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Fossil Fuels are Dangerous
2007-09-13 10:08:22
I thought of writing this piece a number of times, but always decided against it. It always did, and still does, seem like an interesting idea that would never get much traction. But, I rather like sharing outlandish ideas (see last Thursday), so I’ve decided to give this one a go. I think the claim can be made that fossil fuels are killing people. And no, this isn’t about global warming. This is about the lives of coal miners. This summer, few Americans missed the nine deaths that came at a Utah coal mine. The first collapse trapped and killed six Utah coal miners. The second collapse killed three more in a fatal rescue attempt. And even if those nine are the only casualties of American coal mines this year, that’s a pretty dangerous line of work. Certainly more dangerous than most of the things better-paid Americans do daily. We should also notice that America’s coal mines, which sadly seem to always claim at least a few workers a year, are a great deal safer
Read more: Fossil , Fuels

Did the World Change on September 11?
2007-09-12 09:23:06
Yesterday, as you’re no doubt aware, was the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks that made America notice radical Islam. If our President had been one for rhetorical flourishes, he may have reminded us that it was a day “that will live in infamy.” If there is another day where America’s world changed, the only 20th century examples seem to be Pearl Harbor, or perhaps the launch of Sputnik. But on neither of those days did the world change inexorably, rather Americans were shaken into awareness about how the world was. Aware that Japan was an aggressive and powerful force to our west. Aware that the Soviets could indeed best us with technology. So, it seems, is the case with September 11, 2001. Radical Islam existed before that date. The United States government even financed its fight against the Soviet Union, among others. But the public at large was blissfully ignorant of it’s existence and the danger it posed. Now they can’t seem to forget
Read more: World , Change

Gray Days
2007-09-11 11:37:51
Around here, the last few days have been rather gray. You know the type. Where it doesn’t get much about 58 degrees Fahrenheit and you never actually see the sun, though it’s light shows through with varying degrees of success. And though some may find days when the sky only varies between shades of dull gray to be the most loathsome, I find them to be a welcome change that I don’t mind at all. They’re a wonderful interlude between the hot-sunny of summer and the gray-wet of winter. One of the supreme advantages of gray days is that they’re the perfect excuse to do or not-do anything. Sunny days can’t be used to excuse your choice to stay in bed all day reading. Nor can rainy days be used for many outdoor activities–other than splashing in puddles, of course. But a gray day can be either a good reason to stay inside and a good reason to spend time outdoors. There is also the ease with which a gray day fits into metaphor. For just one example,


Review: Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?
2007-09-10 11:55:56
The name Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore? is a rather hollow gimmick, but the story this documentary tells is still compelling. Raising a question based on Frank Capra’s seminal Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, the film follows a different Jeff Smith, a young 29-year-old with no experience in public office, running for United States Congress against a man with a name well-known in Missouri politics. And though the question isn’t perfect–after all, Capra’s Mr. Smith got to Washington on little more than a fluke–it is an interesting one. This Mr. Smith is hardly Jimmy Stewart. He’s short, speaks with a slight lisp, and hardly has Mr. Stewart’s famously earnest looks. Nonetheless, he makes a compelling and credible run for a national office that no one–not even his own grandmother–thought he had the slightest chance at winning. Mr. Smith shares many features with 2005’s oft-overlooked Street Fight. Like Street Fight, a young


OPW: “The Book of A”
2007-09-07 09:26:55
Today on “Other People’s Words,” Wesley McNair’s “The Book of A.” The poem reminds me of all the pack rats I’ve known, as well as the important truth that, sometimes, hoping is enough. Raised during the Depression, my stepfather responded to the economic opportunity of the 1950s by buying more and more cheap, secondhand things meant to transform his life. I got this for a hundred bucks, he said, patting the tractor that listed to one side, or the dump truck that started with a roar and wouldn’t dump. Spreading their parts out on his tarp. he’d make the strange whistle he said he learned from the birds for a whole morning before the silence set in. Who knows where he picked up the complete A–Z encyclopedias embossed in gold and published in 1921? They were going to take these to the dump, he said. Night after night he sat up, determined to understand everything under the sun worth knowing, and falling asleep over the book of A. Mea


Coalition Against Animal Racism
2007-09-06 10:18:33
This week, our intrepid reporter Steve Finch brings us news of a rather novel animal rights group. Steve asked that we file this story in the “wouldn’t it be interesting if…” category. PENSACOLA, FL — The Coalition Against Animal Racism (CAAR, pronounced “care”) held their first public meeting today. The group was formed earlier this year when Donna DeMarco couldn’t get attention for her concerns from established groups like the Humane Societies or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Ms. DeMarco’s primary concern is that questions about an animal’s breed, especially in dogs, are essentially the same thing as racism in humans. As she explained, “Dog breeds and human races are effectively the same thing. They’re not like species, and if we truly want to live in a colorblind society we must include our pets as well.” From her explanation, it appears that Ms. DeMarco formed the group after growing tire


Doldrums and Departures
2007-09-05 12:05:11
Late August in Washington is about as busy as a western ghost town. That’s certainly an overstatement, but excluding all the departures, very little has been going on. And the departures, as you’ve probably noticed, are numerous. First, Karl Rove announced that he was leaving. Then, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced that he too would leave. At this point, it seemed like little more than the administration removing it’s most prominent dead weight. Neither man was popular in the country or with the Democrats in Congress, and so they were asked to go. Whether these departures were meant to clear the administration from continued criticism or to signal the desire for a new way forward is an interesting question. One has to hope it’s a sign that the administration–which still has over a year in office–will stop invoking executive privilege and instead try to improve the now troubled economy, reform the Farm Bill, and possibly help to improve No


In Praise of Conversations
2007-09-04 12:04:33
Charlie Rose, who is among the most respected talk show hosts, has been upset lately by the lack of good conversation in the world. And indeed, if one looks around today, it seems that little earnest conversation takes place. Instead TV “talk” shows–and especially on cable “news” channels–seem have become havens for soundbites and little more. People seem to yell more than they talk, or listen for that matter. Public officials, even, seem barely capable of working together to understand each other, or to have much desire to try. Indeed, when Barack Obama suggested that this country should sit down and have a talk with some of our most well-known enemies, he was chastised and made to apologize for suggesting that we should talk to each other. The world seems to have gone topsy-turvy; the quest for understanding has been abandoned and we are instead waging a war with each other that will be won by the side with the best sloganeers and banner makers. Is
Read more: Praise

Review: onBeing
2007-09-03 10:11:33
Jennifer Crandell’s onBeing is a series of short videos featuring residents of Washington, DC. Explaining the project beyond that becomes difficult. For that reason, I’ll let it define itself first: onBeing is a project based on the simple notion that we should get to know one another a little better. What you’ll find here is a series of videos that takes you into the musings, passions, histories and quirks of all sorts of people. The essence of who they are, who we are. As that summary suggests, it is essentially an exercise in documentary. Not stodgy documentary, but the short innovative kind. In this way, the web-only project has a great deal in common with Hometown Baghdad. onBeing is essentially a series of three minute documentary that feature little more than people speaking directly to the camera against a stark white background. In this lies both its magic and its potential shortcomings. In general, I love onBeing. It’s mission statement “that we sho


OPW: The Dilemma of Belief
2007-08-31 10:53:09
Today’s “Other People’s Worlds” is about the age-old question of belief versus atheism. It’s also a rather oddly cited quote, for which I apologize. It comes from the philosopher William James’s “The Will to Believe,” one of the most famous Christian apologetics. In it, James argues that belief (in God) is a choice that one must make, and by equating agnosticism with atheism, he says there are essentially two choices. As an apologist, James argued in favor of belief. However, in this passage, James is quoting Fitz James Stephen who talks about the religious choices that underpin a person’s life. (I have taken some liberties with the formatting.) I began by a reference to Fitz James Stephen; let me end by a quotation from him. “What do you think of yourself? What do you think of the world? … These are questions with which all must deal as it seems good to them. They are riddles of the Sphinx, and in some way or other we


OPW: The Economist on Sputnik’s Legacy
2007-09-28 10:44:38
Rarely are newsmagazines brilliantly written and filled with breathtakingly innovative ideas. For all I know, this excerpt from this week’s The Economist doesn’t break with that rule—I’m not well versed in the philosophy of space. Regardless, something in the magazine’s analysis of the legacy of Sputnik —which was launched on October 4, 1957—really struck a chord, so I’m sharing it on today’s “Other People’s Words.” The full story is here; weird/British spelling were intentionally left in tact. Today almost 900 of the things are in orbit around Earth, operated by more than 40 countries. Some are old-fashioned martial spy satellites, but many more are Venusian—watching the weather, the oceans, the changing climate and the use of land. Others broadcast television programmes, relay telephone calls, or send out the signals that tell people exactly where they are on the Earth’s surface. Such satellites have enabl
Read more: Legacy

Good to Know: What is microlending?
2007-09-27 12:17:37
Microlending—or microcredit—has gotten more and more press recently, both good and bad. In the simplest terms, microlending is the practice of making small and unconventionally secured loans to those generally outside the banking system. That is: for people without collateral, a credit history, or demonstrable employment, it’s a way that they can get additional money to finance their small business. As you could probably expect, this is done primarily in “third world” countries, where there are a number of people without access to conventional banks. Built upon the old adage that, “you’ve got to spend money to make money,” it’s argued that microcredit, by allowing the previously unable to start businesses, is a innovative way to fight poverty. Last year, Bangladeshi Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work creating and running the microcredit Grameen Bank. The Grameen Bank, like many micolenders, loans mostly to women.


Global Warming Pessimists
2007-09-26 09:58:33
In a recent piece, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman identified himself as a global warming skeptic. But before you go away thinking that a liberal-leaning columnist at the Times actually doubts that global warming is occurring, we should clarify. In the column, Mr Friedman discusses his recent visits to Doha and Dalian, mentioning his awe at the rapid pace of growth in these formerly-nowhere towns in Qatar and China respectively. Because of such rapid industrialization, which he sees occurring all over the world, Mr. Friedman thinks that climate change is not only happening, but that there may be nothing that humans can do to prevent it. For clarities sake, I suggest that we look carefully at Friedman’s words. He says: If you want to know why I remain a climate skeptic — not a skeptic about climate change, but a skeptic that we’re going to be able to mitigate it — it’s partly because of Doha and Dalian. Can you imagine how much energy all these new skyscrapers in
Read more: Global , Global Warming

Charting the Blogosphere
2007-09-25 11:05:16
The idea of quantifying or charting writing—or any form of art for that matter—strikes most people as at best odd, probably unreasonable, and likely sterile and academic in the worst ways. To Dead Poets Society fans who remember the—literal—tearing apart of an essay that endeavored to do just this, how presumptuous such an effort can be is clear. Nonetheless, I’ve been thinking a lot about trying to understand, and perhaps quantify, the blogosphere. This is driven both by my presence in the blogosphere, and my desire to understand as much as I can about everything, regardless of how unimportant these things may seem to others. So on a recent night, when all my failed thoughts about the topic made something mildly coherent, I had to write about it. In hindsight, I recognize that the idea isn’t as revolutionary as I thought, but I’d already made the decision. So, the basic idea at which I arrived is that we can chart blogs along two axes—al
Read more: Charting , Blogosphere

Review: My Date with Drew
2007-09-24 11:11:19
My Date with Drew was sadly missed by too many people, including myself, when it was released in 2005. Because of its obscurity, I was concerned about its quality. But within the first ten minutes I was sure there was no need to worry. Brain Herzlinger is 27, a rather anonymous young man living in Los Angeles who is, in simple terms, broke and unemployed. So he does what any rational person would, he takes the $1,100 he won on a game show and sets out to get a date with Drew Barrymore, filming the whole thing. Ms. Barrymore is an obvious choice for a guy who joined her fan club when he was ten. Oh, and because he can’t afford a video camera, he only has 30 days before he must return it and end his quest. Herzlinger’s is a fundamentally quixotic quest. But he has no delusions, and his film shows a keen awareness of comical nature his goal. In conveying this story, the film would most easily be called a documentary, but the stodgy image that conjures isn’t really accura


OPW: David Callahan on Honoring Work
2007-09-21 12:26:31
On today’s “Other People’s Words,” a quote from the book I reviewed Monday, The Moral Center. I do feel the need to apologize for bringing it up again, but I can’t seem to avoid it. In this excerpt, Callahan makes some interesting observations about the how attitudes towards work and collective struggle have shifted over time. In arguing that welfare betrayed work, conservatives offered a simple solution: Get rid of handouts and make people responsible for themselves. The solution fit naturally with American individualism and the belief that opportunity is available for all. Democrats face a harder sales job. Most liberal solutions to the betrayal of work boil down to some form of collective action, whether it’s getting more people organized in labor unions or using government to raise the minimum wage and expand the safety net. The problem, though, is that collective thinking—the notion that we are all in it together—comes much less natu
Read more: David

Jena, Duke & Justice
2007-09-20 19:54:17
Today, maybe for the first time, a lot of people heard about a little town called Jena, Louisiana. It’s become the newest flash point in America’s notoriously acrimonious black-white race relations. In Jena, Louisiana, these acrimonious relations got violent. In the culminating event, six black students of Jena High School assaulted one white student. For this action they were initially charged with second degree murder—the charges have been lowered to assault, now battery. But the initial charges raised eyebrows across the country, not least because of the actions leading up to the assault. As Newsweek explained (in a thorough synopsis of the case): It began with a seemingly innocuous question. At an assembly during the first week of classes last fall at Jena High School in rural Louisiana, Kenneth Purvis, a junior, asked the vice principal if he could sit under the shady boughs of an oak tree in the campus courtyard. “You can sit anywhere you like,” the
Read more: Justice

Banks, Money, etc.
2007-09-20 12:31:28
“Hello,” said the piggy bank I’ve had since I was two. He was sitting in a box on the floor. “Yes?” I asked, slightly irritated. “We don’t really see much of each other anymore. I was just wondering why.” “Well, it’s because I don’t need you anymore. I keep my money elsewhere. And besides, you look silly. I’m not six anymore.” “I look silly? Silly? You think I chose to look like this?!” “Hey, I’m sorry.” It was my best attempt at caring. “And I can still hold money. I can.” “You’re right, you can,” I said, unswayed. “You know, that’s not all I ever was…” “Go on.” “Remember when you were in the third grade? You wanted nothing more than that Super Soaker 100. Every week, you’d tear me open and count all the money I held.” “What are you saying?” “Just that it’s not all about
Read more: Money

Will the Republican Platform Change?
2007-09-19 13:27:16
In Monday’s review of The Moral Center, I mentioned that David Callahan had offered his moderate platform for changing America to either Democrats of a third party. It wasn’t until after I hit “Publish” that I considered the possibility that the platform could be good for the ailing Republican s. But after some consideration, I decided it wasn’t an important enough possibility to merit a change. After all, Republicans—both the George W. type, and the small government type—are often resistant to change. More importantly, over the last 20 years, their bread-and-butter has become a pretty stable platform. Lower taxes, fewer regulations, smaller social welfare programs (while giving billions to “national defense”), and, perhaps, placing more emphasis on Christianity. Compared to this, the Democratic platform looks absurdly vague. Democrats are for lower taxes unless they come at the expense of social welfare programs. They oppose unlimit
Read more: Platform , Change

On Slaying Dragons
2007-09-18 10:24:10
For a while, I was obsessed with the idea of slaying dragons. Perhaps it started when I read Tolkien’s immortal tale of The Hobbit, but it didn’t end there. Whenever low clouds would obscure the tops of the nearby foothills, I’d dream about venturing up there to slay the dragon that surely existed within the fog, in some hard-to-find cave. But I never did it. I’d do what I needed to do that day in town. I’d work, I’d shop, I’d eat, I’d sleep. By the time I did these things, the dragon seemed an impossible chore. I wondered if I’d really have my fight-to-the-death with a 30 meter long dragon. A dragon who was mostly green, could obviously fly, and had a small but valuable collection of precious metals and gems. Money is not something dragons care about. Why I didn’t go off to fight my dragon was always a vexing question for me. After all, he was always there when the clouds came low. I could find him if I but looked. Perhaps I
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On Demanding Idealism
2007-10-02 12:18:04
Many a young and idealistic college student has set out to change the world. They’ll end war, eliminate poverty, save the environment, or bring true justice to every race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, or age. Many a cynical older person has condemned such idealism as hopeless tomfoolery. You cannot end war, eliminate poverty, save the environment, or bring true justice to every race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, or age. It’s easy to switch from one of these categories to the other. I know, I’ve been in both before. Blind idealism quickly turns to cynicism when it experiences the first of many inevitable challenges. And though it’s easy to condemn both the idealistic and the cynical for being too absolute in their understandings of the world, neither of them is wholly wrong. A singe person cannot do any of the things that most young idealists hope to do. But nor is the world so resistant to change that progress isn’t possible. I&rsqu


Review: The Sun is Always Brighter by Joshua James
2007-10-01 12:26:59
Joshua James ’s The Sun is Always Brighter is the artist’s second album, his first released on iTunes, and his zeroth available in stores. But where at some time in the past this would have been proof that he has no talent—or is signed to the world’s worst record company—being independent is now a viable option for many artists. With CD sales declining, Joshua James may be part of the wave of the future in music distribution. His CDs are only available through the mail on the intelligent noise “label.” Whether or not that’s the future, his sound’s not nearly as innovative as his distribution system. Mr. James has a a melancholy voice that’s reminiscent of Paul Simon, or perhaps Rufus Wainwright. And though his voice is slightly more energetic than those, the comparison gives you a good idea of what you’re going to hear. And though his lack of innovation could be seen as a bad thing, what he does he does well. Certainly th
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OPW: John Burns on Iraq
2007-10-12 11:09:41
On today’s “Other People’s Words,” John F. Burns ’s—former Baghdad Bureau chief for the New York Times—on the way forward in Iraq . This quote is from an absolutely excellent conversation he had Monday with Charlie Rose. If you have the time (and bandwidth), I would recommend that you watch the entire thing. I can understand why there are bitter recriminations over the path to war, over the arguments made for war, some of which—and I’m thinking principally of the weapons of mass destruction—have subsequently been proven errant. But it seems to me that the present debate is burdened by that to a degree that makes it even more difficult to resolve. The fact is that the United States is there with 168,000 troops. The China house rule that Colin Powell famously spoke about, it seems to me, does apply. To say we broke it is perhaps a little extravagant—that was a perfectly terrible place before—but nonetheless, we—a


Generation Q?
2007-10-11 14:20:28
Increasingly, I hear something I never thought I would. People are lamenting—yes, lamenting—that this generation of Americans doesn’t engage in enough disorderly and disruptive protests. Something has leached into the cultural zeitgeist that has convinced some of the more liberal powers-that-be that people of my generation are too reserved and too quiet. I first heard about this idea on The Colbert Report, on which Stephen Colbert (the character) chastised those present at the tasing of a Florida student for not acting during the event, instead going home and blogging outrage. It was rather laughable because the tased buffoon didn’t look like someone who in anyway deserved help. On Tuesday, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, perhaps channeling Mr. Colbert, decided to do his duty and say something at least a little controversial—despite what anyone tells you, that is the purpose of a newspaper’s Opinion page. Essentially, Mr. Friedman said this: I
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Being Under Attack: War, Genocide, Terrorism & Nuclear Proliferation
2007-10-10 13:17:01
I’m fairly certain that the most dangerous people in the world are those that nihilistically believe that their group—especially one they find essential to their identity—is under attack. Many relatively powerless people with such fears, rational or otherwise, resort to terrorism. Having no ability to defend their group through conventional warfare, they strike anything and everything they see as endangering their desired order of the world. Some people who foster this type of fear are able to carry out traditional war, Hitler was. So was Abraham Lincoln in 1861, the American rebels in 1775, and the Israelis in 1967. There are literally hundreds of examples of wars that began with fear—likely as many examples as there are wars—so I’ll move on. Additionally, many with such fears are able to systematically kill the “other” that’s they see as threatening them, this is something Hitler did, but so did Pol Pot, Slobodan Milosevic, the Rw
Read more: Genocide , Terrorism , Nuclear

Good to Know: Maslow’s Hierarchy
2007-10-09 16:36:09
Maslow’s hierarchy is neither incredibly new nor incredibly novel. If Wikipedia’s to be believed, the idea was originally published in 1943 in a paper called “A Theory of Human Motivation.” Further, it’s an idea that, once known, seems to have been all but self-evident the whole time. Maslow’s basic idea is that certain needs always take precedence over others. That there are primitive or basic needs that, if unfulfilled, leave people unable to seek higher—perhaps one could say more evolved—needs. In short, if one has a desperate need to eat, they’ll be unable to contemplate their position in life and reach any type of self-actualization. Because self-actualization is a higher—which is to say less essential—need, it loses out not only to physiological needs, but also to the need to be loved. In Maslow’s system, there are five levels, as the pyramid above shows. The most basic level is the physiological—thing
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Review: Ken Burns’s The War
2007-10-08 16:22:03
The latest Ken Burns ’s epic The War aired on PBS over the last two weeks. The fifteen-hour program tells about America’s involvement in in the Second World War by focusing on four towns: Mobile, Alabama; Luverne, Minnesota; Sacramento, California; and Waterbury, Connecticut. In choosing this device, Burns his made a film both richer and narrower than some would like it to be. The most visible and earliest criticism of The War came from Hispanic and Native American groups, disappointed by their absence from the film. Having already cut the final version, Burns tried to remedy this problem by cutting add-on parts for local PBS station to air after each of the seven sections. This method has a least one obvious problem: it feels tacked on. The stories told in these additions are no better or worse than those told within the 15-hour epic, but they feel separate from the America explored in the film—a symptom of the very problem they were intended to fix. Despite this flaw


OPW: “To My Yugoslavian In-Laws”
2007-10-05 10:26:24
On today’s “Other People’s Words,” a poem about people, places, and distance. Debra Gingrich’s “To My Yugoslavian In-Laws” is about all that we have in common, and a few of the things we don’t. If we could speak, I would tell you that we have trees here too, and rivers. I know how to hammer a nail. Transatlantic phone calls are expensive, even for us with our two cars, dishwasher and American salaries. That he will not get lazy or forget about the ways he needed to make money during the war, the merchandise exchanged in dark corners of Turkey. He is still thankful for good health. He passes on every kiss you tell him to give me. I would admit that he misses the stone beaches of the Adriatic, he accepts the Atlantic’s murky water as part of the compromise. He thinks Lancaster’s streets are too vacant at night and there is no place to ride a bike. Also, that I wouldn’t take your name and will never believe the wine in the


Learning How To PBS
2007-10-04 13:57:56
Though I believe everything I say in this, I do recognize that the whole thing feels slightly absurd. I decided to keep it that way, either because I have or because I lack good judgment. Which of those two it is, I’m not sure. Fewer Americans know how to PBS than would like to admit it. This is neither unexpected nor a serious problem. I know it took me a while, and a series of happy accidents, to learn how. But I’m glad I did. If you were wondering, “to PBS” hasn’t been included in any dictionary to date, but it’s an idea whose time has come. Since I believe I made up this verb, I have the power to offer some synonyms, variously we could have “to NPR,” “to watch documentaries,” and sometimes even “to read.” As the synonyms suggest, PBSing is not really about the network itself. But to PBS properly one must possess the will, determination, time, or attention span to do it. Preferably you’ll have all four, b
Read more: Learning

The Trouble with Myanmar
2007-10-03 11:48:22
It would be easy to say that the trouble with Myanmar—Burma if you’re a traditionalist, rebel, or new arrival from the 1990s—is that it’s ruled by an exceptionally undemocratic junta, which is willing to its exploit its citizens, even the clergy, and considers force a perfectly reasonable option in the face of dissent. And indeed, Burma’s current situation look a great deal like its problems of 1988—when an estimated 3000 protesters were killed. Or like China’s well-documented problem at Tienanmen in 1989. All situations that ended with violent suppression of protests that arose because of the failures of a repressive regime to fulfill the wishes of its citizens. In these situations, the protesters hope to, if not end the ruling regime, bring more humane treatment for citizens and potentially a dialogue about moving toward democracy. And in all of these examples and more, this does not happen. By now, in Myanmar, this desirable result seems all
Read more: Trouble

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