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gradenko_2000 posted:If "pile of tin roofed targets for anti-drug task forces" is a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10, Baclaran is about a 4. It's on the poorer side of Manila's neighborhoods and lies astride a large slum area that gets regularly raided by the police, but on the other hand it's also very heavily trafficked as it is a major transportation hub. Your dad is probably going to be most in danger from pickpockets and petty thieves than anything else. Tell him to watch all his belongings closely and stay out of alleyways. Oh thieves and pickpockets? Is that all? That's not a big deal then. I have seen the slum nearby it, and it is bad. There's also the mosque that sits in an overgrown field opposite one of the major roads next to Baclaran. Funnily enough, not too far from them are a bunch of casinos. Also, a relatively short taxi ride away is the Mall of Asia (one of the biggest malls in the world). My dad and aunt told me stories of how they used to go to the shore the mall is now built on to pick up fish and stuff when the tide got really low.
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Sep 26, 2016 16:06
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How about some Bato De La Rosa news? He's as much an iconic emblem of this administration as Duterte  Dela Rosa wants 'Search Bloc' in PH quote:"You want me to confirm it? So the drug lords begin leaving this country? Go abroad. You drug lords, it's time to flee. I'll make an even stronger version of Colombia's Search Bloc." quote:"Their experience is the same as ours. They have a drug trafficking problem. They have a problem with the FARC rebellion. Terrorism is a problem, and so is corruption. Those are the problems they faced before they won. So we are trying to [learn from them]. They have been there, they have done that. And the Colombian government was successful," he said. Watch out for Limon!
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Sep 26, 2016 17:21
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Fojar38 posted:Mm yes an Alliance with Russia, a country with no significant ability to project power from its borders, with one lovely carrier that needs a tugboat escort, whose closest military installation is a supply depot in Vietnam, is definitely a viable alternative to the US when it comes to a military alliance for the Philippines Not that I ever like to offer up a defense of Duterte, but he did expressly say he means trade and commerce alliances (like RCEP, I presume) and not military alliances. How this squares with his threats to buy arms from Moscow and Beijing, I don't know. At this point I would not be shocked to see him abrogate the EDCA or the VFA, to be honest.
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Sep 26, 2016 17:33
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Deceitful Penguin posted:I don't know man, I get questions like that all the time about pretty anywhere outside of the West in my sidejob and it just triggers something deep in me after too many questions about whether it's "safe to go" but I'm not allowed to answer like that at work So you are a complete rear end in a top hat then. Also way to use the word honky despite being the most sheltered white guy on Earth.
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Sep 26, 2016 19:09
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Xelkelvos posted:It largely depends on who's still willing to trade with them. China probably would and even start supplying weapons to sweeten the deal if it meant widening its sphere of influence against Japan and the US. If Duerte insults China and the Chinese as well, it might be a much bigger problem for the Philippines. Watch him call Xi a pussy coward when China won't publically support Duterte's killing spree (even China has been trying to decrease the number of death sentences handed out by its courts lately). Also, I recently spoke (in a group) with a very good friend about Duterte. He's not Filipino; he's Taiwanese, lived in the Philippines during middle and high school (ISM, of course) due to expat parents, and came to the US for college and stayed. So he doesn't have any of the "Pinoy Pride" thing going on. But he still expressed a lot of support for Duterte. How he's going to give Duterte a chance because Duterte did such a good job in Davao City, and how drugs/crime is a serious problem in the Philippines, and how they really need someone strong to clean things up. When others in the group expressed their dismay about the extra-judicial killings and asked him what's going to keep Duterte under control, he said that Duterte will care about his legacy and how he'll be remembered by the Filipino people, and that's good enough to keep him in check. It was really surprising to hear this from this particular guy because he's otherwise quite open-minded and he's not even Filipino.
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Sep 26, 2016 19:46
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Disharmony posted:How about some Bato De La Rosa news? He's as much an iconic emblem of this administration as Duterte Bro Dad posted:So you are a complete rear end in a top hat then.
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Sep 26, 2016 22:03
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CronoGamer posted:Not that I ever like to offer up a defense of Duterte, but he did expressly say he means trade and commerce alliances (like RCEP, I presume) and not military alliances. How this squares with his threats to buy arms from Moscow and Beijing, I don't know. Duterte is not the first lovely leader who thought that he could scare the US by threatening to go to its rivals, it happened pretty much all the time during the cold war. The difference now is that the balance of power has swung so dramatically in the USA's favor that aside from some sort of symbolic poke in the eye like the RCEP there isn't anything concrete that Duterte can realistically do to "pivot" to anyone BUT the US. Sure, he could tear up the treaty if he wants to, and that's the Philippines prerogative, but he would gain absolutely nothing from doing so aside from it being virtually guaranteed that he becomes China's bitch.
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Sep 26, 2016 22:26
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Deceitful Penguin posted:hmmm stopped clock and all that Deceitful Penguin posted:I don't know man, I get questions like that all the time about pretty anywhere outside of the West in my sidejob and it just triggers something deep in me after too many questions about whether it's "safe to go" but I'm not allowed to answer like that at work 1. I'm Black 2. I lived in Seoul for two years, did research in the Kalahari desert and then hitchhiked across Botswana, completed a Fulbright scholarship in Brasil, and done a bunch of international travel for various jobs. Even if it was me going, I wouldn't be worried about the Phillippines being a lawless hell hole (and as I said, I don't think it is). I'm more than capable of handling myself off the beaten path. 3. I'm asking out of concern for my partner, who will be there alone (albeit with distant family), has never been to the Phillippines before, and doesn't speak the language. Don't let any of that stand in the way of being a sanctimonius dick on the internet, though. Thanks gradenko_2000 and Scaramouche for the actual info and advice. Mat Cauthon fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Sep 27, 2016 |
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Sep 27, 2016 00:08
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gradenko_2000 posted:Okay, from an economic and foreign policy perspective, this is why you don't want to Trump to be President:
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Sep 27, 2016 03:13
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"Rap R2 posted:I lived in Seoul for two years, did research in the Kalahari desert and then hitchhiked across Botswana, completed a Fulbright scholarship in Brasil, and done a bunch of international travel for various jobs. Even if it was me going, I wouldn't be worried about the Phillippines being a lawless hell hole (and as I said, I don't think it is). I'm more than capable of handling myself off the beaten path. Thanls for spelling my country's name with a proper S! Where did you do your scholarship here? Just in case detoxifying Rio's evil spoor from you become an....issue. Sephyr fucked around with this message at 14:18 on Sep 27, 2016 |
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Sep 27, 2016 14:15
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Lol no. I split my time there between Salvador, Sao Paulo, and Brasilia mostly.
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Sep 27, 2016 16:27
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...o-a7332551.htmlquote:The Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has called for the death penalty in the country to be reinstated, claiming growing atheism and agnosticism means people have a lack of fear and respect for the law.
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Sep 27, 2016 17:30
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Oh jeez if he goes full denialist that could be something.
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Sep 27, 2016 19:59
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Yeah the source of problems in the Philippines is clearly that people are not religious enough.
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Sep 27, 2016 20:46
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I can almost respect the insanity of a nominal world leader that says "God isn't real, so lets start killing people". A sane person would ask "Can literally anything good come from saying this?", but not him.
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Sep 27, 2016 20:59
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GMA news has CCTV footage of what looks like a standard extrajudicial killing here . They crop out the actual gunshots, but you see his body lying in the street at the end, so forewarned is forearmed. The packing tape and dumping in the street make this look like a vigilante murder but I didn't see anything about a "PUSHER AKO" sign or anything so it's not entirely clear if this is related to the drug killings. Regardless, this sort of poo poo takes place a lot under the guise of the "war on drugs."quote:An unidentified man's killing was caught by a CCTV camera in Caloocan City, early Monday.
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Sep 27, 2016 22:59
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Is this the famed kantian nihilism I heard so much of
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Sep 27, 2016 23:02
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Yeah so let's recap Duterte's quotes coming out of yesterday: #1 quote:"Do not hope I'll change my character. I am I and you are you. If we meet in one corner and we understand each other... if not, [then pardon me, but I'll really cuss at anyone anyone I have to]," he said on Tuesday, September 27, in a press conference at a shabu laboratory discovered by the police in Arayat. http://www.rappler.com/nation/147507-duterte-no-change-character?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=referral http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/582938/news/nation/duterte-tells-religious-critics-not-to-use-god-in-arguing-against-him #2 quote:MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said he is working to ensure that the Philippines won't have to rely on international allies. http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/27/16/duterte-claims-us-manipulating-peso #3 quote:MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday, September 27, that soldiers should assume police powers to help the Philippine National Police (PNP) fight the war on drugs. http://www.rappler.com/nation/147516-duterte-soldiers-police-war-drugs
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Sep 28, 2016 01:21
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Just saw this in Philstar today-- US senators reconsider assistance to Philippines amid drug war There have been rumblings of invoking the Leahy Law for a few weeks now, so I'm not surprised to see this. But if we thought Duterte was pissy at the US over human rights concerns before, just imagine how he'll be when we cancel assistance packages like the $79 million we gave last year under the SEAsia Maritime Security Initiative...
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Sep 28, 2016 05:31
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CronoGamer posted:Just saw this in Philstar today-- Looks like we'll be feeling a different kind of bern altogether  I'm so sorry
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Sep 28, 2016 05:41
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CronoGamer posted:Just saw this in Philstar today-- I'm guessing the Philippines will turn to China or Russia if that happens. The comments are what you would expect with people saying that withdrawing aid would actually hurt the United States.
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Sep 28, 2016 06:34
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gradenko_2000 posted:I know wikileaks has garnered a reputation in the USPol thread for being a complete and utter Russian anti-Clinton/Democrat shill, but over here there's been some news over how leaked cables from 2009 describe Duterte as having openly admitted his involvement with the Davao Death Squad. That's because USPol is full or morons. Thanks for the link. Out of curiosity, did the US commentariat start up ramping the noise about Duerte's extrajudicial killings before or after he started talking about pivoting to China?
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Sep 28, 2016 06:36
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blackguy32 posted:I'm guessing the Philippines will turn to China or Russia if that happens. The comments are what you would expect with people saying that withdrawing aid would actually hurt the United States. Neither China nor Russia are viable alternatives to the US and the US knows it. tekz posted:That's because USPol is full or morons. Thanks for the link. Wikileaks is actually really bad and has been for the past few years. The 2009 cable leaks are still good though.
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Sep 28, 2016 07:02
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tekz posted:Out of curiosity, did the US commentariat start up ramping the noise about Duerte's extrajudicial killings before or after he started talking about pivoting to China? Human rights organizations and the UN were concerned about extrajudicial killings well before the talk of a China pivot.
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Sep 28, 2016 07:11
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gradenko_2000 posted:Human rights organizations and the UN were concerned about extrajudicial killings well before the talk of a China pivot. And if I recall correctly Duterte threatened to create his own better UN in response so I don't see how anyone can take his threats to ally with China seriously.
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Sep 28, 2016 07:44
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Fojar38 posted:And if I recall correctly Duterte threatened to create his own better UN in response With hookers! and ... hookers.
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Sep 28, 2016 07:50
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Not entirely human rights focused, but in the continuing annals of amateur foreign policy, Duterte just announced he is ending US-PH military exercises after the PHIBLEX amphibious landing exercises next week. http://www.rappler.com/nation/147643-duterte-last-ph-us-military-exercises quote:HANOI, Vietnam – President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday night, September 28, that the next joint military exercises between the Philippines and the United States will be the "last" under his term, as he does not want to antagonize China. The Balikatan exercises have been a pretty big deal for a number of years. This would be a blow to the AFP for sure. Very curious to see how DefSec Lorenzana takes this news...
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Sep 28, 2016 16:35
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CronoGamer posted:Not entirely human rights focused, but in the continuing annals of amateur foreign policy, Duterte just announced he is ending US-PH military exercises after the PHIBLEX amphibious landing exercises next week. Its even more creepy how he specifically highlights "China doesn't want this, so we're not doing it anymore"
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Sep 28, 2016 18:01
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The people of the Philippines must be thrilled that Duterte is openly admitting that he intends to become a Chinese vassal.
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Sep 28, 2016 18:18
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Fojar38 posted:The people of the Philippines must be thrilled that Duterte is openly admitting that he intends to become a Chinese vassal. Even if Duterte is serious about it (and he isn't, this is just to gain leverage against the US), I doubt China would want to or is able to give enough of anything of note to the Philippines. China already has an annoying, expensive-to-handle vassal led by a madman and it sure isn't looking to get another.
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Sep 28, 2016 18:39
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gradenko_2000 posted:On the night of the Plaza Miranda bombing, Aug 21, 1972, my father, a medical student and an activist, already decided that he would not go home that night. The declaration of Martial Law would come almost a month later, but he and his friends already figured that something like that was going to happen anyway, and did not wait around for it. What you do is gather as many like-minded Filipino expats as you can and start pushing for the US to put sanctions on the Philippines until Duterte fucks off (especially if you live in DC, like you implied). If he wants to act like Kim Jong-Un, he can drat well be treated that way.
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Sep 28, 2016 21:18
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Is there a point at which the Americans would was their hands and break the alliance? How important are the Philippines strategically?
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Sep 28, 2016 21:21
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Vyacheslav posted:Is there a point at which the Americans would was their hands and break the alliance? How important are the Philippines strategically? Pretty strategically important as they form part of the island chain that forms a colossal military barrier for the Chinese, but even if they weren't, they're a US treaty ally. The US would never break it because that's a really bad message to all its other treaty allies.
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Sep 28, 2016 21:34
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A bit late to ask this, but what are the strong industries/power groups in the Phillipines? I'd rather hear it from people who know it and have experience with it than just do a cold google search. Any oil? Important sea trade lanes? Important agricultural products on an international level? Back in the Cold war pretty much every country was seen as a domino that could fall, so the superpowers were keen to kill and die for otherwise marginal places such as, say, Cuba and Vietnam. Nowadays, it feels like you have to help the bottom line a lot to merit the same attention. Which is good and awful at the same time (the refrain of our century, it seems).
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Sep 28, 2016 22:27
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Fojar38 posted:Pretty strategically important as they form part of the island chain that forms a colossal military barrier for the Chinese, but even if they weren't, they're a US treaty ally. The US would never break it because that's a really bad message to all its other treaty allies. Got it. Since I assume Duterte knows all that as well, is he making noise in order to scare up some bennies from the US, or do we really not have a grip on his logic?
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Sep 28, 2016 22:39
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Someone in this thread mentioning Mall Asia or something reminded me of this Filipina girl I chatted with on AIM when I was 13/14 way back in the late 90's. I remember she would tell me about how the Philippines had amazing, giant malls. Malls so big that they made malls in the US look tiny. I remember being very fascinated by those malls. That's my personal Philippines-related story.
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Sep 29, 2016 00:09
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Vyacheslav posted:Got it. Since I assume Duterte knows all that as well, is he making noise in order to scare up some bennies from the US, or do we really not have a grip on his logic? If he's trying to get things from the US he's going about it in just about the most rear end-backwards way possible. US military assistance to the Philippines has been fairly robust (nothing like Egypt or Israel or anything like that, but robust within a regional context)-- helping modernize the Armed Forces Philippines, numerous training exercises each year, ongoing surveillance and reconnaissance support in the fight against Abu Sayyaf, even gave them another patrol boat this year, which I think means more than half of the largest ships in the Philippine navy are from the US. And in 2014 they signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which essentially is a deal where the US will build up a number of PH bases to top-of-the-line standards in return for the ability to pre-position assets there (and use them in the event of a conflict) Outside the military, assistance is big too-- a Partnership for Growth with USAID, Peace Corps, serious humanitarian/disaster relief after recent typhoons, etc. By going completely off the rails he has turned the Philippines from one of the most rock-solid, dependable US partners in Asia into a chaotic mess that will certainly give pause to any policymakers looking to boost cooperation or aid in SE Asia. I don't think Duterte's trying to get things from the US, I think he's trying to get them from China. But doing it in such a haphazard manner doesn't seem to make sense-- he isn't forcing Beijing to negotiate, he's just giving it away.
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Sep 29, 2016 00:13
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Fojar38 posted:Pretty strategically important as they form part of the island chain that forms a colossal military barrier for the Chinese, but even if they weren't, they're a US treaty ally. The US would never break it because that's a really bad message to all its other treaty allies. What, "we'll support you as long as you don't elect a completely bugfuck insane dictator who flips us off at every opportunity and tries to curry favor with the literal exact country they're supposed to be helping us defend against?" How is that a bad message?
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Sep 29, 2016 00:15
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Treaty's a treaty. The U.S. will absolutely 100% not abrogate it short of Duterte declaring war and attacking the US embassy, no chance. e: Well, unless it's President Duterte vs. President Trump... then who the gently caress knows. But I still doubt it.
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Sep 29, 2016 00:23
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So what is Dueterte getting out of all this? Is this whole charade a result of the US and the rest of the world criticizing his insane war on drugs, or is it purely to drum up nationalistic support? Also, what do people in the Philippines think about him cozying up to China and Russia while pissing away goodwill with the US? Edit: I'm just not sure I see the endgame here. Broken Cog fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Sep 29, 2016 |
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Sep 29, 2016 00:29
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