The Night Witches: Stealth Warfare at its Best

"From the depths of hell in silence

Cast their spells, explosive violence

Russian nighttime flight perfected

Flawless vision, undetected"

-"Night Witches", performed by Sabaton, 2014

 

            And you thought that Milunka Savic is going to be the only war time story focusing on female soldiers. As evidenced by this piece, there are many stories of women in warfare. One of which is the story of the Soviet Bombing Squadron made of exclusively women. They are known for their stealth missions dropping bombs to unsuspecting German army camps in Soviet Union. They gain infamy among the German ranks with the name Die Nachthexen, in English, it translates to "The Night Witches".

 

            The Night Witches was the name given to the Soviet's 588th Bombing Regiment, first established in October 1941 by Major Maria Raskova. Raskova herself, up to that point was heralded as "the Russian Amelia Earhart", due to her establishing several records for long-distance non-stop flights. During Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, many women joined the ranks at the army, either as nurses, signalers, and anti-aircraft gunners. The recruitments also included all the female pilots, but they mostly ended up as instructors and advisors for male pilots in training. They are also barred from flying the planes themselves, arguments being that there are many male pilots available at the time. Raskova, being the Hero of the Soviet Union, pleaded to, and subsequently granted permission by Josef Stalin to create three all-female flying unit. Those three being the 586th Fighter Regiment, the 587th Heavy Bomber Regiment, and the 588th Night Bomber Regiment. 

 

            Compared to the other two units, the 588th Regiment with the command chain comprised of regiment commander Yevdokiya Bershanskaya and her deputy Serafima Amosova, commissar Yevdokiya Rachkevich, and chief of staff Irina Rakobolskaya was arguably the youngest in age, being between 17 to 26 years of age and the most inexperienced. For one, due to the demographic of the soldier being mostly male, the girls were given out oversized clothes and boots, and constantly mocked by their male peers.  This is not limited to their appearances either. Equipment-wise, they are given one of the most outdated aircrafts in service, the Polikarpov U-2 biplanes, nicknamed (condescendingly) by the German Wehrmacht as "The Coffee Grinder", a two-crew plane produced in 1927 as a training plane, with wings made of wood and canvas, known for its notoriously slow airspeed, its susceptibility of being shot down by even a small arms fire, and only able to fly in lower altitudes. Hell, the planes could only carry up to 350 kg (770 pounds) of bombs for each mission, so eight or more missions a night is not uncommon. But the slow nature of the Polikarpov planes were compensated for its unbelievable maneuverability, making it the hardest target to hit by German fighter pilots, with all those Messerschmitt and Focke-Wulf F190 planes. In comparison, the 587th Heavy Bombers were equipped with the SU2, nicknamed "The Bitch", due to the plane's extremely difficult to master. 

 

            The way these pilots carried out their missions is quite unique, even for the standard of modern warfare. For starters, they could only carry out their missions during the night. Sometimes, multiple missions could be carried out during that same night. Second, with each target hit, they have to immediately return to base and rearm and refuel immediately to be sent back out again. And the third, they have to use these Polikarpovs in the most effective ways as possible, without revealing too much of their locations to the Germans. So, they devised a unique way to attack, by flying low while cutting out the notoriously noisy engine and drop the load as they glide in the sky. Several German troops recounted hearing the sound of woman laughing and the gust of wind, along with silhouettes akin to a witch riding a broom before the heavy bombardment commenced. From all these accounts, the German army refer to these women as die nachthexen, translated to "the night witches"

 

            From 1942 to the conclusion of the second world war in 1945, The Night Witches partake in several offensives, with their baptism by fire took place on the Southern Front. Other operations included the Battle of the Caucasus, the Crimean Offensive, and the East Prussian offensive. During those missions, they accumulated approximately 23.672 sorties. In detail, they collectively accumulated 28,676 flight hours, dropped over 3,000 tons of bombs and over 26,000 incendiary shells, damaging or completely destroying 17 river crossings, nine railways, two railway stations, 26 warehouses, 12 fuel depots, 176 armored cars, 86 firing points, and 11 searchlights. In addition to bombings, the unit performed 155 supply drops of food and ammunition to Soviet forces. Casualties for the 588th included 32 dead and 28 aircrafts being written-off. There are also accolades given to the night witches, with the regiment itself was bestowed the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of Suvorov. Honored personnel included 23 members being named Hero of the Soviet Union, two personnel named Hero of the Russian Federation, and one personnel named Hero of Kazakhstan. The regiment disbanded on the 15 October 1945 following the conclusion of World War 2. Former commissar Yevdokiya Rachkevich then took it upon herself to search every single crash site of her fellow night witches, in order to provide the most accurate detail as possible. 

 

            It seems like in every conflict, there is bound to be a stealth aspect of some sort, and the night witches embodied the very definition of stealth warfare. Throughout their service they've been undetected, unexpected, and unpredictable, dropping bomb after bomb as they terrorize the invading armies of the third Reich and push them back to the brink of defeat, one stealth mission at a time. And to close this piece, I want to offer my salute in admiration to these brave women who survived the war, and also for the ones who never made it back home.

 

“I think that during the war, when the fate of our country was being decided, the bringing in of women into aviation was justified."

 

-Irina Rakobolskaya, in Miriam Mencej, "Styrian Witches in European Perspective", 2017

Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler: The Honor Code of Aerial Warfare

"Fly, fighting fair, it's the code of the air

Brothers, heroes, foes"

 

-"No Bullets Fly", performed by Sabaton, 2014

 

            As I sat down and write this piece, I often ponder to myself: is there any honor in warfare? From raining spears and arrows to the hail of bullets and mortar shells (hell, they even used poison gas at some point), war is often described with few words like "hell", "nightmare", or even worse, "torture." But there are also stories of humanity in the midst of inhumanity. I can easily mention two of them, but with the other story, I elected to keep it until the appropriate time has come. For now, I am going to tell you a story where two fighter pilots met in the aerial battlefield, and subsequently became friends after the war had ended.

 

            I'm going to split this piece into two perspectives. The first one started in the eyes of 2nd Lieutenant Charles L. "Charlie" Brown, who was a farmer's boy from West Virginia turned fighter pilot for the second world war, who was stationed with the 379th Bombardment Group of the US Air Force's 8th Air Force, piloting the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress nicknamed "Ye Olde Pub". The date was 20 December 1943, and Lt. Brown, along with his 10-men crew onboard Ye Olde Pub was tasked with an air raid mission targeting the Focke-Wulf FW 190 aircraft production facility in Bremen. It was the first mission for the crew, and during the pre-mission briefing, the men of the 527th Bombardment Squadron had been informed of a possible encounter by the German fighters. The facility itself was guarded by more than 250 flak guns.  

 

            The mission commenced at the altitude of 8.300 m (27.300 ft) with the outside temperature of -60° C (-76° F). Before the bomb load could be released, a flak gun shattered the plexiglass nose, subsequently shutting down engine #2 and damaging engine #4, which was already in a questionable condition. When the command to drop the load came, The B-17 completed the assignment and was ready to head back home, but the damages sustained earlier further slowing the B-17 down, eventually taking it out of formation. With all those damages, the Flying Fortress became susceptible to the enemy attacks. The enemy fighter jets, comprising of combinations between Messerschmitt BF 109s and the aforementioned Focke-Wulf FW 190 further attacked the stricken bomber and Brown for 10 further minutes. 

 

            The attacks further crippled the B-17's flying capabilities, as engine #3 was toast, the internal oxygen, hydraulic and electrical systems were damaged, and most of the onboard guns frozen, likely because of the freezing cold temperature. Hell, one of the gunners, tail gunner Sgt. Hugh "Ecky" Eckenrode, was the only casualty onboard, having his head decapitated by a direct hit of a cannon shell, while most of the remaining men onboard are mostly critically wounded. The B-17 was about to hit the ground at one point, but Brown managed to take control of the aircraft and made it airborne again, but with only 40% of its total flight capabilities left. 

 

            During their flight back home, another Messerschmitt, this time the BF 109 G-6, trailed behind the bomber. But to the crew's surprise, there was no single shot fired, but instead, the pilot inside the Messerschmitt gestured them to land twice, but due to the fact that Brown didn't understand the gesture, they flew on. The mysterious pilot then brought his jet close to Ye Olde Pub's nose, in order to shield them from any German flak attacks, and escort them out of German airspace safely. Before leaving them, the Messerschmitt pilot saluted them and peel away. Brown managed to land safely at RAF Seething and proceed to inform his officers of a German fighter pilot escorting them out of harm’s way. He was cautioned to not tell this story to another pilot, lest another bomber being spotted by another German aircraft, and instead of being escorted out of danger, they would be turned into pulps of gory mess by the machine guns. The story was kept secret until 1984, where Brown decided to look for the mysterious pilot who saved his life on that fateful day. 

 

            The now retired Charlie Brown recalled writing a letter to find out who was the Messerschmitt pilot who escorted him to safety, and he received a letter from Canada, from someone by the name of Stigler. The person in question turned out to be Oberleutnant of the Luftwaffe Franz Stigler. On that day, he, along with several other German troops spotted the wounded B-17 while rearming and refueling at an airbase. He then quickly caught up with Ye Olde Pub, who at this state was only a flying vessel with less-than-optimal power. Stigler, prior to this incident, was an ace on the field, with 27 confirmed kill points, only needed 3 more to qualify for the Knight's Cross (Shooting a B-17 bomber down earns him 3, shooting a fighter plane earns him 1). He could have just ended the aircraft's misery and shot it down along with the crew right then and there, but he instead recalled the words of one of his commanding officers at the Jagdgeschwader 27, Gustav Rödel. During his accounts of that day, he remembered the words from Rödel being "If I ever see or hear of you shooting at a man in a parachute (referring to men who are already defeated in a dogfight and already ejected from their aircraft), I will shoot you myself". And Stigler's judgement of the situation deduced that the men inside the Flying Fortress, with all those damages and injuries, is akin of the man in a parachute. He then took it upon himself to ensure that no matter what, that airplane is not to be shot down. Stigler first motioned Brown to land his stricken plane to a nearby German air base and surrender, but Brown refused. He then signaled Ye Olde Pub to land in neutral Sweden for medical attention, but Brown refused again. He then brought his Messerschmitt close to the port side wing in close formation to shield it from a possible German bombardment. After making sure that they are out from German airspace, Stigler saluted Ye Olde Pub and peel away, never to be seen again. He never got the Knight's Cross, and kept the story to himself, fearing court martial or execution.

 

            After the war has ended, Stigler moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1953 and started a successful business, and Brown retired from government service in 1972, after serving in the air force from 1949 to 1965, and the US State Department Foreign Service. He then resided in Miami, Florida, where he became an inventor. When he got wind of the news about a World War 2 veteran pilot searching about that brave German pilot, he reached out to Charlie Brown and explained his side of the story, confirming everything that Brown needed to hear. The two then finally met in person in 1990, and subsequently became best friends and remained so until their deaths within several months of each other in 2008, with Stigler being the first on 22 March at the age of 92, followed by Brown on 24 November at the age of 86.

 

            It is stories like this that kept reminding us that no matter the conflict, no matter how bad or how terrorizing the war can be, at some point, someone might still have their sense of humanity intact, and not swayed easily to commit more atrocities than it already is. The story of Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler will be forever remembered as the story of one of those times in history, when humanity prevails in the midst of extreme inhumanity, and that there is such a thing as the gentleman's code, which is the principle of live and let live, the unwritten code of trust between two men. 

 

"I was the one."

-Franz Stigler to Charlie Brown over the phone, 1990

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.