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Links 10/21/2024

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Patient readers, I came up a little short on Links today. Check back in a few for the full complement. –lambert UPDATE Finished (7:45am).

Lucky hamster is rescued from claws of a cat and scooped up into a pint glass by pubgoers Daily Mail

The ride of our lives: why the horse is crucial to human history Guardian

IMF chief warns of ‘unforgiving’ debt backdrop and low growth FT

Climate

World lags on 2030 nature goals headed into UN COP16 talks Channel News Asia

Encouraging study for ultra-deep geothermal fans Bud’s Offshore Energy (BOE)

‘This has been a year from hell’ – how farmers are facing up to the second worst harvest in history The Telegraph

Economics was never meant to be about the destruction of scarce resources, but that’s what it has become Funding the Future

Rockdale County to file federal lawsuit against BioLab after Conyers plant fire FOX5. Commentary:

Syndemics

As bird flu outbreaks rise, piles of dead cattle become shocking Central Valley tableau LA Times

Washington State: First Presumed Human Infections with H5 (n=4) Avian Flu Diary

* * *

Trends in Pediatric Hospital Admissions Caused or Contributed by SARS-CoV-2 Infection in England Journal of Pediatrics. “Infants are now the most affected age group by SARS-CoV2, at least partially related to having the least immunity to the virus, and are most vulnerable to respiratory illnesses.”

A multi-omics strategy to understand PASC through the RECOVER cohorts: a Paradigm for a Systems Biology Approach to the Study of Chronic Conditions (Provisionally accepted) Frontiers in Systems Biology. From the Abstract: “RECOVER formed an “OMICS” multidisciplinary task force, including clinicians, pathologists, laboratory scientists and data scientists, charged with developing recommendations to apply cutting-edge system biology technologies to achieve the goals of RECOVER.”

* * *

It would cost billions, but pay for itself over time. The economic case for air conditioning every Australian school The Conversation

China?

Over 20 Chinese listed companies become first batch to receive loans for share buybacks, increasing shareholdings Xinhua

Apple Secretly Worked With China’s BYD on Long-Range EV Battery Bloomberg

Pietra Rivoli on How We Get the Goods We Buy The Wire China

The Falklands War of 1982: Lessons for a Potential 21st Century China-US Conflict Over Taiwan The Diplomat

India, China strike border patrol pact that could ease ties, top official says Reuters. Commentary:

India

Is Five Eyes destabilising India’s rise as non-white power? Idea is as old as Cold War era The Print. Comparison:

Prabowo announces his ‘Red and White’ Cabinet, Sugiono named as Indonesia’s new foreign minister Channel News Asia

Syraqistan

Scoop: Israel gave the White House its demands for ending the war in Lebanon Axios

Israel expands Lebanon assault, striking banks to hit Hezbollah’s finances NBC

‘No life left there’: The suburbs bearing the brunt of Israel’s strikes on Beirut BBC

UN peacekeepers say Israeli forces demolished observation tower in southern Lebanon Anadolu Agency

* * *

Nearly 1,400 illegal Israeli settlers storm Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque to celebrate Sukkot Anadolu Agency

Crowd of Palestinians helping ‘shredded child’ come under attack in Gaza (video) Al Jazeera. Meanwhile:

* * *

Iran’s Bomb is Real — and It’s Here Scott Ritter, Consortium News

Pentagon Leak Points to U.S. Discomfort Over Strength of Israel’s Potential Response to Iran Haaretz

* * *

US used Australian bases in bombing Houthi facilities in Yemen WSWS

Harvard donations drop sharply in wake of criticism over Israel protests FT

European Disunion

China Development Bank chief discusses joint projects in Hungary BNE Intellinews

New Not-So-Cold War

Azov Brigade recruits trained using NATO standards New Voice of Ukraine. Commentary:

Zelenskyy’s idea of replacing US troops in Europe with Ukrainians is inappropriate – NATO PA chief Ukrainska Pravda

* * *

Why is Ukraine’s army facing a desertion crisis? Al Jazeera

Zelenskyy convenes defence council meeting over medical commission handing out fake disability certificates, demands response from law enforcement Ukrainska Pravda

Decision on new model of basic military training to be made in December – Ukraine’s Armed Forces chief Ukrainska Pravda

* * *

Moldovans narrowly vote to secure the country’s path toward EU membership AP

The Western threat to Moldova’s future Thomas Fazi

* * *

Transcript of “Judging Freedom”: edition of 17 October Gilbert Doctorow

South of the Border

AMLO’s Surrender Phenomenal World

2024

I will have a post on Trump’s McDonald’s visit later today. –lambert

Trump Forced To Cancel Campaign Rallies For Next Two Weeks As Time Off Request Denied By McDonald’s Manager Babyon Bee. Commentary:

* * *

Elon Musk Veers Into Clearly Illegal Vote Buying, Offering $1 Million Per Day Lottery Prize Only to Registered Voters Election Law Blog

Why Elon Musk’s million-dollar presidential lottery is ominous Dropsite

* * *

Inside the Harris campaign’s blitz to win back Silicon Valley WaPo

What if it’s President Harris, but a GOP Senate? That’s her allies’ fear. Politico

Scoop: Mike Johnson’s tense text messages with Liz Cheney Axios

Billions in election bets raise the stakes of the presidential race WaPo

Digital Watch

Japanese firm demos tech that makes any object a capacitive touch surface — stuffed cat on display, works with wood, ceramic, and plasterboard, too Tom’s Hardware

Zeitgeist Watch

New Zealand airport causes stir with sign capping goodbye cuddles to 3 minutes Guardian

Guillotine Watch

Rise of the superbaby? US startup offers genetic IQ screening for wealthy elite: report FOX

Class Warfare

A Doc On How Amazon Workers Unionized Drew Critics’ Praise, But No Major Takers to Distribute Hollywood Reporter

Developing Countries Can’t Count on Manufacturing to Supercharge Growth Bloomberg

This American fruit could outcompete apples and peaches on a hotter planet WaPo

Antidote du jour (Hans Hillewaert):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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About Lambert Strether

Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (“Because markets”). I don’t much care about the “ism” that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don’t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. To me, the key issue — and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me — is the tens of thousands of excess “deaths from despair,” as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics — even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton’s wars created — bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow — currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press — a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let’s call such voices “the left.” Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn’t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I’ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.

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45 comments

  2. Zagonostra

    >Rockdale County to file federal lawsuit against BioLab after Conyers plant fire FOX5.

    It seems like both state and federal environmental protection agencies are set up to protect the perpetrator and not the victim, Flint, Palestine, Love Canal, etc…

    Reply ↓
  3. Zagonostra

    >Is Five Eyes destabilising India’s rise as non-white power? Idea is as old as Cold War era The Print.

    Another narrative states that Western powers are using these accusations to destabilise India’s rise as a non-white, non-Anglospheric global power. According to this view, despite strategic, political, technological, and economic convergences with India, Western agencies are perpetually conspiring against India

    You really can’t understand the full scope/extent of how far this “conspiring against India” goes until you’ve understood the re-incorporation of the United States into British imperialism via the many mechanisms and personalities involved in that dynamic. Who is “five eyes” how did it come about, what are its antecedents? Good rabbit hole to go down, though not sure you’ll make it back up, at least not with the same geopolitical view of the world.

    Highly recommend New World Order: A Strategy of Imperialism by Sean Stone , Guido Preparata , et al.

    Reply ↓
  4. Mikel

    Over 20 Chinese listed companies become first batch to receive loans for share buybacks, increasing shareholdings – Xinhua

    And people say American influence around the world is fading…

    Reply ↓
    1. Kontrary Kansan

      Michael Hudson, an NC favorite, was very bullish on the Chinese not so very long ago, especially their banking system. I’d be interested in his current take on how things are going.
      Looks a bit like the Chinese got hold of the Powell memo and are taking it to heart.

      Reply ↓
  6. Zagonostra

    Scoop: Israel gave the White House its demands for ending the war in Lebanon Axios

    Israel gave the U.S. a document last week with its conditions for a diplomatic solution to end the war in Lebanon and allow displaced civilians from both sides of the border to return to their homes, two U.S. officials and two Israeli officials told Axios.

    Not buying this “framing.” Both the U.S. and Israel are aligned on their war in the ME, Israel does not give the U.S. the “conditions for a diplomatic solution,” no Israel and the U.S. are joined at the hip/lip and will let it rip until the irresistible force of arms meets the immovable object of resistance, wherever it may come from.

    Reply ↓
    1. tegnost

      Good cop tells bad cop to make the zip ties around the prisoners throat less tight because it makes good cop uncomfortable.

      Reply ↓
  7. The Rev Kev

    “Scoop: Israel gave the White House its demands for ending the war in Lebanon”

    Sounds completely reasonable to me. The IDF gets to go right up to the Litani river and patrol the southern half of Lebanon. They’ll probably demand that all civilians move from this region so that they can ID any Hezbollah members – with a few bombings of villagers to encourage them on their way. Not only will Israelis be able to go back to northern Israel, a few “security” settlements will be set up in this region on hilltops and by water sources to make sure that it is secure – for Israel. And they want the Israeli air force to have the right to overfly all of Lebanon? Is this so they can do sonic booms over town and villagers in the middle of the night to frighten people and their little children like they do to Palestinians? Nothing to do with the fact that the IDF are breaking their teeth fighting Hezbollah on their own turf is it and that their losses are mounting? But I’m sure that the Biden White House would consider this a reasonable proposal.

    Reply ↓
    1. ilsm

      IDF had the run of S. Lebanon for years! They were pushed out.

      “The Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon lasted for eighteen years, from 1982 until 2000. In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon in response to attacks from southern Lebanon by Palestinian militants. ”

      Oct 23 1983 the Palestinians guerillas killed 241 US servicemen in Lebanon!

      Going back to 1983 is not progress!

      I doubt Hezbollah is any easier to oust than Hamas!

      Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev

        Relatively speaking, Hamas are the Weekend Warriors while Hezbollah are the Pros. And to be fair, the attack in 1983 against US servicemen was because the US came in and said that they wouldn’t get involved. But when the side they were supporting was getting hammered, the US Navy let loose barrages of fire to support them. So that attack was payback-

        http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/setting-the-record-straight-the-beirut-barracks-bombing/

        I remember at the time how John Glenn, the former astronaut turned senator, warned Reagan that if he sent US troops to Lebanon that they would return in body bags and he was unfortunately right.

        Reply ↓
  8. FreeMarketApologist

    Re: “Encouraging study for ultra-deep geothermal fans“:

    Conceptually interesting, but it ain’t going to be cheap, or appearing in your neighborhood any time soon, as it relies on drilling technology that isn’t out of the lab yet, drilling at depths (>20km) of more than twice the current maximum depth ever drilled (the Kola Superdeep Borehole, now shuttered, only ~12km deep).

    But, it would be ‘carbon neutral’ once installed, which is where everybody is throwing their money.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      Maybe they should save themselves the effort and only dig a hole about one kilometer deep. They can then simply throw all that money into that hole instead.

      Reply ↓
    2. GramSci

      Drilling down through Bud’s Breathless BS we come to:

      «Last year, Quaise scaled up the original MIT tests by 100x, drilling a hole 100 inches deep with a 1 inch diameter.»

      Only 2x10e6 inches to go! (assuming 2 5″ bore holes per well )

      Sounds like green-washed nuclear fusion research to me.

      Reply ↓
    3. MicaT

      I don’t pay much attention to articles like this because they just scream give me money.

      There is however new actual working geothermal design which requires nothing new. The issue with geothermal power is that you need 3 things. Hot enough rocks, fractured rock and water.
      This new generation of geothermal can make energy from dry unfractured rock by using standard fracking techniques.
      In short water goes in on one side, comes out the other side via parallel fracked pipes as steam. Liquid is condensed and then goes back in.
      Meaning all you need is hot rocks.
      And there is a lot of that in the US all within normal drilling depths.

      It’s pretty brilliant design.

      Reply ↓
    4. ilsm

      MIT the ‘ancestor’ of Quaise used a DAPRA microwave generator to drill deep, direct energy overcomes the heat on solids issues.

      I suspect the technical dilemma is keeping the steam loop “open”.

      Reply ↓
  10. bertl

    “Is Five Eyes destabilising India’s rise as non-white power? Idea is as old as Cold War era” The Print.

    The Anglos have great gift for f**cking everything up for themselves, however clear or simple the problem and it’s soluton may be, which has probably reached it’s peak amongst the 5I’s hierarchy and it’s satraps, and the donkeys beneath them. Satire, laughing at the cretinous pomposity of the Anglophone unreality is the only way to deal with it, as The Print so ably demonstrates.

    Luckily before eating breakfast, and catching me unawares as I glanced through this morning’s idiocy in the Guardian, a 5I holding if ever there was one, I came across a piece detailing our Sad Sack of a Foreign Secretary’s further reasoning on Putin which truly places satire in context, straight from the horse’s arse:

    In a statement, David Lammy said Britain was “leading the charge against Putin’s desperate and dangerous attempts to cling on to his energy revenues”. He added:

    “I have made it my personal mission to constrain the Kremlin, closing the net around Putin and his mafia state using every tool at my disposal.” Politics live with Andrew Sparrow The Guardian 4d ago12.00 BST 17 October 2024

    He too, like a latter day Cardigan, will lead the charge to disaster, leaving the UK economy a desert, it’s relation with the strongest military and the most powerful energy, industrial, extractive and technological economy not quite completely outside Europe irreparable, leaving Russia to look on laughing at our stupidity as it sits at the centre of the world economy of the Heartland, West Asia and the global South, , and then Lammy will make his way back to the foreign office to change for a champagne dinner from KFC in all his pomp, knowing that he is right and BRICS and the SCO wrong. But at least he does seem to recognise that he is an utter tool, as we Brits say.

    Little wonder that after a Full English, with the wonders of eggs, bacon sausage, black budding and fried bread and heavy on the HP, a dish with both taste and splendid feel of mouth, that Britain’s breakfast tables are now awash with vomit.

    Reply ↓
    1. pjay

      Yes. The point of this article is summarized in its concluding paragraph:

      “Anti-Westernism, a legacy of India’s colonial past and Cold War-era alliances, was once a dominant response in Indian strategic thinking. However, as global alignments evolve, it is crucial for India’s strategic reasoning to align with the new realities of international statecraft, particularly in relation to the challenges posed by China and its network of allies.”

      I realize that we all see what we want, or expect, to see when we read something like this article. Here is my summation:

      India once had a “colonial past” (but let’s skip over that history for now). Because of that, it’s fledgling attempts at “non-alignment” were open to cynical manipulation by the USSR and KGB, who were laughing behind the backs of those naive third-worlders like Indira Ghandi and all those anti-Western Marxist academics. The idea of Five Eyes destabilization is simply a conspiracy theory that reflects this distant history, held by the little brown people of India who are not as knowledgeable and educated as those at the “Europe and Eurasia Center of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses” (every country has its deplorables after all). The reality is that, though the Canadian government and its Prime Minister have been a little impolite, the other Anglo nations like the US actually have our backs and are quite capable of solid diplomatic support. And anyway, *remember China*! Remember the problems we’ve had with the Chinese in the past. Now they are the real rising enemy which we should fear. The Five Eyes are on our side. They want to help us face this new imperial threat. Adam Schiff told us so!

      That’s what I saw when I read this piece. Did I miss something?

      Reply ↓
  11. SocalJimObjects

    “Prabowo announces his ‘Red and White’ Cabinet, Sugiono named as Indonesia’s new foreign minister”.

    There’s only a few names in there who matter, one of which is Sri Mulyani Indrawati. She was arguably the primary reason behind Jokowi’s successful presidency. At this point, she is pretty much untouchable, unless Indonesia were to falter really badly in a global economic crisis, and probably not even then because someone as sharp as her probably has a trick or two up her sleeve, ready to be deployed when the occasion arises.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      A ‘Red and White’ Cabinet? Very patriotic sounding that as those are the colours of the Indonesian flag. Allah forbid that they get themselves a Traffic Light Cabinet.

      Reply ↓
  12. ChrisFromGA

    Hi ho, Silver!

    The barbarous relic’s cousin blasted through $34/oz, a level of some significance, as my Elliottician pointed out that after $33.15 it was likely to make an explosive move to the upside.

    Silver may act as a giant referendum on the Denarius shavers at the Fed. That Denarius in your wallet isn’t what it used to be – maybe like Aaron Rodgers, last night.

    Reply ↓
  13. Es s Ce Tera

    re: Iran’s Bomb is Real — and It’s Here Scott Ritter, Consortium News

    There’s also the possibility that a third party may have given Iran nukes. That was my theory. Given Israeli and American belligerence, given plans to invade all its neighbours, given Israel’s openly expressed intent to take areas which include Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, possibly beyond, for Israel, and given the US and Israel’s genocidal intent and willingness to sacrifice non-combatants, it’s not difficult to see such a move as very logical and necessary at this point.

    Israel’s doctrine of preventive strikes against threats real and imagined was always a recipe for its self-destruction.

    Reply ↓
  15. JCC

    Surveillance is now, apparently, de rigueur

    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gps-tracking-of-teens-24-7-impacts-parent-child-relationships

    About half of parents in the U.S. say they monitor their adolescents’ movements via location-tracking apps, according to a study published in June 2023 in the Journal of Family Psychology. An additional 14 percent of parents who participated in the study claimed to use a tracking app while their child reported that they weren’t being surveill
    ed, indicating that the monitoring was done unbeknownst to the child.

    Reply ↓
  16. Mikel

    Zelenskyy’s idea of replacing US troops in Europe with Ukrainians is inappropriate – NATO PA chief – Ukrainska Pravda

    Part of Z’s victory plan? Ha!
    Probably an escape plan for a bunch of the Nazis who Russia is going to be after. “Troops”…

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      I think that you might be right. Sounds like a plan to get visa-free transport for the Azov Brigade and all the other hard-right formations to get out and escape what they helped create in the Ukraine. Of course once in those western countries, they will be able to recruit locals to their cause who will eventually go into politics in each of those western countries.

      Reply ↓
  17. sarmaT

    Decision on new model of basic military training to be made in December – Ukraine’s Armed Forces chief Ukrainska Pravda

    The Commander-in-Chief also heard a report on a pilot project that is already being implemented which provides for an increase in the duration of basic general military training from one to one and a half months.

    A game-changer pilot project.

    Reply ↓
  19. The Rev Kev

    “Moldovans narrowly vote to secure the country’s path toward EU membership”

    ‘The “No” vote had looked to be ahead right until the last few thousand votes were counted from the country’s large diaspora.’

    Say, isn’t that exactly how Maia Sandu got to be President in the first place? Must be more of those EU values at work I would be guessing.

    Reply ↓
    1. Colonel Smithers

      Thank you, Rev.

      That sounds like the French referenda where the results are swayed by the West Indies…

      Reply ↓
  21. The Rev Kev

    ‘Arnaud Bertrand
    @RnaudBertrand
    This is an excellent and all too rare good news: India says it’s agreed to a patrolling deal with China to mutually disengage from the border conflict.’

    Washington DC: ‘Nooooooo!!!’

    Reply ↓
  23. t

    Good to know cows that died of bird food are being put back into the food chain as chicken feed.

    I think brains and spines are still not allowed because of mad cow disease. But maybe not.

    The diseased carcasses are brought to Baker’s rendering site in Kerman, where the bodies are “recycled” and turned into “high protein” animal feed and fertilizer, or rendered into liquid….

    Reply ↓
    1. Wukchumni

      All of those Bessies that have expired in Godzone on account of bird flu have punched their ticket into heaven, and there is no need to worry, for being with their creator solves everything

      Reply ↓
  24. Wukchumni

    Gooooooood Moooooorning Fiatnam!

    Dien bien french fry, was what the pundits called the stunning reversal of a billionaire reduced to a menial job, the Fiatnamese having the upper hand in a 1 sided wage battle orchestrated not too far from the milkshake machine.

    Reply ↓
  25. ilsm

    Doctorow!

    Long discussion about Zelenski, former president “past his pull date”. He is a Kievan US puppet equivalent of Nguyen Kao Ky!

    Reminded me of VP Harris’ position expressed in the sole debate: Ukraine (SSR) borders are sacred per her “rules and norms” to be imposed on the world.

    The Ukraine SSR was devised out of whole clothe by Stalin et al as they were rationalizing the administration of the Soviet Union.

    We have a presidential candidate assuring the longevity of Stalin’s administrative regions!

    VP Harris might as well go back to Brandenburg and offer them Frederick the Great’s Prussia.

    Reply ↓
  26. The Rev Kev

    “US used Australian bases in bombing Houthi facilities in Yemen”

    Wouldn’t be surprised. Our government – no matter which party – is very secretive about any such things like B-2s staging out of Oz or military support for Israel. And our media will never be impolite enough to actually ask them about such things.

    Reply ↓
  27. EGrise

    Regarding the “chefbae” video of the chef cooking for Israeli soldiers, I have to share the best response in the twitter replies:

    Zone of Pinterest

    Reply ↓
  28. Carolinian

    Ritter

    “In June Iran informed the IAEA that it was installing some 1,400 advanced centrifuges at its Fordow facility. Based upon calculations derived from Iran’s on-hand stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium hexaflouride (the feedstock used in centrifuge-based enrichment), Iran could produce enough highly enriched uranium (i.e., above 90 percent) to manufacture 3-5 uranium-baed weapons in days.”

    He’s saying they would be the gun style Hiroshima bomb design that the Manhattan Project scientists were so sure would work that they didn’t even bother to test it.

    Who has the escalation dominance here?

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      The irony is that when the new President – Masoud Pezeshkian – took office in Iran, that he wanted to play nice with the west and was willing to negotiate perhaps a new nuclear deal. But because of what has been happening the past few months and all the attacks on Iran, that Iran may now become a nuclear power on his watch.

      Reply ↓
  29. Giovanni Barca

    In regard to the Fazi article, why is the author concerned that Romanian speakers are calling their language Romanian and not “Moldovan?” Limba moldovă este limba româna. It is as if Zelensky declared that there were Kharkivian and Donbasic languages instead of Russian. To his credit, I guess, he hasn’t spouted that particular absurdity. We have another case of Soviet era villainy being held up as sacrosanct by the western enemies of the USSR. Moldova is a bite Stalin chomped out of Romania and “Moldovan” is a classic example of totalitarian 2+2=5. On the other hand, the facts on the ground point to Transistria being Russian and the Gagauz will be a tiny minority in whatever state their part of Bessadabia ends up in. Moldovan statehood is not something western folks should get their speedos in a bunch over.

    Reply ↓

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