Images from the Footprint of Mussolini

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Logo of United Russia party. Fascist leaning party was founded in 1977. The party is pretty nationalist and conservative but it doesn't accept communism nor antisemtiism. UR too propose strong Russian army and even wants that Russia would have nuclear weaqpons altough only just on self-defens purposes. UR too wants make Russia great power and re-start space program at some point in future. United Russia supports some social security but otherwise it is quiet conservative and for example it oppose LGBT issues. Officially the party is republican leaning but there is too some monarchists who want restore tsar but only as British style ceremonial head of state.

United Russia has been always quiet small party but during recent years it has got more support speciality on big cities and among mid-class.
 
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Balázs Ander – current leader of the Hungarian fascist party, and preeminent party of the country’s political far right, the Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom or the Movement for a Better Hungary (or Jobbik for short) in April 2021 (top). Jobbik logo (bottom).​

Founded in 1953 by István Horthy, the eldest son of late Hungarian dictator Miklós Horthy, Jobbik was heavily aligned with Rome throughout most of the Cold War and Cool War as well as being strongly anti-nazi/anti-communist and virulently against anti-Semitism on any level. Jobbik continued to officially support Hungarian neutrality while secretly trying to push Budapest closer to Rome. Additionally, the party was avowedly pro-monarchy – even arguing for gifting greater power to King Otto.

After the thermonuclear bombing of Addis Ababa in 1970 by the Regia Aeronautica, Jobbik began to distance itself from Rome and remained silent when the One Party State Era in Italy ended in 1979. Today Jobbik is the fourth largest party in the Kingdom of Hungary behind the Hungarian Social Democratic Party, the Independent Smallholders, and the Agrarian Workers and Civic Party (FKgP), it has occasionally formed coalitions with them or even held a majority such as in the 1990s.

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István Horthy de Nagybánya, commonly known as István Horthy, son of Miklós Horthy and founder of Jobbik, circa 1948.​
 
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You know, going with the trend of having in-universe alternate counterparts to real life works of science fiction, I wonder what an in-universe version of Legend of the Galactic Heroes would look like.


First of all, I think that you would see a 4th nation that is communist rather than simply having a democracy, a right-wing dictatorship, and a mercantile dictatorship. The communist state probably emerged from some Sirius Republic loyalists that pulled an Exodus Fleet around the time of the creation of the Galactic Federation. Much like the Earth Cult and Fezzan, the communist faction would be depicted as being completely evil.


Second of all, Reinhard von Lohengramm would probably be explicitly compared to Mussolini due to his nature as a benevolent dictator. But, he would also be a bit of a Rommel analogue too. To go along with the Rommel parallelism, maybe the Goldenbaum Dynasty is extra racist and has a Himmler analogue secretly manipulating it from behind the scenes?


Third of all, the Earth Cult would probably be partially analogous to the Islamic State of Arabia. Also, speaking of "lesser" villains, Job Truniht would probably be explicitly an Afrikaaner rather than merely being implied to be one. Also, maybe the evil capitalist faction of Fezzan isn't lead by an ethnically Russian man like IOTL and is instead lead by a black dude to compare Fezzan to Katanga?


Finally, due to the fact that OTL's Legend of the Galactic Heroes was already rather painfully on the nose when talking about the United Earth Government (to sum things up, the United Earth Government was depicted as a blatant Imperial Japan analogue, complete with a Nanking Massacre-expy which was depicted in graphic detail), maybe the analogues go even further here? Maybe the United Earth Government is depicted as expelling members of ethnic groups it doesn't like to inhospitable planets, to compare the UEG's actions to those of postwar Japan towards to the Ainu?

I would imagine that TTL's LoGH would be way more controversial due to Japan being more nationalist and due to it maybe having an analogy to the expulsion of the Ainu.
 
You know, going with the trend of having in-universe alternate counterparts to real life works of science fiction, I wonder what an in-universe version of Legend of the Galactic Heroes would look like.


First of all, I think that you would see a 4th nation that is communist rather than simply having a democracy, a right-wing dictatorship, and a mercantile dictatorship. The communist state probably emerged from some Sirius Republic loyalists that pulled an Exodus Fleet around the time of the creation of the Galactic Federation. Much like the Earth Cult and Fezzan, the communist faction would be depicted as being completely evil.


Second of all, Reinhard von Lohengramm would probably be explicitly compared to Mussolini due to his nature as a benevolent dictator. But, he would also be a bit of a Rommel analogue too. To go along with the Rommel parallelism, maybe the Goldenbaum Dynasty is extra racist and has a Himmler analogue secretly manipulating it from behind the scenes?


Third of all, the Earth Cult would probably be partially analogous to the Islamic State of Arabia. Also, speaking of "lesser" villains, Job Truniht would probably be explicitly an Afrikaaner rather than merely being implied to be one. Also, maybe the evil capitalist faction of Fezzan isn't lead by an ethnically Russian man like IOTL and is instead lead by a black dude to compare Fezzan to Katanga?


Finally, due to the fact that OTL's Legend of the Galactic Heroes was already rather painfully on the nose when talking about the United Earth Government (to sum things up, the United Earth Government was depicted as a blatant Imperial Japan analogue, complete with a Nanking Massacre-expy which was depicted in graphic detail), maybe the analogues go even further here? Maybe the United Earth Government is depicted as expelling members of ethnic groups it doesn't like to inhospitable planets, to compare the UEG's actions to those of postwar Japan towards to the Ainu?

I would imagine that TTL's LoGH would be way more controversial due to Japan being more nationalist and due to it maybe having an analogy to the expulsion of the Ainu.
This is very interesting. Would anybody particularly mind if I made a thread about pop culture in the FOM timeline?
 
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Rudolf Hess (1894 - 1992)

Hess was sentenvced to prison for life on Nuremberg Trials. Already in 1960's there was some discussion about his releasing due him being on that time only prisoner of Spandau, high age and some mental issues but Soviet Union and Italy opposed whole idea. Soon after Trier Trials Hess got several former communist leaders as his inmates. Hess was greatly annoyed about that and his mental health was worsening altough even he realised some former communist leaders like Suslov being totally out of relaity.

When Germany re-united in 1979 there was again several proposals for releasing of Hess due his very advanced age. Finally Italy and Russia agreed and Hess was relased in 1980. After this he lived pretty isolated life outside of Berlin. Hess died on natural causes in 1992 and was cremated and his ashes were scattered to Spree River.
 
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Logo of United Russia party. Fascist leaning party was founded in 1977. The party is pretty nationalist and conservative but it doesn't accept communism nor antisemtiism. UR too propose strong Russian army and even wants that Russia would have nuclear weaqpons altough only just on self-defens purposes. UR too wants make Russia great power and re-start space program at some point in future. United Russia supports some social security but otherwise it is quiet conservative and for example it oppose LGBT issues. Officially the party is republican leaning but there is too some monarchists who want restore tsar but only as British style ceremonial head of state.

United Russia has been always quiet small party but during recent years it has got more support speciality on big cities and among mid-class.
I know this party, yeah

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This was Igor Shafarevich (1923-2017), their candidate for presidency twice on the late 90s and early 2000s he was part of the soviet academic resistance to communism and was one of the responsible from preventing the party from adopting explicit fascism. His removal after losing the presidency for the second and his death also strenghned United Russia since he had strong antisemitic tendencies.
 
Instrumental cover of the hit late 1960’s Italian rock song “Oh ragazzo!” or “Oh Boy!” in English.
The song is an anti-war song sung from the perspective of a boy in his late teens whose friend is sent off down south to fight in the Third Italo-Ethiopian War and the boy’s sadness at seeing his friend go and about how horrible the young soldier’s experience will be and what he’ll experience down there. The song was made and sung by famous Italian rock band, “Typhon”. In 2009, some dedicated fans of Typhon on YouTube made a music video for Oh ragazzo! the band liked it so much they contacted the fans and told them that not only did they see the music video but they wanted to work with them.

Recently in the last three months of 2020 and going into 2021, there’s been speculation abound on the internet that Oh ragazzo! has hidden meanings and is actually about the boy in the song subtly professing is love for his soldier friend, Typhon’s official Twitter account has denied this stating “Oh ragazzo! is a anti-war song of the era, pure and simple. There is no LGBT romantic undertones!”

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Italian rock band, Typhon in 1972 (years active: 1967 to Present).​
 
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Logo for the Pen and Paper Role-playing Game company White Wolf. White Wolf, which operated as an independent company from 1991 to 2015, was famous for producing the Old World of Darkness, a world that, on the surface, was similar to our own but which housed darker, more terrifying things such as vampires, werewolves, ancient conspiracies and dark magic. For a while Old World of Darkness was the go-to for dark, mature RPG games, and was rebooted in 2004 as the New World of Darkness.

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Cover art for the Wraith: The Oblivion supplement "Charnel Houses of Europe: The Shoah". Released in 1997 under the Black Dog Game Factory Imprint subsidiary, it was an attempt to respectfully tell the story of the victims of the Holocaust and combine it with the dark, bleak world of The Shadowlands, where those who have died but have yet to pass on to the next life dwell. Against all odds it managed to become a hit for the otherwise-ignored Wraith RPG, and would solidify Black Dog as the go-to for stuff that would normally be considered taboo in gaming and storytelling. It's success would inspire "Across the Frozen Taiga: The Holodomor and Beyond", which dealt with the affects of Stalinist Soviet Union, the Holodomor and the Russian Holocaust on the Shadowlands, in 1999.

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A Garou (Werewolf) belonging to the Tribe Get of Fenris, from the RPG "Werewolf: The Protectors". The Get of Fenris are Garou known for being fierce warriors with little room for mercy or forgiveness. They value strength above all else, and would rather die than show weakness. They were also notorious for taking the "survival of the fittest" mentality of most Garou to an extreme that shocked even the notoriously misanthropic Red Talons. This mentality led many of the Get into joining the Nazi Party during the Second World War, as they viewed Hitler as a kindred spirit despite the latter being a "mere Human". The other Garou tribes promptly declared war on the Get, with many enlisting as soldiers in the Allied and later Roman Alliance forces. Hitler's death in 1944 would give the less extreme members of the Get the opportunity to take control of the entire tribe, and following a gruesome and bloody civil war that saw Garou fighting Garou the rebellion, dubbed "The Fenris Redemption", would emerge victorious.
 
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American author Tom Clancy

Clancy begun his author career in 1980's. His first novel "Red October" (1984) introduce his most famous character, CIA official Jack Ryan. The novel sets to year 1982. Ryan is working in US embassy in Moscow. He finds out wide communist plot to oust Russian government and re-establishing communist nation. Ryan anyway manage to stop the plot. The novel was international success and made Clancy immediately one of most famous thriller authors. Jack Ryan is seen too in many other novels and there is too made many Jack Ryan movies.

Clancy second Novel "Red Storm Rising" (1986) is clearly aternate history novel. The novel sets to end of 1960's, final years of Cold War. Soviet Union is facing serious troubles due shortage of food and many other important things. Sovet leadership decides invade Western Europe and creates a plot. KGB organise bomb attack to Moscow elementary which kills several teachers and school children. Soviet leadership accuses West German security service and declares war. This war soon escalate WW3 when it draws ITO and Roman Allaince to against Soviet Union. War is fought conventionally in Europe and East Asia. War lasts several months and Soviets are planning using WMDs. But before Soviet leadership manage give order to use nuclear weapons, it is ousted by military and some anti-war members of the regime. Soon Soviet Union sues peace.

On several Clancy's novels Jack Ryan and many other characters have fought against neo-communists and neo-nazis. On novels has too fought with agensts supported by rogue regimes like South African ones.
 
(I might aswell give a shot of this. May or may not be accurate.)

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From left to right: Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon of the British rock band The Beatles arriving in America by airplane in 1964. Being inspired by 1950s American Rock and Roll, among some other genres, Liverpudlians started producing music and playing for audiences in 1962, quickly becoming popular in their home country of Great Britain and West Germany, with their first album being released in early 1963. 1964 would become their big break, however, as they would embark on a tour of America, arriving via plane where they were greeted by a large crowd of fans and reporters alike, eventually culminating in their iconic appearance on the Ed Sulivan Show, which skyrocketed them to international fame and started Beatlemania, were young girls would flock to the boy band in a fury of love and excitement. The only places were this wasn't present were the Communist Bloc, who claimed Western music was bourgeoisie propaganda, and the Fascist Bloc, which claimed Rock and Roll music was corrupting women and children. It wouldn't be until the collapse of both Blocs in the 1970s were their citizens were allowed to listen to their music.

While Conservatives expectedly weren't happy with the arrival of this weird wacky new sound, which they tried to suppress during the 50s with the rise of artists like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Holly, Liberals and Progressives were more than happy with their arrival, with the "counterculture" as it was called getting a boost in notoriety thanks to the more laid back and unique style of the Beatles and their members, especially after one public incident were the band refused to play at concerts in the South that were segregated. Their peak in popularity (in America atleast) would occur in 1966, were they would hold their biggest concert yet, with thousands and thousands in attendance. It would also prove to be their last for some time.

After a comment relating to Christianity during a newspaper interview, a controversy arose after the Band was accused of being "anti-christian", with the Deep South, in the midst of severe tensions between both the white and black communities, but also the older conservative generations and the more open-minded younger generations, basically making own their music the equivalent of owning Mein Kampf or Das Kapital, with mass burnings occurring. The final nail n the coffin would be their private encounter with folk musician and fellow counterculture activist Bob Dylan would be publicized by a tabloid, which included a photo of the 5 smoking weed. While the band wasn't outright banned, they would have very few places to go without being mobbed in a nation that was seemingly facing a strengthing wave of conservatism and reactionism, with some fascism to boot. With the last concert in America in 1966, the Beatles would leave the states, leaving millions of fans heartbroken and millions of close-minded folk happy. Counterculture would experience a deep decrease in activity in what can be best described as a dark age between the late 60s and early 70s, with increased radicalism, attempts at strengthing tradition and cracking down at progressivism or "crypto-Communism" as some liked to call it, with the deaths of Bob Dylan, Latino artist Ritchie Valens, and African American psychadelic artist Jimi Hendrix in a plane crash in California in 1969, infamously named as the Day the Music Died, all being seen as the end of the first golden age of the Counterculture movement, nicknamed the Blue Skies in Camelot era (1963-1969).

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White Southerners burning Beatles albums and memorabilia in wake of the controversies

The Beatles would return to England, where they would make a few more best-selling albums, with their more psychedelic sound becoming much more prominent. Despite attempts by conservatives, reactionaries, and fascists to discredit them, their music continued to be successful and become iconic, helping contribute to liberalism and leftism during a time were the Right was strong and powerful, along with each member's own political activism. However, their own problems, including personal relationships and their wishes to pursue their own identities outside the Beatles, would result in the band breaking up in late 1970. Between 1970 and 1989, the Beatles, while disbanded, would still make headlines, arguably with Lennon being the most notable, for while McCartney, Harrison, and Starr would have successful solo careers, with the occasional non-music work, Lennon would become popular and controversial for his left-wing political activism, which saw him criticize those who supported or defended Fascism, anti-Arab discrimination, colonialism, segregation, and anti-Semitism. His most controversial songs during this time period would be Brotherhood of Man (1971, TTL's Imagine) and Desert Wind (1976), the former being accused of being proof of Lennon being a "crypto-Communist", while the latter was made by John as a tribte for all those lives lost in the Arab Wars, Jewish and Arab alike, which of course was controversial as many accused it of being on the side of the Arabs, although the lyrics made it very clear it wasn't taking a side. Lennon would continue to be the face of left-wing music for many years to come, even with constant resistance from the right, with one such incident in December 1980 which saw a crazed christian gunman attempt to assassinate Lennon at a fan meetup in New York City , killing three of his fans and a security guard. Lennon would make a tribute song soon afterward, named Sally, Mary, Kelly, and John, named after all of those killed.

The 1980s, which saw a wave of new possibilities open up after the fall of the tyranical Soviet and Blackshirt powers, saw all four of the Beatles tour with their respective bands and partners, seeing a wave of success and some small bands form as mimicry, like during their tour of India, the Fab Four were inspired and took inspiration from the local music and culture of the region, with all of them meeting local musicians, visiting native Siberians and other non-Russian minorities, and reading Tolstoy. Despite the accusations of them being crypto-communists or flirting with such people, the Liverpudlians found some suprise success in the few places in the former Communist block they toured, with them gaining small fanbases in Russia, China, and Korea. Alongside the fall of both Communist and Fascist Blocks, the Right's power grip began to severly weaken, with a second wave of counterculture begging in the mid-70s and continuing well right into the 1980s, with renewed interest in 1960s music, art, literature, and activism, alongside a renewed struggle for femminism, LGBT rights, and other social issues, which the Beatles all supported unsurprisngly.

1989 would prove to be an important year, as with the recent events in South Africa, many musicians, both left and right, began making music criticizing the racism and totallitarianism in the white supremaicist state. Lennon would make another controversial but popular song called Trek (1988), whose tune and lyrics were angry and powerful, calling out the regime's crimes, ignorance, and smug self-justification, and said that those who stood by and allowed this to happen had it coming, asking them if they are happy with what they had allowed to fester "like a big ugly spot". The Fab Four, after years of not appearing next to each other, would privately meet togetehr in the spring of that year, preparing for a reunion, to which it would come in the form of the 13th of July Good Hope concert in London, which due to the shock, surprise, and rush of excitement of the world's biggest band coming back, caused a large stampede and queue to Wembly Stadium, which alongside a similar event held in Philadelphia by American artists, and a few smaller concerts in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, and even Katanga, would see a total of 150,000-200,000 people attend, and raising well over 150 million dollars to donate to charity, going on to help the efforts of with it easily becoming one of the most iconic events of the 1980s.

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A photo of the crowd at Wembley Stadium on July 13th, 1989.

With The Beatles officially reunited the band would begin touring again in the 90s, going around Europe, the Americas, Oceania, and East Asia, touring from 1990 to 1997., with smaller appearances occurring between 1998 and 2001. The 00s would be quiet for the Beatles, as they would enjoy going back to being solo unofficially once again, although things would not be so good for Harison, who was diagnosed with throat and lung cancer in 1997, which meant he would have to take operations, although it would not be enough, as early in the morning on the 23rd of July, 2011, George Harrison would peacefully die in his sleep in Los Angeles, surrounded by his family. The news easily became international news, overshadowing every other event that week, with mourning (comparable to both OTL Harrison's and Lennon's combined) consuming the West for weeks, with his funeral being watched by tens of millions of people on television and internet livestreams, and many famous people in attendance to pay their respects to the passed away music titan, including his three bandmates.

As of 2020, the three other Beatles are still alive and kicking, producing the occasional album. Despite all of the controversies and backlash they have received over the years, all of the love, support, and recognition have all outshadowed that, with their music being remembered in the hearts and minds of millions and millions of fans, having influenced countless future bands and musicians, and having an impact on popular culture like few others. The Beatles continue to be the most popular and successful music band of all time.
 
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A colorized picture of American soldiers raising the stars and stripes over the Reichstag after the last of the nerve gas had safely dispersed. Taken in 1944 by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, the picture would be widely published in newspapers and magazines as a symbol of American strength, and would later be used in Patton’s 1947-48 presidential campaign.
 
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Giovanni Preziosi, a minor politician within the Fascist Party. A pathological antisemite, he abandoned the party in the mid-1930s, disillusioned with Mussolini's sympathy for the Jews.

From anonymity he continued to advocate for a closer relationship with Germany and on racial superiority until Operation Visigoth in 1944 which forced him to stop publishing about it. However, the OVRA had kept Preziosi under surveillance due to his known sympathy for Germany. In April 1945 his authorship of his pro-Nazi and antisemitic writings was discovered. He was assassinated when he was ousted from a fourth floor in Milan, marked as a suicide for a long time, it was not until the fall of fascism that the hand of the OVRA was discovered. It is said that when reading his writing "The defense of the race" Mussolini felt nothing but revulsion.
 
One of these days, I intend to do a Worldwar crossover with this TL. Right off the bat, Europe likely doesn't see Race colonies in Iberia but I'm unsure about Poland. The only thing I'm sure about are the Lizards nuking Moscow instead of Berlin like in canon, leaving someone else to run the USSR (maybe Zhukov? ITTL he's probably avoided being painted with the same brush as the rest of the Soviet Union thanks to being killed by the NKVD in 1944).
 
One of these days, I intend to do a Worldwar crossover with this TL. Right off the bat, Europe likely doesn't see Race colonies in Iberia but I'm unsure about Poland. The only thing I'm sure about are the Lizards nuking Moscow instead of Berlin like in canon, leaving someone else to run the USSR (maybe Zhukov? ITTL he's probably avoided being painted with the same brush as the rest of the Soviet Union thanks to being killed by the NKVD in 1944).
I wonder what the Race would think of what was going on if they arrived during the second war in the Middle East?
 
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Soldier of Vietnamese Armed Forces practising shooting near of Chinese border. Empire of Vietnam and Republic of China have decades old disputes over border regions and some islands of South Chinese Sea. The countries have been several confrontrations over decades but thanks of French and American intervention these haven't ever escalated as full-blown war. Vietnam has nowaddays one of best armies on South East Asia. It is very modern and effective. VAF is too one of largest armies of the region.
 
Here's a rather fucked up idea I had.

Now, IOTL, North Korea has the National Aerospace Development Administration as a space program, as essentially a bit of a prestige project. It's mostly a load of crap, but it has made Unha rockets and it has sent a few satellites up.

Similarly, another rogue state IOTL, Baathist Iraq, had its own space program. And, although it's "rogue state" status is kind of debatable right now, Iran had some ambitious plans of making manned spacecraft of its own.


ITTL, more nations are sending people to space than IOTL, and humans have returned to the moon ITTL, so it seems plausible TTL's rogue states have their own pseudo-functional space programs.

So, I'm disturbing myself by envisioning TTL's Elon Musk as the head of TTL's South Africa's dysfunctional space program.

Maybe, since OTL's China has a bunch of rockets named after the Long March, TTL South Africa has rockets named after the Great Trek? Also, they'd probably name one of their satellites after Treurnicht as a deliberate move to piss off the rest of the world.
 
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Here's a rather fucked up idea I had.

Now, IOTL, North Korea has the National Aerospace Development Administration as a space program, as essentially a bit of a prestige project. It's mostly a load of crap, but it has made Unha rockets and it has sent a few satellites up.

Similarly, another rogue state IOTL, Baathist Iraq, had its own space program. And, although it's "rogue state" status is kind of debatable right now, Iran had some ambitious plans of making manned spacecraft of its own.


ITTL, more nations are sending people to space than IOTL, and humans have returned to the moon ITTL, so it seems plausible TTL's rogue states have their own pseudo-functional space programs.

So, I'm disturbing myself by envisioning TTL's Elon Musk as the head of TTL's South Africa's dysfunctional space program.

Maybe, since OTL's China has a bunch of rockets named after the Long March, TTL South Africa has rockets named after the Great Trek? Also, they'd probably name one of their satellites after Treurnicht as a deliberate move to piss off the rest of the world.

Sounds intresting.
 
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