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The Liberal Doomsayer
My blog deals primarily with national politics in the U.S. as well as, on occasion, local politics in Pennsylvania. From time to time, I may have something to say about sports and entertainment as well. I try to interpret information that shapes the news and provide context to current events. I am definitely left of center politically, but I believe no one knows everything.
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Fall Labor Pains
2007-10-09 19:38:20
I’ve been reading about the decision by the Service Employees International Union not to endorse a particular Democratic candidate for the party’s nomination, and I keep trying to figure out how this is a positive development (for someone besides Hillary Clinton, I mean).True, the Edwards campaign will receive the support of “hundreds of thousands of SEIU members,” as spokesman Eric Schultz pointed out, which is bound to provide a shot in the arm, as it were, in terms of money, backers, and workers doing the nuts-and-bolts leg work for the campaign (and of course Barack Obama and Clinton herself will be helped out, as well as other Democratic candidates reaping benefits of varying degrees).But to dilute the clout of a single national endorsement for anyone dilutes the power of organized labor in general in the campaign, as far as I’m concerned.And for a bit of a history lesson on this, I went back to this article by Ryan Lizza of The New Republic from 2003 in which the SEIU t ...
Labor
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Monday Videos
2007-10-09 15:03:03
October Project ("Bury My Lovely," something gothic and appropriate for a turn in the weather for these parts that should arrive shortly)......and happy belated birthday to singer/songwriter Don McLean, which I couldn't note last week because of the technical issues ("If We Try," from the "American Pie" heyday; this was always a sentimental favorite - I have no clue as to what is going on with this slide show, but it's still nice just to hear the song). ...
Videos
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Our Corporate Media Tips Its Hand
2007-10-09 00:37:42
From the AP’s Nedra Pickler (here)…NEW HAMPTON, Iowa - Hillary Rodham Clinton has taken the lead among Democratic presidential candidates in an Iowa poll, an encouraging sign of progress toward overcoming a big hurdle in the race.(Oh, and by the way, here is Pickler in action taking a partisan shot at Barack Obama, and here is Pickler allowing Bill Donahue a soapbox from which he can slime Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwen to the point where they decided to leave the John Edwards campaign, though Pickler didn’t bother to look into some of Donahue’s infamous remarks.)“An encouraging sign of progress,” huh? Well, at least Pickler didn’t write about Clinton’s “laugh,” which many other corporate media stooges are doing (I’m not going to say more about it; it truly isn’t worth it).Gee, I don’t know who edits copy over at the AP, but I can tell you that some of my journalism profs would have “ripped me a new one” if I’d handed in stuff like this, to say nothi ...
Corporate
Media
Tips
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Ensign Plays "Nevada Hold 'Em"
2007-10-08 20:32:42
The following letter appeared in today’s New York Times…Your Sept. 27 editorial “Let the Sunshine In” left your readers in the dark on the issue of transparency in the Senate. I support electronic filing of fund-raising reports in the Senate because, as we probably agree, disclosure leads to more transparency in government. I have never had a secret hold on this bill.In the same spirit of transparency, I requested a vote on my amendment that would require groups filing ethics complaints against senators to reveal who is financing their efforts. Light needs to shine on this increasingly abused process, but Democrats are clearly afraid of voting on my amendment.Your editorial compared the House and the Senate, but on this issue there is a big difference. In the House, a member of Congress has to file a complaint. In the Senate, there are no requirements — anyone can do it anonymously, without even a signature. The result of the Democrats’ blocking my amendment is that people ...
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Another Infamous Milestone
2007-10-08 19:49:57
One year ago yesterday, Anna Politkovskaya was murdered (this provides the background).Also, this Moscow Times article describes the difficulties faced by those who traveled to attend a demonstration in her honor (including Russia’s Federal Financial Monitoring Service blocking a transfer of $30,000 from the National Endowment for Democracy based in the U.S. to stage the event, as well as members of human rights organizations from other countries being denied rooms they had reserved at local hotels).This New York Times article also tells us that independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and Russian prosecutors know the identity of the man who killed her.And if anyone has any doubt that Russia is sliding back into some version of a dictatorship based not so much in ideology as in something like a “corpocracy” (with the power controlled ultimately by Vladimir Putin and that country’s vast energy market), then you need only read here about how Putin, as opposed to stepping down as presi ...
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An Unholy "Conversion"
2007-10-08 18:46:52
In today’s New York Times, we are treated to more flimsy rationalizations from the Repugs on their opposition to fighting President Numbskull’s typically idiotic (and particularly cruel) SCHIP veto last week (this story may end up having more traction than the “General Betray Us” ad – it certainly should, anyway).And we are also treated to the following from one of their leading “lesser lights”…“If this was October of next year, I’d be really worried,” said Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri (pictured), the second-ranking House Republican. “But this is October of this year and the beginning of us getting our credibility back by showing that we are willing to take principled stands on spending.”It continually amazes me to read quotes like this from the Repugs, since these insights end up stating at least as much about how they feel towards the vast majority of us than their actual positions.Basically, Blunt thinks we’re stupid and we’ll just forget about ...
Unholy
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Sunday Videos
2007-10-08 05:28:27
I think the technical difficulties have been resolved - I hope so anyway, so I'll try to get back into the video thing...Tegan and Sara ("Back In Your Head")......and happy belated birthday to blues legend Duke Robillard ("Sewed Up," with Kid Bangham and The Fabulous Thunderbirds). ...
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Where The Rubber Meets The Road (10/5/07)
2007-10-08 02:21:11
As reported in last Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week.HouseChildren's health care. The House passed, 265-159, and sent to the Senate a five-year renewal of the State Children's Health Insurance Program set to cost $60 billion, up $35 billion from current spending on the program designed mainly to insure needy youth not covered by Medicaid.A yes vote was to pass HR 976.Voting yes: Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Allyson Schwartz (D., Pa.), Joe Sestak (D., Pa.) and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).Voting no: Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.) and H. James Saxton (R., N.J.).And as noted here, Saxton was targeted immediately for this vote, as well he should be.And I actually can’t think of a word to ...
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Today's Random Thought
2007-10-07 02:39:18
Did anyone besides me notice that the Google ads have gotten really interesting lately (and a bit graphic too)? ...
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The Good And The Bad...And The Good
2007-10-06 05:52:53
Good for Max Baucus on SCHIP......and bad for Flush Limbore and the Repugs for trying to make money off the "phony soldiers" mess, brought to us by the pre-eminent right wing propagandist of the airwaves......and good for John Edwards (to help, click here). ...
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The (Non) Trouble With Harry
2007-10-06 00:07:24
A man named Harry S. Dent, Jr. passed away on Tuesday, and I’ve been thinking about him a bit off and on since then. And before his name disappears into history, I just wanted to say something about him.You know how much we detest Republicans for their “southern strategy” of catering to racists for their votes, codifying their language with phrases such as “states rights” in particular, as well as emphasizing “law and order”?Dent invented the so-called southern strategy, and the first person to use it was Richard Nixon when running for president in 1968.As the New York Times tells us here…When President Lyndon B. Johnson championed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, some Republican strategists saw a potential bonanza in the South. They thought their party could reap the votes of white people uneasy with Democrats, or downright hostile to them, for advancing the cause of black people.(South Carolina Senator Strom) Thurmond became a Republican ...
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How About A "No Nuke" Compact?
2007-10-05 21:58:31
The Washington Post tells us here that U.S. House Reps Howard Berman (D-CA), Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL, of course) are pushing for a nonbinding resolution concerning “constraints on future nuclear dealings with India.”I actually thought these three might have been doing the right thing (silly me), until I read about the so-called Hyde Act that was devised when Dubya and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2005 (which is what the three are contesting).This post about the act states the following…On the nuclear front the Act offers India access to technology for new, bigger, and better reactors, as well as uranium for those reactors - something we are short of domestically. On the foreign policy front the Act shows that India can now create a space for itself and eventually be recognized as a nuclear state. By no means are these achievements to be scoffed at.Critics point out that what it offers, the Act can also take away…Nuclear cooperation ...
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Win Ben Stein A Conscience
2007-10-05 18:19:08
As most people living in this locality know by now, the Bucks County Courier Times, on occasion, does feature enlightened commentary on its editorial page from people such as Gene Lyons, Marie Cocco, Paul Campos, and others of a liberal/Democratic/progressive persuasion. However, much more often than not, it is home to a seemingly endless parade of self-righteous freeper pundits who are only too happy to scold others whose only offense is to live lives or engage in a particular thought or behavior deemed repugnant by someone who has been granted column space.I know it is pointless to answer these people and counterproductive ultimately. I don’t have any raw numbers on this, but I would guess that the audience that actually thinks these right-wing egotists know what they’re talking about is shrinking by the minute. However, I sometimes find their behavior too offensive to ignore.And today is one of those times.Apparently, Ben Stein, the sometimes actor, wannabe comedian and full-tim ...
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There's The Matter Of Torture, Senator
2007-10-05 00:24:36
This Boston Globe story notes that Sen. Patrick Leahy wants Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey to answer a range of questions about how Bushco operates, from the warrantless wiretaps to the firing of the prosecutors who didn’t do the bidding of Abu G and the Senate Repugs.(Hmm, “Abu G. And The Senate Repugs”; does that sound like a name for a punk garage band playing at the Khyber in downtown Philly or something? Just wondering…).However, as important as those other issues are, the story only makes a passing reference to torture, or, as the Globe puts it, “interrogation methods with captured terrorist suspects” (a matter which, along with just about everything else, is “off limits” as far as White House lawyer Fred Fielding is concerned).Gee, Fred, Vermont is lovely this time of year. What else is Leahy supposed to talk about, then? The onset of the fall foliage season?One day we will be governed by adults again (and of course, White House spokesperson Dana Perino ...
Senator
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No Doubting Thomas, Sadly
2007-10-04 22:31:58
So Supreme Court flunkie justice Clarence Thomas had a big party the other day to celebrate the release of his new book with his other neocon fellow travelers.Whoop-de-freaking-doo…I don’t think there is anyone else in public life, with the possible exception of Dubya, who has risen to a position of prominence so far above his qualifications who is so resolutely bitter about it, imaging enemies everywhere he looks.But the only reason why I’m bothering to take any time on this subject is because of the following from this Washington Post story…NAACP Chairman Julian Bond and Thomas talked about Georgia. Thomas posed for a picture with a woman in a huge red hat. "I like that hat!" he said to Linda Softli of the Black Republican Women.Given Bushco’s contempt for African Americans in this country (one word: Katrina, and other evidence is provided here), can someone please explain to me why the leader of an organization that ostensibly represents African Americans would have any re ...
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The World According To “Genghis” Cohen
2007-10-04 20:46:42
My goodness, is Roger Cohen in a spirit of jingoistic right-wing triumphalism today in the New York Times, or what (here)? I haven’t seen such armchair warrior ferocity since Don (“The Defense Secretary We Had”) Rumsfeld skipped out of Washington, D.C. for the comfy confines of the Hoover Institution.Tristero over at Hullaballo (h/t Atrios) addressed a good bit of what I’d planned to say very well here, so I’ll just point you over there. However, Cohen did manage to sneak in some other propaganda that I want to comment on, to wit…When John Kerry was vilified as a flip-flopping liberal by those armchair warriors, Bush and Cheney, I knew where I stood. When Michnik and Kouchner are neocons and MoveOn.org is the Petraeus-insulting face of never-set-foot-in-a-war-zone liberalism, I’m with the Polish-French brigade against the right-thinking American left.(Cohen defines somewhat who Koucher is, but he really doesn’t bother to say much about Michnik – oh well…).More to th ...
Cohen
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Steve And Patrick Under Fire In Bucks, PA
2007-10-04 17:46:10
(I would have gotten to this earlier, but I've had some technical difficulties; that's why there haven't been any videos for the last couple of days - hopefully all will be made right soon).The following letter appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times yesterday…As a lifelong Democrat and one who has supported Congressman Patrick Murphy financially and politically, I was offended by Murphy’s $1,000-per-person fundraiser in Newtown at the Brick Hotel on Sept. 24.The event was the first meeting of the “Congressional Policy Group” wherein members must make a required $1,000 annual donation to Murphy’s political campaigns. Donors, through their purchased membership, will apparently have the good congressman’s ear to discuss “a range of policy issues” directly with Murphy.While I do see the value of organizing a broadly based think tank to help our congressman understand and act on the concerns of his constituents, I fail to see how the required $1,000 access fee is appropr ...
Fire
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Can You Feel The Excitement?
2007-10-04 17:22:12
I think I have a treatment available to anyone out there in need of relaxation, and you don’t even need Diazepam. This will mellow you out faster than a Kenny G retrospective.It’s called The Fred Thompson Campaign For President.As the New York Times notes here…Twenty-four minutes after he began speaking in a small restaurant the other day, Fred D. Thompson brought his remarks to a close with a nod of his head and an expression of thanks to Iowans for allowing him to “give my thoughts about some things.”Then he stood face to face with a silent audience.“Can I have a round of applause?” Mr. Thompson said, drawing a rustle of clapping and some laughter.“Well, I had to drag that out of you,” he said.And so charismatic and personable too, isn’t he? I guess he acquired a lot of people skills working in front of a TV camera for all those years...Mr. Thompson told few jokes and, while an easygoing presence, did not appear to have much interest in the small talk that is a st ...
Excitement
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No Hope For Casey
2007-10-03 22:34:38
And based on this story, the same for Baucus, Bayh, Bingaman (happy birthday, schmuck), Carper, Conrad, Dorgan, Inouye, Johnson, Landrieu, Levin (the guy who once came up with this, by the way, back when he acted like an adult), Lincoln, McCaskill, Mikulski, The Nelson Brothers, Pryor, Reed, Salazar, Tester and Webb also…I found out about this from The Daily Kos, and they noted that every single Republican voted against the Feingold amendment also. Hell, at least THEY can show unanimity for a cause, however unholy it is, as opposed to those idiots I try to help in my way (who seem to be stuck on this 28 or 29 number).And remember how happy we were to see Casey, Webb, Tester and McCaskill win so the Dems could get the Senate? All four sold us down the river again here on the war.Can someone explain to me again exactly why I should support the Democratic Party? ...
Casey
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Ready For Your Close-Up, Dubya?
2007-10-03 21:39:44
Much like a trained seal trying to balance a beach ball on its nose in lieu of not knowing what else to do, our now-and-forever red state president open up his demagogic playbook again in a speech where he took another shot at “Hollywood values.”And I guess that’s a funny remark for people such as Robert Duvall, Ron Silver, Kelsey Grammer and Cicely Tyson, among other actors who supported Dubya in ’04.It’s really not worth my time to list all of the problems facing our nation and the world once more, and it really isn’t worth your time either for me to make you read about what you already know. It’s just sooo depressing to watch Incurious George continually try to present himself as an adult in a job for which he has continually been overmatched, imagining “issues” handed to him straight from the Republican National Committee while everything else disintegrates around him, and he remains oblivious.I’ll tell you what then, Dubya, as long as you think we should take y ...
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What’s Some Stray Missiles Between “Friends”?
2007-10-03 19:43:40
According to this McClatchy news story, the Israelis have acknowledged that “its air force had struck an unspecified military target deep inside Syria in September.”And that’s about it. However, the McClatchy story offers this possibility…One of the latest theories is that North Korea told the United States it had sold nuclear technology to Syria , which prompted the U.S. to tell Israel that North Korea had sold nuclear technology to Syria , which prompted Israel to attack the North Korean technology in Syria . Follow?And as far as I’m concerned, telling Bushco about stuff like this is as good as telling the Israelis anyway.Personally, I think something else is going on here, as noted here by Daniel Levy of The Century Foundation via Ezra Klein, as follows (dated 9/7 right after the story broke)…There has been huge speculation in Israel, throughout the summer, regarding Syrian rearmament and possible military intentions. This might have been a way of dipping one's toe in th ...
Friends
Missiles
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Another Reason For Single Payer Care, Eh?
2007-10-03 18:37:15
To recap, here is the summary of what was accomplished in the settlement last week between General Motors and the United Auto Workers Union in the UAW’s 41-hour strike last week…The agreement, which ended a 41-hour strike against GM, shifts $51 billion in potential healthcare liability off GM's balance sheet, puts new workers on a lower pay scale, freezes wages but guarantees bonuses, promises to keep investing in U.S. production and limits how long idled workers get nearly full pay in a so-called jobs bank.However, this article from the Canadian Press tells us of the following impact on the Canadian auto industry as a result……the U.S. deal represents "a very dark day for the Canadian automotive sector," in the initial reaction of leading industry analyst Dennis DesRosiers."GM and very shortly Ford and Chrysler will have created about a $25-per-hour cost advantage to build vehicles in the U.S. instead of Canada," DesRosiers said shortly after last Wednesday's agreement.By the w ...
Single
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Tuesday Videos
2007-10-03 06:04:23
Incubus ("Oil And Water," live at the 2007 KROQ Weenie Roast - not the whole band)......and Happy Birthday to Sting ("Russians" - don't need to add much, do I?).For more videos, please check the WeShow link from the home page. ...
Videos
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Don't Know Much About History
2007-10-03 05:16:46
(Apologies to Sam Cooke…)In today’s News for Republicans, John McCain, enjoying that “bump” all the way to third place past Willard Mitt Romney in the contest for the Repug nomination for president, travels to Florida (noted here) to address “a broad spectrum of issues” according to U.S. News and World Report stenographer Liz Halloran.I hope that while McCain is traveling to Florida, he has a chance to read the U.S. Constitution; it most certainly does not specify that America is a “Christian nation” (here).And Rudy! is no doubt still basking in the love shown for him by South Philadelphia cultural troglodyte Joey Vento of Geno’s Steaks, seeing as how they both share such a love and respect for immigrants.As noted in the Inquirer story…Vento, who got national and international attention last year for posting a sign in the window declaring, "This is America. When ordering, please speak English."There are many reasons why this is the wrong attitude, but here are just ...
History
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Methinks Thou Doth Protest Too Much
2007-10-03 01:00:39
I hate reading stuff like this (guess I’m just an old, moralistic, liberal stick-in-the-mud today).I have a question for Tara Kissane, the Director of Visual and Performing Arts for the Higley Unified School District in Mesa, AZ; did you actually ask any of the kids whether or not you should stop the production of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),” as noted in the story? Did they appear to be confused, scared, or offended somehow?As noted in the story…The play was produced by a New York-based touring company, Windwood Theatricals. Paul Bartz, the producer, said he was surprised to learn the performance was stopped.“It's a matter of interpretation, but they're surely not seeing anything on that stage that they're not seeing on television,” Bartz said Tuesday. “You might liken it to a 'Saturday Night Live' sketch on Shakespeare.”The group's Web site says it's a “whirlwind roller coaster tribute to the immortal bard. Three actors take on the daunting ...
Protest
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Bucks, PA Dem Mash-Up
2007-10-02 23:51:46
I apologize for being a little late with this item, but Patrick Murphy came up with a great idea for those victims of flood damage in Bucks who need to file a claim with the national flood insurance program...On (9/27), Murphy pushed for a new federal office to help direct home owners and business owners through the often confusing national flood insurance program.The new federal post, which Murphy called the National Flood Insurance Advocate, would be an independent office within the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The new office is modeled after the Taxpayer Advocate Service, which helps Americans with tax questions within the Internal Revenue Service.“This office would fight for weary, rain-soaked families and businesses looking to rebuild,” Murphy said on the House floor Thursday afternoon.The office was included as an amendment in the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2007, which House members were expected to vote on late Thursday.This makes a whole lot mor ...
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Whoops, She Won't Do It Again...Maybe
2007-10-02 22:45:40
I really don’t want to spend much time on this since it isn’t really my thing, but I received some interesting information that could pertain to the child custody dispute going on between Britney Spears and Kevin Federline from a lady named Bonnie Russell who, as noted here (last entry under “R”) publicizes the work of attorneys (mostly in a positive light, but not in the case of Ron Lais, who now resides at a correctional facility at taxpayers expense).The following is noted in the FindLaw article about the Spears/Federline case (describing a condition Spears must meet to regain custody of her two boys set by Superior Court Commissioner Scott M. Gordon)…The commissioner did say Spears must meet eight hours a week with a parenting coach, who will observe and report back to the court about her parenting skills.Both parents are prohibited from making derogatory remarks about each other in their children's presence, and from using corporal punishment to discipline them.(PA famil ...
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Killing For Peace?
2007-10-02 20:35:20
The New York Times informs us here that…The United States maintained its role as the leading supplier of weapons to the developing world in 2006, followed by Russia and Britain, according to a Congressional study to be released Monday. Pakistan, India and Saudi Arabia were the top buyers.The global arms market is highly competitive, with manufacturing nations seeking both to increase profits and expand political influence through weapons sales to developing nations, which reached nearly $28.8 billion in 2006.That sales total was a modest drop from the 2005 figure of $31.8 billion, a trend explained by the strain of rising fuel prices that prompted many developing states — except those that produce oil — to choose upgrading current arsenals over buying new weapons.I’m honestly not trying to single out Times reporter Thom Shanker here, since this is good factual reporting on an issue that is vastly under-reported as far as I’m concerned.But assuming our goal is to aid forces le ...
Peace
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