Chapter 15

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ZiL-41047
ZIL-41047 is a limousine built by ZIL of Russia. Production of ZIL models ceased in 2002 due to their previous customer base turning to more modern Western vehicles. From WIKI.

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kagdila
Padonkaffsky jargon for "how are you." A misspelling of kak dela.

methcathinone
Methcathinone (sometimes called "cat" or "jeff") is a monoamine alkaloid and psychoactive stimulant similar to cathinone, the primary psychoactive compound in khat. It is used as a recreational drug and considered to be addictive. It is usually snorted, but can be smoked, injected, or taken orally. From WIKI.

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govno
Total shit

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live local bachata groups
Bachata is an Afro latino genre of music that originated in the Dominican Republic in the early parts of the 20th century with the African descendants in the country and spread to other parts of Latin America and Mediterranean Europe. It became popular in the countryside and the rural neighborhoods of the Dominican Republic. Its subjects are often romantic; especially prevalent are tales of heartbreak and sadness. In fact, the original term used to name the genre was amargue ("bitterness," or "bitter music"), until the rather ambiguous (and mood-neutral) term bachata became popular. The form of dance, Bachata, also developed with the music. From WIKI.

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Celia Cruz
Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso de la Santísima Trinidad (October 21, 1925 – July 16, 2003) was a Cuban-American salsa performer. One of the most popular salsa artists of the 20th century, she earned twenty-three gold albums and was renowned internationally as the "Queen of Salsa" as well as "La Guarachera de Cuba." She spent much of her career living in New Jersey, and working in the United States and several Latin American countries. Leila Cobo of Billboard Magazine once said "Cruz is indisputably the best known and most influential female figure in the history of Cuban music." From WIKI.

"Cuándo Volverás"
"Cuándo Volverás" is a 1999 song by Aventura. You can hear it here.

Studio 54
Studio 54 was a famous club in the late 1970s in Manhattan, known for rich people using drugs and dancing to Disco music.

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wolf-whistle
A wolf-whistle is a two-toned sound (like 'whip-woo') commonly made using the above technique to show approval of something or someone (originally a person thought to be sexually attractive).

the World Trade Center leaning, looming brilliantly curtained in light
Another foreshadowing of 9/11

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Island of Meadows
The Isle of Meadows is a 100-acre uninhabited island on Staten Island, New York in the United States. It is located along the western side of Staten Island, where the Fresh Kills empties into the Arthur Kill. The island is owned by the city of New York. In the 1990s, the island escaped becoming part of the Fresh Kills Landfill. It is now a nature preserve providing important meadow and salt marsh nesting habitat for herons, ibises, and egrets, and is not accessible to the public. From WIKI.

This Land Is My Land, This Land Also Is My Land
Obviously, a play on Woody Guthrie's song: "This land is my land, this land is your land."

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Captain Stubing
Captain on The Love Boat, a TV show in the 70s and 80s. Also mentioned on pg. 16.

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Schachtmanite goons like Elliott Abrams
Max Shachtman (September 10, 1904 – November 4, 1972) was an American Marxist theorist. He evolved from being an associate of Leon Trotsky to a social democrat and mentor of senior assistants to AFL-CIO President George Meany. He supported the Bay of Pigs invasion. From WIKI.

Elliott Abrams (born January 24, 1948) is a well known neoconservative American diplomat, lawyer and political scientist who served in foreign policy positions for both U.S. Presidents, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. While serving for Reagan, Abrams and retired U.S. Marine Corps officer Oliver North were integral players in the Iran-Contra affair. From WIKI.

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I'm really Dr. Ruth Westheimer, nothing shocks me
A famous and unflappable sex therapist.