Fri. Sept. 29, 2023 – finally Friday, or OMG!! week is gone!11!!!1 you decide!

By on September 29th, 2023 in culture, decline and fall, march to war

Cooler definitely. But still getting brain broiling hot in the afternoon sun. Truck is so hot I burned myself on it. Not just “Ouch, that’s hot” but actual burned skin. It’s cooler than a month ago though. Fall is here. Or at least we can see it from here.

Spent yesterday on auction stuff. Did a pickup, and ran by my auctioneer to see if I can bring stuff next week (yes, probably.) Prices were low for yesterday’s auction though. Since it was hot, I didn’t get up on the roof and do my lumberjack thing. I’ll do it today though, pretty much running out of time.

Then I’ve got some domestic bliss to take care of, followed by some meatspace activities. D1 has a home game that I’d like to see. And later, a bunch of the dads are getting together to pre-grill burgers for Saturday’s concession stand in support of the Debate team. Sounds like a social event more than anything. Several of the dads from school and swim team are involved so I’ll have someone to talk to. I’ll meet some other people too, and who knows what could follow that? Networking, and getting to know your community. Both important preps.

Take advantage of whatever opportunities you have to leverage existing relationships or groups into meeting some more people. That is going to make all the difference in the world later. ‘No man’s an island’ is going to take on even more meaning if things go pear shaped. IDK what your need will be or what sort of group you’ll find yourself in. Maybe you’ll be at the Green Dragon. Maybe you’ll be a Committee. Maybe you’ll be a direct action cell. Or maybe you’ll just swap recipes and cleaning tips (for handloads and firearms, natch, what did you think?) Knowing people and being known will help.

And stacks of course, they’ll help too.

nick

55 Comments and discussion on "Fri. Sept. 29, 2023 – finally Friday, or OMG!! week is gone!11!!!1 you decide!"

  1. Greg Norton says:

    “Disney just dropped this trailer about a girl who fights against a magic king who won’t grant everyone’s wishes and I wonder if THAT’s an allegory for anything”

    The knee jerk reaction is Trump, but “Wish” lead Ariana DeBose is yet another LGBTQXYZ cast member whose career is arguably screwed by participation in the utter disaster that was The Beard’s “West Side Story” where Disney feels that they have to make it up to the community.

    A magic king who won’t grant everyone’s wishes … like English subtitles in theaters for the Spanish language-only sections of a film which was expected to do at least “Knives Out: Glass Onion” or “Air” business.

    Also, more “Socially Awkward But Otherwise Infallable Girl Boss”. The Mouse hasn’t learned a thing and deserves what’s coming. 

    BOHICA, Mickey.

    If you don’t think The Beard has lost his touch, go watch “The Fabelmans” and set aside the Judd Hirsch scenes.

  2. Greg Norton says:

    A divorce would have been cheaper because it would have only cost me half of my life savings.

    Plus child support.

    Offset by alimony. My friend’s soon-to-be-ex-wife is learning about that the hard way, that she can’t simply keep her ESG consulting fees in a divorce  because she serves the agenda and the husband likes guns/Trump.

    The men aren’t totally screwed … yet.

  3. Greg Norton says:

    If you don’t think The Beard has lost his touch, go watch “The Fabelmans” and set aside the Judd Hirsch scenes.

    Pay close attention in “The Fabelmans”. There will be a quiz.

  4. Greg Norton says:

    The knee jerk reaction is Trump, but “Wish” lead Ariana DeBose is yet another LGBTQXYZ cast member whose career is arguably screwed by participation in the utter disaster that was The Beard’s “West Side Story” where Disney feels that they have to make it up to the community.

    And “Wish” will be a minor disaster compared to “Snow Woke and the Seven Time Bandits” in March since Disney won’t back down from the other “West Side Story” female lead Rachel Zegeler.

  5. Greg Norton says:

    And “Wish” will be a minor disaster compared to “Snow Woke and the Seven Time Bandits” in March since Disney won’t back down from the other “West Side Story” female lead Rachel Zegeler.

    Zegler. Ack.

    We just go with “Unibrow” at our house.

  6. Ray Thompson says:

    Feinstein croaks, can Pelosi be far behind?

  7. drwilliams says:

    Newsome has pledged a “woman of color” will be appointed. 

    Adam Schiff “I woke up this morning and discovered that I’m not only a woman, I’m black!”

  8. MrAtoz says:

    Another crone who would rather be in the “lime light” than spend her golden years with family and friends. These people are mentally ill.

  9. MrAtoz says:

    Monday when I was walking my dog, my right hip joint began hurting.  I’d spent the whole day on my feet but previously I’d not had any real problems when I’d been on my feet all day.  Yesterday I had the same problem, but I blamed it on the raking and shoveling, however during today’s walk I almost couldn’t get back home.  I guess I need to see a doctor.  Growing old is horrible.  My mind is (mostly) still OK, but I just can’t do many things I could do even two years ago.  I wonder if I’ll complete any of my car projects. 

    This. I’m trying to realign my “hobbies” to stuff I like and can still do in my ”older” age. Like picking up the guitar at 68. Also things that challenge me mentally. Although, I do enjoy a midnight nude walk.
     

  10. Ray Thompson says:

    Newsome has pledged a “woman of color” will be appointed.

    That is racist. Openly stating that only women of color will be considered, rather than qualifications, is prejudiced by race. A white person, male or female will not be considered simply because of their gender and/or color of their skin. Had Newsome state that only “males of non-color” be considered he would be sued, tarred and feathered, and immediately been the victim of a recall.

    Anything involving a white male is racist. Anything involving a black female is progressive.

  11. Ray Thompson says:

    Although, I do enjoy a midnight nude walk.

    Do your neighbors also enjoy your walks? I hope you’re hanging reflective material on something so that you’re visible to cars. As small as that may be, it might help.

  12. Nick Flandrey says:

    Cool-ish this am.   D1 is home from school, body aches and chills.   Negative for wuflu, and only a slightly elevated temp, which could just be from being in bed.   

     The Feinstein lizard has moved on.   Very few people have had the negative impact on the country and Constitutional Rights that she had.    Good riddance to bad garbage.   

    Feinstein croaks, can Pelosi be far behind?

    from your lips to God’s ears…

    n

  13. SteveF says:

    Feinstein croaks

    It’s been dead for months, just was too stupid to realize it.

  14. Nick Flandrey says:

    Migrants are being raped at the Mexico border at record levels as people smuggling gangs torture women and hold them to ransom 

     

    When Carolina’s captors arrived at the safehouse in the border city of Reynosa, she thought they were going to demand another $2,000 ransom from her family in Venezuela. Instead, a thug raped her.

    – and empowering these gangs is about the stupidest thing anyone could do.

    n

  15. dkreck says:

    Feinstein croaks

    It’s been dead for months, just was too stupid to realize it.

    Ha! Of course they had Pelosi’s daughter acting as her aid and working the strings.

  16. CowboyStu says:

    BTW, I was joking about moving to San Antonio. There is no way I would move back into a city.

    YUUUP, I agree with this.  If I have to move, it would be a mile, or so, down the road from either JimB or EdH.

  17. Nick Flandrey says:

    Last time this happened several european central banks ended up in trouble, didn’t they?

    Evergrande’s Arrested Chairman “Suspected Of Committing Crimes”, Latest In Saga Of China’s Real Estate Collapse

    Trading of Evergrande stock and two of its Hong Kong-listed units had been abruptly suspended without explanation amid growing concerns for the future…

    n

  18. MrAtoz says:

    The new iPhone arrived this morning. Over ten days early. The activation and moving the eSIM took less than 5 minutes. Now transferring the rest of my data/apps.

  19. Ray Thompson says:

    Now transferring the rest of my data/apps

    Be aware that the phone may get quite warm during the process and for a few hours after. There is some background processing that takes place that consumes a lot of CPU power. Don’t be concerned as the phone will settle down to normal temperatures.

  20. MrAtoz says:

    Yep, the new phone is quite toasty.

  21. drwilliams says:

    it maeks teh toazt?

  22. MrAtoz says:

    I’ve also updated the Macs to Sonoma (macOS 14).

  23. lpdbw says:

    If you want some optimistic upbeat news about the legal challenges to the various vaxx mandates, and you use twitter I mean X, check out Brian Ward “@GodsRiddles”

    It’s dry, but he lays out the legal cases under Federal law in an hour long video here. It’s a free resource he’s using to train attorneys how to fight.

    I’m frankly surprised he posted that publicly, for fear that opposing counsel can see it, but I guess it shows how strongly he believes the case. Of course, he’s also exposed all the legal theories in the various complaints he’s already filed, and those are public. And listed on that website, covidpenalty.com

  24. MrAtoz says:

    Mr. Ray, did you decide to go bareback (lol) with the new phone?

  25. Greg Norton says:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12575373/Dianne-Feinstein-dead-90.html

    On the express elevator going down…

    What doesn’t make it in the papers, even the DM, is that Feinstein was the last of the active SF Dem politicians who owed Jim Jones for their careers.

    Pelosi didn’t run for elected office until after Jonestown.

    Stay thirsty my friends.

  26. dkreck says:

    I light of our esteemed senator and thoughts for some other…

    just passing through channels last night and stopped here on MGM for a moment

    Paul Moore:
    [after firing one of his workers] Now, if there’s anything I can do for you…

    Employee:
    Well, I certainly hope you’ll die soon.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6GfysUGVZQ

  27. Greg Norton says:

    Newsome has pledged a “woman of color” will be appointed.

    That is racist. Openly stating that only women of color will be considered, rather than qualifications, is prejudiced by race. A white person, male or female will not be considered simply because of their gender and/or color of their skin. Had Newsome state that only “males of non-color” be considered he would be sued, tarred and feathered, and immediately been the victim of a recall.

    Newsome has a problem making the appointment in that it grants the power of incumbency to anyone who could be a viable candidate for the office in the next election. Stating that he will only appoint a “woman of color” gets him off the hook with Adam Schiff and the other white and/or male contenders without setting off a political firestorm.

  28. JimB says:

    Speaking of toasty phones, I remember when someone said that using one of the then-new big screen phones felt like holding a slice of toast to his head.

    I like my Galaxy Note 20 Ultra with its 6.9 inch, 3088 x 1440 (Quad HD plus), Infinity-O Super AMOLED plus Display (whew!), but I do lust for the Galaxy Z Fold 5:

    https://www.samsung.com/us/smartphones/galaxy-z-fold5/buy/galaxy-z-fold5-512gb-unlocked-sm-f946uzkexaa/?CID=pnf-mb-smp-cha-20230925-227996__

    Too busy to change now, especially because my wife and I always have the same phone, and she will resist something new. It always takes me a while to sort out her stuff.

  29. JimB says:

    …immediately been the victim of a recall.

    We tried that. Failed miserably. Stoopid voters.

  30. drwilliams says:

    House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer announced he will issue subpoenas for bank records for Hunter Biden and James Biden on Thursday as part of the House GOP impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

    https://hotair.com/headlines/2023/09/28/new-comer-to-subpoena-bank-records-of-joe-biden-hunter-biden-n581177

    background:

    BREAKING – EXPLOSIVE: This is Bullshit! Democrats, please, spare me your hypocrisy, Joe Biden is corrupt, and here is the evidence, Congresswoman Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) EXPLODES at Joe Biden’s impeachment inquiry hearing. WATCH

    https://twitter.com/simonateba/status/1707430201313972471

    Hunter Biden wrote an email stating that “my uncle will be here with his BROTHER” (caps in original!) and that his uncle’s BROTHER was looking forward to saying “hello” to the Chairman of the Chinese-intelligence-controlled CEFC

    oh, and my uncle’s BROTHER will be bringing his KNEEPADS and hopes you will agree that he has been improving his technique

  31. Alan says:

    Tire update…

    Alan says:

    23 September 2023 at 16:35

    New tires – Costco or Discount Tire? 

    Time for new tires for the LEAF. Fhe Michelins I’m looking for are at the same sale price at both dealers but Costco is including Road Hazard Warranty for free. At DT, it’s an additional $168.

    Everyone seems to be very satisfied with DT, but are they worth $168 more?

    New variable in the equation which I overlooked when I dog-eared the page in the Costco circular – Costco now includes free installation, for which DT charges $88, giving Costco a $258 advantage over DT. I’d guess at some point DT needs to close (some of) that gap to stay competitive.

    But between W2’s knee replacement recovery, and a new 8 week old puppy added to the pack (now at 5½, not my  idea, but HWHL,) I haven’t gotten the tires just yet.  Not urgent but there is a $100 rebate right now from Michelin that I’d prefer not to miss.

  32. Nick Flandrey says:

    Costco seems to run the $100 promotion fairly often, so if you miss it, and the need isn’t urgent, it will come again.

    n

  33. Alan says:

    >> And “Wish” will be a minor disaster compared to “Snow Woke and the Seven Time Bandits” in March since Disney won’t back down from the other “West Side Story” female lead Rachel Zegeler.

    Zegler was reportedly recast in Paddington 3 because of the SAG-AFTRA strikes. It apparently had nothing to do with the online debate about her.

    Rachel Zegler is still going to play Snow White in the 2024 remake. The strikes have not impacted her involvement with this new movie. Zegler’s role in Snow White is one that she has been “terrified” to play.

  34. Alan says:

    >> BOHICA, Mickey.

    Says ‘Bard’…

    BOHICA is an acronym that stands for “Bend Over, Here It Comes Again”. It’s military slang that was used during the Vietnam War. It means that an undesirable situation is about to repeat itself and that the best course of action is to acquiesce. 

    BOHICA is typically used when troops foresee themselves getting pulled for a sh!t detail. 

    BOHICA may also refer to: 

    • A 2008 comedy-drama-war film about four U.S. Army Reservists who are sent on a meaningless mission
    • A hot sauce made from a blend of fruits, peppers, and spices

    And here I always thought it had a similar, but slightly different meaning…appended with “no l*be.”

  35. drwilliams says:

    Tapson warns that “anyone who cares about passing [the West’s literary heritage] on to the next generation should begin collecting and hoarding physical copies of classic books in home libraries, because … school libraries, public libraries, and bookstores today by and large no longer see themselves as the caretakers of that civilizational legacy but as the agents of a revolution against it.” 

    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/09/the_death_of_the_library.html

    The article is short, but following the links, including the source of the above quote, takes some additional time but is equally worthwhile.

    Step back and consider that this is only one piece of the construct:

    1. The leftists (used shorthand for the Democrats/progressives/leftists/communists/ etc) are not content with controlling the teachers union to indoctrinate students
    2. They take over the ALA and promulgate rules that insure that they control what is available in libraries.
    3. Library sales are important to new authors in particular, and lack of such sales of conservative voices will inevitably impact the publishing decisions that are for new books, reducing availability not only to libraries but generally
    4. The largest alternate channel of availability is the internet, and one of the biggest and wealthiest PLT’s controls the very existence of a listing page, the success of search results in finding it if it exists, and the largest independent publication channel. Note that said PLT spent billions of dollars to influence the 2020 election
    5. 92% of search results on the internet are dominated by one leftist company.
    6. Both the companies cited above have colluded illegally with the U.S. government to violate the U.S. Constitution.

    Half Price Books sent out an email earlier this week. I would have to transcribe the text from the gif that acts as a link to their website (why is that< i wonder?) which dos not repeat the text but says:

    Banned Books

    Literature should always be accessible for those who desire to read books that reflect every chapter of the human experience. Half Price Books is committed to helping our communities fight for the freedom to read, and we proudly stand against attempts at censorship and book bans nationwide. Join Us.

    The leftists have been making bullshot claims about “censorship” and “book bans” for years. In every example they cite, there is neither. What there is are demands by reasonable parents that considerations of age-appropriateness be made when selecting books for classrooms and school libraries, and that books which are thinly-veiled grooming manuals are not appropriate. There are two simple proofs of the truth of this statement. The first is the obvious ease with which any of the books can be purchased–quite often locally at HPB–and supplied to children. The second is the howls of leftist outrage when excerpts from these books are read publicly at school board meetings (and thus often publicized to the general public on cable) or press conferences (thank you, Gov DeSantis). Note in particular that in the latter case the news organizations that are themselves primarily leftist-controlled censor the very words they insist that children should have unfettered access to. 

  36. drwilliams says:

    “Costco seems to run the $100 promotion fairly often, so if you miss it, and the need isn’t urgent, it will come again.”

    The tire manufacturers have been running rebates for years, carefully keeping the availability limited to comply with FTC regs on “list price”.

    The primary reason is the volatility of the price of oil. Oil is a large component of the raw material that goes into a tire. Using rebates to is a method of damping out price fluctuations.

    Engine oil manufacturers use a more limited approach, keeping rebates infrequent so they are screwing the customers more often.

  37. Nick Flandrey says:

    Yup, physical copies.   And they are not subject to stealth revision.

    n

  38. Ray Thompson says:

    Mr. Ray, did you decide to go bareback (lol) with the new phone?

    Nope. I bought the Apple case. The one with the micro weave. I, for one, think the case is OK. It is not nearly as bad as what the reviewers claim. The reviewers intentionally subjected the case to severe abuse. I don’t envision any of the issues produced by the reviewers to be applied to my phone and case.

    I was never really impressed with the leather cases. I don’t like the silicone cases as they look like toy covers. The hard plastic is just ugly with the MagSafe loop in the back. 
     

    I am not impressed with the Apple case, as in wow, nor am I disappointed. 

  39. Alan says:

    One for the good guys…at least until it’s appealed…

    California’s gun owners have seen yet another critical Second Amendment case go their way, with a district court judge on Sept. 22 striking down the state’s restrictive ban on standard  capacity firearms magazines. In the case Duncan v. Bonta, District Judge Robert Benitez, ruled that the 2016 law limiting detachable firearms magazines for handguns and rifles to be unconstitutional as it infringes on California gun owners’ Second Amendment Rights.

    https://www.firearmsnews.com/editorial/california-magazine-ban-repealed-again/482646?utm_term=sep29&utm_campaign=guninpho&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=osg

  40. Ken Mitchell says:

    P=NP questions; “Can generative AI solve computer science’s greatest unsolved problem?”

    https://www.zdnet.com/article/can-generative-ai-solve-computer-sciences-greatest-unsolved-problem/

    Y’all were talking about that earlier in the week, so I thought some of you might be interested.

  41. drwilliams says:

    It has been my policy for years of buying used books online to identify the websites of the companies with the actual physical inventory and order direct from them when possible. 

    https://www.secondsale.com/

    https://discoverbooks.com/

    https://www.thriftbooks.com/

    https://www.betterworldbooks.com/

    many of the above are listed here:

    https://www.rd.com/list/used-books-online/

    Note that ABE and Alibris and Biblio are sites used by small booksellers to list their inventories online. 

  42. SteveF says:

    Considering generative “AI”’s propensity to make stuff up, I’d have a doubt or two regarding any proofs that popped out.

    I have three theories concerning the rash of recent articles in this vein: First, that a lot of science journalists are vastly ignorant of science topics in general and in particular have no more than a “15 minute introduction to GPT4” understanding of the latest “AI”s, but they’re writing anyway because they need the paycheck. (One-A: the journalists have a decent understanding but are constrained by wordcount or editorial stance. One-B: the magazine’s or site’s junior editors hacked at the articles after they were written and converted them to nonsense. Having had that done to several of my magazine articles, it would surprise me not at all.*)

    Second, that an agenda is being pushed concerning the world-changing potential of generative “AI”.

    Third, that lazy journalists or penny-pinching editors are having ChatGPT write the articles about generative “AI”’s capabilities and they are not fact-checking or running it past a basic skeptical eye.

    * The most egregious when one junior editor (like all of them, she was a recent graduate with an English degree and no knowledge at all of the computer, programming, or EE worlds) robotically changed all “he” to “he or she”, including when the pronoun referred to a particular, male antecedent. Donald Knuth’s wife would no doubt be distressed to learn that he had been converted to a “he or she”, and this was decades before the attempt to normalize “transgenders”.

  43. drwilliams says:

    I don’t call it the Protection Racket Media for nothing. As Newsbusters pointed out in its video compilation (linked here earlier), their ‘reporters’ did nothing but repeat Democrat talking points dismissing the already-extant evidence. It was amusing to see how many of them suddenly added “scintilla” to their vocabularies. 

    https://hotair.com/headlines/2023/09/29/yes-the-impeachment-hearing-produced-plenty-of-evidence-for-corruption-n581320

  44. Greg Norton says:

    P=NP questions; “Can generative AI solve computer science’s greatest unsolved problem?”

    Y’all were talking about that earlier in the week, so I thought some of you might be interested.

    Yes. I’m not kidding when I say that I view ChatGPT as an interesting monkey trick until it can play Minesweeper on Expert level perfectly every time.

    And I would want to look at the PRNG algorithm generating the boards. No BillG MAX_RAND of 0x7FFF which he cookbooked out of Knuth.

    Crack Minesweeper and the AI will have proven P=NP. Then the real fun begins.

  45. Greg Norton says:

    I don’t call it the Protection Racket Media for nothing. As Newsbusters pointed out in its video compilation (linked here earlier), their ‘reporters’ did nothing but repeat Democrat talking points dismissing the already-extant evidence. It was amusing to see how many of them suddenly added “scintilla” to their vocabularies. 

    Scintilla. I wonder if ChatGPT generates the Talking Points Memo now.

  46. drwilliams says:

    Scintilla

    Sounds like something Hunter Biden would try to order from his drug dealer:

    “Hey, I heard about scintilla. Is that shiite any good?”

  47. Ken Mitchell says:

    All the people using the word “scintilla” recently is simply evidence of the return of the “Journo-List”, in whatever form it has taken in its latest iteration. 

  48. JimB says:

    Engine oil manufacturers use a more limited approach, keeping rebates infrequent so they are screwing the customers more often.

    I used to play the rebate game about 20 years ago. At that time, prices went up, and rebates helped, although they were a hassle to do. Some of them required a physical part of the case to be cut out and mailed.

    Some time after that, I switched to Mobil 1 synthetic. The best price for that was either at Costco or Walmart. Costco had an in-store rebate applied at the register, so was hassle free. Walmart simply reduces the price some time in the summer for about three months. I stock up. Walmart has the more convenient 5 qt jugs instead of quarts at Costco. The price per quart is very close. Another reason I hate rebates is that sales tax is calculated on the full price. 

    Lately there are some newer oils that might be better than Mobil 1. I am not brand loyal, rather use what I think is best. Mobil was one of the first companies to make synthetic oil, and some of their oils test really good. What criteria? Ah, there’s the rub. Most modern engines seem to be weak in EP areas, such as cam chains and roller rockers. Many synthetics are especially good with this, but of course not all. Some engines tend to generate deposits around the rings, although none of mine. Yet others have sludge problems, but again none of mine.

    Not sure if I will change the type of oil I use. Some of the oil formulations are driven by EPA pressure, and this has nothing to do with how well they work in engines. Dang government, although some of this has led to some oils that seem better, so it is complicated.

  49. Bob Sprowl says:

    Found a doctor and made an appointment for next week.  That was a surprise, I usually have to wait two to four weeks. 

    Picked up the lawn mower tire and installed it but the dust cap is so bad I now need a new one.  Ordered it from Amazon.

    Didn’t get much else done.  Worked on a couple of small things and read an OK book on my kindle. 

  50. Nick Flandrey says:

    I had a pretty productive day, after the nap. 

    got the branch, limb really- it’s about 10 inches across and 20ft long,  off the roof and cut up.   Took about an hour to get it down, and about 40 minutes to clean up and cut the last piece into one foot lengths.    I ended up tying a rope to the upper third, then nibbling off a foot or so at a time from the end sitting on the roof.   Eventually it was hanging straight down, just missing the edge of the roof.   I cut several more one foot pieces off that, and then lowered the remainder.   

    It was nerve wracking.   The pole saw attachment for the string trimmer worked like a champ and kept me far away from the limb in case it let go or moved.   The extra extension piece made it possible to reach the upper end of the limb and cut it away from the tree.   HIGHLY recommended.  

    Then went to hang out with a group of dads from the kids’ school.   Grilled up some burgers for the concession stand tomorrow, ate a couple.   Talked and just hung out.   Nice night.

    Someone here made cookies and left them on the kitchen table.   I ate enough to be sick tomorrow.   Yum.

    n

  51. JimB says:

    Nick, you did more than most lumberjacks do. I never would have suspected a pole saw could cut a 10” diameter limb. There is enough weight to severely damage the roofing; hope that didn’t happen.

  52. Alan says:

    I would have definitely considered getting a pro to do that job. Try to avoid the roof whenever possible, but that’s me. 

  53. Nick Flandrey says:

    I had the lumberjack song in my head all day!

    n

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