Southern Woods and Waters: Squirrel Hunting with Mr. Barnes p4

Brandon goes squirrel hunting with Donald Barnes.

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    MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEVMOSCOW—The day began with a dystopian wave of pre-emptive arrests. Many of his opponents were already under lock and key by the time President Vladimir Putin used an annual state of the nation address to remind people what happens to popular uprisings within striking distance of the Kremlin.With Russian troops massed on the border of Ukraine in numbers not seen since the invasion of Crimea, Putin gloried in the fate of the pro-Western movement in Kyiv, seven years after he annexed a chunk of its territory.Similar forces were at play in Belarus, Putin said, where the CIA was accused of stirring up a coup plot against the pro-Russian leader, who rigged elections last year. Putin has helped President Lukashenko crack down on the protest movement, which sprung up against the blatantly stolen election.Domestic protesters were gathering across the Russia as he spoke, fully aware that a similar crackdown is underway here as Putin’s rule slips toward dictatorship.The president will meet Lukashenko on Thursday amid increasingly close military and political ties between Moscow and the former Soviet client state. Putin has long wanted to place a missile base in Belarus and would love to further integrate the countries, putting the former Soviet port of Kaliningrad within reach.In an apparent slip of the tongue, Putin evoked the Cold War era by referring to his Eastern European allies as being members of the “Warsaw… [Pact]” before catching himself.In the major set-piece speech, Putin claimed that while the West was supposedly stirring up insurrection in the region, “Nobody thought of Ukraine’s fate and does not think of consequences for Belarusians.”He warned that any further interference in Eastern Europe would be a “red line” for Russia. “The organizers of any provocations against Russia will regret [it] in a way they never have before,” he said, promising asymmetric warfare while an estimated 100,000 troops, tanks and fighter jets wait on Ukraine’s border.The recriminations against uprisings within Russia have already begun. Alexei Navalny, the leader of Russia’s opposition, was targeted in nerve-agent attack last year and then jailed on trumped-up charges earlier this year.While Navalny’s supporters were being snatched out of taxis or arrested in their homes ahead of protests Wednesday, he was languishing in a prison hospital in a Siberia penal colony. Doctors say his life is “hanging by a thread.”After Navalny was taken ill during a hunger strike and denied access to independent medical professionals, his team called for a nationwide protest. Police stormed the apartments of Navalny supporters on Tuesday and Wednesday, hours before the rally, arresting people in the streets and at work in Krasnodar, Kurgan, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and many other cities.Many people are reluctant to join the protest because they fear lengthy prison terms, not just the short administrative detentions of up to 15 days, which have been commonplace throughout the Putin era.And yet, still thousands took to the streets in what they saw as the final battle in Putin’s transformation into a dictator.One of those who protested regardless was Navalny’s close friend Yevgeny Roizman, the former governor of the Sverdkovsk region. He led several thousand people on a march through Yekaterinburg, despite road closures and police vehicles equipped with water cannons.Roizman told The Daily Beast on Wednesday that several years in prison was an unpleasant thought for a 58-year-old but he was unwavering in his determination. “This is a philosophical question for every Russian: Either you live for the rest of your life as a slave and coward, or you come out to feel yourself a free and brave man,” he said.Since the imprisonment of Navalny—which Amnesty International has described as a slow-motion execution—experienced Kremlinologists, opposition politicians, and journalists have begun to openly describe a hard shift in domestic politics, a path toward “dictatorship,” not the so-called soft authoritarian model sometimes ascribed to Russia.Moscow politician Vladimir Ryzhkov told The Daily Beast that the country has changed since Navalny’s arrest at the airport as he returned from Germany three months ago.“Russia is a dictatorship now, where young people, university students get prison terms for innocent posts on social media,” he said. “It will be even worse. Decline of the economy, capital outflow, shrinking incomes, technological lag—these are the inevitable consequences of Vladimir Putin’s domestic and foreign policies.”After speaking to The Daily Beast, Ryzhkov was one of hundreds arrested for supposedly organizing Wednesday’s rallies after he reposted details on social media.Professors and students have been deeply traumatized by police persecutions against the authors of university newspaper Doxa this month. Four of the young journalists have been arrested and others are being questioned—the crackdown on a student paper is seen as a new low in media suppression even under Putin.“Police broke the door to our apartment, arrested my friend for her call not to be afraid of exercising our constitutional right of peaceful assembly,” a witness told The Daily Beast. “Many want to leave the country but the courage of Doxa authors, who continue to publish in spite of their friends being under arrest, inspires all the paper’s readers.”Gennady Gudkov, a Russian opposition figure in exile, insisted that this dark new era would never snuff out all opposition to Putin. “This is not the end of the resistance in Russia,” he told The Daily Beast. “When Putin turns into a dictator supported by military forces, the opposition will radicalize and work from the underground.”On Wednesday morning, Navalny’s wife, Yulia, posted an Instagram video of herself with the caption: “I am the queen of the underground.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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  • Prince Harry Flies Home, Skipping Queen’s Birthday, as Hopes Fade for Reconciliation

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A chauffeur-driven MPV was seen leaving the private terminal at LAX and arriving at their Montecito mansion.However hopes were fading Wednesday that a brief carefully choreographed chat between Harry and William as they walked out of their grandfather’s funeral on Saturday would herald a new era of royal relations.The Times reported that Harry’s relationship with his father and brother continues to be “strained” and said any exchanges between them at the funeral will have done little to improve matters.If you love The Daily Beast’s royal coverage, then we hope you’ll enjoy The Royalist, a members-only series for Beast Inside. Become a member to get it in your inbox on Sunday.Sources told The Times it was “unthinkable” there would have been serious discussions after the funeral on the grave matters raised by Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey. Harry told Oprah his brother and father were “trapped” in the monarchy and angrily criticized his father’s lack of understanding for his and Meghan’s unhappiness. The couple also accused an unnamed family member of making racist inquiries about the likely color of the skin of any children Meghan and Harry might have.Harry returned home before his grandmother turned 95 on Wednesday, just days after the funeral of her husband of 77 years.Having been obliged to sit alone at the funeral due to strict British coronavirus regulations, the queen is also thought unlikely to see her family on her birthday. She is likely to spend the day at Windsor Castle with only a small bubble of staff. Current English coronavirus rules forbid families from gathering inside, however gatherings outside or in gardens are permitted.Harry’s speedy return to the U.S. comes after several days of mixed reports on the progress of reconciliation attempts with his father and brother. Much seems unresolved, despite reports that Harry, William, and Charles spent several hours locked in conversation after the funeral.Conflicting reports have emerged about this alleged conversation.The Mail claimed that Charles and William insisted on meeting with Harry together so that nobody’s words could be misconstrued afterward, and that the meeting happened on the grounds of Windsor Castle. The Sun said the meeting happened at Harry’s home, Frogmore Cottage, and that Kate was present. The palace has refused to comment for fear of inflaming the delicate situation.What is not in doubt is that after Saturday’s funeral, William and Harry walked back to Windsor Castle from St. George’s Chapel together. Harry’s brief visit to the U.K. for the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh was his first trip back to Britain in a year. The brothers had not seen each other in person since a frosty encounter at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, before the coronavirus pandemic hit.Upon leaving the funeral, Harry first spoke to Kate Middleton, who diplomatically appeared to engineer the situation so that the brothers walked together. Just weeks previously, Harry’s wife had accused Kate of allowing the uncorrected circulation of lies about who made who cry in the run-up to Meghan’s wedding. Meghan, who is expecting a baby girl in the summer, did not travel on doctor’s orders but did send a handwritten note and a wreath.The trip marked the first time Harry has seen his family since making explosive allegations about royal racism during an interview with Oprah last month and claiming his father and brother are “trapped in the system.”William is known to have been deeply hurt by what Harry said, and Charles was upset by Harry saying he felt let down by his father and Harry’s accusation that he cut him off financially, and refused to take his phone calls.Harry will now begin another 10-day quarantine as recommended for travelers to the U.S. by the CDC.The queen Wednesday issued a statement saying: “I have, on the occasion of my 95th birthday today, received many messages of good wishes, which I very much appreciate.“While as a family we are in a period of great sadness, it has been a comfort to us all to see and to hear the tributes paid to my husband, from those within the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and around the world.“My family and I would like to thank you all for the support and kindness shown to us in recent days. We have been deeply touched, and continue to be reminded that Philip had such an extraordinary impact on countless people throughout his life.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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