#moving service in serbia

[selidbe-beograd-beo-selidbe-doo]

Selidbe Beograd, firma za selidbe Beograd, medjunarodne selidbe, medjugradkse selidbe. Kompletne usluge selidbe Beograd i Skladištenje nameštaja i robe u kontrolisanim uslovima!! Dobrodošli za više informacija; 063 823 15 15

064 00 82 822

[canmom]

last day of nierrein today. regrettably my personal video archiving project was just not possible with all the other stuff going on this month (expect a serbia reportback once i'm home and I can get pictures off the camera lol). I never unlocked most of the Recollections of Dusk, nor a had the cubes for a bunch of Dark Memories. however other people have made videos, so I still want to make a text-and-video archive of how it all fits together. at least by playing the game I know what I should look for.

hopefully the fan reverse engineering projects by the gang at nierrein.guide will be successful in making something playable. it frustrates me that in this era of ~Games As A Service~, archival is such an impossible moving target. there were good stories in this game, unknowable hours of dev time devoted to polishing its interactions. but it's no longer profitable so away it goes.

i suppose it's true what they say... 祇園精舎の鐘の聲、諸行無常の響き有り。

[cupidford]

It's not the end of spring yet, but I've read a crazy amount the last few months so here we go with twenty amazing reads!!

I've got so many more in the arsenal to share with yall!

❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

Light by Vanimedla4

Battling his addiction and depression, Sherlock moves to a lighthouse where he plans to end his life. He is stopped by John, a ghost. ~102k

🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

The Q-Axis by Calais_Reno

Assassin John leaves a stalled train and attempts to find his way to the surface. Once above ground, he begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around him. He calls this new reality the Q-axis. Meanwhile, detective Sherlock Holmes tries to solve a series of puzzling murders, all of which seem linked to a man who doesn’t exist. ~81.5k

All This Time by stopthat

“We share a life,” John says, eyes searching. “Have you ever wanted anything more from me?” ~3.5k

💛💛💛💛💛

Matchmaking for Solitary Animals by ArwaMachine

Following Sherlock’s return from the dead, he entertains gentlemen callers, a fact that seems to make John irrationally angry. Intent on proving that he’s not a dick, John makes it his mission to find Sherlock a boyfriend. Switchlock, ish toplock. ~72k

On an Eyelash by stopthat

Sherlock returns from the dead, but he and John don't talk about it. Until slowly they do, and between Christmas and Sherlock's birthday wishes really do come true. ~5k

The Art of Putting Up Shelves by Amyreadsandstresses

S3 fix it. Sherlock meets Adrian at a Chip Shop. They start a romantic relationship amongst the events of S3. Painful but lovely, and not Johnlock! ~19k

The Force of the Interaction by CorvidCordelia

Five Times John Thought About Sex and Sherlock and His Brain Broke + One Time It Didn't. Warning there is AdLock. ~17k

💚💚💚💚💚

A Christmas Stroll with Sherlock Holmes by aquileaofthelonelymountain

Sherlock offers a Christmas Stroll experience as a contribution to a local dog charity auction. The auction winners? None other than John and Rosie Watson. ~12k

Blue Plaques by JRow

John’s engagement is off, and he is back at the place he feels most at home — 221B Baker Street. In the process of solving a mystery, will John accidentally reveal a secret of his own? Asexual Sherlock. ~36.5k

noise complaint by simplyclockwork

One loud upstairs neighbour and three days of non-stop party music lead Sherlock to an unexpected meeting. Unilock, switchlock. ~85.5k

💙💙💙💙💙

Paper Men by Lurikko

Sherlock becomes obsessed with John having sex with women. John wonders if Sherlock is running an experiment or flirting? And after they start having sex themselves, are they actually in a relationship yet, or what exactly is going on? ~13.5k

You Have Demons (I Do Too) by wannabesir

ACD. Sherlock is fresh out of rehab and assigned community service thanks to his ever-spying brother Mycroft. At the theatre, he meets a blonde army doctor, turned actor, suffering from a PTSD flashback. ~105.5k

The Slow Dance and Death of a Carbon Copy by batslikepastel

After Mary's death, John starts spiraling. He starts mistaking Sherlock for Mary, the first sign of delusion, and Sherlock starts pretending to be her. 15.5k

the old songs by allsovacant

Sherlock vanishes after John and Mary's wedding. Five years later, John receives a text message from Sherlock asking for a chance to talk and clear the air between them. ~4.5k

Found by Callist

Life goes on in Baker Street, and it's time for a remodel to fit Rosie. As the project grows, John and Sherlock find something else growing between them. 11.5k

💜 HONORABLE MENTIONS 💜

body and soul by simplyclockwork

Established relationship. Sherlock knows himself as a man with refined tastes. In his opinion, John Watson is artwork of the highest calibre. ~3k

Meet Me on the Ice by consult_this_prick

Sherlock grows fond of the figure skater he sees before his hockey practices. ~6k

Places in the Mind by Calais_Reno

Post HLV. S3 fix it. John rescues Sherlock in Serbia after he is wounded. ~4.5k

Demitasse by oorsprong

Victorian ACD. We found ourselves at Pagani's upon nearly every successful completion of a case in unspoken celebration. ~1.5k

Community Service by Accident, Hobbitsfeet, Tindomerelhloni

Forensics Medical Examiner John H. Watson is forced to set up an office Christmas party with Sherlock Holmes. ~12.5k

[dwellordream]

“At the end of the 19th century, when slightly more than half of all working people were still engaged in agriculture and the nation’s population was still concentrated mostly in the Eastern states, the statistically and geographically average American woman would have been a 38-to-40-year-old white farmer’s wife with four or five children, living in southwestern Ohio. Like 98 percent of married white women in 1890, this “average” American woman did not work for pay outside her home. In addition to housekeeping, cooking, and child care, though, she probably performed a great deal of farm labor and may have sold eggs and butter to make a little cash.

She may also have been involved in local church work, or a temperance (anti-alcohol) group, or a ladies’ auxiliary of the county Grange, an organization that encouraged farmer cooperatives and agitated for farmers’ political rights. Our typical mid-continent woman was probably not an immigrant, but she might well have been the offspring of German or Scandinavian immigrants, the groups that had dominated the settlement of the Midwest after the Civil War. Her own daughter, coming of age in the 1890s and educated in a local township school, might have more opportunities than her mother. Unless she married a farmer, or her parents needed her labor at home, she could move to Chicago or some other large city and take up work in a factory, shop, or office.

This picture of the statistically average American woman and her daughter does not tell the whole story. In fact, the typical, if not the average, white American woman in 1890 was just as likely to be a young working-class woman--a Russian-Jewish or Italian garment worker in New York City, a Polish meat packer in Chicago, or an Irish domestic servant in Boston--as she was to be a farmer’s wife in Ohio or Nebraska, because immigration was changing the population so rapidly in 1890. The waves of British, Irish, and German immigration had ended in the 1880s. Now the immigrants, who arrived each year in the hundreds of thousands, came mostly from eastern and southern Europe--Russia, Poland, Serbia, Hungary, Greece, and Italy.

…The picture of women’s lives in the South at the turn of the century differed in several significant ways from that of their Northern counterparts. Southern society had been all but destroyed in the Civil War, along with Southern cities and much of the Southern landscape. Recovery had been slow and incomplete, and the South did not share the industrial prosperity of the North. Society was sharply divided along racial lines, and white racism had become steadily worse after Reconstruction ended in the late 1870s. Confined largely to jobs in agriculture, African Americans worked as laborers on vast cotton or tobacco plantations, or as sharecroppers, paying for the fields that they leased from white landowners with a share of their crops. Few black families owned farms of their own.

Although many black women dreamed of a life in which they could devote full time to family cares and household responsibilities, most had to work full days for white landowners or toil in the fields alongside their husbands in order to maintain even a minimum family income. The few jobs available to black women outside agriculture were in domestic service--working for white families--or in laundries, or in segregated mills and cigarette factories. Black families made enormous sacrifices to keep their daughters in school, with the expectation that they might become teachers or small-business owners. African-American parents could hope that the next generation of black women might escape sharecropping or working in white men’s houses, where they were subject to insult and frequently in danger of sexual assault.

…Western coastal states were especially attractive to Asian immigrants, though the influx of Chinese laborers had slowed to a trickle after the Chinese Exclusion Act became law in 1882. Filipino immigration increased significantly after the Spanish-American War in 1898, and by the end of the 19th century, Japanese immigrants had established substantial communities in California. Although the Chinese and Filipino immigration was at first mostly male, Japanese immigration was more evenly balanced between men and women.

The Asian groups tended to remain isolated from the larger, white society, which regarded their different physical characteristics, as well as their languages and customs, with deep suspicion and contempt. Like women in other immigrant cultures, Asian women remained more isolated and less assimilated than men, remaining homebound or working in restaurants, laundries, or small industries run exclusively by members of their community. Many new brides went straight from the boat to the farms of central California, where they picked fruits and vegetables alongside their husbands by day and cooked meals and cared for their children and living quarters the rest of the time.”

- Karen Manners Smith, “Woman’s World in 1890.” in New Paths to Power: American Women, 1890-1920

[minetteskvareninova]

Hetalia Headcanons: Austria, Hungary and all the rest

Czechia and Slovakia are long-lost siblings. That's why their separation wasn't a divorce. My authentic reaction when I learned that in the original, Czechia and Slovakia aren't siblings (c'mon man, we literally call each other "brothers"):

Human names of Czechia and Slovakia are Anežka Vodníčková and Miloslav Vodníček.

Nations age at different speeds, which is why Slovakia was a child untill like the 19th century, when he went trough a growth spurt, while Czechia was already a teenager by the time she moved in with Austria (despite them being born around the same time?). Romania had a similar growth spurt to Slovakia's, though he became an adult faster, while Serbia and Croatia were always around the same apparent age as Czechia and Hungary.

The relationship between Austria and Hungary was always tumultuous as all hell, because Austria wanted Hungary to follow his house rules and she didn't like that one bit. The conflict between them sometimes even turned violent, but luckily they managed to keep their conflicts away from the rest of the family, including baby Italy.

In the 17th century, Hungary tried to escape Austria's house five times, every time with the help of Romania. The first three times played out pretty much the same - Austria's house became a mess in Hungary's absence, while she again realized (unbeknownst to Austria) that actually, she hates Romania more, so when Austria came, willing to negotiate, she was always eager. The fourth and fifth time, Hungary was more determined than ever before and Austria more or less learned to get by without her, so their struggle was more bitter. In the end, Austria won on the battlefield and Hungary and Romania were both forced to submit. Also, all this time, Turkey was at their border, attempting to invade several times, so that was fun.

Czechia and Hungary were always each other's great rivals despite the fact that they often had the same boss, who usually made them play nice. Of course, their enmity was all power struggle and had nothing do to with the fact that Hungary basically held Czechia's little brother as a child slave. B-baka.

Czechia grew up with Holy Roman Empire, and since she was older than him, she was eventually able to dominate the household... Untill Austria grew up and took over, supported by Hungary.

Both Hungary and Czechia were at various points in the Middle Ages (when they were all children) engaged to Poland. Needless to say, in neither case was this arranged marriage considered for very long, to their immense relief, and in the end it was Lithuania who had to bite the bullet.

Czechia declared independence in 1618, and as a result caused a civil war between the Germanic brothers (the very many Germanic brothers that there were before they joined into Germany). She lost so badly she was basically enslaved by Austria as a result.

Ukraine was once "leased" by Russia to Austria. After living with abusive (Russia) or incompetent (Poland) masters her entire life, Austria's house was incredibly refreshing for her. She made friends with almost everyone here, including Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary, who as mentioned hate each other's guts, and overall enjoyed her experience there, gaining confidence along the way. When she had to return to Russia, she thus started to demand better treatment. This being Russia, it didn't go over well.

Slovakia and Czechia bonded only slowly over their stay at Austria's house. They notionally acknowledged their sibling bond around the start of the 19th century, and more or less got each other's back ever since.

Nobody had a good year 1848, but Austria's was undoubtedly worse than anyone else's, with EVERYONE in his household turning on him - Czechia, Hungary, Romania, even teenage Feliciano.

Czechia, Hungary and Romania united to demand GLORIOUS INDEPENDENCE, or at least renegotiations of the terms of their service and cohabitation. Slovakia was also there, ready to follow Czechia wherever she might go. Of them all, Hungary was the most gung-ho about independence, to Czechia's chagrin ("This madwoman will get us all killed."), since Czechia wanted to keep more wiggle room for negotiations instead of Hungary's all-or-nothing approach. Then there is the fact that this time, Czechia openly advocated for the freedom of her little brother, which Hungary didn't like one bit, and then Hungary also started to feud with Romania, Croatia and Serbia... Basically, the whole thing turned into a tragicomic mess so typical of Hetalia characters, which was finished by Austria reestablishing control over his unruly household with the help of noone other than Russia.

Feliciano escaped and tried to reunite with Romano, dreaming about living with his beloved long-lost brother... But of course, being Feliciano and Romano, they got lost on the way to their meeting spot. Feliciano was found by Austria and brought home, and the brothers' dream of reuinification remained unfulfilled for a while.

Okay. We all agree that the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 was the big wedding between Austria and Hungary, right? I've seen at least one fan who shares this headcanon with me. Of course, Czechia felt spurned, not because she had any romantic feelings about Austria, but because she was jealous of Hungary now becoming the mistress of the house. So she insisted on a polygamous union, which Austria of course refused and tried to somewhat mollify her with more freedom within the household. Czechia still held out hope that maybe, just maybe, when Austria will be at his weakest, she can seduce him, but then she slowly accepted that this isn't going to happen and came around to the idea of independence that she called stupid when Hungary dreamed about it before (#poeticcinema).

The whole household then remained more or less stable (with some minor squabbles and subject nations acting out) untill WWI, when the house was destroyed by the artillery and the subjects decided to leave their masters to their own devices. Austria left to take care of his badly injured cousin Germany (hence the divorce), only to then have the victorious nations forbid him from moving in with Germany, fearing that this could help Germany recuperate financially, which they didn't want. Czechia and Slovakia of course moved in together, only to realize cohabitation isn't easy, at which point they started to squabble, just like they did with other nations in Austria's household. Romania declared independence earlier, and now came to take the things he left at Hungary's house before. Hungary was left impoverished, it was actually kinda sad...

[scotianostra]

16th August 1864 saw the birth in India of Elsie Maud Inglis.

Elsie's family originated from originated from Kingsmills, Inverness-shire, her father,John, was in the service of the East India Company, although he was opposed to the imperialist policies of the 1870s. John retired and moved his family to Tasmania for two years before moving to Edinburgh in 1878. From 1878 to 1882, Inglis attended the Edinburgh Institute for the Education of Young Ladies.

When she was eighteen, Inglis attended a finishing school in Paris. Inglis knew she wanted to pursue a career in medicine and fortunately in 1886 Sophie Jex-Blake opened the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women, where Inglis began her medical training. However, a student rebellion in 1889 led Inglis with the support of her father and his influential friends to establish a rival school, the Medical College for Women.

Inglis studied at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary for eighteen months before qualifying as a licentiate at the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Inglis’s first position was medical officer at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson’s New Hospital for Women in London. Inglis held a short post in Dublin before returning to Edinburgh in 1894 where she opened a general practice. In 1899, Inglis graduated MB CM from Edinburgh and was appointed lecturer of gynaecology at the Medical College for Women, in partnership with Jessie Macgregor, opened a small hospital for women and children in 1894.

In 1904, Inglis’s small hospital moved to the High Street and was renamed The Hospice. In 1905 Inglis was appointed senior consultant of the Bruntsfield Hospital, which merged with The Hospice in 1911.

Inglis was nearly fifty in 1914 when war was declared, but her zeal and patriotism led her to offer her services to the War Office, only to be denied. Not deterred, Inglis sought to form independent hospital units staffed by women. An appeal for funds and support soon attracted more than just suffrage supporters. Inglis gave an inspiring speech in October 1914 at Kingsway Hall on ‘what women can do to help the war.’ Funds poured in for the new organization, the Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Service (SWH) and both the French and Serbs accepted the offer of all female medical units. The first unit left for France in November 1914 and the second went to Serbia in January 1915. Inglis went to Serbia in 1915 as the chief medical officer.

In the autumn Serbia was invaded and Inglis’s hospital was taken over by Germans. She was interned until February 1916 when she was sent home. Upon her return home, Inglis advocated for aid in Serbia. On 3 April 1916, Inglis became the first woman to be decorated with the order of the white eagle. Attempts over the next couple of years to found hospitals and aid Serbia were tried and failed. Inglis remained with her unit in Romania until September 1917 when it re-joined the Serbian division.

Inglis knew she had cancer, and by the end of September was unable to work as a surgeon, although she continued to direct the unit. Although the political situation was deteriorating rapidly, Inglis refused to leave until the Serbs were transferred out of Russia. When the unit finally left, Inglis sent a telegraph home saying, ‘Everything satisfactory and all well except me.’ Inglis and her unit landed in Newcastle and the following day, 26nd November 1917, in the presence of her sisters, Inglis died. Before her body was interned in Dean Cemetery, Inglis’s body lay in state in St Giles’ Cathedral. The SWH continued its work for the duration of the war, sending out more units and raising money for the work. Remaining funds were used to establish the Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital in Edinburgh in July 1925.

Elsie Inglis has been honoured many times since her death, most notably on a stamp in Serbia, on a Clydesdale Bank £50 note and most recently on the centenary of her death in November 2017, as seen in the fourth pic.

[mariacallous]

Orthodox Easter messages delivered by two senior clerics in North Macedonia and Serbia have sparked criticism, with Metropolitan Petar of the Prespa-Pelagonija eparchy of the Macedonian Orthodox Church causing particular outrage with his suggestion that gender equality is “blasphemous” and a “poisonous and perverted ideology” that threatens society.

“God created the male and the female, and anything else that is changed and different from God’s creation is abnormal, and therefore unacceptable,” Metropolitan Petar said.

The cleric also claimed that women’s rights lead to divorce.

“In the past century, before feminism and the emancipation of women, [a woman] has been a wife, mother, housewife, and today she is highly emancipated and in top societal positions. But she is also often divorced and a single parent,” he said.

North Macedonia’s Social Affairs Minister Jovanka Trencevska responded furiously with a message on Facebook addressing the cleric, saying that “this is not the time of the inquisition, Bishop”.

“What is blasphemy is the poison that you unleash and with which you insult and humiliate 51 per cent of the population,” Trencevska wrote.

“We live in a democracy, at a time when perhaps not every woman is loud and brave, but they are loud and brave fighting for gender equality. For their rights and the rights of every other woman. For the rights of every individual in society,” she added.

In neighbouring Serbia, Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church raised eyebrows with his Easter message opposing gender-sensitive language.

Last Thursday, at the start of the Orthodox Easter celebrations, he said that the Serbian language must be protected from “violence” imposed by legal provisions that introduce “so-called gender-sensitive language”.

Patriarch Porfirije argued that “the fight against marriage and the family as established by God” was the concealed motive behind moves to adopt such language.

Asked about the patriarch’s views, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told a press conference on Friday that he didn’t dare to comment, but added that Serbia is a secular state in which matters of state are separate from the church.

“We have the principle of secularity. It is well known who decides on laws and who passes decisions on other issues,” Vucic said.

The patriarch’s views sparked a backlash on Twitter, however.

“Femicide, obstetric violence, unpaid alimony, poor work by social services, economic insecurity and all the other forms of insecurity… maybe these things endanger marriage and the family a ‘little’ more,” wrote Pavle Grbovic, head of the Movement of Free Citizens, a Serbian opposition group.

In both North Macedonia and Serbia, Orthodox Christians make up the majority of the population. Efforts in both countries to introduce laws that would ensure greater equality and combat gender-based discrimination have been met with strong opposition from the church.

Human rights advocates have often accused the authorities in both countries of being too accommodating towards the church’s stances, or not resolute enough to contradict them, despite the fact that both are officially secular states.

[orthodoxydaily]

Saint, Icons&Reading: Wednesday, January, 25, 2023

january 25_january 12

THE NUN EUPRAXIA OF TABENYSSA (TABENEIA THE OLDER) (393)

Saint Eupraxia the Elder was the mother of Saint Eupraxia, maiden of Tabennisi (July 25). She was the wife of the pious senator Antigonus, who was related to the emperor Theodosius the Great (379-395). Following the birth of their daughter, the couple decided to live from that time forward as brother and sister. They distributed alms to the poor, hoping to inherit the heavenly Kingdom.

After she was widowed, Saint Eupraxia devoted herself completely to the service of the Lord. After visiting several monastic establishments and bestowing liberal alms, she came to the Tabennisi monastery in Egypt, where the abbess was the nun Theodula, known for her strict rule.

Deeply moved by the pure way of monastic life, Saint Eupraxia came often to this monastery and always brought her eight-year-old daughter with her. The virtues and prayers of her parents bestowed a particular grace of God upon the child, who desired to dedicate herself to God. To her mother’s great joy, the abbess Theodula kept the younger Eupraxia at the convent and blessed her to receive monastic tonsure.

Saint Eupraxia the elder continued her works of charity, and increased her fasting and prayer. Abbess Theodula, possessing the gift of clairvoyance, told her of her impending end. Learning of her imminent death, Eupraxia gave thanks to the Lord for His great mercy towards her. She bid farewell to the sisters of the convent and to her daughter. She left her with these parting words: “Love the Lord Jesus Christ, and respect the sisters. Never dare to think that they are below you and should serve you. Be poor in your thoughts in order to profit by spiritual treasures. Also remember your father and me, and pray for the salvation of our souls.” After three days the saint surrendered her soul to the Lord (+ 393) and was buried at the monastery, where her daughter continued her ascetic struggles.

ICON: THE “ AKATHIST” 

The “Akathist” Icon of the Mother of God is on the iconostasis of the Hilandar monastery’s katholikon. It is known as the “Akathist” Icon because, during a fire at the katholikon in 1837 an Akathist was being read before the icon, and it remained unharmed, to the joy of the monks.

This icon should not be confused with the Zographou Icon “Of the Akathist” (October 10).

ICON: THE "MILK-BEARING"

The “Milk-Giver” Icon of the Mother of God was originally located at the Lavra of Saint Savva the Sanctified near Jerusalem. Before his death, the holy founder of the Lavra foretold that a royal pilgrim having the same name as himself would visit the Lavra. Saint Savva told the brethren to give the wonderworking icon to that pilgrim as a blessing.

In the thirteenth century, Saint Savva of Serbia visited the Lavra. As he approached the reliquary of Saint Savva the Sanctified, the saint’s staff fell at his feet. The brethren asked the visitor his name, and he told them he was Archbishop Savva of Serbia. Obeying the instructions of their founder, the monks gave Saint Savva his staff, the “Milk-Giver” Icon, and the Icon “Of the Three Hands” (June 28 & July 12).

The holy archbishop took the icon to Hilandar on Mount Athos and put it on the right side of the iconostasis in the church of Saint Savva at the kellion of Karyes, which is attached to Hilandar. The icon was later named Typikonissa, since the Rule (Typikon) of Saint Savva was preserved there.

Source, all texts: Orthodox Church in America_OCA

JOHN 10:9-16 

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

JAMES 3:11-4:6

11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh. 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"? 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:"God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."

[ukrainenews]

Daily Wrap Up June 23, 2022

Under the cut: The European Union has approved the application of Ukraine [and Moldova] to become a candidate country for admission to the bloc; The UK government has issued an update to the list of goods that are banned from being exported to Russia; The United States will send another $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including some additional medium-range rocket systems; The regional governor of the eastern region of Donetsk said on Thursday that no town is safe for residents as fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops intensifies; Three cruise missiles hit southern Ukraine port city of Mykolaiv.

“The European Union has approved the application of Ukraine to become a candidate country for admission to the 27-strong bloc. EU leaders meeting in Brussels have followed the recommendation of the European Commission, which was made on Friday 17 June.

Ukraine has been seeking EU membership since the 2004 “orange revolution” and more emphatically since the 2013-14 Maidan protests. In the expectation of a positive outcome Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had said: “This is like going into the light from the darkness.”

Ukraine’s ambassador to the EU, Vsevolod Chentsov, had said the move would mark “is a signal to Moscow that Ukraine, and also other countries from the former Soviet Union, cannot belong to the Russian spheres of influence.”

The move comes just one day short of the four month anniversary of Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering his troops into Ukraine for what Russia has insisted is not a war, but a “special military operation”.

The accession process to the EU can be lengthy. Until today the official list of candidate countries included Albania, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. Turkey gained candidate status in 1999, the Republic of North Macedonia in 2005.”

-via The Guardian

I did a longer write up of this here with more information about what this means and what the future could look like for Ukraine and proper EU status. Both Ukraine and Moldova have been granted candidacy status.

~

“The UK government has issued an update to the list of goods that are banned from being exported to Russia. The new details include:

Prohibitions on the export to, or for use in Russia of jet fuel and fuel additives.

Prohibitions on the export to, or for use in, Russia, of Sterling or EU denominated banknotes; as well as prohibitions on the making available, supply, or delivery of such banknotes to a person connected with Russia.

Prohibitions on the provision of technical assistance, financial services, funds, and brokering services relating to iron and steel imports.”

-via The Guardian

The official notice from the UK government can be found here.

~

“The United States will send another $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including some additional medium-range rocket systems, to help push back Russian progress in the war, officials announced Thursday.

The latest package includes four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, which will double the number they have now. All four were prepositioned in Europe, and training on those systems has already begun with the Ukrainian troops who will use them, said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Anton Semelroth, a Pentagon spokesman. The first four HIMARS that the U.S. previously sent have already gone to the battlefield in Ukraine and are in the hands of troops there.

According to the Pentagon, the aid also includes 18 tactical vehicles that are used to tow howitzers, so the weapons can be moved around the battlefield, as well as 18 coastal and riverine patrol boats, thousands of machine guns, grenade launchers and rounds of ammunition, and some other equipment and spare parts.”-via AP

~

“The regional governor of the eastern region of Donetsk said on Thursday that no town is safe for residents as fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops intensifies.

“There is no place, no town in Donetsk region where it would be safe,” Pavlo Kyrylenko told Agence France-Presse, citing latest intelligence data.

“It is extremely dangerous for residents to stay in any places of the region,” he added, given the current scale of fighting around the towns of Lysychansk and Severodonetsk.

Kyrylenko added that the priority was to prevent Russian forces from advancing into Slovyansk and Kramatosk some 80 kilometres away further west. He said around 45,000 people remained in the latter city - about one third of the pre-war population.

He also said that civilian evacuations were ongoing with 251 people taken out Wednesday from the area. According to him, deliveries of foodstuffs were continuing throughout the Donetsk region despite power outages and intermittent cuts to supplies of water and gas.”-via The Guardian

~

“Three cruise missiles hit Ukraine’s southern port city of Mykolaiv today, while air defences shot down another two missiles near the southern city of Odesa, the Ukrainian armed forces said in a statement.

Reuters reports that the military said one civilian was wounded in the strikes on Mykolaiv. The claims have not been independently verified.”-via The Guardian

[magpiejay1234]

More 80s Titans brainrot, cause why not. This time with Tara and Rachel again.

Rachel Roth is of course, is a very Jewish name. Rachel literally means ewe in Hebrew, just like Arella means messenger of God, or more literally, an angel. So sheep and an angel. Very Christ-y. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roth_(surname)

Roth has Germanic origins, but apparently it was a popular surname adopted by (Ashkenazi) Jews in Germanic countries. It means the following:

The spilling of blood from the warrior class of ancient Germanic soldiers; Ethnic name for an Anglo-Saxon, derived from rot (meaning "red" before the 7th century), referencing red-haired people; Topographical name, derived from rod (meaning "wood"), meaning a dweller in such a location; Derivative from hroth (from the Proto-Germanic word for "fame"; related to hrod); Local name for 18th-century Ashkenazi refugees to Germany; Derivative from roe in the ancient Danish language to signify (of) a king; Of the red colour of clay, as in pottery (German).

Bunch of possible associations. I'm guessing most of the associations with the color red has to do with her earlier relationship with Wally, not the later associations her character has.

I think the initial vibe Wolfman-Perez were going for was the inverted Christ imagery, as a sacrifical sheep soaked in blood, for Trigon’s return. Obviously Joey’s hero name, Jericho, also ironically teases he will be killed by his own father’s hand, with Slade being shown as a Biblical Pagan King, punished to kill his own Jewish son.

For Tara,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_(given_name)

Irish Gaelic: refers to the Hill of Tara, or Teamhair na Rí, the legendary seat of the High King of Ireland In Serbia the name is often associated with the mountain of Tara and national park in Serbia and river Tara in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, Nepali, Marathi, Persian, Punjabi, Kurdish, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, Sinhalese: "Star"

Obviously Tara is chosen because it is similar to Terra, but it is interesting it refers to high places in both Irish Gaelic and Serbian, though Serbian Mountain of Tara’s name is apparently based off an Illyrian tribe that lived there (which are considered to be ancestors of Albanians in Balkans, not really a Slavic connection). It is more likely that Irish Gaelic connection is more important, since Brion also comes from Gaelic word for Hill:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian

It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word meaning "high" or "noble".[1] For example, the element bre means "hill"; which could be transferred to mean "eminence" or "exalted one"

There isn’t much to discuss about the name Markov, though. It comes from Mark, and -ov is just a suffix more or less meaning “sons of x”. As tamaranorbust made clear in her Terra retrospective, this comes from Georgi Markov, Bulgarian dissident writer assasinated by the Bulgarian Secret Service and the KGB :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgi_Markov

As for the surname itself, it is mostly common in Russia and Bulgaria, and not really common other Slavic countries, most notably, not Czechia or Slovakia (though the surname still exists there apparently), which serve as the initial basis for Markovia. No wonder other DC writers took Brad Meltzer by moving Markovia way further east geographically.

Another thing to note, apparently there are some cases where the Markov surname isn’t given the feminine form, Markova:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Markov

Though the Czech spelling apparently would be Marková:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuzana_Markov%C3%A1_(soprano)

Another thing to note about Meltzer, obviously he went the retcon of Brion meaning Superman in Markovian language, but I don’t know if the name Tara was pun Kara’s name (which also doesn’t come from Turkic Kara, but Latin, Gaelic or Greek Cara, which mean similar but different things), or perhaps some cheeky reference to both Laura (Madame Rouge) and/or Rita. I assume both are in effect.

[bitcofunblog]

Bitcoin Mining Consumption Almost As Much As Ireland People all around the world are wondering how Bitcoin Mining consumes such a huge amount of energy. This blog post will give you some insight into what is happening and why it's important that we take action to protect our environment. Mining cryptocurrency like Bitcoin can be very expensive, but also rewarding for those who put in the time and effort. Mining cryptocurrency requires an incredible amount of electricity, which means more power plants need to be built and maintained to meet the demand; this has caused a surge in global carbon emissions, as well as higher prices on many popular goods and services! Mining cryptocurrency is not just taking a toll on our environment, but also to the wallets of many who are investing in it! Mining Bitcoin requires more energy than almost entire countries. This past year alone saw an increase in electricity consumption from Bitcoin Mining by over 30%. Mining cryptocurrency has become so common that experts expect all mining facilities worldwide will likely use up around 0.05% of the world's global power supply this year, which is equivalent to about 54 terawatt-hours. That would mean that every single hour, Bitcoin mining consumes roughly the same amount of power as does Morocco or Serbia for an entire month! It’s estimated that if the price per bitcoin doesn't reach at least $100.000 soon then we can expect its total annual energy consumption to be greater than that of the Republic of Ireland. Mining cryptocurrency is becoming an increasingly difficult task, requiring more processing power and consuming even more energy as a result! This means it becomes harder for individuals to make money mining Bitcoin by themselves, which leads them either to invest in cloud-based servers or join large mining pools. Mining cryptocurrency has become so popular that many believe it will someday take over fiat currencies like USD all together; however, this demand cannot continue unless we start making changes now. The only way the price per bitcoin can rise above $100.000 at some point later this year is if there are changes made within our current system today! Mining cryptocurrencies have already caused major issues with our environment, but since they are still very new to the world, there is still time for us to take action and make a difference so that we can ensure cryptocurrencies continue growing without destroying our planet! Mining cryptocurrency like Bitcoin has become increasingly popular throughout 2023. The total computing power of all computers mining Bitcoin now stands at over 250 PetaFLOPS - which means it's roughly 100 times faster than every computer in the world combined! Mining cryptocurrency requires such as large amount of electricity that miners are moving into areas with low-cost renewable energy sources; however, it’s important to realize this may not always be possible everywhere. Mining cryptocurrency isn't just difficult on those who try setting up their own servers either; companies also have to spend millions each month attempting to cut costs and remain profitable. Mining cryptocurrency has caused so much strain on our environment that it's estimated around 0.03% of the world’s energy consumption is used for Bitcoin mining each year! Mining bitcoin requires more electricity than 159 countries, which means if all miners were located in one country; that one nation would rank at around 71st place in terms of total power consumption . Mining cryptocurrency like Bitcoin consumes an incredible amount of energy and while this may make sense to those who are familiar with how cryptocurrencies work, these figures should be surprising even to them! Mining cryptocurrency like Bitcoin takes up a huge amount of resources whether you do it at home or through large cloud-based servers spread throughout the world. Mining cryptocurrency includes using supercomputers running complex algorithms 24 hours a day, which means the electricity

consumption is astronomical! Mining cryptocurrency like Bitcoin requires more energy than 159 countries, which makes it one of the world’s most power-hungry markets. Mining bitcoin has become so common that experts expect all mining facilities worldwide will likely use up around 0.05% of global power this year alone . Mining cryptocurrency takes up a huge amount of resources whether you do it at home or through large server farms spread throughout the world; however, some companies are starting to realize there may be ways they can cut costs and remain profitable while still reducing their carbon footprint. Mining cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin consumes an incredible amount of energy each year globally - totaling over 250 PetaFLOPS as we speak! Manufacturing servers for Bitcoin Mining purposes are growing increasingly expensive, which means that it's becoming harder for companies to remain profitable. Mining cryptocurrency has become so popular that many believe it will one day take over fiat currencies like USD all together; however, this demand cannot continue unless we start making changes now. Mining bitcoin requires more electricity than 159 countries, meaning if all miners were located in one country they would rank at around 71st place in terms of total power consumption .

[crimereporttv07news]

Armin Ordodary and FSM Smart’s Scam Exposed (2024)

Armin Ordodary and FSM Smart have received allegations of being involved in major fraudulent operations. Find out if those allegations are true or not.

There was a huge network of scam brokers surrounding FSM Smart and the so-called Lau Scheme. Armin Ordodary, a Cypriot of Iranian descent, is at its core. He has run a network of frauds and boiler rooms with associates that stretches from Georgia to the Balkans and Italy. Regulators from all around the world may have issued more warnings in relation to the FSM Smart broker fraud than any other. It is also known that in certain jurisdictions, law enforcement agencies are conducting investigations. Desperately, Ordodary keeps contacting Google to request DMCA takedown in an effort to block media reporting.

The Lau Scheme of FSM Smart

Lau Global Services Corp was an offshore company registered in Belize and licensed by the International Financial Services Commission under licence number IFSC/60/402/TS/15. The Lau Scheme operated at least the following broker brands:

MXTrade (www.mxtrade.com)

LGS Corp (www.lgs-corp.com)

TradingBanks (www.tradingbanks.com)

Trade12 (www.trade12.com)

MTI Markets (www.mtimarkets.com)

Grizzly (www.grizzly-ltd.com)

The media team has been able to identify a variety of legal entities connected with the Lau Scheme:

Lau Global Services Corp (Belize)

Upmarkt d.o.o. (Serbia), now BizServe d.o.o.)

Exo Capital Markets Ltd (Marshall Islands)

Global Fin Services Ltd (UK)

MTI Investments LLC or MTI Markets Ltd (Marshall Islands)

Grizzly Ltd (Malta)

R Capital Solutions Ltd (Cyprus)

Benrich Holdings Ltd (Cyprus)

Eyar Financial Corp Limited (Vanatu)

SIAO Ltd (Cyprus)

The majority of the companies don’t have a website or are no longer active on social media, although Lau Global Service Corp.’s Facebook page is still accessible. Lau Global Services is also a shareholder in Grizzly Ltd., a Malta-based company that formerly served as a payment services provider for such dishonest and unlawful broker schemes, according to Offshore Leaks Database. Shlomo Matan Shalom Avshalom, an Israeli, is listed as a director of Grizzly Ltd.

Up until 2015, MXtrade was owned and operated by R Capital Solutions Limited, which is currently Eightcap EU Ltd, a CySEC-regulated CIF. After that, the brand and its clientele were moved to the Lau Scheme.

Armin Ordodary’s FSM Scheme

The FSM Smart (www.fsmsmart.com) scam broker, Armin Ordodary (shown on the left), is involved in the Lau Scheme. Through its Serbian boiler room Upmarkt d.o.o. (formerly Bizserve d.o.o.), of which Benrich Holdings Ltd., a company registered in Cyprus, is the only stakeholder, it has been actively courting clients. Armin Ordodary, a resident of Cyprus, serves as the director of both companies. With Kyiv, Ukraine, serving as something of a hotspot, more boiler chambers have already been discovered in other jurisdictions.

According to a leak, Upendo Limited in Cyprus runs a boiler room in Paphos and is also a member of the network. In December 2018, Upendo was officially registered with the company number HE392291. Christoforos Andreou and AMF Global Services Limited are listed as directors. These seem to be trustees on behalf of the beneficial owners.

[newstfionline]

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Suddenly There Aren’t Enough Babies (WSJ) The world is at a startling demographic milestone. Sometime soon, the global fertility rate will drop below the point needed to keep population constant. Fertility is falling almost everywhere, for women across all levels of income, education and labor-force participation. The falling birthrates come with huge implications for the way people live, how economies grow and the standings of the world’s superpowers. Some estimates now put the number of babies each woman has below the global replacement rate of about 2.2. The U.S. long ago passed that level. South Korea’s rate, the world’s lowest, was once unimaginable. In high-income nations, fertility fell below replacement in the 1970s, and took a leg down during the pandemic. It’s dropping in developing countries, too. India surpassed China as the most populous country last year, yet its fertility is now below replacement. “The demographic winter is coming,” said Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, an economist specializing in demographics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Canadian wildfire smoke chokes Upper Midwest for second straight year (AP) Smoke from Canadian wildfires has prompted health warnings across the Upper Midwest and Montana for the second year in a row. Fires raging in British Columbia and Alberta have filled the skies with haze over parts of Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin on Sunday, lingering into Monday morning. Unhealthy air pollution levels mean everyone in Minnesota should stay indoors and avoid heavy exertion outdoors, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said in its first statewide air quality alert of the season Sunday. Scheduled to end at noon Monday, the advisory was extended until 11 p.m. for southern Minnesota including the Twin Cities metro area.

Persistent Brazil floods (Reuters) Devastating and ongoing flooding in southern Brazil is forcing some of the half million displaced residents to consider uprooting their lives from inundated towns to rebuild on higher ground. Two weeks after the onset of torrential rains, the Guaiba River running by state capital Porto Alegre is rising again, having passed the all-time high. In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the streets of dozens of towns have turned into slow-moving rivers. Just in the area around Porto Alegre, where four rivers converge to form the Guaiba River, researchers estimate nearly 3,800 square km (1,500 square miles) were flooded. That is more than the urban footprint of the Washington DC metro area, which includes 10 counties in two adjacent states. With hundreds of thousands of families fleeing the floods, the disaster—which has killed at least 147 people, with 127 still missing—could touch off one of Brazil’s biggest cases of climate migration in recent history.

Orcas sink sailing yacht in Strait of Gibraltar (Reuters) An unknown number of orcas have sunk a sailing yacht after ramming it in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain's maritime rescue service said on Monday, a new attack in what has become a trend in the past four years. The vessel Alboran Cognac, which measured 15 metres (49 feet) in length and carried two people, encountered the highly social apex predators, also known as killer whales, at 9 a.m. local time (0700 GMT) on Sunday, the service said. The passengers reported feeling sudden blows to the hull and rudder before water started seeping into the ship. After alerting the rescue services, a nearby oil tanker took them onboard and transported them to Gibraltar. The yacht was left adrift and eventually sank. The incident is the latest example of recurring orca rammings around the Gibraltar Strait that separates Europe from Africa and off the Atlantic coast of Portugal and northwestern Spain. According to the research group GTOA, there have been nearly 700 interactions since orca attacks on ships in the region were first reported in May 2020.

Xi’s visit to Hungary and Serbia brings new Chinese investment and deeper ties to Europe’s doorstep (AP) When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Hungary last week, he arrived to one of the few places in the European Union where his country is considered an indispensable ally rather than a rival. By the time he left on Friday, he’d secured deals that provide fertile ground for China’s plans of economic expansion in Europe. After meeting with nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Thursday, the leaders addressed a small group of select media in Hungary’s capital, Budapest, announcing the formation of an “all-weather partnership” that would usher in a new era of economic cooperation. Hungary has courted major Chinese investments in the belief that the world’s second-largest economy is essential for Europe’s future.

The man leading Russia's war in Ukraine is out in a surprise shake-up (NBC News) The man in charge of Russia’s war in Ukraine has been fired. Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s now-former defense minister, attended Putin’s recent inauguration ceremony and Russia’s Victory Day parade last week, but was removed from his post just a few days after. Shoigu’s firing was surprising due to his popularity and close ties to Putin, and marks the biggest shakeup in Russia’s military hierarchy since the war in Ukraine began. His replacement is Andrei Belousov, a 65-year-old civil economist who’s served as Putin’s deputy prime minister, economic aide, and minister of economic development. The Kremlin said Belousov was chosen for the post because military spending is becoming more integral to the Russian economy. According to one intelligence expert, “the defence minister, especially in time of war, is essentially an administrator, there to ensure that the military has the men and materiel it needs,” which makes the economist’s appointment “an unexpected but logical choice.”

Facing Russian Advance, a Top Ukrainian General Paints a Bleak Picture (NYT) Ukraine’s military is confronting a “critical” situation in the country’s northeast, facing troop shortages as it tries to repel a Russian offensive that has been advancing for several days, a top Ukrainian general said on Monday. Russian troops surged across the border last week to open a new line of attack near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city after Kyiv, capturing at least nine settlements and villages and forcing thousands of civilians to flee. “The situation is on the edge,” Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, said in a video call from a bunker in Kharkiv. “Every hour this situation moves toward critical.” His bleak assessment echoed those of other Ukrainian officers in recent days, that the country’s military prospects were dimming. In addition to being outnumbered, the Ukrainians face critical shortages of weapons, especially artillery ammunition, and $60.8 billion worth of arms from the United States—approved three weeks ago after months of congressional gridlock—has barely begun to arrive.

U.S. and Taiwan navies quietly held Pacific drills in April (Reuters) The U.S. and Taiwan navies conducted joint drills in the Pacific in April that, officially, did not take place, four people briefed on the matter said, as the two militaries boost cooperation amid rising Chinese military threats. Washington and Taipei have been expanding their military cooperation in recent years amid almost daily Chinese incursions into Taiwan's air defence identification zone and drills by Chinese forces near the island. U.S.-Taiwan military engagement, including visits and training, are kept low-key and are often not officially confirmed because of China's objection to any military contacts between Washington and Taipei. China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, which the island strongly rejects.

Palestinians mark 76 years of dispossession as a potentially even larger catastrophe unfolds in Gaza (AP) Palestinians on Wednesday will mark the 76th year of their mass expulsion from what is now Israel, an event that is at the core of their national struggle. But in many ways, that experience pales in comparison to the calamity now unfolding in Gaza. Palestinians refer to it as the Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe. Some 700,000 Palestinians—a majority of the prewar population—fled or were driven from their homes before and during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that followed Israel’s establishment. After the war, Israel refused to allow them to return because it would have resulted in a Palestinian majority within its borders. Instead, they became a seemingly permanent refugee community that now numbers some 6 million, with most living in slum-like urban refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In Gaza, the refugees and their descendants make up around three-quarters of the population.

In Gaza, a hidden threat could kill Palestinians even after a cease-fire (NPR) As Palestinians venture back into areas of Gaza that have been obliterated by months of combat, international organizations and aid groups say there’s a hidden threat: unexploded ordnance. The rule of thumb, explosives experts say, is that 10% of munitions do not detonate on impact. That means an estimated 7,500 metric tons of live munition may be scattered throughout the Gaza Strip, according to the United Nations. “It’s everything from mortars, artillery shells and grenades to improvised rockets and bombs and missiles,” says Mungo Birch, head of the U.N. Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in the Palestinian territories. “One of the most dangerous times is when people return home.” These weapons could continue to kill and maim Palestinians even if a cease-fire eventually ends the Israel-Hamas war. The U.N. estimates it could take 14 years to make Gaza safe from these bombs.

How Hamas Spied on Palestinians (NYT) The Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has for years overseen a secret police force in Gaza that conducted surveillance on everyday Palestinians and built files on young people, journalists and those who questioned the government, according to intelligence officials and a trove of internal documents reviewed by The New York Times. The unit, known as the General Security Service, relied on a network of Gaza informants, some of whom reported their own neighbors to the police. People landed in security files for attending protests or publicly criticizing Hamas. In some cases, the records suggest that the authorities followed people to determine if they were carrying on romantic relationships outside marriage. The documents show that Hamas leaders, despite claiming to represent the people of Gaza, would not tolerate even a whiff of dissent. Security officials trailed journalists and people they suspected of immoral behavior. Agents got criticism removed from social media and discussed ways to defame political adversaries. Political protests were viewed as threats to be undermined. Everyday Gazans were stuck—behind the wall of Israel’s crippling blockade and under the thumb and constant watch of a security force. That dilemma continues today, with the added threat of Israeli ground troops and airstrikes.

[rpgse7enx4]

When crime meets war; Yugoslavia, 1992 - By RPG.

1992 was a period of uncertainty; it was roughly a year after the Gulf War had started and finished, and 3 years since the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact.

Yugoslavia, towards its dissolving, started to experience political and economic mismanagement left by the power vacuum that was left to be "centralised" by what was supposed to be the continuation of the Yugoslav government. During the 1990s, specifically 1991, Yugoslavia held referendums to settle disputes with territories trying to claim their independence; citing that there was a rise in violent conflicts between certain nationalities, in this case between ethnic Bosnians and Serbs who of which were Bosnian Serbs and Serb-Croat.

Yugoslavia split in late 1991 into 1992, spawning six new constituencies within its former borders and a spate of civil unrest. As 1992 dawned, these what seemed to be riots turned into full civil conflict with religion and ethnicity as motivation to what sparked the fuse.

Bosnia, because of its geographical position within the former Yugoslavia, was hit the hardest; Croatian forces, and their Herzog-Bosnian counterparts from the north and north-west encroaching, and the Serbian militias with additional Yugoslav armies from the south. An explanation for this could be the fact that Bosnians were distrusted in the centralised government.

During the Croatian War of Independence and the Bosnia War, in 1992, a figure called Arkan placed his piece on the chessboard that war former Yugoslavia. Arkan had all the right hands in all the right places, in the government, security services and interior ministry; his father held a high position in the Yugoslav Air Force, and his connections with Slovenia's Federal Interior Minister granted him immunity from prison charges...so much so that when he was arrested for a burglary in France and deported back to Serbia, he was released by said Slovenian Minister as Arkan had built a repertoire for himself with Slovenia's state security. Slovenia's minister, chief of the Directorate for State Security had been quoted to have said "One Arkan is more than the entire State Security directorate".

This is where Arkan mixed his criminality with warfighting. He began a life of crime at 15 when he moved to France, committing acts of theft; and ended up dead in the year 2000 after he was gunned down leaving a hotel. Noted, his criminal activities did garner him some fame; and his close contact to other Serbs in the criminal underworld, those close to the Zemun Clan and associates of Joca Amsterdam helped him advance in his later life. In Zvornik, Bosnia, he was involved with the orchestration of the Zvornik massacre; placing him on the UNICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia) on crimes against humanity charges. The organisation he led, by the moniker of "Arkan's Tigers" or "Arkanove Tigrovi", went from being a "band" of football ultras to war criminals.

An additional thing to add about Arkan is that he had stakes in some major projects in Serbia, such as a football club that he owned called FK Obilic; which was based in the Vracar region of the countries capital, Belgrade. This team was at Champions League level when its owner was waging war.

Conclusively, war and crime coexist; where the evolution of evil acts becomes anything but a myth. In fact, war can be considered its own crime; a crime to those who experience its devastation.

RPG-7