Open mike 26/02/2022

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, February 26th, 2022 - 60 comments
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60 comments on “Open mike 26/02/2022 ”

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  1. PsyclingLeft.Always 1
    26 February 2022 at 7:27 am

    Ms Ardern has done more to save the lives of thousands of New Zealanders during the past two years than anyone else. You might think there would be universal thanks and praise for those efforts.

    But it’s a sign of the rifts in our society that even such a no-brainer fails to resonate with those who can’t distinguish lies from the truth.

    https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/editorial/who-wants-be-pm

    Absolutely. Jacinda…you have my admiration. And Vote !

    • Muttonbird 1.1
      26 February 2022 at 10:29 am

      Am coming to the conclusion people don't want to be saved.

    • Dennis Frank 1.2
      26 February 2022 at 4:31 pm

      Although not a leftist by identity I agree that editorial is appropriately framed and articulated. The only bone I found to pick at was a philosophical assertion:

      Truth is logical, because it is the way things actually are in the real world.

      This antique view has been recycled since it achieved hegemony well over a century ago – despite Nobel-prizewinning physicists invalidating it's basis in reality a century ago. Postmodernists extended the relativity of truth view into the social sciences more than 30 years ago. Yet still ignorant opinion-leaders cling onto the myth.

  2. Matiri 2
    26 February 2022 at 8:41 am

    S&P reaffirms AA+ rating.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/462303/s-and-p-global-ratings-reaffirms-new-zealand-s-aa-rating

    "New Zealand has weathered the Covid-19 pandemic better than most countries in terms of health, fiscal, and economic outcomes," the agency said in a report.

    • mary_a 2.1
      26 February 2022 at 11:54 am

      @ Matiri (2) … some positive news for a change in a very unsettled worldyes

      Now let's see what the 7 houses man Luxon and Seymour have to say about this. Better not hold my breath too long.

    • Patricia Bremner 2.2
      26 February 2022 at 3:29 pm

      smiley Robertson has done well.

    • Blazer 2.3
      26 February 2022 at 4:39 pm

      How wonderful!

      In the context of the manipulated 'magic show' what does it mean?

      After the GFC EVERY main ratings agency ,fell back on …'it's just an…opinion'!

      The factors identified by the PSI as the primary causes of the GFC are … In the end, over 90% of the AAA ratings given to mortgage-backed securities in 2006 and 2007 were downgraded to junk status'

  3. Dennis Frank 3
    26 February 2022 at 9:52 am

    Using liberal-speak, a top US liberal explains how sanctions can be made to seem tough without actually being tough:

    On Thursday’s broadcast of “CBS Evening News,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to a question on whether the United States will cut off purchases of oil and gas from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine by stating that we’re trying to ensure “that we inflict maximum pain on Russia” while at the same time, “minimizing any of the pain to us.”

    Host Norah O’Donnell asked, “Russia’s economy’s fueled by gas, and the U.S. is a consumer. So, would the U.S. consider cutting off oil and gas purchases from Russia?”

    Blinken responded, “Well, what we’re doing, Norah, across the board, is making sure that we inflict maximum pain on Russia for what President Putin has done, while minimizing any of the pain to us.”

    He also stated, “We’re in full coordination with other countries, both consumers and producers alike, to minimize any impact that this may have on energy prices and on gasoline.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/02/24/blinken-were-not-halting-gas-and-oil-purchases-from-russia-because-were-trying-to-minimize-pain-to-us/

    An important part of US foreign policy is to create a semblance of opposing foreign invaders without actually cutting off your trade with them. Liberals know that appeasing domestic consumers is way more important – so if that means also appeasing Putin, Biden & co will do so and hope nobody notices. Hypocrisy is a basic element of geopolitical stagecraft when you're a liberal.

  4. Dennis Frank 4
    26 February 2022 at 10:02 am

    Labour's lunge for total control and insitutionalisation of a second class of citizens (those coerced out of their jobs) has suffered a serious set-back. The High Court has fired a shot across Labour's bow.

    In a judgment released on Friday, Justice Cooke concluded "the order does not involve a reasonable limit on the applicants' rights that can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society, and that is unlawful".

    "The order… was imposed to ensure continuity of the public services, and to promote public confidence in those services, rather than stop the spread of Covid-19. I am not satisfied that continuity of these services is materially advanced by the order."

    Unvaccinated police officers and NZDF staff who faced losing their jobs on March 1 after the Government determined staff needed to be vaccinated challenged the order in the High Court. One-hundred and sixty-four police staff and 115 from the NZDF were affected.

    https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/02/25/police-and-nzdf-vaccine-mandates-unlawful-high-court-rules/

    Labour could take the case to the Supreme Court but I bet they don't. Perception of Labour's intent to create a dual-class citizenry structure would snowball. Labour's poll rating would immediately head south.

  5. Reality 5
    26 February 2022 at 10:18 am

    The ODT editorial is overdue and very warranted. New Zealanders should be extremely grateful they live here and not in some other countries which we all know about.

    There are times I am ashamed of the vitriol which gets flung at our PM. She does not deserve that.

  6. Ad 6
    26 February 2022 at 10:25 am

    The team over at GreaterAuckland are simply never satisfied.

    They weren't happy with the original cycleway bridge. So they helped kill that.

    Then when NZTA took over the idea they hated that. So they helped kill that.

    Now after killing the cycle bridge, an alternative cycling ferry is also disliked. So they will help kill that.

    A Ferry Impractical Idea – Greater Auckland

    They only solution they can conceive is to put cyclists on a dedicated lane, despite it being a radically unsafe concept and done nowhere else in the country.

    GreaterAuckland sometimes need to actually get behind something and stop the petulant whining.

    • RedLogix 6.1
      26 February 2022 at 2:19 pm

      I used to commute on my bike from the Birkenhead wharf for about 3 years on the old bow loading Blue Boats. Very chill way to start the day; shame the technocrats never tried it.

      Incidentally the rain is still falling here in Brisbane and the SEQ Water system is full, and the big Wivenhoe dam on the Brisbane River is now at a nominal 100% full. Despite the control gates being opened last night it has risen 13% since 6am this morning.

      Technically I think there is another 10% of headroom left before it starts uncontrolled overflow and with the amount of rain still on the radar its going to be a close run.

      • Belladonna 6.1.1
        26 February 2022 at 4:02 pm

        If you were in Birkenhead, rather than Brisbane – you could still commute with your bike on the ferry.
        There are number limits (because they have a limited amount of space for cycles in the bow – without affecting the safe operations) – but it's rare for anyone to be left waiting. Almost all the cyclists are 'locals' (i.e. live within 5 minutes or so cycling distance); rather than the GA vision of people cycling for 30 minutes to get to the bridge (or ferry, in this case).

        There have been a couple of instances of (I think) the Bayswater ferry, not being able to take all the cyclists in one trip. My suspicion is that these were orchestrated by GA – because they seemed to be one-offs for newspaper consumption.

        Greater Auckland are totally invested in finding fault with *any* proposal other than a dedicated cycle-only lane.
        They are perfectly well aware that *if* one is implemented, it will either work (and remove a large part of their demand base), or fail (and make people think the demand was never there).

        The concept of 'perfect being the enemy of good' has no credence in their playbook.

        And whinging about cost! I mean, really. They don't pay for cars, or petrol (and petrol tax), or road user charges. But they think they, somehow, qualify for free transport, when bus users don't….

        • RedLogix 6.1.1.1
          26 February 2022 at 4:25 pm

          Brisbane is laced with parks, bike lanes and paths.

          My daily cycle commute at the moment consists of a 3km ride through deep bushland, 2km past and over a mangrove creek, and to a rail station. Max wait is 15min, then 20 min journey to a station nearer the city – then 10 min along a wide road with a substantial and safe bike path, one major intersection with lights and a ped phase, then another 2 km along a dedicated bike path alongside the Gateway Bridge (very similar to the AHB), then slip off to more parkland under the bridge itself and arrive at work. Total distance would be about 20km and barely 50m of it would I consider unfriendly to cyclists.

          There are mornings when I literally ride in a state of astonishment at how fortunate all this is.

  7. mpledger 7
    26 February 2022 at 10:46 am

    A while ago Weka asked if anyone was doing something about the economic and social costs of covid-19. There is a team at Victoria University doing a study on it at the moment. They want to hear from anyone who has had covid-19 – from those who are asymptomatic (why is that?) to those who have been severely effected in any way. The website talking about the study is here: https://covidaotearoa.com/

    • Ad 8.1
      26 February 2022 at 11:16 am

      The writers' only point is that the mandates will end.

      The Prime Minister has not set out clear conditions on when that will be.

      Or even the conditions in which Cabinet will meet to set out the timetable for that decisions.

      Is it: after Omicron peaks? After the next variant? When hospitals are full? When 80% of under-12's are two-shotted? Once she's decided to set a wedding date? When the experts agree? When she's polling into the 20s? When the government has decided the wage subsidy is too high?

      There is now an extremely high chance that this government will lose the next election.

      Ardern says words like "we're all over it', by really few actions to show it.

      • Bearded Git 8.1.1
        26 February 2022 at 11:30 am

        What planet are you living in Ad? Labour and the Greens are an odds on coalition after the next election.

        Haven't you heard the great blatherer Luxon? Clueless.

      • Patricia Bremner 8.1.2
        26 February 2022 at 11:42 am

        The comment about her wedding, which has been delayed twice, says more about your perceptions than reality. Just a needlessly nasty poke.

        This kind of rant is a dressed up "Are we there yet?"

      • Anne 8.1.3
        26 February 2022 at 8:28 pm

        "The Prime Minister has not set out clear conditions on when that will be."

        Bollocks. She has made it clear that once the peak of this Omicron outbreak has passed and the trend is tracking downwards the mandates will be removed. I suppose you expect her to know exactly when that is going to happen. Well, she is no more clairvoyant than the rest of us, and can't give an actual date but believes "it is not as far away as many people think."

        She made this statement on the AM show sometime this week and repeated it this morning on TV3's The Nation. No doubt she has said it elsewhere. You can check it out for yourself.

        Why do you make what are essentially false claims. You set yourself up as a strong supporter of the Labour Government and then spend most of your time slagging them off. If this is a game you like to play then grow up.

  9. Dennis Frank 9
    26 February 2022 at 11:15 am

    This turned out to be an excellent overview of the situation in Ukraine by someone who has done plenty of research: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018832118/prof-david-marples-putin-s-true-motives-for-invading-ukraine

    Second time Kim Hill has interviewed him. She seems to appreciate his insights. Clarifies the political motives & agenda of key forces, very informative.

    • Ad 9.1
      26 February 2022 at 11:51 am

      Yes excellent detail in there cheers.

    • Belladonna 9.2
      26 February 2022 at 12:37 pm

      Listened to it this morning. Really well-informed and credible source, who made it clear that the whole situation is complex – and there are no angels on either side; while also making it crystal clear that Russia is the aggressor, here.

      He's also just released a book about the War in the Donbas – bringing together a group of experts. "The War in Ukraine's Donbas : Origins, Contexts, and the Future"

      It's ridiculously expensive (small press, from Europe) – but possible that with the flurry of interest, there may be a main-stream pbk. edition released.

      I've asked my local library to buy a copy 😉

    • Ed 9.3
      26 February 2022 at 4:23 pm

      I find John Mearsheimer very interesting on the Russia and Ukraine.

      According to Wikipedia he ‘ an American political scientist and international relations scholar, who belongs to the realist school of thought. He is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. He has been described as the most influential realist of his generation.’

      I highly recommend people listen to this interview, which was recorded on Tuesday 15th February – before Russia invaded Ukraine.

      Mearsheimer is critical towards basic western assumptions with regard to Ukraine.

      • Dennis Frank 9.3.1
        26 February 2022 at 4:42 pm

        Thanks for that Ed. Tough call @ 80 mins duration but I like the way he intros it so I'll hang in there. I was scanning the books on the shelves behind him & his young interviewer & they each produced a single stand-out title that impacted. His was Commanche Empire.

        Anyway he starts by saying don't blame Putin, this crisis was caused by the west. There are good guys & bad guys, we're the good guys (so the prevalent narrative goes) but

        the United States and its allies are responsible for this crisis

        Then he explains that by saying since 2008 the west has been trying to make Ukraine part of it and that policy has three dimensions. I know a triad when I hear one, so I know the next bit where he delineates the three parts of the framing is crucial…

        • Dennis Frank 9.3.1.1
          26 February 2022 at 5:56 pm

          Okay so the triad makes perfect sense:

          1. NATO expansion eastward to include Ukraine.

          2. EU ditto.

          3. Color revolution (orange) to turn Ukraine into a liberal democracy.

          So at the conclusion of the following April summit the world was told that Georgia & Ukraine "would become part of NATO". He then explained that "Russia had swallowed the two prior NATO expansions" (1999 & 2004) but decided to oppose this third expansion. So in August 2008 Russia went to war against Georgia.

          Then 8 years ago (Feb 22 2014) there was a coup in Ukraine: a pro-Russian leader got replaced by a pro-American leader, and "the US was involved in that coup." Expansion strategy apparently successful? Russia then took Crimea back from Ukraine. It couldn't let the US get control of the Sevastopol naval base therein.

          The civil war ongoing in eastern Ukraine since that coup became a lever for Putin to use to prevent the US achieving control.

          • Ed 9.3.1.1.1
            26 February 2022 at 6:25 pm

            I found his comments about 2008 fascinating. This was when NATO membership was offered to Georgia and Ukraine. It was a turning point in Russian foreign policy as they were never going to accept that.

            • Dennis Frank 9.3.1.1.1.1
              26 February 2022 at 7:35 pm

              After 25 mins he went to questions & started to fill in gaps in his narrative with details & nuances. For instance, he explained that France & Germany were adamant that NATO ought not to expand to include Ukraine. He reckons that's due to their awareness that it would threaten Russia too much.

              The declaration that it would was due to the USA acting unilaterally in defiance of the two, apparently. I suspect it had UK support though.

              He said the UN was useless. Still quite rare for establishment opinion leaders to tell the truth about the UN like that. They want to keep the Security Council veto to retain the sham. They believe sufficient morons of the left & right still exist to make the sham remain viable.

          • Dennis Frank 9.3.1.1.2
            26 February 2022 at 6:42 pm

            Why did the crisis happen now, after 8 years? He explains that Biden is continuing Trump's policy of arming Ukraine. Obama had not done that.

            He says "the Turks gave the Ukrainians drones". No surprise Putin saw this double-whammy as a threat, huh? If Ukraine's army got sufficiently strong to regain control in the east, Putin's lever would evaporate. Deferred entry into NATO then seems feasible.

            Britain & America both arming Ukraine, both training their army, treating them as a de-facto ally. He said the Brits sent a destroyer into Russia's maritime zone last June, then the yanks sent a bomber into Russian air-space. Such provocative military adventuring sends a signal. Putin gets angrier.

            Meanwhile, this squeeze has tanked the Ukrainian economy. He reckons the solution is for Ukraine to become a neutral state but acknowledges it lacks political feasibility at present.

            • Dennis Frank 9.3.1.1.2.1
              26 February 2022 at 7:57 pm

              Around 35 mins he's complaining that US foreign policy remains locked into NATO expansionism. Foolish, he calls that. Because "it's driving Russia into the arms of China".

              The best framing for this is incompetent triangulation. Since Biden gets his strategic thinking from advisers who one would expect to have either been members of the CFR, or been briefed by CFR geopolitical analysis & strategic advisory documents, this appears to be grounds for suspecting the CFR haven't learnt how to triangulate yet. Too sophisticated for them?

              This interview was done on Feb 15 before the invasion and he explains why he doesn't believe Putin will invade (costs too great). Yet Biden had been predicting the invasion for months – evidence that the CFR got that bit right. He says the unipolar thinking from 2008 no longer applies. "We now live in a multipolar world. There are two other great powers."

  10. Macro 10
    26 February 2022 at 11:32 am

    Is this a creditable threat?

    This is the Russian space chief, and it appears he is threatening to let the International Space Station crash into US or other countries if sanctions proceed.

  11. newsense 11
    26 February 2022 at 12:12 pm

    Why has no one made a direct link between the protesters and the unruly tourists? SSDD right?

  12. Belladonna 12
    26 February 2022 at 12:27 pm

    For me, this is an illustration of something that is very wrong with our current justice system. If 'all' the probable perpetrators just refuse to comment, the courts can do little, except charge them with perverting the course of justice (with a minimal sentence). The criminals are manipulating the justice system for their benefit.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/judge-slams-hells-angels-gang-code-of-silence-after-violent-beating-in-whanganui/7VVRWNAAZZDJPCNVRLWAHCAF2Q/?c_id=1&objectid=12507129&ref=rss

    I'd like to see a radical change. If all of the probable perpetrators are silent, then the courts try the crime (was this man assaulted and beaten to within an inch of his life; can the police prove these people were present) – and then convict and sentence them as a group for the crime. The whole lot can go to jail for GBH.

    And, it's not only (or even predominantly) gangs. We see this, time and again, in child assault and murder cases. The family clams up, and prefers the welfare of the criminal adult to the care and protection of the child. The Kahui case is an instance in point.

  13. greywarshark 13
    26 February 2022 at 1:18 pm

    This news item about good invasive trees – perhaps every time a wilding pine is removed, another suitable tree replaces. Or perhaps the established roots could be left and a less flammable and shade providing type could be grafted? Shame to waste roots if they can be utilised for good. What do you think Robert Guyton?

    Anyway this is a bit of farmer good news. Now to get rid of industrial farming in disgusting conditions run from comfortable temperature -controlled electronic management of unhealthy, prophylactic dairy-lactic farm slums.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife/audio/2018832031/wild-cherry-trees-give-farmer-the-pip

    …He says about 14,000 of the invasive trees have found the sweet spot on his property. "The riverbed freezes and the sunlight never reaches it during the winter so it stays frozen and then as a result, all of these cherry pips germinate."

    Cherry trees have been in the area for more than 100 years, Nigel says. "A local character who owned Birch Hill Station brought some specimen trees back and planted them in his garden and the birds just went nuts. So that's how they all got here, they're spread by wild birds."

    According to Nigel, it's not only the small, intensely sweet cherries that people are after, it's also the cherry wood.

    "It's fantastic for furniture-making, if you're into bodgery*, the green stick style, and for barbeques as smoking wood. It's the best for smoked pork, fish or chicken or whatever," he says.

    The Wilson family runs a herd of deer at the farm with 300 breeding hinds and a mixture of Wapiti and Elk stags.

    Nigel also runs a timber framing and woodwork business from the former shearing shed. His most recent job was building a Viking drinking hall in Rangiora for a craft-beer fillery.

    "'I do that 80 percent of the time and I farm 20 percent of the time when my Dad calls on me…It's a really good mix," he says.

    *Bodgery: Bungling, botched work. Probably related to botch. The OED calls bodgery “obsolete,” and gives only one citation for the word, from the playwright Thomas Nashe, who used it in the late 16th century.6/01/2014

    Word of the Week: Bodgery – Fritinancy

    • McFlock 13.1
      26 February 2022 at 6:42 pm

      Gotta be careful with cherry orchards. They can cause depression, I've heard…

      Seriously, though, cherry wood is pretty good to work with, I hear. Would love to play with some for my little projects.

      I have plum trees, but the problem with plum (as I discovered) is that it seems incredibly prone to splitting radially, which is a bother.

  14. SPC 14
    26 February 2022 at 1:39 pm

    Banishment from the Financial System: the War on Dissent

    Glenn Greenwald

    A case study – WikiLeaks.

  15. Peter 15
    26 February 2022 at 1:58 pm

    I expected to see headlines like "Protestors take Bridge" but the Herald seems to have struggled to bring themselves to say it straight about protestors wanting to walk over the bridge simply doing so. Or protestors wanting to walk over the bridge and authorities being powerless to stop it.

    Which begs questions. Like, can I get a group of mates up and go for a walk over the bridge next Saturday? Do we have to be protesting about something? Is the focus of the protest important? Is there a certain number there have to be to bring the 'can't stop them' clause into play? (Almost said 'triggers a response' !)

    Is having god on one's side a factor in allowing a walk? Does calling it a 'hikoi' have significance in the exercise being challenged?

    How about doing in a Friday morning? We might prefer that day as it fits our schedule better.

  16. Ad 16
    26 February 2022 at 3:04 pm

    Hey where's that commenter who used to come on in every morning and talk about ducks?

  17. georgecom 17
    26 February 2022 at 3:44 pm

    Leo Molloy wants Aucklanders to vote for him for Auckland mayor. I would think a self entitled blowhard big mouth is that last thing Auckland needs. One of his campaign ads "Sort this bloody Shambles out". Would have thought he would first practise what he preaches sorting out the shambles outside Parliament which he is part of. Another says he "demands higher standards from Wellington". Obviously not from the protestors outside parliament he is involved in organising. How about first sort out the shambles and demand higher standards of the protest movement you have organised and promoted Leo.

  18. SPC 18
    26 February 2022 at 7:51 pm

    Microwave weapons are not the only ones protestors have to be concerned about these days.

    Australian Federal Police (AFP) have confirmed the use of a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD)—often regarded as a sonic weapon—at the massive protest against vaccine mandates in Canberra on Feb. 12, despite the AFP commissioner describing the crowd as “well behaved.”

    “ACT Policing has deployed several types of loudspeakers and amplification devices to quickly and effectively convey voice messages to large, and often loud, crowds of people during the recent protest activity in Canberra,” an ACT Policingsperson spoke in a statement to The Epoch Times on Feb. sixteen.

    “The [LRADs] were only used to convey spoken-word messages. The ‘alert’ function was not used.”

    LRADs, also known as acoustic weapons or sound cannons, are used to project very loud sounds over long distances. While the voice function can be helpful to communicate in loud settings, the device’s most dangerous setting, the alert function, can cause brain damage, permanent hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), dizziness, and disorientation.

    The LRADs work by using hundreds of transducers to create a highly concentrated and amplified sound that can be narrowed to focus on specific targeted areas.

    Photos and videos circulating on social media show the LRADs positioned at the front of Parliament House facing towards the location of tens of thousands of protesters

    https://worldnationnews.com/australian-police-confirm-use-of-lrad-sonic-weapon-at-protest-against-covid-19-vaccine-mandates/

  19. pat 19
    26 February 2022 at 7:56 pm

    "For decades, London has been the most important place not only for Russia’s criminal elite to launder its money, but also for it to stash its wealth. We have been the Kremlin’s bankers, and provided its elite with the financial skills it lacks. Its kleptocracy could not exist without our assistance. The best time to do something about this was 30 years ago – but the second best time is right now."

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/25/boris-johnson-russian-money-britain-mafia-state-security

    "The committee heard evidence from senior law enforcement and security officials. It laid out detailed, careful suggestions for what Britain should do to limit the damage Putin has already done to our society. Instead of learning from the report and implementing its proposals, Boris Johnson delayed its publication until after the general election and then, when further delay became impossible, dismissed those who took its sober analysis seriously as “Islingtonian remainers” seeking to delegitimise Brexit."

    No surprises there

    • Poission 19.2
      26 February 2022 at 8:19 pm

      There is a nice outline of the history of the Uk/Russia banking marriage,which was setup by the brits and russians to circumvent the US monopoly on US$ trades.

      That meant that, if you had dollars, you kept them in the United States, where they were subject to the scrutiny of the Federal Reserve. But Soviet officials worried that, if Cold War tensions became more tense, and if their dollars were in New York, the US government might seize them, thus cutting Moscow off from international markets.

      The City of London had a problem too, albeit a very different one. Britain was broke, with a huge hangover of debt left from funding its war effort. The capital flows that had sustained financiers’ incomes had shrivelled, and sterling had lost its role as the world’s leading currency. Banks were moribund, and ambitious young Brits preferred to work in academia, industry, or government.

      The solution to the two powers’ problems came thanks to two banks: the Moscow Narodny (MNB), which was Soviet-owned but London-based, and the Midland, a scrappy challenger unable to attract the deposits it needed to compete with its more established rivals. MNB lent its dollars to the Midland, which used them to buy pounds, with which it could grow its UK business.

      https://unherd.com/2022/02/how-britain-became-putins-playground/

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