Easter Lemming Liberal News

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Late Term Abortions


This was relayed by a friend online:

If you seriously believe that women are so lazy and stupid as a group that a majority of late-term abortions are done not out of medical necessity but because women just routinely and casually decide they don't want to carry a healthy fetus anymore in the eighth month ... if you honestly believe that a woman should be forced to carry a dead fetus until her body decides to get rid of it, if it doesn't give her an infection and kill her off too ... if you can stand there and tell me with a straight expression that every birth defect and flaw can be caught before the fetus becomes theoretically viable outside of the womb and women just wait to get rid of those fetuses out of laziness ... if you actually think a woman should have to carry a fetus without a face or a #$**ing brain for weeks if not months knowing full well it'll die immediately after birth ...

Get off my friendslist.

No, seriously, get the #$@$ away from me.

And I hope you never have to learn why the right to a late-term abortion is so goddamn important.




Thursday, May 21, 2009

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Time moves on


I realize I am posting very seldom here now.

Well, I have more of a life including a girlfriend and things eat up time.

I haven't mentioned here the results of the Pasadena and La Porte elections.

Pat Van Houte is in a runoff after she missed getting a majority by 4 votes.

I made some signs for her campaign - and screwed up. Texas now has very explicit laws on small print that has to go on signs now. Weren't very many signs so they could be corrected.

Mayor Isbell and Councilman Harrison won as I expected. In a surprise to me Ralph Riggs is in a runoff.

More locally, my La Porte councilman won a very close election which had over 20 times the turnout of the previous uncontested race.

I don't know what happened up around Nacogdoches which I have been frequently traveling to.

After the election my favorite new Pasadena political blog, Politics in Purple, just pulled up stakes and deleted the archives even from the Internet Wayback machine. Google cache might have some pages for a little while.

I seem to be posting links more often at Facebook, but even that is tempered by my knowing many of my Facebook friends aren't there for politics even if others are. I am also somewhat active on Digg.com on voting for stories neglected in the mainstream.

I am not formally ending this but this blog will probably slowly wind down until after a year you might notice it is dead. Unless something unexpected happens - which always happens in life. Don't know if I will ever finish and posts some long entries that are mostly done.

One of the things that motivated this blog was the willing acceptance of the past administration's lies by the media and most of the people I knew. The media is only slightly improved but nearly everyone now recognizes the lies even if they are unclear about what to do about them. Washington is the center of the cluelessness.
There is no longer the urgent sense that the story must be told and a record must be kept on my part.

Check back occasionally to see if this blog has died. It could hang on for quite a while has the writing mood or my sense of outrage overtakes me again. To think I started this because my old Outlook Express couldn't take all the notes and links I was putting into it.
"Why I am doing this.

I wanted to start logging things that I'm doing or that catch my interest to someplace on the net instead of just using my email application for it. I also think that my collection of files on Outlook Express is getting too large and that might be responsible for the weird things somethimes (spelling errors from the beginning) happening.




Saturday, May 09, 2009

Local Texas Elections


Candidates are at the polls for election day and swarming over the people who didn't early vote.

CITY OF LA PORTE, LA PORTE ISD, AND SAN JACINTO COLLEGE JOINT GENERAL ELECTION INFORMATION
May 9, 2009
Election Day Polling Locations

Voting/Polling Location #1 - Located at Baker Sixth Grade Campus
600 W. Main (West Main/Spencer Hwy @Underwood) enter off West Main/Spencer Hwy
District 1,2,3, & 6 vote at this location

Voting/Polling Location #2 - Located at La Porte City Hall Council Chambers
604 Fairmont Parkway
District 4 & 5 vote at this location

Voting/Polling Location #3 - Located at College Park Elementary (Library)
4315 Luella, Deer Park, TX.
District 7 vote at this location (LPISD only)

Look for information on your City Water/Sewer Bill indicating which Council District you reside in.
Visit city website for voting information at www.laportetx.gov
Contact the City Secretary’s Office at 281-471-5020 for further information or clarification on where to vote if required.

CITY OF PASADENA POLLING LOCATIONS

District “A” DeZavala Fifth Grade Center 101 E. Jackson
Pasadena, TX 77506
District “B” Queens Intermediate School 1112 Queens Road
Pasadena, TX 77502
District “C” Pal Gym 2910 Southmore
Pasadena, TX 77503
District “D” Red Bluff Elementary School 416 Bearle Street
Pasadena, TX 77506
District “E” Mae Smythe Elementary School 2202 Pasadena Blvd.
Pasadena, TX 77502
District “F” Golden Acres Elementary School 5232 Sycamore
Pasadena, TX 77503
District “G” Miller Intermediate School 1002 Fairmont Parkway
Pasadena, TX 77504
District “H”(South)
Fire Station No. 6 1200 Kirby Road
Pasadena, TX
(Mailing: Seabrook, TX 77586)
District “H” (North)
Fire Station No. 8 4100 Space Center Blvd.
Pasadena, TX 77505
District “H” (Bay Area)
Fire Station No. 10 17200 Middlebrook Drive
Pasadena, TX
(Mailing: Houston, TX 77059

City of Deer Park General Election May 9, 2009

May 9th, 2009 at 7:00 AM until 7:25 PM
Community Center
610 E San Augustine
Deer Park , TX 77536

San Jacinto College District Election

More polling location by precinct info here. To determine your precinct number you can look it up here if you don't have your card.

Residents within the San Jacinto Community College District will vote on Election Day within their local school district boundaries. Pasadena ISD, Galena Park ISD, Sheldon ISD, Channelview ISD, Deer Park ISD, La Porte ISD, and portions of Clear Creek, Pearland and Humble ISDs are the school districts served by San Jacinto College. On election day you must vote at an assigned location by precinct within the school district - you should have voted early.

• Pasadena Memorial High School, 4410 Crenshaw
• Dobie High School, 10220 Blackhawk
• Pasadena High School, 206 South Shaver
• Sam Rayburn High School, 2121 Cherrybrook Ln.
• South Houston High School, 3820 South Shaver
• South Houston City Hall, 1018 Dallas St.
• DPISD Administration Bldg., 203 Ivy
• La Porte City Hall, 604 West Fairmont Pkwy.
• Shoreacres City Hall, 601 Shoreacres Blvd.
• Morgan’s Point City Hall, 1415 E. Main St.
• GPISD Administration Bldg., 14705 Woodforest Blvd.
• Galena Park Middle School, 400 Keene
• Sheldon ISD Administration Bldg., 11411 CE King Pkwy.
• Channelview Tax Office, 828 Sheldon Rd.
• San Jacinto College North campus, 5800 Uvalde Road
• San Jacinto College South campus, 13735 Beamer Road (Longnecker Administration Building)

John Moon, Jr., and Corey McKay are the candidates for Position 5.




Monday, May 04, 2009

Texas News from the Texas Progressive Alliance of Bloggers


It's Monday -- time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance's weekly blog roundup.

How would Republicans handle a pandemic? CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme knows. They'd hunker down. Get out their guns and shoot anybody with a runny nose.

After a record 3 weeks without a post in his six years of blogging, Easter Lemming has a very brief round-up of the Pasadena elections.

Off the Kuff writes about the resolution to impeach Judge Sharon Keller as submitted by Rep. Lon Burnam, which received a committee hearing last week.

Vince at Capitol Annex tells the sad story of how a fundamentalist "historian" and evangelist who believes that hurricanes are God's punishment on society for tolerating gay citizens will guide the writing of Texas' new social studies standards. If you thought Darwin versus Don McLeroy was a train wreck, wait until it is the treatment of American Indians, what labor unions have done for America, Islam, women's suffrage, 9/11, the free enterprise system, and the civil rights movement versus David Barton. First one who catches one of the new "experts" complaining about too much information about minorities in textbooks wins a prize!

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posted this week on the latest transportation funding scheme the lege came up with, a "transportation bank", Texas Transportation Revolving Fund?.

I, Neil at Texas Liberal, wrote a helluva post about the inability of the Republican Party to return to it's pre-1929 Stock Crash numbers in the U.S. Senate. I also wrote about the albino buffalo in Kenya. Texas Liberal passed 600,000 total page views this week and is averaging 1570 a day for 2009. Thanks blog reading public!

Why on earth is the Texas Senate, working with TXDOT, trying to turn the public pensions trusts into another AIG? McBlogger would really like an answer.

Arlen Specter's political deathbed conversion didn't strike PDiddie at Brains and Eggs as something wonderful. And Burka's conflating Kay Bailey into the conversation was greeted with even more derision.

BossKitty at TruthHugger wonders about those poor souls on death row who depend on the passion of protesters and technology for hope. Whether they know they are guilty or innocent, at least they know they'll get the needle, instead of the chair or the noose. Those death row inmates now have the best chance ever, with revelations about bias and legal system misconduct are front and center, death penalty question marks are getting bolder. Take a look at Killer Texas Laws and Lawmakers Continue To Amaze with many historic reference links to click.

Over at TexasKaos, Boadicea says no to Fake Reform. See what she has to say in her posting:
"Transparency"-I Don't Think That Word Means What You Think It Means...

After much talk about secession, Perry has found yet another reason to keep the government around. The Texas Blue notes that the guy who wanted American troops to defend the border and asked for money -- and then more money -- to help the Hurricane Ike cleanup shortly before talking about leaving the Union now wants the Centers for Disease Control to give us 37,000 doses of Tamiflu to help with the swine flu virus.

WhosPlayin is neck-deep in the local mayor's race, and examined candidate Winston Edmondson's wacky ideas to increase police morale by giving them more patches, and finding corporate sponsors.



Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Pasadena Politics


Seeing Purple Politics has been doing a good job with coverage of Pasadena politics.

Recently he has the candidate responses to questions at Republican Women's Club Forum.

Pat Van Houte - District D. The other candidates did not show up and one has tried to drop out but it was too late to get his name off the ballot.

District C where all the candidates showed up but I believe Harrison is now favored for reelection.

District B and District A. Jackie Welch and Ralph Riggs are also favored for reelection.

I had posted a reproduction of Pat Van Houte's campaign literature online earlier.

I am glad someone else is taking up the blogging and news slack. I have barely posted this year and am getting even more busy. I do a lot of quick links on Facebook or a lot of Digging instead if you want to look for what I think is interesting or outrageous.

Go vote - democracy depends on you.



Thursday, April 09, 2009

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Great Depression Warning - WSJ


Misleading shadowstats affecting Federal Reserve policy and the similarity of the current financial troubles to the Great Depression. This analysis not by blogging amateurs like me but by a Nobel Prize winning economist in the Wall Street Journal, although buried on page A15.
Monetary policy, mortgage finance, relaxed lending standards, and tax-free capital gains provided astonishing economic stimulus: Mortgage loan originations increased an average of 56% per year for three years -- from $1.05 trillion in 2000 to $3.95 trillion in 2003!

By the time the Federal Reserve began to slowly raise the fed-funds rate in May 2004, the Case-Shiller 20-city composite index had increased 15.4% during the previous 12 months. Yet the housing portion of the CPI for those same 12 months rose only 2.4%.

How could this happen? In 1983, the Bureau of Labor Statistics began to use rental equivalence for homeowner-occupied units instead of direct home-ownership costs. Between 1983 and 1996, the price-to-rental ratio increased from 19.0 to 20.2, so the change had little effect on measured inflation: The CPI underestimated inflation by about 0.1 percentage point per year during this period. Between 1999 and 2006, the price-to-rent ratio shot up from 20.8 to 32.3.

With home price increases out of the CPI and the price-to-rent ratio rapidly increasing, an important component of inflation remained outside the index. In 2004 alone, the price-rent ratio increased 12.3%. Inflation for that year was underestimated by 2.9 percentage points (since "owners' equivalent rent" is about 23% of the CPI). If home-ownership costs were included in the CPI, inflation would have been 6.2% instead of 3.3%.

With nominal interest rates around 6% and inflation around 6%, the real interest rate was near zero, so household borrowing took off. As measured by the Case-Shiller 10 city index, the accumulated inflation in home-ownership costs between January 1999 and June 2006 was 151%, but the CPI measured a mere 23% increase. As the Federal Reserve monitored inflation in the early part of this decade, home-price increases were no longer visible in the CPI, so the lax monetary policy continued. Even after the Fed began to slowly raise the fed-funds rate in May 2004, the average rate remained low and the bubble continued to inflate for two more years.The events of the past 10 years have an eerie similarity to the period leading up to the Great Depression. Total mortgage debt outstanding increased from $9.35 billion in 1920 to $29.44 billion in 1929. In 1920, residential mortgage debt was 10.2% of household wealth; by 1929, it was 27.2% of household wealth.

The Great Depression has been attributed to excessive speculation on Wall Street, especially between the spring of 1927 and the fall of 1929. Had the difficulties of the banking system been caused by losses on brokers' loans for margin purchases in 1929, the results should have been felt in the banks immediately after the stock market crash. But the banking system did not show serious strains until the fall of 1930.

Bank earnings reached a record $729 million in 1929. Yet bank exposures to real estate were substantial; as the decline in real estate prices accelerated, foreclosures wiped out banks by the thousands. Had the mounting difficulties of the banks and the final collapse of the banking system in the "Bank Holiday" in March 1933 been caused by contraction of the money supply, as Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz argued, then the massive injections of liquidity over the past 18 months should have averted the collapse of the financial market during this current crisis.

The causes of the Great Depression need more study, but the claims that losses on stock-market speculation and a monetary contraction caused the decline of the banking system both seem inadequate. It appears that both the Great Depression and the current crisis had their origins in excessive consumer debt -- especially mortgage debt -- that was transmitted into the financial sector during a sharp downturn.
Wonder what Paul Krugman thinks of this analysis? In many ways he predicted it, actually, but using the Asian and South American financial problems of the last quarter century to issue warnings about America in 1999. The Nation:
For a slender book, The Return is ambitious--actually, it's three polemics in one. The first sketches out the ways financial capital in Asia and Latin America flowed, or didn't, to cause sudden recessions, or inflationary spirals, or currency devaluations, or all of these at once. Various governments, even those trying to play by the rules of fiscal conservatives, were confronted with terrible choices: either decline to print money, endure recession and let ordinary people suffer now; or print money, discourage investment and cause them to suffer later. The second polemic draws parallels between what happened in these places and what might happen--actually, what is happening--in America, Europe and more developed parts of the world, suggesting what dislocations to expect and remedies to pursue. Krugman sighs when thinking about economists--including, notably, his Princeton colleague Ben Bernanke--who assumed that officials at Treasury and the Fed had evolved the means to reduce economic imbalances to the point where regulations could be relaxed and the term "business cycle" would seem an anachronism.

The third polemic, the thinnest and most implicit of the three, consists of arguments scattered throughout the book regarding how changes in the "real economy"--the businesses that actually make, transport and design things--shape financial markets or are shaped by them. How, in particular, might revolutionary changes in information technology--producing changes in the structure of corporations and their terms of competition--yield a changing financial pattern? Or how might those changes entail a revised superintending of the business cycle? Krugman allows, for example, that the globalization of industrial markets and their much higher rates of productivity--both the result of a new, pervasive information platform--might have justified Greenspan's unwillingness to hike interest rates after the "irrational exuberance" of the dot-com bubble, although low rates, both men knew, were bound to sustain the value of houses--in effect, risking an even bigger bubble. Krugman writes that it was clear by the 1990s "that the information industries would dramatically change the look and feel of our economy."
Krugman answered questions online at the Washington Post.
D.C.: What did Japan do wrong in the 90's and how can we avoid the same fate?

Paul Krugman: To be honest, I think US economists are feeling a bit more respect for the Japanese, or at least sympathy for their plight. Avoiding a Japan-type experience is proving harder than most economists thought -- even economists like Ben Bernanke, who'd worked hard on analyzing Japan.

But the big message I take from Japan's experience is the folly of excessive caution. If you're half-hearted about taking on the slump -- if you wait to cut interest rates, nickel-and-dime your fiscal stimulus, penny-pinch on your bank bailouts -- then by the time you realize more is needed, deflation has set in, and it's really hard to get out of the trap.

So you want to be really, really aggressive on policy early on.

_______________________

Honeydew, California: Will you please explain how or if we can adapt Depression era lessons to the current crisis?

Paul Krugman: The Depression offers a lot of more or less direct lessons. For example, the Big Mistake of 1937: FDR let himself be persuaded that he should try to balance the budget even though the economy was still depressed; the result was a severe recession in 1938. What the Depression teaches us is that when the economy is so depressed that even a zero interest rate isn't low enough, you have to put conventional notions of prudence and sound policy aside. Now as then, we've got an economy that needs temporary life-support from the feds; not where we want to be, but where we are.

_______________________

Richmond, Va.: I am interested in reading some Keynes, several years ago I took some economics courses and recall the professor saying that Keynes had been reconciled to the history books and was not really relevant in our current world. Where should I start?

Paul Krugman: Read "The Great Slump of 1930" -- available online for free, via Gutenberg Project. It will give you a sense of how Keynes thought. Also his open letter to FDR in 1933.

If you're feeling tough enough, you might also try the first few chapters of the General Theory; they summarize the main argument, and are easier going than the later chapters (though that's not saying much).

And your teacher was quite wrong: Keynes is utterly relevant to the modern world. Read The Great Slump and tell me that this doesn't sound like a description of current events.
Krugman on video:



Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Complaints to the Blogger and Removing Content


A candidate for Pasadena City Council has asked that her name not be placed on fantasy cartoons. I have removed a post that showed this. I think this is a mistake. Politicians, especially women, need to develop a thick skin and the ability to laugh, especially at themselves.

I also removed a post with a link to a nice tribute video after a request. Did you know on the Internet if you click on links with sex in the title you can within several clicks find links to sexually explicit material? I am shocked, shocked I say, that some people find that shocking. Researching this complaint and removing the links did discover a few problems I have corrected - eSnips is not a good site to host videos because they are not good about policing for malware, and adult content should have a warning page.

There were some complaints about a post comparing a conservative blogger to a Nazi war criminal, that was a very close parody of his post comparing President Obama to a murderous chimp. There were also complaints that President Carter was one of our worst presidents and not one of our best as I had posted. These complaints I judged were without merit.


Monday, March 23, 2009

Rescuing the bastards


Matt Taibbi - Rolling Stone:
The most galling thing about this financial crisis is that so many Wall Street types think they actually deserve not only their huge bonuses and lavish lifestyles but the awesome political power their own mistakes have left them in possession of. When challenged, they talk about how hard they work, the 90-hour weeks, the stress, the failed marriages, the hemorrhoids and gallstones they all get before they hit 40.

"But wait a minute," you say to them. "No one ever asked you to stay up all night eight days a week trying to get filthy rich shorting what's left of the American auto industry or selling $600 billion in toxic, irredeemable mortgages to ex-strippers on work release and Taco Bell clerks. Actually, come to think of it, why are we even giving taxpayer money to you people? Why are we not throwing your ass in jail instead?"

But before you even finish saying that, they're rolling their eyes, because You Don't Get It. These people were never about anything except turning money into money, in order to get more money; valueswise they're on par with crack addicts, or obsessive sexual deviants who burgle homes to steal panties. Yet these are the people in whose hands our entire political future now rests.

Good luck with that, America. And enjoy tax season.
A lot of astute observations in this look at the leaders of this financial mess and the supposed rescuers.


Friday, March 20, 2009

Our Special Media, Special Bloggers, Special Politicians


I for one am not surprised that some of the so-called-liberal-media and some of the worst of the conservative bloggers have a special fondness for the Special Olympics.

Our favorite special politician is also rejecting money for education.

General Petraeus is upset about some special senators, McCain and Graham, not approving a needed Iraq appointment. A favorite special neocon passes along a drug joke about their being rolled.

Bloomberg columnist Carol Baum can't understand even stupid books.

Yglesias: Was Madoff really a black hat among honest businessmen, or was he just one unusually crude player amidst a rotten crowd?

Newt Gingrich, an ignorant economist, poor tax analyst, doesn't understand climate change.

AIG - If crony capitalists in the Bush administration and even the Obama administration had let AIG go bankrupt, then the AIG contracts would not have to be honored. Why should they even be employed?

Republican Lawmakers Who Opposed Salary Caps Last Month Are Now Attacking AIG Bonuses, Part II.

Galbraith: Geithner is an idiot and his economic plan is a disaster. In this argument I tend to side more with Galbraith.

Jon Stewart Thinks AIG is Bad, but Maybe Not Prize-Worthy Bad



Thursday, March 19, 2009

REPUBLICANS WHO BLOCKED SALARY CAPS NOW OUTRAGED OVER AIG BONUSES


Progress Report: As outrage mounts over the $165 million in executive bonuses paid to AIG staffers, many Republicans are trying to tap into the wellspring of public anger. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) condemned the "outrageous situation" and boasted that he had been "complaining about the way AIG had been doing its business" since October. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) agreed: "A lot of these people should be fired, not awarded bonuses. This is horrible. It’s outrageous."

However, when Congress debated capping the salaries and bonuses for Wall Street executives whose firms accepted federal TARP funds, these same Republican leaders balked. "I really don't want the government to take over these businesses and start telling them everything about what they can do," McConnell said. "It should be up to the board of directors of a private corporation to set the compensation of an executive; it shouldn’t be Congress's role," Shelby agreed. McConnell's past opposition to capping Wall St. compensation didn't stop him from going on CNN and suggesting that he had favored such caps all along. When CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked whether Congress should "have passed salary caps on these bailed out companies," McConnell replied, "We certainly had a chance with the amendment by Senator Snowe to prevent this kind of bonuses from being paid."



Monday, March 16, 2009

Yee-Haw, Another Texas Progressive Blogger Round-Up


It's the first of another week, so that must mean it's time to take a look at some of the best posts from last week by members of the Texas Progressive Alliance. Here are the submissions:

Easter Lemming finds that Pasadena has its first fantasy action hero candidate for city council. At least by the unauthorized t-shirts and caps of some supporters.

Vince of Capitol Annex took a new look at the latest creationist attack on science in Texas classrooms in Bill Would Make "Strengths and Weaknesses" Teaching Of Evolution State Law.

Bay Area Houston says State Representative Wayne Christian has filed a bill that would scare Texas citizens from filing ethics complaints against elected officials.

Off the Kuff takes a look at who would be affected by the voter ID legislation that is being pushed in the Lege by Republicans.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the turmoil facing some inside Texas GOP regarding Gov. Perry's decision to turn down$555 million dollars of unemployment insurance from the stimulus money, UI debate must be maddening for the GOP supporters of Hutchison.

Neil at Texas Liberal reads Malcolm X in a cemetery and says that Rick Perry has found his schoolhouse door to stand in and block.

The Texas Cloverleaf expands upon Capitol Annex's look at Garnet Coleman's proposed repeal of the anti-gay marriage amendment in Texas.

BossKitty at TruthHugger truly believes there is profit for everyone when wasteful and costly opposition to Medical Marijuana is brought in to the economy instead of keeping it out. The War on "Illegal Activities" should focus on smuggling Heroin and Human Trafficking. Can Marijuana Rescue The Economy In 2010 Like Booze Did In 1933

At Texas Kaos, Lightseeker highlights the Texas Shakedown for those who make the mistake of driving in Tenaha, Texas while not white.

CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme notes thuggery isn't the first choice for governing Democrats addressing drug cartel violence. Analysis and coordinated effort is.

Governor "Good Hair, Bad Policy" Perry starts his primary campaign against Hutchinson by piling on the unemployed. Libby Shaw over at TexasKaos has the details and the outrage.Pendejos Perry Says YES to Roads, NO to the Jobless

Mayor McSleaze of McBlogger returns from his holiday to post his thoughts on developments in the Wall Street infotainment industry.

nytexan at BlueBloggin is disgusted, but not surprised, by the new Republican strategy; >GOP: Divide and Conquer The Democrats, Then Do Nothing For The Country. As tent cities pop up in Sacramento, unemployment is at 10% in may states and the Wall Street continues a downward slide; the GOP response, to the past 8 year Bush disaster, is to lower approval numbers for Pelosi and House Democrats.

WhosPlayin is focused on local races for Mayor and City Council in Lewisville. This week he interviewed Shelley Kaehr and David Thornhill, who are running for Place 2.

There was harmonic convergence in the left and right Texblogosphere last week. See PDiddie's Brains and Eggs for what happened.

Xanthippas at Three Wise Men takes down the right-wing handwringing and disingenuous criticism over Obama's stem cell decision.




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