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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Tommy Tucker

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Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features blues songwriter and piano player Tommy Tucker. Enjoy!

^{Tommy Tucker - Hi-Heel Sneakers}

"Negotiation in the classic diplomatic sense assumes parties more anxious to agree than to disagree."

-- Dean Acheson

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News and Opinion

Achieving the Two-State Solution in the Wake of Gaza War

The two-state solution is enshrined in international law and is the only viable path to a long-lasting peace. All other solutions—a continuation of Israel’s apartheid regime, one bi-national state, or one unitary state—would guarantee a continuation of war by one side or the other or both. Yet the two-state solution seems irretrievably blocked. It is not. Here is a pathway.

The Israeli government strongly opposes a two-state solution, as does a significant proportion of the Israeli population, some on religious grounds (“God gave us the land”) and some on security grounds (“We can never be safe with a State of Palestine”). A significant proportion of Palestinians regard Israel as an illegitimate settler-colonial entity, and in any event distrust any peace process.

How then to proceed?

The usual recommendation is the following six-step sequence of events: (1) ceasefire; (2) release of hostages; (3) humanitarian assistance; (4) reconstruction; (5) peace conference for negotiations between Israel and Palestine; and finally (6) establishment of two states on agreed boundaries. This path is impossible. There is a perpetual deadlock on steps 5 and 6, and this sequence has failed for 57 years since the 1967 war.

The failure of Oslo is the paradigmatic case in point. There are irreconcilable differences, such as the status of East Jerusalem. Israeli zealots would force from power any Israeli politician who dares to give up East Jerusalem to Palestinian sovereignty and Palestinian zealots would do the same with any Palestinian leader who gave up sovereignty over East Jerusalem. We should relinquish the continuing illusion that Israel will ever reach agreement, or that Palestine would ever have the negotiating power to engage meaningfully with Israel, especially when the Palestinian Authority is highly dependent on the US and other funders.

The correct approach is therefore the opposite, starting with the establishment of two states on globally agreed boundaries, notably the boundaries of June 4, 1967 as enshrined in UN Security Council and UN General Assembly resolutions. The UN member states will have to impose the two-state solution, instead of waiting for yet another Palestinian-Israeli failed negotiation.

Thus, the settlement should follow this order: (1) establishment of Palestine as 194th member state within two-state solution framework on June 4, 1967 borders; (2) immediate ceasefire; (3) release of hostages; (4) humanitarian assistance; (5) peacekeepers, disarmament and mutual security; and (6) negotiation on modalities (settlements, return of refugees, mutually agreed land-swaps, and others; but not boundaries).

In 2011, the State of Palestine (now recognized by 140 UN member states but not yet as a UN member state itself) applied for full UN member status. The UN Security Council Committee on New Members (constituted by the UN Security Council) recognized the legitimacy of Palestine’s application, but as is utterly typical in the “peace process,” the US government prevailed on the Palestinian Authority to accept “observer status,” promising that full UN membership would soon follow. Of course, it did not.

The Security Council, backed by the UN General Assembly, has the power under the UN Charter to impose the two-state settlement. It can do so as a matter of international law, following decades of relevant resolutions. It can then enforce the solution through a combination of carrots (economic inducements, reconstruction funding, UNSC-backed peacekeepers, disarmament, border security, etc.) and sticks (sanctions for violations by either party).

The only conceivable border for creating the two-state solution is that of June 4, 1967. Starting from that border, the two sides might indeed negotiate a mutually agreed swap of land for mutual benefit, but they would do so knowing that the “best alternative to a negotiated agreement” (BATNA) is the June 4, 1967 border.

It is quite possible, indeed likely, that the US would initially veto the proposed pathway. After all, the US has already used its veto multiple times to block merely a ceasefire. Yet, the process of eliciting the US veto and then securing a large majority vote in the UN General Assembly will be salutary for three reasons.

First, US politics is shifting rapidly against Israeli policies given the US public’s growing understanding of Israel’s war crimes and Israel’s political extremism. This shift in public opinion makes it far more likely that the US leaders will sooner rather than later accept the basic approach outlined here because of US domestic political dynamics. Second, the increasing US isolation in the UN Security Council and UN General Assembly is also weighing heavily on US leaders, and forcing the US leadership to reconsider its policy positions in view of geopolitical considerations. Third, a strong vote in the UNSC and UNGA for the two-state solution on June 4, 1967 borders will help to strengthen international law and the terms of the eventual settlement as soon as the US veto is lifted.

For these reasons, there is a realistic prospect that the UN will finally exercise its international legal and political authority to create the conditions for peace.

Twenty-two years ago, Arab and Islamic leaders affirmed in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative that that the only pathway to peace is through the two-state solution. On February 7, 2024, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs reasserted that a comprehensive peace will only be achieved by recognizing an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as the capital. The Arab states and the world community generally shouldn’t buy into another vague peace process that is likely doomed to fail, especially given the urgency caused by the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the bad-will accumulated over the past 57 years of a fruitless “Peace Process.”

Peace can come through the immediate implementation of the two-state solution, making the admission of Palestine to the UN the starting point, not the ending point. Two sovereign states, on the boundaries of June 4, 1967, protected initially by UN-backed peacekeepers and other guarantees, will be the starting point for a comprehensive and just peace not only between Israel and Palestine—and also a regional peace that would secure diplomatic relations across the Middle East and end this conflict that has burdened the inhabitants, the region, and the world, for more than a century.

Palestinians ‘beaten and sexually assaulted’ at Israeli detention centres, UN report claims

An internal UN report describes widespread abuse of Palestinian detainees in Israeli detention centres, including beatings, dog attacks, the prolonged use of stress positions and sexual assault.

The report was compiled by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) and is largely based on interviews of Palestinian detainees released at the Kerem Shalom crossing point since December, when UNRWA staff were present to provide humanitarian support.

The report, which has been circulated within the UN and seen by the Guardian, says that just over 1,000 detainees have been released since December. But it estimates that more than 4,000 men, women and children have been rounded up in Gaza since the start of the current conflict, triggered by Hamas raids into southern Israel on 7 October which killed about 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians.

Israel denies the abuse allegations, which it described as Hamas-inspired propaganda. It has named 12 UNRWA staff it claims took part in the 7 October attack, and claims that 450 of the agency’s 13,000 workers in Gaza are members of Hamas or other militant groups.

The allegations, which are being studied by two separate UN inquiries, have so far not been substantiated. The UNRWA report says that its employees have been detained, many while carrying out aid work, subjected to abuse, and put under pressure to smear the agency. Their Israeli jailers, it alleges, “through beatings and other mistreatment and threats, sought to elicit operational information and forced confessions”.

UK patience with Israel wearing thin over Gaza aid, Cameron to tell Gantz

David Cameron is to tell the Israeli cabinet minister Benny Gantz that UK patience is wearing thin at the lack of humanitarian aid reaching the people of Gaza at a meeting in London on Wednesday.

The foreign secretary said that Israel, as the occupying power, had a duty under international humanitarian law to supply aid. ...

“We are facing a situation of dreadful suffering in Gaza,” he said. “I spoke some weeks ago about the danger of this tipping into famine, and the danger of illness tipping into disease. And we are now at that point. People are dying of hunger, people are dying of otherwise preventable diseases.

“We’ve had a whole set of things we’ve asked the Israelis to do, but I have to report that the amount of aid they got in in February was about half what they got in January,” he added. “So patience needs to run very thin, and a whole series of warnings need to be given, starting with the meeting I have with minister Gantz when he visits the UK tomorrow.” ...

Cameron sent a direct warning about Israel’s breach of the rules of war. “Israel is the occupying power. It is responsible,” he said. “And that has consequences, including in how we look at whether Israel is compliant with international humanitarian law.”

Israeli tanks deliberately ran over dozens of Palestinians

Israeli soldiers have been killing Palestinian civilians in Gaza by running them over with tanks and armoured vehicles, a report by the Euro-Med Human Rights monitor states. According to the report released on Monday, one of those killed was a Palestinian man in Gaza City's Zaytoun neighbourhood on 29 February. Eyewitnesses told the rights monitor that the man had his hands restrained, was stripped, and that he was alive while he was run over on asphalt.

Other similar incidents have also been carried out by the Israeli army, the rights monitor stated. ..

Running over Palestinians with heavy vehicles has been a technique employed by Israeli forces since the start of the war on Gaza on 7 October. Euro-Med documented bulldozers and tanks crushing displaced Palestinians in their tents in the courtyard of the Kamal Adwan hospital on 16 December.

Last week, Ramy Abdu, chairman of the rights group, told MEE he believed hundreds of Palestinians have been run over by Israeli tanks. Most, he said, were in northern Gaza, in places such as Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun and Zeitoun, as well as along the coastal al-Rasheed road that Palestinians have used to flee.

"The Israeli leaders themselves have adopted a strategy of demonising and dehumanising Palestinians, which means that even burning them alive is allowed and you see even the Israeli soldiers are competing with each other to publish stories on social media about the level of brutality they are willing to inflict on Palestinians,” he said.

UN experts condemn Israeli ‘massacre’ of Palestinians collecting flour

UN experts have condemned the violence they say was unleashed by Israeli forces last week on Palestinians gathered in Gaza City to collect flour as a “massacre”. In a statement, a group of UN special rapporteurs accused Israel of “intentionally starving the Palestinian people in Gaza since 8 October,” adding: “Now it is targeting civilians seeking humanitarian aid and humanitarian convoys.”

“Israel must end its campaign of starvation and targeting of civilians,” said the UN experts, who warned there was mounting evidence of famine in the Gaza Strip. At least 112 people died and 760 were injured on Thursday when desperate crowds gathered to collect flour.

Witnesses in Gaza and some of the injured said Israeli forces opened fire on the crowd, causing panic. Israel said people died in a crush or were run over by aid lorries although it admitted its troops had fired on what it called a “mob”.

“The attack came after Israel has denied humanitarian aid into Gaza City and northern Gaza for more than a month,” said the experts, who described “a pattern of Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians seeking aid”. There have been at least 14 similar reported incidents between mid-January and the end of February of the shooting, shelling and attacking of Palestinians who had gathered to receive humanitarian aid from trucks or airdrops.

Since the start of the conflict, Israel has targeted Palestinian food sources and agriculture – bakeries, orchards and greenhouses – as well as blocked humanitarian supplies. On 26 January, the international court of justice recognised the plausibility of Israel committing genocide and ordered it to allow the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian services and aid to Palestinians. The number of trucks allowed to enter the Gaza Strip has since fallen to 57 a day – compared with an average of 147 a day before the ICJ ruling.

Biden MISLEADS Public on Cease-fire Definition to Lure Back Base

Israel THREATENS WAR After Major Hezbollah Rocket Fire

Israel warns fighting along Lebanese border is reaching 'critical point'

Israel's defence minister warned on Tuesday that fighting with Hezbollah along Israel's border with Lebanon was nearing "a critical point", in a warning that Israel was considering upping its military actions on its northern border.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant's statement came shortly after meeting US President Joe Biden's key envoy to Lebanon, Amos Hochstein in Tel Aviv, underlining the uphill battle the US faces as it tries to reduce tensions between Israel and the Iran-backed group.

"We are committed to the diplomatic process. However, Hezbollah's aggression is bringing us closer to a critical point in the decision-making regarding our military activities in Lebanon," Gallant told Hochstein, according to his office.

Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near daily fire since 7 October. The fighting has displaced over 86,000 Lebanese and anywhere from 60,000-96,000 Israelis from their homes.

The fighting has killed at least 299 people in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also 49 civilians, according to an AFP tally. In Israel, at least 10 soldiers and seven civilians have been killed.

Victoria Nuland RESIGNS, Glenn Greenwald EVISCERATES Leading Neocon

US-NATO risks nuclear war with plans for attacks on Russia

Confronted with the deterioration of Ukraine’s military position and significant advances by Russian forces, the NATO powers are publicly threatening a massive escalation of the war involving the direct deployment of NATO combat troops on Ukrainian territory and attacks on Russian infrastructure and cities. Following a retreat from Avdiivka, Ukrainian forces are once again falling back. Amid massive casualties, Ukraine’s military cannot recruit replacements to the front. “Zelensky in bind over how to draft more troops as Russian forces advance,” ran a headline in the New York Times on Sunday.

Last week, members of the governments of four NATO members—France, Canada, the Netherlands and Lithuania—stated that they were considering sending combat troops to fight Russia in Ukraine. Then, on Friday, Russian media outlets published a leaked discussion among German military leaders discussing the use of German long-range weapons to strike Crimea. In the midst of these developments, the UK government admitted to having deployed a “small number” of troops to Ukraine.

The reckless escalation of the war is being carried out without any public explanation of what NATO is planning, let alone a frank acknowledgment of the potentially catastrophic consequences of the deployment of forces in Ukraine and attacks on Russia. Dismissing the explicit warning made by Putin during the past week that direct intervention by NATO forces into Ukraine could lead to the use of nuclear weapons, NATO leaders and the media are laughing off the danger with claims that the Russian president is merely bluffing.

There is no justification for such complacency. The Biden administration and its European allies are engaged in a staggeringly reckless game of nuclear Russian Roulette.

Apparently forgetting their own earlier statements, made at the start of the war in February 2022, that direct intervention by NATO would mean World War III, the imperialist leaders now assert that Russia will not retaliate even if its territory is directly attacked. Moreover, even if there exists the possibility of a massive counter-attack, they insist that NATO must not be deterred by that danger. ... By publicly claiming that Putin is only bluffing, NATO is all but inciting him to react aggressively and expose its miscalculation.

Ukraine clutching at straws, as exhaustion sets in

Individual error let Moscow intercept military call, Germany says

Germany’s defence minister has said that one of the generals on a military conference call on Ukraine that was intercepted by Russia may have broken security protocol by using a non-secure line to dial in.

Boris Pistorius said the 38-minute phone call held over the platform WebEx that was subsequently leaked by Kremlin-controlled TV, had not been intercepted by an individual Russian spy but was most likely the result of a random sweep of insecure data on the sidelines of the Singapore airshow. One of the participants dialled in from his hotel room, and either his mobile phone or an insecure connection in his hotel provided the vulnerability, Pistorius said. ...

Amid widespread criticism towards Germany as well as sheer embarrassment over the call in which information about military tactics of Germany and its European and US allies were revealed – including that Britain and the UK had “troops on the ground” – Pistorius said he had spoken to many of his counterparts on Monday, and they had expressed “no sense of annoyance towards Germany”, and “reassured me that trust in Germany is uninterrupted”. He said there had been unanimity among Germany’s partners, that “we won’t let ourselves be divided by this Russian attack”.

He said that every one of Germany’s partners was “familiar” with such attacks, adding that the “breadth of such attacks is getting ever broader”. Pistorius called the interception part of a “perfidious game” Russia was playing against western allies, accusing it of trying to “drive a wedge” between European and US allies, and added: “[We] will not allow Putin to get on our nerves.” He refused to discuss the contents of the phone call, insisting that to do so would be “letting Putin set the agenda”.

Assange's brother: "Julian could receive the death penalty" if extradited

Rep. Massie to Bring Julian Assange’s Brother to Biden’s State of the Union

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) will bring Gabriel Shipton, the brother of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, to President Biden’s State of the Union address this Thursday night.

“President Biden will be looking at Julian Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, in the House gallery Thursday night as Biden delivers the State of the Union,” Massie wrote on X.

Bringing Shipton as his guest is part of Massie’s strategy to pressure Biden to drop the charges against Assange, who is facing up to 175 years in prison if extradited and convicted in the US for exposing US war crimes by publishing documents obtained by a source, a standard journalistic practice.

New Menendez indictment charges senator and wife with obstruction

Senator Bob Menendez and his wife were charged with obstruction of justice in a new, 18-count indictment unsealed on Tuesday, adding to corruption charges the New Jersey Democrat already faces. Menendez has pleaded not guilty to earlier charges of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from businessmen to impede law enforcement investigations they faced, and illegally acting as an agent of the Egyptian government.

In the new indictment, federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Menendez’s former lawyers had told them in meetings last year that Menendez had not been aware until 2022 of mortgage or car payments that two businessmen had made for his wife, and that when he found out about the payments he thought they were loans.

“In truth and in fact, and as Menendez well knew, Menendez had learned of both the mortgage company payment and the car payments prior to 2022, and they were not loans, but bribe payments,” prosecutors wrote. ...

Menendez has resisted calls to resign, including from fellow Democrats.

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Super Tuesday: Biden warns of return to Trump amid signs of low turnout and protest votes

Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican presidential nomination was all but certain to be confirmed on Tuesday, as 16 US states and one territory held primary votes. From Alabama to Alaska and from Arkansas to American Samoa, “Super Tuesday” represented Nikki Haley’s last chance to deny Trump his third nomination. ... The former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador remained way off the pace, her only win in Washington DC, in need of a political miracle if she was not to be forced to end her campaign.

On Tuesday morning, Biden, speaking to DeDe in the Morning, a nationally syndicated radio show, said: “If we lose this election, you’re going to be back with Donald Trump. The way he talks about, the way he acted, the way he has dealt with the African American community, I think, has been shameful.”

Trump, for his part, told Fox News: “We have to beat Biden – he is the worst president in history.”

Early estimates, including from Minnesota and California, showed voter turnout lagging in several states, as voters were faced with a predetermined presidential rematch that did not appear to spark much enthusiasm, particularly among younger Democratic voters. ...

Some of those who were voting planned to reject Trump and Biden and vote uncommitted, as part of a spreading protest over Biden’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war. The uncommitted campaign, which secured 100,000 votes in Michigan, has spread to multiple states, including Massachusetts and Colorado, and is expected to pick up the most substantial support in Minnesota, which also has a large Muslim community. The Democratic Socialists of America, a force with young progressives, has also endorsed the push for voters to choose “uncommitted”.

Super Tuesday: Biden, Trump Head to Rematch; Schiff Helps Garvey in CA; AIPAC Suffers Setback

Independent senator Kyrsten Sinema will not seek re-election in Arizona

Kyrsten Sinema, the former Democrat from Arizona who is an independent in the US Senate, said on Tuesday she would not run for re-election this year. ...

The news is a boost for Sinema’s old party, as it faces a tough task in seeking to maintain control of the Senate in the November elections.

Ruben Gallego, a US Marine Corps veteran and congressman, is the clear leading candidate for the Democratic nomination in Arizona but has lagged in polling behind the extremist, election-denying, pro-Trump Republican nominee, Kari Lake.

Both parties will now court Sinema’s remaining supporters.

Sinema’s ideological journey from the Green party to the Democratic left and on to sitting as a centrist independent has been a source of incessant speculation and reporting, not least as to what she might do next. She said last year she would not become a Republican but otherwise kept her plans to herself.

Super Tuesday Shake-Up: 'Uncommitted' Voters Prove PROBLEMATIC For Biden

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Sinking of Rubymar in Red Sea poses grave environmental risks, experts warn

The sinking of a bulk carrier off the coast of Yemen after a Houthi missile attack poses grave environmental risks as thousands of tonnes of fertiliser threaten to spill into the Red Sea, officials and experts have warned. Leaking fuel and the chemical pollutant could harm marine life, including coral reefs, and affect coastal communities that rely on fishing for their livelihoods, they said.

The Belize-flagged, Lebanese-operated Rubymar sank on Saturday with 21,000 metric tonnes of ammonium phosphate sulphate fertiliser on board, according to US Central Command (Centcom). It had been taking on water since a Houthi missile strike on 18 February damaged its hull, marking the most significant impact on a commercial ship since the rebels started targeting vessels in November. After already leaving a slick from leaking fuel while it was afloat, the Rubymar now poses a new set of environmental threats under water.

Abdulsalam al-Jaabi, of the Yemeni government’s environmental protection agency, warned of “double pollution” that could affect 78,000 fishers and their families – up to half a million people. “The first pollution is oil pollution resulting from the large amount of fuel oil on board,” he said, estimating the quantity to be more than 200 tonnes.

The second risk is posed by the fertiliser, which is highly soluble and could harm “fish and living organisms such as coral reefs and seaweed” if released into the sea, al-Jaabi added. The overall contamination could incur “significant economic costs”, especially on coastal communities that depend on fishing for survival, he said.

First baby right whale of the year dies from ship collision

The first confirmed baby right whale of the year has been found dead from a collision with a ship, a devastating blow for the vanishing species.

North Atlantic right whales number less than 360 and they are vulnerable to ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear. Federal authorities were notified of a dead right whale stranded off Georgia on Sunday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said.

Federal and state officials identified the whale as the injured calf of a right whale known as Juno by marine scientists. The calf had first been seen on 3 January with injuries to its head from a vessel strike, Noaa said in a statement.

Right whales, which are in decline, are slow to reproduce and every baby is vitally important to the future of the species, marine scientists have said. Twenty newborns would be considered a relatively productive season, but the giant whales have been having babies at an even slower rate than normal in recent years, and they have not reached that figure since 2021, Noaa data states.

US banks abandon ‘bare minimum’ environmental standards project, alarming climate groups

Four of the world’s biggest banks have left the Equator Principles, a set of minimum industry standards and safeguards for financial institutions to address environmental and social risks in countries where they finance fossil fuel and mining projects. The Equator Principles have been around for more than two decades, and while not enforceable, they provide a basic framework of environmental standards that banks agreed would underpin financing deals on pollution-causing extractive projects.

The American banks – Citi, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo – are listed as having left the group of institutions that have signed the principles. The news was condemned by climate groups as “shocking” and “cowardly”.

“It is a very troubling move by some of the biggest fossil fuel financing banks in the world to abandon a bare minimum set of standards that banks themselves have set. It is both ethically shocking and financially irresponsible. It is becoming increasingly apparent these banks do not care about anything other than the bottom line,” said Richard Brooks, the climate finance director at Stand.earth.

“This is yet another display of cowardice that shows how Wall Street is bending to pressure from climate-denier extremists rather than upholding some of their most basic climate and human rights commitments,” said Adele Shraiman, the Sierra Club’s fossil-free finance campaign senior strategist.

Spokespeople for the four banks all said they would continue to be informed by those principles, Reuters reported. But the banks’ names have been removed from the Equator Principles list, which now includes 10 standards for aspects of projects ranging from initial due diligence to grievance mechanisms.

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Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

Scott Ritter: The Minds of Desperate Men

Mr. Galloway Goes to London

Victoria Nuland, Notorious Russia Hawk, Resigning from State Department

Ukraine - Cookie Monster Retires

Google Demands That Naked Capitalism Censor Its Content

Racist Asylum and Immigration Policy in the U.S. and Canada

Hundreds of thousands of salmon dead from ‘gas bubble disease’ in US river

What I Witnessed in Gaza Is a Holocaust: Palestinian Writer Susan Abulhawa

IDF Uses ROBOT DOGS In war With Hamas

Victoria Nuland: Ukraine's WICKED WITCH Resigns

Bombshell: RFK Jr. Closing In On Trump & Biden - Now Within The Margin Of Error!

Trudeau SHOT DOWN By Judge Over Persecuted Truckers! w/ Gordon Magill

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A Little Night Music

Tommy Tucker - Walkin' The Dog

Tommy Tucker - Alimony

Tommy Tucker - It Hurts Me Too

Tommy Tucker - Drunk

Tommy Tucker - You're the One

Tommy Tucker - Long Tall Shorty

Tommy Tucker - Hard Luck Blues

Tommy Tucker - Tell Me Who's Wrong

Tommy Tucker - I'm Shorty

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