Beitar Jerusalem: The Story of the Most Racist Football Team in the World

 (Warning: Strong language ahead)

 

            Forgive my next few words as I open up this piece, but this story is set on a country torn apart by war, racial and religious tensions, and also unwanted interference by the western world. I know where I stand on this subject, and as with many other Indonesians, my stance is that piece of land on the Middle East, where Jerusalem is located, where the Mosque Al-Aqsa is standing, is rightfully belong to Palestine and to Palestinians. I hold nothing against Israeli citizens and the Judaism faith, but it's your government and their allies that is the source of all the fiasco over the last few years. With that being said, I can only say this: Those settlements that you call "Israel" is actually stolen from the rightful owners, the Palestinians. Therefore, you are basically squatters. You literally live on a stolen land, you pompous fucks.

 

            With that out of the way, let's turn to the world of sports, where somehow, football and politics could mix (yeah, nice one right there, FIFA, I thought your stance is to keep football and politics separated, you hypocritical fuckwits). Football clubs are long associated as the identity of one city, or even a country or certain ideology. Like for example the Glasgow Celtics, known to be one of those left-leaning clubs, all because if its history of its formation by Scotland's exiled-Irish community, or even the subject of this story's bitter rival, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, tracing their roots back to the trade union movement. But this one is not only heavily right-wing, but also quite unapologetic about it. Hell, they even pride themselves as "the most racist football club in the world."

 

            May I introduce to you Beitar Jerusalem Football Club, based in (you guessed it) Jerusalem. This is one of a kind for reasons that even Hitler would be blushing in his shit-ridden grave. This club is the only club in the Israeli football league system to never signed a player of Arabic ancestry to this day. The reason being their fanbase (or at least the most fanatic section of it) holds an extreme anti-Arab and anti-Muslim stance, to the extent of hurling abuse at their own players if they are happened to be either or both.  The club itself first founded in 1936, as a youth team by Shmuel Kirschstein and David Horn. Throughout its long history, dating back to the 1940s, this club has been tightly connected with various political entities, like the paramilitary organization called Igrun, to the right-wing Israeli political party named Likud, also known as the National Liberal Movement. Hell, one of the most prolific fans of this club is former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the leader of the Likud party. Several players also unofficially aligned with the Revisionist Zionist Movement. This club was dismantled once in 1939 and had several of its players among the 251 deportees to Eritrea, Kenya, and Sudan by the British Mandate Authorities. Despite the turbulent history, Beitar managed to win several accolades within the league system, such as 6 Israeli Premier League titles, 7 State Cups, 3 Top division Toto Cups, 2 Israeli Super Cups, and 1 League Cup title. Beitar plays their home games at Teddy Stadium, with the capacity of 34.000 seats. Their crest features the menorah, and the club colors are yellow and black, with the home kit usually features yellow base with black sleeves, or even yellow-black stripes. 

 

            But what made Beitar famous is not their playing style or their accolades inside the football pitch. It's the hostile nature of its fanbase. There is one section of fans called "La Familia" who usually occupies the eastern stand of the stadium. They are notoriously anti-Arab and anti-Muslim, displaying their proud connection to their Jewish heritage. In line with their fanbase' sentiments, even some of the players admitted that they have problems with Muslims, while stating in the same breath that they have no quarrels against the Christians. Their player demographics are mostly and exclusively Israeli Jews, partly because of their pride, and partly because of the Israeli foreign players regulation, which only allows up to 6 non-Israeli players in one squad. Although, during the club's tenure, there are 5 Muslim players that once played for the club. The first was a Tajik named Goram Ajoyev. during 1989-90 season, his religious status went unnoticed by the fans, and was well-liked by the Beitar fans. Albanian Viktor Paço was the second Muslim signed by the club, scoring 21 goals in 67 games and at least 2 State Cup goals in two separate seasons. Then came Ndala Ibrahim. The Nigerian was on the team briefly in 2005 on loan from Maccabi Tel-Aviv, played 4 games but left after being mobbed by Beitar fans. The real shitstorm started in 2013 when the club decided to sign Zaur Sadayev and Dzhabrail Kadiyev, both are Muslims from Chechnya. When the fans caught wind of this, they revolted against their own club in disapproval of the two new signings. Two fans even set the administrative office on fire in response to the news. Hell, some even chanted "death to Arabs" despite the fact that they are actually Chechens from Russia. During one game against Maccabi Netanya, Beitar fans put up a banner in Hebrew bearing the words "Beitar-forever pure", and when Sadayev scored his first goal for the club, instead of celebrating, fans walked away from the stadium, allegedly in disgust. In 2019, Ali Mohamed from Niger signed for the club. Despite his name, he is actually a Christian. But the fans are not pleased and demanded him to change his name as the name "Mohamed" was deemed 'too Muslim'. To this day, no players of Arabic heritage ever laced up their boots to play for Beitar Jerusalem, all because of the facts above. Ironically, in 2020, 50% of the club's stakes was acquired by an Arab Muslim from the United Arab Emirates, and not just some Arab Muslim. That man is Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, who is the cousin of the crown prince of UAE, Muhammad bin Zayed. I guess God really has a twisted sense of irony. Even I can't believe it at first, that the most openly Islamophobic football club is co-owned by a member of an Emirati Arab royalty. 

 

            Beitar Jerusalem is truly a one-of-a-kind football team. Other teams are known for their flair attacking football, some are known for their tight defense, some teams are known to be the richest clubs in the world, buying quality players from around the world, but none of them are as famous for the hostility of their fans, particularly towards certain race or religious beliefs. I only hope that this particular club sees the error of their ways and move towards a more inclusive direction. But then again, this is Israel. There will still be conflict of all sides, and tensions between Jews and Arabs could re-escalate at any time. With this new co-ownership, who knows what the future holds for the most racist football club in the world. All I can say in closing is let there be peace in the world, and again, let Palestine be free.

Rugby Union VS Rugby League: A Detailed Explanation

If I'm not mistaken, I did something similar to this piece, but the one before is more like an introduction to the sport of rugby football, from its rather accidental conception to perhaps one of the most popular sports in the world. However, for those who only know rugby on the surface, there are actually two versions of this game. Two versions born out of both rebellious attitude and necessity, despite derived from the same Rugby School kid named William Webb Ellis, who ran with the ball in hand, instead of kicking it. 

            In the previous piece, I wrote perhaps a detailed description on how rugby football first codified, up until some clubs, mostly Northern England-based, left the Rugby Football Union, formed Rugby Football League, and codified the laws of rugby league as a more professional-oriented game opposite to a more amateur-based rugby union, until both sports became professional only after World Rugby (International Rugby Football Board at the time) declared rugby union open for professionalism in the wake of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, hosted and won by South Africa. And with that in mind, there are some changes that needed to be made to ensure that the fans are treated with an amazing spectacle of hard-hitting rugby, with of course, emphasizing sportsmanship.

 

            Despite the differences, which will be elaborated later on, there are still some similarities between the two codes. They are played using an oval-shaped ball, with a game of both rugby union and league lasts for 80 minutes. The goal is to score more points than the opposite team through four scoring methods. Those methods are a try, which is the act of grounding the ball inside the opponent's in-goal area, resulting in a conversion kick to convert the try, the penalty goal which came from an infringement, and a drop goal, which is the method of kicking immediately after the ball has touched the ground. The ball itself can be advanced by the means of kicking, running, set pieces, and passing. What makes rugby unique from other sport is that the ball can be kicked forwards but must be passed sideways or backwards. The players may tackle one another, but only towards the player who has possession of the ball. 

 

            The first major difference between rugby union and rugby league is the number of players in the team. As we all know, rugby union team fields 15 players, while rugby league allows 13 men, which is two less players. The positions are more or less the same, with forwards and backs. But here is the main difference: they use different numbering scheme, and one position in rugby union is non-existent in rugby league. Let's start with the forwards, which are the group of players forming the pack for the scrum, and generally doing most of the dirty work on the field. In union, there are 8 players, while league only has 6. The front rows are more or less the same, consisting of two props (loosehead and tight head) and a hooker in the middle. In union, these three are typically the strongest and the heaviest players in the field, acting as the battering ram of the scrum but with limited ball handling skills. In league, these three instead have bigger physique, with more emphasis on ball control and straight running ability. In union, the props wear the numbers 1 for loosehead and 3 for tight head, with the hooker taking the number 2 shirt. In league, those three wears the number 8, 10 and 9 respectively. Second Row forwards, often called locks, forms the scrum behind the front rows. In rugby union, these two are typically the tallest players in the team, as they might be the prime target for line outs. In rugby league however, since there are no line outs, locks are often a lot mobile with speed and offloading abilities. The locks wear the number 4 and 5 in union, and 11 and 12 in league. The back row forwards are the main reason why there are fewer players in rugby league. In union, the back row consists of two flankers (blindside and openside) and a special position called the number 8. The flankers are positioned right beside the second rows on either side, depending on which side of the field the scrum is at a given time. The blindside flanker is positioned near the touchline, while the openside generally occupies the position with the most space on the field. The number 8 is positioned at the very back of the scrum, acted as an extra power and the source of ball control during scrums. The back row in rugby league only contains one player, dubbed the "loose forward". This one could act as an extra out-half similar to a normal fly half and wears the number 13 on his back. The loose forward trio in union wears 6 for blindside flanker, 7 for openside flanker and number 8 for the eponymous position. The backs are generally the same, except for the naming of some positions. The scrum half in union wears the number 9, while the number 7 jersey is reserved in league. fly half occupies the number 10, while the same position can also be called the stand-off and owns the number 6 shirt. centers in union are split to inside center wearing the number 12 and outside center wearing 13, while in league the same position is dubbed the left center (number 4) and right center (number 3). The back three are still occupied by two wingers (11 and 14 in union, 5 and 2 in league) and a full back (15 in union, 1 in league). The substitutes then were given the numbers 16 to 23 in union, and 14 to 23 in league. Sometimes, shirt numbers don't really matter in rugby league, as showed by the English Super League, where players are given shirt numbers between 1 to 30, and to be used for the entire season, while also allowing the surnames of the players to be used in conjunction with the numbers. In their union counterpart, the Premiership Rugby, this practice is also used, although they keep the 1 to 15 numbering scheme, only changing the names of the players wearing it. Outside of England and during international test matches (world cup included), only numbers are used for identification. 

 

            During the gameplay itself, there are many elements from rugby union that was removed during the formation of the rugby league code. The first being rucks and mauls. As we all know, rugby union laws allow the possession of the ball to be contested every time after the tackle has completed, which involves the tackler must release the tackled player, which in turn must release the ball immediately. The forwards of both teams then bind together to push each other in order for either scrum half to safely access the ball. This is known as a ruck. A maul happens when the player in possession of the ball is bounded by teammates and opponents while still standing on their feet. This is typically happened after a line-out. In rugby league however, the tackled player is allowed to keep the possession after the tackle has completed, and the defending team must retreat 10 meters. The player then plays the ball to their scrum half by heeling the ball back to them. The main reason to this is to create a faster, free-flowing game, while at the same time deeming the existence of rucks and mauls would only slow the game down. Union fans argue that the removal of these two key elements means dumbing down the rules for the sake of creating a spectator-friendly game. League fans argue that the union code is slow in nature, and many players simply don't have the physical capabilities to play it. 

 

            The second is the number of attack phases. In rugby union teams can have as many or as little phases of play as they desire in order to score points. This means teams have the freedom to move the ball down the field with various strategies. from line breakers to box kicking, teams have variations of tactics as they own possession of the ball. The most prime example of this is when Ireland took on France during the first matchday of the 2018 Six Nations. During the dying stages of the game, after the French utility back Anthony Belleau missed a kicking opportunity, with less than two minutes to go and the score was 13-12 in favor of the French, Ireland went through 41 phases of play ending with Jonathan Sexton's game winning drop goal at injury time, bringing the score to 13-15. The Irish then went on to win the tournament. In rugby league, there are limitations to the gameplay, namely the "six-tackle law". This specific rule mandates the teams to have equal amounts of tackles in order to advance the ball. when the tackle has completed, and the ball has been played, it counts as one tackle. Teams have six tackles at their disposal, and after those six has been exhausted, a change-over occurs, meaning the attacking team must turn to defense, and the defending team may attack. 

 

            Other changes made is the scrum law. In rugby union, scrums are used as a set-piece to restart the game after a foul, usually a knock-on. The forward pack lines up with the referee's discretion, and after the position has been set, the referee will initiate the engagement with the commands "crouch" to prepare the pack by crouching, "bind" to prepare the props by binding into each other, and "set" to engage. In older days, the commands were "crouch" to prepare the pack, "touch" for the two props to touch each other in the shoulder, "pause" for a slight break, and "engage" for the pack to fully charge and engage into each other, like a literal battering ram. The scrum half then must feed the pack right down the middle, giving the opportunity for both hookers to hook the ball to their teammates behind. In rugby league, scrums are used for restart after a foul and after the ball went outside the playing area, since league doesn't have line outs. The scrum itself is not contested. The forwards would simply bind with no commands from the referee, and the ball is feed through the non-offending team's second row. Line out is the feature exclusively for rugby union. It occurs after the ball has left the field of play (dubbed "into touch") and involves both teams' forwards to line up across each other like that of a tunnel, while the hooker throws the ball in line with the tunnel for teams to contest possession. Most of the time, the opposite of the team who got the ball out of play gets the line out throw, however if it came as the result of a penalty and the non-offending team elected to kick into touch, that team is awarded the line out.

 

            Both rugby codes use the same scoring methods, with the main difference being the number of points awarded. In union, a try is worth 5 points, with the resulting conversion adds another 2 points if successfully executed, bringing the total to 7 points for a converted try. In rugby league, a try is worth 4 points, with the converted try worth 6, one less than union, with conversion points remain the same. The referee also has the power to award a penalty try when there is an infraction occurred, in which if that foul never happened, the try would certainly be scored. Penalty try in union is awarded an automatic 7 points, with no conversion required, while in league, the penalty try procedure is a bit complicated, despite offering the highest number of points possible, being 8. When a penalty try occurs, it automatically awards 4 points while still requiring a conversion kick in normal manner. Then a penalty kick is taken on the place in front of the goal posts, regardless of the place of the foul. Best case scenario being both kicks were successful, and 8 points are awarded in total, while the worst case one is the team could only manage 6 or 4 from the penalty try itself, should either or both kicks missed the target. Penalties and drop goals in union carry 3 points each if the kick went between the posts and over the crossbar, while in league, penalties offer 2 points, and drop goal resulting in just 1 point. This, in turn forces the rugby league teams to rely more on tries since other scoring methods offer less points. But in the event of a close scoring game with one or two points difference, penalties and drop goals might be that one time that would make the difference between winning and losing a game. 

 

            The other difference between the two codes came down to the demographics. During the early inception of the rugby code, the rules at the time restricts the players to be amateurs, with no payments allowed for players after the game. This in turn forces the working-class players to choose to miss matches to focus on their day jobs, or to risk being fired just to play rugby. The Rugby Football League was formed with the working class in mind, and clubs are usually found in the suburbs. While rugby union has always viewed as the upper-class game, mostly found in big cities, and taught in the school systems. It is actually the de factomost popular code of rugby in the world, with 108 unions being official members, and 24 other unions being associate members of World Rugby. Rugby league on the other hand, is governed by International Rugby League (IRL), and only has 35 countries as official members, with 19 of them being full members and 16 affiliates. In addition, 24 other countries acted as observer members. This translates to many fans and players who talked about rugby would refer it as rugby union for most of the time. The game is widely played around the world. Heck, even my country of Indonesia has its own union, called Indonesian Rugby Football Union or INARFU (Persatuan Rugby Union Indonesia in Indonesian), although we still probably miles away from playing our first World Cup. In some places, like Australia and Papua New Guinea, rugby league is actually the most popular sport over rugby union. The Australian national rugby league team, dubbed The Kangaroos are consistently among the best rugby league sides in the world, with the same feat in rugby union is usually debated between New Zealand and South Africa, dubbed the All Blacks and the Springboks respectively. 

 

            Then, it comes down to the physicality of the game itself. Rugby union, with all of its elements, whether it's the ruck, maul, scrum, and line out, is perhaps the most physical game you've ever see. It's not uncommon to see big, bulky props shoving those tiny, twinkle-toed wingers while breaking the defense line, or even towering second rows dominating the line outs, or scrum halves running like their backside is on fire while scoring a try. The forwards must be prepared to handle the dirty work on the field like making tackles, break the line, form a ruck, bang each other's heads in the scrum, and formulate strategies during line outs. The backs are expected to be elusive, fast, and agile, as most of the tries scored came from them. Rugby league, however, are more into the stamina and explosive bursts of powerful tackles, since there is almost no physical element to the game itself, apart from the tackles themselves. In short, union players are mostly specialized in one area of the game, whether it's the strongest, tallest, or fastest. League players tend to have more stamina, as most of the time on the field are spent running around like a stabbed rat. And if you look at both teams' postures, union player are more diverse, some of them are bulked up, some are taller, and some can be considered as short-statured. League players are more uniformed in terms of height and body dimension.

 

            In a nutshell, despite derived from practically the same code, rugby union and rugby league in reality, is two different sports, each with its own laws, fouls, and regulations. From number of players allowed in the team, attacking phases, to the removal of some elements, both codes offer different experiences to different types of fans. If you like a fast-paced game with even amounts of possession and higher scoring chances, rugby league might be suitable for you. If you like a more technical aspect of the game, with various strategies and tactics at your disposal while maximizing the breakdown, then rugby union might be your neck of the woods. Stay safe, and let there be peace in the world.

Lovely Peaches: A Truly Disgusting Encounter

 (Warning: Strong languages, rants and graphic description of sexual abuse and filth ahead)

 

            Have you ever encountered an internet personality that would not shut up just for one second, always talking about how they enjoying eating their own bodily discharge? Have you ever seen someone flashed their bare genitalia to a literal minor? Have you ever heard news of this demented individual abusing and selling their own child for prostitution? If you answer no, then be prepared, get that spew bucket ready, and let's dive into this disgusting excuse of a human being. Chris Chan, Nikocado Avocado, and That Vegan Teacher, move the hell aside, because this is the ever-repulsive story of Lovely Peaches. This is going to be interesting.

 

            Yes. Lovely Peaches is the internet name. The girl behind this account is a 21-year-old Brittany Johnson. She was born somewhere in Louisiana on the 4th of January 2001. There is almost no info about her early life apart from the fact that her mother died when she was just 15, and that she ran away from home multiple times, and that she fell pregnant and had a daughter at the age of 17. Hell, even information regarding her families can't really be found. During this time, she allegedly worked as a prostitute, with most of her clients being older men. She then turned into social media, firstly Instagram, later TikTok. There is only one word that would describe this disturbed soul's content: disgusting. She posts contents of her drinking her own piss, eating her menstrual blood, and to the extent of eating her own fecal matter. With the latter, she is so fucked up in the head, she even has her own poop preferences. She even said that it tasted good. She is literally full of shit, she got banned in almost all of the social media platforms, safe for YouTube, allegedly.

 

            Her other contents are not really promising either. When she is not eating her own discharge and drinking her own golden shower, she could be seen slapping and hitting herself, discussing (not very good) things she would do to her daughter and dog, and going on livestreams to talk about her favorite fucking STD like it's some sort of an achievement. For context, up until the time of writing, she was diagnosed with FOUR different diseases, all sexually transmitted. First of all, STDs are painful, disgusting, and a big pain in the ass, and she decide to talk about it so casually, without even considering her audiences' horrifying reaction. Hell, if I ever bump into her, I will sprint like a stabbed rat before she can catch me with her disease-ridden body. And did I forget to mention that she loves to flash herself in public? If you are new to this topic and wanted to know more about this woman, my advice is DON'T. EVEN. BOTHER. She has TONS of NSFW pictures of her, whether flashing her bare chest to downright nudity, this alleged crackhead has no regards to her own safety and well-being. Hell, she even has a song called Itchin' and Burnin' talking about (you guessed it) her private parts being burning and itching. When you look at the stature of this girl, standing at 1.61 m (5ft 3in), weighing approximately 80 kg (176 pounds), all I can say is she is the epitome of someone destroying their own body both inside and outside. 

 

            I did mention about Johnson having a daughter, and her name is Cora Miracle. This pure soul is constantly subjected to abuse from this vile woman who has no fucking right to call herself a mother. How cannot you be appalled when Peaches stated that Cora had been raped when she was just 5 MONTHS OLD! And she said it nonchalantly! She even said that she loves it when her own daughter suffers. She slaps, hits, kicks, and dropped her on her own head. She even tried to sell her literally infant daughter for prostitution, and fears that she might have a good life and promised to continue physically and sexually abuse her. She even went so far as to make a video where she announced that the child has died, this is eventually disproven, as Cora is now safe and sound. Talk about a heartless bastard. As a result, she deservedly lost custody of Cora after roughly 1.5 months, with the latest known whereabouts are with her grandparents.

 

            Even with this disturbing behavior, she keeps on gaining fans to the point of her being used as a leverage for one Instagram celebrity to harass another, like when WoahhVicky called her to systematically harass and beat up Danielle "Bhad Bhabie" Bregoli, who was Vicky's rival at the time. Johnson responded by stopping to Bregoli's house and knocked on her door. Hell, one time, she caught the attention of then 17-year-old singer Malu Trevejo. They did a livestream together after Johnson visited her home unsolicited. During that train wreck of a stream, after being confronted by Trevejo, she instantly turned the camera facing her private part, much to Malu's shock and horror. She even stalked and started a beef with Charli D'Amelio for fuck’s sake. She even claimed to hire a man that would do the dirty job for her. I suspected that she is really unapologetically fucked in the head, as on one occasion, while being confronted by the police over her post on Instagram threatening to throw her dog from her two-stories apartment, she stated that she has depression and anxiety. Hell, the latest info even says that she has been arrested for allegedly abusing her dog. 

 

            To be perfectly honest, the ones described in this piece are just the tip of the Lovely Peaches iceberg, but I won't risk my health further just to obtain more information that would result in me either spewing the contents of my stomach, go into an instant shock, or going blind. Seriously, even writing this has giving me a heavy nausea attack. This is why I don't really like writing about internet personalities, as some of them might done something so insane, the public just can't turn their backs. And I honestly thought that Chris Chan or Nikocado Avocado were that bad. At least Chris Chan didn't have the audacity to eat his own shit and drinking his own piss (but then again, this is the guy who actually drinks his own reproductive liquid with soda on the side). Moral of the story is, don't be like Lovely Peaches. You just find yourself going fully insane and (literally) full of shit. Stay safe and peace be upon the world. 

Milunka Savic: The First Lady of Warfare

"Raise your hand, for the lady of the dark

Soldier with no will to kill with a philanthropic heart

Forever break the norm, she's the girl in uniform

Fighting side by side with men, she will fight until the end!"

 

-"Lady of the Dark" performed by Sabaton, 2022

 

            Thanks to gender equality, there are more women currently serving their countries in the armed forces, some of them were war veterans. But back then during the events before and during the first world war, female soldiers were a thing unheard of, women in warfare are mostly served as field nurse, including one certain royal, that being Queen Elisabeth of Bavaria, the wife of King Albert I of Belgium (that is for another time). During that time, this seems to be the norm, until one Serbian woman broke the glass ceiling and went on to become the most decorated female soldier in history. But with all that being said, it seems that everybody outside of Serbia have never heard of this fearless girl, who apparently signed up in place of her brother to fight for her homeland.

 

            Let me introduce you to Milunka Savic (Serbian Cyrillic: Милунка Савић), born in 1888, in the village Koprivinica, Serbia. It is disputed on what date exactly did Milunka was born, some of them suggested it was 10 August, some even said that she was younger, being born on 28 June 1892. Her early live would be described as something of ordinary life, with her village being home to only about 20 people. She lived this ordinary live until 1913, where her brother, Milun Savic was called for conscription to fight at the Balkan War. Milunka saw the papers, and decided to enlist as Milun, effectively taking her brother's place in the military. In order to successfully disguise her true identity, she cut her hair short, bind her chest, and started wearing male clothes. During this time, she was deployed at the Battle of Bregalnica, as part of the Iron Squadron where she earned her first medal and a promotion to corporal. As she fought on the battlefield, she managed to evade injuries to the sensitive area, until a Bulgarian shrapnel buried itself to her chest, leading to the revelation of her true sex while recovering at the hospital. Her commander hated the idea of getting rid of her, as she had proven herself to be the best asset in battle, and a competent soldier. He decided to transfer her to the Nursing Division but was refused. Only after she stood in attention for one full hour, the high command relented and allowed Milunka back to the army. She continued her military career up to the first world war, where she further amassed many accolades along the way, including one story in 1916 where she single-handedly captured 23 Bulgarian soldiers alive, armed with a single grenade. She earned two Karadorde Stars (With Swords) from the campaign, each from different battlefields, one from the Battle of Kolubara, while the other from the battle of the Crna Bend. Her other accolades included the French Legion d'Honneur twice, the Russian Cross of St. George, the British medal of the most Distinguished Order of St Michael, the Serbian Milos Obilic medal, as well as being the only female recipient of the French Croix de Guerre 1914-1918 with the gold palm attribute for her service in World War I. She didn't have much role to play during the second world war, other than set up an infirmary for partisans fighting against the Nazi Germany. Her presence was further solidified when she refused to attend a banquet thrown by Milan Nedic, knowing that the same banquet would also be attended by German generals and officers. She was later arrested and taken to Banjica concentration camp, where she spent ten months of incarceration.

 

            Of course, with that many accolades, one must have been offered with luxuries after the war has ended and the army was demobilized, and that was also happened with Milunka, where she was offered by the French to move to the country, as she was eligible to collect the army pension, but she decided to remain in Serbia, living in Belgrade working as a postal worker. She was married once but divorced after the birth of her first daughter. She was given a state pension, and continue living in Belgrade, in a crumbling house while adopting three more children. In her final years, she was all alone, with no money under her name, and of course, living with neglect. And on 5 October 1973, at the age of 83 Milunka Savic died of a stroke. She was buried in a quiet little ceremony in Belgrade New Cemetery. 

 

            After reading through her heroic deeds during the wars, in comparison to her later days, it has been an anticlimactic story of a female soldier, with all her accolades, ended up living with neglect with zero money. She is also quite unknown for people outside Serbia, with little known source about her life, neither a biography nor a film. But let's not forget that it was the action of Milunka Savic, after being outed as a female, but remained in the army to fight her fights that would inspire countless other girls to take up arms and fight for their own country. And only in recent years, the recognition of her story is being brought to the masses, including various documentaries and songs depicting her bravery and fearlessness in the face of war. And with that in mind, she is truly a hero. 

 

"Don't fear the reaper, don't fear the war

She spared the life of brothers

She'll fight for honor, she'll fight for life

A lady goes to war!"

 

-"Lady of the Dark" performed by Sabaton, 2022

 

The Heart-Wrenching Story of Joe Arridy: The Happiest Man on Death Row

 (Warning: graphic details ahead)

            Let me ask you this one question to open this piece: What is the first thing that came across your mind when you hear the words "true crime story"? Most of you would answer old cases, or maybe a grisly murder went unsolved, or maybe a story of few people banded together to put a stop to a violent shenanigan using deadly force. But what others might not realize, one phrase is also relevant when it comes to these types of stories: a sad story of wrongful conviction. Prepare yourselves, make sure there is a box of tissue ready, because this is probably the saddest story I've ever written. This is a story on how a cognitively impaired man was manipulated into confessing a rape-murder case, and subsequently executed in a gas chamber, without him being aware of what did he had gotten himself into.

 

            Let's turn back the clock to 29 April 1915, in the city of Pueblo, Colorado, USA, where Joe Arridy was born. he came from a non-English-speaking Syrian immigrant family seeking work in the United States, first came into the country in 1909. His father worked for the Colorado Fuel & Iron Works and lived in a small house owned by the company. Along the way, the Arridys, Henry and Mary, welcomed another son and a daughter, but the butt of the problem was seemed to be young Joe, as he was late to start speaking, even if he did manage to speak, it's just sentences in few words. He also struggled to keep up with kids his age, even in school. When push came to shove, by the time he entered second grade, the school opted to send him back to his parents, stating that he couldn't learn. By the age of 10, Joe was admitted to State home and Training School for Mental Defectives in Grand Junction, Colorado, where he spent much of his days until he turned 21. During his stay at the facility, it is revealed that the experts had tested him, and he could only score 46 on his IQ test, couldn't understand colors, spoke slowly, and couldn't understand basic sentence with more than few words. Meaning, what they had accepted to the institution was a 6-year-old child trapped inside the body of a young adult man. He was also a target for coercion, as his innocence often used against him. He was also bullied and mistreated. It is speculated that the familial relationship between his parents, being first cousins contributes to Joe's mental defection. 

 

            By 12 August 1936, he left the facility and began wandering aimlessly across Colorado. Three days later, a gruesome murder-rape took place that would ultimately seal his fate. On that fateful night of 15 August 1936, the Drain household, husband Riley and wife Peggy was shocked when they discovered their two daughters, 15-year-old Dorothy and 12-year-old Barbara covered in blood after being attacked in their sleep. They were bludgeoned using an axe, and Dorothy was raped. Unfortunately, Dorothy succumbed due to her head injury, but Barbara survived. The Colorado Police were in intense pressure to solve the case, armed with the description provided by two women who were also attacked days prior. All those leads seemed pointed to Joe Arridy. At the time of his arrest, he was caught for vagrancy in Cheyenne, Wyoming on 26 August 1936. It was reported that when being questioned, Joe actually confessed to be involved in the murder, which excites county Sheriff George Carroll. By the time he reported his findings to Colorado, he learned that another suspect had also been arrested, named Frank Aguilar, although by his own confession, he never seen or met Arridy, a statement Joe himself repeatedly utter while in custody in Wyoming. Both Arridy and Aguilar were convicted for the rape and murder of Dorothy Drain, but on Joe's case, it was based on false confession, since there was no evidence that would place him at the time of the murder. even the surviving Barbara Drain could identify Aguilar, not Arridy. 

 

            By the time the case went into the trial stages, Arridy's lawyers plead insanity in order to save his life. But the plea went bust, but also acknowledged his mental incapacitation. three state psychiatrists stated their acknowledgments to his mental state, that he was so mentally limited, he was classified as an "imbecile", since he basically had the mind of a 6-year-old. Therefore, he could not distinguish right from wrong. That alone should be clear that he has no mental capabilities to perform any action with a criminal intent. Despite these saddening facts, he was sentenced along with Aguilar to death in a gas chamber. Few appeals then launched to hopefully reduce the sentence to at least life imprisonment, but all they got was a 9-day stay off execution. 

 

            During his appeals process, Joe could be seen inside his death row cell playing a toy train given to him by prison warden Roy Best. By his accounts, Arridy was treated well by guards and inmates alike, even so far as to consider him as his own son, often bringing him gifts. Even when Arridy's execution day came, Best said "He probably didn't even know he was about to die, all he did was happily sit and play with the toy train I had given him." He also said that Joe is basically "the happiest prisoner on death row." When that fateful day came, Joe asked for ice cream as his last meal, but he didn't even finish it, stated that he wanted that ice cream to be refrigerated so he could "finish it later," blissfully unaware that it was his last day living in this world. He did not understand the concept of death, or execution in that matter. He even smiled while being taken to the gas chamber. By the time the chamber door closed, on 6 January 1939, at the young age of 23, Joe Arridy was executed for a crime he did not commit, all because of his mental incapacity, and his coercion into falsely confessing to it. More than seven decades later, in 2011, the late Joe Arridy was given a full and unconditional posthumous pardon by Colorado governor Bill Ritter, stating that although by pardoning Joe cannot undo that tragic even in Colorado history, but it is in the interests of justice and simple decency to restore his good name. I would say that the pardon came 70+ years too late. 

 

            After reading this story, I can't help but feel for Joe Arridy. He was simply a man with the mind of a child, who only wants to explore the world, one step at a time. But one grisly crime that had nothing to do with him claimed his life in a legal debacle. I know there is one or several timelines where this crime never happened, or at least one where Joe was never convicted, but that seems to be a long shot. All I have to say in return is this: Joe Arridy, rest in eternal peace, you pure soul. I hope that you are having the most fun up there, playing with all the toy trains in the world. This shouldn't have happened to you in the first place. 

The Unkillable Soldier: The Story of Adrian Carton de Wiart

 

"Into the fire through trenches and mud,

Son of Belgium and Ireland with war in his blood,

Leading the charge into hostile barrage,

By design, he was made for the frontline!"

-"The Unkillable Soldier" performed by Sabaton, 2022

 

            Imagine being totally insane and war-hungry, even Death would not lay his hands on you until the ripe age of 83. This is what happened when you are a former law student which was also a 5-war veteran, who suffer various injuries from mild like grazed ear to wild like losing his own eye and hand. The latest war time story is centered around this one British soldier, who was actually born in Belgium, carrying Belgian and Irish blood. Some even said that he was the illegitimate son of a certain Belgian king.

 

            The name was Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart. He was born in Brussels on the 5th of May 1880 into a Belgian aristocratic family who practices law, from lawyer Léon Constant Ghislain Carton de Wiart and Ernestine Wenzig, who was Irish. Despite this, some also suggests that young Adrian was the illegitimate son of King Leopold II of the Belgians. He was also had strong connections through his cousins. One was the Prime Minister of Belgium; the other was the Political Secretary to the King. Nevertheless, when his mother passed away sometime between 1886, Léon Carton de Wiart subsequently moved to Cairo, Egypt with young Adrian, so he could practice international law there. During this time, young Adrian had developed a fascination of warfare. Hell, he once stated in his Happy Odyssey autobiography that if the British didn't recruit him by the time of the Second Boer War in 1899, he would still go to South Africa to fight with the Boers instead. He did eventually enlist with the British army for that campaign, but had to do so with fake identity, as he was a foreigner and underage for that matter (he was 20 prior to enlistment, the army requires someone to be at least 25 years of age). 

 

            When he arrived in South Africa, he was immediately exposed to the chaos of warfare, and subsequently received his first wounds, being shot in the stomach and groin respectively. By his accounts, he described the Boers as a bunch who has "pretty good shots". His shenanigans in South Africa earned the wrath of his father for abandoning his law studies but allowed him to stay in the army. During his first 8 years serving in the army, he remained a Belgian citizen. In September 1907, he finally took his oath of allegiance to King Edward VII, officially making him a British citizen. When the First World War broke out, he was actually en route to British Somaliland for a campaign against Mohammad bin Abdullah, dubbed "Mad Mullah" by the British. During that battle, he was assigned to the Somaliland Camel Corps. During a battle at Shimber Berris, Carton de Wiart was shot in the face not once or twice, but three times. One bullet struck him in his left eye, one grazed his left ear, and another ricochet and buried itself in the same wounded eye. 

 

            When Carton de Wiart actually participated in the Great War itself, he had to sign an agreement to wear a glass eye to replace his destroyed left eye. But he immediately ditched that eye from his taxi, and replaced it with a black eyepatch, creating his well-known signature look. He then took part in the Western Front in 1915. During this campaign, he was wounded seven more times in different places, including losing his left hand in a freak accident when blast struck him. When doctors refuse to amputate his mangled mess of a left hand, he tore off two of his remaining fingers hanging by a skin with no pain at all, just to prove his point. During the battle of Somme, he was shot through his skull and ankle, in Passchendaele, he was shot through the hip, in Cambrai, another wound in his leg, and another shot to the ear in Arras. And during his adventures, he was promoted up to temporary brigadier general by the conclusion of the First World War. 

 

            The war might be over at this point, but not the adventures of Adrian Carton de Wiart. He was sent to Poland on a British-Poland Military Mission, and on this country as well he witnessed the start of the second world war in 1939. He was at the age of 61 when he re-enlisted to fight the conflict. He ended up on the frontline again, this time in Norway. In 1941, he boarded the aircraft bound to Yugoslavia as part of the British-Yugoslavian Military Mission, just in the nick of time as Hitler was prepared to invade the country. But the airplane crashed in Italian-controlled Libya for engine failure. He survived the crash along with many others, but ended up in a Prisoner of War camp, which he managed to escape. His final military mission was when he was appointed as a personal representative of Prime Minister Winston Churchill on his mission to China. It was on this assignment that he reportedly told Chairman Mao Zedong that he hated communism right in his face and was met with laughter by Chairman Mao. 

 

            His final injury didn't come as a result of an armed conflict, but rather a silly incident when he slipped through the stairs, broke several vertebrae, and knocked unconscious. He finally retired from the army at the ripe age of 66 in October 1947 with the honorary rank of lieutenant general. And on the 5th of June 1963, he finally greeted Death as an old friend at the age of 83. During his time in the armed forces, he fought through 5 wars, two of them were world wars, survived two plane crashes, escaped an Italian Prisoner of War Camp, sustained numerous injuries, lost an eye and a hand, and roasted a Communist Party leader right on his face. There are also stories of him being a frequent visitor to a hospital. It has been said that he was being admitted to this hospital so often, the facility actually kept a fresh pair of pajamas EXCLUSIVELY for General Carton de Wiart. Talk about dedication right there. 

 

            Many people talk about people who involved in wars as someone who only wants to serve their own country or someone with no disregard of his own life, but none of those men was like Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart. The man was described as a man too stubborn to die, and it's only fitting to immortalize this mad lad with the title of "The Unkillable Soldier". This man's entire story is that of a First-person shooter protagonist. Imagine yourself being shot multiple times, and suddenly you are back in top shape only by stepping out of harm's way for few minutes. And for that, I salute in admiration to the legend that is Adrian Carton de Wiart.

 

"Frankly, I had enjoyed the war"

-Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart, Happy Odyssey: The Memoirs of Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart: 1950

The Attack of the Dead Men: When (literal) Zombies Fought in The Great War

 "Osowiec, then and again

Attack of the dead hundred men

Facing the led once again

Hundred men,

Charge again,

Die again"

 

-"The Attack of the Dead Men" performed by Sabaton, 2019

            

 

            Let's deviate from the chaos that is the 2022 Oscars, when Will Smith, allegedly out of anger slapped the living being out of Chris Rock for an alopecia joke directed at Jada Pinkett-Smith (who contracted the condition herself), and dive into some war time stories. Yes, the subjects of this story are taking the opposite side during this time of war in Ukraine, where Russia is the aggressor. But back then, during the events of the Great War (or the First World War as it's now known), Germany was allied with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while the Russians were at the Allied side.

 

            It is important to stress that the Great War itself was triggered by the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, present day Bosnia-Herzegovina during the summer of 1914. The German Empire, specifically Kaiser Wilhelm II sided with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which at the time, had massive sphere of influence and respect in Europe. There is one counter history scenario where the Archduke was never assassinated, but that is for another time. During the crisis leading up to the war, many diplomatic measures were taken to calm the situation, one of which involving Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and the Kaiser trying to calm things down. Both sides eventually would find themselves on the opposite sides. With the Russians joining the Allies, and Germany forming the central powers with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Turkish Ottomans, and Bulgaria.

 

            The date was 6 August 1915, roughly one year on since the start of the war. The battle took place on the Osowiec Fortress, on present-day Poland. The fortress in question was held by the Russian troops, made of roughly 900 men, 400 of those were militias as their main defense line. The Germans on the other hand, made of 7.000 soldiers strong and heavy artillery tried their desperate efforts to take the fortress to no avail. Thanks to some technological innovations developed during this time, The German army, led by Paul von Hindenburg whipped up perhaps one of the most devastating weapons in modern history: A poisonous concoction made of chlorine and bromine spread in gas form. At this stage, The Germans' attempted advance to Osowiec had been going since July, often times met with heavy artillery bombardment by the Russians. On the morning of August 6, when the wind direction was on their favor, the German unleashed the green smog of gas to unsuspecting Russian troops. There were 30 gas balloon batteries used to carry out the attack. And the result was immediate and deadly in nature. To better explain the scale of damage these poor men have to suffer, the chlorine gas, along with the moisture of the lung created something called hydrochloric acid, in which, starts to dissolve their lung tissue. As a result, there are many Russian troops died coughing blood and bits of their lungs. The bromine itself acted as a respiratory irritant. But the chlorine effects are not restricted to respiratory damages either. Other soft tissues like the skin and eyes were also chemically burned from the gas attack. This, in turn gave the world one of the most horrific sights of death ever witnessed in human history. But for those who were further away have to resort to cover their nose and mouth with wet rags in order to at least minimize the gas effect, but to little result. The gas not only attack the soldiers, but also their entire surroundings. Leaves and flowers turned yellow and black to death, insects and other animals also died due to the inhalation of the deadly gas. food supplies deemed inedible due to contamination.

 

            When the gas finally dissipated, the German troops went to hopefully secure the fortress, expecting little to no resistance. Little did they know, from 900 troops, 100 of them actually survived the initial attack, although still pretty much badly wounded. The remaining 100 soldiers, with all their scarred appearance, heavy breathing with bits and pieces of their lung spitting out, with bloody rags covering their nose and mouth made the final push, along with heavy machine gun firing to dissipate the horrified German army, who started to retreat. This attack was led by sub-lieutenant Vladimir Kotlinksy, who later died from his wounds. The countercharge successfully broke the German line, causing heavy loss, and rendered the gas attack pretty much useless. From the German's perspective, it's like when the dead had risen with vengeance. From horror, panic sets in. As they retreat, they got caught by their own wire traps. It is reported that they suffered moderate to heavy casualties during the Russian counterattack. But the success of the countercharge was short-lived. After threats by the Germans by capturing Kaunas and Novogeorgievsk, the Russians finally evacuated from Osowiec, not before destroying the fortress to rubbles on 18 August. Eventually, the German army failed to seize the asset. This event, and with the reference of the appearance of scarred Russian soldiers, was remembered as "the Attack of the Dead Men".

 

            It is fascinating to think that despite different eras of human history, war seems to be present in all of these eras. From ancient warfare to two world wars (and we might knock the door for a third one), humans find themselves inside many conflicts motivated by race, religion, and ideology. This piece serves as a reminder that war, in any shape or form, cannot be justified. It will only bring struggle, crisis, and turmoil to those who involved. Let there be peace and may those brave souls who have died defending their homeland rest in peace. 

 

 

 

Let peace be upon this world, free of subjugation, prejudices, and discrimination.

-Unknown writer