Monday, November 2, 2009
California to withhold a bigger chunk of paychecks
Subject: txt 1st cali mny -
Starting Sunday, cash-strapped California will dig deeper into the pocketbooks of wage earners -- holding back 10% more than it already does in state income taxes just as the biggest shopping season of the year kicks into gear.
Technically, it's not a tax increase, even though it may feel like one when your next paycheck arrives.
Just think of it as a forced, interest-free loan..
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Scozzafava Drops Out Of NY-23 Race
Subject: txt 1st 2010 -
The Base Barks: Republican Establishment in Washington, D.C. spent over $900,000.00 to elect Dede Scozzafava, who [Saturday] abandons the race.
NY-23: Scozzafava Photo-Op Goes Horribly Wrong
Third party challenges in NJ, NY are warning sign
Third party candidates are shaking up two major races in elections Tuesday, and the success of those candidacies is a warning shot fired at both major parties by voters angry at government and disillusioned by politics as usual. In New York's 23rd Congressional district (Snip) Dede Scozzafava, the candidate chosen by state GOP leaders to replace him, was forced out of the race by a surging Conservative Party candidate, Doug Hoffman.READ MORE
Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich: The Visionary and the Hack
Subject: txt 2010 gdd -
Two weeks after Sarah Palin's unique exit from public office, Newt Gingrich offered up some unsolicited counsel for the former governor in an interview with POLITICO. Exactly why he felt she needed his help remains a bit of a mystery, except that Gingrich seems absolutely certain that the world is always on edge awaiting his next tactical stroke of genius.
Now that an intense internecine battle is raging over how Republicans should react to Doug Hoffman's Conservative Party bid for New York's 23rd , one thing is certain: it is Newt whose reputation is in shambles, and it is he who should seek political advice from Palin as to how he might regain his lost stature. And this will remain true whether Mr. Hoffman wins or loses.
By unconditionally supporting the Republican machine candidate Dede Scozzafava -- one of the most liberal candidates ever offered by the party in any race -- Newt has forfeited any remnant of respect he might have retained as the standard-bearer of the conservative congressional revolution of 1994... [snip]
While pundit after pundit argues that we should throw Reagan over the side in pursuit of Obama-lite, Palin is bringing us back to the principled, universal roots that Reagan shared with the Founders. While many columnists anguish over immoderate candidates, Palin warns against "blurring the lines" and writes a Facebook birthday tribute to Margaret Thatcher.
A recent Gallup poll [again, as always] shows that in America, conservatives outnumber liberals by two to one. We know from history that conservatives can win landslide elections. But conservatives need to be confident to be resurgent. None of us knows what Sarah Palin has in mind for 2012 and beyond. But if she is a force that helps us regain the confidence of our convictions, then she will have given us a gift beyond repayment...
[Recommended > ]
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In Key New York Race, Barracuda Chews Up Mitt
Subject: txt 2010 gdd fnn - Mitt Romney, who hopes to be the GOP's next presidential nominee, couldn't bring himself to endorse anyone in New York state's contentious 23rd congressional district special election.
Sarah Palin, using her unique sense of timing, one week ago became the biggest name of in-prime party leaders to endorse Hoffman.
What do you find most often in the middle of the road?
Road kill.
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Meanwhile, in the Professional media...
.
"The battle for upstate New York confirms just how swiftly the right has devolved into a wacky, paranoid cult that is as eager to eat its own as it is to destroy Obama. The movement’s undisputed leaders, Palin and Beck, neither of whom have what Palin once called the 'actual responsibilities' of public office, would gladly see the Republican Party die on the cross of right-wing ideological purity."
So wrote a New York Times columnist...
[I.e., yet another liberal 'advising' the GOP move left - ever left - as its only hope of salvation. Funny, Reagan didn't run on that premise. He was crucified for his conservatism it by the press [and there was no People's Press new-media to counter the deluge], but Americans responded. If the Republican party is no longer capable of representing true conservatism, it will be replaced with one that is - precisely as we're seeing in NY.]
This is the same unbiased journalist that, in his "The G.O.P. Stalinists Invade Upstate New York," unapologetically said no matter who wins in Tuesday's election for a House representative from New York's 23rd district, "the Republicans are the sure losers":
[But they've all the party's best interest at heart when offering their advice for 'success'.]
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CNN:Dems Might Be Better Off If They Lose NJ & VA
Subject: txt msm 2010 - fnn -
On Friday’s Situation Room, CNN forwarded an idea proposed by The New Republic’s Peter Beinart- that Democratic losses in the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey this year would result in the reelection of President Obama in 2012. An on-screen graphic during a discussion of Beinart’s hypothesis read,
“If The Dems Lose Next Week: How it might help them in the long run.”
‘Let’s imagine,’ he writes, ‘that Democrats lose next week because the GOP’s conservative base flocks to the polls while liberals stay home. For Obama, that wouldn’t be so terrible. The more confident right-wing Republicans become, the more likely they will nominate a Palin-like zealot in 2012.’”
[They just can't help themselves. And about those 'zealots'...]
[When it comes to Liberty, I am one.]
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In 568 words, what's wrong with 1,990 pages
Subject: txt 1st hcare msm -
[You're probably sick of the 24/7 coverage of alternative ideas to socialized medicine from the MSM, but just in case you somehow missed it...]
House Republican Leader John Boehner gave the Republican radio address today, and in 568 words made a simple and compelling case for what is wrong with the Democrats' 1,990-page health care proposal -- and for what should be done instead.
Here is the full text of Boehner's radio address:
I’m House Republican Leader John Boehner. At the beginning of this year, I told President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi that Republicans would be ready to work with them whenever possible to address the nation’s biggest challenges.
I also said that where there are differences, it was our obligation as a party to explain to the American people how we would do things better. And on the "stimulus," the budget, the energy bill, and health care, we have done exactly that.
As a matter of fact, only Republicans have offered solutions to lower health care costs and make it easier to obtain quality, affordable coverage without imposing a massive burden on the American people.
We first released our health care plan in June, and over the last six months, we have introduced at least eight bills that, taken together, would implement this blueprint. You can go right now to healthcare.gop.gov and get all the details, but for now, I just want to share with you four ideas Republicans have proposed:
Number one: let families and businesses buy health insurance across state lines;
Number two: allow individuals, small businesses, and trade associations to pool together and acquire health insurance at lower prices, the same way large corporations and labor unions do today;
Number three: give states the tools to create their own innovative reforms that lower health care costs; and
Number four: end junk lawsuits that contribute to higher health care costs by increasing the number of tests and procedures that physicians sometimes order not because they think it's good medicine, but because they are afraid of being sued.
These are four smart, fiscally-responsible reforms that we can implement today to lower costs and expand access at a price our nation can afford. Again, you can learn more about these and all the health care initiatives Republicans have supported by visiting healthcare.gop.gov.
The best way to get a sense of what Speaker Pelosi’s takeover of health care looks like is to actually look at it. Just shy of 2,000 pages, it runs more than 620 pages longer than the government-run plan Hillary Clinton proposed in 1993.
This 1,990 pages of bureaucracy will centralize health care decision making in Washington, DC. It’ll require thousands of new federal employees. It’ll put unelected boards, bureaus, and commissions in charge of who gets access to what drug and what potentially life-saving treatment.
And it won’t come cheap. Speaker Pelosi’s health care bill will raise the cost of Americans’ health insurance premiums; it will kill jobs with tax hikes and new mandates; and it will cut seniors’ Medicare benefits.
We now have a choice: we can come together to implement smart, fiscally responsible reforms to improve Americans’ health care or we can recklessly pursue this government takeover that creates far more problems than it solves.
It’s clear where the American people stand on this issue. They‘re frustrated and fed up. The ‘stimulus’ bill isn’t working. Unemployment is rising. The debt to be paid by our kids and grandkids is exploding. And now, Speaker Pelosi’s 1,990-page government takeover of health care.
Enough is enough. Breaking the bank and taking away the freedoms Americans cherish is not the answer to the challenges we face.
This coming week, Republicans will continue to stand on principle, defend freedom, and fight for our better solutions to make health care more affordable and accessible for American families.
Thanks for listening.
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Annual Medicare Fraud:$60 Billion; Annual Profits of Top Ten Insurance Companies:$8 billion
Subject: txt 1st hcare crpt sclm bbro bdd -
[HT:LDot;"The heart of the scam in simple numbers that will fit on the back of a business card."
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Dems don't need the public option to take over health care
Subject: txt 1st hcare sclm bbro -
John Hinderaker of Powerline lays out a brutally clear case for why even without the public option, Democrats will succeed in federalizing health care:
What strikes me as I read the House bill, however, is how closely it approximates socialized medicine even without the public option. The bill is classic national socialist legislation, in that it takes ostensibly private entities, the health insurance companies, and perverts them into instruments of the state, run top-down and barred from competing among themselves.
I think Hinderaker nails it by saying that paying our premiums under Obamacare is the same as paying a tax:
In the world that the House bill would create, the money we will pay to insurance companies won't really be insurance premiums. Insurance premiums are contractual payments which the parties voluntarily agree upon and which are based on a mutual assessment of risk. Rather, the checks we write to insurance companies will be taxes--compelled, at rates set by the federal government that are designed to punish some and subsidize others.
Obama has said that it will take a decade to get rid of private insurance companies. That's nonsense. They will already be gone the moment he signs this bill...
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Newsweek Despairs 'Checks and Balances' Impede ObamaCare
Subject: txt hcare lbrty msm -
Penning the lead story for the “Yes He Can (But He Sure Hasn't Yet)” Newsweek cover, “A Liberal's Survival Guide,” Anna Quindlen defended President Obama from liberal complaints he's not enacting liberal policies fast enough as she explained that he's “saddled” by the “incremental” constitutional structure.
Framing her piece in the November 2 edition of the magazine, “Hope Springs Eternal: Assessing a Young Presidency,” Quindlen proposed:
"Checks and balances: that's how we learn about it in social-studies class, and in theory [?] it is meant to guard against a despotic executive, a wild-eyed legislature, an overweening judiciary. And it's also meant to safeguard the rights of the individual...But what our system has meant during the poisonous partisan civil war that has paralyzed Washington in recent years is that very little of the big stuff gets done. It simply can't."
[Unbelievable - I think she literally doesn't realize that the 'big stuff' being attempted is exactly the type of 'despotic executive, wild-eyed legislature' the checks and balances were designed to guard us from.
I.e., yet another example of the brilliance our founders bequeathed to us {and the liberal ideological teamism that blinds this woman from recognizing it.}]
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The Enemy Within
Subject: txt nsec sclm bbro mny -
"The ‘Status Quo' is not an option. We face large and growing structural deficits largely due to known demographic trends and rising health care costs. GAO's simulations show that balancing the budget in 2040 could require actions as large as cutting total federal spending by 60% or more, or raising federal taxes to two times today's level."
Source: 2007 Government Accounting Office report, Saving Our Future Requires Tough Choices Today.
[And this before the age of Obama.]
CBO's estimate of additional deficits over 2010-2019 from the House's health reform bill: $1.042 trillion. (Source: CBO, see Table at end.)
CBO's estimate of the increase in the 2010-2019 cumulative deficit of President Obama's budget over a "baseline" (current-law) budget: $4.698 trillion. (Source: CBO, see Table 1-1.)
.
We Need Both
Subject: txt nsec =
The F-22 can outrun, outclimb, and outmaneuver any fighter, but the F-35 is the first ever designed to replace four existing aircraft.
Test pilot Jon Beesley -- one of only two men on the planet to have flown both the F-35 Lightning II and the F-22 Raptor -- says aerial combat is not two gunfighters facing each other in the middle of the street, drawing pistols, and shooting it out.
"That's High Noon, that's Gary Cooper," says Beesley, 59, a grandfather of 16 and a former Air Force fighter pilot who now test flies experimental and prototype fighter-aircraft for Lockheed Martin. "
Air combat has always been about stealth; about being able to get into position to kill the other guy -- preferably unobserved -- and if you are observed, being able to outmaneuver him.
"Ever heard of fighter pilots wanting to come out of the sun or the clouds? That's why they want to do it. They don't want their opponent to see them. That's stealth."
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Losing Israel
Subject: txt israel -
When America entered the war in Vietnam, Ho Chi Min said that it would be a long war and that the communists would win by using propaganda in the media and the universities. He was correct.
It is time to take stock in the war between Israelis and the Palestinians and deal with some forbidden subjects. Israel is losing the propaganda war, hasbarah, and for a very good reason.... [snip]
Now, which one of the two maintains a stronger position -- peace or victory? Today Israel desires peace and the Palestinians insist on victory. Guess who wins?
Peace is for losers. Regrettably, Israelis and American Jews are choosing to be the losers. The consequences however are too dire; ultimately, Israel may get their peace, but it may be the peace after jihad's victory.
Ironically, Israelis and Jews abroad are not the only ones in a state of denial about Islamic politics; they just happen to be at the frontline. President Bush demonstrated after 9/11 that he too had no clue how to fight this Islamic ideological war. Instead of using military force against our enemies, he and his successor- President Obama should have declared ideological war against our true enemy-political Islam.
They seem to lose their war and so will Israel unless some tough questions are faced and actions are taken.
[Recommended > ]
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Campus Critics on Trial
Subject: txt cali edu israel -
Two venomously anti-Israel professors at the University of California have joined forces to attack those who would criticize them, or their like-minded colleagues, for injecting their hatred of the Jewish State into their teaching and research.
David Theo Goldberg is director of the system-wide University of California Humanities Research Institute and Saree Makdisi is Professor of English Literature specializing in British Romanticism at UCLA. Together, Goldberg and Makdisi have published an article "The Trial of Israel's Campus Critics," in which they assert that there is an insidious Israel Campus Lobby comprising raving right-wing Zionists.
In order to understand just how spurious these charges are, one need only consider the two professors making them. Here are some important and relevant facts about the authors, which they have conveniently forgotten to share with their readers:
David Theo Goldberg:
signed a January 2009 letter to President Obama which describes Israel as "an Apartheid regime" that is committing "one of the most massive, ethnocidal atrocities of modern times"; [many more - snip]Saree Makdisi:
claimed in a talk he delivered at a conference at UCLA in January 2009 that it was Israel's "'premeditated state policy' to kill Gazans and stunt the growth of their children." [many more - snip]Goldberg's and Makdisi's "scholarly" criticism of Israel is motivated by a deep animus of the Jewish State and a desire to see its elimination. These criticisms are arguably neither scholarly nor legitimate. By wrapping themselves in the mantle of academic freedom, Goldberg and Makdisi have egregiously abused the freedom that comes from such an action.
And by falsely accusing anyone who would criticize them of committing the very offenses they themselves have committed, they take intellectual thuggery to vile new depths...
[I.e., they've bright futures in our current academic system.]
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[But we can act...]
.Taiwan warns of China 'threat'
Subject: txt intl - 
Taiwan's defence ministry has said China's military strength is far more than it needs for self-defence and it is a threat to the Asia-Pacific region.
It warned unless 1,500 missiles aimed at Taiwan were removed, both nations would find it hard to trust each other.
Relations had been improving since the Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, took office last year.
China, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory, has not yet responded to the Taiwanese defence report.
China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, when the defeated Nationalist government fled to the island as the Communists, under Mao Zedong, swept to power.
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US drone strikes may break international law: UN
Subject: txt gwot nsec owg - 
United Nations - US drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan could be breaking international laws against summary executions, the UN's top investigator of such crimes said. (Snip) ''My concern is that drones/Predators are being operated in a framework which may well violate international humanitarian law and international human rights law,''
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Power Derives from Lawful Authority
Subject: txt owg grn -
The President of the United States has no more legal right to sign a treaty that turns legislative, executive, and judicial functions of our national government over to the United Nations than he has to declare the United States an Islamic Republic and its people henceforward subject to Sharia.
Nevertheless, that would be the effect of the proposed United Nations Climate Change Treaty awaiting Mr. Obama's signature in Copenhagen this coming December.
The proposed treaty authorizes the establishment of a "government" to transfer wealth from industrial nations to non-industrial nations in payment of a "climate debt" which, the treaty 'declares', the industrial nations owe on account of burning carbon-based fuels.
The newly created international government is to have the authority to decide issues relating to carbon emissions in signatory nations, the power to levy what amounts to carbon taxes on signatory nations, and the power to enforce its levies without reference to the will of the people who live in the signatory nations.
Thus, the proposed Climate Change Treaty demands that: [specifics, all a transfer of sovereignty - snip]
So, given what the treaty portends, the obvious question is, does it pass constitutional muster?
The answer is rooted in American constitutional history, which is that no President, even with the advice and consent of the Senate, has the power to transfer legislative, executive, or judicial authority to any body in derogation of the manner in which such authority is granted by the United States Constitution.
A presidential signature and senatorial ratification is merely the process by which a treaty takes on the outward garments of lawfulness. The substance of the treaty must also be lawful. as defined by the tenants of our Constitution.
- "The ... powers of the national government are limited by the constitutional grants. Those who act under these grants are not at liberty to transcend the imposed limits because they believe that more or different power is necessary."
- "The Constitution provides that 'All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States' (and the) ... Congress is not permitted to abdicate or to transfer to others the essential legislative functions with which it is thus vested [3]."
To be lawful under our Constitution, a treaty may not impinge on the constitutional grant of powers to the President, to Congress, or to the Judiciary... [snip]
In the end, the question is whether the 200+ page Climate Change Treaty oversteps the constitutional limitations on the delegation of powers that are allocated to the various branches of our federal government. We can find out for certain only by a vote of five or more members of the United States Supreme Court - which history has shown to be an unreliable safety net for the preservation of America's constitutional democracy.
That's why it's critical we hold our Senators' feet to the fire on this issue.
We don't need another national trauma, and we can avoid one by making sure our Senators withhold their consent to the proposed Climate Change Treaty when Mr. Obama signs and submits it...
[Read the above skipped 'specifics' to know what we're in for should we fail >
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Then >
"DENY SENATE CONSENT of CLIMATE CHANGE 'TREATY' "
Senate-Reid: http://reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm
YOUR Senator: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
or: Speed Message them with your personal distribution list...
and as always, pass it on...
contact-template
Subject: txt lbrty gdd extra other -
The Founding Founders established a Republic under a written Constitution with the clear intent of protecting individual freedom. However, the role of our government has been grossly perverted over the last century to the point where politicians now violate individual rights routinely and without batting an eye. Most violations occur under the banner of providing for the public good, and they call upon the virtues of charity and sacrifice to garner support.
Fortunately, charity and sacrifice in a free society are individual and personal undertakings. As a rule, they cannot be subject to coercion if liberty is to be maintained. The current President and various members of both political parties do not abide by this rule, and as such, they are positioning themselves as tyrants. Servitude will be the price we pay unless we stand up today and boldly defend our rights. It is time to educate the broader public on the proper role of charity and sacrifice in a free society... [snip]
In his authoritative work on freedom, The Constitution of Liberty1, F.A. Hayek explained the role charity plays in a free society:
"By common opinion our chief concern...[is] the welfare of our family. But we also show our appreciation and approval of others by making them our friends and their aims ours. To choose our associates and generally those whose needs we make our concern is an essential part of freedom and of the moral conceptions of a free society. General altruism, however, is a meaningless conception..."
Ayn Rand was less loquacious in her explanation:
"Only individual men have the right to decide when or whether they wish to help others; society -- as an organized political system -- has no rights in the matter at all."
Now ask yourself: regarding how your tax money is collected and spent for public services, do you get to decide what and whose needs appear most important to you or do politicians? It's a rhetorical question, but it emphasizes an important point -- that when politicians position themselves as the purveyors of charity, the values with respect to each member of society are disregarded as the values of one group or special interest win over those of others...
Many individuals will still ask, What of the poor and those who can't provide certain necessities for themselves? The answer in a free society is clear: you will not be stopped from helping them.
Therein lies the essence of charity - and its distinction from tyranny...
[Highly Recommended > ]
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AFP California Tours State with Tea Party Express
Subject: txt lbrty gdd mny =
Dear friends of AFP California,
This week I had the great pleasure of participating in the Tea Party Express tour that launched in San Diego, followed by stops in Los Angeles, Bakersfield and Fresno. At each of our stops, there were great crowds of patriots deeply concerned about the direction our country is taking. I was encouraged to see so many Californians actively working to take back our government from tax-and-spend politicians.
In each city I met AFP supporters—many of whom heard about these events through our emails! This was evidence that AFP California is building a network of grassroots activists throughout our state. Together, we can hold our elected officials accountable.
I shared with the Tea Party participants that California was once the land of great opportunity and prosperity. The only thing that has changed since then is an increasingly irresponsible legislature. The people of this great state haven’t changed. It’s up to you and me to ensure our future is as bright as our golden past. I’m confident that we can continue to spread the message of prosperity and freedom, and in doing so, reclaim California.
Please take a moment to visit our Facebook and Flickr pages to see photos of the Tea Party Express rallies.
State Chairman, Americans for Prosperity of California
P.S. The Tea Party Express continues its tour of the country. Please forward this email to your friends and family and encourage them to attend a local Tea Party Express event in their area.
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USSR Humor and the Jobless Recovery
A story from the old Soviet Union helps us understand claims that a jobless recovery is underway.
Once upon a time four of the historic leaders of the old Soviet Union were on a train going across the Siberian wilderness: Lenin, Stalin, Kruschev and Brezhnev. (Suspend your understanding of time.)
Midway across the wilderness, the train reached the end of the tracks. Construction works were huddled around fires trying to stay warm. They said track supplies were short.
Lenin said he’d take care of it. He climbed down the steps of the plush private care the leaders were traveling in, had workers build a simple platform, mounted it, and started giving a rousing speech. He exhorted the crowd to revolutionary effort to advance the cause of the people. They all shouted and went back to work.
In a couple of hours the train moved down the track about a quarter mile. Then it stopped.
The leaders looked at each other. Stalin said he’d take care of it.
He climbed down from the private railcar and ordered that all the track foremen be shot and new ones appointed.
Work resumed. The train started up again. Went another quarter mile and stopped.
This time Kruschev said it was his turn. He descended from the railcar and ordered that the track behind the train be pulled up and laid in front of the train. He pounded his shoe on Lenin’s platform for emphasis.
Later the train began to roll again. This time it went further than before. But then it stopped again.
Brezhnev said he’s fix things. He scrambled down the ladder, gathered the new foremen around him, and said, “Comrades, divide your workers into two groups. Line one half along one side of the train, and the other along the opposite. Rock the train from side-to-side so that it feels like we’re moving.”
And they did. Inside the railcar Lenin, Stalin and Kruschev marveled at how Brezhnev had been able to get so much track laid in so little time, and at all the distance they were moving across the wilderness.
Outside, Joe Bidenchev, a new foreman, encouraged the workers saying, “Look, Comrades, at how many foremens’ jobs we’ve saved.”
Okay, the last part wasn’t part of the original telling.
-end 091102 post-
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