Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Let the Children Bleed

 "This is a scourge on society. At what point do you say, 'No more loss of innocent life?'"

-New York governor, Andrew Cuomo

Keep your eye on Andy Cuomo. He's my pick for the Democratic nomination in 2016.

There are many jolly good reasons why I'll never leave the northeast. One of those reasons is that in this part of the country, when the going gets weird, even the GOP can be counted upon to do the right thing. I was reminded of this the other night when the New York State Senate approved, with rare bipartisan unity, what will prove to be the strictest, kick-ass gun laws in the entire USA. The bill is being co-sponsored by Senators Jeffrey Klein (n Democrat) and Dean Skelos (a Republican). Said Senator Klien, "This will be the toughest gun control package in the nation....all in all, it is a comprehensive, balanced approach that will save lives." 

As was reported in this morning's Times Herald-Record of Middletown, NY, "The bill targets assault rifles, high-capacity clips of ammunition and requires reports of the mentally ill who pose a threat to others with illegal guns."

One down, forty-nine to go. I have never been prouder to be a New Yorker than I am at this moment. I hope that this is the beginning of a nationwide movement. That's my heart talking. My mind is saying something else indeed.

 "They are not going to be able to get an assault weapons ban through Congress," 

So says David Keene, president of the National Rifle Association. And I'm afraid he's probably correct in his assumption too. The Congress, a good many of them anyway, have been bought and paid for by the NRA. Getting reelected is far more important to these treacherous assholes than getting into Heaven. The blood of our children will continue to flow. The limp bodies will continue to accumulate. There will be many more massacres of the scale of what happened one-month-and-one-day-ago in Newtown, Connecticut - or worse - far, far worse. This is something we're just going to have to learn to live with. Everybody sing! Oh beautiful for spacious skies....

How many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind....

-Uncle Bobby

 "I’m not fucking putting up with this. I am not letting my country be ruled by a dictator. I’m not letting anybody take my guns. If it goes one inch further, I am going to start killing people."

-James Yeager

Just in case you were wondering if this blubbering jackass is available for your kid's birthday party....James Yeager (photo left) is a firearms instructor from the great state of Tennessee. He made that statement on a video that went viral and beyond. That's right, if our lawmakers even attempt to do the right thing for the safety of our children, this wretched little piece-of-shit is going to "start killing people". You'll be happy to know that the proper authorities in that state have announced that James Yeager's pistol permit has been revoked. A wise move to say the least. This homicidal, half-witted nincompoop might have saved himself oodles of trouble. The prostitutes that write our laws won't be doing the right thing anytime soon.

FUN FACT:
Nearly half of the mass murders by gunfire in the entire history of this country have occurred since 2004 when George W. Bush stupidly let the ban on assault weapons expire.  

And it's getting worse. The gun-fondlers are starting to go to pieces right before our very eyes. Some twit on CNN promised another civil war if an assault weapons ban goes through. The sales of guns are at a record high. There is a quaint little gun shop less than a half mile down the road from where I now sit. I imagine business is quite brisk these days. Quite brisk indeed. The irony is that even if, somehow, the ban on these rapid-fire, lethal weapons is passed (Don't hold your breath) it will take a decade - at least - to have any tangible effect. There are just too many of them out there now. The irreparable damage has been done. For amber waves of graaaaain!!!! I need a drink.

"This ain't rock 'n' roll. This is genocide."

-David Bowie  

The gun crazies tell us that the purpose of the Second Amendment was to have the people armed to protect themselves against a tyrannical government. That's pretty crazy, too. The founders had a bit more faith in this new democratic experiment than that. There's a dandy reason why it was not legal for a private citizen to own a cannon back in the day. A cannon, when aimed just right, was capable of harming or killing a whole lot of innocent people. That's why they inserted the line about "a well-regulated militia" (a line the NRA always omits when quoting that amendment). James Madison and crew could not have envisioned rapid-fire, semi automatic weapons in their wildest dreams. Hell, they couldn't even foresee the Edison Wax Cylinder! That's the reason they designed the Constitution to be amendable. They had no idea what future technology had in store for humanity. A bit of amending is in order, wouldn't you say?

Republican - and too many Democratic - congressmen have their lines perfectly scripted. They have all of the NRA talking points down pat. It's not the guns that are the problem, they would have us believe, it's all those nasty movies from Hollywood; it's all those dreadful video games - THAT'S THE REAL PROBLEM! But these films are shown in Europe. Those video games are played in Canada. Mass murders of little children don't happen in those countries. This is an American problem, folks. Wake up and smell the gun powder.  

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net 

SUGGESTED VIEWING

Bowling For Columbine
a film by Michael Moore

Since it was released a decade ago, this film has only gotten more relevant.  Every American needs to see it. Every single one of them

SUGGESTED LISTENING:

All You Need is Love
by the Beatles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4p8qxGbpOk

I was telling someone just this morning that if I could only take one Beatles record with me to a desert island, this would be it. "All You Need is Love" is a recording that always lifts me up, no matter how dark the day. The song was written by John Lennon. Say, by the way, what ever happened to that guy?

 Oh, wait....Now I remember....never mind.

39 Comments:

At 3:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tom,

What executive orders being discussed would have prevented the killings at New Town? Isn't the real solution the repeal of the 2nd Amendment? Since the public seems to feel so strongly right now about increased gun control, wouldn't repeal of the 2nd be the final solution?
Of course then we need to outlaw hammers which in 201l killed more of our citizens than rifles did, but that's for another day.

Since we are talking about the children, how about the kids murdered in their mothers womb, legally and in many cases paid for with tax dollars. Should they be thought about as well? At least guns aren't being paid for by tax payers.

And what about that 1st Amendment, surely the founding fathers when they wrote it could have know about the internet, or radio or t.v. etc. Did they really mean for this freedom to include those methods of speech. Just as the writers of the Bill of Rights could never have now about semi-automatic firearms how could they have know about radio?

No Tom, the real solution to solving the gun control problem is to do it the Constitutional way, by the repeal of the 2nd. After all an executive order can be reversed by the next executive who is elected. And lets look at the pesky 1st amendment while we are at it. Too many people are saying unkind things about our elected officials, and it should stop.

 
At 3:46 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Almost as shameless as you Tom, almost.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney announced this afternoon that President Obama will unveil a “concrete package” of gun control proposals including assault weapons bans, high capacity ammunition magazine bans, and closing loopholes on background checks.

Carney said that the president will be joined by Vice President Joe Biden as well as children who wrote to the president after the Newtown shootings.

“They will be joined by children around the country expressing their concerns about gun violence and school safety, along with their parents,” Carney confirmed.

 
At 4:27 PM, Blogger Yellowstone said...

We strongly need objectivity to set your readership straight on the law's original intent (adopted on December 15, 1791) and the subsequent modifications since. This has been a very popular law that has been challenged many times, in many states, and in the US Supreme Court: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
I suggest everyone define the original meaning of each word in this Amendment. The Amendment is most naturally read to secure to the people a right to use and possess arms in conjunction with service in a well-regulated militia.
Though admittedly am not a scholar of this law, I do believe and understand the original intent of this law was to allow "the people" to : 1> deter a tyrannical government by repelling invasion, 2> suppress insurrection by facilitating a natural right of self-defense, and 3> participate in law enforcement by enabling the people to organize a militia system.
The intent is clearly designed to to afford "the people" the right to defend their small fledgling country to again fight back against a super power; the United Kingdom, Spain, or the French. Not to 'stand your ground', shoot your neighbor because he has a barking dog, fight back against an armed patrolman who has a valid search warrant, or kill a bunch of elementary school kids.
Some of your readers have taken things to the extreme, and have begun to arm themselves to the hilt. I knew of someone who had 18,000 rounds in a storage shed. For what reason(s)? And, more interestingly, how are they planning on using them? For what intent?
Can any of you imagine when a time comes when an armored SWAT Team of 16 sharpshooters shows up at your front door, confiscates all your belongings, takes your family members and marches you by foot off to Oklahoma? What possible means of defense could you possibly have? An assault rifle?
Get real . . . History has proven otherwise.

 
At 5:03 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Some of your readers have taken things to the extreme."

Tom's readers taking things to the extreme, surely your jest! Never! Tom's readers are all level headed progressives who have nothing but kind warm thoughts toward their fellow humans. Except those who are conservatives, them they hate!

 
At 6:32 PM, Anonymous John said...

Limit firepower to what was available when the "Bill of Rights" was passed.

 
At 8:44 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Darn, was hoping the President would repeal the 2nd by Executive Order. Or Imperial Orders. Which ever works the best.


One day ahead of President Barack Obama’s announcement of sweeping gun control measures, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the president is committed to the Second Amendment.

“First of all, the president of the United States believes that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual’s right to bear arms,” Carney told reporters. “He has been explicit about this."

 
At 10:22 PM, Anonymous Jay said...

Tom,

What angers me most about all of this is:

We've already forgotten about the 20 massacred children and 6 adults who died defending them.

We've started to wrap ourselves up in the flag, conjure government enslavement theories, and quote the Stupid Constitution. We offered up the absence of "God," video games, and the media as the cause. We've deflected the massacre by interjecting abortion and now there's even a video suggesting that some 'conspiracy' is in place in regards to Sandy Hook.

The idea of any type of gun control, has Americans talking about Civil War and impeaching the President.

In recent days, I come to realize that I live in a country where a significant number of people define "freedom" as clutching their guns in vigilance of some looming government takeover. This "takeover" is so (supposedly) imminent that the massacre of 20 children is somehow "necessary" to keep us all "free."

Some "freedom" huh?

 
At 10:51 PM, Blogger Modusoperandi said...

Oh, please! Everybody knows that the Rights in the Bill of Rights are all absolutes. That is why you can yell "Fire!" (falsely) in a movie theater (or incite violence) and the government can't do anything, and that's why you can go out right this minute and, without background checks, waiting periods, licenses or paperwork of any kind purchase machine guns, RPGs and the like, even if you've been diagnosed with a mental illness that poses a risk to those around you or you're currently in prison.
Because it's not Freedom without people dying trying to escape a fire that doesn't exist (or in a riot that you created), and it's not Liberty without withering crossfire.

Besides, it could happen that a nominally liberal Democratic president could get elected (or, *shudder*, re-elected) and attempt to fill the position to which he was elected, and could try to prevent a Depression with a so-called "Stimulus" biased towards projects instead of tax cuts, instead of the Republican plan which was biased the other way around (before pivoting, dastardly, to meet the GOP halfway on austerity measures, even while the country was still mired in recession, even while the GOP continually moved the halfway point in their own direction), or he could simply go from offending everyone by trying to offend no one to "it's a state's rights issue", "evolving" on gay marriage. Just like Hitler!

Worse, that nominally liberal Democratic president could build on the existing cobbled together private healthcare system to bring insurance to people who can't afford it, or insist on spend money on things other than unrestrained spending on healthcare for old people or limitless spending to make swarthy foreigners explode, and The People would have to rise up and rebel against the tyrannical Socialism* of Republican positions from two decades earlier.

What will you do when the so-called "president" knocks on your door and tries to force you to subsidize the healthcare of those below you on the economic ladder (unless they're old, then it's okay)? What will you do when he bends the curve of Medicare costs in favor of taxpayers without harming patients, or when he mildly tries to restrain Defense spending (before walking that back)?
What will you do when the scary spectre of government Of, By and For The People tries, mildly, to help you, Tom Degan? What will you do without your guns?




* SOCIALISM!!!

 
At 12:40 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Elections have consequences

Obama has clearly communicated his intent to eviscerate the second amendment rights of American citizens by pursuing executive orders to curtail the right to keep and bear arms without congressional authorization and in violation of the second amendment.

Obama has aided America’s enemies, violating his oath, by sending funds to insurgents in Syria who are being commanded by Al-Qaeda terrorists.

Obama has violated federal law by overseeing a cover-up surrounding Operation Fast and Furious, the transfer of guns to Mexican drug cartels direct from the federal government.

Obama has lied to the American people by overseeing a cover-up of the Benghazi attack which directly led to the deaths of four American citizens. The cover-up has been called “Obama’s Watergate,” yet four months after the incident, no one in the administration has been held accountable.

Obama has brazenly undermined the power of Congress by insisting his authority came from the United Nations Security Council prior to the attack on Libya and that Congressional approval was not necessary. “I don’t even have to get to the Constitutional question,” said Obama. This is an act that “constitutes an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor under article II, section 4 of the Constitution,” according to Congressman Walter Jones.

Obama has ignored Congressional rejection of the cybersecurity bill and instead indicated he will pursue an unconstitutional executive order.

Obama has signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act which includes provisions that permit the abduction and military detention without trial of U.S. citizens, violating Habeas Corpus. Despite Obama claiming he would not use the provisions to incarcerate U.S. citizens, it was his administration that specifically demanded these powers be included in the final NDAA bill.

Obama has enacted universal health care mandates that force Americans to buy health insurance, a clear violation of the Constitution in exceeding congressional power to regulate interstate commerce. Obama has also handed outpreferential waivers to corporations friendly to his administration.

Obama has declared war on America’s coal industry by promising to bankrupt any company that attempts to build a new coal plant while using unconstitutional EPA regulations to strangle competition, ensuring Americans see their energy costs rise year after year.

Obama has violated the Constitution’s Takings and Due Process Clauses when he bullied the secured creditors of automaker Chrysler into accepting 30 cents on the dollar while politically connected labor unions and preferential others received better deals.

Obama has violated Article II of the Constitution by using signing statements as part of his executive usurpation of power.

Now if Obama can get rid of that pesky 1st Amendment no one will know of this.

Thanks Tom for supporting the 1st Amendment with your blog!!

 
At 1:09 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Modusoperandi,
You lie, loafer.

 
At 10:33 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The White House today released letters from little kids pleading for gun control, just hours before President Obama is to release a comprehensive proposal to limit guns and ammunition. The letters were released to the Associated Press in what appears to be a coordinated effort to help shape the narrative the day of Obama’s announcement.

Kind of like what you did Tom. Orders from the top to all the mind numbed progressive robots. I'm sure it was just a coincidence.

 
At 11:07 AM, Blogger charles moore said...

Tom, I think the time has come for you to delete postings sent by "anonymous". Out of 11 postings, 7 are labeled "anonymous".One anonymous? Seven different Annonymouses? (Anonymice?) It is becoming too hard to keep the players separated. If someone is too chickenshit to use their name or even come up with an interesting pseudonym, why should we bother to read their comments.

 
At 12:14 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Tom, how long r u goin to let the trolls bully ur blog?

 
At 5:27 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Freedom of speech Baby, we still have freedom of speech, for now at least.

Freedom to publish personal information about others, too? Freedom to call an honest person a liar?


Yes, anonymous assholes are free to do that.

 
At 10:10 AM, Blogger charles moore said...

Anonymous at 4:19 you are more or less proving my point. At the moment there are 16 postings, 10 of which are by Anonymous. So what does this mean? 10 different posters or one person posting 10 different times. If you reread my original posting, I said nothing about free speech. I am very much in favor of free speech but I also think that if you choose to make a statement you should be man or woman enough to own up to it and sign your name. Otherwise you are no different from the schoolyard bully hiding behind a tree and throwing rocks at others or the KKK hiding under white sheets.

If you can take time off from making witty comments you might notice that my name is Charles and not Chuck and the last name is spelled Moore and not Moree.

Anonymous at 6:44 I said no such thing. Do not put words in my mouth.

 
At 10:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chuck Moree said,

Charles, the comments about free speech were not directed towards you, unless you are really Dave Dubya. In which that means you might be a toll.
Just saying.

 
At 10:35 AM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Charles,
You can't reason, or even have a civil discussion, with cowardly asshole trolls.

Just imagine how many readers he has converted to his hateful radical ideology. None.

He's only here to smear and insult us. He has a deep sociopathic need to spew his hate and ignorance. It feeds into his arrogant self righteous contempt for open-minded and thoughtful people who don't belong to his cult of narrow minded extremists.

His is the cowardly hidden face of American fascism. He's not man enough to identify himself. You were entirely correct with the Klan comparison. He could very well be a member. He has taken no position they haven't taken. He will accuse us of calling him a racist for disagreeing with Obama. I disagree with Obama. He hates Obama.

 
At 12:11 PM, Blogger Leslie Parsley said...

The Anonymous Troll has accomplished just what he is probably getting paid a small pittance to do: divert attention away from the subject at hand and toward his vile, ill-informed nonsense.

Rachel Meadow brilliantly exposes these types of trolls:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/16/maddow-on-new-nra-ads-trolling-a-key-aspect-of-conservative-media/

 
At 4:21 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chuck Moree says,

Dog gone that Rachel Meadow. Now I'm going to have to find another gig that pays with cash under the table so I can stay on my earned 99 weeks of unemployment.
I wonder what the SEIU pays their rent-a-mobs? I know it's better that OWS pays. But OWS pays in cash.

Anyway

I'm just glad my cowardly asshole, hateful, radical (I think you mean reactionary, since I'm not a progressive)insulting, sociopath, ignorant, arrogant, extremist, narrow minded, coward, possible member of the Klan, American Fascist, vile mouth didn't call anyone names in my posts. Because if I had, that would mean there would be no civil discourse at all on this blog.

BTW did you read how another legal gun owner (probably very rich and very white so he had it coming to him) outed by the Journal Press had their guns and the permits to own them, stolen on the 16th? Yup, got to love the free press, outing all the legal owners of guns, so the guns can be stolen from them and put into the hands of where they belong, the criminals. Oops, it's not supposed to work that way. Sorry.


 
At 4:48 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...


Almost as shameless as you Tom, almost

Except those who are conservatives, them they hate!

Obama has clearly communicated his intent to eviscerate the second amendment rights, Obama has aided America’s enemies, Obama, Obama, Obama... ad museum.

Orders from the top to all the mind numbed progressive robots.

In which that means you might be a toll.
Just saying.


This is a troll’s idea of “civil discourse”. No accusations or name calling from that hypocritical asshole. Nosiree.

 
At 6:19 PM, Anonymous Ron Baldwin said...

Has anyone noticed that responding to comments by "Anonymous" rarely elicits a cordial reply and often results in two or more snarky replies. Henceforth I will no longer reply to any comment by Anonymous. If everyone would do this their comments will just dangle in the wind and, hopefully, just blow away.

 
At 7:48 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Ron and Leslie,
You are definitely on to the right idea. Losers trolling from their mother's basement should be ignored, despite the temptation to mock their nasty, attention seeking, juvenile punk behavior.

I can imagine he preens himself in front of a mirror fondling his weapon saying, "You talkin to me?"

If trained officers shoot bystanders, just imagine what would ensue if the little coward was actually armed in a dangerous situation. God help us from the insanity and stupidity.

 
At 8:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

1st question to Tom on this thread asked some pretty straight forward, direct questions. No one, including Ron and Dave and Charles and Leslie has had any civil discourse about them.

Instead, in typical liberal progressive fashion, they attack the person who asked the questions. As exampled by the most recent posts from Dave, and Ron and Charles.

 
At 9:36 PM, Anonymous James said...

I am in favor of Anon sign in option being removed. Make those lazy bastards work as hard as I do to sign in, no more 1 click for them. Come on Tom, Make them suffer!

 
At 10:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous, get over yourself. Ge a handle. You are making the rest of us look bad.

 
At 8:09 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Still waiting for the civil discourse to start on the 1st post of this thread.

 
At 10:32 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

To Anonymous at 8:09 - keep waiting.

 
At 3:21 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh well, I guess the real problem is progressives really don't want civil discourse. It's just something they say.

 
At 4:36 PM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Gun sales are up due to NRA induced panic. How many innocent lives will be snuffed out by these weapons? Like that matters....

 
At 6:26 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

No Dave, guns sales are up due to the treat to the 2nd Amendment.

Tell us Dave, have you turned in your guns yet? It's sounds like the right thing to do if you are as progressive as you seem to be.

 
At 7:01 PM, Anonymous James said...

Right on Dave when you said:

"His is the cowardly hidden face of American fascism. He's not man enough to identify himself. You were entirely correct with the Klan comparison. He could very well be a member. He has taken no position they haven't taken."

This guy is just like that old Klan wizard Robert Byrd!

 
At 7:24 PM, Anonymous James said...

I see we have two Liberals named James now, we should differentiate our self's in some manner. What do you propose?

 
At 8:20 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chuck Moree

Wasn't there a post on this very blog saying the very same thing?

Repeal the 2nd then the 1st!
But only after Dave turns in his guns. And quits whining.

"On his first show back of the year, Bill Maher got into an intense discussion of gun control and President Obama‘s executive orders with the panel. Maher thought it was promising that Obama is seriously taking on this issue, but doubted it would actually amount to anything, saying that while he personally wants every one of Obama’s policy proposals implemented, at the end of the day, “it’s not going to change anything.”

 
At 7:11 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chuck Moree says...go figure.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s claim that he heard the gunshots of a 2006 school massacre while playing golf is raising questions about his veracity or his memory.

Mr. Biden told a meeting of mayors in Washington Thursday that he was about a quarter-mile away from an Amish schoolhouse on Oct. 2, 2006, when a gunman shot and killed five students and wounded five others.

“I happened to be literally — probably, it turned out, to be a quarter of a mile [away] at an outing when I heard gunshots in the woods,” Mr. Biden recounted. “We didn’t know … we thought they were hunters.”

But a search of maps of the area in Lancaster County, Pa., shows the nearest golf course to the site of the shooting, Moccasin Run Golf Club, is about five miles away. Rodney King, the golf pro at Moccasin Run, said Friday he was working at the course on the day of the shooting and never saw Mr. Biden, who was then a U.S. senator.

“There’s a lot of things here that I find hard to believe,” Mr. King said. “I looked in my database, and he [Mr. Biden] is not in my database.”

Even if Mr. Biden had played at the course that day, Mr. King said, “It’s very far-fetched that he would have heard it.”

Hope pointing out another bold face lie by our V.P. isn't considered "snarky" by Ron.

 
At 8:41 PM, Anonymous James said...

Dave, Do you notice that the anonymous people are always impersonating us Liberals but we never have the desire to impersonate them.
Copy and paste and impersonate Liberals, the actions of a loser I am sorry to say.

 
At 9:03 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

James,
No, I have never noticed Us Liberals impersonating anonymous poster.



Dave Dubya

 
At 10:30 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Elections do have consequences.

During the third debate of the 2012 presidential campaign, Mitt Romney talked about Mali and the danger al-Qaeda represented there. The Obamamedia laughed and derided Romney, carrying Barack Obama’s water and continued advancing the fraud that Obama had decimated al-Qaeda, even though al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists had taken over an American consulate and killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya just weeks prior. Surprise!!!! Al-Qaeda in Mali is a serious enough threat that the French, The French!, have invaded Mali to fight them there. It looks like Romney was indeed correct.

 
At 9:20 PM, Anonymous Concernicus said...

"Keep your eye on Andy Cuomo. He's my pick for the Democratic nomination in 2016."

You are either drunk, delusional, both or just very tired. There is no way that anyone not named Biden or Clinton will be the Democratic nominee in 2016. Not saying that is good or bad. Just the way it is.

 
At 11:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Speaking at the Iowa State Society (1/19/13) inauguration ball, the Vice President said, "I'm proud to be President of the United States"

Crap, I bet Hillary's pissed!




 

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