UPDATE, 7:40 PM: Donald Trump's campaign canceled his appearance in Chicago Friday night amid growing concerns about security at the event.

"Mr. Trump just arrived in Chicago and after meeting with law enforcement has determined that for the safety of all of the tens of thousands of people that have gathered in and around the arena, tonight'srally will be postponed to another date," the campaign said in a statement. "Thank you very much for your attendance and please go in peace."

The goal of protesters in Chicago today is simple: shut down Donald Trump's speech.

Thousands have pledged online to attend a demonstration outside of the Republican frontrunner's rally at the University of Illinois's Chicago campus tonight, planning to outshine a man who has made a point of shaming his political opponents, particularly those who pop up at his rallies to make their feelings known. On Facebook, 11,000 people have said they will attend a Trump Rally Protest, and organizers have encouraged attendees to register for tickets to the candidate's event.

Protesters will be met with a crowd of Trump supporters, most of whom are expected to be coming in from downstate Illinois, according to the Cook County Republican Party Chairman Aaron Del Mar. "I don't know anyone from Chicago who is going," Del Mar told VICE.

The possible mixture of downstate Illinoisans—a group that is generally white and conservative compared to Chicago's diverse and liberal-leaning population—with black and Latino protesters could be volatile, which is probably why police, the university, and city officials are preparing for a chaotic night.

Many of the protesters will likely remain outside the venue, where University of Illinois has set up a stage for activists and politicians to host a counter-rally during Trump's speech. "I think there are a lot of people who would like to go inside but don't feel it's the safest place to be," said Ben Bobo, a 21-year-old college student who plans to attend the anti-Trump rally.

Bobo wouldn't disclose the number of people he believes will try to make it inside the pavilion, but hinted that their presence may be significant. "While he has his supporters here, there are still a significant amount of people in Chicago who feel Trump is not someone who represents us, is not someone who represents America," he said. "Hopefully, the media will make the story about the protest, not Trump's words."

Heading into the rally, tensions are already running high, exacerbated by a series of reports of violent confrontations between Trump supporters and protesters, as well as members of the media. In North Carolina, a Trump fan was arrested Thursday and charged with assault for allegedly sucker-punching a black protester at a rally there this week. Similar fights have broken out at Trump rallies in Massachusetts and Oklahoma in recent weeks. On Friday afternoon, before Trump made his way to Chicago, 12 demonstrators were detained outside of his campaign rally in St. Louis.

Trump's Chicago appearance seems particularly ripe for chaos, given the sheer number of protesters expected to turn out to disrupt Trump's event. Citing reports of violent clashes at Trump rallies, more than 300 faculty and staff members at the University of Illinois, Chicago signed an open letter asking the school to cancel Friday's event. "We are deeply distressed that this event threatens to create a hostile and physically dangerous environment to the students, staff, faculty and alumni who come out to express their opposition," the letter states.

Their fears are perhaps justified. In the lead up to the Chicago event, theories and rumors about who will show up to protest Trump's rally have swirled among the candidate's supporters online. School administrators are clearly concerned about the potential escalation, and sent out a mass email to students explaining where protests would be allowed, and informing the campus that the university was coordinating with multiple law enforcement agencies and the Secret Service on security matters.

The Chicago Police Department hasn't released specific security plans. CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told VICE there would be "very visible police presence" at the event, but directed further questions to the Secret Service. The Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At this point, Bobo said, the protesters won't be at the Trump rally to change anyone's minds. The goal, he said, is simply to silence the GOP frontrunner, and co-opt the media spotlight from his presidential campaign. "We don't feel like allowing him to continue to make the same hurtful and racist comments," Bobo said.

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The flagship Topshop in London, a while ago. Photo: Magnus D via

This article originally appeared on VICE UK

It takes the average Topshop cleaner about a week to earn enough money to buy a Topshop Boutique trench coat. Low-wage workers are holding a protest Saturday, March 12 outside the Oxford Street flagship store in London, against being paid what they consider to be poverty wages. Their goal is to pressure Arcadia Group—the company that owns Topshop and recently reported an annual profit of over £250 million elsewhere in the UK.

In its Code of Conduct, Topshop's official line is to "fully subscribe to the concept of the 'living wage'". We spoke to some of the cleaners planning to protest, alongside the United Voices of the World (UVW) union, about what it's like to earn less than £800 per month in the country's most expensive city.

"The supervisor used to call me 'donkey' in English. Probably because it was quite an unusual word and he didn't think I'd understand it," says Susana, a 40-year-old cleaner and single mom. "He also kicked a bucket at me, and that was the last straw." As a cleaner, Susana is contracted by company Britannia Services Group to work at Topshop.

Roberto has also been working as a cleaner for three and a half years, along with two other jobs. At a meeting held on Wednesday, he and other low-wage staff were offered £7.50 but most were not happy; we know we could get more, and deserve more."

UVW have been struggling to gain the support of shop-floor assistants at Topshop, who are also on poverty wages. "There's a real culture of fear," Roberto says. "A lot of people are afraid of having their hours cut so they are not showing their faces or publicly supporting the campaign."

But does he think they'll succeed? Roberto pauses. "I'm sure we can win our campaign. We're not going to win on Saturday, but how ever many times it takes we can win, if we have to go back 100 times, then 100 times it will be."

At the time of writing, an online petition fronted by Susana and asking Topshop to pay all staff a real living wage had picked up around 5,100 signatures, and only about 300 people were expected to turn up the protest.

Susana sounds dead-set on the campaign anyway. "I earn roughly £720 . It's just not enough to live on in a dignified way. The hours are also constantly changing, so I cannot allocate money for rent and food because I don't know how much I will earn." Both she and Roberto feel that the living wage could help in feeling respected at work and more able to survive poverty-free.

But there's a bigger picture here. The UK retail sector is forecast to shed 900,000 jobs by 2025, because the national living wage and apprenticeship levy will have become too costly, according to the British Retail Consortium. The tired excuse of "we cannot afford it" only serves to highlight the unfair distribution of profits that is considered the norm.

After the forced increase in the minimum wage starts in April, reports have surfaced detailing how cutting overtime and weekend pay rates may be the route to companies making back money spent on paying a healthier wage. Is it worth it?

"£7.20 is not enough. Especially when there is a rent bubble in London," Susana says, and Roberto agrees. "This increase looks like an election stunt so that people might vote in favor. I call on all companies to pay a fair wage. I call on everybody who is in these same circumstances to stand up and fight and reclaim your right to demand a living wage."

We put the questions to Arcadia Group, about Topshop low-wage staff feeling they aren't paid the living wage that the shop 'subscribes to.' Here is their statement, in full:

"At Arcadia we value and appreciate our staff and are proud of the contribution they make to our business. In the interests of transparency and in response to some factually incorrect allegations made by United Voices of the World, we wish to confirm that all our employees are paid hourly rates which are legally compliant.

"In central London we currently pay rates well above the UK Government's National Minimum Wage. For us, it is essential to remain competitive and in line with other major retailers to attract, grow, and retain the best people."

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Tensions over Donald Trump's incendiary presidential campaign finally erupted into chaos Friday night, when protesters in Chicago shut down a scheduled campaign rally, clashing with the Republican frontrunner's supporters in massive demonstrations on the streets and at the University of Illinois campus where the candidate was supposed to speak.

In a statement issued about 40 minutes before Trump was scheduled to go on stage, the campaign announced that it was canceling the rally due to security concerns. "Mr. Trump just arrived in Chicago and after meeting with law enforcement has determined that for the safety of all of the tens of thousands of people that have gathered in and around the arena, tonight's rally will be postponed to another date," the statement read. "Thank you very much for your attendance and please go in peace."

Activists in Chicago had been planning the demonstrations since the moment the Trump campaign announced he would visit the city in advance of the Illinois primary next Tuesday. A Facebook group for a Trump Protest Rally, which encouraged people to register to attend the Trump rally, had 11,000 RSVPs by Friday afternoon.

Normally, a photographer in search of a subject finds something interesting—a place, a person, a subculture—and trains their lens on them. The result is often revealing, even beautiful, but incomplete. What if you don't want photos of interesting people, but photos of what the world looks like to those people?

Welcome to First-Person Shooter, a photo essay series that aims to offer a brief vantage into the lives of compelling and strange subjects from all over. Each Friday, we'll give two disposable cameras to one person to document their evening. The majority will not be trained photographers, and we're not expecting the shots to look "good." Rather, we want them to be an honest depiction of what each subject found interesting during one night of their week—hopefully inspiring that Being John Malkovich sensation we're going for.

For this first installment, we gave a camera to Carlos Porras, a tattoo artist at Brooklyn's famed Greenpoint Tattoo Co. Here's what Carlos had to say about the night he photographed.

VICE: Can you tell us about what went down on Friday night? Where did it start? What'd you get up to?
Carlos Porras: The night started around 9 PM after me, some friends, and some coworkers left work. We went to the bar Matchless first and had a few drinks and started a foosball tournament. From Matchless we went to the bars Enid's, No Name, and then back to the shop.

What are Friday nights typically like at the tattoo shop? Was this night any different?
Friday night is usually a busy time. There are a lot of clients who want to get tattooed. As the shop gets closer to shutting its doors, friends starts to show up and we start brainstorming what we should do with our nights. This night was no different.

There are some people getting inked in the photos? What did they get tattoos of and who tattooed them?
We all tattooed each other: Jason, Carlos, Mike, Rachel, Richie, Ashley. We all got matching smiley faces.

How did you spend the next morning?
Everyone was pretty hungover the next morning, but we got back to work and settled in pretty quickly.

See more of the photos below.

Visit Greenpoint Tattoo Co.'s website to learn more about their awesome shop and check out Julian Master's website for more of his photo work.

A photo of Olivia Troy (left) training actress Annapurna Sriram how to use a whip. Photo courtesy of Natasha Gornik

Growing up, Olivia Troy dreamed of being just like Xaviera Hollander—the high-class call girl who ran 1960s New York's busiest brothel and wrote a best-selling memor called The Happy Hooker. When parents and teachers asked her what she wanted to do when she grew up, she said madam.

Troy's childhood fantasy didn't come to fruition, but sex is still her professional domain. For the past decade, Troy has become a career BDSM expert, consulting for TV shows, film sets, and Broadway plays to help actors and writers get it right when it comes to portraying kink on screen or stage. Her resume includes advising Paul Giamatti about the sub he plays on Showtime's Billions and training actors on the Broadway play Trust, and she's currently working on the forthcoming movie The Books.

A native New Yorker, Troy began exploring BDSM in her mid twenties after an acquaintance confessed his shoe fetish to her at a company holiday party. They spent the rest of the night holed up in a corner while he pointed out women's shoes and explained what makes a hard stiletto so sexy. Her interest piqued, she began going to fetish parties, reading BDSM literature, and practicing the art of domination. At the time, she was a freelance lifestyle writer covering food, music, and relationships. But her curiosity for BDSM led her down the rabbit hole, and she eventually set up her own private dungeon.

Now in her mid-30s, Troy practices her kink personally, professionally, and legally with her business Kink on Set. At her consulting studio in New York's Flatiron District, she teaches actors, writers, and private clients how to play and punish. The studio is a BDSM enthusiast's dream, with over $90,000 worth of equipment she often rents out to production crews. Recently, I sat down with Troy among her whipping benches, puppy cages, and gimp masks to talk sex and power on set and off.

VICE: Can you tell me about how someone becomes a BDSM consultant? What does the job actually entail?
Olivia Troy: Like a lot of the things I've gotten into in life, I fell into this unintentionally. It was 2010, I was practicing as a domme, and a colleague of mine was helping out with the Broadway play Trust, about a guy who goes to see a professional dominatrix who turns out to be his high school classmate. She wanted to show the crew what a real dungeon looks like and how to handle some of the equipment, so she brought one of the producers and three of the principle actors over to my space.

I ended up talking to the actors and coaching them on everything, from things like how to handle a flogger to how create that dominant presence. From there it snowballed, mostly via word of mouth.

What do you mean by dominant presence?
Like, how you talk to a submissive: the tone of voice you use, the different cues you use. When you talk, you talk with intention; you speak with purpose. The idea is to seduce, to be very clear and active. is very much about owning your power. There are no questions when I speak to someone. The language is very decisive.

It sounds kind of similar to having a stage persona, as if it's a character you put on.
It is a little bit of a stage persona. There's the cliché of the stentorian-voiced dominatrix who speaks in very clipped tones and says, You will obey me . There was a time, when I first started playing going to fetish parties and playing in "the scene," when I thought the way works is that you meet a man, you say hello, you tell him to strip, kneel on the floor, kiss your feet, etc.

Eventually, I thought, this was really dumb. I don't like having my feet kissed and it's often very awkward. So I thought, Well, what do I like? And that made it easy. For instance, I started undressing my partner myself. Some people start by putting a collar on their sub, but I would come up behind them, put my hands around their throat, and say something like: I'm going to claim you with my hands. My hands are your collar. Where I touch you is the thing that tells you that you are mine. My fingerprints on your skin are what tell you that you are mine and you will feel my touch long after you are gone from here.

It sounds really sensual and like there's a lot more subtlety to it.
Yeah, for me it's less about language like "piece of shit" or "worthless pig," etc. Though there are some women who love to say that and some men who love to hear that. But if the goal is to make someone feel pathetic or humiliate them, it's less about calling them clichés like "filthy worm," and more about what is real that you can remark on. There are ways you can do that with just body positioning—how you position your own body, with how you position their body in relation to yours. There's a lot more subtly to it. There's effort, as well.

You have to actually see the person and understand who they are and what their vulnerabilities are. And that kind of comes to the heart of what my practice is as a consultant. It's about taking away those stereotypes. Teaching people is not really that cartoonish. It's about energetically setting an intention and having your actions lead to the inevitability of that fulfillment. So that's what I try to convey to the actors, too. It's not really about stomping around in boots, though you certainly can do that.

For more on sex subcultures, watch our doc 'Cash Slaves':

On the submissive side, I feel like there's this fantasy of the cold read, of finding a dominant who knows exactly what they want.
One of the things people often get wrong about kinky sexy is that, sure, people have their fetishes, but being kinky is just like any other sex. The way to make sure that someone is into it—the way you do that cold read and make it accurate—is that, as the domme, you do what you do with pleasure and gusto. As the dominant, they'll like anything I tell them to like because I love it.

Can you give me an example?
I know people who have gotten subs to agree to a golden shower who might not have been up for it otherwise. If you just say, Oh can I pee on you? that doesn't sound very sexy. But if I straddle you. Look you deeply in the eyes. Kiss you. And then I say, I want to do something for you. How would you feel if I just squirted all over your cock right now? And just imagine this warm wetness just gushing over you, and I can share that with you and you're just gonna feel this warm wetness between us and be soaked in it like I've just cum all over your cock. How does that sound?

OK, yeah. Sign me up.
If you're thinking about doing any BDSM with a partner, think about selling it. How can you say it in a way that's going to make them want it? I think anyone who wants to explore BDSM needs to think of the things they already like and try to amplify it or add a little imagination. And if you present it to your partner as something that is really fun that you can do together—and isn't just something that they are doing to you cause you want it—that makes all the difference.

When you go onset and speak to directors, actors, etc. what's the one thing you want them to take away?
I was working with Paul Giamatti for his Showtime series Billions. In the show, he's a high-power, high-profile district attorney and he and his wife have a kink relationship where he's the sub. When I talk with the actors, I try to give them language to think about their character's motivations—why they're doing what they're doing—outside the language of BDSM. It's not so much how you tie this person up, but more about the energy in which you approach the action, and what that character's motivations would be.

So for Paul's character, there's that erotic tension between his desires and the risk of getting caught. And there's an uncertainty there, too. Is his wife doing this for him or because she really wants it, too? And for Maggie Siff, who plays the wife, is a therapist who analyzes Wall Street dudes all day. Is exercising this more explicit control over her husband a sort of therapy for her? What are the other dynamics at play here?

"Being kinky is just like any other sex. The way to make sure that someone is into it is that, as the domme, you do what you do with pleasure and gusto."

It seems like getting it right is also a big part what makes it sexy when it's depicted on screen.
Getting it right makes it sexy because fundamentally it is about two people connecting over something they both desire. In fact, a lot of the more explicit depictions of SM—spanking, making someone crawl on the floor, binding and tying someone up—is not that compelling in itself. That's part of the reason 50 Shades of Grey failed. You didn't sense any chemistry or connection between the actors. Yes, the environment was beautiful, but you always wondered why are they doing this? Why is she saying yes to this? Why is he interested in her? You could never sense the connection. The leather, the whips, the shoes, the catsuits, etc. are just costumes. It's trappings. It's visual. Depicting accurately is about the relationship between the two people.

What's one of the most extreme things you do in your work?
I've seen a lot of crazy shit and done some wild things in my time, so a lot of it is just normal for me. When I was working with Paul, he asked me what's one of the most awful things that could be done to him. And I said, well, "awful" is kind of in the eye of the beholder. For example, I've taken stainless steel urethral dilators and inserted them into someone's penis. He immediately cringed and he said it was too much. I told him it was kind of like I was fucking him. There's a way to talk about penetrating someone's urethra that sounds really awful. But if I say it's like I'm inserting this stainless steel rod and fucking your cock with it and then when I pull it out it's like this jet of stainless-steel cum that's shooting out of you, then you're going to want to know what that feels like.

Follow Julia on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on VICE UK

Illustrations by Ella Strickland de Souza

In March 2015, a prize-winning dog was last seen at Crufts, one of the world's biggest annual dog shows held in the UK. The case has gone cold and remains unsolved.

"It was hysterical," Beverly Cuddy, editor of Dogs Today magazine, tells VICE as she recalls the media circus surrounding Irish Setter Jagger's death. "It all kicked off when Clare Balding read out a tweet live on Crufts coverage. When Clare says something, everyone assumes it is true, and when she read something suggesting Jagger had been poisoned at the show, it just went round the world. Don't let any facts get in the way; it was front-page news regardless."

To call it front-page news (beyond The Sun) is a push, but the story gained traction in major news outlets around the country. On the evening of Friday, March 6—less than 36 hours after leaving the world-famous dog show—Jagger was dead in the vet's office in his small Belgian hometown of Lauw. An autopsy conducted on March 7, the Monday after the dog show ended, revealed small, undigested cubes of beef stuffed with poison inside his stomach.

Though there was little doubt that Jagger had died under suspicious circumstances, his Belgian co-owner Aleksandra Lauwers initially believed the Irish Setter was poisoned at the event itself.

"I am convinced it happened at the dog show. There wasn't any other opportunity," Aleksandra said, speaking to The Telegraph last year. "It looked like an act of jealousy." Aleksandra thought Jagger may have been slipped the fatal dosage at the show, held at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre. When tissue samples from the body were transported to Ghent University's toxicology department, they were found to contain heavy traces of carbofuran and aldicarb: banned EU pesticides with fast-acting and severe symptoms including abdominal cramps, excessive salivation, imbalance, blurred vision, and difficulty breathing.

Things escalated. In the days after Jagger's death, a West Highland white terrier, an Afghan hound, and a Shih Tzu were listed amongst other alleged victims. It was the type of tabloid-tailored fodder designed for Sunday newspaper supplements. But speaking to event coordinators the Kennel Club, all the other cases turned out to be rumor and misinformation. And after a wide appeal for witnesses, evidence and for the alleged victims to come forward, the Kennel Club's investigation was eventually dropped due to "no access to direct information."

"There was absolutely no evidence that there was any poisoning," says Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club spokesperson. "We went back over past rumours and reports and checked those out as well. If anybody had thought that their dogs had been poisoned at Crufts, then none of that has ever been borne out." The police also let the whole thing go, with West Midlands Police spokesperson Lee Page saying: "There was no investigation and no report to us of any dogs being taken ill. We were aware of the allegation but weren't approached by anyone, so it never went anywhere and it was never a formal investigation."

A week after Jagger's death and with the help of the police, Crufts and the Kennel Club issued a statement, based on timeline of Jagger's movements and information from the toxicology report.

"We must conclude that it is inconceivable that he could have been poisoned at Crufts on Thursday 5 March, some 28 to 36 hours earlier," the statement read. "Furthermore, the poison is thought to have been given on a piece of beef that was still largely undigested when the autopsy was performed on Saturday, March 7 morning, and food is usually absorbed in dogs within six hours."

But the dog is still dead.

And none of the information in the report helps point toward a motive or murderer. "There are still conspiracy theorists," Beverly says over the phone, her voice tailing off. "Over a number of years there have been... incidents.

"You can easily find the Doberman that made the news," she continues. "The dog was in some way poisoned or doped. The problem was that reported it but a couple of days later they stopped answering the phone and wouldn't come outside to talk to the media. There's quite a bit of pressure not to whistleblow in this environment because it makes everyone else look bad. With these incidents, it may be a personal rivalry, it may be somebody who's just lost the plot."

And weirdly, the only lead may point back towards Belgium, at a cat-killer operating in the neighborhood where Jagger was found dead. Speaking to The Times in March 2015, local Lauw resident Els van Marsenille said three of her cats had been killed since January, with her "terrified neighbours" losing two. And according to local vet Patrick Jans, all bodies showed "symptoms suggestive of intoxication."

But among the allegations, abandoned investigations, and guesswork, only one thing's certain: someone with Croydon cat-killer skills is getting along with their life, undetected, after deciding to kill a dog. And with Crufts 2016 underway as of Thursday, Kennel Club spokesperson Caroline says that the show has now doubled its security measures to include "increased patrols by stewards, as well as CCTV, to further protect the dogs at the show."

We'll see how that goes. Jagger's UK-based owners, Dee Milligan-Bott and Jeremy Bott, declined to speak to us for the piece. They were getting ready for the show, with another dog.

Follow James and Ella on Twitter.

Check out Lukasz's Tumblr, Facebook, and Instagram.

For more of Brian Blomerth's work, visit his website, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Illustration by Jay Howell

The are many reasons people deal drugs, but they are generally pretty simple. Some do it because they don't have any other way to survive. Some do it because it gives them power, or it gives them the trappings of status, wealth, and control that can result from the hustle. A few do it because it seems easier and more fun than a "normal" job. But whatever the reasons, dealing—as well as our legal system's treatment of drugs—has a way of complicating lives and relationships.

An example: I was once friendly with a dealer who was selling weed and occasionally other stuff to help pay his way through school. Regardless of his self-sufficiency, he knew that if his parents learned about his job they would most certainly freak the fuck out. When he visited home wearing expensive new clothes and other swag, they began to ask questions, and he told that that he'd gotten hired to be a doorman at a fancy, membership-only traditional gentleman's club—a well-paid gig that my then-roommate actually had.

To convince his parents the job was legit, he'd take photos in our friend's uniform and send them to his parents. He'd also borrow anecdotes from the real doorman and invent stories about how much he was tipped to explain why his pockets were so heavy.

I'm pretty sure he got away a lot of it, but the layers of lies and occasional slip-ups made him anxious and distanced him a bit from his family. He still deals today, and has to continue lying to people (his landlord, for example) to keep his career under wraps.

'Breaking Bad' is probably the best known pop-culture example of a drug merchant's life getting turned inside-out, but it happens to ordinary people the world over—though maybe not with the same level of melodrama. When you deal drugs in America you risk arrest, but you also have to deal with strained relationships with people you're intimate with, being alienated from mainstream society (not always the worst thing), and possibly suffering from mental health problems or addiction.

What follows is accounts from dealers interviewed by VICE explaining how dealing complicates their lives, and how they handle the side effects of hustling. Because they are discussing illegal activity, all are anonymous.

Dealer 1
Male
Sold "Everything Imaginable"

I grew up really poor but ended up going to a very wealthy high school because I was smart—Beverly Hills High School (a.k.a. 90210). Affording a $5 lunch was a big deal for me, while all the other kids at school were driving luxury cars and living in mansions. I wanted a piece of that, and didn't have the best home life. My childhood was pretty rough—my mom had me when she was 19, my parents were divorced, neither of them finished high school, and my dad had mental illness. Dealing was very much about survival. For me, it was a way out of my then-reality, and into coolness and money.

I started selling when I was in tenth grade by buying one gram for $10 (I didn't eat lunch for two days so I could afford it). Then I sold it for $20. Then I had $20 and I bought two more grams, and it went from there. Flash-forward several years, and I was selling ten to 20 pounds of weed—plus various quantities of every other drug you can imagine—every week and was making thousands and thousands of dollars.

At first, I didn't have to hide anything from my family. My best friend lived three blocks away from our high school in a really nice house. We kept our stash, money, and whatever else we needed to hide in his basement because his dad was cool and didn't care that we were dealing. I'd get dropped off at his house in the morning, get high, go to school, then go back and get higher before we started selling drugs out of the mansion. It was like a rich-kid trap house.

Things became obvious when I'd show up at home wearing nice clothes. My mom was literally working five jobs and I was making more money than her. I didn't even have to lie about dealing because it was so clear that I was high on drugs all the time.

That being said, she didn't know the extent of our operation—one moment sticks out when I think about how dealing fucked up my already fucked-up relationship with my mom. When I couldn't keep my stuff at my friend's house, I had a stash box at home. It was one of those Gateway computer speakers that were made out of five parts, and each one of those parts was filled with like weed, cash, coke, MDMA, etc. In California, you get what's called a "grower pound," which is when you buy from a grower and you get seven to 12 extra grams. I'd shave the extra off the pound and keep it as my personal supply.

One time, I had hid the pound in my room under a T-shirt and kept my personal stash on top of the shirt out in the open. My mom called me while my friend and I were driving around slanging, and told me she found my drugs. I freaked out and immediately went home, thinking she found the whole pound or looked in my speakers or something. When I got there, she was holding my tiny personal supply up, thinking that little Ziploc was the extent of my stash.

I immediately packed my shit, grabbed the pound, grabbed what was in my speakers, and bailed. That was the last time I lived at home until I stopped dealing. My dad ended up passing away during the peak of my career, and my mom never found out the scale of my operation until pretty much the time I stopped selling. It's been over five years since then, and my relationship with my family is very good today. I talk to my mom almost every day.

For more on dealing watch our documentary 'How to Sell Drugs':

Dealer 2
Female
Sold Prescription Pills

In high school, I used my parent's health insurance to see a psychiatrist so I could be prescribed pills like Adderall and sell those to my classmates. I totally abused the opportunity to see a shrink, and ended up with a substance abuse problem myself. My dad ended up finding out about the dealing and my addiction, and I was sent to rehab.

When I got out, I tried to see the psychiatrist again to get back to selling. By then, my dad had caught on to my lies about why I was seeing a psychiatrist and knew I wasn't using it for therapeutic reasons or self-improvement. Every time I called my doctor, he would immediately hang up the phone the moment he heard my voice. I tried calling a million times, but no reply.

I later found out my psychiatrist was avoiding me because my dad had called him and told him to hang up immediately if I ever tried to book an appointment, or else there'd be consequences. I'm pretty sure he threatened the guy. I ruined the opportunity to see an expensive therapist, which could have been good for me. But that's how it goes when you're doing everything on the low, hiding your life from the people around you.

It's easy to convince someone when they don't want to believe the worst of you. But it was right in front of her face. A lot of parents are in denial.

Dealer 3
Male
Sold LSD and Weed

I come from a middle-class family and grew up in the suburbs. I got into doing drugs around age 13 and quickly progressed to dealing. I saw it as a way to get high for free and later as a way to make a lot of money. I sold LSD and marijuana for three years as a full-time gig. At the peak of my career, I was making upwards of $20,000 a month.

I have a good relationship with my parents today, but it was rocky during my teenage years because I was high all the time and lying to them all the time. They had their suspicions, but they didn't want to believe that their baby boy was selling drugs. It's a tough pill to swallow for parents. They always want to believe the best of their kids.

I gave my mom $10,000 once and asked her to hold it for me. I wanted her to have it, but she wouldn't take it because she thought it was drug money. I told her I was paid to introduce a friend to someone else involved with drugs, but I wasn't involved myself. I convinced her to "hold" the money for me, though I had no intention of getting it back.

My mom looked surprised and even bewildered when I told her I made ten grand by hooking a friend up with another friend to make a drug deal. She wanted to believe that I wasn't involved, and I convinced her I wasn't. I told her I "technically" wasn't a drug dealer—I just made some introductions between people. It's easy to convince someone when they don't want to believe the worst of you. But it was right in front of her face. A lot of parents are in denial.

She wanted to crack the whip on me, but she knew I would bounce at the first sign of adversity from her. We had an unannounced mutual agreement: She didn't ask and I didn't tell. The story was very basic, but she bought it. She had to in order to maintain our relationship.

I eventually got arrested, charged with LSD conspiracy, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. It was fairly obvious what was going on because of the newspaper headlines and news programs focusing on my case, so not a lot was said among my family. They wanted to help me, but I had put myself in a situation where they couldn't and that made them feel powerless.

I am pretty open with everything now. It was just a chapter in my life that I have moved on from—just like prison. I have no problem being honest today, but there are still certain things that aren't appropriate to discuss with mom about my past.

My dad is an entrepreneur himself, so it was pretty amusing to see how he acted once it was all in the open. We would have long talks about how I should launder my money...

Dealer 4
Male
Sold Weed

I sold weed for about three years. I was doing food delivery and messenger work, and selling drugs was a natural progression—especially once I saw I could live comfortably doing it three days a week. I won't go into specifics, but I was making considerably more at the time than any of my peers who were working five days a week and paying taxes.

My relationship with my dad is good. He is an understanding parent and doesn't abide by society's norms for the most part and can get behind less-than-conventional ways of doing things. When he was suspicious at first, though, he gave me this doomsday talk about how I was putting myself in a world of trouble: one of those speeches like, You're gonna live in a van down by the river!

Once he saw how self-sufficient I was and that I was able to fund my own personal projects, he seemed to look the other way. By the time I got around to telling him, it wasn't a surprise. He respected me enough to trust that I could weigh the risks smartly. My dad is an entrepreneur himself, so it was pretty amusing to see how he acted once it was all in the open. We would have long talks about how I should launder my money, and he would take on that commanding tone when you're getting dad advice, making it clear he had forgotten the nature of the topic. I have always had a hard time lying to people, so I had a better relationship with him—and less anxiety or guilt about dealing myself—when I knew he was in the loop.

Follow Zach on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on VICE UK

We don't know much about what goes on inside Yarl's Wood. It's a detention center in Bedfordshire—the most notorious of its kind in the UK—where asylum seekers and "immigration offenders" can be held indefinitely while waiting to find out if they're going to be deported.

Over the years, Yarl's Wood has found itself at the center of some controversy, leading to staff being fired or dismissed based on information uncovered in investigations by The Observer newspaper in 2013 and Channel 4 in 2015.

Yesterday, thousands of protesters hopped off coaches and gathered outside Yarl's Wood to call for the center's closing. People let off colorful flares, chanted, and banged their feet and hands against the high chain-link fence that rings the center, while some women held inside waved their hands and makeshift flags outside their windows to acknowledge the protest. We were there, amongst the coachloads of protesters from around the country, to see what all the fuss was about.

Image supplied.

When Molly Lewis opened a string of shows for Kirin J Callanan's recent world tour, the LA-based Australian demonstrated the difference between a party trick and a hidden talent. It's the same thing every time you're at one of Molly's shows, the crowd cycling through the same motions: There's the initial surprise, then the mood turns tense because everyone is waiting for her to fuck up, lose pitch, or take a misplaced breath.

After two minutes of perfectly sustained control with no signs of faltering a palpable ease settles over the audience. She's got this. As Callanan told the Melbourne Pavilion audience, "When you see her whistling, you can't help but smile." And Callinan isn't the only one. Musicians from Connan Mockasin to Blood Orange's Dev Hynes are lining up to collaborate with her.

It was watching the documentary Pucker Up, a dive into the strange world of the International Whistlers Convention (IWC), the first piqued Lewis's interest in professional whistling.

Last year Molly—who's known professionally as Whistler's Sista—competed at IWC, the world's foremost whistling competition, and took home the champion's trophy, cementing her place as the world's best whistler.

We got Molly on the phone for a chat.

VICE: Your performances have all the presence of a professional musician—somewhere between a solo flautist and a vocalist. How did you get so good?
Molly Lewis: Thank you! I was given piano lessons and exposed to lots of music but whistling was never encouraged or nourished in any particular way. I never met anyone who was interested in it or could do it like I could, so I just practiced by myself. Whistling for me used to be a really solitary thing. I think performing and collaborating has helped me gain confidence. People react better to seeing a performance. If I try and explain what I do verbally people don't get what it is until they see it done.

Can you sing?
No! I can't sing at all and people always assume I can because I can whistle well. I bring all the whistling qualities into singing rather than the other way round. Lots of unneeded vibrato.

What excites you most about your instrument?
It's unique, it can work beautifully with other instruments and I love to perform it, because it lets me take part in music that I love.

Whistling has an interesting musical history. There were some professional whistlers in the vaudeville era. In La Gomera, one of the Canary Islands of Spain, a whistle language is still used. Do you communicate with your whistle? It can be expressive. The song I open my whistle show with is "Queen of the Night Aria" from The Magic Flute. It's powerful and dynamic so I have to whistle almost angrily.

Molly Lewis is the world's best professional whistler. Image supplied.

How do you prepare for a whistle show?
Fortunately, I don't have a lot of equipment or scales to practice. I whistle near constantly though out of habit so I consider that my practice. Before I competed in the Whistling Competition though I wrote to my whistling idol, Geert Chatrou asking how to prepare. I was not really expecting a response, but he replied!

What did he say?
"Always stay hydrated, and never forget your chapstick."

What advice would you yourself give other whistle enthusiasts?
I'd just tell them I firmly believe in the whistle as a musical instrument. That I often have people laugh and dismiss it, but I'm excited for the future of whistling. Unfortunately, I find whistling seems to be mostly used in gimmicky ways, and not to its full potential as an instrument.

I'd encourage people to try new applications. For all it's limitations, it's still the most portable instrument and one I can practice in public without being "that guy with a guitar." It's not too in people's faces to walk around whistling to yourself but I much prefer collaborating with other musicians.

Check out Molly's stuff at Soundcloud.

Anyone who's seen a documentary on how bread or computers or cars are made knows that there's something oddly compelling about assembly lines. We're so used to seeing the finished products out in the world that watching them come together from component parts—the steady, repetitive process that turns raw materials into the basic items that make up our world.

Filmmaker Nikias Chryssos made a short documentary that's like that, but for Fleshlights.

Titled The Double Feeling, this short takes you behind the scenes of a Las Vegas Fleshlight factory, where you can watch as the hot plastic is molded and the sex toys are shaped into categories the plant manager describes as "lady," "mouth," "butt," and "nondescript." You can also watch a man make a dildo have sex with a Fleshlight, in case you were wondering about how that worked. The whole thing is below:

I caught up with director Nikias Chryssos to ask him a few questions about his peculiar little film and to see if he's ever had any hands-on experience with his subject.

VICE: Have you ever used a Fleshlight?
Nikias Chryssos: After the shoot, the company gave us a Fleshlight as a present. We had it tested in Berlin by a French porn actor named Kevin Long but unfortunately the footage was lost in mysterious circumstances.

I'll take that as a no then. So what spurred you to make a film about a Fleshlight manufacturer?
There is a children's program on German TV called The Show with the Mouse where kids learn how factories work and how things like chocolate or pasta are produced. I thought it would be interesting to do something like that for adults and look behind the scenes of such a special product.

Making a film about a sex toy seems strange enough, but what was the strangest thing you discovered while making it?
The strangest thing is how an object like this one can be stripped down from its connotations of shame and strangeness through daily interactions and proximity, something I noticed in the different relationships the workers and developers had with the Fleshlight.

Clearly you are a professional, but what was it like to watch the head of the company simulate sex in front of you with a dildo and a Fleshlight?
It was really nice he was so open and hospitable with us. That particular moment was exhilarating, intimate, and joyful, close to what Werner Herzog describes as the "ecstatic truth." I imagined hearing David Attenborough's voice in my head and felt very alive.

Jeffrey Bowers is a tall mustached guy from Ohio who's seen too many weird movies. He currently lives in Brooklyn, working as a film curator. He's the senior curator for Vimeo's On Demand platform. He has also programmed at Tribeca Film Festival, Rooftop Films, and the Hamptons International Film Festival.

Under the community standards for many social media sites, a baby crowning through a mother's vagina is defined as explicit, or even pornographic. Australian-based birth photographer and doula Angela Gallo is all too familiar with messages telling her as much. Every time she uploads photographs from the births of families she works with, they get taken down.

Gallo is on strike two from Facebook, one away from having her account shut down. She's already lost her Instagram account with more than 8,000 followers. It's especially frustrating for her since her work is partially about spreading the notion that there's nothing icky about birth.

Recently we talked to Angela about stigma, beauty, and satisfying censors with photoshopped lens flairs.

VICE: What do you think is the main issue with social media censoring your images?
Angela Gallo: Look, I understand that not everybody wants to see boobs and vaginas on their timelines, but there are alternatives and there has to be a compromise. Even cesarean birth images are getting banned because they're "explicit acts of violence and aggressiveness." Censoring is really symptomatic of a system that needs addressing in general, where porn is more normal than birth, but birth is called porn.

How do you think changing attitudes towards birth would change the experience of birth?
If we look at mainstream culture, birth is portrayed as very surgical, cold, sterile, and dramatic. Women are conditioned since they are young to believe that this is what birth is, and as they get older they still believe this in a subconscious level. What I am hoping to do is to use these images to challenge what they think is normal and how they can frame it in a positive way. If I do that, I can hopefully remove the fear and anxiety that is associated with birth.

How have people on social media reacted to your work?
It's been interesting. Because I understand it can be graphic and of a sensitive nature. For the most part I have received amazing responses from women opening up and saying things like, "I orgasmed at birth, but for ten years nobody has known, because I felt so ashamed of my body and myself and seeing these images has made me feel good, excited, and normal." Things like that really push me.

So where do you get the most resistance from?
There are some ridiculous comments, but most resistance is on the nature of birth itself. The most common comment I get is like, "Oh, no, not this shit again, women want to meddle." We have been doing this since the beginning of time, it's not a big deal, it's bullshit.

Don't you think the digital world has also helped to break through these stereotypes?
Definitely. Forty years ago men weren't allowed in the birth room. Women couldn't see their placentas and birth was something you did behind closed doors. So we are slowly and surely breaking away stereotypes. For example, with menstruation there are now women using tampons to make art, saying: "You know what, this is a part of me, this is who I am, I also make babies, I birth a placenta and I want this documented."

How has censorship affected your career?
Most recently I had a photo that got a honorable mention in the International Association of Birth Photographers. It is basically a woman who is crowning. I lost a lot of coverage because it was showing boobs and vagina, and I got banned from Instagram and Facebook.

So what did you do?
I modified the image with bright lights in her boobs. I thought that it was so funny that it was less offensive when it is pretty obvious that those are boobs. Then I wrote around her vagina, "Respect your mother, stop censoring birth." My point is that we all came from the same place, whether it was surgical or vaginal—you came out of your mother and I find it so disrespectful that we constantly censoring and shaming our mothers.

What is your plan to fight back this censorship in the long run?
This was a huge reason I want to do my photo book and the online campaign because I want to use visual media as a platform, but I have hit a brick wall with social media. I cannot do what I actually wanted to do because every image is getting flagged and this doesn't fit my purpose to produce very honest accounts of birth.

Still, I do not want to lose my account, as it is a very important place to discuss things with people, but I know I have to do it from a different angle, I can't rely on Instagram or Facebook to support this message.

See more of Gallo's work here and below.

Interview by Laura Rodriguez Castro. Follow her on Twitter.

The character Beard, from 'Hotline Miami 2,' who also happens to be Åkerblad, basically

"I wanna just explore art. That is my mission in life."

Niklas Åkerblad, a.k.a. El Huervo, has been creating all his life. He went to school for it, sure, but it's not like a formal education necessarily mattered. "I mostly did what was expected of me at art college," the Gothenburg-based artist and musician tells me over email. "I enjoyed playing video games and drawing weird characters instead. Then I studied computer game art in college, but I did mostly the same there. Drank lots of beer."

It was in 2010 that Åkerblad's life was taken in a new direction, one that'd ultimately lead to his work being seen by millions across the world. Hotline Miami, by Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin (under the banner of Dennaton Games), was a couple of years shy of completion, but the core concept was blossoming. "I met Jonatan at No More Sweden, a sort of game jam thing, in 2010," Åkerblad says. "We didn't really hang out at the thing much, but on the way back home on the train, he showed how to eat instant noodles raw, and that was kind of the deal breaker for me. I like classy moves like that."

Soon enough, Åkerblad was hanging out with the pair. "They started doing (entirely out-of-its-mind indie game–cum-music video nightmare) Keyboard Drumset Fucking Werewolf. Wedin thought I was like some kinda Zen person back then. Which I'm not, but it was flattering." The Dennaton pair took such a shine to Åkerblad that it's not just his art—and music, as El Huervo—that's in the original Hotline Miami and its 2015 sequel, Wrong Number. The character of Beard, that's him, plastered all over the art for the second game.

Cover art detail from 'Hotline Miami'

"They basically had their mind set on everything after fiddling around with a prototype, so there wasn't much I could do except hang around sometimes and cook nutrient-rich food—I can't survive on tofu and fish sticks. Obviously, that must've done something, because after hearing my song "Daisuke," they decided to put me in the game. And it was real honorable, like, because Beard is the coolest character, I think. He's the only ray of 'hope' for (the original game's protagonist) Jacket."

But Wedin and Söderström didn't immediately ask Åkerblad to provide what would become some seriously iconic imagery for their game. "They wanted a cover in a VHS kinda style, and initially looked for artists online," he recalls. "But I thought I should do it, so they ultimately left it in my hands. It was cool because all the characters just existed from a top-down perspective in super low-res sprites, so aside from verbal things like 'sleazy Russians' and 'pig mask,' I could do whatever with it. That's how the 'B' on Jacket's, uh, jacket came to be. I just figured he had some random American football jacket with a team's logo. Like the Boston Bruins. Which, I found out, was a hockey team. Goes to show how much I know about sports."

Åkerblad also took inspiration from older video games, from an era when stylized graphics were the norm, with realistic character design a good few console generations away from being realized.

Article continues after the video below

Related: VICE talks film with 'High Rise' director Ben Wheatley

"The cover was supposed to fill in the blanks that come from the obvious abstraction of 8bit-ish graphics. Just like back in the old days. Strider on the Mega Drive has a real Aryan-looking dude on the cover. Like he's Lawrence of Arabia. It's super cheesy, and he's waving his sword in an awful pose. But in the game he looks like some manga dude, onion-shaped brown hair blowing in the wind, and drawing his sword faster than any Kurosawa samurai could ever dream of. I find that kinda stuff interesting. It creates a dissonance in the player.

"So I actually tried to do the characters the total opposite of how I saw them in the game. And be as generic as I could with the posing, like they did back in the 1980s (which is when the game's set). I also figured nobody would try to copy the style in his or her own fan art if I did it this way. Obviously, it would suck if everybody tried to copy the cover, and not follow their own visions. Nobody wants to copy the cheesy white guy on the Strider cover. You wanna draw manga-hero Strider, being bad ass."

Two of Åkerblad's sketches for the new 'Hotline Miami' cover art, plus one image that served as inspiration, from Marvel's Transformers comic series of the 1980s

As El Huervo, Åkerblad is an essential part of the sound of Hotline Miami, with three tracks on the game's soundtrack, beside contributions from artists including Sun Araw, Jasper Byrne, and Scattle. "Dennis said 'it all came together' when they put 'Daisuke' in the game. And with the track 'Turf,' I was just being inspired by what the guys were doing and wanted to honor it. They thought the song would be perfect for the last boss battle. (Spoiler link.) It was just one of those moments when the various elements all click together."

Wrong Number received a triple-vinyl soundtrack release as part of its special edition, via iam8bit, with Åkerblad providing the artwork. "I tried to incorporate the feel of the music in the second game's triple-sleeve 12 inch. I could have just gone all 'Daisuke' and 'Rust' over it, but that would have been too murky; plus I always felt the more disco stuff is what most players identify with. Now we have a Kickstarter though, for a triple-sleeve 12-inch soundtrack for the first game, and for that the colors and motifs have gone more spiritual, as well as subtler."

As Åkerblad says, there's currently a Kickstarter running for a triple-vinyl release of the Hotline Miami soundtrack. With well over three weeks to go, it's already smashed its target of $58,000, which is evidence enough of the massive attraction of owning these sounds on a physical format. Of course, it helps that the release will come with bonus tracks and all-new sleeve art, depicting Jacket in a state of mid-obliteration.

The 'Hotline Miami' collector's edition vinyl, currently on Kickstarter

"I wanted the new art to be more low key and spiritual. The idea was to kill Jacket, and I wanted to place him in sort of a calm limbo. To me that is what 'Daisuke' is: the calm limbo."

Åkerblad isn't simply an artist for hire whenever a new Hotline project comes up—he's worked on sleeves for his own material, and considers the cover and art book of his Vandereer album (as seen, and heard, on Bandcamp) to be "a fucking monument for me." Doing Hotline Miami didn't hurt getting commissions from other games-makers, too.

"I gotta say, I think Hotline has been invaluable for whatever attention I've gained. At least for that push that helps when trying to get your mental masturbations attention. I've actually done other games, like else Heart.Break() and Kometen. Those have helped me reach out. But, of course, if your face is on the top page of Steam for a week, that also tends to help." Mission successful, you might say.

Stream the Hotline Miami soundtrack below (minus the new bonus tracks)

Check out the Hotline Miami vinyl Kickstarter here, if you like. Head to the Dennaton website for everything else Hotline-shaped.

Follow Mike on Twitter.

SS soldiers reading a pamphlet that does not actually contain Hitler's poetry. That cover was done in Photoshop. Photo via Bundesarchiv Wikimedia

This article originally appeared on VICE Netherlands

Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Suleiman the Magnificent had two major things in common: a tendency to rule with an iron fist and a burning need to channel their emotions into poetry. And as it turns out, they weren't the only totalitarian rulers with a poetic side.

Dutch writer and journalist Paul Damen gathered as many poems by authoritarian leaders as he could find, and he assembled them into the book Bloemen van het Kwaad (Flowers of Evil), which was published by Koppernik earlier this month.

I spoke to Paul to find out why dictators tend to write poetry, how the book came about, and whether or not their poetry is actually any good.

Poetry by Adolf Hitler from 'Bloemen van het Kwaad.' With all images in this article, the poem on the left is the original poem from the book, and on the right is our own rough English translation for your convenience.

VICE: What do you love about dictators' poetry so much that inspired you to spend eight years studying it?
Paul Damen: Well, I don't really. It's just a hobby that got out of hand. I knew Hitler and Mussolini had written poems, and that Nero had written a lot, so I thought, What about the rest of them?

How did you manage to find all these poems?
It was difficult at first, because when I started the internet wasn't as extensive as it is now. I remember going to the university library in Naples to go through the 36 enormous volumes of Mussolini's Opera Omnia. It all became a lot easier when the works started appearing on the internet.

The whole project was a gamble, because I had no idea how many poet-dictators I would find. If you find five of them after a long search, you still have nothing—you have to have at least 20 to turn it into a book, I think.

Poetry by Hirohito from Bloemen van het Kwaad.

How did you translate the poems?
I know about seven different languages, so I could handle most of the poems. Some chapters were difficult, such as the poetry in Arabic, but based on context, I managed to get relatively far.

Hirohito's poems are a good example. By looking at certain key words, I could figure out the context. If you read "mountain," "snow," "green tree," and "panoramic views," it's not difficult to tell what the poem is about. After that, you check character after character—because my Japanese is not great—for a possible translation, based on that context. The translation that I ended up with, I had checked by two or three people who actually do understand Japanese.

Wouldn't it have been easier to just hire a bunch of translators?
No, I wanted to do everything myself. And translators can screw it up, too: A lot of poetry translations, such as the ones I found of Mao's poetry, made no sense whatsoever. So I preferred to translate everything myself, and then have it checked afterward.

Poetry by Osama Bin Laden from 'Bloemen van het Kwaad'

Isn't it weird that these ruthless dictators have such a well developed sensitive side?
Well, in most Arab countries, it's perfectly normal that dictators or rulers write poetry. It's part of their culture, as it is in China and Japan. A true warrior should know how to fight and write poetry—at least, that's the idea. That may seem weird from our Western perspective, but we're the exceptions—not the rest of the world.

Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il, and Kim Il-sung were all tremendous assholes, but they're no strangers to poetry. The same is true for Osama bin Laden. He was simply expected to write poetry, and it was part of his education: rhetoric and poetry.

Poetry by Elizabeth I from 'Bloemen van het Kwaad'

Why would they take time out of their busy days just to write poetry?
Their motives vary. A number of them wanted to prove that they had other qualities besides being a dictator. Hitler always said about himself that he was a writer. Someone like Elizabeth I wrote to express her feelings. Suleiman the Magnificent did that, too.

But there are some who wrote purely for propaganda purposes, like Mao, Fidel Castro, and Nicolae Ceaușescu. Or António Salazar from Portugal. He wrote shitty hymns to the Virgin Mary, God, and the Portuguese flag to propagate nationalist and Catholic values.

Right.
Mussolini is also an interesting case. He wrote poetry when he was younger, and as a dictator, he used his talent to spread propaganda. So, for example, he established a day to honor bread and wrote a poem about it, like: "Honor the bread, hooray for the bread, everybody's happy with bread," and that was printed on posters and distributed all over the country.Poetry by Suleiman I from 'Bloemen van het Kwaad'

Is any of the poetry actually good?
I like Suleiman's poems. You can see that Mussolini is a writer at heart, and, strangely enough, Karadžić, the Butcher of Bosnia, is pretty good. His themes are terrible—it's all about blood and people coming from the mountains to retaliate—but it's well crafted.

Actually, when you read the poems, you should detach yourself from the idea that they're all bloody madmen. They're not your typical romantic poets; they don't wake up in the morning and suddenly decide to write about the beauty of life. Almost all of them have a hidden agenda or ulterior motives with their poetry.

Are there any dictators missing in your collection?
I would've liked to include dictators like Enver Hoxha, Franco, Pinochet, or Jaruzelski, but they've not written poems, unfortunately. And there are some poets I didn't include. If you look at my personal bullet points of what exactly makes a dictator, you could see the prophet Muhammed as one. He had his own caliphate, where his power was unlimited. And half the Qur'an is full of poetry. But I won't translate it—I love my life and don't want to deal with what could happen if I do.

Poetry by Mussolini from 'Bloemen van het Kwaad'

It's remarkable how many dictators are poets—could you turn it around and say that many poets could have been dictators?
I don't know about that. A poet needs to be somewhat romantic and have an enormous power over language. A poet wants to move with language, shock with language, or at least exert some influence with language. Dictators and poets have that in common: wanting to have an influence and leave a mark on their audience.

Below are two more poems from Bloemen van het Kwaad, the first by Mao Zedong and the second by Fidel Castro.

Donald Trump. Photo via Flick user Gage Skidmore.

US News

Trump Threatens Sanders Over Rally Violence
Donald Trump has blamed the recent violence against his supporters on Bernie Sanders, accusing the democratic candidate of "lying" by denying his campaign was behind the anti-Trump protests. Trump also threatened to send supporters to disrupt Sanders events. "Be careful Bernie, or my supporters will go to yours." —The Washington Post

Over 100 Cars Involved in California Interstate Wreck
More than 100 cars were caught up in a series of crashes that injured 20 people and shut down part of Interstate 40 in North Carolina. There were no casualties. Highway Patrol said it was not yet clear what caused the pile-up, but the wet roadway may have been a factor.—ABC News

Officer Dead After Man Opens Fire on Police Station
A gunman opened fire on a police station in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC, killing officer Jacai Colson, 28, in an unprovoked attack. The accused gunman was then wounded in a shootout with several officers. He is expected to survive and is in police custody.—The New York Times

Amtrak Train Derails in Kansas
At least five cars of an Amtrak train carrying 142 passengers have derailed in western Kansas, as it was headed from Los Angeles to Chicago. There were no initial reports of life-threatening injuries from local emergency responders on the scene.—NBC News

International News

Turkish President Vows To 'Bring Terrorism to its Knees'
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to bring "terrorism to its knees" after an attack in Ankara that killed at least 37 people. The suicide car bomb also injured more than 100, and the two suspected bombers died. The Turkish authorities believe it was the work of Kurdish militants.—AP

Merkel Suffers Big Election Defeats
Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrat party has suffered defeats in two of three German states holding regional elections, exit polls suggest. The anti-refugee party AfD achieved big gains in all three states off the back of anger with Merkel's asylum policy.—The Guardian

Terrorists Kill 16 at Ivory Coast Resort
Gunmen from al-Qaeda's North African branch have killed 16 people, including four Europeans, at a beach resort in Ivory Coast. Six shooters targeted beach hotels at the Grand Bassam retreat on Sunday before being killed in clashes with Ivorian security forces.—Reuters

Egyptian Minister Sacked for Prophet Remark
Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zend has been "relieved of his position" after controversial remarks he made about imprisoning the prophet went viral. When a TV interviewer asked al-Zend whether he would imprison journalists, he said, "Even if it's the prophet."—Al Jazeera

A still from Minecraft, which will soon allow players to use AI to choose characters. Photo via Pixabay.

Everything Else

Star Trek Fan Film Sued for Using Klingon
Paramount Pictures and CBS have launched an amended lawsuit over the use of the Klingon language in Axanar, a fan-funded Star Trek film. The studio says the language of Qo'noS is copyrighted.—The Hollywood Reporter

Games of Thrones Cast Make Refugee Appeal
HBO and Game of Thrones have partnered with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to raise money for refugees. Dubbed #RealmtotheRescue, a video features cast members talking about the IRC's work.—CNN

Minecraft Invites AI to Play
Minecraft will soon become a playground for Artificial Intelligence. Computer scientists and amateurs will be able to install software that allows AI to control characters that learn to interact with human players.—BBC News

Drug Cartel Recruited via Leaflet
A Mexican drug cartel in the western state of Jalisco created a fake security company to find foot soldiers. Distributing flyers seeking recruits with "a desire to better themselves," they were then put to work selling drugs.—VICE News

Done with reading today? Watch our new video 'VICE Talks Film with 'High Rise' Director Ben Wheatley'

This post originally appeared on VICE UK

The government says its new housing bill is supposed to "turn generation rent into generation buy." Which, granted, sounds OK. However, thousands of people aren't convinced that the government plans to be as altruistic as it makes out, so they marched through London on Sunday chanting that they want to "kill the bill."

If it's passed in the form the government intends, the bill will see "pay to stay" measures imposed. This would mean that those living in public housing and earning more than $43,000—or $58,000 in London—would have to pay the market rate for rent. Also, the right to stay in public housing indefinitely—to make it a home, in other words—would be scrapped, with tenancies reviewed every five years. That means we could see mass evictions and people displaced far away from where they want to live. Campaigners say it could effectively kill off public housing for good.

We sent photographer Chris Bethell to capture the anger of people who don't want our cities to become gated communities for oligarchs.

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I recently spent a week visiting witch doctors in their clinics around Sierra Leone. Each person I photographed is a member of the National Council of Traditional Healers, most of whom use a combination of black magic and herbal medicines to cure the sick. As well as offering antidotes to bodily illness, many also claim to be able to curse—and even kill—enemies. Incantations to the devil are often chanted during their ceremonies as they ask for help with difficult magic.

Dr. Tarawallie, the president of the union, says, "I often speak with the devil alone at night, he helps me in my work. We do have the power to kill—there is a spell you can do with a bowl of water. The enemy's face appears in the water, and when you hit it, it disappears and the liquid turns red. Then the person will drop down dead."

Belief in witch doctors is widespread throughout Sierra Leone, and they are visited by everyone from politicians to priests, farmers, and even doctors of modern medicine.

During my time with the witch doctors, I witnessed a young girl with paralyzed legs being treated. Blood from a half dead chicken's neck was sprinkled onto her knees. She was then shaken vigorously, in the belief doing so would expel the witch hiding inside her. I also had my own forehead anointed with goat's blood and my arm cursed after being sprinkled with itchy witch dust.

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Ukiyo, one of the cats found mutilated in Croydon. Photo: Facebook

Another night in South London, another beloved family pet butchered.

Boudicca Rising, co-founder of South Norwood Animal Rescue & Liberation (SNARL), gets into the car with her partner, Tony Jenkins, and puts another address into the GPS. The couple don't know the owner of the recently deceased cat, but they know the horror that awaits when they arrive.

"Typically the cats are being found either beheaded or with the tail removed, or a combination of both. Occasionally, there are eviscerations, paws removed, and, in some cases, cats cut in half," says Boudicca. "The attacks are happening somewhere else, as the blood is usually drained from the animal before it is then left on the owner's doorstep. Displaying the bodies outside the owner's address, we think, is a big part of the thrill for them."

Worryingly, the killer now appears to be attacking more regularly. "In the last two weeks alone we've had another 12 cases come in," says Boudicca. "Most are recent kills, but also historic cases where people have seen the coverage and revealed this happened to their cats too."

The story of the "Croydon Cat Killer"—or, more accurately, the "London Cat Killer," as identical cases continue to crop up in other boroughs—has now been splashed across TV and the tabloids for months. Reports of mutilated cats being found in their owners' gardens and driveways began to appear in October of last year, but police are no closer to catching the perpetrator.

Officers were initially slow to react to the murders—the early crimes usually being logged only as "criminal damage"—but the focus shifted when SNARL managed to get an audience with police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe at an open forum event in Croydon. Under the weight of a petition with some 40,000 signatures, the police started taking the attacks seriously. PETA have also offered a £5,000 reward for information via Twitter, which has been retweeted by the likes of Dermot O'Leary, Caroline Flack, and Martin Clunes. SNARL are desperate for cat owners to keep their pets indoors overnight, even if they aren't in the immediate vicinity of the crimes.

As a cat owner who lives in the area, I've heard rumors that the deaths could be the work of a gang-style initiation or, rather more outlandishly, a budding terror cell. Boudicca, who's been collecting the bodies of the murdered cats for professional forensic examination, insists it is the work of one person. "Based upon the dozen or so post-mortems we have carried out, the forensics suggest it is one individual," she explains. "In terms of the way they are cutting them, the vet is suggesting the perpetrator is getting better at it."

Speculation is mounting that the attacker is a cab driver—or someone who travels for their job—as bodies with identical wounds have appeared in Edgware and Tottenham Hale, but clues are very limited. In a bid to prevent copycat killings, Boudicca won't reveal the killer's typical trademarks, other than the basic outline of the mutilations. "If the killer doesn't live in this area, we assume they have done in the past. They know this area well," she says.

Another grim facet of the case, says Boudicca, is that the killer appears to enjoy watching the victim find their own murdered animal. "We knew they liked to leave the cats at the owner's doorstep—although they have got it wrong in many cases, which would suggest they have time enough to watch the cats leave a specific address."

In another case, the killer may even have returned to move the body a second time. "We received a call from a lady in Thornton Heath who had found a tail and a leg of a cat," says Boudicca. "We asked her to take photos and to cover the scene to stop it being tampered with or children finding it. She did this, placing a green recycling tub over the body parts, and bin bags around it. When we arrived the parts were gone. They had definitely been there as the lady had a photo. There is no way an animal had taken them and put the bin and bags back exactly in the same place."

Alongside sensational tabloid stories and the rising body count, SNARL—essentially just Boudicca, Tony, and a handful of other part-time volunteers—are going the extra mile in trying to catch the Croydon Cat Killer, alongside working their own 9 to 5 jobs and caring for the animals in their rescue center.

Late-night call-outs and the endless horror of mutilated animals and distraught owners are just some of what they've faced in their quest to find the killer. The other problem has been getting people to listen in the first place. The murders were first highlighted when a Facebook report from another South London animal charity—the Riverside Animal Centre in Beddington—warned that animals were being dismembered. SNARL then warned their own local area, before beginning their own research. Tony says, "We shared it on Facebook and then we had people contacting us from all over the place. We then found out about the first murder in Addiscombe—a cat was eviscerated and left on a door step."

The RSPCA had been contacted several times about different attacks, but either blamed foxes—"The cuts are far too clinical and the forensics show it's the work of a bladed weapon," says Boudicca—or said they were unable to carry out their own investigations without an actual suspect being named.

The search changed pace when Amber, an eight-year-old tortoiseshell cat, was found, beheaded, by his owner Wayne Bryant in Shirley. Amber's body was then taken to a vet, who confirmed it was the work of a knife, possibly a machete. A GoFundMe then quickly raised £5,000 to pay for more of the bodies to autopsied to prove the killings were linked. But even that wasn't easy. "The police initially said even if we had tests done privately at our own expense the police couldn't accept the results as part of an investigation," says Tony. "The reasoning was that, if a case went to court, an independent report wouldn't hold up as evidence."

Related: Watch 'Lil Bub & Friendz,' our award-winning documentary about the internet's favorite cat

But now, under the weight of further attacks, police have agreed to accept results from a mutually agreeable forensic analyst. The RSPCA has also finally agreed to start their own post-mortems. The big fear for them and residents is that the killer could soon switch to humans, with animal torture being a graduating step for many serial killers.

Former FBI profiler and author of Dangerous Personalities, Joe Navarro, says, "Animal torture is usually associated with psychopathy—a person lacking remorse or a conscience—and in this case this is very likely. This killer derives pleasure from both the act of killing and the pain and suffering he causes others upon their discovery of his mayhem. As to whether he will kill humans, that cannot be determined from these mutilations alone, but we can be sure this individual's severely flawed character has all the hallmarks of psychopathy."

With more reported cases every night, Boudicca and Tony are now left answering daily calls from stricken owners. The only way to end the horror, they say, is to help police catch the killer.

"People are very reluctant to ring 999 when they see something strange, specifically when it's involving a cat, not a human being," says Boudicca. "But the police want your calls and they are keen to catch this person. If you see anyone behaving strangely, enticing a cat with food, or carrying a cat towards a car without a carrier, please do call the police."

To donate, find more information, or to offer to become a volunteer for SNARL visit their Facebook page.

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