 16 years old, his mother died of an overdose. As she never bothered to write down a testament or anything similar, her entire fortune goes to her greedy manager, who leaves Gregori penniless.

The boy, who has spent his whole life sheltered without much contact with the outside world, is left with nothing and doesn't know exactly what to do. So he scrapes together the last of his money and buys a ticket to Moscow, where he tries to find his father, but in vain. He quickly goes off the rails, barely speaks a word of Russian, is recruited by a gang and gets exploited. An arms deal with a group of nomads goes wrong, a shootout ensues and Gegori is the only one left of the gang because he hides instead of fighting. Yakov, who was on the other side of the deal, takes pity on him and eventually takes him to his new family where he tries to find his place within the group.

Anna

Anna grew up with the Tomobataar nomads from an early age. Her parents were killed in a botched mission when she was just four years old. Iron, who in a way blamed himself for this, took on a guardianship for her and looked after the little girl like the apple of his eye. As the years passed and Anna grew older, the relationship between her and her foster father changed. He became increasingly demanding, punished misbehavior and put the still young girl under pressure. Aon, who had already earned her place in the clan by this time, could not tolerate this behavior as she herself had grown up under similar circumstances. No one else in the clan interfered with Iron's "parenting methods", which is why she ended up doing it. Anna and Aon then became inseparable and she naturally followed her later when they left the clan along with many others.

Anatoly

Anatoly, or Tolik as Aon calls him, belongs to the Russian working class in Moscow and cannot claim to own much. As a boy, he dreamed of studying mechanical engineering in order to open his own workshop or business. A dream that his father would never have been able to afford in this life. So after school, Tolik started working at his father's scrap yard on the outskirts of Moscow, not an easy job. He regularly drives into the city to pick up old components and scrap metal from SovOil and other big corporations, where he meets Alyona one day. The two strike up a conversation, exchange banter and hit it off straight away, which over time develops into a teenage love story. Aon spends a lot of time with him at the scrapyard, where she can test and improve her skills on old machines and has a place to hide from her hated stepfather. He, in return, benefits from the knowledge she brings with her from university, and his dream of building his own big thing soon becomes her dream too. Together they consider leaving the city at some point and make plans for the future

unnamed_chromed_up_terrifying_SovOil_Secret_Police_agent

Yea well, I don't know yet how to call him. After Aon has fled Moscow, the officers of the normal police force give up the search for her, as it theoretically no longer falls within their area of responsibility. However, since Kristof claims that Aon stole the data he wanted to sell to Petrochem, SovOil is naturally very interested in finding her and the data chip. So they send a Secret Police agent after her, who, together with a small unit, tries to track her down. He actually already had a kind of "Easter Egg" appearance in my other AU. He would have been the agent sitting next to Kurt if he hadn't switched the cards on the table. Funny how differently things can go. Anyway, he doesn't really have much of a backstory other than he used to work for the KGB and is a bloodthirsty hound dog who chases Aon halfway across the country (spoiler: and finds her). If I were to compare him to another character from movies etc, he would probably have the closest vibe to Hans Landa from Inglourious Basterds. The character was very well written, even though I would probably make my namesless_pig a bit younger than him. But since he'll be pumped full of cyberware anyway, it probably doesn't matter much in the end. It's just supposed to be a fucking horrible character and Aon's nightmare.

Robert Walker

Robert is one of the key-characters in my main fanfiction. I haven't thought about him in depth yet, but the general concept is there. He's a British journalist and photographer who wanted to go high by exposing wrongdoings in society. For him, there is nothing more exciting than achieving "fame and notoriety" as a whistleblower. He's not necessarily stupid or doesn't know what he's doing, he's just unlucky. He gets into trouble with the wrong people and upsets the even worse ones, which is why he has to flee the UK and ends up in NC. There he tries to start over and stay out of trouble. However, he soon develops an "unhealthy" obsession with Kurt Hansen. He is incredibly fascinated by him and spends every free minute in Dogtown so that he can perhaps take a photo (or two, or ten) of his idol. At some point, he goes so far as to seek direct contact and wants to interview him. Kurt is flattered at first, but has little desire to reveal information about himself in some strange blog or gossip magazine. But that didn't stop Robert from continuing to stalk him and even trying to become a member of Barghest. At some point, Hansen got too pissed off and gave him the choice of leaving Dogtown or catching a bullet. Robbie chose the second option. After all, he hadn't forbid him to camp outside the gates of Dogtown, had he?

Technically I could tell something about Aon´s mom and her stepfather too, but I don´t have that much yet. So will keep em for the next WIP together with the other OCs for my main fic. There will be three more. A general, a corpo guy and the last is still up for discussion with my brain. Considering somekind of warlord or a netrunner.

Art

I tried to do something different than a full rendered piece of artwork. I am not yet confinced that I like it. I like, that it was finished really fast lmao but...I dunno.

Aon and Tolik - 2055

But happy that Aon is actually recognizable in the end. During the process she looked so much like So Mi at a point that my brain went: WHO ARE YOU GIRL. But I like the long hair. Will give it back to her in her 2078+ appearance. Not exactly like this, but longer than her normal style.

Not quite sure about Anatoly tho. I mean, he looks like this in my head, but I will reconsidere if he will get some cyberarms. He is poor like a mouse, so probably can´t afford expensive tech like this, but he feels kind of „empty“ without anything.

Congrats and huge thanks if you read this far. Brainrot stronk!

Tagging some ppl aswell. Everyone else is invited too to show off some awesome stuff ofc, no pressure as always!

@blackrevell @olath124 @cyberholic77 @cybervesna @pinkyjulien @theviridianbunny @therealnightcity @wanderingaldecaldo @miss--river @barghestapologist @kdval @streetkid-named-desire @aggravateddurian @androgymess

[sovietpostcards]

I love seeing everything you share, it's such a great glimpse into the past. But I see some things for sale too, and it's made me wonder, do you mostly collect for yourself, or to sell onwards to others to spread the joy? Or is your home like an amazing museum of the Russian/Soviet past? And what's your favourite thing that you've ever stumbled across?

(If those questions are too personal, no offense meant. Thanks for this blog though, it's one of my favs!)

Thank you for the question! :D Always nice to talk about one's obsessions. So, this blog intitially started many years ago as a way to show off my collection of Soviet New Year postcards. A few years later I tried to sell some of my excess postcards and to my surprise, people actually bought them! In 2014-2022 I did the Etsy shop full time. I realized something about myself along the way. While I adore vintage things and I enjoy touching them and looking at them and researching them, I do not need to own them indefinitely. So this shop thing is perfect for me because it gives me a chance to have so many different things and hold them and cherish them, and then I sell them and make money and room to have other things.

So, ever since the 2014, I was only buying things to sell them (and to hold and enjoy them in the process). I do of course sometimes keep things for myself, but probably fewer than you imagine. Some of the things I kept are a vintage Earth globe, a small table, a crystal vase, a bunch of kitchen stuff like cups and bowls and cutlery, a bunch of photography books, a few pins, some towels and linens, and many records and Christmas tree ornaments!

Some of the most memorable things I've come across are this huge wooden cutout of Lenin (sourced from a local school, donated to a local museum), a large and heavy folder of Andrei Sokolov space art prints (sold to the US during the pandemic and nearly gave me a heart attack with how long it travelled), this cartonage cosmonaut ornament (bought at a thrift store in St Petersburg, super expensive, but I've never seen another one), a Yuri Gagarin souvenir plate, a whole bunch of stationery (I love writing letters, I gave some of them to my penpals). The memorability, for me, is often about the process of finding it, not the item itself. Or having it - like the time I put a bunch of flags on the clothesline outside to take a picture. Neighbourhood grandmas sure were surprised. :)

[offender42085]

Post 0631

Jabe Ira Carney, Florida inmate S15074, born 1983, incarceration intake in April 2008, at age 24, scheduled for release December 2024

Manslaughter, Driving with invalid operators License, Fleeing LEO, Reisting LEO, Possession of Heroin

Jabe Ira Carney has the name of his buddy tattooed on his arm, a permanent reminder of the man killed when Carney lost control of a vehicle in a drunken-driving crash on Interstate 275.

Carney and Jason Michael Gibson were in residential drug rehabilitation in St. Petersburg when they left to go drinking in Manatee County in February 2006. Carney, and a passenger survived the roll-over crash. Gibson died at the scene.

At trial in March 2008, Carney's attorneys tried to convince jurors that Carney was not behind the wheel at the time of the crash. The jury deliberated for nearly six hours. Carney was found guilty of DUI manslaughter.

Carney was sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes that included DUI manslaughter and fleeing to elude a law enforcement officer. His driver's license will be revoked for the rest of his life. Prosecutors pushed for severe punishment, hoping a long stint behind bars would serve as a deterrent.

Carney's friends and family, including his mother, urged Circuit Judge Janette C. Dunnigan to find compassion and not put Carney away for decades.

Defense attorney Jeffrey C. Young of Sarasota asked Dunnigan to sentence Carney to the bottom of a range of prison sentences -- about 12 years. Young noted that the victim also had been drinking.

The friends and family of Carney explored the tension between rehabilitation and punishment. Locking Carney up for a long time, the supporters said, does nothing to help him solve the drug and alcohol addiction that landed him in jail.

A store surveillance camera recorded Carney getting into the driver's seat hours before the wreck on I-275 north of Palmetto. Carney's blood-alcohol level was 0.111 percent -- above the threshold at which Florida motorists are considered impaired.

"I really messed up this time," Carney reportedly told the Florida Highway Patrol.

Last year, Carney ignored a court order to appear for trial on the manslaughter charge. Carney was arrested after a police chase on Interstate 75. He was in possession of heroin.

Carney said he was trying to evade capture because he was wanted for skipping trial.

Dunnigan found little sympathy for Carney, who was also convicted on a felony-level charge of driving with a suspended license.

3g

Last reviewed November 2024

[newstfionline]

Saturday, October 12, 2024

Florida counts cost of Hurricane Milton (Reuters) Florida on Friday was clearing downed trees and power lines and mopping up flooded neighborhoods after Hurricane Milton roared through leaving at least 16 people dead. While Milton did not trigger the catastrophic surge of seawater that was feared in Florida, the clean-up operation could take many weeks or months for some people. "It opens your eyes to what Mother Nature can do," said Chase Pierce, 25 of west St. Petersburg, who, with his girlfriend, saw transformers blow up, sparks fly and a power line fall in the back yard. The fifth-most-intense Atlantic hurricane on record, Milton could cost insurers alone up to $100 billion, analysts say.

The staggering price you’re paying for America’s nuclear makeover (NYT) The U.S. military says America’s nuclear arsenal is outdated and unable to keep up with our adversaries’ modern weapons. To replace it, the country is in the midst of a once-in-a-generation overhaul that could exceed $1.7 trillion. The spending spree, which the government began planning in 2010, is underway in at least 23 states—nearly 50 if you include subcontractors. Along with 12 new nuclear subs, the military is paying for a new fleet of bomber jets, land-based missiles and thermonuclear warheads. Tally all that spending, and the bill comes to almost $57 billion a year, or $108,000 per minute for three decades. If you don’t live where the submarines are welded or the missile silos are dug, there’s a good chance you wouldn’t know it’s happening. But each day, more than 110,000 scientists, military personnel and private contractors with high-level security clearances are scanning into facilities, putting on safety gear and piecing together a modern arsenal for a volatile new nuclear age. The money is already flowing, assembling weapons everyone hopes will never be used.

Pandering for votes (Bloomberg) Pandering for votes is standard practice in election campaigns. But the tax-policy proposals on offer during this presidential contest are setting new standards for shamelessness. The purest example of this bipartisan trait is a plan to exempt tips from income tax. Donald Trump raised the idea in June, then Kamala Harris joined him when she entered the race. Both made their pitch in Nevada, a battleground state, where about 5% of workers get some income from tips (the national average is 2%). President Joe Biden won there by 34,000 votes in 2020, so winning over some of its 350,000 hospitality workers could make the difference. Setting the electoral arithmetic aside, the idea makes no sense. Tipped workers are usually low-paid. Many would get little or no benefit because their earnings fall below IRS thresholds for tax liability. Trump also says he would end US income taxes on Americans living in other countries (though of course he can’t do that on his own since Congress would have to pass a law).

One killed as protests over high cost of living in Martinique turn violent (AP) Protests over the high cost of living in the French Caribbean island of Martinique turned violent late Wednesday, with at least one person killed as demonstrators set fire to a police station, cars and road barricades as they clashed with officers. It was one of the most violent nights yet since protests began more than a month ago, with the government issuing a statement asserting that no police officers used their weapons and that the killing was under investigation. Videos posted on social media showed protesters looting grocery stores and other businesses as they threw rocks and bottles at police, who responded with tear gas.

Migration through Darien Gap increased in September, led by Venezuelans after the election (AP) The number of migrants crossing the Darien Gap—a rugged jungle passage between Colombia and Panama—increased sharply in September, according to Panamanian government data. Venezuelans have led mass migration through the Darien since 2022, and make up much of the increase since that country’s recent controversial presidential election. More than half a million migrants, a record number, crossed the Darien in 2023. More than 65% of them were Venezuelan.

France plans to tax big business and the rich, while slashing public spending (Politico) France’s new government is laser-focused on budget cuts. Michel Barnier’s government published draft legislation last night outlining its plans to address France’s “colossal” debt issue. The main points? First, €19.4 billion in tax increases, with a focus on “exceptional” taxes on “the profits of large companies” and tax hikes on the “wealthiest” French households. Second, the spending cuts—totaling €41.3 billion overall—will cut 2,200 government jobs, shrink France’s foreign aid budget, and eliminate various tax credits. The new budget will hopefully help the country work its way out of the E.U. excessive deficit procedure it’s currently facing. Because of the Barnier government’s precarious situation—it’s made up of a patchwork coalition of centrists and right-wingers—the government might need to invoke a constitutional mechanism to get the budget passed. That maneuver would allow the government to shove through the budget without even a vote from Parliament unless lawmakers are able to scrape together a vote of no confidence within 48 hours. Maybe we’ll see another new French government sooner than expected.

September Was Deadly Month for Russian Troops in Ukraine, U.S. Says (NYT) September was the bloodiest month of the war for Russian forces in Ukraine, U.S. officials said, with the costly offensive in the east bringing the number of Russia’s dead and wounded to more than 600,000 troops since the war started. U.S. officials attribute the high number of Russian casualties to what they describe as a grinding war of attrition, with each side trying to exhaust the other by inflicting maximum losses, hoping to break the enemy’s capacity and will to continue. Russian troops have made steady but incremental gains in recent months in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, U.S. officials said. It is a style of warfare that Russians have likened to being put into a meat grinder, with commanding officers seemingly willing to send many thousands of infantry soldiers to die. According to U.S. assessments, Russian casualties in the war so far number as many as 615,000—115,000 Russians killed and 500,000 wounded. Ukrainian officials have zealously guarded their casualty figures, even from the Americans, but a U.S. official estimated that Ukraine had suffered a bit more than half of Russia’s casualties, or more than 57,500 killed and 250,000 wounded.

Airstrikes in Beirut Kill at Least 22 and Level a Building, Lebanese Officials Say (NYT) Israeli airstrikes hit two buildings in a densely populated area of central Beirut on Thursday, Lebanon said, in what appeared to be the deadliest attack in the Lebanese capital in more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The strikes killed at least 22 people and wounded at least 117 others, Lebanese officials said. Lebanon’s state-run news agency reported that one of the strikes had targeted an eight-story building in the Ras el-Nabaa neighborhood, while the other had leveled a four-story building in the Basta neighborhood. Videos verified by The New York Times showed that the building in Basta had been destroyed and adjacent buildings had been damaged. Two plumes of thick, acrid smoke could be seen rising above the city skyline. The strikes came hours after United Nations officials said that Israeli forces had fired on U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, wounding two and touching off international criticism of the Israeli military’s offensive against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group.

Israel steps up its battles with the United Nations (Washington Post) Israel firing on UN peacekeepers is only the latest flash point between Israel and the world’s most important international organization. A General Assembly resolution last month called on Israel to dismantle illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a withdrawal that would be unthinkable to Israel’s far-right government. Separate cases for genocide and war crimes against Israel and Israeli officials are running through the International Court of Justice, the U.N.’s top court, and the International Criminal Court. Meanwhile, in Israeli discourse, the United Nations is a frequent target of scorn, seen as a biased instrument of myriad member states angry at Israel over its occupation of Palestinian territories. When he addressed the General Assembly in New York in September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the international body a “swamp of antisemitic bile.” Earlier this month, the country’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, declared the U.N. Secretary General António Guterres “persona non grata,” barring him from entering Israel after the latter made a statement condemning the “broadening” nature of the conflict in the Middle East without specifically decrying Iran’s rocket barrage.

‘Relentless’ Israeli Attacks on Gaza Medical Workers Are War Crime, U.N. Panel Says (NYT) United Nations investigators on Thursday accused Israel of engaging in “relentless and deliberate attacks” on health care facilities, medical workers and wounded civilians in the Gaza Strip and said the actions amounted to war crimes and extermination, a crime against humanity. A U.N. report said the Israelis had imposed “collective punishment” on Palestinians in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attacks Hamas militants led on Israel a year ago from Gaza. The Israeli siege that followed, it said, has prevented hospitals from receiving food, fuel, water and medical supplies, and has also limited the number of patients allowed to leave Gaza for treatment. Navi Pillay, the former U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said, “Israel has perpetrated a concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s health care system as part of a broader assault on Gaza, committing war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination with relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities.”

After a 2-year investigation, South African president won’t be charged over $580K hidden in a couch (AP) South African President Cyril Ramaphosa won’t face criminal charges over a hidden cash scandal that was revealed more than two years ago and led to an investigation by a special police unit, prosecutors said Thursday. A former national security chief laid a criminal complaint against Ramaphosa in June 2022, accusing him of kidnapping, bribery and other crimes in relation to the theft of $580,000 in U.S. banknotes that was stashed in a couch at the president’s ranch. The former security boss, Arthur Fraser, alleged that Ramaphosa had been keeping the cash hidden in furniture at his ranch to evade South Africa’s foreign currency laws when it was stolen. Instead of reporting the theft, Ramaphosa tried to cover it up by having members of his presidential protection unit track down the thieves, kidnap them and then bribe them to keep quiet about the existence of the money, Fraser said in the affidavit filed with police. The theft happened at Ramaphosa’s game farm in rural northern South Africa in early 2020 and had been kept quiet until Fraser’s allegations. It forced Ramaphosa to admit the theft took place and threw his presidency into turmoil.

Weeds (MIT Technology Review) Weeds are winning again, with herbicide-resistant strains emerging from 273 weed species, developing resistances to any of 168 different herbicides. Water hemp, for instance, grows an inch per day or more, and is now resistant to seven classes of herbicides. That’s quite bad, as season-long water hemp can cut soybean yields by 44 percent and cut corn yields by 15 percent.

[xofreyak]

[ adelaide kane, cisfemale, she/her/hers ] — whoa! FREYA KNOX just stole my cab! not cool, but maybe they needed it more. they have lived in the city for THREE YEARS, working as a/an WEDDING PLANNER. that can’t be easy, especially at only 28 YEARS OLD. some people say they can be a little bit TEMPERAMENTAL and IMPULSIVE , but i know them to be TALKATIVE and LOYAL. whatever. i guess i’ll catch the next cab. hope they like the ride back to THE BRONX! — (jen, 24, EST, she/her/hers, eating disorders)

PINTREST. PLAYLIST. WANTED CONNECTIONS.

information about freya is below the cut

BASICS: full name: freya anne knox nicknames: frey, fry gender: female pronouns: she/her/hers sexuality: bisexual hometown: st. petersburg, Florida  age: 28 date of birth: july 21st zodiac sign: leo occupation: wedding planner aesthetics: inkwells on old paper, the smell of old books, watching romantic comedies all night, red wine mixed with ginger ale, a cat sleeping in the sun, a music box, an old vinyl record, blistered ankles from wearing heels all night, tattered vans

APPEARANCE faceclaim: adelaide kane height: 5’4” tattoos: a palm tree on her left ankle, a turtle on the back of her right arm, solar system on her right foot personality traits: loyal, temperamental, talkative, impulsive likes: laughing until her stomach hurts, dr. pepper, watching the sunrise, hot tubs, soft sheets, getting her hair played with, forehead kisses, watching people fall in love fears: birds hobbies: writing, trying to smuggle plants, photography, taking walks

FAMILY TREE mother: diane knox father: paul knox siblings: finnegan knox, fletcher knox birth order: baby of the family

FAVORITES color: lavender music: fleetwood mac, ed sheeran, fall out boy, paramore, jimmy buffett food: magherita pizza

ADDITIONAL pet(s): a black and white cat named toad favorite clothing item: a lavender pullover

BIOGRAPHY --

 .•°☆.⋆｡⋆☆•˚｡⋆｡˚•☆˚｡⋆.☆•°.⋆ sixteen candles (1984), dir. john hughes

Freya was nothing short of a surprise. Her parents, Diane and Paul, already had their hands full with Finn and Fletcher Knox. Having three under three was not going to be easy but Freya was here anyways.  She grew up on the shores of St. Pete Beach, spending her days running in the sand and jumping the waves. She'd flock after her brothers, organize her mother's store on the beach, and settle in her father's office as he taught classes. She'd remark that her childhood was pretty good. Her father loved her mother much like a romance movie. Kisses in the morning, flowers on his way home from work, dancing in the kitchen when they thought the kids went to bed. She compared them to a fairytale all the time. They taught Freya all she needed to know about love.

13 going on 30 (2004), dir. gary winick .•°☆.⋆｡⋆☆•˚｡⋆｡˚•☆˚｡⋆.☆•°.⋆

When Freya turned thirteen, her mother passed away in a car accident. It was quick, or at least that's what the police told her father when they showed up to their condo. It'd been raining, it was spring break, it was a red light. The words bled together, and the fabric that was there little family was ripped apart. She didn't remember what it was like to be completely honest. Her peaceful condo on the beach that she'd retreated to became dull, lifeless. Her father searched for his wife in every woman in town, Fletcher threw himself into his studies, and Finn threw himself into buying baggies on street corners. Freya threw herself into trying to keep her family together.

Her father paraded his girlfriends around their condo, but there was nothing like watching him smile at someone and realizing it was half the smile he used to give your mother. Freya called it the sort of heartbreak that the movies couldn't even begin to describe.

When she turned sixteen, her father met Johannah. She gave Freya her first job, and her first taste of the wedding planning industry. She was just as associate, helping Johannah out at the various wedding, and she fell in love with it. The love in the air, feeling the warmth and comfort, watching two people smile at eachother like they were the only two in the room. It reignited the idea that loved lived in every corner of the world, and she saw the sort of love her parents had when she looked hard enough.

.•°☆.⋆｡⋆☆•˚｡⋆｡˚•☆˚｡⋆.☆•°.⋆ 27 dresses (2008), dir. anne fletcher

When Freya was seventeen, Finn checked himself into rehab and Fletcher decided that his destiny led him outside of Florida. Johannah left shortly her father and Freya stayed behind to care for her dad. She worked her way up through Johannah's wedding planning business, eventually taking on the task of planning her own weddings and going to school nearby to get her degree in business. Finn bounced back and forth between rehab and home, and her father kept searching for his wife in flings.

She graduated from college, and continued to work for Johannah. She'd become a close confidant for Freya and was the first person to encourage Freya to leave, and find something new. Her mother would want that for her, Jo had pointed out. Jo had a friend in New York City who offered to hire Freya. And, well, Freya didn't want to be stuck in St. Petersburg forever so she told her father and her brothers when Fletcher was home for Christmas, and tried to ignore how fake her father's smile was at her.

Finn joked that the glue was moving. Freya wanted to be sick. Freya packed up her boxes, her cat Toad, and moved to New York City with promises to call often and to have her family visit her. all the best movies start this way, right?

[cheap-flights-search-online-blog]

Certainly! Let’s delve into unbelievable travel facts that will leave you amazed and perhaps inspire your next adventure:

1. Double Sunrise Flight: The world’s longest commercial flight was the ‘Double Sunrise’ service by Qantas. It operated from Australia to Sri Lanka during World War II and often lasted over 30 hours, with passengers witnessing the sunrise twice during the journey.

2. Blink-and-You-Miss-It Flight: The shortest commercial flight takes less than two minutes! It shuttles between the neighboring islands of Westray and Papa Westray in Scotland’s Orkney Islands. The fastest recorded flight was even less than 50 seconds.

3. Japanese Punctuality: Japanese trains are renowned for their punctuality. If a train runs more than five minutes late, passengers receive a ‘delay certificate’. These certificates can be shown to bosses or teachers to explain tardiness1.

4. Pricey Airport Taxi: Avoid taking a taxi from Tokyo’s Narita Airport unless you’re ready to splurge. It’s the most expensive airport-to-city transfer globally, costing an average of £191/$235 one way1.

5. India’s Railway Marvel: India’s trains transport roughly 23 million passengers daily, equivalent to the entire population of Australia! The vast railway network is a marvel of logistics and connectivity1.

6. Flight Alters Taste and Smell: Flying at high altitudes actually alters your sense of taste and smell. So that in-flight meal might not taste the same as it does on the ground1.

7. Thomas Cook’s Legacy: Thomas Cook, the world’s oldest tour operator, shaped the travel industry. Their legacy lives on, even though the company no longer operates1.

8. Hermitage Museum Cats: St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum is home to around 60 cats. Originally ordered by Empress Elizabeth to control mice, these feline guardians still roam the museum’s halls2.

9. Las Vegas Hotel Rooms: Las Vegas boasts the highest number of hotel rooms globally. The city of lights is a haven for travelers seeking entertainment and excitement3.

10. Dental Tourism: Dental tourism has seen rapid growth. People travel abroad for dental treatments, combining healthcare with exploration4.

These fascinating facts remind us that #travel is full of surprises, whether it’s the skies above, the cultural nuances, or the quirky details that make each journey unforgettable! 🌎✈️

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[findinginga]

Oh. my… ...a glaring omission...

In my last post I wrote of the rather uneventful discussions with Inga over the course of November-December 2021.  This was not quite accurate so; I am taking this opportunity to post an addendum.

Ingeborga did make multiple references of her shopping for for various items to furnish her apartment over these weeks.  She alluded to planning for a move into the apartment she had purchased with the assistance of her brother, Nikita.  The purchase of her own apartment was something she had claimed was in process early in my communication with her; however, she did not revisit the issue.  When I would periodically ask her about the status of the remodeling, which she wrote was keeping her in her present location, Inga would only talk about various delays.  She cited the undependable nature of the contractors as the reason she had not moved.

In November 2021, she talked more about an impending move and suggested that the business issues which delayed her departure to St. Petersburg to meet me, were the cause.  On occasion, Inga would send photos of a piece of furniture or of wall coverings she desired for Eva's room to solicit my opinion.  She fretted over where to store window treatments she had ordered and decided she would ask a friend to keep them for her.

Why is this relevant?

PI Labs, the private investigators I employed had previously reported that Ingeborga was not the owner of record for any property in the Russian Federation.  In addition, as a part of their inquiries, they found no evidence of Nikita Lopatyuk holding a mortgage for a property in Pskov.

More likely explanations for Inga's admitted purchases were to either to redecorate the flat in which Denis, Eva, and she were living, or the sizable mortgage for which Inga was a cosignor would purchase a new flat to be redecorated prior to a move.  Lastly, it is possible the apartment she claimed was being readied for her was actually an agreed settlement between Inga and Denis. In short, they may have entered into an agreement to divide marital property in order to avoid Russian Federation law directing equal distribution of marital assets. An agreement prior to a divorce filing would be respected by the court.

Whatever the underlying reason, Inga continued to perpetuate a series of lies and was using my assistance to make these purchases.

[completeshredding]

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[k12academics]

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[johndesautels1]

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[lady-nightmare]

Google translation:

Back to the past. Nine evidence that Russia has returned to the USSR

Under Vladimir Putin, Russia becomes an exact copy of the Soviet Union. What worked during the USSR is applicable in modern Russia. The war in Ukraine brought the country into the past even more clearly. Russia is retreating to the USSR. Striking similarities.Shops will be opened in Russia for diplomats where they will be able to pay in foreign currency. The USSR introduced exactly the same solution by establishing Bieriozka stores This is not the first time that the Russian authorities have brought back to life phenomena typical of the Soviet era The tradition of informing can be found in the history of Russia as early as the early Middle Ages, but it was in the USSR that it became commonplace. Contemporary Russians are bolder and bolder in reporting what the Kremlin is making use of In modern Russia, even more relics of the past return. They are returning to favor, among others pioneers, Moskvich cars and punishment for criticizing the authorities.

Bieriozka stores

What was in the USSR:

Free circulation of currency was prohibited in the USSR, therefore, in 1961, a chain of Bieriozka stores was established for foreigners and Soviet foreign workers, where goods could be bought for "check rubles", and these, at various times, cost from one and a half to two Soviet rubles.

What's coming back:

There will be duty-free shops in Moscow and St. Petersburg for diplomats, consuls, employees of international organizations and their families. You will only be able to get there with official documents and buy retail. These stores will offer alcohol, tobacco products, perfumes and cosmetics, sweets, jewelry, smartphones and watches.

The owners of the stores will be a legal entity that will be established by an institution belonging to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a company that will be selected as a result of an "open tender".

Punishing "currency speculators"

What was in the USSR:

The criminal law of the USSR contained penalties for currency transactions: for example, the Criminal Code of the Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) of the 1960 version threatened all currency transactions with penalties up to and including the death penalty (Article 88).

What's coming back:

In early April, it became known that the Federal Tax Service instructed territorial authorities to cooperate with the Ministry of the Interior in order to identify currency speculators. The agency noted that cases of illegal purchase and sale of foreign currencies have recently become widespread. Therefore, the Federal Tax Service believes that hand-to-hand sales of foreign currency should be tracked via social networks, via Telegram channels and online advertisements.

Reports

What was in the USSR:

The tradition of informing can be traced in the history of Russia from the early Middle Ages, but in the USSR this phenomenon became mass-reporting: the state encouraged citizens to report. "Reporting about irregularities" at work was particularly widespread: employees handed over their colleagues to the authorities, also for their own promotion. Another type of denunciation widespread at that time was a home denunciation, when the informer and his victim were linked not by work, but by personal relationships.

What's coming back:

After the war broke out, denunciations on the Russians began to appear because of their attitude towards the actions of the authorities and their anti-war attitude - both “domestic” and “professional” denunciations.A student recorded a teacher saying that "every war is bad". The denunciation went to the police. This is how propaganda works in a Russian school.

At the end of March, Gennady Bondarenko, a 53-year-old chemistry and biology teacher from the village of Malokurilskoye on the island of Shikotan in the Kuril region, received four reprimands for "discrediting" the Russian army on the basis of four denunciations from his colleagues. In mid-July it turned out that his own mother denounced her son in Moscow for avoiding military service "on important days for the country".

Officials are also encouraging denunciations: on August 4, Duma deputy Alexander Chinsztejn boasted that after his denunciation, the police detained a resident of Moscow, Jelizaveta Smirnova, who had torn off the stand by the church in the village of Busharino in Moscow army) and threw it in the trash.

Sentences for criticizing the Soviet regime

What was in the USSR:

"Anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda" was considered a crime for almost the entire period of the existence of the USSR. Pursuant to the provision of the Criminal Code The 1960 RSFSR for "slanderous slander slandering the Soviet state and social order" faced the perpetrator from six months to seven years in prison.

What's coming back:

In April, Vladimir Putin signed a punitive law for identifying the role of the USSR and Germany in World War II, and for denying the "decisive role of the Soviet people" in the victory over fascism. The violation of the law is punishable by a fine from 1 to 2 thousand. rubles or administrative arrest up to 15 days; legal persons - a fine from 10 thousand up to 50 thousand rubles, officials - a fine from 2 to 4 thousand. rubles. If the offense is repeated, the amount of the fine will increase.

At the end of July, a criminal case was launched against a resident of the Stavropol Territory for a negative assessment of the Red Army. The allegations were made on the basis of photos posted on his page on the VKontakte website. The man is threatened with a fine of up to 3 million rubles or imprisonment for up to three years according to the article "Rehabilitation of Nazism".

Art advice

What was in the USSR:

The art councils acted as the censorship body that decided whether a work could reach a mass audience. Apart from representatives of the professional community (including, for example, members of the Composers 'and Writers' Union), such councils included party and Komsomol officials as well as social activists.

What's coming back:

Work on the draft law on public councils on television, theater and cinema is underway in the Duma, said one of the authors of the document, MP Nikolai Burłaev. After the passing of the law introducing such councils, he said, it would be necessary to "designate people who would regulate the process of selecting films for distribution".

Teachers, doctors, law enforcement and clergy - those who "think about what the next generation will be" - are expected to be members of public councils on television, theater and cinema.

Lists of "banned artists"

What was in the USSR:

Rock music was considered a "manifestation of hostile Western culture", the dissemination of which the authorities fought. There is a well-known document "Preliminary list of foreign music bands whose repertoire includes ideologically harmful pieces" from 1985, which indicated undesirable Western bands and the reasons for their inclusion on the list: Sex Pistols (punk, violence), Iron Maiden (violence, religious obscurantism ), Judas Priest (anti-communism, racism) etc.

What's coming back:

After the outbreak of the war, it turned out that unofficial lists of performers appeared who would be banned from performing in Russia due to anti-war statements. They include rappers Noize MC, Oxxymiron, Face, vocalists of Zemfira, Monetoczka, Maniża, DDT groups, Maszina Wremieni, Akwarium and others.

Duma Deputy Jelena Drapieko expressed her support for the idea: - Today, under the conditions of a "special operation", the content of what is happening on the stage should also be assessed. These are probably some administrative measures to ensure that calls against our "special operation", against our soldiers, against our country are not heard from the stage.

Attack on Literature

What was in the USSR:

Books that were not censored could not be published. At the same time, there were cases of withdrawing and destroying original works. An example is Daniil Andreyev's novel "Night Wanderers" about the repression of the 1930s. The author was arrested in the article "Preparation of an Act of Terrorism" and in 1948 he was sent to prison in Vladimir for 25 years (released in 1957, rehabilitated). All the copies of the book and the manuscript found were burned.

What's coming back:

In mid-April, Dmitry Silin was sitting at a small table in the center of Ivanovo. The man arranged several books by George Orwell, "1984," which he distributed for free to the townspeople. Suddenly, a uniform appeared at his "stand". Silin was arrested and put on trial. He is to hear the accusation of "discrediting the Russian army". "Pure Orwell" - comments Makarova in his social media.

At the end of July, copies of the children's book "Wormwood" about the fate of the Volga Germans during World War II were withdrawn from libraries in the Sverdlovsk Oblast. The reason for the withdrawal was the conclusion of Ivan Popp, associate professor of the Ural State Pedagogical University that the text of the book "aims to distort historical facts, create various speculations and myths", has a "liberal European direction" in comparing Hitler and Stalin and lacks stories with a positive view on representatives of the Soviet elite.

Pioneers

What was in the USSR:

The organization was founded in the USSR in 1922. Nadieżda Krupska thought it as a children's organization - "scout in form and communist in content".

The state made extensive use of the Pioneers for propaganda among children: Pavlik Morozov was named the model Pioneer, who is said to have denounced his father. It is known that in the 1930s there were cases where pioneers became involved in the fight against "anti-Soviet elements."

What's coming back:

In mid-July, the president signed the law on the creation of the all-Russian movement of children and youth. Its authors promised that participation would be voluntary, with the potential number estimated at 18 million. The declared goals of "new Pioneers" are shaping "a world view based on traditional values, love of the homeland and diligence" Children participating in the official initiation ceremony of the youth organization "Young Pioneers", on Red Square in Moscow, May 22, 2022. Photo: NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP / AFP Children participating in the official initiation ceremony of the youth organization "Young Pioneers" on Red Square in Moscow on May 22, 2022.

In July, the name of the future organization became known as Bolsha Pieremiena. Vladimir Putin will be the head of the supervisory board of the movement. Detailed decisions on the new Russian movement for children and youth will be made in December 2022.

Moskvich car

What was in the USSR:

The factory that produced one of the most famous Soviet cars, Moskvich, was opened in 1930 to assemble American Ford cars and trucks. In 1933, however, the company became a subsidiary of GAZ - it began to assemble the GAZ-A and GAZ-AA cars.

What's coming back:

Since 1998, a joint venture of the Moscow government and Renault has been operating in part of the plant's territory and in the workshops. In 2022, the history of transforming the foreign plant into a place for building cars under the native Moskvich brand was repeated - the mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobyanin, announced its reactivation.

[bustedbeing]

Pat Bond, a Sexual-Subculture Pioneer, Dies at 94

Mr. Bond was a 44-year-old music teacher when he founded an organization for masochists. After a few meetings, sadists were also invited.

Image



The Eulenspiegel Society, an organization for adherents of bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism, took part in the Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day March, the precursor to New York City’s gay pride parade, in 1973. Pat Bond, the organization’s founder, can be seen directly behind the organization’s banner, wearing jeans and a tie.Credit...Leonard Fink, via The LGBT Community Center National History Archive



By Penelope Green

May 11, 2021

He was not a sex educator, a sex worker or a political figure. No case law was established in his name.

But to cultural historians, anthropologists, sex educators and members of the now sprawling alternative-sex community known by the umbrella acronym of B.D.S.M. — for bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism — or by the more prosaic (and historical) term “kink,” Pat Bond, to use the pseudonym he preferred, was a foundational figure, applauded at conferences, noted in academic papers and hailed as an elder by those who shared his interest in role-playing sex.

A modest, elfin man with a Van Dyke beard that turned snowy with age, Mr. Bond had long had masochistic fantasies but had never acted on them until he was 44. It was 1970, and the identity politics of that era made him think there must be others like him. He wasn’t looking for sex so much as community when he placed an ad in Screw, the pornographic magazine geared toward heterosexual men, that read:

“Masochist? Happy? Is it curable? Does psychiatry help? Is a satisfactory life-style possible? There’s women’s lib, black lib, gay lib, etc. Isn’t it time we put something together?”

Five people answered the ad, but only two showed up to that first meeting in Mr. Bond’s tiny East Village apartment: a heterosexual woman who went on to adopt the pen name Terry Kolb and a gay man who never returned — annoyed, Mr. Bond said later, “that we were all into different things.”

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Every week, however, more and more people appeared: just masochists at first, but eventually sadists, too, were welcome.

All were eager for community, not just sex, and under Ms. Kolb and Mr. Bond’s leadership, they formed a nonprofit organization. They named it the Eulenspiegel Society for Till Eulenspiegel, a picaresque character in German folklore who was cited as a symbol of masochism in “Masochism in Modern Man,” a 1941 book by Theodor Reik, a protégé of Freud’s, that was one of the few texts at the time about this erotic minority.

Alternative papers like The Village Voice at first refused to run ads for the organization, which later adopted the acronym TES. But after Mr. Bond, Ms. Kolb and others picketed The Voice’s offices and Ms. Kolb wrote an article, which The Voice published, advocating for “masochist’s lib,” the paper relented.

TES meetings were run like encounter groups with educational programming — expert speakers weighed in on sexual techniques or on legal or psychological issues — and also as exercises in consciousness raising, following the practices of the day.

The group hashed out an ideology — “freedom for sexual minorities,” as they described themselves — and advocated for their community, marching in the Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day March, the precursor to New York City’s gay pride parade. There was a board, and a mission statement, written by Mr. Bond, that declared, among other freedoms, “the right to pursue joy and happiness in one’s own way, according to one’s evolving nature, as long as this doesn’t infringe on the similar happiness of others.”

Image



Mr. Bond in the early 1970s. He was 44 when he held the first meeting of the Eulenspiegel Society; two people attended.Credit...via Terry Kolb

Mr. Bond died on Feb. 13 in a hospital in Far Rockaway, Queens. He was 94. Deborah Callahan, a family friend, confirmed the death, which was not widely reported at the time, and said he had suffered from congestive heart failure.

“TES was really a new kind of kinky organization in that it was social, political and educational,” said the feminist author and cultural anthropologist Gayle Rubin, who has written extensively about sexual subcultures.

Dr. Rubin, who is an associate professor of anthropology and women’s and gender studies at the University of Michigan, added: “TES expanded the organizational repertoire of sadomasochism. In addition, Pat Bond and Terry Kolb began to develop a political language for S-and-M.

“They were able to do that in part because of the times. It was a period when many social movements were articulating political frameworks for various populations that had been marginalized. They also drew from the language of gay liberation, where there was already a model for repositioning what had been seen as sexual deviation as a sexual minority. To do this for sadomasochism was pretty breathtaking at the time.”

(Ms. Kolb left the group the year it began and moved to California. She eventually joined Samois, a group for lesbian sadists and masochists, the first of its kind, that had been modeled on TES. She now identifies as bisexual. In a phone interview, she remembered Mr. Bond as being “introverted and very serious.”)

The Eulenspiegel Society was unusual in collecting disparate groups — heterosexual as well as gay — “and affirming their dignity and defending their political rights,” said Rostom Mesli, who has studied the identity politics of the 1970s and is the managing director of the Leather Hall of Fame, which recognizes individuals or organizations that have made distinct contributions to kinky subcultures. Mr. Bond and Ms. Kolb were recognized in 2015.

“The assumption,” Dr. Mesli added, “was that kinksters who would never have sex together still had things to do together, could learn from one another or do activism together. It totally redefined the borders of the kinky world by creating a sense of community and shared identity among groups that had evolved with virtually no connection among each other.”

TES had its own magazine, Prometheus, at first distributed at meetings and erotic specialty stores, but eventually at mainstream emporiums like Tower Records in New York City. It is now online only. In the early days, it included an S-and-M horoscope and comic strips, as well as personal ads and ads for supplies.

Mr. Bond wrote articles in which he wondered if S-and-M behaviors were cathartic or developmental. He worried that they might veer into abuse, or become addictive. And he urged that his organization “practice diligence and intelligence” so that it might always be “a liberating force.”

The magazine was not without a sense of humor. After the list of names on its masthead, a parenthetical promised, “If we missed anybody important, we’ll grovel in the next issue.”

Pat Bond was born Walter Allen Campbell on May 24, 1926, in St. Petersburg, Fla., the youngest of three children. His father, Joel, was an orthodontist who died when Allen, as he was known, was 6. His mother, Marie, was a homemaker.

He attended the New York State College for Teachers at Albany, now the University at Albany, and graduated in 1951. He worked as a music teacher in New York City’s public school system and later as a secretary.

Since the late 1970s, Mr. Bond had lived in a basement apartment in Ms. Callahan’s family home in Far Rockaway, a century-old three-story clapboard house that his mother had owned and sold to Ms. Callahan’s parents. Ms. Callahan’s father, known to TES members as Brother Leo, was Mr. Bond’s best friend.

“Allen was a member of our family,” Ms. Callahan said. “He would sing at our dinner table, and lead us in Christmas carols. He was lovely. He cared deeply about justice, and doing the right thing. He was marching for various causes up until 15 years ago. He always wanted to be helpful, even when he could no longer really help.”

Mr. Bond was married briefly when he was young, and the marriage was annulled. He eventually found a dominatrix after TES’s founding — he called her his “lady friend,” Dr. Mesli said. That relationship lasted for nearly half a century, until the woman’s death a few years ago.

“Our sexuality has typically been something you make fun of or sensationalize to sell something,” said Susan Wright of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, an advocacy group that fights discrimination against those in the B.D.S.M. community. “Pat offered something different: Let’s just sit down and talk. He was at the cutting edge of conversations about consent and understanding what it means to look your partner in the eye and not be scared to be honest about what you desire.

“Consent is the heart of this community,” she continued. “It’s the difference between kink and abuse. And then of course the education: How do you do this safely? If you’re going to be spanked, what’s the best spot?”

In the half-century since TES’s founding, Mr. Bond’s organization and the community it serves have come out of the shadow — sort of.

In 1996, the author Daphne Merkin wrote an essay about spanking in The New Yorker that raised eyebrows in the chattering class. But less than a decade later, the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy — essentially a contemporary bodice-ripper, but with spanking, about a young woman’s relationship with a wealthy sadist — was a runaway best seller, and then three movies. If the behavior it depicted didn’t exactly become mainstream, its rituals entered the cultural vernacular.

Image



Mr. Bond at TES Fest, his organization’s annual convention, in 2017. He attended the conventions, held in hotels in New York and New Jersey, until 2018.Credit...Efrain John Gonzalez

At its peak, in the early 1990s, the Eulenspiegel Society had 1,100 members. The internet pruned its ranks — there are countless alt-sex communities and dating sites online — but also opened its programming to a wider audience.

This year, TES turned 50, and it still offers weekly meetings (now virtual) and classes. Until the pandemic, TES held annual conventions, known as TES Fests, at hotels in New York and New Jersey. They had the flavor, participants said, of an academic conference, but with a twist: There would be classes in rope handling, whip technique and handkerchief code, as well as more serious programming about consent and negotiation.

Despite his age, Mr. Bond was able to attend the 2018 TES Fest, his last. “Someone offered to put him on a leash, in an age-sensitive way, and led him around,” Michal Daveed, a spokesman for the organization, recalled. “He seemed very happy.”

Penelope Green is a feature writer in the Style department. She has been a reporter for the Home section, editor of Styles of The Times, an early iteration of Style, and a story editor at The New York Times Magazine

[creepingsharia]

Families of service members killed, wounded by Saudi jihad mass shooting at Florida Naval Air Station file lawsuit

Pensacola Navy base mass shooter had accomplices, help from Saudi Arabia, victims claim in terror lawsuit

Families of three slain U.S. service members and 13 others wounded in a mass shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola in 2019 alleged Monday that the government of Saudi Arabia facilitated the attack that U.S. authorities concluded was an act of international terrorism.

A 152-page complaint in federal court in Pensacola makes startling new allegations that the shooter, Royal Saudi Air Force 2nd Lt. Ahmed Mohammed al-Shamrani, executed the attack with the support of “accomplices.” Those included fellow Saudi air force trainees, who he told of his plans at a dinner the night before and during a November visit to the 9/11 memorial in New York City to pay tribute to the hijackers, the plaintiffs alleged.

Al-Shamrani, who was killed by responding sheriff’s deputies, worked with al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula for five years to plan the Dec. 6, 2019, attack, U.S. authorities said last May after de-encrypting his phone.

The families also accused the Trump administration and Saudi government of reneging on pledges of support for families.

“In the eyes of the American people, there is no greater betrayal than the realization that a purported ally is, in fact, an enemy, “ the lawsuit asserts. It seeks damages for an attack the families say was caused by Saudi Arabia and its willful or grossly negligent acts in sending a terrorist operative “Trojan horse” into a U.S. program to train pilots flying billions of dollars of U.S.-sold warplanes.

“I think they knew he was out to destroy the American people, and he was a terrorist. Innocent lives were loss. It should have never happened,” said Evelyn Brady, a 20-year Navy veteran whose son, Airman Apprentice Mohammed Haitham, 19, was killed while running unarmed toward the shooter with his hands up, pleading with him to stop.

“They were supposed to take care of the families. … They’ve done nothing,” said Brady, who is represented with other plaintiffs by law firms led by Kreindler & Kreindler, which is also suing the kingdom on behalf of 9/11 victims and survivors.

A U.S.-based attorney for the Saudi government and spokesman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit comes as U.S.-Saudi relations have fallen to a new low since January, with the new Biden administration canceling arms sales, criticizing human rights abuses and the harassment of dissidents and pledging to “recalibrate” ties with the kingdom and its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The administration has said it will continue arms sales to the world’s biggest customer for U.S. weapons and signaled that it wants to continue a strong counterterrorism partnership.

But it is also expected to make public as early as this week a long-sought U.S. intelligence report concluding that the crown prince ordered the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and to press Riyadh to end its war in Yemen and to moderate their own extremism.

A State Department spokesman said it declined to comment on pending litigation, but the Pensacola families’ allegations further complicate U.S.-Saudi ties. There are also pending federal lawsuits against the prince and other Saudis by Khashoggi’s fiancee and by a former top Saudi intelligence officer and close U.S. intelligence ally now living in Canada who claims he was also targeted for assassination.

Saudi Arabia has been frequently targeted by terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda, which carried out large-scale attacks beginning in 2003, and more recently by assailants sympathetic to the Islamic State group. Attacks have been directed at government facilities, Westerners stationed in the kingdom and members of Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority, who are considered heretics by hard-line Sunni Muslims.

In January 2020, then-Attorney General William P. Barr announced that the 15-minute rampage at the Florida base was an act of terrorism, with the FBI concluding that  Shamrani was motivated by “jihadist ideology.”

Barr and aides said that while it was initially reported that Shamrani arrived at the shooting site with others, who filmed it, he in fact arrived alone and that the investigation had not found evidence that anyone else acted with him.

Barr said 21 cadets from Saudi Arabia, including 12 from the Pensacola base, were disenrolled from their training and would be returning to the kingdom after U.S. officials said they found evidence that 17 Saudis had shared Islamist or anti-American material through social media. Fifteen — including some of those who had shared anti-American material — were found to have had contact with or possessed child pornography.

Barr said U.S. attorneys had reviewed each case and determined that such people would not normally be charged with federal crimes.

The families’ Pensacola lawsuit makes more specific allegations. They claim that Saudi authorities knew of the radicalization and anti-American and anti-Jewish statements of  Shamrani — an al-Qaeda operative who made his first contact with al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula by at least 2015 — which he shared via Twitter.

Shamrani was nevertheless one of two out of hundreds of students in his Royal Saudi Air Force Academy class awarded a scholarship to enter a joint military training program in the United States, the suit asserts.

It also claims that the Saudi commanding officer on base and 11 other trainees it did not name knew that Shamrani purchased and stored a 9mm handgun and ammunition on base in violation of U.S. and Saudi policy; and that Saudi officials left the commanding officer’s post unfilled from September 2019 until after the shooting.

“None of the Royal Saudi Air Force trainees at the scene of the attack reported  Shamrani’s behavior nor did they try to stop the NAS Terrorist Attack, because they supported it,” the suit asserts.

On Sept. 11, Shamrani posted a message on social media saying, “The countdown has begun,” and later that month sent a copy of his will to AQAP purporting to explain the coming attack, the suit alleges. That Thanksgiving weekend, the suit said, al-Shamrani visited the memorial in New York City to those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, in which 15 of 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals.

Read the lawsuit here

The suit alleges that during the visit, the trainees “discussed the plans for the NAS Pensacola Terrorist Attack.” It also asserts that on Dec. 5, the night before the attack,  Shamrani hosted a dinner party for fellow trainees at which he screened videos of mass shootings and discussed his plans for the next day.

At least three trainees who attended the dinner called in sick the next morning, one of whom stood outside the building and recorded the shooting on his cellphone while two others watched from a nearby car, the suit claims.

That so many trainees were at least sympathetic to al-Qaeda and that several were “actually accomplices” demonstrates their belief that their extremist views “were in furtherance of [the kingdom’s] political and religious goals,” the suit claims.

Killed in the attack were Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson, 23, of Enterprise, Ala., a recent Naval Academy graduate; Haitham, of St. Petersburg, Fla,; and Airman Apprentice Cameron Walters, 21, of Bryan County, Ga., days removed from boot camp and serving his first day on watch duty, who Shamrani approached from behind and shot in the back of the head.

Four Navy service members, a Navy civil servant, seven sheriff’s deputies and a Department of Defense police officer wounded in the attack also joined the suit. Two are partially disabled for life, including Airman George Johnson, 26, and Jessica Pickett, 20. Johnson, a single parent who now must use a cane, was hit seven times, including one bullet that was blocked by a metal “I love you” card from his mother in his wallet. Pickett, a Navy veteran and civilian employee, was struck nine times and has a metal rod in her left leg, a gap in her femur and requires a walker or wheelchair.

After expressing terrorist views for two years before being chosen for a coveted slot, training overseas to become a pilot, “An officer in their uniform murdered three Americans,” said Walters’s father, Shane Walters, 47, a former Navy F-18 Hornet mechanic and sales team manager at Gulfstream Aerospace.

“Why? How did he get here? They had to have known. … It’s shameful,” Walters said.

Walters condemned the Trump administration for failing to prioritize “dealing face-to-face” with the Saudis over the attacks. He also rebuked former president Donald Trump and the Saudi royal family for never personally speaking with the families of the killed or wounded U.S. service members.

The Trump administration was preoccupied with striking new arms and diplomatic deals and coddled Saudi Arabia “in a way no president ever has. I don’t think my son’s murder, or Mo’s murder, or Joshua’s murder, was a top priority,” Walters said.

The suit asserted that, adding “insult to injury,” Saudi Arabia has ignored or rebuked all attempts to discuss the families’ claims, as it purportedly promised in exchange for the U.S. allowing Saudi officers at Pensacola to immediately return home rather than face further investigation.

The suit cited then-President Trump saying to reporters after a phone call with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud: “The king will be involved in taking care of the families and loved ones. …  likewise the crown prince. They are devastated by what took place in Pensacola. And I think they are going to help out the families very greatly.”

However, neither the U.S. government nor the kingdom of Saudi Arabia “contacted my family or talked to the other families,” Walters said. After the attacks, representatives of his son’s last private employer came to Walters’s home to give him two challenge coins from the vice president, Walters said, “one for me and one for my wife. They couldn’t do it themselves.”

Foreign governments and leaders  are typically immune from civil suits in U.S. courts while in office. However, the lawsuit cited exceptions for terrorism and for victims of Saudi Arabia. It also cited a 1991 law called the Torture Victim Protection Act which provides recourse in U.S. courts for violations of international law and for victims of “flagrant human rights violations,” including torture and summary execution abroad.

[artificialqueens]

The Biggest Con in History, Chapter One (Sashea) - Roza

summary: 1927 cannot possibly be more dreadful as the bolsheviks overtake the former imperial russia. despite this, citizens are uplifted on the rumour that the czar's daughter may still be alive. sasha, focused on finding a job during the oppression, finds herself in the whirlwind of a lifetime. [ anastasia au, based heavily on the broadway version of the classic film. ]

author's note: after heavy demand and interest in this I absolutely had to write, I hope I can finish it because I picture it so vividly in my head. I'm so glad I get to be eastern european as possible, it's been such an honour to get to do the same with jackie and the middle east so I feel full circle having fics now with both sides of my culture. I hope while this au is for good fun that you might learn some things about slavic history/culture! just me being soft, that's all. thank you to dear alex for being the best beta!

AO3 Link / My Tumblr: @leljaaa / ♡

— *.✧

"Тетя, do you have to go to Paris?"

Yekaterina sighed gently, her suitcase clamped shut as she turned her head towards the voice of the smaller blonde's voice.

"Alexandra, you can always come visit me, you're my niece!" The empress replied, a smile across her lips as she bent down towards her brother's daughter.

The younger girl seemed distraught at the idea of her aunt leaving for France, especially when the revolution had just ended in the empire.

It was 1907 and the royal family was struggling to stay in one piece though Alexandra certainly wouldn't know any better; she spent her days happily whisked away with siblings or at balls.

"It is still wonderful here," Yekaterina insisted though deep in her heart she knew that this revolution was directed towards the government.

This was only the beginning somewhat of a downfall; Yekaterina knew her brother, who had managed to become the czar of the empire, was struggling. The economy was in shambles and the people were using their voice to say something.

The balls went on: change didn't.

A lightbulb suddenly brightened within Yekaterina's head; she hummed softly as she skipped over to the cherry wood cabinet next to her bedside.

"I have a gift for you," she called out from the other side of the room as her fingertips reached into the top drawer, her hand pulling out a music box she had custom made by a merchant in Spain.

Alexandra tilted her head, the young princess completely amazed at the trinket. Her eyes widened, every little carving and detail absolutely stunning.

Every colour imaginable seemed to cover the exterior of the music box, images of roses and a man and woman dancing painted with bright oils and prized stones.

It was a sight to behold certainly.

"For me?" The small girl squeaked, "Спасибо за подарок!"

Yekaterina chuckled, gently handing it over to the blonde beside her. "No thanks needed, I got it made so you'll always have a piece of me, consider it my parting gift."

'Plus you're definitely not old enough to drink yet.' The empress reminded herself as she watched Alexandra completely focused on attempting to open the music box.

The little girl gasped in suspense, biting her bottom lip as she attempted to gently open the contraption.

Alexandra finally managed to shove her fingernails in to open it. The empress blinked, perhaps it wasn't in hindsight the smartest thing to give a girl who was only six years old.

The twenty year old smirked hearing the music begin, she saw the smile across her niece's face widen. She clearly was attempting to reminisce on what made the melody so familiar.

"It's our lullaby, you'll always have it with you now."

Alexandra teared up, her eyes watered as she tightly hugged her aunt, Yekaterina sighed heavily knowing that she had to escape this empire to somewhere a bit safer even if it meant compromising family whereabouts.

"I'll miss you," she mumbled against the fabric of her golden dress. The older woman kissed her forehead promising that one day they will unite in Paris and keep in contact.

"I'll miss you as well."

Eleven years had passed in the blink of an eye, the empress felt an overwhelming worry overtake her head as she heard of the Bolshevik overtake.

The royal family was beginning to decline in popularity and many blamed the family for every economic and social issue in the crumbling empire.

Yekaterina tapped her foot impatiently before hearing a loud knock upon her bedroom door in Paris.

"Come in," the thirty year old yelled as she took a final sip of her imported alcohol, she looked up to find Trinity, a countess who had been married to a member of the imperial court and escaped with her.

"Katya, I have some news," The brunette spoke grimly. Her hands clasping a handwritten letter, the blonde tilted her head, confused, noticing the brush strokes that bled through the paper.

The letter was clearly written in Cyrillic, it must have been from her motherland, from Russia. "Bring it here," Katya said urgently, praying that it was a message about her brother or her nieces and nephews.

Trinity walked quickly in her heels, the countess dropped the letter in Katya's lap. The confusion in her expression suddenly ceased.

Nothing but white overtook her face; her hands shook as she finished reading the message, her eyes closed rapidly as if it was impossible and simply a dream she could shut out and wake up from.

"No," the empress whispered before she dropped the paper at her bedside, her face suddenly red from the river of tears that rushed down the side of her cheeks.

The only thing that then filled the room were the deafening screams and sobs of the dowager empress. Trinity quickly crouched down as her servants came worriedly, asking what could possibly be the matter.

"Это сон…"

Trinity quickly picked up the paper from the ground, her eyes darted towards the message again; staring aimlessly at the brush strokes.

"Екатерина Петро́вна Замоло́дчикова,

каждый член семьи Замоло́дчикова был убит большевистскими лидерами.  

Они лежали мертвыми на Урале."

Trinity crumpled the paper, she didn't need to read it again and neither did Katya; Russian or English, it didn't matter. The sentiment still stood.

The entire Zamolodchikova royal family had been murdered; the dynasty had ended and was officially gone.

Murdered in cold blood, one right after the other. Katya sobbed, she'd never wanted so badly to hope that somehow, someway not everyone was gone.

Please, if I am a decent woman, please at least let one have survived.

— *.✧

1927.

"мои друзья нам нужно поговорить!"

Brianna felt herself bite her tongue as she stood above the average Russian citizens, her hands gripped the side of the wooden stand.

The Bolshevik general sighed heavily, knowing that this speech wasn't going the best. There was nothing but an overwhelming amount of anger happening in the streets, her army stood command in case anyone did something stupid.

It felt like an utter disaster.

My father wouldn't want this. All I inherited was trauma and chaos.

"I hear you comrades, the revolution hears you," she yelled as she raised her hands, the crowd beginning to silence as many reporters stood aside, recording every word on their paper pads.

"Together we will forge a new Russia and we'll be the envy of all the world," the girl began, her Star of David necklace tightened around her neck as she bit her tongue.

"The Czars St. Petersburg is now the people's Leningrad!"

The citizens listened or heard the speech: in person, in newspapers, it all seemed to spread throughout the entire country eventually. This revolution was being heard by all, and yet no action was being taken to help those in awful condition.

A country now in shambles economically and physically. All that remained were fragments of an old, thriving royal family and giant murals or posters with propaganda.

Shea rolled her eyes.

"They can call it whatever they want. Same name, new empty stomachs."

Times were somehow even worse.

Every day that dawned seemed to bring new sets of laws and rules that only tightened the eye around every citizen who lived within borders.

Police and members of the guard put in place at every corner, lines for basic rations of food and shotguns to the head if anyone complained of something, even the most miniscule detail.

The walls now had ears and those who would argue seemed to disappear in a wink, it was as if every basic right had been stripped away.

Leningrad was gloomy, the constant reminders of old, Imperial Russia stuck out like a sore thumb against the working class and their crowded, barely stable apartment buildings and factories.

In one corner, Yusupov Palace.

It's architecture was a glimmering masterpiece and piece of old Russian history. As the sun shined, the gold palace would sit and bask in glory, just across the Moika river.

Next to it, a dirty and rotten government -owned shop for daily rations of bread, beans or grains.

Hail our great new land.

Now it was a land of royalty and the colour red. New ideology had spread far and wide outside Russia, Shea felt her stomach shake finding out news from the stand next to the small market square.

St. Petersburg was completely run on the thrill of gossip; it got everybody through the new troubles of the empire.

Shea grinned upon hearing the old men and women bicker at the stand, pretending to read through magazines and books to not seem as suspicious to nearby guards.

"Although we know the Czar certainly didn't survive, along with most of the family, they say that one daughter may be still alive."

"Princess Alexandra!" A woman called out chipper though she was quickly shushed by all those next to her. Shea felt a plethora of ideas sneak into her head at the idea of a lost princess.

"They say the empress, her aunt Yekaterina will pay her entire royal sum if someone can find the lost princess," a brunette whispered excitedly to her group of friends.

Shea exited the store, the woman immediately spotting a figure running towards her.

"Shea!"

The voice was undeniable, the woman turned in her shoes, covering her shoulders with her wool jacket as she waved to Detox who almost crashed into her.

"They've closed another border!" She moaned in distress. Her long, pale blonde hair blew in the direction of the wind as she stood still and explained how they should have ran for the West while they still could.

"Detox, I've been thinking about Princess Alexandra."

"Oh not you falling for these tales as well," she spoke, disappointed as she explained that the chances of any Zamolodchikova family member making it out of execution were close to none.

"Trust me on this."

She supposed Detox was one to trust in this situation, she had been a count in the royal court, she knew the family like the back of her hand and had fled her own execution date just in time.

"Princess or not, we're stuck in Russia unless we make a move now."

Shea pondered, though her mind seemed overtaken at the thought of an entire royal sum in her hands; how would the old woman know it was Alexandra?

"I have an idea and you need to trust me on this."

Detox sighed, pushing her hair back as she adjusted her scarf, listening intently to whatever plan the conman had up her sleeves.

"We find a girl, a look-alike and take her to Paris," she began before the blonde's eyes grew wide and shined in the desolate Russian sunrise.

"Imagine the reward the empress would pay!"

"Exactly," Shea said as she shook her friend's shoulders, the two walking towards the end of the market square.

"We need something to use to fool the dowager empress," Shea mumbled under her breath as she and Detox walked through the busy and crowded streets of St. Petersburg or— Leningrad rather.

Shea stared at the music box for a few brief moments; her memories seemed to swirl into one as the words left her lips before she had even thought about the idea.

"How much is that music box?"

She noticed her fellow con man immediately whip her head towards the peasant seller who seemed intrigued by her interest in the detailed, rusty item.

He insisted that it was priceless and was nothing but the original from the Alexander Palace itself.

"I simply can't part with such an antique!"

Detox rolled her eyes, the ex-imperial court member quickly tightening the grip of her brown fur coat as she attempted to pull along her friend.

Shea felt a smirk build across her lips as she let go of the blonde's grip around her wrist. "I'll give you an entire ration of grains, two days worth."

"Done."

They walked out before the man could even speak of a trade back, Shea ran in front of her friend, another devilish smirk across her lips. They had their plot, all they needed was a woman to be their princess and beautiful replacement.

"Do you believe in fairytales Detox?"

The blonde shook her head, "Maybe once upon a time I did, but certainly not now. Don't even know if it's allowed," she teased, though Shea chuckled holding the music box up, proud of their prize.

"We're going to create a fairytale that the entire world is going to believe, even the girl we find to play the part!"

As their feet trailed across the heavy path of snow, they spoke about a possible audition process, though Detox insisted that would get them into far too much trouble.

"We'll do it across the river, opposite of the current camp and at the abandoned theatre," Shea explained calmly as Detox frowned.

She knew it was a decent idea however that certainly wouldn't stop people from finding out somehow .

"It's a risky idea, are you sure that this is a good idea for the both of us? Money wouldn't buy our dead bodies back."

Shea nodded quickly, nothing could possibly sway the young woman's opinion on the matter.

"Hopefully disaster won't ensue."

"It'll all go smoothly, no worries, just large bags of money from the empress herself," Shea reminded as Detox finally began to accept the dangerous plan.

"We'll be rich and out of Russia, what more could you possibly want?"

"Nothing," Detox replied as she held an arm around the younger woman's shoulder. Shea cheered, insisting that they begin to look throughout St. Petersburg for their princess.

Alive or dead, who knows.

— *.✧

Sasha ran her hands through her hair, licking her fingertip as she began to tighten the braids that made up the front row of her head.

"One job interview, this is the only chance you get Sasha," the blonde repeated to herself aloud as she made her way through the heavy and cold Eastern European weather.

The orphan looked down at her brittle skin, she didn't remember a single thing about her life since she had been found by members and staff of the orphanage and taken in.

Amnesia was what the staff at the center had told her, they found it impossible that a girl couldn't remember a single thing about herself.

Her mind a cloud: no one had claimed her in the twenty years she had stayed however she refused to believe that there wasn't at least someone out there waiting for her.

Everything felt like a lost cause in her life except the dreams she had of her lost family, she could hear singing or laughter when she slept or dreamt sometimes.

All of these things seemed to only confuse her further—she wished for a sign .

The only semblance of a clue she had was Paris; it was always in her dreams, her spirit, everything she had worked for seemed to be for this one destination.

I have to have family somewhere, is it in Paris? It certainly can't be in Russia.

Sasha had managed to book herself an interview for a job down at the local market, it was to help with selling fish; not the most attractive offer but it was still money.

It was far better than the hospital in Odessa or the factory in Perm.

The twenty six year old held her hands together, her nerves beginning to rise as she passed what she knew to be Bolshevik territory.

Her eyes glanced over to the trucks that lined up across the camp and small buildings.

She wasn't technically trespassing, it was public access however she couldn't help but feel watched.

A shot rang out and the blonde screamed, immediately she fell into the snow, raising her hands to show that she meant no harm.

"It was a truck backfiring," a voice spoke clearly as the footsteps quickened towards Sasha.

The blonde was far too horrified to look before she felt a gentle tap at her shoulder, she turned and opened her eyes as she crouched on the snow.

The face of Brianna, the general of the party smiled. Sasha felt her heart race, not in a good way. "I am so sorry," she quickly began before the brunette asked her to breathe.

"It is okay, it was simply a test. Those days of neighbors fighting are over."

The Russian nodded even if her entire body seemed to vibrate. The thought of being near the general especially scared her.

"You're shaking," Brianna said aloud before taking her hand and offering to show her to a local tea shop just steps away from the building's base.

Sasha shook her head. "Thank you but no."

"What's the hurry?"

The question seemed innocent enough, though the blonde never knew how they may use it against her or twist her words.

"I cannot lose this job, I'm sorry, they're certainly not easy to come by."

Brianna nodded, it was a respectful response, though the image of this stranger, this woman, felt engraved inside of her memory.

Her soft, curly, shoulder length blonde hair and her rubbish clothing; she looked quite put together for someone who clearly had less than nothing to her name.

"I'm here everyday," she finally replied as Sasha gave a slight smile, immediately beginning to walk away and pace her own steps faster and faster towards the Market.

The intervention left the woman in shambles, her nerves clearly felt by those around her.

She couldn't bear the life of an orphan who worked at a market. This couldn't possibly be her narrative for the rest of her life.

Being near so many people seemed like a positive even if her anxiety began to trickle down, all of her thoughts focused on if she should even take the job or not.

She spent an unsuccessful hour at the common square, still looking for that tent before seeing the corner of books and magazines - her attention immediately caught by the drawing of Paris that hung on the wall.

Sasha looked at the various books, though she knew she couldn't afford them, and eventually began to listen in on the daily gossip.

The environment met with whispers by older grandmothers who spoke about a woman named Shea who was apparently holding tickets to Paris.

"They're holding auditions, you know, to try and find the princess. They'll even do all the papers to get out of Russia."

Paris?

"Where can I find this woman?" The blonde suddenly asked.

She knew it was not her business to intrude on conversation so rudely, but this seemed like the one chance she had.

It was certainly better than working with dead animals.

They turned, amused that the young lady had taken such a sudden want and interest in the idea.

One of the grandmothers mentioned something about a nearby Palace, and Sasha quickly ran off and thanked the gaggle of women that surrounded her.

Sasha had never felt herself run so fast, a twist of fate and she was now bustling back into the piles of snow for a small pinch of hope that this girl could help her out.

This is my chance, my chance to find my family.

[sagehaleyofficial]

HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK (3.4-3.10.20):

NEW MUSIC:

·         Blink-182’s Travis Barker, YUNGBLUD and Machine Gun Kelly shared that they are currently in the studio working on a brand new track for the latter’s upcoming pop-punk album, Tickets to My Downfall. Kelly also revealed other previous collaborators on his new project.

·         In a recent Instagram posts, Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba replied to a comment saying we can expect a new EP very soon. Skiba explained the three upcoming songs are mixed and mastered, and come out the day before their tour with Bad Religion.

·         Asking Alexandria revealed their sixth full-length record will be titled Like a House on Fire, which comes three years after their self-titled 2017 release and arrives on May 15th via Sumerian Records. The band also delighted fans with a single, “Antisocialist.”

·         FEVER 333 wrote, recorded and released a new song, “Presence is Strength,” in light of last Tuesday’s primary elections in 14 U.S. states. In addition to the song, lead singer Jason Aalon Butler also released a new solo track, “Bulletproof.”

·         Machine Gun Kelly gave us his new music video for “Why Are You Here” after it was leaked by a fan. The video is colorful, action-packed and centered around fruit, and Kelly went on to ask fans to stream the track as much as possible.

·         Boston Manor surprised fans with two new songs, “Ratking” and “On a High Ledge,” off of their upcoming third album Glue. The aforementioned album is set to release on May 1st via Pure Noise Records.

TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS:

·         PVRIS dropped a new song, “Dead Weight,” as well as announced the “Use Me U.S. Tour” that will take place two months prior to their tour with Halsey this summer. The tour kicks off on May 8th in Columbus, Ohio, and finishes up on June 10th in Seattle.

·         Sadly, YUNGBLUD is the latest musician to join the list of performers that have canceled shows in Asia over coronavirus concerns. The singer took to his Instagram to announce the unfortunate news.

·         My Chemical Romance officially announced another European show in St. Petersburg, Russia, which offers another look at the skeletal figure from their previous “An Offering…” video. The gig takes place two days after their performance in Moscow.

·         Falling in Reverse canceled the final show of their tour on March 4th, which was set to take place in Sacramento, California. The band cited its reasoning to drummer Johnny Mele’s food poisoning and emergency surgery for Ronnie Radke’s girlfriend, WWE’s Paige.

·         Hayley Williams is celebrating the release of her debut solo album by heading out to Europe and across North America on a tour this summer. The vocalist gave her first single, “Simmer,” its live debut at Collina Strada’s show during NY Fashion Week in mid-February.

·         Armor for Sleep revealed the support for the whole tour, Never Loved, as well as the Cold Seas for all East Coast dates and Silence of You for all West Coast and Central dates. The tour celebrates the 15th anniversary of the 2005 album What to Do When You Are Dead.

·         SXSW’s website stated they have been forced to cancel this year’s festival by the City of Austin, Texas. The festival is exploring options to reschedule the event and is working to provide a virtual SXSW online experience as soon as possible for 2020 participants.

·         Post Malone fans expressed concern for his well-being after performance videos from the second leg of his Runaway Tour began making the rounds, where he appeared unwell. The rapper has since addressed the claims from the stage of his latest tour stop.

·         Halsey played her Bring Me the Horizon collaboration “Experiment on Me” from the Birds of Prey soundtrack live for the first time in Glasgow. Prior to this date, she had been closing her sets out with the songs “Ashley,” “Gasoline” and “Without Me.”

·         Scary Kids Scaring Kids are resuming celebrating 15 years of The City Sleeps in Flames at the end of June. The band has recruited the Classic Crime, Picturesque and Eidola as supporting acts for the new leg.

·         Four Chord Music Festival is returning for its seventh year this summer in Pittsburgh. In the first wave of announcements, the annual event has revealed Blink-182 and the Used will appear as headliners at the July 11th date.

·         Linkin Park is planning on celebrating the 20th anniversary of their album Hybrid Theory all year long, asking fans for contributions to help make the events they have planned special. The band members asked fans for submissions of videos, photos and souvenirs.

·         Jimmy Eat World announced the Criminal Energy Tour in support of their latest album Surviving, which will kick off on August 6th in Atlanta and end September 5th in Phoenix. They will be joined by the Front Bottoms, Turnover and Joyce Manor.

·         City and Colour declared he is playing a one-off show in Toronto for the 15th anniversary of his debut album Sometimes. The show will take place at the Budweiser Stage on August 7th, which marks the 10th time he has performed at the venue.

·         According to YourEDM, Coachella is being moved ahead six months to give more time to assess the coronavirus outbreak. Fans and local residents initially started a petition to have organizers cancel the event over the growing issue.

·         After revealing the 320 Project, Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman and 320 Changes Direction founder Talinda Bennington announced the first-ever 320 Fest, taking place on May 9th at L.A. Live. The free event strives to bring awareness to mental health.

OTHER NEWS:

·         The Hit Like a Girl drumming contest has returned for its ninth year of competition, which gives female drummers and percussionists the opportunity to show off their skills. Executive director of the organization, David Levine, first created the contest in 2011.

·         The Maine drummer Pat Kirch and his wife Shacara Nemetz announced that their first child, Charlotte Rose, was born on Leap Day. Kirch shared photos of their family’s newest member with a brief, loving caption.

·         A new app, Jadu, was revealed that allows users to interact with holograms of their favorite musicians and share them to social media accounts. Among the app’s familiar faces are Palaye Royale, Poppy, Vic Mensa and more.

·         Green Day announced they are auctioning a guitar on Reverb.com to raise funds for ALS research. The gesture is in memory of Kim Shattuck, leader of iconic 90s punk outfit, the Muffs.

·         At the very end of their tour in Sacramento, California, the Word Alive posted that they were robbed of nearly $10,000 worth of personal effects and merchandise. In response to the crime, the band later released a new merch item, a shirt, to cover the expenses.

·         According to Deadline, Machine Gun Kelly is set to star alongside Sam Worthington in the action western film The Last Son of Isaac LeMay, which begins production in Montana next month. The rapper’s role will see him as the leader of a gang of young outlaws.

·         Dance Gavin Dance announced they are creating a graphic novel called Robot’s Tale: A Dance Gavin Dance Graphic Novel, which will hit stores this May. The book is a collaboration with Z2 Comics, which has also worked with BABYMETAL, YUNGBLUD, Poppy and more.

·         Dr. Martens and Sanrio, the creators of Hello Kitty, revealed their new collaborative line is celebrating anniversaries for both of them after they released a similar collab a decade ago. The new collection includes multiple sets of boots, kids’ footwear, sandals and a satchel.

·         On March 7th, Twitter and Reddit users realized all of Fall Out Boy’s music videos the From Under the Cork Tree era have disappeared from YouTube. In attempting to access the links, viewers are told, “Video unavailable. This video has been removed by the user.”

___

Check in next Tuesday for more “Posi Talk with Sage Haley,” only at @sagehaleyofficial!