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stephensmithuk · 6 months

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His Last Bow

Originally titled in full "His Last Bow. The War Service of Sherlock Holmes" and later "His Last Bow: An Epilogue of Sherlock Holmes", this was originally published in 1917.

It is the final story in His Last Bow, the final short story in the canon covered by Letters from Watson and agreed by all the key chronologists to be the final canon appearance of Holmes and Watson.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had openly supported British entry into the First World War in 1914.

The story came about after a visit to the Western Front in 1916; asked by a French general what Holmes was doing, Doyle had responded that he was too old to serve. He then decided to write this story as a means of boosting morale.

To put it mildly, the British public had gone a bit spy-crazy in the lead up to the war; fearing "Teutons serving them croutons" i.e. Germans living in the UK acting as intelligence agents for the Kaiser.

The Riddle of the Sands is one such work of popular literature on this theme, which is the subject of Letters from Carruthers coming in September.

There was also the fantastical works of William Le Queux, who started off with the French and Russians as his enemies before switching to the Germans; he also had his works serialised in the Daily Mail, a British middle-market tabloid that was founded in 1896 and has been happily engaging in right-wing sensationalism since to the point Wikipedia has banned them as a source. Le Queux for his part believed the Germans were out to get him for exposing their spy networks - he hadn't, they weren't and the Metropolitan Police refused him protection.

The Benz company had produced the first practical motor car in 1885; they of course later merged with Daimler to become Mercedez-Benz. I cannot find a 100hp example of their vehicles.

The German Chancellor in 1914, Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, was a moderate, who reluctantly went along with many German policies like unrestricted submarine warfare and tried to initiate peace proposals on a number of occasions in the war before being ousted in 1917.

Flushing is the historical English name for the Dutch port of Vlissingen; it had a ferry connection to Sheerness until 1994.

At the outbreak of war, diplomats on both sides were allowed to return home unmolested, after locking down their embassies and burning anything sensitive they could not take with them.

Britain, France and Prussia had signed a treaty in 1839 guaranteeing the neutrality and independence of Belgium. The German invasion of the country on 3 August gave the UK justification for war and moved a Cabinet divided over the matter to firm unity.

There was a fear of Irish civil war at this point; the Liberal government, reliant on Irish and Labour support for a Commons majority after the two elections of 1910, had passed legislation creating a devolved government for the island, called Home Rule. This was vehemently opposed by Ulster Protestants and both sides were receiving weapons - from Germany in fact - in preparation for a fight as Whitehall tried to arrange a compromise. The Germans in fact believed the British would be distracted by a civil war, but in fact the Home Rule legislation was suspended for the duration and both militias decided to support the war effort. That stopped things... until the more radicial Irish Republic Brotherhood launched the Easter Rising of 1916.

"Window-breaking Furies" refers to the suffragette movement that sort votes for women, some of who engaged in direct action like breaking windows and also planting bombs or arson, although they made sure the latter was done when the buildings were empty to avoid killing anyone. These tactics were as controversial at the time as the tactics of modern-day groups like Just Stop Oil. When the war broke out, the suffragettes stopped their militant actions and supported the war effort; their imprisoned members being released as part of an amnesty.

John Bull is a national personification of the UK, typically a stout middle-aged man in a Union Jack waistcoast, frequently seen in cartoons at this time. He rather fell out of popular use post-war and is rarely seen today, unlike Britannia, who remains a widely used figure.

The Rosyth Dockyard was built from 1909 for refitting Royal Navy ships and submarines; although now privatised, it retains that role and is currently building the five Type 31 frigates.

Carlton Terrace was the home of the German Embassy until 1945; after the war, the property and its contents were sold off at auction. The Federal Republic of Germany set up at Belgrave Square in 1951 and remains there to this day.

Junkers were the land-owning aristocracy of Prussia, who exercised considerable political power up until 1945, at which point most of their holdings ended up in the USSR, Poland or what became East Germany. The land was broken up, usually ending up in collective farms; accused of war crimes, those Junkers who ended up in Soviet hands frequently ended up in NKVD camps or even executed. Their descendants did not get them back after reunification.

The King's English is another name for Received Pronunciation, the "standard" dialect and accent of British English.

Tokay or Tokaji is a sweet wine from the Tokaj regions of Hungary and Slovakia, the designation being protected under EU law in a similar way to Champagne. Imperial Tokay, which was the highest quality Tokaji Essencia, was reserved for the Austrian imperial cellars, often being passed to other European monarchs as gifts. This stuff is still drinkable after over 200 years and even the relatively new stuff isn't cheap.

A naval flotilla would be based at Harwich in both World Wars.

The reference to Holmes being sixty here is where the common estimate of 1854 being his birth year comes from.

Portland is a prison and young offenders' institution in Dorset. Notable past inmates include George Edalji (whose miscarriage of justice was exposed by Doyle), John Babbacombe Lee ("The Man They Couldn't Hang") and the controversial comedian Roy "Chubby" Brown.

Fratton is an area of Portsmouth.

In reality, the Home Section of the Secret Service Bureau, later MI5, had managed to identify the key German agents by monitoring their postal correspondence. The police then rounded them up in August 1914 and once the cross-sea cables were cut, contact with any agents in the UK became close to impossible. Little intelligence of any use came from them in any event; the Germans seem to have not even been aware of the British Expeditionary Force being sent to France, which was hardly a small event. Gustav Steinhauer, head of German naval intelligence's British section, got subjected to a rant about his agency's incompetence from the Kaiser that lasted the better part of two hours.

Twelve German spies would be executed during the war, eleven by firing squad at the Tower of London, which hosted its final execution (also of a spy) in 1941.

Skibbareen is a town in County Cork, now in Ireland.

The final speech by Holmes at the end also featured in the 1942 Basil Rathbone film Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror, based on this story.

So Holmes and Watson drive off into the sunset. What happened to them after that? All we know is that both survived the war and at some point Dr Watson stopped writing about his dear friend. They deserve to have had a long retirement.

I will be doing these for the individual chapters of the novels next year; I have already done ones for the first two chapters of A Study in Scarlet that I will repost.

#letters from watson #sherlock holmes #history #factoids #acd canon #his last bow #last

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mariacallous · 8 months

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On June 19, 2021, a convoy of armed men drove into the border city of Reynosa, Mexico, in the state of Tamaulipas, and opened fire on pedestrians. For more than eight hours, gunmen roamed four neighborhoods, kidnapping and killing 15 people, including two cab drivers, a nursing student, and a group of construction workers. After security forces were deployed throughout the city, four suspected gunmen were killed. In the days that followed, rumors spread on social media. People in Reynosa were afraid to go back out into the streets, factories shortened their night hours to protect their employees, and local businesses closed early.

Three days later, the attorney general of Tamaulipas, Irving Barrios Mojica, said the motive of the attack was to destabilize Mexican society. The attackers belonged to a cartel that was looking to gain control of the area surrounding the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, which straddles the U.S.-Mexico border. The authorities seized a formidable amount of weaponry from the men: about 180 cartridge cases in total, as well as five long guns, and several .223-caliber magazines, which are commonly used in AR-style semi-automatic rifles. These weapons had one thing in common: They came from the United States.

The Reynosa massacre is just one recent entry in a long list of violent acts committed with U.S.-made weapons in Mexican territory. At least 70 percent of guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico between 2014 and 2018 were trafficked into the country from the United States. Although the exact number of weapons smuggled across the border is uncertain, a study quoted by the Mexican government estimates that 2.2 percent of the nearly 40 million guns manufactured annually in the United States make their way into Mexico, amounting to more than half a million weapons a year. Hidden inside vehicles, appliances, and furniture or trafficked by sea in sealed shipping containers, U.S.-made weapons are bringing violence from north to south, according to the Mexican government.

In 2021, Mexico filed an unprecedented lawsuit against U.S. weapons manufacturers and a firearms distributor in the District Court in Boston, the first suit filed by a foreign government against the U.S. gun industry. The lawsuit names gun manufacturers such as Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Colt’s Manufacturing Company, Smith & Wesson Brands, Glock, Beretta, and Century International Arms and aims to hold them responsible for facilitating the flow of weapons across the border.

The complaint was dismissed by the District Court in September 2022, and Mexico filed an appeal in March. On July 24, the Mexican government urged the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston to revive the suit, arguing that a U.S. law does not protect U.S. gun manufacturers from being sued over gun trafficking that leads to violence in Mexico. A ruling is expected in the coming months, but this lawsuit could potentially set a precedent for cross-border litigation and strengthen the global fight against the illicit arms trade. The Mexican government is seeking at least $10 billion in damages for economic harm, yet the primary aim of the lawsuit is more ambitious: to curb gun trafficking by forcing changes to the business practices of U.S. gun companies and pushing for tighter controls on their distribution systems.

Mexico has strict national gun laws. There is only one store in the country where individuals can legally purchase a gun. The store is owned and operated by the military, and fewer than 50 gun permits are issued annually, mainly to prominent businesspeople, public figures, or individuals who have been the victim of a crime and need a firearm for protection, said Lt. Col. Israel Martínez Valdés from the Federal Registry of Firearms and Control of Explosives, responsible for gun permits.

After a U.S. ban on assault weapons expired in 2004, the Mexican government’s suit argues, U.S. gun manufacturers increased production, “particularly of the military-style assault weapons favored by the drug cartels.” The lawsuit alleges that this accompanied a dramatic increase in homicides across the border after 2004. One of the most common types of gun smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border is the hormigas (“ants”) method, in which straw buyers—intermediaries with clean records who are sent to buy guns on behalf of third parties—pass weapons on to traffickers, who smuggle them in small quantities.

Zulia Orozco Reynoso and Gerardo Hernández, researchers at the Autonomous University of Baja California in northern Mexico, explained that local gun shows in the United States lack restrictions and controls, which makes it easier for weapons to cross the border undetected. Dealers purchase large quantities of guns from distributors and resell them at gun shows with no paperwork and no questions asked, the Mexican government’s suit states. Private or unlicensed sellers at gun shows in the United States are not required to conduct background checks or maintain records linking weapons to buyers, a fact known as the “gun show loophole” or “private sale exception.” Traffickers can buy several guns at once and smuggle them in private vehicles without being monitored by U.S. or Mexican authorities.

The California-Baja California border region, which stretches for 120 miles, is one of the busiest land border crossings in the world. Yet while an enormous law enforcement operation ensures that people do not travel from south to north unauthorized, movement from north to south is far less surveilled. The guns “come by land, by air, by sea, and through the tunnels along the border,” Hernández said.

Much of this trafficking is done by people with dual citizenship or Americans hired by drug cartels. Mexican citizens can face up to 10 years in prison for trafficking a gun and up to 30 years for trafficking weapons intended exclusively for military use. Yet foreigners introducing a single weapon to the country for the first time are merely fined, Orozco Reynoso said, and the weapon is returned to them when they leave the country.

“The risks for Mexicans are greater, or at least they are not given a second chance, unlike Americans,” Orozco Reynoso added.

Dangerous weapons don’t just end up in the hands of criminal cartels. Law enforcement and members of the Mexican defense ministry, the nation’s sole authorized importer of firearms, have also committed atrocities with U.S.-manufactured firearms. A 2018 report by the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights affirms that legally imported firearms have been used by police and military units in gross human rights abuses. The local police who attacked the 43 Ayotzinapa students who disappeared in September 2014 were armed with legally imported Colt AR-6530 rifles. In 2011, a man was arrested in Tamaulipas for allegedly belonging to a criminal organization; while he was in custody, a navy lieutenant killed him with a 5.56 mm Colt M16 rifle.

Legally acquired firearms from military and law enforcement stocks are also diverted with the cooperation of corrupt authorities. Between 2006 and 2017, more than 20,000 firearms were reported as lost or stolen, according to the Mexican defense ministry. Last year, a leak of more than 4 million confidential documents from the ministry by the hacker activist group Guacamaya revealed that high-level military members had sold guns, grenades, and tactical equipment to criminal organizations.

U.S. gun manufacturers know that their marketing and distribution practices have caused harm in Mexican territory, the Mexican government claims. According to its complaint, U.S. gun manufacturers have not implemented public safety measures in their distribution systems, such as comprehensive training for dealers and a code of conduct that requires distributors to keep better track of their inventories. Mexico contends that U.S. gun manufacturers design semi-automatic rifles that can be easily modified to fire automatically, a feature sought after among cartels. These practices “aid and abet the killing and maiming of children, judges, journalists, police, and ordinary citizens throughout Mexico,” the lawsuit says.

For Alejandro Celorio, Mexico’s lead attorney and spokesperson for the foreign ministry, this “lack of care” facilitates the illegal trade in their weapons. “It’s the number of guns but also the type of guns that are sold in the United States with total irresponsibility,” Celorio said. In the United States, “guns are sold to someone who wants to kill children in a kindergarten or to someone who works with organized crime.”

Mexico argues that these companies have access to firearms trace data that identifies specific networks of distributors and dealers that regularly supply drug cartels in Mexico. Based on reports from the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Mexican government revealed that over a four-year period in the mid-2000s, more than 500 Century Arms WASR-10 rifles originally purchased in the United States were seized at crime scenes in Mexico. Yet Century Arms, the lawsuit claims, continued to supply its rifles to the same distributors and dealers. (Century Arms did not respond to a request for comment.)

The U.S. gun-makers filed a joint motion in 2021 to dismiss Mexico’s claims, arguing that the injury is not traceable to the gun manufacturers but rather stems from violence committed by criminals in Mexico. They further argue that allowing foreign law to apply “would invite other nations to likewise invoke their own laws to attack the U.S. firearms industry.”

“The scope of liability the complaint suggests well exceeds what any U.S. court would permit at common law, even under strict product liability. And such a pervasive assault on the firearm industry would imperil civilian access to firearms—a right guaranteed by both the U.S. and Massachusetts constitutions,” the joint motion states.

On Sept. 30, 2022, when Judge F. Dennis Saylor dismissed Mexico’s lawsuit, he stated that “while the Court has considerable sympathy for the people of Mexico,” the Mexican government’s claims do not outweigh the protections provided to gun manufacturers by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), a U.S. federal statute that bars lawsuits seeking to hold gun manufacturers liable when individuals use their guns illegally. Since 2005, the PLCAA has granted gun manufacturers and dealers broad immunity from lawsuits when deadly crimes are committed with their products. Saylor added that while the PLCAA contains several exceptions, such as claims for damage caused by a defective firearm or for entrusting a gun to someone the dealer knows is high risk, none apply in this case.

However, in its appeal, the Mexican government argues that because crimes were committed on Mexican territory, U.S. federal law does not apply; instead, Mexico should be allowed to sue the companies for breaches of Mexican law. When U.S.-based corporations cause injury abroad, the U.S. Constitution and statutes allow other nations to sue for violations of their own laws, the lawsuit states. It further argues that the defendants violated Connecticut and Massachusetts consumer protection laws by knowingly marketing their products to criminals and drug cartels.

Heidi Li Feldman, a law professor at Georgetown University and an expert on gun litigation, said the Sandy Hook settlement provides a road map for how to circumvent PLCAA protections with consumer protection laws. In that case, the families of nine victims of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School argued that Remington Arms, the manufacturer of the AR-style semi-automatic rifle used in the shooting, violated state laws by marketing its Bushmaster XM15-E2S to “at-risk” young men as a combat weapon and allowing the gun to be depicted in video games. They reached a $73 million settlement with Remington in 2022.

“The suit’s going to be fiercely fought on the grounds of whether PLCAA applies to it in the first instance,” Feldman said. The PLCAA was never meant to apply extraterritorially, she said, and it would be “politically unpopular” in the United States to allow foreign governments to sue.

Mexico filed a second lawsuit in a U.S. federal court in October 2022, this time against five gun dealers in Arizona. That lawsuit seeks to prove that the dealers knowingly sold weapons to straw purchasers.

The complex and extensive web of protections for U.S. gun manufacturers, mainly created by the PLCAA, makes it difficult for Mexico to beat the industry. But the lawsuits have received international support. Among those who submitted supporting amicus curiae briefs are U.S. prosecutors and district attorneys, activists, victims of armed violence from both sides of the border, and Latin American and Caribbean countries that argue that guns smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border do not end up only in Mexico—they continue to flow into other countries throughout the Western Hemisphere, while more weapons are transported from the United States directly to the rest of the region via shipping companies and commercial airlines.

“We have come a long way, and this conversation about the illicit arms trade is becoming more and more questioning about the irresponsibility of companies,” said Celorio, the lead attorney.

A new piece of legislation in the United States, the first major federal gun safety law passed in nearly 30 years, also may change smuggling patterns. Signed into law in June 2022, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act cracks down on straw purchasers, allowing them to be punished with up to 15 years in prison or 25 years if the firearms are linked to serious criminal activity such as drug trafficking. In September 2022, a 25-year-old U.S. citizen living in Mexico was driving south to the port in Laredo, Texas, with 17 handguns. He is the first person to be convicted under the new law. According to Justice Department officials, between Jan. 21, 2020, and July 11, 2022, the 25-year-old purchased 231 handguns.

The success of the Mexican lawsuits, however, depends largely on lifting the general immunity that the PLCAA grants to the powerful gun industry and lobby. A win for Mexico could open the door for other foreign governments to sue U.S. gun-makers for violence in their countries. Whatever the outcome, the litigation raises a question that the United States has not wanted to answer: Who will hold U.S. gun manufacturers responsible for the violence they cause abroad?

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nuclearforest · 10 months

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the sun chases icarus

Crosspost to AO3 of a fic written at the behest of @zestyaahbutler, @rotten-hearts-sharp-teeth, and @hellogreyeyedathena where my girlboss Hellsing OC beats the shit out of Walter.

TW canon typical violence and torture; word count 4.2k

Walter had intended to avoid Claire for as long as time allowed; preferably until he died. His employer, Arthur, is naturally distant from the haughty misandrist during all interactions and rejects contact with her when at all possible. The butler and middle-aged monster hunter could understand where he got it from. Unfortunately, while the older Hellsing was occupied with his surrogate mother and newborn in the manor’s private chambers, the butler was left to entertain their guest.

She’d been invited to meet the young heir and, naturally, brought blessed gifts.

And when she came, she didn’t even wait to be picked up. She drove straight up to the manor in a rental car. Sweet talked the guards at the gate while they radioed back into the manor proper for clearance for her entry. She made idle chatter as they inspected the vehicle for unauthorized devices. She was far too early; something Walter might’ve appreciated if he hadn’t already started the car to drive into London to fetch her.

Somehow she was up to date on the local league soccer game results, exchanging remarks with the men on duty while he made his way inside.

“And you wouldn’t have believed he would score that goal until he did,” she waves a flippant hand, leaning on the tall walnut-boarded counter. She was a good head shorter than every man there and was dressed head to toe in a matching black and white houndstooth suit. Her hair was pulled back in a low ponytail with a tortoiseshell clip and when she turned to look over her shoulder at him, her curls bounced. “Well if it isn’t Walter!”

“Takes an American to ruin a Brit’s formality,” one of the men at her side laugh, almost faceless to the butler in his carbon copy suit with a neat Hellsing arm band pinned to place. Around him, the rest of the manor was in perfect order. Sprawling halls lined with artwork and richly papered walls. Early morning sunlight poured through high windows onto the red carpet and white tiled floor.

“Well you can’t quite blame me for my excitement—not every heir is born a girl! Won’t suffer the same hedonistic distractions as you lot.”

The men just guffaw around her, back to the football game from three days ago while they finish her paperwork and fork over a temporary guest badge. “Not all of us are like the Lord,” one of them says with a chuckle. Walter just frowns at the group and sighs.

“I’m afraid the Lord’s hedonistic distraction of the hour is his newborn daughter,” the butler announces, staring down his subordinates until they resume their guard positions along the walls in the reception area. “I will be your company until he emerges.”

The woman nods, flashing him a warm smile. “Maybe you can treat me to some proper tea this time.” Last time she visited was all business, helping assess a local coven for compatibility with the area. Why Arthur simply let them practice instead of banning them outright amounted solely to her meddling. Walter would’ve rid them all without a second thought.

“I suppose that will do,” Walter hums, stepping up to the counter and looking at the older man sitting behind with a logbook and notes for the week. “Send a message to the kitchen prepare a pot of tea, would you?”

The man nods and reaches for the phone. Claire taps the counter and shoots him a smile when he turns to look.

“I’m partial to something fruity, if you have it.”

“I’ll see what we have.” The man’s stoic face breaks into a smile and Walter bites back a sarcastic remark.

“Come along, now, I’ll show you to the parlor.” And with a wave of his hand, his escort duties begin. The blonde follows him down winding halls, quietly remarking about the paintings and greeting passing agents—damn Americans—as they go.

At least they reach the parlor quickly enough and Walter opens the grand old oak door, carved before the turn of the century, and holds it open for her to enter. Inside was a collection of antique furniture from the mid-1700s, excruciatingly maintained. Matching opposing chairs, recently reupholstered in red velvet, sat next to a patterned chaise lounge with a plethora of wooden tables surrounding them.

Forgoing his office, this was one or Arthur’s favorite rooms to make merry with work and with women. Along the wall opposite the door were grand windows staring down at the Hellsing estate. Along the same wall were bookcases with classic literature and crystal bottles of whiskey. At least one wooden carving of a horse to mark the time that Claire had hosted Arthur for the Kentucky Derby.

The same sunlight poured in and illuminated the room without the crystal chandelier over the head. Claire doesn’t even take a moment to savor the opulence of the room and just waltzes in, looking over the décor and humming before picking the seat with her back to the window and dropping down before the butler could even offer.

Just as Walter steps in, another servant arrives with a piping hot pot of tea. “Pardon me,” the young man bids, “but my Lord will be occupied for some time before he is able to see the company.”

“It’s quite alright,” Claire reassures him, crossing one leg over the other and smiling warmly at the man. “Thank you for the tea.”

“It’s no problem at all,” Walter cuts in before he can reply, taking his own seat and shooting the other staff member with a harsh look in warning to leave the dangerous guest to him. In no time at all they are left alone with the quiet click of the door as Walter pours a cup of tea and passes it off to her. Shame she doesn’t pay a moment of notice to the fine bone china with delicate purple florals and gold detail.

But that wasn’t so much the issue.

What was the issue was the look she was giving him: piercing blue gaze watching his pulse throb in his throat. Her face was blank, low wide smile and relaxed posture, slouched over in the antique chair, almost sinking under her weight. She held a teacup in one hand and saucer in the other, legs crossed like she was somehow a lady despite being a raging bitch and unrepentant monster.

It was already irritating that he couldn’t seem to relax around her. That the hair on his neck stood on end and his heart raced the second that damn door sealed them alone together.

“I didn’t think Arthur would make a good father, y’know?” she drawls before taking a long sip and looking just over the butler’s shoulder at the door. The crows’ feet at the corners of her eyes crinkle slightly when her smile broadens and she lowers her cup. “He might beat my expectations yet.” She closes her eyes and leans back a little further. Even the nearby door at his back does Walter no good, feeling his hands twitch while folded in his lap.

Despite being an ally by name, every iota of her person was a threat to his existence and goals.

“Is this why he’s been ignoring my messages?” Walter braces himself.

“You know what he’s like,” Walter snaps, feeling his lip quirk in disgust when she laughs at his reply.

“And that’s why I doubt his parental capabilities.” She laughs, tilting her head back ever so slightly just so her curls bounce behind her shoulders where they’re pinned back.

That was the charm that had Hellsing’s standard staff and agents lowering their guard around her. A motherly, middle-aged woman that could chat and laugh with them like she, too, could relate to their humanity. And yet there was no household to keep. No children at school. No mundane job, even, to keep her busy. She was the head of the American Department of the Supernatural and had been through however many iterations there had been before, generations of humans ago.

Walter’s silence doesn’t deter her. Instead, she just takes another sip and cracks her neck. “You’ll have your hands full with both of them now.”

“I beg your pardon?” He finally bites.

“You know. With the both of them: father and daughter,” she sets her teacup down on the saucer and waves her hand in a circle. “No reasonable man would send a child to do an adult’s work.” Her sharp gaze somehow sharpens then, cutting through his person and sending him back into his younger years. When he was an orphan under the watch of Hellsing, sent out into warzones to be one of the youngest unsung heroes of the war.

“I may as well have been a man myself at the time,” Walter replies, finally reaching for his own cup on a silver tray to his left. The silver cross on a silver chain glints where it hangs at her collarbones. It was a mystery how a werewolf, for all intents and purposes, went unaffected. “I would say he made the right decision.”

Her smile drops and she shakes her head at him. “If you insist. But he’d better not do the same damn thing to that poor girl. If I knew, I wouldn’t have been on the Pacific the whole damn time.” She wrinkles her nose when she looks at him again, uncrossing her legs to let them spread.

How uncouth.

“Wasn’t the first violence I’ve seen and won’t be the last.”

“So the angel of death still flies?”

“As surely as the sun rises.” He narrows his gaze at her and takes a sip of his own cooled cup, hoping to impart some of the same intimidation she lorded over him. Loathe as he was to admit it, he could learn exactly how to project his presence from her. He’d spent so damn long learning how to hide that he’d never learned how to use it to suffocate.

A sharp rap on the door steals their attention. Her eyes flit over his shoulder and he turns his head. An agent quickly opens the door and steps in, suit neatly pressed and horn-rimmed glasses shining in the daylight streaming through the windows at Claire’s back.

“Pardon the intrusion,” he grunts, face serious as he steps over to Walter. Like it matters, the man leans down to whisper and Walter shoots him a glare.

“Remember your company,” he instructs.

“Of course,” the man straightens up, “the young madam is down for a nap and it seems that visiting hours will have to be delayed further.”

“I see.” Walter says.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Claire chuckles, “let the baby get her sleep. We don’t age that quickly.”

“Likewise my Lord has other matters to tend to and entrusts Walter to keep you entertained.” The man bows and turns on his heel before Walter can choke out a reply, vein in his forehead already bulging. Claire’s chuckle blows into a full-bellied laugh.

“He’s still leaving you to fight his battles!” She sits up a little straighter and smirks at Walter. “So how exactly do you entertain?”

The door clicks shut again and Walter resigns himself to his fate. “I don’t suppose you’d like a riveting game of chess?”

“’fraid not,” she replies with a shrug, “I’m a little too uncultured for that.”

Walter suppresses his choke with a slight cough and quickly covers it with a sip of tea.

“And as much as I’d love to walk in the garden, Arthur’s not going to want me snooping around to see what he’s growing. How about we play a different game instead?”

The butler sets his tea aside again and straightens his front, correcting millimeters of fabric out of place. Now this was the danger zone.

“What were you thinking?” his voice is low and he stares at her with his chin held high, defiant where she was likely expecting him to fold. The real chess game of sorts would be dancing around her from whatever she tried to pry. As she noted, the garden and their herbs were off limits, Athur’s orders.

“The Who, What, and Where.” She stops, smirk lowering into a smile.

“And the basis of that is…?” He offers a hand, palm side up, as a gesture of good will.

“I just ask you questions about the who, the what, and the where. It was a popular show around the office for a while,” she shrugs. “All the rage at holiday parties.”

“I see.” Walter stares at her for a solid minute in contemplation. She lets his eyes roam her figure, completely relaxed if not aloof. While tempted to turn her down, he can’t help but dread the next suggestion. If she wants something, she won’t let him go so easily. “I suppose we can play.” He settles back in his own chair, feigning the same level of comfort but with markedly more tact.

“Wonderful. So do you know Millennium?”

His blood runs cold. Her face remains cheerful, casual.

“They were the division of the Nazi military that dealt with the supernatural.” Walter answers curtly. “I dealt with them in ’45.” It takes every muscle in his body to remain even slightly slouched.

Claire nods her head. “Twenty-five dollars for a good answer. I’ll have to spot you later today—I’m afraid I don’t have any cash on me.”

“No need,” the butler grunts out, internally cursing that he didn’t just take her on a walk through the damned garden and couldn’t back out.

She laughs at that. “Well let’s just say you’re all in on the next question then.” She pauses and sips her tea. Walter’s heart almost stutters in his chest, a betrayal. “What is the werewolf project?”

“Their piss poor attempt to make werewolves before they gave up and moved onto artificial vampires,” he answers. His fingers twitch again, but he thinks better than to reach for his cup of tea.

“Gave up?” Claire tilts her head, “Are you sure about that?”

“Why are you asking?”

“I’m the one asking questions,” she corrects, blowing right over him as her smile broadens and her eyes narrow slightly. The cold fingers of fear grip Walter’s stomach. “Twenty-five dollar deduction. Let’s go for the next one—where is Millennium stationed now?”

Walter jumps to his feet. “Are you accusing me of failure?” That’s the first thing he can think to confront her with, but in a flash, what remains of her tea spills all over the Persian carpet and she’s grabbed his neck in one hand, suddenly standing.

His trained eyes are fast enough to catch her movements, but his body is too old to function against something near immortal and unaffected by the march of time. With unnatural strength she lifts him ofrom the ground, muscle suddenly taught under her neatly pressed shirt with the seams threatening to rip.

Sharp canines stand more prominently just behind her lips.

“I wouldn’t say failure,” she slurs out in a half-growl. “Come on, Wally,” she sighs, “it’s scary to be a kid sent into a warzone.”

He struggles to breathe in her grip and raises his hands to uselessly grasp at her arm. Damn the gloves, that don’t let him uselessly dig his nails into her skin. Damn the silver wire, which would have no effect whatsoever on her flesh.

“Try to convince me this time.” She drops him and he lands on his feet, sinking lower to avoid a stumble that would otherwise send him to the ground on his rear. Her smile falls into neutrality, and her once happy eyes are open and cold, scanning his body for every twitch of muscle.

Walter takes her gracious pause to catch his breath, straightening his front again. This time it’s more than a few millimeters out of place.

“Millennium is the defunct branch of the Nazi miliary that specialized in the supernatural,” Walter repeats with a measured voice. “They had two projects—both of which you have reports on. Alucard and I eradicated them. There is no current base of operations.”

“Alucard didn’t eradicate shit,” Claire grunts, cracking her neck again. “He’s the laziest bastard I’ve ever met. And as for you—you were a kid. And I am not a damn fool.” She snorts and the faintest breath of smoke follows. The faint scent of sickly sweet applewood spreads around her and Walter wonders if he could be looking at a demon out of hell. “I won’t be nice if I have to ask again.”

Instead of snapping back that she isn’t nice now—a surefire way to see what interrogation tactics she’d be testing, the butler steels himself. He just has to buy time. It was a mistake to not have a panic button—to be alone—but he was the only one that could take her.

“The Werewulf project,” Walter starts with an emphasis on his pronunciation, “was a failed attempt to create more werewolves. If—hypothetically speaking—a scientist had escaped and resumed work, we would not know what that work entailed nor their current base of operations.”

Claire tilts her head to the side and closes her eyes. Taking this relaxation as a break, Walter takes a silent step to move behind his chair to get something between them and she lunges. He goes down with a graceless thud, wrestled onto his front despite pitting his entire strength against her as she pulls his arms back and folds them across like he were some lowly convict to be arrested.

“Now, hypothetically speaking, if some of my good friends in government had a Werewulf recipe, that would imply the existence of a living scientist.” Claire all but growls in his ear. Her breath tickles the hairs on the side of his head. Her heat and weight on top of him are crushing—she is far more than the average human and now she is bearing her hand. “I’m going to learn everything you’ve got on them.”

She exhales again and a puff of smoke hits his face like she is a raging bull staring down a red flag.

“Think wisely before you try to bullshit me again. You’re not a kid anymore and I’m not as lenient with grown bastards.” The slur of her words make his stomach churn. From the floor, he can only hope the agents heard the commotion. If he screamed, there was no predicting what the wild animal on his back would resort to. Murder was not out of the realm of possibilities.

“I have nothing further to tell you,” Walter snaps only to bite his lip when, with a flick of her finger, she breaks the pinky on his left hand. The crack was not the worst thing he’d heard, but he had only 9 left before she had bigger bones to go for.

“Try again.”

“Go to hell.”

Crack.

He grits his teeth and muffles a cry, writhing underneath her until he can get a grip on himself. His fingers throb and he looks up at the door, somewhat blurred with his monocle having slipped from his nose. Not nearly close enough with the immovable weight on his back. The butler tries for another deep breath and he can feel her stare right through him as he inhales somewhat shakily.

Despite his best efforts, he is not as good as he was in his prime.

“Can’t you respect top secret information?” Walter tries, wincing when her laugh shakes him.

“Not when it’s in my back yard, Wally.” She takes the breaking hand and pats his head, running her fingers through his hair in a way that almost has his heartbeat slowing before she tangles her fingers in it and lifts up. “You ain’t covering for Arthur, here,” she rumbles.

“Weren’t you the one remarking on his competence?”

Claire immediately knocks his head into the floor, nose first. The carpet is not enough to cushion the blow and his nose makes another softer crack. His head starts to spin and blood trickles out onto that same carpet, down his lips and onto the floor.

“You’re awfully callous in the house of your allies,” he grunts.

“You’re not being very allied,” she quips back, flat face reemerging into a smile that Walter can pick up out of the corner of his eye. The throb in his hand and now in his face is a keen reminder that she doesn’t care about the repercussions. It is a sign of feral desperation. It is a monster that turns to the one thing that usually works. He will not let her win.

So he proverbially bites his tongue and settles on the floor. She can beat him further, but she won’t know. He won’t threaten his life’s work over a project he knows nothing about. That’s the least of his worries.

The werewolf gives a pause for his silence, fingers tightening to pull his hair in a way that makes him almost gasp. But like she can feel it she lets him go with a huff and a sneer, glowering down at him with glowing blue eyes and a disgusted quirk of her lip.

The wordless exchange results in another broken finger that has him wheezing, starting to struggle under her body mass as she threatens to crack his ribs when she tests a light bounce.

“Looks like you don’t mind the fingers,” she snarls, “how would you feel about a little lick of fire?” She leans low and huffs in his ears again. This time, thick smoke seems to unfurl from her tongue down his cheek, mixing with his blood and taunting him with that same sickly sweet applewood and a hint of death. Embers leave a near pinch on his skin when they land.

“Doesn’t matter what I tell you,” Walter struggles, ignoring the smell as his hair starts to singe and a sweat breaks out on his skin. Her hand almost burns where she holds his wrist. His whole hand throbs.

Crack.

Another finger and she chuckles darkly above him. “I’m really running out of patience,” Claire slurs, “and I don’t believe in that new age shit like waterboarding.”

“And I’m supposed to believe that’s a mercy?”

“Well, it’s hard to answer when the water is boiling.”

A bead of sweat drips down Walter’s forehead. Claire puts more of her weight on his chest and he struggles to breathe, air hot and dry in a way that burns his throat.

Crack.

The last finger on his left hand. Finally he gasps, heart racing in his chest as he stares up at that piercing blue gaze. The reaper, fueled by the fires of hell, closes in.

“Last chance.” Claire’s voice is almost indistinguishable between the deeper slur and the pounding of his blood in his ears. Walter pants, chest uselessly heaving as she leans down to hiss near his ear again, promising a wicked scorch.

Then, the door opens.

Claire is off his back, warm smile surely on her face. The heat recedes.

In the hallway, Walter looks out at the other agent that just arrived and knows his blood, too, runs cold at the sight of an unrepentant monster. “T—the Lord of the estate wishes to see you,” is all the agent can stammer, wide eyes falling to the not broken but still bloodied man on the floor. When he wheezes without her weight on top of him, he figures she might’ve cracked a few ribs anyway.

“Is that so? What a right shame. Wally and I were having a pleasant discussion.”

The other agent opens and closes his mouth before shaking his head. “Follow me.”

“Will do,” Claire drawls. Walter turns his head to look up at her and her smile widens to a sickening degree. Just as she lifts a foot to step over him, she delivers a swift kick to the ribs leaves a resounding crack and leaves him coughing up blood.

As a final fuck you, she reaches back to crush his monocle with her other foot and walks towards the now terrified agent. The man pulls his gun from its holster and, with admittedly straight aim, orders: “Ma’am step away from the agent.”

“No need for that,” Claire chortles with raised hands like she hadn’t just been on her way to beating him to a pulp. “I’m coming peacefully.”

The other agent bites his tongue but nonetheless leads her out. Behind him, other agents with a medic flood in to tend to him. They had heard the commotion and the interruption took only minutes. Even Arthur’s voice, chastising Claire down the hall for getting rough without him present—was a welcome reassurance that the hard part was over.

In the back of his mind, Walter knew Claire wouldn’t threaten the head of Hellsing, or double back around for him, or even be welcomed on the grounds again while he was present. They had learned. It was a dangerous slip that ultimately costs the butler the dexterity in one hand and a slight imperfection to his otherwise symmetrical face, but it’s the smallest price he can pay for his chance at glory. If anything is suspected by his countrymen, it isn’t brought up.

#hellsing ultimate #hellsing oc #hellsing fanfiction #fire lady claire #mun's snippets #walter c dornez #arthur hellsing #if claire and amulya were in the same universe then claire would divorce arthur for her #and if claire were with sabine or june then their hans' would learn to fear #claire's motto is gaslight gatekeep girlboss #she can and will mother any woman in need of guidance she finds and she LOVES integra and seras

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herearedragons · 9 months

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First Cringetober entry!

Day 2: Self-Insert + Day 3: Unnecessarily Complex Fit

Obviously, I made a Dragon Age self-insert. Normally I’m all for being a mage, but being a mage in Thedas isn’t that fun, so instead my self-insert is an Orlesian (that’s where the Complex Fit comes from) dwarf alchemist who shows up as a vendor in Skyhold.

I decided that she’s from Serault solely because that’s the Stained Glass Place. She comes from a long line of fabled alchemists and now it’s up to her to uphold the legacy; she gets sent to Skyhold in an attempt to kickstart her career. And she’s pretty good! You can buy dyes/paints for outfit customization from her, as well as extra potions/grenades, recipes and ingredients.

If you buy enough stuff from her, she’ll confess that alchemy is more of a hobby to her and she’s trying to become an author, but her books keep flopping for some unknown reason. If you decide to look into it, you find out that she writes Thedosian sci-fi/fantasy, and (unbeknownst to her) all of her books are varying degrees of banned by the Chantry because it’s a lot of “what if everyone was a mage and we didn’t need Circles” and “what if we had sentient lyrium-powered vehicles possessed by spirits”. You can then do a war table operation to either get the books un-banned (Josephine), get her books onto the black market (Leliana) or have Cullen painstakingly attempt to explain to her why writing about spirit cars is a bad idea (Cullen).

#dragon age #dragon age inquisition #Cringetober #self insert #I love giving my self-inserts/sonas face masks. spares me from having to figure out how to stylize my face #Cullen’s solution to her war table mission is the longest #and by the end of it she still doesn’t get why spirit cars are so much of a problem #but the human guy who tried to explain it to her looked so upset that she just took his word for it #so she decides to make her next book extra unproblematic. it’s going to be about talking dragons #oh and. obviously. as an avatar of tumblr user herearedragons she loves dragons #if you talk to her after killing your first dragon she’ll comment that it’s kind of a shame you have to hunt them #herearedragons art

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awesome-casuallyfamouscollector · 5 months

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With the entry into force of the ban, the police do not plan raids, but will certainly act when noticing such situations, Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis (New Unity) said in an interview with Latvian Radio on February 7. Kozlovskis asked the public to report such cars to the police. A fine of between EUR 750 and EUR 2000 may be imposed for unauthorized use of a Russian vehicle not registered in Latvia in road traffic(..)

#Latvia #very good news #russian defeat #Baltic States

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ukrainenews · 2 years

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Daily Wrap Up September 26, 2022

(Updates this week may get interrupted. I’m in Florida and there’s a hurricane coming, so I won’t be able update if I lose power.)

Under the cut:

Ukraine’s armed forces general staff has claimed some Russian conscripts from the Kremlin’s mass mobilisation are being sent directly to the frontlines in Ukraine without training

Russian artillery and missile attacks have left at least one person dead and several injured in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, according to Ukrainian officials

The Netherlands will increase its support to Ukraine and will back new sanctions against Russia, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said

Negotiators to a stop-gap spending bill in the U.S. Congress have agreed to include about $12 billion in new aid to Ukraine in response to a request from the Biden administration

The Japanese government has banned the export of materials that could be used for chemical weapons production to 21 Russian organizations, including science laboratories

“Ukraine’s armed forces general staff has claimed some Russian conscripts from the Kremlin’s mass mobilisation are being sent directly to the frontlines in Ukraine without training.

Amid warnings from the UK’s Ministry of Defence and other experts that many of those conscripted were likely to get little meaningful training – and faced the risk of “high rates of attrition” when deployed – men recently mobilised by pro-Russian occupation officials in Ukraine were also being readied for the frontline.

Those included newly drafted personnel in Crimea as well as conscripts in the Luhansk region who have received draft summonses in recent days.

The latest moves came as it was reported that Russia has also closed its border to occupied areas of Ukraine with the neighbouring Rostov region for entry and exit ordering locals to appear at military enlistment offices within three days

The first wave of Russian conscripts have begun arriving for training in Russia amid widespread scepticism among outside western analysts over what impact the call up was likely to have on Russian capabilities in Ukraine.

Following Ukraine’s success in retaking thousands of square kilometres of territory in the Kharkiv region, heavy fighting was reported on Monday morning including in the area of Lyman in the Donetsk region.

Unconfirmed reports in the past 24 hours described Russian lines collapsing in some areas while video posted on social media was described as showing Ukrainian armour moving through at least one former Russian position littered with burned out vehicles.”-via The Guardian

“Russian artillery and missile attacks have left at least one person dead and several injured in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, according to Ukrainian officials.

Oleg Synehubov, head of the regional military administration in Kharkiv, said a missile attack on the city of Pervomaiske had killed a teenage girl and injured others. Two houses were destroyed.

Mykola Baksheev, the mayor of Pervomaiske, said there were several victims in the attack, and some Ukrainian media are reporting a higher number of fatalities.

In Donetsk, the middle of the city of Kramatorsk was hit, causing damage to an apartment block, according to images from the city council.

The city of Sloviansk was also struck, according to the mayor Vadym Lyakh.

Despite recent progress by Ukrainian forces in the east, many cities and towns in those parts of Donetsk and Kharkiv under Ukrainian control are still within reach of Russian weapons.”-via CNN

“The Netherlands will increase its support to Ukraine and will back new sanctions against Russia, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Monday.

"More weapons, more sanctions, more isolation of Russia. Due to the mobilisation and sham referendums by Russia," Rutte wrote on Twitter without providing further details.”-via Reuters

“Negotiators to a stop-gap spending bill in the U.S. Congress have agreed to include about $12 billion in new aid to Ukraine in response to a request from the Biden administration, a source familiar with the talks said on Monday.

The source, who asked not to be identified, said the measure will also include resettlement funding for Afghan refugees.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Joe Biden asked Congress to provide $11.7 billion in new emergency military and economic aid for Ukraine.

Congress is facing a midnight Friday deadline to pass the spending bill that also would temporarily fund a wide range of U.S. government programs.”-via Reuters

“The Japanese government has banned the export of materials that could be used for chemical weapons production to 21 Russian organizations, including science laboratories, Associated Press reported on Sept. 26, citing Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno.

"As the world's only country to have suffered nuclear attacks, we strongly demand that the threat or use of nuclear weapons by Russia should never happen," said Matsuno.

In a video address on Sept. 21, declaring mobilization in Russia, Vladimir Putin once again called Kyiv "fascist" and said that using nuclear arms remains an option for the Kremlin.”-via Kyiv Independent

#Daily Update #Ukraine #Russia #War in Ukraine #kharkiv #donetsk #Netherlands #US #Japan

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coochiequeens · 2 years

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A Conservative Member of Parliament who was previously under fire for owning a “sugar daddies” website which exploited financially vulnerable young women has been convicted for fleeing the scene of a car accident in November 2021. The conviction comes just months after the politician came out as “transgender.”

Jamie Wallis, who has represented the riding of Bridgend since 2019, had initially pleaded not guilty to four offenses including failing to stop, failing to report a road traffic collision, driving without due care and attention and leaving a vehicle in a dangerous position. He was found guilty on three of the four offenses today.

The Tory politician has been banned from driving for six months and fined £2,500 as a result of his conviction. He was also ordered to pay additional costs of £620 and a victim surcharge of £190.

Cardiff Magistrates Court heard today how Wallis was allegedly wearing high heels and a black leather-style mini-skirt when he swerved to avoid a cat, crashing into a lamp post.

The court also heard how locals, Adrian Watson and Natalie Webb heard the crash at around 1am and allegedly witnessed Wallis at the scene. Watson said he looked inside the car and saw “a white male wearing a white long-sleeve top which was tight to the body, a black leather-PVC mini-skirt, tights, dark shoes with a high heel and a pearl necklace.” He then described Wallis walking away from the scene.

After the incident, Wallis was arrested at 7:21 am and subsequently suspended from driving. One of the arresting officers, Police Sergeant Gareth Handy describes arriving at Wallis’s “mansion” and having to force entry into the property. Another officer then found the politician asleep with “make up on his face,” and described seeing a blond wig on the nearby table.

Wallis was challenged about why he fled the scene and he avoided the questioning, stating that he had taken medication after arriving home and had fallen asleep soon after. However, the court heard that Wallis had made numerous calls and sent a number of text messages immediately after the incident, but did not call police.

During an earlier hearing, Wallis claimed to have been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder due to having been the victim of sexual assault in 2021. Wallis also stated he had been meeting men online for sex despite being married to a woman, and the alleged sexual assault occurred during one such meeting.

In 2020, an unknown individual attempted to extort Wallis, demanding £50,000 from the politician and threatening to expose him for his sexual proclivities. Wallis reported the blackmailer to the police and he was ultimately found guilty and sentenced to 2 years and 9 months in prison.

In the run-up to the trial in March, Wallis “came out” as transgender by posting a statement to his Twitter account. The politician wrote: “I’m trans. Or to be more accurate, I want to be.” Wallis was met with mixed reaction, with some, including then-UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, congratulating him on his “bravery.”

Despite coming out as trans, Wallis has not taken any steps to medically or even socially transition, arriving in court today in a suit. In his earlier statement on his gender identity, he encouraged people to continue to address him by masculine pronouns.

This is not the first time the politician has been in the spotlight.

In 2020, Wallis was exposed as having co-owned a site called Sugar-Daddies.net, which solicited financially vulnerable people to advertise themselves for sexual connections with “sugar daddies.” While the site claimed it was not sex-specific and welcomed “boys [and] girls,” the market is typically understood as wealthy older men willing to “sponsor” much younger women in exchange for sexual favors.

Wallis’ involvement with the site was exposed by a Buzzfeed investigation, which noted that he had initially denied any involvement with the venture.

“The site appears to have been owned and operated by a company named SD Billing Services Limited. For the avoidance of any doubt, I have never had a financial interest, nor been a director of SD Billing services Limited and cannot comment on its operational activities,” Wallis had told Buzzfeed reporters.

But an annual return filed by SD Billing Services in 2008 demonstrated that 100% of its shares were owned by a company called Fields Group Limited, of which Wallis was a director and shareholder. As a result, Wallis was, in fact, the legal co-owner of Sugar-Daddies.net.

After Wallis’ stake in the site was revealed, Labour politician Jess Phillips called on the Conservatives to expel him from the party.

“Let’s be clear: sugar daddy is a euphemism for something deeply ugly: exploitation of women by powerful men,” Phillips’ campaign said. “The Tories should feel ashamed sitting alongside Jamie Wallis. The only way to show they don’t condone this kind of behavior is to remove the whip.”

At the time, Labour Member of Parliament Tonia Antoniazzi also backed Phillips’ call to expel Wallis, saying she was “really concerned” about him, and adding that his track record was “dubious.”

Even before the Sugar-Daddies.net scandal, Wallis’ past business ventures had been heavily scrutinized. Several of the companies Wallis owned or had financial interest in proper to being elected to Parliament had been subjected to “hundreds” of trading standards complaints by consumers.

One of Wallis’ other companies was an outsourcing agency which fielded jobs to Thailand where staff were paid the equivalent of $3.27 USD per hour. In some of the agency’s listings, “females only” were requested.

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5gdiginews · 26 days

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Chinese EV makers, and their connected vehicles, targeted by new House bill | TechCrunch

Chinese EV makers are facing a new challenge in attracting US customers: A new House bill that would limit or ban the entry of their connected vehicles, The bill, introduced by US Representative Elissa Slotkin, comes at a time when The trade war between the US and China intensifies After the decision of the Biden administration Four times the import duty Up to 100% discount will be given on…

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flash-fresh · 4 months

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Securing Delhi: Stringent Measures for Farmers' Protest

As the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march commenced with thousands of farmers converging towards the national capital to press for their demands, Delhi has transformed into a heavily fortified zone. Stringent security measures have been implemented at border crossings to deter the protesting farmers from entering the city.

Amidst the unfolding ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest march, authorities have ramped up security along the borders of Delhi and neighbouring states to obstruct the farmers’ entry into the capital.

DCP Ankit Singh of the North East District revealed that Section 144 has been imposed to curb assemblies and the entry of tractor trolleys into Delhi. More than 2,000 personnel from various units, including the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and the Crime Branch, have been deployed to maintain law and order.

Despite inconclusive talks between farmer leaders and Union Ministers, the farmers remain resolute in advancing their agenda despite the significant security presence.

Here’s an overview of the stringent security measures in place for the farmers’ protest:

Fortification in Haryana: Authorities in Haryana have fortified the state’s borders with Punjab using concrete blocks, iron nails, and barbed wire in locations such as Ambala, Jind, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, and Sirsa. Riot control vehicles, including water cannons, have been stationed along the Punjab and Haryana borders to dissuade advancing protesters.

Multi-Layered Barricading: Singhu, Tikri, and Ghazipur borders have been barricaded extensively to seal entry points into Delhi. Concertina wires, nails, concrete blocks, and containers reinforce these barricades, aiming to prevent breaches. Drones are deployed for aerial surveillance.

Presence of Security Forces: Over 50 companies comprising Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel equipped with tear gas launchers, bulletproof vests, helmets, and advanced weaponry are stationed strategically along the Singhu, Tikri, and Ghazipur borders. Advanced weapons are on standby to manage any escalation.

Multi-Layered Blockades: Iron barricades, jersey barriers, shipping containers, barbed wire fencing, and vehicles create multi-layered blockades at the borders, further impeding the progress of protesters.

Prohibitory Orders and Traffic Restrictions: The Delhi Police has imposed prohibitory orders, banning processions of tractors, trucks, or vehicles into the city for a month. Traffic restrictions at Singhu, Ghazipur, and Tikri borders aim to deter vehicles carrying protesters from entering Delhi.

As the ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest gains momentum, the stringent security measures underscore the complexities surrounding the farmers’ demands and the challenges in maintaining public order during such demonstrations.

#DelhiChalo #FarmersProtest #SecurityMeasures #StringentSecurity #BorderFortification

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cyberbenb · 5 months

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Ukrainian government to propose banning entry of Russian-registered vehicles for 50 years

The Ukrainian government will submit a proposal to the National Security and Defense Council to ban all vehicles registered in Russia or owned by Russian citizens from entering Ukraine for 50 years, a Source : kyivindependent.com/ukrainian…

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raducotarcea · 5 months

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mariacallous · 10 months

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When the history of Burning Man 2023 is written, it’s likely Diplo and Chris Rock deciding to trudge for five miles out of the festival site will be recorded as the point the fun stopped.

The musician and actor were forced to abandon their campsite by foot as torrential rains turned the Nevada desert, which hosts the annual hedonists’ festival, into a mud bath. The temporary roads throughout the vast festival site turned into rivers, and people who signed up for eight days of partying and dancing—Burning Man began on August 27—have instead been forced to plod through thick dirt. Many have resorted to rationing food and water as toilets fail and new supplies can’t reach the site because of treacherous conditions.

This year, rain, and plenty of it, has reduced Burning Man and Black Rock City, the festival’s 70,000-strong temporary settlement, to a quagmire. All routes in and out of Black Rock City have been closed to traffic to avoid the ground being torn up by repeated tire tracks. Attendees are being asked to choose between sheltering in place or trekking on foot through mud to escape.

The cause? Extreme weather wrought by climate change, which is resulting in increasing amounts of rain being dumped on the southwestern US states at this time of year. “These sorts of heavy summer rainfall events in the region are expected, as the well-known southwestern summer monsoon is expected to yield larger amounts of rainfall in a warming climate,” says Michael Mann, presidential distinguished professor in the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Earth and Environmental Science.

This year’s summer has been particularly hot in the Southwest: NASA Earth Observatory called this year’s heat wave “relentless.” That has a knock-on effect on potential rainfall. For every degree Celsius temperature increase, there’s a 7 percent increase in moisture in the atmosphere. “A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture. So when conditions are favorable for rainfall to occur, as they are during the monsoon season, we expect more of it,” says Mann. And when that rainfall lands on the 4,000-acre dry lake bed that hosts Burning Man, it causes problems. The ground underfoot “consists of the sort of soil that easily creates a layer of mud when you add enough water,” says Mann. Campers know that: The launch of the event was delayed in late August because of rainfall from Hurricane Hilary. And research shows that the Black Rock playa, where Burning Man is based, turns into a mud bath in winter months when rain traditionally falls, “making the central portions almost entirely inaccessible for recreation.”

What Is Burning Man?

Burning Man is a weeklong festival held in the Nevada desert that attracts hedonists and the rich to party in a “utopian” community where commerce is banned and bartering is the main method of economics. Of course, you have to pay for some things—like entry, which starts at $575 but excludes camp fees, which can run into thousands of dollars, and supplies, which cost a similar amount.

Because Burning Man chooses to situate its event in the Nevada desert, resources, including food and generators, need to be trucked to the site—a challenge given heavy rain has made roads impassable. It’s this, in part, that explains why Chris Rock decided to abandon the event: In an Instagram Story, he posted that he understood portable toilets couldn’t be emptied, supplies delivered, and extra generators sent because of flooding.

But others haven’t given up. For Anya Kamenetz, who attended her first Burning Man in 2003, the rainfall hasn’t fazed her—or her fellow campmates. “We’re really prepared,” she says, though she admits that the weather’s impact means “you can’t get around the city at all.” Vehicles are banned from traveling around for fear of making the ground worse or getting stuck and blocking routes earmarked as exit routes for when it’s safe to leave. Those who choose to walk around the site can still party as always, but some have decided against doing so. Kamenetz and her campmates are continuing as normal, with some significant alterations. “We don’t know when we’re going to get drinking water—or if—or portapotty services, or fuel, or gray water services,” she says. As a result, they’re conserving as much water as possible. They're not urinating in the portapotties, but on the ground. “We’re not rationing food, but we’re just trying to make [sure] everyone is as thoughtful as possible,” she says. Showers are out—as is dishwashing.

The rainfall began on the afternoon of September 1 around 1:30 pm and didn’t stop for about nine hours, Kamenetz says. “At first you’re like, ‘Well, it’ll clear up and we’ll go out more later.’ But then we were making dinner and [it] was like: ‘Wow, this is going to be impossible.’” By nightfall on September 2, with the ground turning from desert to quagmire, Kamenetz had resigned herself to being stuck on site. For how long that will be, she’s less sure. “Every time it rains more it sets the clock back a little bit,” she says. However, when there are breaks in the rain, the timescale gets expedited. On September 2, people were uncertain they’d get to leave before September 7; now they’re hopeful to be free sooner.

Kamenetz has been surprised by how well the 70,000-strong community has taken the weather’s impact on their party. “Burning Man people really pride themselves on first of all being prepared to confront the elements, and secondly, being cooperative and being in a good spirit,” she says. She has seen a few confrontations between those who are demanding to leave, getting into their cars and making a break for it, and other “Burners” (as attendees are called) who are stopping them, but mostly Kamenetz has seen people accepting their fate.

An annual getaway for hedonists and a particular subsection of the ultra-rich Silicon Valley tech community has always been a bit of an odd sell: Pitch up a vast, temporary city of 70,000 people every year, with attendees jetting in from all four corners of the globe to party. Some attendees of the event have repeatedly highlighted concerns about the impact the festival has on the planet. The event reports its carbon footprint to be 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide, more than 90 percent of which is accounted for by travel to and from the site. By comparison, the Glastonbury Festival’s carbon footprint is net negative, according to one analysis. Burning Man looks likely to miss its 2030 target of being carbon negative.

The climate impact of the event has long been known as a problem. Climate change protesters, including some Burners, picketed the road into and out of the Nevada desert where Burning Man takes place as the event was due to begin this year. Several were arrested. “One of the reasons we did this protest was because almost everyone involved was a Burner, and we saw the potential for that community to be able to make a real change,” says Emily Collins, a cofounder of the climate campaign group Rave Revolution, who was one of those picketing the event.

One Burner has previously written a Medium post titled “Climate Change Is an Existential Threat to Black Rock City,” the city that organizers create annually at the festival. Nikki Caravelli, a climate resilience planner in Sacramento, California, who regularly attends the event, cowrote a memo with organizers in August 2021 highlighting how the event had to adapt to the climate crisis. (Caravelli did not respond to a request for comment.)

But attendees should take note. “Mother Nature is not without a sense of irony, and surely she displayed it here,” says Mann. “What took place this year at Burning Man speaks profoundly to the message of the climate protesters who were shouted down by Burning Man only days earlier.” Mann thinks this could be a liminal moment for those in attendance. “The very sort of unbridled consumption and exploitation of nature that sadly now marks this event is precisely what is favoring the sort of extreme weather that this year turned the event into a scene from a disaster film.”

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