2876 Comments

I had the lunch catered but the church ladies brought sides and desserts. There was green bean casserole!

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It's been a good b-day. My alma mater is kicking ass, I'm having my favorite dinner tonight, and the World's Biggest Outdoor Cocktail Party starts after the FSU game!

I even got a walk in with Daisy Doggy.

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I should start drinking, or drinking more, again. Instead of this delightful sounding cocktail, I split the leftovers with my wife from a bottle of stout that I was using for baking. Four ounces of stout is kind of sad for a week’s worth of alcohol. But the black bread that the rest of the stout went into was delicious this morning.

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God damned Rick Scott ad. Hypocrisy personified.

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Oh, and by the way... my November PTO was approved.

So when I go home Monday morning I don't go back to work until first weekend of December.

That means I don't have to work an extra hour when the time changes.

Yay me!

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When I was a kid/teen, I operated tractors. Tractors usually had PTOs on them to allow the tractors engine to supply power to whatever implement is attached to the tractor. My favorite implement was a post hole digger. It was a big screw.

Enjoy your PTO!

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I know what a power take-off is. This is a powerless take-off. :)

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Yeah. That's why I didn't define the PTO I was using: Packman Turner Overdrive.

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You ain't seen nothing yet!

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Simply superb! Copious congratulations!

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Don't congratulate me yet.

Congratulate me after I don't spend the entire time sitting on my ass doing nothing productive.

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You're going to make them wonder how in the hell they ever managed to get along all right without YOU in that position in the first place.

Mark my words.

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Richard Moll, who found fame as a bailiff on the original sitcom 'Night Court,' dies at 80

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/richard-moll-found-fame-bailiff-original-sitcom-night-104438950

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Bull was funny as hell.

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Mike Sauschuck, Main Dept of Public Safety Commissioner LOVES to talk.

On and on and on and on . . . I mean I get how serious this has all been but geez

.

(I have a cold and yes, I am a bit grumpy this AM)

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Colds are more than sufficient justification for the grumpies.

Please just take good care of yourself, okay? Even though I kind of get a kick out of your grumpy perspective I still want you to get over the stupid, annoying cold and feel better.

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Thanks. My home COVID test was negative . . . so I have that going for me. 😃

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Thank goodness for that.

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On the other hand, he has a GREAT sign language interpreter!

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Speaking of breaking in.

One of our hospitals was put on lockdown yesterday because someone came in with a gunshot wound to the head and apparently a few weeks prior someone else had come in with a gunshot from a gang-related thing.

So they were afraid someone would come to the hospital to finish the job.

Turns out it was entirely unrelated.

Three guys broke into someone's home while the home-owner was there.

Home-owner shot one dude in the head and killed him.

Dude who ended up in the hospital was only grazed somewhere on his head.

Third guy got away.

To the gun-humpers that one incident is probably a half-million legitimate gun uses they pad their stats with.

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[shudders]

We had a serious issue in a rehab hospital I worked for regarding on patient and his visitors. The fellow was in status post motor vehicle accident [a DUI related collision] with the associated compound fractures and internal injuries. One of his closest "associates" persisted in attempting to sneak a weapon into the facility and leave it with that patient for his "protection".

It was a stressful fucking nightmare. We wound up with a cop guarding his room 24/7 after a few rounds were found in the patients bedside drawer.

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Compound fractures, internal injuries but I'm sure he can still obtain a perfectly safe sight-picture when the time comes.

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The guy was an absolute fucking douche-knozzle and a pain in the ass to take care of.

I took the crew out to celebrate when we were finally able to transfer him to a long-term care facility to complete his recovery. GOOD fucking riddance.

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Ok that seems to work.

- Load up a youtube video and get the warning window.

- Click on Adblock Plus (or I guess any ad blocker than can target specific elements)

- Click on "Block element on this page".

- Click as close to the outer edge of the warning window as you can - you want to click the container element so the whole thing turns red - and click "block". The window will disappear, but leave behind a masking element and you can't click on the screen.

-Click on Adblock Plus->Block element on this page again

-Click anywhere on the screen.

You can start the video now. From here on out, you will have to press play twice, but otherwise this seems to work.

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I'm still gonna push PiHole. It's seriously good.

I don't know if it works with anything other than a Raspberry Pi but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't.

There are step-by-step tutorials that tell you exactly how to do it even if you have no clue how to work a computer like that.

I'm logged into in this browser so I can update the definitions every day.

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I just unsubscribed from Steve Schmidt for anti-Biden goonery. My heart is a little broken, but fuck anyone who does not see that Biden has been a great president in spite of historically interesting times.

PS. Unrelated note. Science illiterates can fuck off, too

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Never Trumpers are just shitty Republicans pissed off that they got snubbed. Useful stooges when they go after Trump...beyond that, fuck 'em.

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Lincoln Project is just workfare for "moderate" Republicans until they can find a new, well-groomed, well-spoken Romney to back.

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"We want to return to the days of more subtle country club racism."

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I've been feeling that way about Charlie Sykes/The Bulwark. His/their kneejerk left-bashing and "Biden-so-old" bullshit is getting really tired. Haven't unsubbed yet.

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FUCK Bulwark. They are right of right "bootstrappers" with decent manners.

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Never trust a Republican any farther than you can kick them. The only ones worth a shit are those who have renounced the party completely and are trying to atone by working to elect viable Dem candidates to assuage the damage they had a hand in causing.

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The center-right feels betrayed by Biden. They thought he was theirs ideologically. Turns out he's just a pragmatist, not an ideologue.

As a pragmatist, center-right politics served Biden's purposes for 50 years. As President right now, though, pragmatism is served by a sharp turn to the left, as the "ship of state" was leaning so far right as to risk capsizing.

Biden didn't turn into Sanders. Biden just saw that more "neoliberal" economics was going to cause collapse.

Biden's foreign policy is still plenty "neo" for those people. Still pro-war, pro-Empire, Brzezinski-ite delusional, diverting the wealth of the US middle class to the weapons merchants.

They should be satisfied with that much. If they got all of their Christmas list, the US would collapse.

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I’d like to subscribe to your...oh wait!

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Oct 28, 2023
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Well, I think things are a lot more weirder than that right now. I'm pretty clued into my local-area politics, and it's getting really weird in Minneapolis, which is a one-party town. But that doesn't mean there's only one set of political values and beliefs.

There's been a seismic shift all over America, and I'm very aware of how that's setting up in Minneapolis. We're at an inflection point. One epoch is coming to an end, and it's unclear where we're heading. All Empires end, and ours is no exception. It's hard to articulate, since we only started admitting we were an Empire in the past 20 years; when we'd been one in reality for over a lifetime at that point.

So, what's "extreme?" Like pornography, hard to define; but I know it when I see it.

I don't think the terms "Extreme" and "Joe Biden" can be used in the same sentence, without major contortions. I think the "Mainstream Consensus" has been so internally focused for so long, the "Moderates" have missed that the balancing point of American politics has drifted far away from them. To the point that "Moderate" doesn't mean anything anymore. What's the magical middle between Biden's understated attempts to fix some stuff, and the Fascist insurgency?

The biggest trouble is, America's Empire is coming to an end. There's no way to know, in real time moving forward, when that end will come. We'll know it in hindsight, most likely. But at some point, the critical mass of the world's nations won't use the US Dollar anymore. They won't want to be allied with the US anymore; especially not in military matters. When those two things achieve a critical mass, things are going to be very different for us in America, and around the world.

I'd prefer that we acknowledge that oncoming reality. I think that right now, while the world still uses about 70% of the Dollars in existence, is the moment we should capitalize on our ability to print money at the rest of the world's expense. Right now is when we need to upgrade our grid and convert to less-centralized electricity, eliminating carbon fuels. We need to pay for 50 years of deferred maintenance of schools, housing, healthcare, poverty, and all the issues we've ignored at home while pursuing Empire worldwide.

Some would, and do, call me and those opinions "Extreme." OK, I'll wear that.

But if that's "Extreme," I'd like to hear what people consider "Reasonable."

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Curb your stupidity.

"Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s wife, Cheryl Hines, slammed President Joe Biden for not offering them Secret Service protection after an intruder broke into their home in Los Angeles twice in one day.

The actress and comedian, 58, said on TMZ Live Friday that 'it feels like a political strategy' to not offer Secret Service to her husband, who is running as an Independent candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

She said the decision suggests that the administration is not acknowledging Kennedy's candidacy despite her 'respect for President Biden and the administration."

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Protection would not start until 120 days before the election...but when it does just send Jewish agents.

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DO any of the other candidates get Secret Service protection? No? Sit down and STFU.

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Biden's trying to protect agents from being infected with Covid and stupidity.

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Fuck her.

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If the White House had to spring for security for every rando who could plausibly poll between 1 and 4 percent in a Presidential election but isn't even on the ballot most places, then say goodbye to the national budget.

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Are we sure the intruder is "acknowledging Kennedy's candidacy"? Because I don't know anyone 'sides y'all that even know about it.

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Why would Biden be in charge of secret service for an independent candidate? Can I declare I'm running and get secret service protection?

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Are you a Kennedy on a CIA hit list?

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The President does not "owe" your attention-whoring performative prick of a partner a security detail, you insipid bint.

A Kennedy already knows more about security details than the crew at Allied Security.

Now STFU.

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Since the law says it only starts 120 days before the election, Biden couldn't offer it even if he wanted to.

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RFK Jr can afford his own security.

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I have a Science question.

If you claim you don't remember saying a thing then that means that you can't be held accountable for saying the thing you said but pretend you don't remember saying.

Right?

Asking for a Speaker of the House.

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I had this question in my final exam of Foundational Astrology: It Is Too Science 402. The answer is Libra Rising Arizona

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I don't remember my geological sign. I think lead. Or that may be my birthstone.

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Mine's sand.

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I think you mean gaslighting

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If you believe it, it's not a lie. George Castanza

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I agree with that actually.

I consider being wrong as being wrong.

I consider a lie a deliberate untruth meant to deceive another person.

Bullshitting is lying without the intent to deceive. E.g. you don't really expect anyone to believe you.

But if you actually believe what you're saying *and* what you're saying isn't true then it's not lying. It's just being ignorant and wrong.

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Only thing I'll add is you can lie by omission. If you knowingly leave out a significant fact with the intent to deceive, you are still lying even if what you do say is true.

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Eh. Weaponized incompetence is a thing. Along with plausable deniability. If you have a responsibility to know something then you give out bad info it's dishonest in a way I can call it lying. But if you truly don't know any better then I'm with you .

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If there is a record of the statement, then not remembering goes out the window. It's science!

But, imagine the *nerve* of someone quoting your exact words!

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My husband told me last night that I don't meet his needs and that he is thinking about a divorce.

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Sounds like a self-justifying manipulation.

Divorce is actually difficult and expensive.

Call his bluff...while considering that this may now not be worth you staying...

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Oh my goodness…all the hugs to you.

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What the fuck? He can change partners but can't change his needs?

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What the fuck is this? That seems like a drastic step on his part.

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Are you safe? Do you have emergency resources, friends, relatives, a place to go? This can be a dangerous time. It sounds quite frankly abusive, and I worry for your safety. Look out for number one, put the oxygen mask on your face, and call the best lawyer in town Monday 8 am

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Like marriage is a fucking light switch - either on or off? Bastard's already made his mind up. I'm so sorry.

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Often yes. But my ex talked about divorce all the time, saying his needs weren't met. When I left he begged me to stay, then became furious. This leads me to believe he was bluffing.

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I hope you're safe. Anyone treats you like that doesn't deserve you.

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Oh yes, this was 10 years ago.

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What, he didn't suggest marriage counseling? Dump the motherfucker.

Seriously, I am so sorry for what you must be feeling right now.

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He's coming out of nowhere with this?

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No, I did not comfort him enough when someone said the very sexist comment, "Men need more training about handling abuse."

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I have no words about that.

But you? You're a fucking jewel and don't you let anything block your shine. It's fine to stand in the shade sometimes but don't linger where it's dark. It's cold there and you deserve light.

Focus on you right now. Take your own inventory.

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Sounds like a him problem to me.

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Tell him to ask nicely for what he wants. You seem like a nice person, it's worth a try. Threatening divorce to get what he wants is not OK.

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You didn't get him a plushy toy and a binkie? Shame.

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Dang. Doesn't even want to talk about it? Is he talking about a particular need? I have some experience with that.

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Can you get him to agree to therapy with you Diane?

I'm so sorry.

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Too late for couple's counseling?

I'm not asking you to share this but I'm sure you asked him what needs he has that you aren't meeting.

Are some of them impossible? Unreasonable? Distasteful?

And what about you?

Is he meeting your needs?

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alll of this!!!!!

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Good question.

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Oh my goodness -- I'm so sorry. That sounds like a callous and self-centered way of putting it.

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Fucking hell.

(Breathes deep)

Are you ok?

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Fuck. I’m sorry.

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I'd like to think there's more to marriage than just having one's "needs" met, but what the fuck does my bachelor ass know?

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Exactly.

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Seriously

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Fuck. I'm so sorry.

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A very sweet neighbor who adores Katie gave her a treat when we were walking by his place this morning. then she wanted to stay at his house for the rest of the day.

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♩♫You're gonna lose that girl♪♫

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She's got a point

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She's nothing if not an opportunist...albeit a loving one.

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And good looking, too!

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Idea for an app:

Telegram simulator, called mrse. You tap the virtual telegraph lever on your screen to type out messages which are then sent to mrse HQ and the recipient signs in to get and read them. The logo will have a beard.

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It took me forever to figure out you weren't talking about somehow simulating the Telegram app.

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Believe it or not, communicating by Morse Code is a growing hobby. Really.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/morse-code-back-looking-ditch-twitter-180981309/

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I sat before an FCC examiner in Boston for the 13 words-per-minute morse test way back in the day.. then later sat before a volunteer examiner for 20WPM..

Now there is no longer a morse requirement for Ham licenses in the US :(

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If you had told a futurist from the 1950s that we would have video phones but most people would hardly use them and prefer to send text messages, I think their heads would explode.

Honestly I think Morse would be a good input for text messaging, considering it's pretty fast and you don't have to hunt for keys like on a keyboard.

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Make the ringtone the intro to Theme from Inspector Morse.

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So a closeted gay man with a wife?

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Oct 28, 2023
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Merkin

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Oct 28, 2023
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Named for a former US President?

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_ _ . / . _ . / . / . _ / _

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Put in some olde clickety-clack sound effects and take my money!

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(heyyyyy so....

have I managed to alienate everywonk since Holly and Paul's mountstravaganza? I'm feeling rather disconnected of late, especially with some wonks I'd thought I was friendlier with than, apparently, I actually am :[ ("aspiness, and its discontents")

as a very word-oriented individual, I'm sorry my own words have gotten me to this place, and I'm sorry to lose the goodwill of the humans I like and respect thereby)

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