Showing posts with label Vladimir Putin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vladimir Putin. Show all posts

Saturday, October 10, 2026

The road to ruin runs on Russian diesel

A highly stylised editorial illustration depicts a glamorous auburn-haired woman standing amid a vast, devastated oil and industrial landscape. She wears a black corseted bodysuit, stockings, high-heeled boots and an open cream trench coat, clutching torn blue fabric. Tanker trains and military vehicles stretch towards burning refineries beneath a smoke-blackened sky, with aircraft overhead and Russian architecture looming in the distance. Above a faint blue-and-yellow horizon, fractured blue and gold stars evoke a shattered European alliance. Oil-slicked ground, abandoned fuel pumps and an eagle sculpture intensify the imagery of war, dependence and geopolitical ruin.
image generated via Qwen

{AP 9 October} ‘Trump strikes deal with Putin to get diesel in sharp reversal of US policy weeks before midterms’ — 

https://apnews.com/article/trump-russia-diesel-midterms-12baccc7aade559bf329079b0548c9da

Americans shall forever be hated by the people of Ukraine, and all of Europe, for their treachery in returning a known Putin stooge to high office. We are a nation of cowards, backstabbers, lunatics, and freaks. Much like Russia. Nikita Khrushchev famously declared: ‘We will bury you’, in regards to the United States, and it would appear Donald Trump is doing everything in his power to help finally make that happen.

If Zelensky continues to strike Russian oil refineries — as Ukraine hath every right to do in a war it did not begin — what happens when those attacks collide directly with Trump’s new arrangement with Putin? I fear where this road may lead. Washington is already pressuring Kyiv over its refinery campaign; should Trump ever go so far as to order American military action against Ukraine, the resulting breach with Europe and NATO would be of a magnitude scarcely imaginable. I shall not pretend to know precisely where such madness would end, only there shall be serious consequences for every American citizen, and billions others besides. A vastly wider conflict may become a likelihood.

One way or the other, it is not likely to mean lower diesel prices.  Was whining and moaning for nearly three years — whilst Mr Biden was still in office and US-Ukraine relations were still warm — about the money spent on Ukraine’s defence worth the dissolution of the post-war, Western alliance that hath largely kept peace and brought prosperity for eighty years? Was betraying Ukraine really worth risking a global war, you dumb f**ks? I honestly believe Trump may be deliberately leading America in that direction. He is a destroyer of nations, most especially his own.

This American’s conscience is clear; if worst comes to worst, as I now fear it will, then all Americans who are opposed to this treason and sickening evil shall be compelled to take some sort of action in protest. A general strike, mass protests… hell if I know what is going to happen: we only know that any uprising shall be bloody, with no guarantee that liberty and common sense will save the day. And, I believe, an uprising is exactly what Trump and his allies want. He and they have been licking their lips, ever since he was restored to power, awaiting an all-out crackdown on American society, and it matters not what the current poll numbers may be, the majority of Americans are going to go along to get along once this crackdown is implemented. Many eagerly so.

Remember, ‘y’all’ voted for this. We had already suffered through one term of this fool, which ended in disaster yet very well could have been worse still had some people possessing a degree of competence and character not remained around him to impose restraint (is anybody at all serving that role in the current regime?) Then — after four years during which he officially became a convicted felon and spent the whole time undermining President Joe Biden at every turn (in which the media was entirely complicit) — ‘y’all’ brought him back anyway; anything to avoid being governed by a black female Democrat (whom I harbour no love for, by the way). Anything to be entertained and have your favourite circus clown back on the main stage. 

The rest of us warned you exactly what was going to happen. We see it all playing out: our place in the world hath been ruined, probably beyond repair. We are at odds with Canada now, for f**k’s sake! Our military might is rapidly being depleted, our economy is collapsing (in large part due to this regime’s imbecilic fiscal policies), preventable diseases are spreading, our natural resources are being plundered, and our civil liberties are being eroded.

Was this all worth it? Is silencing and punishing fellow Americans worth the very real pain that hath already been felt, but in earnest is only just beginning? I suspect, for all too many and perhaps for some reading this, the answer is an unequivocal ‘yes’. 

The biggest lie in the universe is that people are basically good by nature. No: human nature is rotten, and human beings shall forever hurt themselves in order to hurt their enemies more grievously. Present-day #Murica may yet go down in history as one of the prime examples of this eternal truism. It is going to be an ugly fall, and I pray I somehow shall not have to bear witness to it.

Visit reddit.com/r/TheWireDesk

linktr.ee/arthurnewhook

πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Thursday, September 17, 2026

The Captain and the Kremlin: standing behind the sword

A colour photograph depicts two men conversing closely at a brightly illuminated indoor event. The taller, dark-haired man at left wears a fitted white T-shirt and has a full beard; he smiles while looking down towards the shorter, older man opposite him. The latter, dressed in a short-sleeved white shirt, rests one hand familiarly upon his companion’s shoulder as they exchange an intent glance. A third man stands out of focus behind them. Saturated red, blue and green lighting, shallow depth of field and the subjects’ proximity create an atmosphere of conspicuous personal familiarity amid a crowded social gathering.
TASS/Getty Images, c. 2017

Alex Ovechkin: a gifted hockey player, yet a fool; expresses shock at the backlash provoked by his cameo appearance in a propaganda spot for Putin’s political party; insists he harbours no pro-war sentiment, even as evidence proves otherwise. {ESPN 17 September}

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/49965058/ovechkin-says-supports-russia-not-pro-war

Not pro-war, are we? —

FTA: In the campaign video that aired in Russia earlier this month, Ovechkin stands with supporters of Putin's United Russia political party as Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov delivers a monologue warning anyone who comes at Russia "with a sword" to "expect no mercy: we will rise together, as we do today." Ovechkin, wearing a black polo shirt, stands stoically behind Lavrov.

Ovechkin's appearance earned international condemnation from critics of the regime, which has mounted an offensive against Ukraine that began in 2014 and expanded to a full-scale invasion in 2022 that has resulted in more than 1 million military and civilian casualties. In a letter to the NHL this week, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., called on the league to consider banning Ovechkin over his participation in the ad.

—--

The series of TV advertisements features more than 30 Putin supporters. One of them is Maria Lvova-Belova, a Russian official who has been involved in the kidnapping and "re-education" of Ukrainian children. Lvova-Belova, in a televised meeting with Putin, said she had personally taken a Ukrainian boy from war-ravaged Mariupol. The International Criminal Court issued a warrant for her arrest in 2023. Ovechkin stands alongside her and others in a large group shot featured in the ads.

Academic experts in Russian propaganda said Ovechkin's appearance signifies a critical victory for Putin in his bid to justify the country's costly military campaign in Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities have accused the Russian military of murdering more than 17,000 Ukrainian civilians, including more than 700 children.

"You can't look away from the fact that Russia is perpetuating a genocide on Ukrainian people," said Sarah Oates, a senior scholar in the field of political communication and democratization at the University of Maryland. "Putin has said Ukraine and Ukrainians have no right to exist. And this is a key reason for the invasion. Ovechkin supports Putin, he supports the Russian regime, and that means he supports genocide."

Asked about assertions that Russia is responsible for a genocide, Ovechkin told ESPN, "I hope it's not gonna, it's not gonna be like that," before he and a team media relations representative ended the interview.

He hopes ‘it’s not gonna be like that’; well, either this fellow is a coward speaking out of both sides of his mouth, or else an impossibly aloof simpleton, utterly oblivious to what is happening immediately about him save when he happens to be upon a sheet of ice. 

I numbered myself among those who called upon the National Hockey League to expel all the Russian players — even the vaunted Ovechkin, presently the game’s all-time leading goal scorer and, arguably, the league’s most recognisable star — at the very onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Obviously, the NHL hearkened not, and shall decline once more to do the right thing now. All that concerns the league, the Washington Capitals, and their sponsors alike is the wringing of every last dollar out of the general public before society at large comes crashing down about us; whilst the American people have demonstrated, with abundant clarity, that they care nothing whatsoever for the plight of Ukraine and her people. 

I fully anticipate that Ovechkin shall be greeted with a standing ovation at the Capitals’ season opener in Washington — and be warmly received within every arena he visits, this expected to be his final season prior to retirement — whilst Ukrainian children continue to suffer abduction and death amid the war. 

Perchance, though, karma shall one day pay Alexander Ovechkin a visit. To anyone inclined to regard him as some manner of victim: he is nothing of the sort. —

FTA: Throughout Ovechkin's career, Capitals officials and people close to Ovechkin have suggested in media interviews that he was under pressure from the Kremlin to support the president and could not safely criticize Putin with his family living in Russia.

In 2022, after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, the then-Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said Russian players were trying to navigate "what they can say, what they can't say," and "the repercussions that could happen back home." Of Ovechkin, he said: "He gets pressure from all sides -- from North America, from Russia, from family."

"It's a cop-out," said Slava Malamud, a Russian-born former Sport-Express hockey reporter who said the Capitals revoked his press credential in 2014 after he criticized Ovechkin's "Save Children from Fascism" post.

"All of these excuses presuppose the existence of an alternative Ovechkin no one has ever seen, one who is meekly doing what a brutal dictator tells him to do," Malamud told ESPN. "That is not an Ovechkin we have ever seen. We see a man who is proud of his president, who is standing next to war criminals.

"I don't think it's a coincidence after signing his last contract that he comes out with his unambiguous support for the war."

Unlike the great multitude of Russians, Alexander Ovechkin possesseth the means to depart Russia altogether, and might well become a leading dissident voice, were he truly devoted unto peace and unto the deliverance of children from the grip of fascism. Instead, he elects to return thither when his playing days are ended, thereby demonstrating his continued fealty unto a veritable demon. In so doing, he may thereby have secured a one-way passage unto Hades. At least I hope it be so.

linktr.ee/arthurnewhook

πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Monday, September 14, 2026

“If I’m paying for your wedding, at some point, you’re going to owe me something. This should be unthinkable for the son of the president.”

An opulent fantasy illustration portrays an intimate wedding celebration at a tropical seaside estate during sunset. A brunette bride in an ornate ivory corseted gown, veil, suspenders and white stockings leans against a dark-haired woman dressed in lavish crimson-and-gold regalia, jewelled headdress and black stockings. Female guests watch amid flowers, candles, champagne and abundant fruit. Beyond the terrace, a yacht crosses the glowing sea. In the foreground, sumptuous red velvet unfurls around a miniature private-island resort, above which fireworks illuminate the night sky.
image generated via ChatGPT

Russian oligarch and boxing executive maintaining close ties to Putin reportedly financed portions of Don Junior's lavish wedding. {The Guardian 14 September}

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/14/russian-oligarch-trump-jr-wedding

What is a little corruption and influence peddling among friends, eh? —

FTA: A top Democrat has demanded answers after it was reported that a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin paid hundreds of thousands of dollars toward Donald Trump Jr’s wedding in the Bahamas earlier this year.

Trump Jr, the US president’s eldest child, married Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson in a lavish three-day celebration across two exclusive private islands in May, which according to ProPublica was partially bankrolled by Umar Kremlev, a member of the Russian president’s circle.

Citing records and interviews with three anonymous sources familiar with the event, ProPublica reported that Kremlev footed the bill to rent one of the islands where a reception was held and where guests slept, along with other large expenses, including a huge firework show.

“Why did a Russian oligarch close to Putin fund Trump Jr.’s wedding in the Bahamas?” posted Robert Garcia, the ranking member and lead Democrat on the House oversight committee, on social media. “Umar Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the President’s son. What did he get in return? We need answers.”

Kremlev has a longstanding relationship with Putin. He is the head of the International Boxing Association (IBA), a sporting body that has been backed by the state-owned Russian energy company Gazprom. According to ProPublica, the wedding payments came from an IBA-affiliated entity in Dubai that the boxing association uses for financial transactions.

In the days before the wedding party, he reportedly went to China as part of a delegation accompanying Putin, and the month prior the Russian president had bestowed him with a state honor, the Order of Friendship. The Ukrainian government has imposed sanctions on Kremlev, citing his closeness to Putin and Russian security services.

linktr.ee/arthurnewhook

πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

The day the North turned away

image generated by Grok

Carney: Canada is pursuing a ‘unique alliance’, though not membership, with the European Union. {National Post 14 September}

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/canada-seeking-unique-alliance-eu-141854594.html

Canada and the rest of the free world are starting to walk away from what hath become an abusive relationship, though I daresay Trump and many in our country would take about as kindly to a formal Canadian-EU alliance as Vladimir Putin would to Ukraine joining NATO. A prospect that, until quite recently, hath been unthinkable and a mere absurdity even to conceive — namely, that the United States should invade and attempt to subjugate Canada — hath now become a genuine possibility, owing almost entirely to one evil man and the legion of besotted sectaries who follow and venerate him. Yours truly — whose paternal great-grandfather came to Boston from Prince Edward Island in 1920, and whose Loyalist forebears helped establish communities throughout the Maritimes in the late 1700s and well into the 1800s — shall die before ever consenting to so grave a madness. Unfortunately for Canada, Trump doth not require my approval nor that of any other citizen; having, for all intents and purposes, been given carte blanche to do anything he pleases without consequence, he is moving forward with his nation-killing agenda irrespective of opposition, common sense, and basic humanity.

At this juncture, I can conceive of no manner in which Donald Trump is not a tool of malign actors, domestic and abroad, seeking to weaken and ruin the United States of America. Without question, he is a phenomenally stupid man in numerous respects, yet possessed of considerable cunning in deceiving the gullible and manipulating the media to his own ends. He labours not for the American people, but rather in service to those harbouring nothing but malevolent designs. It is simply inconceivable that he should be pulling all these ridiculous stunts and picking fights with longstanding allies, were he an uncompromised, serious leader genuinely animated by the best interests of the United States in the whole of his decision-making.

And, for those foolish Americans presently so eager to board the ‘blame Canada’ train: just see how the Russian people are faring in the four and a half years since Mr Putin led them into war against their neighbouring and sister nation. The Russian death toll hath proven staggering, the fighting is no longer confined to Ukrainian soil, and the privations — such as the want of fuel — continue steadily to mount. Meanwhile, Trumpistan is mired in a senseless conflict with Iran, its military and economic resources being steadily depleted; yet this nation-destroying cabal continues heedlessly onward. 

Invading Canada would visit hell upon a continent — its northern reaches, at any rate — that hath not experienced real warfare since the nineteenth century; NATO would intervene, and the conflict would swiftly assume global proportions. World War III. And howsoever it may end, it shall not end well. Therefore, let all you loudmouths and sundry malcontents who constitute #MAGA cease your clamouring, begin to seriously weigh the ramifications, and stop demanding that everyone about you become lemmings and follow these demons over the proverbial precipice alongside you. Go ahead, though, and keep crowing about what God-fearing patriots ‘y’all’ are, whilst dismissing all others as ‘libtards’ and ‘communists’. History shall judge such folly harshly, and the consequences of such recklessness shall draw no distinction whatsoever between those who cheered it onward and those who raised their voices in warning against it.

linktr.ee/arthurnewhook

πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Monday, September 7, 2026

Lost in the feed

A feverish political illustration depicts Donald Trump standing in an ornate Oval Office, absorbed in a smartphone while a torrent of glowing digital images swirls chaotically around him. The floating screens portray exaggerated fantasies of Trump as golfer, wrestler, statesman, conqueror and heroic figure, alongside rockets, warships, eagles and other spectacles of power. Behind the desk, an astronaut appears to stride across the Moon beside an American flag, while a fractured map of the United States hangs nearby. George Washington sits at left with his head in his hand, surveying the disorder in apparent despair. The cluttered desk and cascading imagery evoke a presidency consumed by social-media fantasy while the responsibilities of government lie neglected.
image generated via ChatGPT

Just another day in Trumpistan: US president declares American ownership of the moon, vows to rechristen the state of New Mexico. {Huffington Post 7 September}

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-truth-social_n_6a9e3a64e4b00f094b1a67ea

FTA: Between 9:10 a.m. and 10:35 p.m., the president fired off more than 60 messages, links, memes, rants, personal attacks, endorsements, boasts, and AI slop creations.

Clearly, Donald Trump is not a well man; yet the very nation that descended into collective panic when President Joe Biden endured a mild senior moment during a debate now simply cannot trouble itself to care all that much, as this president decomposes before our eyes. Whence finds this orange-sprayed circus clown the leisure to dally, incessantly, upon social media? Hath he not a job of some considerable weight to perform? To all appearances, nobody is running the store at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue — for all about us hastens headlong toward perdition. A mean-spirited dotard posts phantasmagorical videos of himself capering to ‘Y.M.C.A.’, heaps vilification upon such worthy men as Robert De Niro and the late Rep. John Dingell, repeatedly stabs our sister nation of Canada and other traditional allies squarely in the back, vows to rename an entire state on a whim, and the greater part of this dying realm either applauds the spectacle or merely shrugs it away. Meanwhile, we who never consented to this mountebank’s coronation are at once exhausted beyond all articulation and perpetually astounded — to be sure, exactly the design.

A further question presses: how doth Trump’s enfeebled mind even digest the ceaseless torrent of digital ephemera he both consumes and disseminates? He is all but brain dead at this pass. The sycophants about him feed him his daily pabulum of memes and assorted gaga, by day and by night. It seemeth their only real purpose is to keep this big baby amused. Anything to avoid having to govern in earnest: for he and they have proven, time out of mind, altogether incapable of it. All of this is happening on taxpayers’ dime, yet most tolerate or endorse it so long as they may continue to delude themselves into believing they are thereby ‘owning the libs’.

Ten years have this nightmare endured, and its blackest leaves remain yet unwritten. What y’all voted for, #Murica — and a certain gentleman seated in the Kremlin, together with every enemy of human liberty besides, do render y’all their most grateful thanks. 

linktr.ee/arthurnewhook

πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Friday, September 4, 2026

The last watch before the storm

A richly detailed allegorical illustration depicts six scantily clad women defending a fortified European stronghold beneath a divided, apocalyptic sky. At centre, a barefoot blonde woman stands beside a battered shield bearing a map of Europe encircled by stars, while companions repair armour, survey the horizon through binoculars and prepare arrows and lanterns. European Union and NATO symbolism appears amid weathered battlements and military equipment. Beyond them, a devastated landscape burns beneath a colossal, dark double-headed eagle formed from smoke and flame, its wings spreading across a blood-red sky. The contrast between the embattled blue-and-gold citadel and the infernal horizon evokes a continent confronting an increasingly existential military threat.
image generated via ChatGPT

The EU and NATO have exhausted nearly the whole of their available options in confronting the terrorist state Russia. {NYT 4 September}

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/world/europe/russia-europe-nato-sabotage.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-lA.bhtU.jLwng-1AzHWM&smid=url-share

All-out war appears an ever more serious prospect. —

FTA: Russia’s failed drone attack on a German airport was part of a dangerous pattern of escalation that, experts and officials said, risks sparking an open confrontation with NATO — whether the Kremlin wants it or not.

German officials declared this week that the Russian state was behind the attack, in which one explosive drone hit a parked Ukrainian cargo plane and another appeared to collide with a plane taking off. Both drones failed to detonate. If successful, the attack could have killed or maimed people and led to unpredictable consequences, officials said.

It was the most dramatic in a spate of such attacks that includes plots to place incendiary devices aboard DHL cargo planes, blow up railroad tracks in Poland, and burn down warehouses and shopping centers all over Europe.

Such attacks began occurring shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, part of an effort by President Vladimir V. Putin to bring the war to the West. But they have recently increased in frequency and intensity, Western security officials said. The attacks, along with recent reports citing Western intelligence services suggesting Russia could be planning some kind of military incursion or provocation along NATO’s eastern flank, have frazzled Europe and left officials there casting about for solutions.

And how shall the former United States and its people — now under the governance of those who are, inarguably, just a bit more friendly unto the Kremlin than were prior administrations, yet still a NATO member — react if and when a wider European war begins in earnest? —

FTA: Another challenge for NATO is keeping its 32 member countries aligned. After Germany’s announcement this week, a chorus of allies voiced support and solidarity, including the American ambassador to NATO, Matthew G. Whitaker. Notably, though, his statement did not mention Russia by name. By contrast, a statement by Prime Minister Andy Burnham of Britain named Russia three times.

The omission was an example of the failure by the Trump administration to hold the Kremlin accountable. Since taking office last year, Mr. Trump has occasionally dangled the possibility of imposing costs on Mr. Putin’s transgressions, but he has rarely followed through.

Last week at NATO headquarters, Elbridge Colby, a senior Pentagon official, also omitted any mention of Russia while pushing European countries to take the lead in supporting Ukraine, part of an effort to reduce U.S. military presence on the continent. And on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent blamed Ukraine for high energy prices dragging down the global economy, citing its attacks on Russia’s oil industry. He did not mention that Russia started the war and has relentlessly targeted Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.

It is the threat of a united response, Western officials believe, that keeps the Kremlin in check. And it is that unity that Mr. Putin seems to be testing with each new attack. 

For now, Western officials insist that NATO retains its deterrent effect, though the ambivalence of the Trump administration has created uncertainty about whether it will continue to.                                                       

Personally, I do not believe Trumpistan shall remain within NATO for very much longer. Trump shall abandon the alliance when push cometh to shove, and hath said or implied as much on many occasions through the years. He was making noise of this during his first reign of terror, when there were more guardrails keeping in his lane than there are now. Alas, I see but little to encourage me that the majority of the American people would be outraged at such a move — the grave betrayal of European allies. Most citizens would be baying about not wishing to shed blood for the ‘Europoors’ — look about oneself, and one shall not have to look too hard: Europhobia is presently all the rage among #MAGA and ‘conservative’ Americans. We heard the incessant whining, whilst Mr Biden yet held office, about the billions in necessary military aid sent for the defence of Ukraine. Some years back it would have been unthinkable, but it is no longer hard to imagine the American public writ large being content to see their country break faith with its international commitments and collectively spit upon the face of all it hath purported to stand for since the Second World War. The likely consequences for such, on the other hand, are unimaginable.

What y’all voted for, #Murica.

linktr.ee/arthurnewhook

πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

The myth after the man: a cult shall outlive its king

A densely detailed Gothic illustration depicts an extravagant moonlit cult of personality centred upon monumental statues and portraits of Donald Trump. An immense stone figure dominates the composition, surrounded by busts, fountains and colossal carved likenesses integrated into a fantastical palace garden. Numerous scantily clad women in black, crimson and ivory garments kneel, embrace, kiss and caress the monuments in gestures of fervent adoration, while roses, candles, gargoyles and gilded ornament heighten the atmosphere of decadent ritual. Repeated representations of the same leader extend into the distance, transforming political hero-worship into an eerie spectacle of idolatry, excess and manufactured immortality.
image generated via ChatGPT

Trump, on the raising of monuments unto himself: ‘Nobody will do it once I’m gone’. {CNN 4 September}

https://www.kten.com/news/politics/trump-doesn-t-dispute-he-s-building-monuments-to-himself-nobody-will-do-it-once/article_c5df451c-87aa-5e20-94a4-af52c1035877.html

I would say the president doth exhibit a measure of genuine perceptiveness, for once, as most of us are not going to lament his eventual departure from the stage of life — though decrepit as he is now, it is going to be many years still as I am convinced God is employing this man as an instrument of chastisement against the United States of America for its manifold transgressions, and shall preserve him unto an absurd age purely to prolong our torment. Yet in truth, Trump may be mistaken (imagine that), for millions of #Muricans remain so far gone into this cult of personality that even after he be dead, they shall endeavour to deify him regardless — a diminished number, seeing as many others shall themselves have departed this earth within some twenty to twenty-five years, and supposing the planet hath not by then been reduced to ruin (looking like a big ‘if’).

Even should this constitute but a modest fraction of the population, they shall nonetheless venerate Donald Trump in death. Decades after his denunciation by Khrushchev, and long past even the collapse of the Soviet Union itself, no small number of souls within his native country of Georgia, and throughout Russia and other lands once Soviet, did continue to lionise Joseph Stalin. Maoist guerrilla movements remain active in parts of South Asia. And, naturally, there have always existed those neo-Nazis harbouring an affection for Hitler, together with a full disregard for the reasons that rendered Nazism so catastrophic a failure on every conceivable level — and their numbers, indeed, are expanding, as neo-fascist doctrine continueth to poison the minds of millions, whilst living memory of the Third Reich’s horrors fades away with the passage of time.

Whether Trump doth genuinely belong in the same company as brutal tyrants and suchlike, I shall not here address — nor do I believe, even now, that most of us wish in earnest to entertain whether any elected American president might be justly likened unto some of history’s worst monsters, howsoever we may hold a given president in contempt. At the very least, however, he is as reviled across the globe as almost any political leader within living memory. Perchance Vladimir Putin is held in worse regard, and that would be deserved. No matter: the world at large shall not mourn Donald Trump upon his day of reckoning, yet his hold upon the most fervent of his acolytes shall, if anything, only grow stronger. It mattereth not how corrupt and inept the man doth prove to be in our own time, for in fifty to seventy-five years hence, there shall doubtless remain those who account Trump a folk hero and cultural icon — assuming, once again, that the planet itself remains standing to bear witness. Nothing is guaranteed... save for more misery, so long as this whoreson knave and his cult maintain their stranglehold upon the rest of us.

linktr.ee/arthurnewhook

πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Sunday, August 30, 2026

A Kingdom on watch

image generated via Gemini

Russia’s former deputy foreign minister warns that Russia is poised to attack ‘legal targets’ in Great Britain. {Daily Mail 29 August}

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16090129/Russia-attack-British-drone-factory-missile-Kremlin-warns-described-UK-evil.html

FTA: Russia is poised to attack Britain – and has singled out a drone factory and a missile company as 'legal targets', it was claimed last night.

A senior adviser to Vladimir Putin warned that the 'highest levels of the Russian government' were considering a 'hybrid attack', such as sabotage or arson, rather than an 'outright military strike' that would unleash a response from Nato.

In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, Andrei Fedorov, a former deputy foreign minister of Russia, described the UK as 'evil number one'. 

Among the Kremlin's targets is a drone factory owned by a British-Ukrainian firm, Ukrspecsystems.

Details of the company's premises next to RAF Mildenhall, in West Suffolk, were made public in April alongside five other European firms that make weapons and drones for Ukraine in its war against Russia.

On Saturday night, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said: 'The reckless rhetoric and attempts at intimidation we have seen from the Kremlin in recent weeks reflects the weakness of Putin's position and we will not be intimidated.

'This has been a bad year for Putin. The front line has barely moved. Russian casualties continue to mount. The Russian people are paying a heavy price for Putin's war.

'It is also in our national interest that Putin's aggression must not be rewarded. The Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and I are working together to mobilise support for Ukraine ahead of winter.'

linktr.ee/arthurnewhook

πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Saturday, August 29, 2026

No peace on the horizon

A richly detailed illustration depicts a blonde woman standing upon a windswept hillside overlooking an expansive Eastern European landscape. Her long hair and sweeping crimson shawl stream dramatically in the wind, while she wears a short white traditional embroidered dress, lace stockings and red boots. Below, villages, farmland and a winding river extend towards distant cities crowned with golden-domed churches. The pastoral tranquillity is threatened by an immense bank of dark storm clouds advancing from the horizon, their lower edges forming ominous block-like silhouettes suggestive of military formations. Shafts of sunlight still illuminate the countryside, creating a stark contrast between fragile peace and the approaching menace of war.
image generated via ChatGPT

Ukrainian intelligence: desperate Putin may be preparing ground assault on Kyiv, possibly involving Belarussian troops. {The Kyiv Independent 29 August}

https://kyivindependent.com/russia-planning-operation-in-northern-ukraine-including-kyiv-military-says/

FTA: Russia's military leadership had been tasked with preparing several operational scenarios for an offensive in northern Ukraine, with Kyiv and Chernihiv identified as key areas, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Pavlo Palisa said on Aug. 28 during a closed-door briefing with journalists, Suspilne reported.

Palisa said the information had been verified and that the Presidential Office had received it from several intelligence sources, without specifying whether they were Ukrainian or foreign.

"Indeed, several options were considered (in Russia)," Palisa said at the briefing.

"The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has developed possible response scenarios, including measures to defend, protect, and counter these actions."

Palisa said no new offensive groupings are currently being detected in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions. Kyiv Oblast borders Belarus to the north, while Chernihiv Oblast borders both Belarus and Russia.

"Our top priority is to prevent the conditions from emerging that would allow Russia to launch any offensive operations at all," Palisa added.

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πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Threshold of golden light

An evocative editorial illustration viewed from within the dark, battered hold of an aircraft. A gaunt, stooped figure wrapped in tattered cloth stands silhouetted at the open hatch, facing a brilliant expanse of golden daylight. Below, a crowd gathers on the tarmac with arms raised towards the returning figure. Heavy broken chains lie discarded across the metal floor, while a thin feeding tube or cord coils nearby, symbolising captivity and suffering left behind. Stark contrasts between the oppressive, scarred interior and luminous exterior convey liberation, survival and an uncertain homecoming.
image generated via ChatGPT

Welcome tidings, for once: Massachusetts native and former Marine Robert Gilman is released from Russian custody. {AP 12 August}

https://www.npr.org/2026/08/12/g-s1-138323/former-us-marine-russia

Am grateful the gentleman is being returned home, though he shall, without doubt, bear the scars of this ordeal for the remainder of his life. Nor does he stand alone as the sole American unjustly detained within that wretched country. Any United States citizen insane enough to contemplate travel to Russia would be well advised to exercise the utmost caution. —

FTA: Arrests of Americans have become increasingly common in Russia in recent years. Concern has risen that Russia could be targeting U.S. nationals to use later as bargaining chips in talks to bring back Russians convicted of crimes in the U.S. and Europe. Five other Americans remain imprisoned in Russia with deteriorating medical issues, according to a news release from Global Reach, a group that's been working to free them.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted a photo on social media of a gaunt-looking Gilman draped in an American flag and surrounded by his family aboard an airplane.

"While we appreciate this positive step, we are still seeking the immediate return of all other unjustly detained Americans," Rubio stated.

Whilst you are about it, Mr Rubio, you might prevail upon your Russian friends to stop kidnapping Ukrainian children — though that, I suppose, constitutes a separate grievance for another occasion entirely. Welcome home, Robert Gilman. May the years that lie ahead furnish you with some measure of peace, in recompense for all that has been so grievously taken from you.

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πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

The declassified shadow

An ornate Art Nouveau-style illustration framed by elaborate gilded floral ornament and imperial double-eagle motifs. Inside a warmly lit private study, two elegantly dressed women confer over a polished wooden desk strewn with sealed letters, maps, a compass, and a brass cipher machine. A blonde woman in a rich burgundy gown leans protectively over a seated red-haired woman dressed in emerald green as she studies a chart and holds a folded document. Beyond heavy crimson curtains, a moonlit Washington skyline is visible, with the Washington Monument and the dome of the United States Capitol standing against the night sky, creating an atmosphere of secrecy, intrigue, and espionage.
image generated via ChatGPT

White House declassifies 2016 FBI probe into whether Trump was a Russian asset. {The Dingo Daily 5 August}

https://thedingodaily.com/news/article/2026-08-05-trump-declassifies-oxford-comma-fbi-russia-asset-probe

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πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

The long winter of silence

A symbolic fantasy illustration of a red-haired woman standing barefoot in a dim, timeworn room, wrapped in a delicate translucent white shift as she gazes through a frost-covered window towards the snow-covered onion domes of a distant Russian city. Behind her hangs a stern military portrait, while scattered sealed letters burn upon a desk beside a black rotary telephone. Tangled red wires coil across the wooden floor towards a paper aeroplane and a raven perched on the windowsill, clutching a tiny padlock in its beak. Warm sunlight pours through the window, contrasting with the room’s oppressive atmosphere and evoking themes of secrecy, surveillance, isolation, and the fragile hope of freedom.
image generated via ChatGPT

Russia charges Telegram founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism and places him on international wanted list. {AP 29 July}

https://apnews.com/article/russia-telegram-pavel-durov-ukraine-a6efe4692f3415c2046f0893d114174b

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πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Sunday, July 26, 2026

A nation cannot live on denial

A dramatic fantasy illustration depicts Lady Liberty standing barefoot upon a stone pedestal at sunset, portrayed as a graceful dark-haired woman wearing a flowing sea-green Greco-Roman gown of translucent fabric over a fitted bodice. She raises the Torch of Liberty high above her head while resting her free hand confidently upon her hip, her expression calm, resolute, and quietly defiant. Behind her, the immense ringed planet Saturn dominates the twilight sky, its glowing rings sweeping majestically across a field of stars and transforming the familiar emblem of liberty into a cosmic allegory. Far below, the distant skyline of New York City stretches along the horizon beneath warm golden light, while the billowing drapery of her gown catches an unseen breeze, lending the composition a sense of movement, dignity, and timeless grandeur.
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Andrew Neil reports Trump’s physical and mental health is deteriorating rapidly, and he is poised to go off the rails over Iran. {Alternet 25 July}

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/general/sources-warn-they-don-t-know-what-to-do-as-trump-s-mind-withers/ar-AA28Deyd

Read: ground war and/or the use of tactical nuclear weapons. FTA: 

Trump is said to be in “revenge mode” according to aides. And the President sounds ever more bellicose, saying on Thursday that he was close to deciding on a ‘massive attack’.

“Even senior aides in the White House don’t know what this would mean,” said Neil “The number of influential voices in Washington who think even ramped-up airstrikes – as I write, we’ve just had the 14th consecutive night of renewed US attacks on Iran – will cow Iran into submission are now passing few. In truth, nobody around Trump really knows what to do next – or what he will do.”

“… I listened to several influential figures close to Trump mull over the options. The assumption was that some sort of ground incursion was inevitable. That is certainly the new vibe coming out of Washington,” said Neil. “They talked of seizing Iranian territory on the northern shores of the Gulf to wrest control of the Strait of Hormuz from Tehran. They raised the prospect, again, of invading Kharg Island, from which Iran dispatches most of its oil exports.”

But there was, much more worryingly, talk of using tactical nuclear weapons to ‘send a message’ to Tehran and ‘concentrate its mind’ on peace, warned Neil.

“This took me aback. ‘Do that,’ I snapped ‘and you destroy America’s reputation and standing for the rest of the century. You’ve also paved the way for President Putin to do the same in Ukraine.’

“I was met with silence,” said Neil.

What y’all voted for, #Murica.

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πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Secrets in the wine

A lavish historical-fantasy illustration depicts an opulent reception hall inspired by imperial Kyiv, illuminated by chandeliers, candlelight, and gilded dΓ©cor. At centre left, a red-haired woman in an elaborate embroidered gown stands beside a banquet table, her attention focused on a glass of red wine. Around her, elegantly dressed guests mingle beneath Ukrainian banners and ornate architectural details. To the right, US Senator Lindsey Graham laughs with a group of dignitaries while holding a wine glass. In the foreground, a decorative chest displays labelled bottles, while documents, medals, flowers, and crystal stemware rest upon richly appointed tables. The scene combines diplomatic pageantry, courtly intrigue, and theatrical historical symbolism within a grand ceremonial setting.
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Trump: FBI ‘wasting time’ in investigating the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham. {NBC News 14 July}

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna587500

Translation: his puppet master Putin was the culprit, so nothing to see here, folks. 

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πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Saturday, July 11, 2026

The lady of the Black Sea

A highly detailed fantasy illustration depicts a blonde warrior princess standing atop a rocky cliff overlooking a turbulent coastal landscape. Dressed in richly embroidered Slavic-inspired garments with an ornate blue-and-crimson cloak, decorated belt, jewellery, and leather boots, she raises an elaborate sword high above her head in a gesture of defiance and resolve. Her long hair streams dramatically in the wind as she gazes towards the horizon with determination. Below her, a rugged shoreline stretches beside dark waters, while damaged infrastructure, smoke plumes, and signs of conflict scar the distant landscape. Overhead, Saturn hangs prominently in a cloud-filled twilight sky, its rings glowing against the fading light. The composition combines heroic symbolism, folklore-inspired costume design, and epic environmental detail to create a powerful image of courage, resistance, and perseverance in the face of adversity.
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Inside Ukraine’s campaign to cut off Crimea by air, land, and sea. {The Telegraph 11 July}

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/261ace880b5d185a

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πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

The threat heard round the living room: business as usual in Madrid

A richly detailed illustration depicts a warmly lit Spanish-inspired sitting room filled with colourful ceramics, wrought-iron dΓ©cor, patterned textiles, and candlelight. At the centre, a dark-haired woman stands laughing and gesturing playfully while wearing an oversized red Spanish national football team jersey. Behind her, a television broadcasts a political meeting featuring a prominent American political figure seated at a conference table. A Spanish flag hangs above the television, while framed portraits and decorative tiles reinforce the Iberian setting. On a sofa nearby, a blonde woman in a white satin chemise lies asleep among embroidered cushions, seemingly oblivious to the scene. Through an arched doorway, illuminated domes and towers rise against the night sky. The composition juxtaposes domestic comfort, humour, politics, and national identity within an opulent Mediterranean atmosphere.
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Trump lashes out at Spain during NATO summit and threatens trade relations (never mind that US–Spanish trade is conducted through the EU, as is the case for all EU member states); PM SΓ‘nchez's office responds with a shrug: ‘Business as usual’. {The Hill, 8 July}

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5958540-donald-trump-us-spain-trade/

What is with Donald Trump's obsession with how much individual NATO member states contribute? The (now-former) United States hath always been the alliance's largest and most powerful member, and from those who have much, much is expected, as the old proverb goes. America contributes the most because it possesses the most to give militarily, and by a considerable margin — though how long that remains true once this regime finishes decimating the Pentagon and Armed Services remains to be seen.

Prior to Trump, it was scarcely controversial that the US served as NATO's lynchpin, precisely because small European states lack the resources to defend themselves alone against the alliance's principal adversary: Mother Russia. And there lies the answer to why Trump works so relentlessly to undermine NATO. This is not rocket science, yet many refuse to say it aloud, dismiss those who do as conspiracy theorists, or simply cannot bring themselves to believe it. After all this time, the possibility remains unthinkable to them: that he is Putin's puppet (or the puppet of any number of foreign and domestic adversaries) and is actively working to weaken the United States from within.

The signs have been there for a decade — from the 2016 election, Cambridge Analytica, and the propaganda mills of St Petersburg, to the investigation conducted by Robert Mueller (RIP). Have we forgotten already? Apparently so, for here we are in bloody 2026, still cursed with this unholy bastard dominating our national life, the entire country revolving around his fragile ego while the self-proclaimed tough guys around us deride anyone who objects as a ‘snowflake’ or worse, and ninety per cent of the Christians tell us Jesus will send us to pits of Hades if we reject him. 

As stated, however, once the Trump regime finishes dismantling America's armed forces, this endless argument over who is paying enough in global defence and who is not will become entirely moot.

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πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Saturday, July 4, 2026

The nightingale’s daughter

A richly detailed digital illustration of a blonde woman reclining upon an ornate bed within a warmly lit traditional Eastern European interior. She weareth a loose white embroidered blouse with red-and-black folk motifs; her hair is styled in two long braids tied with ribbons. Her eyes are closed; one hand resteth lightly against her chest—serene reflection or quiet contentment. The bed is covered with patterned textiles and embroidered cushions. A softly glowing oil lamp illuminateth carved wooden furnishings, casting warm amber light. Through a leaded-glass window, a cool blue night appeareth—warmth and darkness in striking interplay. Nostalgia, domestic comfort, cultural heritage, tranquillity—cinematic lighting, vivid textures, meticulous detail.
generated via ChatGPT

Ukraine launches another round of drone attacks on key military and oil infrastructure sites in and and around St. Petersburg. {ABC News 4 July}

https://abcnews.com/International/ukraine-launches-major-drone-attack-russia/story?id=134470108&cid=social_twitter_abcn

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πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Friday, July 3, 2026

Flight of the White Eagle

A dramatic, detailed illustration of Polish women fleeing across a sunlit rural landscape as war approacheth. Dressed in flowing traditional garments, they run along a winding path through rolling hills and flowering meadows. Their faces shew fear, exhaustion, and determination; wind-whipped hair and billowing clothing emphasise urgency. Several assist companions struggling to keep pace; others glance anxiously over shoulders. In the distance, armoured vehicles and military columns advance, raising dust and smoke beneath towering storm clouds. Shafts of sunlight break through the darkness, illuminating the fleeing civilians—hope and catastrophe in stark contrast. Vulnerability, resilience, and the human cost of war.
image generated via ChatGPT

Trump's State Dept., playing 'good cop' to Putin's bad cop, warns Poland and NATO allies that they face an imminent Russian attack. {The Telegraph 3 July}

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/07/03/russia-planning-attack-on-poland-test-nato-resolve-us-warns/

Russia is a highly wounded yet dangerous animal right now, ready to lash out in another direction, and Poland likely is in imminent danger. If the policy goal is to pressure Western governments into ceasing support for Ukraine, at a crucial moment when the Ukrainian forces hold a clear upper hand on the battlefield and Russian troops are dropping like flies, Putin and his puppet Trump are counting on simply launching missile attacks against European cities to achieve their ends. Trump hath made no secret of his desire that the former United States exit NATO. He and Putin are playing this cat-and-mouse game entirely to destroy an alliance that hath kept Mother Russia at bay for eighty years now. As such, NATO remains as vital today as it was during the Cold War. We have a word for what Trump and his collaborators are doing. It begins with the letter 't'. More of us had better start using it openly if any decency remains within this dying empire.

linktr.ee/arthurnewhook

πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Monday, June 29, 2026

Queueing for collapse: Russia running on empty

A detailed digital illustration of a heated confrontation at a crowded petrol station during an apparent fuel shortage. Foreground, two young women stand face-to-face beside an ageing green car, arguing intensely. One, with vivid red hair, weareth a fitted red top and black denim skirt; the other, a blonde in a white sleeveless top and denim shorts, gestureth angrily in response. Flushed faces, pointed fingers, and tense body language speak of a dispute on the verge of boiling over. Behind, long queues of cars stretch into the distance beneath warm afternoon light. Drivers lean from windows, watching the argument or raising their hands in frustration. Weathered pumps, worn vehicles, and congested traffic reinforce scarcity and public tension. Social strain and conflict in a time of crisis.
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Russian citizens are now taking to fighting each other at petrol stations as the fuel crisis reaches epic proportions. {Metro 29 June}

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/russians-fight-each-other-at-petrol-stations-after-drone-strikes-hit-putin-s-fuel-supply/ar-AA26Owio

They were sheltered to a large degree for a good portion of their nation’s war of aggression upon Ukraine, but ordinary Russians are feeling the effects of the war all around them now; particularly those fleeing Crimea, and Vladimir Putin is offering signs that he is feeling the heat from an increasingly restless public. Ukraine appears more resilient than ever, whilst Russia continues to bear the mounting, horrific costs of its war of aggression (approximately 1.4 million casualties; or about twenty-four to twenty-five times the number America lost in the Vietnam War). Yet the danger remains that a cornered Putin may resort to ever more reckless measures. What that could portend is simply unspeakable: will he take the world down with him?

We continue to pray for Ukraine as we did on the first day of this invasion — 24 February 2022, if we have forgotten how long it hath been now.

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πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.

Friday, June 26, 2026

Ukrainian forces deliver a proper thrashing, deep into the heart of Russia

A dramatic nocturnal editorial illustration presenting a vast aerial panorama of Ukraine beneath an immense ghostly outline of Saturn dominating the night sky. Across the landscape, scores of dark drone silhouettes sweep in multiple directions while brilliant arcs of anti-aircraft fire and intercepted drones burst into radiant explosions—a vast ominous fireworks display. Rivers, fields, and settlements stretch to the horizon, punctuated by fires and smoke. Foreground, a sprawling industrial refinery burneth fiercely, casting deep amber light as black smoke billows. Offshore, several vessels burn upon the dark sea. Blacks, deep blues, ash greys, and orange firelight convey the immense scale, intensity, and relentless persistence of modern long-range drone warfare.
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“Ukraine launched a major nighttime attack on a dozen Russian regions, Russian-held Crimea and the surrounding seas, Moscow’s Defense Ministry said Friday, in what appeared to be one of Kyiv’s biggest drone assaults since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion more than four years ago.” {AP 26 June}

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-biggest-drone-attack-a356e2a119f3cb9422ede6acbedf56f3

Π‘Π»Π°Π²Π° Π£ΠΊΡ€Π°Ρ—Π½Ρ–

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πŸͺπŸ’” #QueSeraSera π“…¨ πŸ•ˆ

Copyright 2026, Arthur Newhook.