the bird on fire

Indy’s Outlook for the Midterms

November 8, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org 3 Comments

By Junior Political Pundit Indiana Behr

SPECIAL ELECTION COVERAGE

The midterms are today, and the outlook is…. unclear. In the age of more political polarization than we’ve seen in decades, electoral prediction has gotten much harder. This election’s results are likely to greatly affect our country’s political future, with issues like crime, abortion, taxes, and the Biden administration’s political agenda being in play. I am going to show some of my predictions and some interesting info about what’s to come. I am going to start with some competitive Senate elections, an unlikely gubernatorial standoff, and the swingy Congressional race in a new district that covers Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and La Quinta.

Pennsylvania Senate

John Fetterman (D) and Dr. Mehmet Oz (R) debate in the general election (abcnews.com).

One of the most prominent Senate races in this cycle is the Pennsylvania Senate race. The incumbent, Pat Toomey (R), announced his intention to retire last year, and almost immediately, a bitter Republican primary broke out. The initial frontrunner was the Trump-endorsed former House candidate Sean Parnell, but after a child custody battle with his estranged wife made its way to the media, he withdrew, and shortly after, television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz and wealthy businessman Dave McCormick entered the race. Oz initially lost several polls, and the race seemed to lean in McCormick’s favor… until Trump endorsed Oz. He experienced a surge after this, and after a long election with threats of recounts, Oz won by just 0.07%, less than 1,000 votes.

The Democrats saw this seat as a potential flip in their favor, especially with the incumbency advantage gone. John Fetterman, the incumbent Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania, created an exploratory committee early on, and later officially entered the race. Then, a few months later, Rep. Conor Lamb entered; however, he failed to gain traction even when Fetterman attracted criticism for an incident where he chased a Black jogger with a shotgun in 2013 while mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania. Fetterman stated he believed the man was connected to a recent shooting, but the jogger was not. Though Lamb received a multitude of endorsements, including three members of the House in Pennsylvania, and over thirty State Representatives, that ultimately was not enough, and Fetterman won with a margin of 32%, sweeping every single county.

Days before winning his primary, John Fetterman suffered a stroke. This has become a central point of the campaign. Due to this, Fetterman has publicly required the use of closed captioning devices to speak with reporters, and he used these devices during his debate with Oz. He has struggled to speak at times as a result, and this showed during the debate, where he occasionally struggled to get words out. Oz has been criticized for being out of touch with Pennsylvanians. Many people have claimed that Oz lived in New Jersey prior to the election, and he has also been called out for promoting medical practices not approved by the FDA on his show. Initially Fetterman led all polls by wide margins; however, it has gotten much closer over the last several weeks. Now, a couple polls show Oz with the lead. FiveThirtyEight has moved their prediction from “Lean D” (barely Democrat) to “Toss-Up.”

Georgia Senate

Another high-profile Senate Race is Georgia’s, where incumbent Raphael Warnock (D) is defending his seat against former football star Herschel Walker (R). The primaries for this race were not very contentious, and both won by very wide margins with no serious competition. The general election, on the other hand, has been the most controversy-filled this year in my opinion.

Almost all of these controversies surround Walker, yet he is still tied with Warnock in several polls, and he has even won several. Several news outlets have alleged that Walker paid for a woman to terminate her pregnancy, and on Monday, the New York Times reported that they had spoken to the anonymous woman, and she reportedly told them that two years after that incident, he unsuccessfully lobbied her to terminate another pregnancy. Walker has denied these allegations. Many have accused Walker of hypocrisy, as his campaign platform states that he has a pro-life stance. Other parts of his past, such as his unsubstantiated claim that he was an FBI agent, or his admittance that he played Russian roulette have also come under scrutiny. Walker may struggle in the general election due to these scandals.

New York Governor

On the left is Lee Zeldin (R) and on the right is Kathy Hochul (D)–the two wrangle for governor of New York (static01.nyt.com).

New York, a typically blue state, is seemingly facing an unlikely competitive race. After two competitive primaries, polling has indicated this race is down to the wire, with most showing incumbent Governor Kathy Hochul (D) ahead. Hochul, the former New York Lieutenant Governor, became governor following the resignation of Andrew Cuomo due to a sexual harassment scandal. The race instantly had a shake-up, as several candidates jumped into the Democratic primary for the position. Attorney General Letitia James launched her campaign early, but withdrew due to polls showing her trailing, and she is now running for reelection. New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and New York Representative Thomas Suozzi also ran, but both candidates did not do well, sometimes polling in the single digits. Ultimately, Hochul won the primary by nearly 40%. This indicates that the Democratic electorate is firmly behind her, but the question is whether turnout will be enough to bring her across the finish line in the general election.

On the Republican side of the aisle, a race that initially seemed competitive ended in a landslide. Representative Lee Zeldin, 2014 New York Governor GOP nominee Rob Astorino, and Andrew Giuliani (son of former New York City Mayor and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani) were the three main candidates in the election. Despite previously aligning himself with Trump in the House, Zeldin painted himself as a moderate in contrast to other candidates. Polling showed the race was within single digits; however, this proved to be false when Zeldin won by over 20%.

New York is normally a solid Democratic state. After all, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by over 23% in the Presidential election. Despite that, this election has been uniquely close. One of the most prominent topics in this election is crime, and this is an issue where Hochul has attracted severe criticism. Crime has risen in New York City, and she has taken a hit for this. Hochul has criticized Zeldin’s support for the pro-life movement, and he deflected this by saying that he would not make any attempts to change reproductive health laws in New York if elected, a state where 63% of people have said they support expanded abortion rights. The latest poll from Emerson College shows Hochul at 52% and Zeldin at 44%, with 3% being undecided at this time.

US House CA-41

Incumbent Ken Calvert (R) and challenger Will Rollins (D) vie for the newly-drawn 41st district (gannett-cdn.com).

Following California’s redistricting, the incumbent Representative for Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs, and several other parts of the Coachella Valley switched from Raul Ruiz (D) to Ken Calvert (R). This race has become very competitive, as this is now a district that Trump won by just 1%. Trump endorsed Calvert, stating that he is, “a leader on National Security and Strongly Supports our Brave Military and Vets.” Calvert’s opponent is Will Rollins (D), a former prosecutor who received the second most votes in California’s nonpartisan jungle primary system, where all candidates are on the same ballot, and the top two candidates move to the general election regardless of party affiliation. Rollins has very effectively established his presence in the district. In fact, his signs are planted right outside of our school, and I see his television and YouTube ads daily. While I have seen the occasional Calvert sign, his presence is much less significant in the valley. The latest poll showed Calvert up by just 3 points, and Cook Political Report predicts this race as “Lean R,” their closest ranking after “Toss Up.”

I hope you found some of these races interesting, and I encourage you to do more research about our local Congressional race and other local races, and, for any senior students, teachers, administrators, parents, or anyone else reading who is eligible, please vote!

Chapters: Teens and Their Phones

November 3, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Junior Alyna Rei

When considering the chapters in her life, Alyna considers the impact of that electronic device attached to so many of our hands.

Every parent that has a kid going through an electronic middle-school faze knows this story. This chapter of a teenager’s life is defined by them evolving into their more teenage faze with electronics. In this chapter, we learn, phones control our lives.

Chapter 1: the start of the faze

This phase begins when we get our first phone. I got my first phone in 5th grade. I carpooled with different people, so that I could keep in contact with my family, they gave me a phone. In the beginning, we teenagers only used our “phones” for purposes like playing games when we were bored or calling our parents when we really needed to. We used our phones, but they didn’t completely take over–yet.

Chapter 2: when it starts to take over

This is when teenagers enter middle school. There’s social media, and teens have friends they want to keep in touch with electronically. We start to really want to be on our phones all the time. We look at the screen non-stop. Our parents have the authority to take away our phones when they need to. At the start, we would tolerate our parents taking away our phones, but we were awful happy with parents giving them back.

Chapter 3: now there’s no way out

This can be during middle school, but I would say this happened to me in high school. At this point, we’re obsessed with our electronic devices and can’t live without them. All our basic doings and necessities can be done with an electronic device. So, if our parents take away our phones, then it’s the end of the world. If our phone is dead, then we NEED a charger to get the battery up asap.

Sadly, these are a few of the many chapters in teenagers’ lives that tend to stay with them as they grow up. We always say the world is changing, but I can already tell this isn’t the best way to go.

The Annual Decoration of the Doors

November 3, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

A summary of the Halloween contest as seen through the eyes of Indiana Behr.

By Junior Indy Behr

It was officially Halloween season, and so began the annual Palm Valley tradition of classroom-door decorating. Last week, I wanted to see this tradition in progress, so I went around to several advisories throughout the Upper School to see what was up and what was being taped up.

Ms. Zachik

Ms. Zachik, a 9th-grade advisor, showed me what the ultimate plan for her door’s decoration is. Her advisory’s door was expected to be a scene from Angry Birds. When I saw it, they had a sky background on the door with several cutouts ready to be added. I asked myself, Will this be enough to win? We shall see…

Ms. Maguire

Ms. Maguire’s 10th-grade advisory was the runner-up in the door-decorating contest last year, and her advisory is known to be very competitive when it comes to their door decoration. So far, when I saw it, nothing had appeared on the advisory’s door. As most of the preparations were done inside of her classroom, Ms. Maguire said confidently, “We’re ready,” and time will tell if they can come out on top.

Mr. Jowett

Mr. Jowett is a 10th-grade advisor as well, and so far his door has been seen to have several skeletons on it. They even had several skeletons peeking out at those crossing the halls through the window in the door. It seemed that a lot of effort had been put into these decorations. My thoughts were This door could definitely be a serious contender.

Mr. Satterfield

Mr. Satterfield’s 11th-grade advisory had a large amount of purple pieces of paper attached to the inside of his door. He told me that Christina and Alyna were collaborating on decorating their advisory’s door, and that the end result was going to be three-dimensional in some way. If this was executed correctly, this door could definitely have had a shot.

Ms. Castellano

Ms. Castellano is an 11th-grade advisor (and my advisor). Her door was covered by a huge spooky octopus, with tentacles sprawling all across the outside of the science building. I may be biased, but I think that our door was one of the best, and I was very hopeful that we could pull it off.

Mrs. Bernstein

Mrs. Bernstein, a 12th-grade advisor, attributes college counseling on Tuesdays and Fridays as the reason for which her advisory had not been able to decorate their door this year. Hopefully next year her class will have an opportunity to participate!

After administrative judges scoured all of the competition, on October 31st, the winner of the Upper School was declared. The winner was my own advisory, Ms. Castellano! What was the secret? Ms. Castellano said, Go beyond the door. Think outside the box.

One small, single blur

November 3, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

By 7th-Grader Penny Andreas

When I said, “Give us a chapter from the book of your life,” PVS Blogger Penny wrote the story of her first migraine. I’ve only read one other description of a migraine so descriptive and revealing–and that was the famed Joan Didion’s.
Blog Advisor Zachik

It’s not the same as it was.

I walked into my 1st-grade classroom to the familiar smell of rain and Lysol. The rain boots were lined up beside the cubbies, with colorful backpacks hanging among them. Sitting on the alphabet carpet, I met my friend, Lucia. We both waited patiently for our reading groups to be divided. The teacher, Marissa, walked in. Every day, I was jealous of her hair that reached all the way down her back. She walked over to us, and split up the class; me and Lucia separated. I walked over to the corner of the large classroom, excited to show Marissa my “reading skills.”

Marissa sat me down, right next to the small window with the chicken painting I loved. I opened my book: The magic treehouse. Marissa told me I could start reading whenever I was ready. I took a sip of water from my small water bottle and slowly turned the colorful cover of the book. On the first page was a small drawing of a tree. But, there was something wrong. There was one small, singular blur blocking the people in the picture. I rubbed my eyes and started to read. The words now came harder to read by the second. I couldn’t see the words; they were blocked by that one singular, small blur. I stopped reading, and I looked up to my teacher. Half of her face was blocked; my eyes somehow refused to show her expression. I started to breathe heavily. I couldn’t see my friends’ faces. I couldn’t see the letters in the book. I couldn’t figure out what was happening. My breathing would not slow down. My heart was beating abnormally fast. I had to place my hand on my chest to try to slow it down. I started to cry, and all I could hear was my loud and heavy pulse. My teacher desperately tried to calm me down. She took me to the hallway; she said she would call my mom to pick me up.

When she left, my head started to throb with pain, as though it was going to beat with my heart. I tried to make it stop. I held my head in my hands. I tried creating pressure from my hands. As tears created smooth pathways on my face, my legs started to tremble, uncontrollably. It was so much pain, so much confusion, so many things going wrong. Alone, I sat there in the hallway, not able to see, not able to stop trembling, not able to control my body. As I was holding my head; it felt as though my brain was traveling down my face. My head burned, and the pain made me wince and close my eyes. The world around me had stopped; then, blood rushed out my nose. I tried to stand; my legs were weak. I attempted to walk toward the bathroom, not even seeing where I was walking or where I was. Eventually, I made it and stuffed the crusty-musty paper towel up my nose. The nosebleed lasted only a couple of minutes. When I walked out of the bathroom, my mom was there. She carried me to the car. I started to cry harder, I could not even see my mom’s face. She put me in the car seat, and buckled me up. She raced to get me home. The sun shone brightly in my eyes, making them feel sore and hurt. At that moment, my stomach losing control, forced me to throw up. My mother handed me a bag, begging me to not get her car dirty. She frantically turned into our driveway, and, holding me, ran up to my bedroom where she lay me down in bed.

Student-Led Conferences Are Dumb: A Luke Rant

November 2, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

Student-Led Conferences are scheduled for Monday, November 7. Luke has lived through several of these bi-annual conferences. And, he has an opinion about them . . .

By Junior Luke Sonderman

This is going to sound like a bit of a rant, but hear me out. I think that the Palm Valley student-led conferences do no good for most students, and there isn’t much of a reason to have them in place. Let me explain.

The Problem

End results are all that matter. Who cares how you get there? As long as you produce solid end results there is no reason for parents to stay updated on their child’s academic progress. Don’t taste the dish before you cut the onions. Don’t eat the burger before you cook the meat. Don’t fry the eggs before you crack them. Don’t drink the milk right from the cow. Don’t cook the chicken before you pluck the feathers. Anywho, students read off of a script that asks for pieces of work that students are proud of. Hold up… why do parents need to see what their kid is proud of at a conference? Students can show their parents work they’re proud of at any time. If they’re really proud of it, then they shouldn’t need a script to get them to show their parents.

Also, student-led conferences should really only be about what needs improvement. If I’m getting a 4.5 GPA, then why should my parents have to leave work to come to a conference about my progress? That’s what PROGRESS reports are for.

Honestly, I feel kinda bad for the teachers. Imagine having to sit at school all day talking to parents of High Honor Roll students on what they need to do to improve. Just take your A+ and be happy with it.

The Solution

I think that student-led conferences should only be held for students that are in significant need of academic improvement. Maybe a better solution would be to have a set GPA threshold that determined which students are in need of a conference, or advisors could decide which students really needed a group conference with the teacher and parents.

Students prepare for the Student-Led Conference where the discuss their classes, their academic strengths, and their challenges.

I mean when everything is said and done, I am cool with the day off of school. If I have to spend a half hour of my day talking about what I need to do to improve my academic performance then so be it.

Luke’s Scary Picks

November 2, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

By Junior Luke Sonderman

Halloween has come and gone. Still, it’s fun to break out those movies that make us not want to sleep at night. From the old Chucky movies, to some of the new terrifying movies full of crazy CGI–personally, I love scary movies. Here are some of my favorites. Check them out when you get sick of the lame holiday movies that are heading our way.

1. Smile

I don’t want to spoil anything as this movie is still in theaters, but, if you like jumpscares, then get your diaper on and head over to the movie theater. This movie will make you jump, I promise. It has some of the most unexpected jumpscares while having a pretty decent storyline for a horror film. You’ll never look at a smile the same way.

2. Lights Out

Before seeing the movie Smile, this was my favorite horror movie. Lights Out is about a mother who lives in a house with the ghost of her childhood friend. The catch is that this ghost only lives in the dark and cannot enter the light. Not only is this movie very creepy, but it has some pretty big jumpscares. If you watch this movie, watch it in the dark. It makes the experience much scarier.

3. Sixth Sense

Okay, I gotta throw some classics in here. The Sixth Sense is a great movie with a crazy twist. It really isn’t very scary. It is much more eerie. The storyline is very complex, and it is one of those movies that makes much more sense after watching a second time. This movie would definitely be on my list of movies everyone needs to watch before they die.

4. Happy Death Day (The first one)

You probably won’t find this on any lists of the horror greats, but Happy Death Day is one of my favorite horror films. I think this is one of the movies that really got me into the horror genre. It is a psychological slasher movie with a plot that lies around a college student named Tree, who is killed every day by a mystery killer with a mask, but wakes up after every death reliving the same day. Kinda like Groundhog Day–but darker.

5. The Blair Witch Project

The Blair Witch Project is a bizarre movie. All of the video is meant to look like it was a real recording recovered from personal cameras of documentarians who are investigating the mythological Blair Witch, but, trust me, it’s completely fictional. The movie feels so real that it will make you shiver. I have always loved this movie and have seen it multiple times.

Most of these movies can be accessed on streaming platforms and even in theaters.

Chapter 5, page 246-247 of my life: The Levi Manifesto

November 1, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Junior Novelist Levi Kassinove

Years ago, universities asked applicants to role play they’d written a novel of their life and to open up that hypothetical novel to p. 246 and to share it with the admissions committee. I asked the same of the Blog Staff. This is Levi’s p. 246.
Blog Advisor Zachik

This is a chapter from my teenage years.

…with a look of horror painted across their faces. I had realized at that point that anything was possible. Upon asking this utterly ridiculous request, there was a hint in the eyes of my peers that said yes. Yet another obsession had successfully scratched the itch in my brain that would otherwise leave me endlessly bored. Passion only ultimately leaves me hungry for more.

That is why I am against the advancement of knowledge.

A million billion years from now, when the last optimization for society has been implemented, when we have understood the last concept, and when we have found a cure for the last disease, only then will we realize that our quality of life hasn’t improved. Are things really any different now? Will they be different then? People want to live longer just so they can live longer. What then when we die? Is there really so much of a difference between living 50, 100, or 1000 years? No matter how much we “improve,” the hedonic treadmill will pull our happiness back to its baseline. 2000 years ago, if someone broke their leg, they would probably die or live pretty uncomfortably for a while, but they would adapt before they die. Nowadays, we get a cast and heal, and, still, we adapt all the same. Humans adapt to their situations as a coping mechanism. There is no such thing as improvement. Only the desire for advancement, which boils down to greed. Understanding the universe is for the sole purpose of understanding the universe. Science is an addiction, perhaps one that has short term and foreseeable benefits, but ultimately it becomes an addiction given enough time. I’d say enough time has passed for us to see that science will eventually lead to our doom.

Note: I didn’t start this in medias res because I’m pretentious; I did it to protect myself–from Indy. Here, I don’t have to reveal everything. At some point, depending on the life you choose, you get so paranoid that you end up destroying all of your work out of fear of not being accepted. And the constant jokes get annoying as well.
Levi Kassinove

People want knowledge because they want power, and people want power because they like having dominion. It is in our blood to strive for control. But, it is unfair. Inherently there are always people being controlled. The people in power believe that they can mold us to do anything. They think they can make us think any way. They think they can make us behave any way. But, we are not characterized by tabula rasa. Freedom is the essence of life. Animals, with their animalistic behavior, have total freedom over what they do. The people who want power think of humanity as beyond animals, and therefore beyond freedom. They think we are too civilized for freedom. We are not above animals. To be humble is to live in harmony. It is to be free. This was my request to my family.

I wanted to contribute to the global effort to free ourselves from tyranny. I wanted to be Neo from The Matrix. And, that’s exactly what I did. During the birth of my obsession, people obviously got tired of it. They got tired of my inability to talk about something other than this. But, when they started to see results, they started to get interested. They started supporting me. They did not regret their decision to let me essentially…be free. My goal is not to grow so big in my personal effort that I single-handedly change the world. My goal is to plant the seeds, so that others may water them.

The Case for Poetry Out Loud

November 1, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Junior Indy Behr

It’s that time of year when PVS students wander the halls mumbling lines of verse under their breath. It’s time, again, for the annual Palm Valley School Poetry Recitation–something we’ve done at PVS for fifty years. Parents have told me Poetry Recitation Finals are their favorite PVS assemblies. And, English teachers seem convinced the world is a better place with poetry in it. Students, however, don’t . . . always respond with joy at the prospect of reciting poetry before crowds. Indy Behr argues poetry reciting is good for us–kind of like taking your vitamins.
Blog Advisor Zachik

Recently, Alyna Llapitan authored an article, “An Ick I’ve Had,” advocating for changes to Palm Valley’s annual Poetry Recitation Competition–a competition that, in the Upper School, segues into the national Poetry Out Loud competition. Personally, I enjoy this annual tradition, and I also think it offers valuable learning opportunities for students.

Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation competition that occurs annually. About ten years ago, Palm Valley melded its 50-year-old Poetry Recitation with national Poetry Out Loud standards. While students in nearly all grades still participate in Palm Valley’s Poetry Recitation, in the Upper-School English classes, students pick primarily poems from the Poetry Out Loud anthology. Typically, guest judges are brought into classes for one day. They choose 2-3 winners per each class, depending on class size. Those winners move on to the Upper-School finals.

I think that Poetry Out Loud is great because it teaches students two very valuable things that will be useful throughout their lives. Firstly, it teaches students how to speak with confidence. I understand that some people really dislike speaking in front of others, and I have had that fear myself, but if you go through high school without attempting to combat this, you will face many hurdles in your career. Speaking with confidence is a skill that is crucial in almost every career imaginable. Secondly, Poetry Out Loud teaches students about not just the value of poetry, but the value of literature as a whole. Though perhaps not all careers involve it, being familiar with literature and having an appreciation for it is something that will help everyone in my opinion. Cultural context and exploration can effectively be taught through these poetry recitations, and we learn about many poets as well as different types of poetry through this program.

Alyna made the point that Palm Valley should consider having students perform only in front of the judges rather than having to perform in front of their entire class. While I understand where she is coming from, I think this defeats the purpose of this competition being a way for students to feel more comfortable performing in front of several people. When you have to present a plan to your office at a job later in your life, you will be doing it in front of thirty people, not three. She is correct that in 9th grade we opted for performing solely for judges; however, this was due to the pandemic, and this is the reason we reverted to the original system the following year.

Overall, I do very much sympathize with those who are against the Poetry Recitation continuing in its current form. Despite this, I still think that these opponents could still learn several valuable things from this competition, and I wholeheartedly support it remaining in place.

*Join us the the Upper-School Poetry Recitation Finals on Friday, December 9, at 2:15. Do you have middle-school recitators you want to cheer for? Join us for the Middle-School Poetry Recitation Finals on Tuesday, December 6, at 1:10.

The desert rain

October 27, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

When I say, “Write a poem,” Penny says, “Done.” She tells me she hasn’t lived in the desert all her life. It must be the deep roots of her family connection because she captures here the miracle of rain in the desert.
Blog Advisor Zachik

By 7th-Grader Penny Andreas

The mountains blocked the sun

From the night that was disguising

The clouds started to come

And the wind started rising

The soft droplets fell

As the pavement darkened

With the sweet smell of rain

The dry sat there still

Thunder stroke

And lightning flashed

The clouds all shook

This empty land

The palm trees swayed

And the streets flooded

Healing the broken

And the decayed

Hej Slaveni!*

October 26, 2022 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Junior Remy Haring

In a series of stories told in multiple perspectives from all over the world–collectively known as the Kaiserreich Files (inspired by the titular mod for Hearts of Iron IV), blogger Remy Haring explores an alternate history, one in which the Central Powers win the First World War.

Vienna, Austrian Empire

September 23, 1936,–the day I will never forget:

“We are Slavs, and we are angry. For over 800 years our people have been under the boot of the Austrians. Our languages are being replaced by German; we aren’t allowed to wear our traditional clothing, and now Orthodox Christianity has been banned. The new prime minister Jörg Lanz Von Liebenfels openly calls us a “lower species.” Every one of us–Czechs, Slovakians, Polish, Ukrainians, Serbians, Bosnians, Croatians, Slovenians and Montenegrins– needs to come together to throw that fossil out of parliament. We make up 47% of the population. Imagine what we can accomplish when we work together!”
Professor Lazar Palić

This is the speech my professor delivered to the crowd before we began marching on Vienna. We were waving pan-slavic flags of blue, white and red stripes. Some protestors were holding up signs that said, “Justice for Gavrilo Princip!” It was he who killed the heir to the Austrian Throne and started the Great War. The Austrians see him as a terrorist, where we Slavs view him as a martyr for the slavic people.

The school band and choir were playing Hej Slaveni! The crowd was chanting “Ujedinjenje ili smrt! Unification or death!” I was flying the Croatian flag and chanting. I felt so much hope then for a future where us slavs were free, but I also felt fear for how the government would respond, and then I felt pride for my people uniting for our survival and justice–justice against the empire that had oppressed us for far too long.

But, my roiling emotions were overshadowed when we reached the Vienna Parliament. Police dressed in full riot gear lined up in front of us. Machine gun emplacements were set up around the street. However, the riot police did not fire upon us. That is, until we saw Prime Minister Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels himself. He was a short, old, balding man with small, circular glasses. The only thing that really stood out about him was his white, priestly robe with a bright red cross on his chest. He didn’t address us. Without any sound of conviction or emotion, he ordered the police:

“Clean the streets of this human filth.”

… I don’t remember what happened after that.

*Hey Slavs! A pan-slavic patriotic song