Thursday, September 22, 2011

Winston-Salem Journal LTE's TH 09/22/11

Good AM, folks!

I have stayed up to post TH's LTE's, but they are not forthcoming. I am now between jobs, so I will not be arising and posting at 7-to-8-ish. I'll post a bit late, most likely. Go ahead, look at the Journal's LTE's (and accompanying ads), then post wherever suits you. I'll put the LTE's up after I arise. In the meantime, nighty night.

87 comments:

  1. Rising late already. Hmm, hmm, hmm. Nobody knows da trouble I seen..

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  2. Well well, no TH LTE's. I've too been to post them till now, though, as Dad's early AM caregiver had an allergic reaction that put her in the hospital, so I had to a bit of early AM scrambling. Going to check on the ailing angel, will check for the LTE's after a while.

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  3. From a very good friend of mine who played Hillary Clinton in an episode of NCIS.
    "Our TX tax dollars at work: First Lady Anita Perry went to NYC in Feb. to promote Texas themed nail polish at an OPI event. Security costs paid for by the state: $7681.26. I guess promoting nail polish is a VERY dangerous mission!"

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  4. Well, go to the OPI website and look around. I'd say the whole business appears to be very dangerous indeed.

    http://www.nailpolishdiva.com/opi-texas-collection.htm

    When you said "Texas themed" I imagined women putting little cowboy hats on their nails, but it's all about cutesy names: Austin-tatious Turquoise, Do You Think I'm Tex-y, Houston We Have A Purple...I guess these are aimed at drooling idiots.

    They have dozens of themed collections, all with truly stupid names. Who knew?

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  5. Good afternoon folks!
    With no LTE's to scrutinize, let's test some HTML tags to see if they do indeed render.
    This is bold

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  6. Underline doesn't work...or even post

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  7. The LTEs are finally up. All that is there is responses to the weekly sum it up regarding the so-calle Marriage Amendment.

    Ignorant people always assume that their "ideas" represent the majority, so the legislators assume that NC citizens will vote for their amendment. Just in case, they have scheduled the vote on primary day, assuming that because President Obama will be unopposed in the primary only Republicans will turn out. So when they say they want to submit the amendment to the "will of the people" they are lying...they just want it passed and to hell with the will of the people.

    The will of the people is pretty clear. Elon University's polling center just released their annual survey of what NC voters think about this amendment and gay "marriage" in general. Elon, BTW, is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

    The poll shows that 56% of North Carolinians oppose the "Marriage Amendment" and that 57% support gay marriage. Those results match the results of an earlier PPP poll and several national polls. Both numbers are up about 9% over two years ago, and still rising.

    Some bigot will surely argue against the Elon poll and all the others by citing the Civitas poll which says that an overwhelming majority of North Carolinians support the amendment.

    Well, you only really need to know two things about Civitas. One is that it essentially a one man operation, a right wing nut named John Pope. And two is that anyone who has any education in polling can read the Civitas questions and tell you that they are inappropriate for a serious poll, slanted questions to get a slanted result. All legitimate polling organizations laugh at the Civitas polls.

    Because of the republican subterfuge regarding the election date, those who oppose the amendment will need to make a superhuman effort to get out the vote. The good news is that if you are a registered independent, you can also vote in the Republican primary. I plan to do so, marking my ballot for Michelle Bachmann if she is still around by then. The Republicans deserve her. Go, Bachmann, go!

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  8. Good PM, folks!

    If the LTE's are simply Sum It Up responses, we'll wait till tomorrow for the real things.

    I have been busy running errands for Dad, getting ready to paint his house while between jobs. In my travels, I note a disparity in fuel prices. Sam's Club in Stanleyville dispensed it into my aging mount at $3.409/gal. Elsewhere, I saw it priced at $3.459 at the gas-and-go at the corner of Cherry and Polo. In the Sherwood Plaza area it was selling for $3.599. This has been a Stab PSA.

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  9. Thank you, thank you very much.

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  10. dotnet: try linking something in your comments.

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  11. Hee....Hee...I get out of a lot of things in life. However, the homosexual community in N.C. never ceases to amaze me. Rush/Kitty Kat cites a recent Elon University Poll that says most North Carolinians favor gay marriage, but it's obvious that he's deafly afraid of the vote planned for next May.

    Look at it this way, if the voters vote it down, it'll be a stepping stone to gay marriage in N.C. If it is voted up, hang on, because it'll be quite a few years before some gay judge can change North Carolina's Constitution.

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  12. this should go over big with the T-Party:

    From the middle of 2007, shortly before the recession began, until the middle of this year, Texas added 279,000 jobs. Of those, 225,00 or 81 percent, went to immigrants who arrived in the United States in 2007 or later.

    Other important numbers from the study, which is based on Census Bureau data:

    • Around half of the newly-arrived immigrants were illegal. So around 40 percent of Texas's job growth benefited illegal immigrants, and around 40 percent benefited legal immigrants.

    • New jobs went overwhelmingly to immigrants even though native-born Americans accounted for 69 percent of the growth in Texas's working-age population.

    • The percentage of working-age natives who held a job fell from 71 percent to 67 percent during the 2007-2011 period. That's a similar decline to the employment situation in the United States overall during that period.

    • 93 percent of the newly-arrived immigrants who took a job in Texas during that time were not American citizens. So more than three quarters of the state's job growth benefited non-citizens.

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  13. Bobby....not every Republican is happy with Perry on illegal immigration issues. Of course, 'let 'em in Obama' is worse. So it's hold your nose and vote in November, particularly on immigration.

    Unlike liberal Democrats, most Republicans are sanefully engaged in the issues.

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  14. Badend access will take a beating if Perry gets in. IMO

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  15. He won't. I could be him in a head to head contest.

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  16. I could beat him in a head to head contest.

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  17. The Democrats in Texas are holding back all the good shit on Perry and if he is nominated they will roast him.

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  18. Perry, Romney, and Huntsman will go on however to great careers doing Viagra and good hair commercials.

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  19. Warner Brothers Looney Tunes should sue the Republican debates for copywright infringement.

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  20. Perry on North Carolina BBQ:

    http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/09/22/1507799/nc-bbq-worse-than-road-kill-perry.html

    I'm an eastern BBQ man myself. Perry politics are deplorable, but that's just wrong. Period.

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  21. Elizabeth Warren is already ahead of Scott Brown in polls in Mass.

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  22. A ham sandwich could beat Obama.

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  23. A barbecue sandwich from North Carolina could have him impeached.

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  24. Maryland vs Boston College women's soccer tonight at 8. At least there will be something interesting and pertinent to watch during the debate tonight.
    Build Baby Build.

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  25. both the Brent Spence Bridge between KY and OH and the Republican party have been deemed functionally obsolete

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  26. Hi Guys!

    Where to begin?

    BOB - OMG my heart is melting, I love that picture of you! AH, I'm going to save a little copy, it's so cute. You are gorgeous inside and out.

    BOB - You were on a freaking roll yesterday. "How much nit could a nitwit nit, ..." Schweddy balls! You were hitting home runs all day.

    STABALLOY - I'm so happy you're having a few days off before your new tenure! Although it sounds as though you're not getting much of a break. I hope your cherished nurse feels better soon. I also hope you have some time to relax. Really relax.

    STABALLOY - This should be posted first. CONGRATULATIONS MISS STEPSTAB! Wow! Massive decision. Massively excellent choice. You and Mrs. Staballoy have earned the pride I'm sure you feel. Watch out world, here comes Miss StepStab, guns blazing.

    DOTNET - You were kicking it yesterday too, I was laughing hard. I also really liked your comment to the last or second last LTE yesterday, I can't remember which one. You should run for president, you have a gift for fair analysis. I've said it before, I'll keep saying it.

    WHITEWALL - I hope you got that squirrel in the a$$. Can you bring that bb gun you have to my house and do something with these squirrel critters that keep throwing walnuts at me and my car? Razza frazzin rats.

    OT - Thanks for sharing the Elon study, do you know the margin of error? I enjoyed your posts from yesterday too.

    ARTHUR - Amen on the BBQ story. (Even though I don't eat meat.) Amen.

    Ciao for now everyone. Busy days.

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  27. Bobby usually gets his clock cleaned unless he's arguing the facts. Then, he wins quite often.

    I guess Sharon is no fan of mine. I didn't even receive a salutation.

    No matter, if she thinks 'dotnet' kicks butt, she's got a serious perceptual problem.

    Where's Reille at....Johnny will soon be off to the slammer?

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  28. “A big part of Bucky was that he didn't want to lose another opportunity to play. But at the end of the day, he wasn't ready.”

    “There's a better Bucky to look forward to. Unfortunately, it's probably not going to be in Seattle.”
    “The reality is that the guys starting in front of him are All-Stars. This is an opportunity for Bucky to go to spring training, play as hard as he can, and try to work his way back to the big leagues.”

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  29. I love you Bob. You truly inspire me.

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  30. What could I say to you Bucky, I disagree with nearly everything you say, and dialogue is almost universally impossible with you.

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  31. Thanks Arthur, to you too. I hope the job hunt is going (or went!) well.

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  32. Arthur, inspired by your link to the song "Get Together" on the Journal website yesterday, I have one to share here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W86jlvrG54o&feature=related

    As background reading I'd like to share this, as a start:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_War#Financial_support

    *********

    And here we go, starting in another elections cycle where naive Americans think our greatest threat is allowing loving people to marry one another. Sad.

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  33. Oh, and sections 7 and 8 (I believe) were particularly juicy.

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  34. Interesting graph about "job creators"

    The Koch brothers over the past 5 years wealth grew from 32b to 50billion dollars while there company went from 80,000 employees to 67,000 employees.

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  35. Oh, I know what I can share with Bucky:

    We had a "Celebrate the End of DADT" lunch party at work yesterday.

    One of my colleagues brought up a good point. He said one of the main problems with DADT is there was punishment associated with violating "Don't Tell", but there was no punishment associated with violating "Don't Ask".

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  36. “We are an institution of values, and one of those values is integrity…I [am] unable to reconcile an institution that on the one hand does value integrity, and on the other hand has individuals who come to work and sacrifice and die in the face of these wars and have to lie about who they are every single day.”-Adm. Mike Mullen

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  37. And Koch has an army of special interest attorneys on staff, keeping that profit cycle profitable and the government on their side.

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  38. Good night all. I must go prepare the goat. The Autumnal Equinox is at 5:05am.

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  39. Angelina, sitting next to me facing the computer, started purring out of the blue just now.

    Even my freaking cat knows DADT needed to go.

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  40. Oy vey, it's autumn. Rest well, Bob. It was great talking to you. xx

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  41. If both heterosexual males and females are afforded privacy protections from each other because of their sexual orientation, then heterosexuals and homosexuals should also be afforded privacy from people of different sexual orientations.

    In short, homosexuals don't get to leer and peep where heterosexuals use public bathrooms and showers.

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  42. It's clear nobody is going to ask in the military anymore, but a lot people are going to tell through their actions of what sexual orientation they are. That's my prediction.

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  43. Sharon, the error % for the Elon poll is +-4.6%, which is normal for their polls.

    While 56% opposed the amendment, only 38% supported it, leaving 6% "don't know" or "undecided".

    2 years ago, the same poll question brougt a 50-50 response, so the shift over 2 years is actually 18%, and still clearly headed in that direction.

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  44. Since its establishment a decade ago, the Elon poll, along with another newcomer PPP, have been the two most accurate polls at voting time.

    Our oldest poll, Gallup, has slipped badly during that same time. Thy admit that they have been experimenting with new approaches, apparently not to their advantage.

    One reason for the big swing on the marriage amendment is that more and more people are becoming aware that it does not only define "marriage". It would also forbid private companies and municipalities from providing equal benefits for same sex partnerships.

    So it would not survive a court challenge, even given the makeup of the current Supreme Court, because it clearly violates the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution as well as several major Federal civil rights acts.

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  45. Good evening,folks!

    The equinox is at 5:04? It is not a minute too soon. Actually, that is astronomical fall. Meteorological fall started a few days ago.

    Sharon: thank you for the kind words.

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  46. Liberals, left-wing, radical Democrats and others say government needs to stay out of womens' lives in respect to abortion regulations. Yet, on the other hand, they support government entering into everybody's lives and bodies through Obamacare. What hypocrisy!

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  47. Bucky, I oppose Obamacare, but doesn't Medicare enter our lives and bodies? How about requirements for students entering schools to have vaccinations? The county health department?

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  48. If Affirmative Action can survive court challenges, so can marriage as being defined as a union between a man and woman.

    Rush/Kitty Kat...you're quite the advocate for gay marriage. I think, based on your enthusiasm, you may have taken more than a few up the 'ole wazoo in your day.

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  49. I have set my alarm for 5:00 AM so that I can personally welcome official fall.

    It has been a Long, Hot Summer (1958, starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward and based on the work of William Faulkner).

    Unfortunately, I think that there will be many more in coming years (not the movie, the hot summers).

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  50. Stab..you missed the point as usual. I was pointing out the hypocrisy.

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  51. La Sombra suggested I try a link tag. Here's one to a very interesting article, though it woefully misstates the ToR:
    faster than light

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  52. As to the health care law, I don't know enough about it, nor does anyone else, to either support or oppose it. So I'm willing to go along for the ride at the moment.

    One thing is certain...it cannot be worse than what it replaces.

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  53. dotnet, it does indeed work. And the info in the article certainly has some of my former colleagues at U. Chicago in a dither. For the moment, only The Shadow knows.

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  54. Hi dotnet!

    It sure does work. How? And I suspect those neutrinos will be shown as not going FTL, at least not in space-time as we know it, but most likely not at all.

    Bucky: I am too literal-minded for such cleverness. It goes over my head.

    OT: the HCR bill included provision to enroll independent health care providers as members in the SEIU. That showed me all I wanted to know re HCR. It was about building the Dem base.

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  55. I'll admit it. Perry took a major beating tonight, especially on immigration. He lacked wit. But he wasn't a nitwit.

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  56. Nitwittiness is the purview of this site, Bucky.

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  57. You're a very nice man Stab, but you're obsessed with unions. Someone could write a letter about the dogwood being the state flower, and you'd find a way to bring up card check.

    Did Jimmy Hoffa run over your dog, or something? What gives?

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  58. To put a link in your comment, just paste this in:

    Title

    Replace URL with the url that you are trying to link to and Title with the name of the site. Works.

    I have been trying to post a picture. So far needs more work.

    I promise that if I succeed, the picture will NOT be of our local banging buck(y).

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  59. Meanwhile, to my knowledge, Governor Ricky has NOT been invited to join the Nitwits Club. If someone were so foolish as to do so, I would be fast with my blackball.

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  60. Sharon - thanks for the plug but my analysis gift is best served by being used on systems and programming. ;)

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  61. Have to agree with Arthur. Single issue thinking can lead to much trouble.

    Unions are dying; corporations are not. They are the single biggest threat to our system of government.

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  62. That being said, I don't spend much time thinking about corporations.

    As I've said before, I focus on local issues where I can actually have some influence.

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  63. Arthur, thank you for your kind comment.

    I'm not opposed to collective bargaining, as people have a right to FREELY choose agents to represent them. Note that the attempt to pressgang people into the SEIU did not reflect freedom of choice. Apply the freedom of choice so beloved by liberals and abortion advocates to unions and you'll hear less from me. As for being obsessed, hey, I call evil as I see it.

    I never see a response from you as to why card check is a good idea.

    Also, how would health care have been improved by corralling independent providers into the SEIU?

    OT and Arthur, the current administration is trying to revivify unions via government fiat and by coercion. Unions wield political power far all out of proportion to their size, thanks to their undemocratic structure and unfettered access to members' dues (without permission for use for politics). Take unions out of politics, require genuine consent by employees to membership, including periodic recertification elections, and mandate direct election of union potentates, you would see a much healthier economy, along with a better class of pol.

    I'm OK with the dogwood as state flower, even though I prefer cats and am allergic to dogs. But, if Trumka tries to unionize those flowers, I will demand secret ballot :)

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  64. OT, thank you for the instructions re link posting.

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  65. Stab, I have learned that once someone has zeroed in on something, it becomes a religion, so is beyond discussion, so this is not meant to extend the discussion.

    But if you are concerned with public policy,democratic matters and fairness, I refer you to the current situation involving the whistle blower at WF Baptist Medical Center. There are NO constraints on corporate power and NO rights for employees in NC.

    Most of the people who supposedly represent you and I in the state legislature and the Congress are firmly in the pocket of their corporate masters and could not care less what we voters think.

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  66. De nada. I can't get a picture link to work, though. Maybe not possible here.

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  67. OT, I appreciate and understand your comment. From what little I know, I side with the whistle blower, with the understanding that there may be more going on than is reported.

    You are indeed correct that a lot of pols are in corporate pockets. I suggest that Gov. Perry is probably a good example of a 2012 model. That said, we have a lot of pols in union pockets, including the WH occupant and the majority of US Senate members. Corporations provide jobs, goods, and services along with their string pulling. Unions provide coercion, inefficiency, and a corroded work ethic . . . and give us pols like Reid, Pelosi, Waters, Kucinich, et al.

    Again, people have a right to FREELY retain agents to represent them. Some businesses prefer to work through unions. That is their business, provided their employees FREELY consent. It is the coercion, and subordination of the individual to the collectivist group that I despise.

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  68. Pogo

    This works, but requires a click to view the pic. I want the pick to appear in the comment itself.

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  69. Stab, if unions had never existed, here's approximately what you would be earning today via simple inflation: $350 per week, based on $15 per week in 1905 for a financial manager at a local bank.

    Certainly, unions have become corrupted, as do all institutions, but it wasn't unions that put us in the hole we are in right now, it was financial managers.

    To state that unions own most US Senators is to wander into the area of unreality. Corporations contribute roughly 2.5x what unions do to Senatorial election campaigns and spend between 10 and 100 times what unions do on lobbying US Senators every year. Just who owns whom?

    As to productivity, the top 100 US corporations are sitting on well over a trillion dollars in overseas banks, unwilling to pay the taxes to bring that money home, and unwilling to use it to create jobs.

    Do a Bucky and peep at any US Senator in the Senate bathroom and you will see corporate logos stamped all over his fat butt, with maybe a tiny "Union Made" logo down somewhere around his ankle.

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