#Shamnesty International Rides Again!

From Paul de Rooij March 23 ‘Amnesty International: Trumpeting for War… Again’, counterpunch.org
“One must marvel at the first few paragraphs of Amnesty International’s recent press release:

“The international community’s catastrophic failure to take concrete action to protect the people of Syria has allowed parties to the conflict, most notably the Syrian government, to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity with complete impunity, often with assistance of outside powers, particularly Russia. Every year we think it is just not possible for parties to the conflict to inflict more suffering on civilians, and yet, every year, they prove us wrong…

Right now, in Eastern Ghouta 400,000 men, women and children, who have been living under an unlawful government siege for six years, are being starved and indiscriminately bombed by the Syrian government with the backing of Russia. […] The international community had said ‘never again’ after the government devastated Eastern Aleppo with similar unlawful tactics. But here we are again. Armed opposition groups have retaliated by indiscriminately shelling two villages in Idleb, which they have also besieged since 2014.”

Rooij calls this an unambiguous call for, and justification for war by NATO, another R2P effort as in Libya, leaving no doubt as to is culpable and who deserving of a ‘humanitarian bombing’ campaign.  He suggests considering AI’s history in expansive propaganda efforts on the eves of other wars in the past, and how AI’s reporting on Syria differs from that of other countries in the area.

A sorry record, but a few mentions:

“Before the US invasion to ouster the Iraqis from Kuwait, president George Bush Sr. appeared on TV holding an Amnesty International report claiming that Iraqi soldiers had dumped babies out of incubators. That was Amnesty International’s willing participation in spreading a hoax — a hoax fabricated by a major American PR company.

In the months prior to the US-NATO attack on Serbia, Amnesty-USA put two Croatian women on a ten city-speaking-tour to project their account of their “rape-camp” ordeal — in reality one of them was a top Croatian propaganda official, a close advisor to president Tudjman, who was also known for her acting abilities. Again, this hoax was pushed by a major American PR company.

AI’s coverage/non-coverage of Israeli mass crimes also deserves to be analysed. In this case, Amnesty plays a role in adulterating and reducing criticism after wars or the misery caused by its continuous occupation and abuse of the Palestinians (discussed below).  Amnesty International-Israel served as a propaganda front busy manipulating “human rights” reports to suit Israel’s interests.  AI-London has not commented on the manipulation by its Israeli siblings.

In 2012, Amnesty erected advertising posters in the US applauding NATO’s actions in Afghanistan — “Keep the progress going”, purportedly doing something for women’s rights. This was merely crass pro-NATO pro-interventionist propaganda.

Amnesty-France was instrumental in propagating anti-Libyan propaganda prior to the NATO bombing of the country in 2011.”

In the ha-ha category, he writes that when queried about their support for war, a spox said that they aren’t anti-war really, which accorded with his description ‘their lame equivocations about wars’, and the organization was even awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

But now they’ve even given up that ruse with its ‘never again’ standing for mass crimes, an appeal Rooij notes is an appeal to holocaust survivors.

In his Syria today section he offers narrative including:

The Syrian government is presently rolling back the jihadis who had managed to establish themselves in an area next to Damascus.  No government would tolerate to have a section of their capital city under jihadi control, an area from which the rest of the city is mortared, and an area vital to control the water supply of the city.  What would happen if jihadis took over Arlington, VA, and used it to bomb the center of Washington DC? The response would be self-evident.  For some reason AI doesn’t bestow this right of self-defence to the Syrian government, but instead refers to an “unlawful government siege [of Ghouta] for six years”.  This is laughable.

It is remarkable to find that in none of the latest press releases or reports does AI discuss the nature of the armed groups fighting in Syria.  Even those referred to as “moderates” by Washington are a rather unsavoury bunch.  Most of them are foreign jihadis; a good portion of them are Saudis. (NB: Saudis offered political and criminal prisoners a way out of jail on condition of going to fight in Syria.) And they are armed/trained/financed by the US/UK/Saudi/Emirates/Turkey/Qatar… to the tune of at least $12 billion.  The former US ambassador to Syria stated that the US contribution was at least $12bn; this figure excludes the funds provided by the Saudis and other regimes in the area.  Gareth Porter reports that the quantities of weapons supplied to the jihadis were enough to equip an army.  Yet, this armed gang of jihadis is barely mentioned in Amnesty’s assessment of the situation in Syria.  In Ghouta, the jihadis belong to the Nusra front (or one of its rebranded versions), that is, a group with an extreme ideology; they are an Al-Qaeda offshoot.  AI’s press release doesn’t mention this salient fact.”

Oopsie…

And there is a double standard

This section is worth reading in entirety, but on Israel war crimes ‘cautious, coy, and full of ‘alleged’ sort of minimizing, and “There are no appeals to the “international community” which should not stand by, “never again…”

As to Syria, this is good, although I’m ambivalent as to his last sentence:

In the current press release, AI unambiguously states that both Syria and Russia are committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.  And if this is the case, there is an obligation for other states to act, to intervene.  AI is not requesting an investigation, it is urging intervention.

While in the Israeli case AI states that crimes are committed on both sides, when it comes to Syria it is only the Syrian government that is deemed culpable.  It is difficult to remove entrenched well armed jihadis who use residents as human shields.  Jihadis dig themselves in and around hospitals and schools, and when action is taken against them there, the likes of Amnesty utter their clucking sounds.”

A bit more on Double Standards:

“In its latest statement AI states: “It must also send a strong message that those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity will be held accountable, by referring the situation to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.”  Fair enough.  In 2002, Donatella Rovera, an AI researcher on the Middle East, was queried about why AI didn’t make a similar demand to hold Israel accountable at the ICC or ICJ, and she stated that AI didn’t make such demands.  Another standard applies.”

Quoting more of Shamnesty’s press release,

“Like many Syrians, the humanitarian worker expressed deep distrust of the government.” Or “We hear rumours of reconciliation but that can never happen. The government hates us…”  And other such unverifiable statements.”

Yes, he’d pictured what I had: the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Observatory (SOHR) which vaunted and oft-quoted organization he deconstructs as:

A Syrian furniture salesman based in Coventry, a small city in the UK, runs the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).  Sitting in his living room, he produces reports about the latest atrocities, chemical attacks, and every other sordid detail to tarnish the Syrian government’s image.  He reaches his mysterious sources by phone, invariably someone hostile to the Syrian government.”

I’m pretty sure that even the NYT was forced to finally admit to that Truth at some point rather recently.  Or, he wonders “Is it the White Helmets” (an award-winning Netflix psyop beyond compare, imo)?  Speaking of which, the Big News is that Susan Rice just joined the Netflix Team on the Board of (Psyop) Directors?  Can we give her some applause, please?  C’mon; if you heart Susie, give her the clap, okay?

Ah, well, clever sods that you are, you’ll have already have anticipated what’s in this section.

The main playbook (but on to):

Other examples….

….the most telling of which is SI’s multimedia presentation of ‘the purported abuses in the Saydnaya Prison’.  Curious, I found this epic critique: ‘‘Amnesty International Admits Syrian “Saydnaya” Report Fabricated Entirely in UK’, offguardian.org Feb.2, 2107, Tony Cartalucci from Land Destroyer , including the video

Now the author doesn’t mention specific motivations for this call to arms by AI such as Pepe Escobar’s contention that Syria is the ultimate pipelinestan warto break the Tehran-Damascus alliance. And ultimately, how to break the Tehran-Moscow alliance. But it also includes isolating energy coordination among them, to the benefit of the Gulf petrodollar clients/vassals linked to US energy giant.” or any such other,  what he does write is that:

“Harvey Weinstein, the sexual predator, made Amnesty International USA possible — he provided the funds necessary to establish the organisation. [13]  Weinstein didn’t put up the funds because he fancied AI’s lovely researchers.  People put up funds for such organisations to shape the way abuses and crimes are reported.  In Weinstein’s case, his ardent devotion to Israel might explain his financial contribution to Amnesty USA.  Amnesty is also a conduit to push propaganda desired by those who foster such organisations.  The very nature of “human rights”, its very flexible nature, lends itself to prime manipulation.”

Should he rather have said ‘alleged’ sexual predator?  I’m at least a bit agnostic about it, not knowing if he’d ever asked for his day in court.  At any rate, their ‘about’ page says that they’re ’funded by members…and people like you’.

But to add a bit of satire to the mixture,

‘We’re coming out of Syria very soon, let others take care of it – Trump’, via RT, 29 Mar, 2018

“President Donald Trump has made a surprise announcement that US forces will be withdrawing from Syria, citing the defeat of Islamic State and the need to defend US borders and rebuild “crumbling” infrastructure.

“We’re coming out of Syria very soon. Let the other people take care of it now,” Trump said during a speech in Richfield, Ohio on Thursday, dedicated to his infrastructure initiative.”

Will his Generals agree?  Will… (drum roll please…): John Bolton?  Or is that dirty-scrub-brush-moustached loose cannon too busy gamin’ war with…Iran, Russia, North Korea…?  You’ll let me know if he’s already been fired, won’t you?

(cross-posted from Café Babylon)

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wendy davis's picture

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Somebody (or somebodies) are obviously using AI to push their unspoken political agendas, all under the facade of furthering human rights. This is what is behind AI's double standards.

So . . .

Who are these "somebodies?"

Who are they affiliated with?

The U.S. Government?

Pro-Israel/Zionist operatives?

The neocons?

Oil companies?

Weapons manufacturers?

Somebody else?

Have they taken over or silently infiltrated the board of the organization over the course of recent time?

Has such a take over been the result of a sneaky, underhanded strategy?

Have these types of hidden political agendas that result in dishonest double-standards always been part of AI, or are they something relatively recent in its history?

It seems to me some kind of expose or investigative piece dealing with these issues is in order here.

Has anyone engaged in such a journalistic enterprise already? Anyone know?

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@SoylentGreenisPeople

if anyone has written about a possible takeover of this organization, but when I see a change in position of this kind I suspect money has been brought to bear. The suspects you listed are elements of the war machine, and their financial resources are virtually limitless.

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wendy davis's picture

@SoylentGreenisPeople

beholder' once again. i reckon pepe escobar may be correct, but i've been following @wrongkindofgreen and @elle provacateur (cory morningstar) since rio 20 sustainability conference (although rather unknowingly) in what? 2012? i do remember putting up a long explanation of compromised NGOs and the non-profit industrial complex here some time ago before i thought i'd been invited to leave (perhaps erroneously, as it turned out).

when did they change? i reckon follow the money and cui bono since it was founded in 1961. human rights watch (kenneth roth, soros funded) is similar, as is avaaz (2 zillion members served!) or is that cheeseburgers? same dif?

anyway, cory morningstar (and no, she may not get everything right, imo, or at least as far as i would agree with) had just retweeted this recently:

but i reckon when peeps talk about the west being run by 'the deep state', there are several of them, and the NGOs such as these are opinion makers, or...orchestrated pulses. and OMG: the philanthro-capitalists! gates, omidyar, buffet, soros, and tra la la.

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snoopydawg's picture

@wendy davis

that has turned to shit? Good lord, he's a rich fucker who should be enjoying life instead of ruining it for so many people.

I posted this in tonight's EBs which is China's response to what is happening with Russia and the Fucking countries that have lost their minds.

No one in this country has any idea what war on our soil is like, but I'm afraid that we all are going to be finding out. Damn the psychopaths who think that Russian regime change is winnable!

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

that he's using his daddy warbucks to create the world he'd like to see.

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wendy davis's picture

@SoylentGreenisPeople
here's a bit of the tick-tock info-graphic (by tim anderson who'd been in de rooij's footnotes) from 1961 w/ new directors and so on fwiw. vanessa beeley re-blogged tim hayward who also posits on his website that doctors w/o borders (MSF) might just get their info from...the white helmets, as like the syrian human rights observatory they aren't on the ground. he had a 'questions about bana alabed' (or close) piece as well.

SYRIA: Amnesty International – Regime Change Marketeers and War Promoters’ vanessa beeley, January 27, 2017, thewallwillfall

i've read too many places this a.m. to remember where, but one author writes that sir color revolution soros also funds Amnesty, so...there's that.

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Alligator Ed's picture

Thanks for enlightening me about Amnesty (Shamnesty as you call it). I was quite unaware of its hypocritical, political globalistic, neoliberal bent until now. Thinking about evolution, which alligators never do, but humans love to do, before they extinguish it with nuclear bombs, consider the evolutionary maxim: ontogeny precedes phylogeny. This is another way of saying the app;e doesn't fall far from the tree. Harvey Weinstein impresses as being a philanthropist to the same degree the Clinton Foundation does.

Like almost all elites, the charitable foundations are merely screens for deceptive purposes, ranging from agitprop to money laundering. If any here believe HW was a philanthropist, please join me in some swamp-side counseling.

How did Al-Nusra Front stay alive so long, including its multitudinous name changing? Thanks to the philanthropist Hussein, who founded the "JV" teams with our money and with the Mad Bomber's devoted aid, continuing the endeavor of our unrighteous meddling in Syria's internal affairs.

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wendy davis's picture

@Alligator Ed

on the prize, sir wally gator. ya have to look deeper into who these NGOs serve, as well as what their 'investigations' and conclusions are really about. yes, obomba knew about al-nusra, ISIS, now IS or something, and it served the war on Terr'a to let them run wild. i'd say the same for similar terr'ist groups in africa, likely so that AFRICOM can claim 'destabilization' and swoop in to yanno, fix stuff. if it means making financial deals w/ comprador african devils, that's okay, there are resources to plunder in congo, eritrea, (US promoted ad divided) south sudan....and then there are always the good folks like george clooney and don cheadle both CFR) to pump the unwary up to...R2P.

ah, fuckkit, A ed; my eyes are so crossed by now, and i'm just rambling. i may need a do-over after some zzzzleep. but here's tonight's lullaby, okay?

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWQeyy8hfqg]

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Alligator Ed's picture

@wendy davis Ya gotta know who's holding either end of the rope (trail of dollars). George Clooney is a moral midget: backing HRC and WAR, he has to be a brainwashed product of the NWO.

Great song selection.

Here's a song that mirrors my introspective mood.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQhEvfeJocM]

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wendy davis's picture

@Alligator Ed

'Look Out South Sudan: Hollywood Stars Are on the Case!', café babylon, which includes this great video and introduces their new NGO: the sentry!

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=38&v=9DXLoRMMVJ0]

but at least ken roth HRW finally got it right on new friend of the hegemon genocidaire paul kagame; rosa luxembourgeoisie responds, lol. and thanks for the song, but i may be a bit of a post-buffalo springfield neil young bigot. on music nights in the days of yore, when late at night peeps began to play neil...we knew it was time to pack up our guitars and go home (smile).

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Alligator Ed's picture

@wendy davis except with more overt blood-letting.

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wendy davis's picture

@Alligator Ed

it's another hegemonic version of pipelinestan w/ religious differences thrown in. from an oped trnn, jan 2014:

"The war in South Sudan is a proxy war between the United States and China. That is an oversimplification to say, because there are so many complicating factors involved as well. Yet the competition between the US and China cannot be dismissed either. Some complications that obfuscate the proxy war are the power struggle between corrupt elites in South Sudan and who gets to raid the treasury of billions of dollars. Another important factor that cannot be overlooked is the ethnic, religious and tribal rivalries. Then there are other foreign actors involved too. There are also many armed groups operating in South Sudan. One of them is the infamous Joseph Korny of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)."

but srsly, i kept runnin' into "george clooney" tryin' to find what i wanted.

but i finally figured out you can love neil! gators have no ears to hear that he sings like alley cats fighting. you just feel the bass and guitars bangin' away! (wd ducks)

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Big Al's picture

I think he made that announcement in some kind of speech in front of people and he obviously threw that out there as a means to praise himself when in fact, he's lying his ass off.

"President Donald Trump has made a surprise announcement that US forces will be withdrawing from Syria, citing the defeat of Islamic State and the need to defend US borders and rebuild “crumbling” infrastructure."

How could someone who has advocated for immense increases in the "imperialism" budget and decreases in domestic program budgets and should know damn well that ISIS was a US and Co. creation, say with a straight face that more money is going to be spent on die Homeland?

Only a completely narcissistic sociopath could do that.

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@Big Al @Big Al

... Only a completely narcissistic sociopath could do that.

Edit: used bolding instead of block-quotes for the 2nd time today... probably time to go curl up in bed with kitty and book...

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

wendy davis's picture

@Big Al

but sure, he was at the ohio union goldfish training institute to sell his #MAGA infrastructure scheme. and you know who will reap the rewards for all that... ha, now he's reportedly goin' after jeff bezos and his online sales, ostensibly for making retail bord and bat (or metal?) stores a thing of the past. wouldn't have anything to do with bezos owning the wapo, would it?

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Big Al's picture

@wendy davis Bezos having more money than him.

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wendy davis's picture

@Big Al

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Big Al's picture

furniture salesman in Coventry, continues to be the primary source used in the corporate media and much of the alternative media for that matter when he was exposed years ago. I wrote a couple essays about SOHR 3-4 years ago now about it yet nothing seems to faze the corporate media.

I still notice people on this site call the way in Syria a "civil war", when there is and never has been anything civil about it. But the term civil war has been pounded and pounded by the corporate media and the government for years so people become conditioned. The level of understanding of what is really happening in Syria and why is an eye-opening example of how corrupt, coordinated and effective the U.S. propaganda machine has become.

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wendy davis's picture

@Big Al

but apparently beeley and bartlett are under attack in the usual places for their fake news reporting now, and blow me away, even by sibel edmonds. quite a cat fight goin' on.

i'd forgotten to add up yonder that the shamnesty reports are searchable by country alphabetically. same msm stuff on VZ, roosia, etc. a few others aren't half-bad, lol.

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@wendy davis

there was a time I thought they did good work... sad...

Regarding something in your comment, I was watching this earlier today and dunno if you've seen it?

A detailed and, I thought, masterly breakdown of Sybil's attempts at disinformational smears and division in general, following, showing, dissecting and debunking her attacks upon Beeley and Bartlett; CIA are sneaky and evil, aren't they?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6IqyfDfImI&index=161&list=PLXctIVhQimRK...

Fact Checking Newsbud's "Syria Under Siege" Video
corbettreport

Published on 29 Mar 2018

SHOW NOTES: https://www.corbettreport.com/?p=26467

James fact checks Newsbud's recent "Syria Under Siege" video and comes to some unfortunate conclusions.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

wendy davis's picture

@Ellen North

and thank you. i'd grabbed the url from the show notes earlier, but ack: 1:40 minutes? as far as i understand it, this was the most serious bone of contention by edmonds. if you watched, you'd know, of course.

but for posterity on a dead thread, my earlier essays that gremlins seem to have deformatted:

Exploring Compromised NGOs, Part I’, feb. 3, 2016

Compromised NGOs Part II’, feb. 11, 2016

and a good easter, april fool's day, and one day past full la luna bella...to all.

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ggersh's picture

What we read in the press is meant to be read by the racists
the deplorables, the peons, the sheep, the 47% but it's all
just Disney on paper, a story meant for the people and only
the people, tptb live in another dimension another reality.

How tptb can sleep at night frightens me cause it shouldn't
be happening at all. Soros as bad as he is has to be a fanatical
genius to be into everything that he accused of being in, the same
goes for Koch bros but to a lesser degree since they have numbers.

So while they give a blame game for people of the left and right
to entertain themselves they could care less as their only two
enemies are people of the left and right, i.e occupy, Bernie and
such and the Tea Party, right wing nut jobs on the right.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-03-30/new-satellite-imagery-charts-s...

Saudi Arabia and other oil rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) allied states like the UAE have long managed to escape the scrutiny of media and international human rights bodies thanks to their deep pockets and security relationship with the West. Their collective oil, weapons, and infrastructure investment interdependency with Britain and the US have generally translated into Western governments, media, and human rights organizations toeing the party line on the gulf sheikhdoms, content to (with a few sporadic exceptions) uncritically present them as some kind of “reform-minded” terror-fighting benevolent monarchies looking out for democratic interests and championing human rights.

This is currently being demonstrated more than ever during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's (MBS) extensive and ongoing tour of the United States after a visit to the UK earlier this month. The kingdom’s heir apparent landed in Washington nearly two weeks ago and met with Trump and other high US officials before embarking on a multi-city tour across the United States.

Last Tuesday MBS met with Bill and Hillary Clinton, Kissinger, Senator Chuck Schumer, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during a stop in New York City. On Friday, he also met with the CEOs of Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan, James Gorman and Jamie Dimon.

The perfect example of legitimizing evil as long as it's our evil.

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

wendy davis's picture

@ggersh

did you see the photos of the clown prince w/ theresa may? she was blushin' like an enchanted school gurl! guess even da queen invited him for a cuppa, lord luv a duck.

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ggersh's picture

@wendy davis May is the equivalent of trump w/out the charisma
i.e just a plain moron.

Yep, it's been a real Wheres Waldo tour....-g-

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

wendy davis's picture

@ggersh

may is the ghost of margaret thatcher, lol.

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