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Coronavirus – Its Time To Press Your Government To React Faster
The New York Times abuses the coronavirus pandemic to push more of its anti-China propaganda:
The New York Times @nytimes – 10:40 UTC · Feb 28, 2020
The Chinese government silenced whistle-blowers, withheld information and played down the threat of the new coronavirus. Now the ruling Communist Party is trying to rehabilitate its image by rebranding itself as the leader in the fight against the virus.
China Spins Coronavirus Crisis, Hailing Itself as a Global Leader
The propaganda push suggests the Chinese government might be worried about the lasting damage of the outbreak.
When a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown origin appeared in Wuhan the first reaction was of course confusion and not an immediate large scale response. Yes, China could have been a bit faster and some local administrators made mistakes, but who please, if not the Chinese government, has since led the global fight against the novel coronavirus?
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The report of the WHO mission to China is lauding it for good reasons:
China’s bold approach to contain the rapid spread of this new respiratory pathogen has changed the course of a rapidly escalating and deadly epidemic. A particularly compelling statistic is that on the first day of the advance team’s work there were 2478 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in China. Two weeks later, on the final day of this Mission, China reported 409 newly confirmed cases. This decline in COVID-19 cases across China is real.
It is the U.S. which is lagging in the fight as it still can not even test people who need to be tested:
Cont. reading: Coronavirus – Its Time To Press Your Government To React Faster
Syria – Deadly Bomb Strike Warns Turkey To End Its Escapades
The last three days of the Idleb campaign were quite eventful.
The Turkey supported Jihadis threw everything they had against Saraqib where the M4 and M5 highways join. This enabled the Syrian army to take some 40 towns and cities at the southern front. The whole Ghab plain has now been liberated and the frontline has been massively shortened.
Idleb governorate Feb 25 2020
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Idleb governorate Feb 28 2020
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Saraqib fell to the Jihadis but they paid a very bloody price for it as the Syrian and Russian airforce continued to intensively bomb the approaches to the city. A new defensive line has now been established around Saraqib and the Syrian army is preparing to recover it.
Cont. reading: Syria – Deadly Bomb Strike Warns Turkey To End Its Escapades
As Virus Spreads Over The Planet Governments Are Slow To React
After a uneven first response China did its very best to limit the spread of the nCov-19 virus and the Covid-19 disease the virus causes. The extreme quarantine, which began in mid January, has come at a great economic cost but bought the rest of the world time to prepare for the inevitable surfacing of the virus in other countries.
Unfortunately many governments did not use the month given to them and botched their responses. The number of newly confirmed cases per day outside of China is now bigger than the new daily number inside of China. South Korea alone reported 334 new confirmed cases today while the much larger China only reported 433.
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China has shown that it is possible to successfully fight and stop the epidemic. Unfortunately other countries are not ready to follow its example. This is now making it likely that the epidemic in China will become a pandemic and will spread mostly uninhibited all over the globe.
Cont. reading: As Virus Spreads Over The Planet Governments Are Slow To React
The British Kangaroo Court Proceedings Against Julian Assange
Britain is currently holding an obscene show trial against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The hearing is designed to end with the extradition of Assange to the United States or with his death. In the U.S. he would be accused of a conspiracy to reveal secrets and put into jail for the rest of his life.
Over the years Wikileaks has revealed material on many important issues. As Patrick Cockburn remarked: With WikiLeaks, Julian Assange did what all journalists should aspire to do. Wikileaks provided the material its sources revealed to partner media who profited from it, but then went on to betray Assange. As Kit Klarenberg wrote a few days ago: ‘They Should Be In Jail’: How The Guardian and New York Times ‘Set Up’ Julian Assange.
Those who are not familiar with the false case against Julian Assange should read this interview with Nils Melzer, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, who provides detailed insight. In Melzer's learned view Assange, as the main editor of Wikileaks, has not committed any crime.
Melzer has also written at his medium page about the case:
The false 'rape' case in Sweden which was used to incarcerate Assange is also detailed in Marcello Ferrada de Noli's book: Sweden’s Geopolitical Case Against Assange 2010-2019. It can be downloaded for free.
That the current extradition case against Assange is crooked and that a bad outcome is likely assured can be deducted from the persons behind the current proceedings. Matt Kennard and Mark Curtis at Declassified UK have done some digging:
Craig Murray and Kevin Gosztola are in the court room to document the proceedings. Gosztola tweets live (day 1, day 2, day 3) from the Woolwich courthouse in London and provides daily write ups at Shadowproof.com:
Ambassador Craig Murray publishes daily summaries at his site:
George Galloway held a speech yesterday about the abstruse processes around the hearing. The video of it is here.
One hopes that the British court will not extradite but free Assange. Unfortunately that seems currently unlikely. But the case will be fought hard and over many month and sometimes good things do happen.
Open Thread 2020-15
For commenting on the 2020 presidential election use the 2020 Presidential Election Thread 01.
Other news & views can be posted here.
2020 Presidential Election Thread 01
This thread is exclusively for comments on the 2020 presidential election.
Syria – Army Moves To Liberate M4 Highway – Turkish Russian Standoff Continues
The Syrian Arab Army continues its campaign to liberate Idleb governorate. The current main area of operation is in the southeast of the terrorist held area where the SAA attacks in a northern and western direction. The aim of the operation is to bring the M4 highway from Latakia to Aleppo under government control.
Idleb governorate Feb 17 2020
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During the last two days more than 20 towns and villages in the southeast have been liberated. The enemy lines in the area have broken down and the remaining resistance is not strong.
Idleb governorate Feb 25 2020
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A fighter and 'war correspondent' on the 'rebel' side explains why the Syrian army can make such fast progress:
Cont. reading: Syria – Army Moves To Liberate M4 Highway – Turkish Russian Standoff Continues
The MoA Week In Review – Open Thread 2020-14
Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:
Related:
Putin keen to cool Turkish hawk down – Pepe Escobar
An hour ago the Russian air force bombed a convoy of Jihadis and Turkish soldiers near Jabal al Zawiyah. Syrian artillery fired on another Turkish convoy. There were Turkish casualties in both incidents. Erdogan can do nothing about it except to order his troops to retreat.
Related:
Intelligence Sources: All Candidates Are Russian Agents But Pete Buttigieg – Caitlin Johnstone
National Security Experts Dismiss ‘Hysteria Over Russia’ Allegedly Supporting Bernie Sanders Law and Crime
“One of the best ways to undermine American democracy is for the media to constantly tell Americans that our democratic system is run by a foreign power, that polls [and] debate outcomes are based not on the appeal of our politicians but from the invisible hand of an enemy government,” explained Northeastern University Associate Professor and Quincy Institute Fellow Max Abrahms.
Other issues:
Long reads on the changing global role of the U.S. of A.:
America in Distress: The Challenges of Disadvantageous Change – Chas Freeman
Trump’s Vanished ‘Liberal Middles’ – Alastair Crooke
Netanyahoo asks Al Thani to finance Hamas:
Mossad Chief Visited Doha, Urged Qataris to Continue Gaza Financial Aid – Haaretz
Use as open thread …
Mike Bloomberg Is A Russian Asset
A careful reading of the news provides that Mike Bloomberg, who had two Russian grandfathers, is Putin's asset.
Consider:
Lawmakers Are Warned That Russia Is Meddling to Re-elect Trump – New York Times, February 20 2020
Rather than impersonating Americans as they did in 2016, Russian operatives are working to get Americans to repeat disinformation, the officials said. That strategy gets around social media companies’ rules that prohibit “inauthentic speech.”
It is Bloomberg, working as a Russian operative, who pays the trolls that repeat disinformation.
Twitter suspends 70 pro-Bloomberg 'spam' accounts – The Hill, February 21, 2020
The temporary employees recruited by Bloomberg’s camp are given the title “deputy field organizer” and make $2,500 a month to promote his White House bid among their followers. The employees can choose to use campaign-approved language in their posts.
Twitter said the practice violated its “Platform Manipulation and Spam Policy,” which was established in 2019 to respond to Russia’s expansive troll network that was tapped in 2016 to meddle in the U.S. elections.
"Got it."
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And this:
Bernie Sanders briefed by U.S. officials that Russia is trying to help his presidential campaign – Washington Post, February 21 2020
In that closed hearing for the House Intelligence Committee, lawmakers were also told that Sanders had been informed about Russia’s interference. The prospect of two rival campaigns both receiving help from Moscow appears to reflect what intelligence officials have previously described as Russia’s broader interest in sowing division in the United States and uncertainty about the validity of American elections.
Here are Bloomberg's behind the scene machinations which are sowing division and uncertainty about the validity of American elections. This is exactly what Russia wants.
Bloomberg quietly plotting brokered convention strategy – Politico, February 20, 2020
Mike Bloomberg is privately lobbying Democratic Party officials and donors allied with his moderate opponents to flip their allegiance to him — and block Bernie Sanders — in the event of a brokered national convention.
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It’s a presumptuous play for a candidate who hasn’t yet won a delegate or even appeared on a ballot. And it could also bring havoc to the convention, raising the prospect of party insiders delivering the nomination to a billionaire over a progressive populist.
Lock him up!
Cont. reading: Mike Bloomberg Is A Russian Asset
Coronavirus – The Decline Of New Cases Continues – Economic Ripples Begin To Emerge
China is making more progress in the fight against the novel coronavirus while other countries see increased problems. Meanwhile the global economic damage that the epidemic causes is slowly coming into view.
In our last discussion of the Coronavirus epidemic in China we criticized a statistical change made by the Chinese authorities:
The Chinese government has added a new category of infections to the total number of COVID-19 cases. So far there were two published categories. 'Suspected cases', which were people who may have come in contact with the virus and showed flu symptoms, and 'confirmed cases' of patients who fell ill and where the virus was found during tests. Now people who show signs of pneumonia will be added to the confirmed COVID-19 cases even when the tests do not find the nCov19 virus in their body.
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The new count will thereby include a lot of people who simply have a common flu. That seems to make little sense.
Those who had fallen into the new category had a death rate that was much smaller than the original COVID-19 cases. That proved that a simple diagnose of pneumonia is not a reliable indicator for a nCoV19 virus infection.
Yesterday the Chinese authorities reversed their position. 'Clinically diagnosed' cases, people with only signs of pneumonia, are no longer included in the published numbers. This led to a drastic fall in new cases reported yesterday.
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The data reported today showed a drastic increase in cases as two prisons, which had for some reason never reported any cases, were suddenly included with a total of some 500 new confirmed and suspected cases. The communist party manager of at least one of the prisons was immediately removed from his job.
Cont. reading: Coronavirus – The Decline Of New Cases Continues – Economic Ripples Begin To Emerge
Sanders Wins Democrats Primary Debate
The various reflections of last night's debate between Democratic party primary candidates give a consistent picture.
- Bloomberg lost. He had brought a wallet to a knife fight and made a generally bad impression. Even the news service that carries his name headlined: Bloomberg Hammered.
- Buttigieg was again exposed as the soulless fluff he is.
- Biden is frail, confused and talks too much.
- Warren gets some points for hammering Bloomberg. But that is it.
- Klobuchar gets points for hating Buttigieg but is otherwise too robotic to attract votes.
- Sanders ably defended his positions against attacks from all sides.
- Tulsi Gabbard was unfortunately not invited.
This impression seems to be correct:
Carl Beijer @CarlBeijer – 3:01 UTC · 20 Feb 2020
Bernie Sanders is debating like a frontrunner, confidently advancing his agenda and fending off attacks.
Everyone else is frantically trying to make some kind of game-changer happen, throwing up one-liners and cutthroat attacks like Hail Marys with the clock winding down.
The Democrats will likely have a brokered convention. If there is no candidate who gets a majority in the first round, hand selected 'superdelegates' will also vote. They will select the candidate the party's paymasters want. They may even try to rerun Hillary Clinton through this backdoor.
Op-eds that argue for such sham democratic processes are already getting published. Even under the slogan "Democracy Dies in Darkness":
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(The Washington Post changed the above headline after it had caused an outrage on social media.)
Cont. reading: Sanders Wins Democrats Primary Debate
Open Thread 2020-13
Syria – Turkey’s Bluff Is Called – Media Opposition Sources Run By British Intelligence
Russia has called Turkey's bluff of a wide ranging attack on Syrian government forces. The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan will now have to find a way out of the Idleb trap he set himself in. His excellent Syria adventure is coming to an end.
Meanwhile we learn that the British military intelligence ran another large dis-information campaign that brought 'Syrian voices' into the 'western' press.
Erdogan continues with his wild rhetoric over Syria.
#ERDOGAN: "#Turkey cannot be confined within the 780,000 km2 border. #Misrata, #Aleppo, #Homs & #Hasaka are outside our actual borders, but they are within our emotional & physical limits, we will confront those who limit our history to only 90yrs."
The Turkish talks with Russia have not gone well. Russia had proposed the following points:
1- 16-km border strip in Idlib under Turkey control
2- Russia controls crossing between Idlib strip and Afrin
3- M4 and M5 opened under joint Russian-Turkish supervision
4- Retreat of observation points to border strip
Some ten of Turkey's observation points are currently surrounded by the Syrian army. If Turkey starts to escalate they will be in a dire situation.
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Turkey rejected the Russian proposal:
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Feb. 19 that talks with Russia on the northwestern Syrian region of Idlib were far from meeting Turkey's demands and warned that a military operation there was a "matter of time".
"As with all [previous] operations, we say 'we could suddenly come one night.' In other words, an Idlib operation is a matter of time," Erdoğan said. He was referring to the previous three Turkish operations to northern Syria since 2016.
"We are entering the last days for the [Syrian] regime to stop its hostility in Idlib. We are making our final warnings," he added. “Turkey has made all preparations to carry out its own operation plans in Idlib."
Russia called a Turkish attack the worst case scenario:
Cont. reading: Syria – Turkey’s Bluff Is Called – Media Opposition Sources Run By British Intelligence
Afghan Election Drama Threatens Trump’s Deal With The Taliban
Donald Trump wants a murky peace deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan to better his chance for a reelection. A seven day long 'reduction in violence' phase was supposed to begin this week after which the Taliban and the U.S. would sign a longer term agreement. Only after that would talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban begin.
But a conflict over the presidential election in Afghanistan now threatens to blow up the whole process.
Some people in Kabul always disliked Trump's plan as they were not included in it:
In a clear sign of internal rift, Afghan government's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on Monday criticized official handling of the peace process with the Taliban.
Chairing a meeting of the ministers at his office, Abdullah stressed all political parties and groups should be involved in the proposed negotiation team.
“Peace is not one person's monopoly, one person's wish — but it is a collective desire, and the people of Afghanistan have the right to take a position regarding the peace process,” Tolo News, a local broadcaster, quoted Abdullah as saying.
Today the Afghan election commission announced the final election results and declared President Ashraf Ghani as winner. Abdullah is, like in 2014, not happy with this and now threatens to install a parallel government:
Afghan presidential election challenger Abdullah Abdullah on Tuesday contested final results that declared incumbent President Ashraf Ghani the winner of a September presidential poll, vowing to form a parallel government.
"Our team, based on clean and biometric votes, is the victor and we declare our victory. The fraudsters are the shame of history and we announce our inclusive government," Abdullah said at a press conference in Kabul.
Earlier on Tuesday, Afghan election officials said final results showed he had won 39.52 percent of last September's vote while Ghani had taken 50.64 percent, above the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid another run-off.
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The delay left Afghanistan facing a political crisis just as the US seeks a deal with the Taliban that would allow it to withdraw troops in return for various security guarantees and a promise that the militants would hold peace talks with the Afghan government.
Abdullah lost to Ghani in 2014 in a divisive election that saw the US intervene to broker an awkward power-sharing deal between the two rivals.
Abdullah (yellow) is the 'Northern Alliance' representative. His voters are mostly Tajik, Uzbeks and Hazara while Pashtun voters are favoring Ghani (red).
Source – AAN – bigger
Cont. reading: Afghan Election Drama Threatens Trump’s Deal With The Taliban
Syria – Aleppo Is Fully Liberated But The War Will Continue
Since last week's post on the Syrian Idleb campaign the Syrian army has again made extraordinary progress.
Idleb governorate Feb 10 2020
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The M5 highway is under full control of the Syrian Army. The Jihadis, under threat of an encirclement, fled from the area west of Aleppo city. The suburbs and villages west of Aleppo have all been liberated. Last night the people of Aleppo celebrated. Nearly eight years after the 2012 invasion of east-Aleppo by Jihadists they will no longer have to endure random mortar and missile attacks. The international airport of Aleppo will now be reopened. The first flights are planned for Wednesday.
Cont. reading: Syria – Aleppo Is Fully Liberated But The War Will Continue
The MoA Week In Review – Open Thread 2020-12
Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:
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The M5 highway is librated and safe and the western suburbs of Aleppo are currently being cleaned of filth.
Five Jihadi counterattacks with Turkish artillery support and seven suicide vehicles were defeated.
The next operation will attempt to liberate the M4 highway in a more mountainous are and thereby more difficult.
Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review – Open Thread 2020-12
Oligarch Buys Political Party – Seeks to Become President
Mike Bloomberg is the world's ninth richest person. An oligarch known for strong racism and insulting sexism who once was the Republican mayor of New York City. He since decided that he wants to become president.
As he saw no chance to run for a Republican party that is happy with Trump he filed to run as a Democratic candidate. Bloomberg has since bought the Democratic Party in every state as well as the DNC:
The DNC told Mike Gravel they wouldn't change the debate rules for any candidate. "That's our #1 rule – we can't change the rules for anybody."
A few months later, they changed the debate rules to let oligarch Bloomberg into the debates… after he gave the DNC $300K.
His political tactic is very simple. He does not talk about issues, as people would not like what he has to say, but simply spends tons of money:
He’s dropping huge sums of money: on staff and resources, on TV advertisements, and on Facebook ads, where Trump has long dominated. And he’s attempting to overcome his stodgy public image with the help of a meme army and through well-catered campaign events seemingly designed to convince voters that life under a wealthy technocrat might not be so bad. “I think it’s classy,” one supporter told the Times at a Philadelphia campaign rally complete drink station and a selection of cheesesteaks, hoagies, and brie-and-fig appetizers. “I feel like it’s a nightclub in here. This is what he needs to get people going.”
To this date Bloomberg has spent more than $350 million for his campaign. He is willing and can afford to put several billions into it. Over the years Bloomberg has given more than $10 billion to build a political and philanthropical empire. He used that money to suppress voices critical of him:
In 2015, Center for American Progress researchers wrote a report on U.S. Islamophobia, w/a 4300-word chapter on the Bloomberg-era NYPD.
When the report was published, the chapter was gone.
By then, Bloomberg had given CAP ~$1.5mm. That number has grown.
The really bad thing is that it works:
3 months ago, polls found Mike Bloomberg “widely disliked” with the highest negatives in the race. Now he’s a top 3 contender for the Democratic nomination. One of the richest humans ever is trying to upend every part of the process. And this is just the stuff we know about.
The Democratic Party and lots of its bought off functionaries seem to be happy with this. They do not mind that it makes the U.S. look worse than the Ukraine. Yes, U.S. politics are always corrupt. But outright buying one's way into office is exceeding the usual stench.
But would Bloomberg, with Hillary Clinton as running mate, really be able to bring out the votes that are needed to beat Trump? I for one doubt it.
Atrios is appalled by the whole scheme but still falls for it:
Bloomberg is bad for lots of reasons, and one of them is PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE SO WILLING TO EMBRACE A BILLIONAIRE WHO IS BUYING (not just ads, but people) THE ELECTION WITH HIS ABSURD FORTUNE. I mean, ok, sure, if it's BLOOMBERG OR TRUMP I'll choose Bloomberg, but why are people establishing this as the choice? It's absurd. The only person who can beat an asshole (fake, I know) billionaire is another asshole billionaire? Broken brains everywhere.
"[I]f it's BLOOMBERG OR TRUMP I'll choose Bloomberg" is, in my view, exactly the wrong response to this hijacking of a party and election. It is this behavior that makes Bloomberg's move possible in the first place.
Any good response to billionaires hijacking elections must demonstrate that campaigns by rich people have a high risk of failing. To vote for a third party or to abstain is the only responsible reaction to it.
Leak Says U.S. Deal With The Taliban Will Allow For Permanent Troop Stay. But Is It True?
U.S. President Donald Trump said yesterday that a peace deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan is likely. The U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been negotiating with a Taliban delegation in Qatar for over a year and a deal during an election year would be a great political price for Trump.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper told NATO allies that the U.S. and the Taliban have agreed "in principle" on a "seven-day reduction in violence" in Afghanistan as a test for an upcoming deal:
Seven days would be “sufficient” to test whether the Taliban was serious about moving toward a peace deal, Esper said.
“But in all things, our approach to this process will be conditions-based,” Esper said. “Let me say it again: conditions-based. So it will be a continual evaluative process as we go forward, if we go forward.”
Esper declined to comment on whether the U.S. would cease counterterrorism operations during any period of reduced violence, saying talks were ongoing.
Little is known of what a peace deal would look like.
The Taliban have insisted that all foreign troops have to leave Afghanistan. The U.S. insists to keep a 'counter terrorism force' in the country.
How could these position ever align?
There is also the small issue of the U.S. supported government in Kabul which so far has not taken part in any negotiations. If the U.S. stops fighting the Taliban Kabul would soon be in their hands. All the grifter who got rich by defrauding the occupation forces would lose their income. It is hard to see how the nominal government of Afghanistan could agree to make nice with the Taliban.
But some deal is in the making and Time now claims to have secret annexes of the U.S.-Taliban agreement that might explain what is happening:
Cont. reading: Leak Says U.S. Deal With The Taliban Will Allow For Permanent Troop Stay. But Is It True?
Coronavirus – Statistical Change Causes Confusion – New Case Count Continues To Decline
The battle against the infections with the novel coronavirus in China continues. China is doing its best to win it.
The declining trend of the number of newly suspected and newly confirmed cases per day is now obvious to everyone.
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There was a change in the nomenclature of the illness. The not yet official name of the novel coronavirus is 2019-nCoV or nCoV19. The illness the virus causes is now officially named COVID-19. This is the same difference as between HIV, the virus, and AIDS, the illness the virus causes.
The Chinese government has added a new category of infections to the total number of COVID-19 cases. So far there were two published categories. 'Suspected cases', which were people who may have come in contact with the virus and showed flu symptoms, and 'confirmed cases' of patients who fell ill and where the virus was found during tests.
Now people who show signs of pneumonia will be added to the confirmed COVID-19 cases even when the tests do not find the nCov19 virus in their body. The same criteria will retroactively apply to the number of dead. People who died while showing signs of pneumonia are now counted as COVID-19 casualties even when their virus tests were negative.
Cont. reading: Coronavirus – Statistical Change Causes Confusion – New Case Count Continues To Decline
Open Thread 2020-11
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