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By John Helmer, Moscow 
  @bears_with

It was noticed after the first few years of the French Revolution that the population of goats were gorging themselves and then reproducing out of control. Napoleon tried to cull them to save the forests the goats were taking over, and thereby preserve the timber he needed badly for his navyto go to war with the British.

In the case of the Russian Revolution of 1991, the population of jackals continue to multiply out of control. The Kremlin has not found the method of controlling the domestic ones, not yet.  Russian voters will have something to say about this on September 19, Election Day  – especially by not casting their ballots.

In the meantime, it’s August, the month when goats dance in alpine pastures; jackals sleep through the day; and the sea cucumber goes into his seasonal hypometabolism, also called aestivation.   For August, when our Moscow office closes, these are our three options for spending the month until you will see us again.  

Between now and then we will be dancing on our troubles. For you too, we recommend the greatest of 17th century Spanish tunes to dance to, Juan Arañés’s Chaconne (1648).

Ignore the lyrics which introduce fanciful names dancing the hours away with roses, herons, swallows, horses, donkeys, doctors, Africans, gypsies, a blind man poking girls, older women poking in another fashion, and other unwoke nonsense.

Click to play.

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