#900-day siege

[secondworldwarremembrancedays]

Remember the Siege of Leningrad: September 1941–January 1944.

The Siege of Leningrad, also known as “the 900-day siege,” since it nearly lasted that long (in actuality, it lasted 872 days), occurred when German and Finnish forces surrounded Leningrad and took over the city.

The Soviet government had its citizenry work on building fortifications throughout the city, although the area was almost entirely encircled by invading forces by November. The siege claimed more than 650,000 Soviet lives in a single year alone due to starvation, disease, and shelling.

[Check This Out: A Soviet ‘Flying Tank’ That Crashed in 1944 Is Now Being Restored in Arizona]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Christopher Mathias at HuffPost:

A coalition of 185 social justice and religious groups published an open letter Monday expressing support for the campus protest encampments sweeping the country in opposition to Israel’s siege of Gaza, and calling on university administrators to end the brutal crackdowns of the student-led demonstrations. “We commend the students who are exercising their right to protest peacefully despite an overwhelming atmosphere of pressure, intimidation and retaliation, to raise awareness about Israel’s assault on Gaza — with U.S. weapons and funding,” the letter states. “These students have come forth with clear demands that their universities divest from corporations profiting from Israeli occupation, and demanding safe environments for Palestinians across their campuses. ” Groups that signed the letter include Gen-Z for Change, Working Families Party, IfNotNow Movement, Young Democrats of America Black Caucus, Movement for Black Lives, Sunrise Movement, MPower Change, Jewish Voice for Peace, Palestine Legal, and the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Some 900 students have been arrested during anti-war encampments and demonstrations at American universities in the last 10 days, per a tally from Al Jazeera — a tumultuous period that mirrors volatile demonstrations against the Vietnam War in 1968, when police arrested at least 700 students. The open letter Monday represents one of the largest shows of support among progressive groups for the burgeoning student protests, and makes clear the divide between establishment Democratic figures and social justice groups when it comes to U.S. support for Israel. President Joe Biden has refused so far to condition the sale of weapons to Israel. “Our communities have been horrified to see the militarized and violent response to students protesting an ongoing genocide funded and supported by our government, and our coalition of organizations join millions of our members across the country in standing in solidarity with the students’ efforts in support of the people of Gaza,” Yasmine Taeb, one of the main organizers of the letter, told HuffPost. Taeb is a human rights lawyer and political director at MPower Change, a Muslim social justice group.

“Instead of attacking young people mobilizing for Palestinian human rights, President Biden needs to listen to the majority of Americans who have been calling on him to stop funding and supporting the atrocities committed against the people of Gaza,” Taeb said.

[...] Israel has killed over 33,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7, when the Gaza-based militant group Hamas launched an attack in which nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed. In January, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s siege of Gaza — which has displaced 85% of the population and put the occupied territory on the cusp of famine — left Palestinians at risk of experiencing a genocide. Last week, health officials in Gaza said medics had discovered mass graves at hospitals raided by Israeli troops. “We join [the students] in calling for an immediate and lasting ceasefire and an end to the U.S. government’s and institutions’ role in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” Monday’s letter states. “As we stand in solidarity with the students protesting in encampments across the country, we reaffirm our commitment to amplifying their voices, condemn the university administration officials’ violent response to their activism, and demand that universities remove the presence of police and other militarized forces from their campuses,” it continues.

[...] Meanwhile, Republican Party officials and right-wing media figures have accused the demonstrations of antisemitism, falsely equating criticism of Israel with bigotry towards Jews. Although there have been scattered reports of actual antisemitic incidents at or near the encampments, many were not perpetrated by students but by interlopers. Many of the student protesters across the country are Jewish. Far-right agitators, including Christian nationalist activists, have also targeted the encampments, with MAGA pastor Sean Feucht leading hundreds of Christian and Jewish Zionists on a march around the Columbia campus on Thursday. The rally ended with pro-Israel demonstrators yelling through the gate at pro-Palestinian Columbia students. “Go back to Gaza!” they screamed.

More than 185 groups, including IfNotNow, Jewish Voice For Peace, MPower Change, and Working Families Party, signed a letter in support of the campus protests against Israel Apartheid State's genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

[sovietpostcards]

January 27, 1944 - the siege of Leningrad was lifted thus finishing the 900-day blockade of the city.

January 27th, 1944

On a January night, underneath starless skies, Disbelieving the fate it was made to refute, Resurrecting itself from the depths of demise, Leningrad stands in proud salute.

Anna Akhmatova, 1944

———

27 января 1944   И в ночи январской, беззвездной, Сам дивясь небывалой судьбе, Возвращенный из смертной бездны, Ленинград салютует себе.   Анна Ахматова, 1944 г.

[demolition-queen]

This is before and after Al-Shifa Hospital

More than 200 Palestinians were killed and more than 900 detained during the 14-day siege of Al-Shifa Hospital.

The Israelis continue to attack and especially kill innocent civilians, babies and children.

The brutality of genocide grows with each passing day.

I stand with Palestinian people. I always stand with them. They will be free one day. And that day is so close.

From the river to the sea Palestine will be free! 🇵🇸

[zephyra-in-the-house]

hi!! I was gonna ask if it’s not a spoiler, roughly how old were macaque and wukong when they met in Second Chances? also I love ur story and can’t wait until the next chapter!!! I hope everything’s going good!!!

Thank you! Things could be better at the moment but we're working through it 💪

In any case, I have been meaning to make a proper timeline of major events for Second Chances for a while now. So, since this question was asked twice, I finally got the motivation to draw up a rough timeline!!

(Disclaimer: These are not exact dates/years. They're just rough estimates of what happened and when. Also, there is a slight spoiler if you squint.)

The timline goes as such:

4300 years ago- PIF was born

4000 years ago- Macaque was born.

3930 years ago- DBK was born.

3900 years ago- Macaque left the village he was born in.

3800 years ago- Wukong was born on FFM.

3500 years ago- Macaque joined Sijumu.

3100 years ago- Wukong began training under Shifu Subodhi.

3000 years ago- Macaque was forced to bond with the shadow lantern (Yong Ye).

2901 years ago- Macaque escaped Sijumu.

2900 years ago- Macaque arrived on FFM (The Solar Eclipse).

2700 years ago- Snowy Days

2400 years ago- A group of assassins found Macaque and injured both him and Wukong (beginning scene of Ch. 3).

2300 years ago- Macaque and Wukong found their scarfs. (Shopping scene in Ch. 11)

2250 years ago- Wukong “borrowed” armor and Ruyi Jingu Bang from Ao Guang.

2000 years ago- They met DBK.

1800 years ago- Founded the Brotherhood.

1500 years ago- Wukong got recruited by the Heavens only to be positioned as a stable boy.

1400 years ago- The War on Heaven began.

1350 years ago- Princess Iron Fan was tried and acquitted for having relations with DBK.

1260 years ago- PIF and DBK got married.

1220 years ago- The 8th and final siege on Heaven ended with Wukong becoming subservient to the Jade Emporer in Heaven.

1200 years ago- The siege of Flower Fruit Mountain. Wukong was captured and thrown into the furnace while his home was burned.

800 years ago- Macaque left FFM to find Wukong.

700 years ago- Macaque was killed.

~502 years ago- DBK and PIF found out that Macaque has been dead for over 200 years. DBK went on a rampage and was then sealed under what would become Megapolis.

400 years ago- Macaque was revived by the Lady Bone Demon.

350 years ago- Macaque and Wukong met again for the first time since Macaque died.

100 years ago- Macaque was taken in and healed by Wukong on FFM.

1 year ago- LBD was defeated.

So, to answer your question, Macaque was 1100 years old and Wukong was 900 when they first met~

Thanks for the question!

[good-old-gossip]

The Palestinian civil defence said on Sunday that it found hundreds of bodies of Palestinians buried in mass graves by Israeli forces in the courtyard of Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

At least 200 bodies had been retrieved from two mass graves in the medical compound as of Sunday noon local time. As the search continued, rescuers estimated there to be at least 400 bodies.

The Gaza government media office said some of bodies found had been decapitated, and had their skin and organs removed. According to Al Jazeera, the bodies of children, elderly women and young men were among those found.

Rescue teams said some bodies had their hands bound behind their backs, suggesting they were executed and buried on the spot. Middle East Eye could not independently verify the reported conditions of the bodies.

As news of the mass graves spread, many people arrived at the hospital in the hope of finding members of their family who had gone missing.

The mass graves were discovered weeks after Israeli troops ended a three-month invasion of Khan Younis, during which ground forces repeatedly attacked Nasser hospital.

The hospital, Gaza's second-largest and the "backbone" of the health system in southern Gaza, was put out of service after deadly Israeli raids in February, when 10,000 people had been sheltering at the medical complex.

The army stormed the hospital twice following a weeks-long siege in January, during which 200 people were detained according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and hundreds of patients and displaced people sheltering in the building were forcibly removed. Medical staff reported being stripped naked, beaten and humiliated by Israeli forces, with many staff and patients targeted by sniper fire. In March, the BBC released verified footage showing detained and kneeling people inside the complex following the raid.

It also verified footage documenting 21 instances of fire targeting staff and patients during the siege. Health officials said there was no power and not enough staff in the hospital to treat around 200 patients who remained there after the siege.

According to Palestinian health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra, the hospital's generators failed, cutting the water supply, while sewage flooded emergency rooms, making it impossible for the remaining staff to treat intensive care patients.

He added that a lack of oxygen supplies, also a result of no power, caused the deaths of at least seven patients. Israel said the hospital was housing Hamas fighters, a claim it has regularly made when attacking hospitals in Gaza despite not having produced any credible evidence of a military presence inside them. This is not the first mass grave that has been unearthed at a medical facility in the Strip.

The discovery follows another earlier this month at al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, formerly Gaza's largest hospital, which was left in ruins after a two-week assault by Israeli forces in late March. Several bodies were found on Monday in the hospital's courtyard, including at least one person wearing underwear who appeared to have been "executed recently", according to an Al Jazeera Arabic reporter at the scene. After Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital on 1 April, having destroyed most of the medical complex, teams from several government ministries were deployed to al-Shifa to remove and identify bodies.

The searches were initiated after survivors said they witnessed the summary execution of Palestinians by Israeli forces during the raid. Israeli military officials said that its forces had killed 200 people and arrested 900 during the 15-day assault on the hospital. Gaza's civil defence said that around 300 people had been killed.

The army said it conducted its raid without harming civilians and medical personnel. Medical organisations and eyewitnesses strongly rejected that claim. Ahmad al-Maqadmeh, a Palestinian plastic surgeon, and his mother, Yusra al-Maqadmeh, a general practitioner, were among those killed.

[madsmilfelsen]

Hello! I'm really curious, what books/authors would you recommend to someone who's new to writing horror?

Hi! Here is what I have on hand (minus my loaned out copies of my favorite book ever Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones and Never Whistle At Night: an indigenous anthology of dark fiction which made me cry on an airplane and made the person next to me very uncomfortable, like she was just trying to build a cart at banana republic, apologies to seat 17B)

God’s Cruel Joke Lit Mag because I’m in them and will be in issue 4, too :) published either mid-January or February 2024– @labyrinthphanlivingafacade is in issue 3 with a great short story that I won’t spoil ***right now the magazines are available to purchase in physical copies but I was told all issues will be free to download as pdfs pretty soon!

Severance by Ling Ma (body horror but not in the way you think, the real horror is repetition and loneliness)

Wilder Girls by Rory Power (body horror)

The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis (adjacent the horror genre but a hell of a read)

ANYTHING BY STEPHAN GRAHAM JONES ANYTHING

We Have Always Lived in a Castle by Shirely Jackson (I read this for the first time last spring boy howdy, I also included The Lottery for its suspense)

Dean Koontz because my husband suggested it for the list— this was just the first title I grabbed, I think he said Patrician Crowell too but I was busy looking for Mongrels

A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans (I didn’t finish this because depression set in shortly after I started but the first chapter plays with second pov which I really liked, I’m determined to read it this year)

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (I really enjoyed HBO’s adaptation)

The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey (likely the only zombie stories that made me weep uncontrollably)

Girls & Sex by Peggy Orenstein (non-fiction: explores modern young women navigating sexuality and because I have a thing for loss of autonomy— it’s been a few years since I read it but there is discussion of sexual assault, but I appreciate the expanse of her research and even included a conversation with someone who is asexual)

Black Leopard Red Wolf by Marlon James (got a chill just typing this out— the audio book is exquisite)

You’ll notice some nonfiction because, as a historian undergrad, nothing scares me more than man. The battles of Leningrad and Stalingrad are particularly stomach churning. America’s Reconstruction Era is full of acted out malice and under taught in my opinion.

An Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

The 900 Days, The Siege of Leningrad by Harrison E. Salisbury

Enemy at the Gates by William Craig

(On the other side of WW2 I have a book of the experiences of German solider’s left over from a paper I wrote on the inadequacy of Nazi uniforms and how it expedited their failure in Russia, Frontsoldaten by Stephen G. Fritz)

Stony the Road by Henry Louis Gates, Jr (one of my favorite authors, try finding “How Reconstruction Still Shapes American Racism” Time Magazine, April 2, 2019, I used it as a source for a paper on the history of voting rights)

Bloodstoppers and Bearwalkers— folk tales of Canadians, Lumberjacks & Indians by Richard M. Dorson (published around 1952 but content collected from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the 40’s)

Raven Tells Stories: An Anthology of Alaskan Native Writing (I’m Alutiiq and the museum on Kodiak has a lot of stories recorded under Alutiiq Museum Podcast— my kids and I listen on Spotify)

I think the genre of horror is really mastering tension and playing on peoples fears which is why I included old school folk stories (An Underground Education had a great write up on the Grimm Brothers and the original fairy tales from around the world such as the Chinese and Egyptian Cinderella, as well as several different sections of funny tales, torture techniques, absolute weirdos etc etc) in this vein of thought The Uses of Enchanment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales by Bruno Bettelheim could prove to be useful

If you’re writing a character with Bad Parents— Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents and Toxic Parents (it has a longer subtitle but I don’t see my copy anywhere) might be able to help you shape character traits

I reached out to @littleredwritingcat who has a mind plentiful in sources who recommended

The Gathering Dark: an anthology of folk horror (I will be picking this one up asap)

Toll by Cherie Priest (southern gothic)

Anything by Jennifer MacMahon

The Elementals by Michael McDowell

[itstokkii]

Turkuzbek hcs because I don't give them enough love!!!!

Age: I was talking to a couple of friends about this! @peonycats believes turkey to be born around the years 900-1000 CE. meanwhile, uzbekistan would be born around the late 1200s, meaning that turkey's older than uzb by 300 years... 😔 rip my sexy milf uzb hcs...

History: they go wayy back. the Timurid Empire actually had a battle with the Ottoman Empire, largely out of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I's concern that the Timurids were expanding too far west. while the Ottomans were heading to the east, Timur's forces cut from behind and sieged Ankara, which started the Battle of Ankara(1402). the Timurid Empire won, also holding the title to being the only ones to capture an Ottoman Sultan in person in all of the Ottoman Empire's history. Not only that, but the Timurid Empire kinda caused a civil war in the Ottoman Empire due to the Sultan dying in captivity, causing all his sons to fight about who the legitimate heir was.

Nothing says teenage romance like causing a civil war in someone's empire and starting a record that was never broken for all 700 years of its history ❤️

(it's also said that allegedly the sultan was kept in a gold cage...)

turkey jokes about her bloodthirsty era, to which she tries smashing her face into his neck and slapping his shoulders "stop!!! I was 17 back then ok 😭😭" but will also say "ok but we caused a civil war at your place so"

after the Timurid Empire collapsed, the Ottomans and Uzbeks got along better. the Khwarazm and Bukhara khanates asked turkey to help them with the threat of russian expansion. and the Ottomans and uzbeks worked together to launch offensives against Iran in the late 1500s to early 1600s.

unfortunately i don't really have much for turkuzbek during the rule of imperial russia and the ussr as they barely interacted, and though turkey was the first nation to recognize uzbekistan's independence, relations soured during the first president's administration due to um. Driving turkish companies out because they had prayer mats in their offices 💀💀

BUT after the first president karimov died, the vice president mirziyoyev began to issue reforms and lifted bans on religious activity, causing a revival of islam in uzbekistan. turkey was all for it, so they began to get closer than ever. That's where they currently are in terms of relationships!

hcs:

THEY ARE LOSER HUSBAND X PRETTY WIFE THEY REALLY AREEE

you know when you have that trusted, dependable friend and one night at a sleepover they wanna tell you something and they confess to having a crush on the WORST person for them but they're head over heels in love? yeah that's uzbekistan 😔

she may be younger but if you didn't know it, you'd assume she's the older one based on maturity.

when they do get together, kazakhstan and kyrgyzstan are both...shocked. kazakhstan just thinks turkey's ego is massively inflated and that russia wouldn't appreciate their relationship getting closer, limiting russian economic support, whereas kyrgyzstan looks like one of those stick figures violence reaction images and kazakhstan has to hold him back

he's definitely the type of guy to slam his hand against the wall and corner her just to see her facial expression

he also calls her "Nargiz," a nickname of her name "Nargiza" which also alters her brain chemistry

though, i want to think that uzbekistan does try to make her move...just in private. idk how she'd do that use your imagination i guess?

even when they're in an established relationship, she's mostly affectionate in private. the most turkey's gonna get out of her in public is....h*nd h*lding or arm clutching but even then...she won't do that until they're married(turkuzbek wedding when???)

uzbekistan reading or scrolling through her phone after a long day of work and turkeys like "nargiz...pay attention to me......come on let's make tea......"

They give each other shoulder massages occasionally

when turkey catches uzbekistan reading he joins her

🇹🇷: hey stop turning the pages so quickly

🇺🇿: i can't stay on this page forever

one second he's talking about how manly of a man he is, next second he asks uzbekistan to cuddle him

they both love cats! and they occasionally have friendly fights about who's more hospitable

turkey and uzbekistan also argue about who did it wrong(uzbek osh vs turkish pilaf, and turkey gets upset at uzbekistan's pahlava because "it's a cheap ripoff")

i was reading about strengthening turkey uzbekistan relations and the article said something like "together, the uzbek and turkish presidents band together as hanafi against the wahabi-salafism sect" so imagining this whole convo:

🇸🇦 circa 2018: congratulations on getting your religious freedom back, uzbekistan! what is your next step moving forward?

🇺🇿: well actually i-

🇹🇷: she's with me lol

turkey has a weird obsession with mongolia and the casians' nomadic pasts

🇹🇷: HELLO MY TURKIC MONGOLIC NOMADIC ISLAMIC MARE MILK DRINKING HORSE RIDING STEPPE BROTHERS AND SISTERS

🇺🇿: im sorry sir this is a choyxona(tea house/restaurant)

though turkey is a fellow islamic nation and they do belong to the same sect as uzbeks do, uzbekistan is still a little stricter. lots of turkish dramas had scenes cut from the uzbek premiere, and some dramas were just...not broadcasted due to...spicy scenes(making out i guess??)

🇹🇷: awww, come on they cut out my favorite scene

🇺🇿: your what 😃🔪

they also get along because they have similar tastes in tea! might as well call them tea lovers

turkey prefers his tea with sugar, whereas uzbekistan just drinks it without.

russia looked down on her and the rest of the central asians because "they were in their ignorant peasant barbarian era before I came and changed everything for the better!!!!"

she also had to unhealthily bottle her feelings of nervousness, anxiety, and overwhelming anger as russia kept taking and taking from uzbekistan(things like cotton, and forcing the aral sea into irrigation, causing the 4th largest freshwater lake in the world to dry up), giving little back or nothing at all to uzbekistan

so one of my earliest turkuzbek hcs was that turkey helps her recover from nightmares by the ussr despite her not telling him what happened, and trying to get her to calm down with tea and desserts and that's when she realized she liked him so much.

saudi arabia initially didn't believe someone as "sensible and mature" as uzbekistan would get with turkey, until she herself confirmed it to him 😔 he mourns the loss of another normal person...

🇸🇦: Dear Diary, today we lost the land of Al Tirmidhi...Al Bukhari...our last bastion...to Turkey...now my allies are no more...

turkuzbek use scent as comfort. when one has to go back home after a meeting or event, the other spends the night hugging the pillow they slept with, or wearing a jacket or other article of clothing they left behind.

they steal each other's clothes for this reason!

back in like...2020 a turkish director partnered with the Uzbek Ministry of Culture and Sports to make the Mendirman Jaloliddin drama based on the last ruler of the Khwarazmian Empire before it fell to the Mongols. so anyways they're hyping up their country's actors before they go on set, and meanwhile all actors from both countries see how turkuzbek are and ship it as well lolol

and lastly: just because I'm also korean...soojin is their wingman lolol

This is all my brain could record, so if anyone has anything to add, please do not hesitate and add your hcs!

[glorf1ndel]

You Remind Me of My Brother (~900 words, gen)

For Day 1 of @tolkiengenweek, inspired by the prompt "mentorship." Peregrin Took, as seen through Boromir and Faramir's eyes. Or: the time Pippin kicked Boromir's ass.

Read on Ao3 or below!

In early January of the year 3019, on an outcrop deep in the wilds, Peregrin Took and Boromir spar on the long journey to Mordor. The rest of the Fellowship is eating breakfast, but Pippin is anxious to learn the art of swordsmanship. Besides, he’s already scarfed down three helpings of rabbit. When Boromir knocks the hobbit down for the third time in a row, Pippin almost regrets eating. (Almost.) He leaps to his feet and brushes himself off, ready to try again.

Boromir lands another blow, and Pippin falls to the ground.

“This is ridiculous. I could kick Boromir’s ass,” Pippin whispers to Merry – a bit too loudly, because Boromir himself bursts out laughing and says,

“With a little more practice.”

Pippin swerves around.

“Oh, you don’t think I can do it, can you?” He asks, then bats at Boromir’s leg with his wooden sword. “Take that!”

Boromir, to his credit, collapses, still chucking. Merry rolls his eyes, but he, too, is smiling. Pippin extends a hand to Boromir in triumph, helping him to his feet.

“You have a determined heart, Pippin of the Shire,” Boromir marvels. “In fact, you remind me of my brother.”

“Really?” Pippin beams. “What’s he like?”

“His name is Faramir. He is a good warrior, but what he is best known for among the soldiers of Gondor is his desire to better himself. As a child, he constantly sought our father’s approval. I think he still does,” Boromir says with a sigh. “Our father is… Not the most reassuring man. He appreciates strength, not effort, and he has always gone out of his way to make that clear to Faramir.”

Pippin purses his lips, brow furrowed in thought.

“But what is significant about my brother,” Boromir continues, “Is that he is always striving to do more, to be more. He longs to live up to our father’s expectations, but more than that, his goal is to look in the mirror and feel proud of himself. That’s what makes him a person of quality.”

At this, Pippin nods.

“I think I understand,” he says. “Your brother never gives up.”

“That’s right. It’s why I admire him so.”

“I hope I can meet him someday,” Pippin muses. “And when I do, I’ll tell him all about the time I beat you in a fight.”

“Will you?” Boromir grins. “Then you’d better keep practicing!”

As it turns out, their practices are cut short, and neither of them makes it to Mordor.

After Amon Hen, Pippin mourns Boromir. Continuing the Fellowship’s journey feels wrong when they’ve lost a fellow. Aragorn explains that such is the nature of grief, a hole in one’s life that expands and contracts but never goes away. Pippin has never felt an emotion as big as this before –

Until he gazes into the Palantír and sees the Eye, and he understands fear. Pippin tells the enemy nothing, save for a constant plea to get out of his head. (And a few choice curse words.) Still, the disappointment in Gandalf’s eyes is evident, so when the wizard insists that Pippin travel with him to Minas Tirith, what can the hobbit do but oblige? Besides, Pippin is curious about the capital of Gondor, and it’s not the same sort of curiosity that drove him to look into the Palantír.

Minas Tirith, Pippin thinks, was Boromir’s home.

When Pippin meets Faramir, he sees the truth of Boromir’s words: his brother is determined, and their father, the Steward of Gondor, doesn’t appreciate him. Gandalf doesn’t know what possesses Pippin to pledge his allegiance to Denethor, but Pippin sees the sad look in the man’s eyes, and Aragorn’s words resound inside his head: grief never goes away.

The war goes on. Pippin continues to train. He walks beside Faramir as Guard of the Citadel, and he befriends this man whose gaze is an echo of Boromir’s: softer, but fierce at its core.

Then the siege of the city begins, and Denethor goes mad. Pippin stands in the funeral chamber, unsettled. He knows what it’s like to feel an all-consuming feeling – but when he sees Denethor climb onto the pyre and the guards drag Faramir’s body into the chamber, he realizes that something is wrong. For Pippin can see the rise and fall of Faramir’s chest, weak though his breathing is. Would Denethor take himself and his only living son to the grave?

“No,” Pippin sobs, clawing at Denethor’s robes. “Don’t do this to yourself. He’s alive – he’s alive!”

Pippin is promptly kicked out of the chamber, but he doesn’t yield. Gandalf will know what to do,he thinks. Sure enough, with the wizard’s help, Pippin rescues Faramir. They are unable to do the same for Denethor, and the sight of him on fire, running toward his own destruction, burns itself into Pippin’s mind more deeply than the image of the Eye ever could.

Days pass. Pippin does not leave Faramir’s bedside until he wakes. The hobbit has been more loyal to Faramir than anyone else in the man’s life, save for Boromir. Yet Pippin still does not expect it when Faramir opens his eyes, smiles at the sight of him, and murmurs,

“You, Peregrin Took, remind me of my brother.”

Pippin laughs – he even cries, a little – and then he says,

“Well, then. Let me tell you about the time I kicked his ass.”

****

Thank you for reading. ♡ If you'd like, leave a comment or kudos on Ao3, or like and reblog this post!

[darkmaga-retard]

https://www.globalresearch.ca/usa-help-israel-kill-palestinians-steal-land/5865096

Will the U.S. Continue to Help Israel Kill Palestinians and Steal Their Land Right Up to the November Elections?

By Jay Janson

Global Research, August 12, 2024

With coverage of the Paris Olympics and the novelty of a woman presidential candidate, and her ever provocative rival former President Trump vying for public attention, it will be some time before much CIA-overseen main stream media attention, if any, will revert to modest coverage of the colossal loss of Palestinian life in Gaza and the West Bank. 

Will Any Powerful Global South Media Source Arise in the Meantime to bring public attention… 

– to the Israeli slaughter of Palestinians with U.S. weapons and ammo? – to the Israeli seizure of Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem? – to the generations long  illegal Israeli military occupation of Palestine? – to Israeli ‘right’ to imprison all of Gaza’s population? – to Israeli denial of Palestinian freedom as a nation. 

BBC, Jun 7, 2024 — The UN has added the Israeli military to a list of offenders failing to protect children. 

CNN, June 7, 2024 — UN adds Israel to global list of offenders that harm children

Will the Global South  See the Murderous Nature of the U.S. Gov. in the Many Thousands of Murdered and Maimed Dear Palestinian Children

Quoting from “Gaza genocide enters month 11 as Israel provokes regional war in Palestine” by Maureen Clare Murphy, 08/08/2024, Counter Currents, Kerala, India

The government media office in Gaza says that since the beginning of Israel’s offensive in early October, more than 39,650 fatalities had been received at hospitals, including 16,365 children and more than 11,000 women, indicating that the vast majority of Palestinians killed were civilians. An additional 10,000 people remain missing under the rubble or their bodies not yet recovered from the streets or inaccessible areas.

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor estimates that at least an additional 51,000 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel’s siege on Gaza and its deliberate collapse of the medical sector in the territory, as well as the widespread destruction of infrastructure and mass displacement of civilians, leading to the spread of disease.

Nearly three dozen hospitals and 68 health centers in Gaza have been knocked out of service due to Israel’s assault. Israel’s military offensive has inflicted $33 billion in “direct initial losses” overall, the government media office added.

After more than 300 days of genocide, the media office said, more than 91,500 people in Gaza had been injured, at least 36 people had starved to death, while nearly 900 medical workers and nearly 80 civil defense members were killed.

That the Israeli military had dropped 82,000 tons of explosives on Gaza, according to the office, destroying homes, universities, schools, mosques, churches, government buildings, sports and recreation facilities, water and hygiene infrastructure, and archaeological and heritage sites.

Meanwhile, Gaza has gone 300 days without electricity, the government media office said on Friday after Israel cut off the supply of power on 7 October and the only power plant in the territory was forced to shut down four days later after running out of fuel.

In what is widely cited as proof of Israel’s genocidal intent, Ghassan Alian, the head of the military body that deals with the civil administration of the occupation, said back in early October that “Israel has imposed a total blockade on Gaza, no electricity, no water, just damage.”

The absence of electricity has prevented the normal operation of vital infrastructure and services for Gaza’s population, which before the war stood at 2.3 million Palestinians. This includes health, water and sanitation facilities, schools, flour mills and bakeries. The resulting environmental catastrophe has allowed for the spread of diseases and the emergence of the highly infectious polio virus and meningitis.

The devilish commander of this living hell, Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, was recently given standing ovations by most of the senators and representatives of a joint session of the U.S. Congress.

About 90 percent of children in Gaza lack nutrition and face “severe” threats to their “survival, growth and development”, according to the United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF.

[mariacallous]

MADRID, PARIS and LONDON (JTA) — As the bloody war in Israel and Gaza continues to escalate, many European Jews are bracing for reverberations far from the frontlines.

On Saturday, Hamas launched a surprise attack by land, air and sea, killing at least 900 Israelis, wounding more than 2,000 and taking more than 100 captive. Israel has responded with airstrikes that have killed close to 700 Palestinians. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip, while Hamas has threatened to execute its civilian hostages.

But in cities across Europe, crowds have celebrated just streets away from vigils for the dead. Groups cheering the Hamas assault as “Palestinian resistance” to the Israeli occupation have danced on the street in London and handed out sweets in Berlin. In France, far-left movements called the terror attack “heroic.”

Jewish communal officials in Europe anticipate that the fighting in Israel will ignite antisemitic threats in their communities. Police have increased surveillance around synagogues, Jewish schools and other institutions in Germany, Britain, France and Spain.

Germany

Berlin police were on alert Saturday night, just hours after Hamas’ incursion, as dozens of people gathered to cheer and hold up victory signs on the Sonnenallee, a boulevard in the city. Police announced they disbanded the gathering for chants “glorifying violence” and made multiple arrests. Two officers were injured in the clashes. Earlier in the day, officers also responded to activists who were celebrating with baked sweets while draped in Palestinian flags.

“An escalation of the situation in Israel unfortunately always has an impact on our community,” said Ilan Kiesling, a spokesperson for the Jewish Community of Berlin group.

Kiesling told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the fighting in Israel and Gaza triggered “great uncertainty” in the local community, with parents asking for detailed information about the security measures in kindergartens and schools.

The Central Council for Jews in Germany also said it was in close contact with security authorities to ensure that Jewish institutions nationwide had heightened protection.

“No violence, no riots and no hatred on German streets,” the group said in a statement.

Britain

In London, Daniel Sugarman saw that a local kosher restaurant had its glass door shattered on Monday morning. Pita, a business in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Golders Green, reported its cash register was stolen. New graffiti that read “Free Palestine” also appeared on a bridge nearby, though it is not known if the slogan and the burglary are connected.

The Metropolitan Police Service told the JTA that no arrest has been made and the incident is not currently being treated as a hate crime. But Sugarman, Director of Public Affairs for the Board of Deputies of British Jews, worried the fighting in Israel would set off hate in his community.

“This is about trying to make British Jews feel unwelcome and threatened where they live,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Mayor Sadiq Khan condemned the incident, saying he stood with Jewish Londoners and the culprit would “face the full force of the law.”

The Community Security Trust (CST), a charity dedicated to security for British Jews, reported  an increase in antisemitic abuse and threats over the past few days, and said it was prepared for more serious attacks.

“The number of incidents that have come in since Saturday is running at roughly triple what we would normally expect for this period,” Dave Rich, head of policy at the CST, told the JTA.

“We expect that number to go up,” Rich added. “We are still logging and verifying things before they are put into the system.”

The Metropolitan Police confirmed it was increasing patrols across the city and providing safety advice to synagogues, mosques and businesses. Officers said they have attended to some “low level public order incidents” that circulated on social media, such as a celebration in the Acton area in which a group of men danced, cheered and waved Palestinian flags while cars honked in support, but all of the incidents were resolved without arrests.

The CST was working closely with the police to ensure it has a reinforced presence in Jewish areas. “We are not starting from scratch,” Rich said. “We’ve been around this course several times before. We have built up plans over many years.”

France

In France, which has the largest Jewish population in Europe, police have arrested 10 people in connection with 20 reported antisemitic incidents since the Hamas assault. The reports include threats to synagogues and to customers who have visited Jewish businesses. Police also received a flood of complaints about antisemitic hate speech and glorification of terrorism online, resulting in 44 open investigations.

This spike in incidents over three days was “dramatic,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Monday, announcing reinforced security measures in 400 Jewish gathering places across France. As a sign of solidarity with Israel, the Eiffel Tower was lit in white and blue, the colors of the Israeli flag, on Monday night.

A segment of the country’s political left has distanced itself from near-unanimous condemnations of the Hamas offensive within the French political class. Some self-described “post-colonial” movements on and parties on the far left in France have praised the attacks.

Among them is the Indigenous Party, which tweeted on Sunday, “May the Palestinian Resistance, which carries out its actions with determination and confidence in heroic conditions, receive our militant fraternity in these terrible hours. Palestine will triumph, and its Victory will be ours.”

The statement sparked public outrage and calls for the party’s dissolution. Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, director of the American Jewish Committee in France and several other European countries, noted that penalties for advocating terrorism in France can reach five years’ imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros. Offenses committed on social media can lead to seven years of imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 euros, taking into account the broader reach of such activity online.

Myriam Ackermann-Sommer, the first Modern Orthodox female rabbi in France, said her community was stung by the way some political leaders had celebrated Hamas’ acts of terror.

“Of course, we were hurt by how far-left parties have reacted. Many people in our congregation consider themselves on the left of the political spectrum and this is very hurtful to them,” she told JTA.

Rabbi Yves Marciano of Paris’ Les Tournelles Synagogue said that while bolstered security around places of worship was helpful, the risk to individuals is often greatest when they are not at synagogue.

“With my kippah, I can be seen from afar,” he said. “I am identified and identifiable. And, Mr. Darmanin can’t do anything about that. So, we are very worried about the near future.”

Spain

In Spain, Madrid’s main synagogue in the heart of the Chamberí district was defaced with graffiti that read “Free Palestine” next to a crossed-out Star of David on Sunday. Officials from the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain told the JTA the graffiti was removed from the synagogue’s main doors a couple of hours after its discovery.

The Spanish interior ministry has also bolstered police surveillance around synagogues and Jewish landmarks, according to Isaac Benzaquén Pinto, president of the Jewish federation. There are an estimated 12,000-15,000 Jews living in Madrid.

“Our community has always been known for being tightly knit whenever it is targeted, and this is an attack on Israel and all of Jewry as a whole. We stand unconditionally with the victims, all of them, the State of Israel and its army whose mission is to defend its people,” said Benzaquén Pinto.

In Ceuta, a small Spanish enclave on the North African coast near Morocco notable for its concentration of Spanish Jews, local authorities have particularly reinforced police surveillance and protection at the local synagogue and Jewish cemetery. Jews in Ceuta, mostly of Sephardic descent, have historically been targeted by antisemitism due to the geopolitical situation of the region, including a series of antisemitic incidents in recent years.

“As to this new wave of violence against Israel and the Jewish people, unfortunately, this is not new. We, as well as international organizations and the European Union, have been condemning this renewed surge of violence for a long time,” said Benzaquén Pinto.

Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida called the Hamas attack “unjustifiable” on Monday. He expressed concern that members of the Sumar political coalition — which includes far-left and green parties and is working to join a ruling parliamentary coalition after elections in July — hesitated to denounce Hamas.

The far-left Podemos party posted on X that the violence in Israel and Gaza was the fruit of Israel’s occupation and avoided outright condemnation of Hamas’ actions. On Monday night, the party led hundreds of people in a demonstration at Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square to “convey all our solidarity to the Palestinian people.” Demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Zionist State, terrorist State” and “It is not a war, it is a genocide.”

The Anti-Defamation League reported a spike in antisemitic rhetoric online during the 18 hours after war broke out on Saturday. Its data indicated that extremists and white supremacists across the world were emboldened in online spaces, some cheering Hamas, some circulating conspiracy theories and some discussing hopes for violence against Jews in the rest of the world.

[kaydeefalls]

would love some director's commentary on basically any part of Carthaginians you'd like to talk about, but my favourite part was the second last chapter/the siege itself and I'd love to know how you worked out what trajectory to take the characters on through all the historical records. would also love to know more of your thoughts on Yusuf and Nico's backstory and families, if you have thoughts!

Thanks! <3 All right, Carthaginians, let's go.

The siege - or, more specifically, the final Fall of Carthage - was definitely what came first in terms of planning out this fic. When I first had the idea of writing Joe & Nicky's backstory further back in history, the Punic Wars were a logical setting to start with due to simple geography - Carthage being in modern day Tunisia, and Rome being, well, Rome.

So as with any vague idea, I started with a wikipedia deep dive, kind of assuming that I'd stick to the general canon template of them killing each other for the first time in battle and then becoming lovers afterward. But I immediately stumbled across the fact that Carthage's final stand, after the city had surrendered, consisted of about 900 Roman defectors in the Temple of Eshmoun setting the temple on fire around them rather than allowing Rome to execute them. Which. So that was obviously going to Nicky's arc. Which meant he would have to defect to Carthage much earlier on. Which meant I could give him and Joe a much richer relationship build over the course of the war itself. At that point, there was no question that their first deaths would be more of a suicide pact due to having no other options. I thought about having them, IDK, leap off the temple roof together or something, but nah, it felt much stronger to have them kill each other directly, as per canon, but with a complete subversion of what got them to that point.

I wrote chronologically and posted as I went, but it definitely helped going in to know exactly where they had to end up. For example, I deliberately seeded their exact dialogue together in the temple at the end of the siege as lines in their very first idle political debate in Rome in chapter one, so that Nicky could do a complete 180 on his initial stance in the debate by the end.

Embarrassingly, while that was all planned out from the beginning, I was WELL into the middle of the fic before realizing that, uh, Eshmoun is literally the god of healing. I mean, I knew that from the start, but I literally had my own personal OH DUH moment that they would be dying and resurrecting for the first time in the temple of the god of healing, and would OF COURSE think that Eshmoun himself had literally healed them due to their sacrifice on his own figurative altar. So that was an incredibly lucky piece of historical fact to tie into the immortality narrative.

In terms of their family backstories there - I think Yusuf's is about as fleshed out in the fic as it's going to be, it's all his POV and I included all the family info/dynamics I'd thought about. Nicky's didn't get as much detail in the fic, since we're never in his head and he didn't talk about it as much, but his family was the rough equivalent of landed gentry back in Genua - relatively high status for his own tribe, but doesn't mean much to the Roman Republic as a whole. They were granted Roman citizenship when the Genuates allied with Rome, and Nicky received a formal education, but their family wealth took a huge hit during the second Punic War (when Carthage sacked the city) and never really recovered, which is why Nicky left to join the Roman army and make his own fortune. I think he's not the oldest of his siblings - not the one expected to inherit and carry on the family legacy - but probably the second son, with several younger siblings in the mix as well. He has a strained relationship with his father and a better one with his mother, who I imagine died before he left home. He misses his younger sibs, who he helped raise, but never returns to Genua in their lifetimes.

So...yeah! I spent all year with the world of this fic in my head, it's been hard to let go of it. Thank you for asking!

[sovietpostcards]

"Onwards to breaking the siege!"

January 18, 1943: the encirclement of Leningrad is broken and a land corridor to the city is established. The city will be under siege for another year, but the corridor allowed evacuation and food supply.

Over the course of the siege (900 days), 630,000 civilians died of starvation.

[tieflingkisser]

Canadian-Palestinian nurse shows death and destruction caused by Israeli siege of al-Shifa hospital

“Everywhere you go, you’re able to find dead bodies.” Ahmed Kouta, a Canadian-Palestinian man who worked in Gaza as a nurse, walked through the ruins of al-Shifa hospital on Monday after Israeli forces withdrew from the medical complex following a siege that lasted over two weeks. In the footage, he shows how departments have been left unrecognisable and that corpses and pieces of dead bodies can be found everywhere. Israeli military officials said on Monday that its forces killed 200 people and arrested 900 during its 15-day military assault on the hospital. Gaza’s civil defence put the figure of those killed at around 300. The army said it conducted the raid without harming civilians or medical personnel, but medical organisations and eyewitnesses have strongly rejected the claim.

[antizionistrussophile64]

January 27, 2004

Vladimir Putin went to St Petersburg for the 60th anniversary of the lifting of the siege of the city. He paid tribute to those who perished during those terrible years and visited the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery and the Nevsky Pyatachok (Neva Bridgehead) outside Kirovsk. From the very start of the 900-day siege of the city, the outnumbered Red Army managed to hold off the Nazi forces. Vladimir Putin’s father helped defend the Neva Bridgehead. During the war, this small 3-km section of the frontline south of Leningrad (now St Petersburg) was vital to the defense of the city. The President met with Kirovsk pensioners and later chaired a meeting on assistance for senior citizens. He ordered that recipients of medals for the defense of Leningrad receive the same benefits as war veterans. In the afternoon, Vladimir Putin attended a meeting of veterans commemorating the events of February 1944.

[bopinion]

2024 / 04

Aperçu of the Week:

"It's supposed to be hard. If it were easy, everyone would do it."

(Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan in "A League of Their Own" 1992)

Bad News of the Week:

"The long march of cultural Marxism through our institutions has come to pass. The federal government is a behemoth, weaponized against American citizens and conservative values, with freedom and liberty under siege as never before." Is this a statement of a lunatic holed up in the basement waiting for the social apocalypse? No, it comes from Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation. And it is the foreword to "Mandate for Leadership" of the "Project 2025 - Presidential Transition Project" - in effect Donald Jessica Trump's government program.

The almost 900-page paper outlines a takeover of power that has probably never before been prepared in such detail and, above all, publicly. It is intended to be the blueprint for the actions of a new conservative government. Which will be quite radical. Of course, this is not official, but the personal intertwining of this party-political think tank, the institutional MAGA heads and Trump's slowly crystallizing shadow cabinet alone makes you sit up and take notice.

Here are just three examples that should make every upright Democrat angry: The USA should withdraw from the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund - because global elites contradict US sovereignty and only cost money unnecessarily. The "war on fossil fuels" should finally be ended - because these are "not an environmental problem, but the blood of the economic cycle". The country's external borders are to be "sealed", especially trade with China is to be stopped - because undermining the country's industrial base has to be stopped.

However, the core of "Project 2025" is the personnel policy. Project leader Paul Dans writes "Our goal is to create an army of tested, trained and prepared conservatives who will set about dismantling the administrative state from day one". And Dans is not just anyone: during Trump's first term in office, he was jointly responsible for personnel policy in the White House.

For Trump, the years in the White House were above all a story of betrayal, as he describes it today. By bureaucrats and RINOs ("Republican in name only") who refused to give him the unconditional allegiance he expected. This time he will purge all leadership positions in all institutions of members of the establishment and the Deep State. He has learned that he must also control the bureaucracy. And he will leave his mark on the USA for years to come.

With the arch-conservative dominance he has created in the Supreme Court, Trump himself has set the benchmark for this. He has also reorganized the EPA (Environment Protection Agency), pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran, imposed punitive tariffs on China and Europe, withdrawn US troops from Syria, courted Vladimir Putin and left the Paris Climate Agreement.

Trump has achieved all of this against stubborn resistance. The "adults in the room", officials who remained in bureaucratic positions, prevented him from doing even more, such as leaving NATO or denying entry to Muslims across the border. He sees that as a mistake - one he would certainly not repeat. I don't like Nikki Haley. Neither programmatically nor personally. But she would be the lesser of two evils. After all, she doesn't want to lay the cornerstones of the Western community of values to waste. After all.

Good News of the Week:

There could be positive movement in the Gaza war. According to a report in the "New York Times", which cites US government circles, an agreement between Israel and Hamas could be imminent. According to the report, it's about the release of hostages and a ceasefire. Discussions on a corresponding draft were to begin in Paris on Sunday.

The draft had been drawn up by US negotiators on the basis of proposals from Israel and the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas. The two-stage deal envisages Hamas releasing more than 100 hostages in return for Israel ceasing its military operations in the Gaza Strip for around two months. This is linked to the hope that a lasting solution can be brokered in the meantime.

I take a critical view of the somewhat sparse composition of the consultations: in addition to the USA, which are chaired by CIA chief William Burns, only representatives of Israel, Egypt and Qatar are taking part. They are also only sending the second guard in terms of personnel. After all, Joe Biden would have discussed the talks with the heads of state of Egypt and Qatar in advance. And in the evening, Israel's first statement was that although there was a "considerable gap", the talks were constructive. So fingers crossed.

Perhaps this will happen just in time before the feared conflagration in the eternal Middle East conflict occurs. From the Houthi rebels to the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Iranian regime - which has just achieved a breakthrough in the development of missile technology - to Russia and China, many are just waiting for the USA to withdraw from the region even further than it did under Obama. And the way is clear to attack Israel as a "western bridgehead".

Personal happy moment of the week:

My 15-year-old son cooked. For the first time, not according to personal taste (although his lasagna is legendary) or a hot tip from a TikTok video. But according to a recipe. And it worked: when I got home, dinner was ready, the table was set, nothing had gone wrong and even the mess in the kitchen was kept within pleasant limits. Very nice. Please do this once a week now. Thank you.

I couldn't care less...

...that there will soon no longer be a shortage of teachers at German elementary school. Because if you take a closer look at this Bertelsmann study, you will learn why: the coming low-birth cohorts will simply need fewer teachers. Great solution, you incompetent education policy!

It's fine with me...

...that the French capital is fighting back against the farmers' protests. I live in a farming village myself and have the greatest respect for this profession. Nevertheless, I lack a little understanding for their unwillingness to move a little in the face of changing conditions too. When I look at the budget distribution in the EU (I don't know the French budget), there is no group that is subsidized more. If whoever, wherever, whenever starts to introduce real costs, I will be there enthusiastically - because that is the real problem.

As I write this...

...I am driving home from an annual company event in Baden-Württemberg. Where employees from different locations meet, who otherwise usually only know each other by phone or from online meetings. This time, too, there was an interesting exchange, excellent food and a good mood. It was just a shame that I had to miss a friend's 50th birthday, which was taking place at the same time. One negative highlight of the evening was completely unexpected: an armed hostage situation occurred a few houses away from us, but it ended well. It was probably just random luck that the perpetrator hadn't chosen the location we were in. Phew...

Post Scriptum

At the European Party Conference, the Social Democratic SPD sent its lead candidate Katarina Barley into the upcoming elections with a tailwind. The Vice-President of the European Parliament received 98.7% of the vote and a fairly clear program for Europe and against the right. What is astonishing is the prominent role that Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to play in the election campaign, as his poll ratings are in the basement. The argument in his favor is simple - and true: he has proven himself to be a convinced European and achieved quite something in the two years of his government so far. I hope that the European elections will focus precisely on this. And that it is not misused as a wave of protest against the traffic light coalition. Because Germany needs Europe at least as much as Europe needs Germany.