tagged w/ Alaska
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What’s in that OJ? Tropicana is sued
Ice threatens shipment of fuel to Alaska town
Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad joke about ‘big atomic bomb’What’s in that OJ? Tropicana is sued
Ice threatens shipment of fuel to Alaska... more
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Biologists in Alaska are investigating whether sick seals washed up on the arctic coastline are being killed by radiation from stricken nuclear plant Fukushima.
An increasing number of ring seals have been found dead or injured on Alaska’s beaches since the Fukushima plant was damaged by a tsunami in July 2011. The animals have been suffering from an unidentified illness – initially thought to be a virus – that causes hair-loss and bleeding lesions.
John Kelly – a professor at the Institute of Marine Science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks – said: “We recently received samples of seal tissues from diseased animals captured near St Lawrence island with a request to examine the material for radioactivity.”
“There is concern expressed by some members of the local communities that there may be some relationship to the Fukushima nuclear reactor’s damage.”
Results of the scientists test are not expected to be available for several weeks.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2079317/Seals-damaged-flippers-hair-loss-killed-radiation-Fukushima-plant-biologists-warn.htmlBiologists in Alaska are investigating whether sick seals washed up on the arctic... more
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March 16, 2011 | 2:58 pm
Television commentator and half-term Alaska governor Sarah Palin trashed the National Endowment for the Arts recently, describing the agency as "frivolous" in a Thursday interview on a Fox News talk show. [http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/transcript/sarah-palin-talks-wisconsin-union-battle-julianne-moore-playing-her-hbo-movie#ixzz1GnICRkVo]
"NPR, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, all those kind of frivolous things that government shouldn't be in the business of funding with tax dollars -- those should all be on the chopping block as we talk about the $14-trillion debt that we're going to hand to our kids and our grandkids," Palin told right-wing host Sean Hannity. "Yes, those are the type of things that for more than one reason need to be cut."
Palin did not elaborate on what the other reasons might be for chopping the NEA budget. But the government of every major civilization in world history has also prominently funded the arts.
The comment about the NEA came during a discussion of the ailing U.S. economy. Palin is certainly conversant with frivolous activity, but her grasp of the economy is weak.
Debt reduction would barely be affected by penciling out the small federal arts agency, which currently operates on a $161-million annual budget. Palin's support of a federal subsidy for the notorious "bridge to nowhere" in her state became a campaign issue when she ran for vice president on the 2008 Republican ticket. That local project carried a price tag of $223 million.
"Reality is we have 15 million Americans who are out of work," said Palin. Nationally, the nonprofit arts and culture industry supports 5.7 million jobs and generates $166.2 billion in annual economic activity, according to Americans for the Arts. [http://www.artsusa.org/information_services/research/services/economic_impact/default.asp] The NEA is one linchpin in that sizable economy.
In the interview Palin made no statement advocating similar budget cuts to her home state as she recommended for the NEA, which is also in the cross hairs of Washington's Republican leadership. Palin's Alaska gets $1.84 in federal spending for every dollar its citizens pay in federal taxes. [http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-11-14/news/27081146_1_alaska-snooki-reality]March 16, 2011 | 2:58 pm
Television commentator and half-term Alaska governor Sarah... more
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The battle between some of the world's most powerful energy companies and an Alaska village that's losing ground to climate change heads to federal appeals court on Monday.
Nine Kivalina residents, having survived the recent mega-storm that walloped western Alaska, will be at the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to watch their lawyers argue that ExxonMobil Corp., BP, ConocoPhillips and other corporate Goliaths owe the village at least $95 million in damages.
A key Kivalina argument charges that the energy companies are engaged in a conspiracy to cover up the link between their emissions and the earth's warming temperatures. A similar argument proved pivotal decades ago in helping smokers prevail in court against tobacco giants.
The Northwest Alaska village lost the first round of its lawsuit in 2009, when a U.S. District Court dismissed it, saying climate-change pollution needs to be regulated by Congress and the administration, not courts. The village lacked standing, the court said, because it could not show the companies' emissions caused the erosion threatening the village.
But Kivalina is optimistic this time around.
"What we have going for us is the science is changing by the day," and the causal connection between greenhouse-gas emissions and the climate is clarifying, said Heather Kendall-Miller, an attorney for Kivalina and head of the Alaska office of the Native American Rights Fund.
snip
Finding a new home
The quarter-mile-long rock revetment, installed in 2009 by the Army Corps, will buy the village an estimated 10 to 15 years before it must move.
But in 2019, what then?
.
The village is trying to find a new site where it can rebuild, out of harm's way. But when it does, how will it pay to build a school, homes and other facilities, and to scrape roads and an airstrip on the tundra?
That's where the lawsuit comes in. Moving could cost between $95 million and $400 million, according to figures from the Army Corps of Engineers and the General Accountability Office. That's at least $350,000 to $1.4 million for each village resident.
The city and tribe hope their lawsuit -- Kivalina v. ExxonMobil -- forces about 20 of the world's largest oil, power and coal companies to cough up the cash.
The village has prevailed against industry before. In 2008, with legal help from the San Francisco-based Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, Kivalina forced mining giant Teck-Cominco to settle a lawsuit and spend $120 million on a pipeline to protect drinking water.
More at the linkThe battle between some of the world's most powerful energy companies and an... more
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As I write this two American flags hang on my wall. Both are folded into militarily tight triangles and protected by flag boxes. One contains a Purple Heart, the other the WWII Service Medal and Pacific Service Medal. One day my own flag with a Cold War Service Medal will join them.As I write this two American flags hang on my wall. Both are folded into militarily... more
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American Army Specialist William Millay, a 22-year-old military policeman from Owensboro, Kentucky, stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska has been arrested and is awaiting charges of espionage.
Reports from Wave 3 in Louisville, Anchorage Daily News and the Army Times all agree that the FBI, Army and local police worked together to build the case.
Millay was originally being held at the Anchorage jail but the military has stated that he will be prosecuted through the military justice system. Lt. Col. Bill Coppernoll, a spokesman for U.S. Army Alaska, stated to Army Times that within a week “We are preparing to prefer charges against Spc. Millay.”
The FBI spokesman for Alaska, Eric Gonzalez, says his agency and military personnel investigated the case. Gonzalez also confirmed that Millay is not being connected to any leaks to WikiLeaks.
Greg Rinckey, an attorney who specializes in courts-martial , states, “The Army is very serious about prosecuting any types of espionage, or leaks or any type of mishandling of sensitive material.” “The Army wants to send a message to other soldiers that this is not acceptable, and it will be dealt with extremely harshly.”
This is where it gets interesting.
A Federal Security Services or (FSB) report circulating the Kremlin states that the US Military went into a "panic" when a soldier e-mailed his mother to "prepare for the end of the world."
The report states that Millay had growing concerns over a massive military buildup of NorthCom. This buildup is said to include troops and equipment being shipped in from Afghanistan, Japan and South Korea through the Alaskan base and then to "staging areas" in the US.
NorthCom was created on October 1, 2002 after 9/11. NorthCom is charged with protecting the United States homeland in support of local, state, and federal authorities. This support is limited by the Posse Comitatus Act .
AFNORTH would take charge of the situation or event in the case of national emergencies, natural or man-made.
Specialist Millay believed that the redeployment of these tens of thousands of US troops to America was “somehow” related to the November 9 testing of the United States Emergency Alert System (EAS) that is occurring “coincidentally” with a vast number of disaster drills and exercises being planned for the same time period. This was according to the FSB report.
In a series of e-mails to friends and family that were intercepted by the NSA, the FSB reports, Millay warned when asked what to do, "prepare for the end of the world".
The FSB notes in their report that the Kentucky region where Specialist Millay comes from is “heavily populated” by staunchly religious Christian conservatives who believe we are living in the “last days” and that President Obama is a “secret Muslim” whose goal is to destroy the United States so that a New World Order can be established ushering in the age of the “anti-Christ” foretold about in the Bible’s Book of Revelations.
The e-mails detail nothing about specific troop movements or plans by the US military.
The "heightened response" by the highest branches of the US government is what caught the attention of the FSB.
According to the FSB report, a “standoff” between the FBI strike team sent to apprehend Specialist Millay and US Army personnel ensued with the Army winning out and keeping him from being taken by Obama regime authorities.
Neither the Army nor the Obama administration have publicly stated exactly what Millay was arrested for. However, the Army is refusing to allow the federal government to prosecute Millay and will handle the case themselves.
The US Army Times wrote:
“Friends from Millay’s hometown were “shocked” to hear of his arrest and said the charges were uncharacteristic of Millay. One friend, Janssen Payne, said Millay is “as loyal to his country as he is to his best friends.” “I just don’t see it,” Payne, 25, said of the Army’s accusations. “I just don’t see the motivation for him to do it.” Payne said Millay’s brother was a soldier and that Millay was a supporter of the wars and then-President George W. Bush when the two of them were in high school. “He was really patriotic and really loved his country,” Payne said.”
The report claims that with the US Officers’ Christian Fellowship Corp having 15,000 members active at 80 percent of American military bases and an annual growth rate, in recent years, of 3 percent, it is not beyond the possibility that a coup may be planned against Obama.
The FSB notes, "it must also be considered that Obama may be preparing to establish martial law in the United States and rule under the existing Executive Orders" created since 9/11.
The US military and the Obama administration are keeping tight-lipped on the subject.
It will be interesting to find out more information from American sources.
Whatever the truth turns out to be, I'll be waiting for the November 9 EAS testing more cautiously.
Copyright ©Christopher Hignite 2011 All Rights Reserved. This article cannot be copied for email or other websites.
The author grants permission to republish the title and first paragraph of this article provided they are linked to the original article on Examiner: http://www.examiner.com/courts-in-lexington/strange-case-of-kentucky-soldier-charged-with-espionage
He welcomes emails: Christopher@wearechangeky.comAmerican Army Specialist William Millay, a 22-year-old military policeman from... more
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Army Spec. William Millay and his family have retained attorney Stephen Karns of Dallas, Texas.
Karns specializes in military law and was involved in the legal proceedings of the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal.
Karns has only spoken with Millay by phone but does inform the AP that Millay has claimed his innocence.
"He doesn't sound like he has a malicious bone in his body or malevolent intent," Karns said. He "seems like a really good kid."
The Army and the FBI have said very little about the case, even to Karns.
Charges are now said to be filed early next week. Originally they were to be filed by Friday.
"They're still holding their cards pretty close to the chest," informed Karns.
His father, Byron Kevin Millay, has said he was not at liberty to discuss the case. I have spoken to other members of the family and others in Owensboro. Very little is known except speculation. Family members, understandably, will all refer questions to Karns.
Read the rest at Examiner.com: http://www.examiner.com/courts-in-lexington/spec-william-c-millay-s-attorney-says-he-s-innocent-of-espionage-chargesArmy Spec. William Millay and his family have retained attorney Stephen Karns of... more
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Alaskans know all about severe weather, but what could hit tonight and through Wednesday has the National Weather Service in full alert mode.
With blizzard warnings issued for an amazingly wide swath of Alaska’s western coast, officials are warning of major coastal flooding, heavy snowfall and winds up to 75 mph.
As forecasters wait to see if the storm continues to morph into one of the most severe Bering Sea storms on record, officials certainly haven’t downplayed the danger of the situation.
The combination of all the wind, snow and coastal flooding has the National Weather Service warning people that this could turn into a life-threatening situation. “This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening storm which will be one of the worst on record over the Bering Sea and the west coast,” says the National Weather Service.
With a warning of hurricane-force winds in effect from the Chukchi Sea Coast south to the Kuskokwim Delta area, the wind could send swells as high as 25 feet in the Bering Sea, which has the potential to push sea ice onto shore.
While the marine warnings stretch across almost Alaska’s entire coastline, the expected blizzard conditions could drop well over a foot of snow in a hurry.
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/11/08/massive-alaska-storm-could-be-one-of-the-worst-on-record/#ixzz1dAOEpXGrAlaskans know all about severe weather, but what could hit tonight and through... more
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On October 3, 2011, the Obama administration said it was moving forward with oil-drilling leases off the coast of Alaska issued by the Bush administration in 2008. The leases had been challenged by environmental groups, opposition that gained momentum after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Yet the Interior Department said it would uphold nearly 500 leases issued in the Chukchi Sea, a victory for oil companies in the battle over Arctic Ocean drilling.
Those opposing the leases say there is no proven clean-up method for an oil spill in such harsh terrain and ice-choked waters, and that the environmental assessment done by oil companies for the area is inadequate.
There are also Alaska Natives living off the coast of the Chukchi Sea who worry about how the drilling and its impacts will affect their way of life. One of them is Colleen Swan, a resident of Kivalina, Alaska. Kivalina is a largely Inupiat community on a barrier reef island in the northwest of the state. The island already faces erosion from climate change, and its residents are trying to relocate. In the meantime, they are still dependent on the local environment. Colleen shared some of her thoughts on the oil leases:
The oil leases, no matter where in the Arctic, will affect all people who live off the wild life from the ocean, because it will disrupt the migrations of sea mammals. Here are some points I like to make when the timing is appropriate:
In the event of an oil spill, the people in coastal communities are the ones whose lives are impacted directly, yet are the ones who are least prepared for such a disaster. These are communities of people who have no means to respond to oil spills to protect their shores and their villages from the oil slick.
The oil companies and the government who issues such permits will continue with business as usual and the oil companies will recover. They have reserves to fall back on. We don’t. Once we lose our livelihood, our subsistence way of life, it’s gone for a long, long time. The ocean will not recover as quickly as the oil companies and neither will the coastal communities.
The oil companies have their oil spill response plans, they have their resources. The government permit issuers don’t live up here; they will not be personally impacted. The coastal communities have no oil spill response plan that would enable us to protect our communities – we have no alternative food source identified aside from the land animals, which are not nearly enough to supply all of our needs throughout the year.
The fact that we are coastal communities, especially in Arctic Alaska, means that we would also lose our main food source, food that sustains us through the long, cold, harsh winters. The food we eat survives in the Arctic and it enables us to survive also in this climate. More than 3/4ths of our diet comes from the ocean.
These things are not thought through by neither the oil companies nor the government. As long as we are lacking in our ability to respond to oil spills, the plans that have been approved are seriously lacking. They have not begun to even comprehend the meaning of an oil spill in our already fragile environment.
Climate change is already wreaking havoc in our environment, especially in the oceans. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have caused serious harm to the ocean because of how CO2 reacts in the ocean: it has caused the ocean to become increasingly acidic, especially in the Arctic oceans.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has determined that not enough research has been done in the Arctic waters.
The entire Arctic is seriously lacking in scientific understanding of the current condition due to climate change. Because of how climate change has affected our relocation project and has caused stumbling blocks for our progress, climate change needs to be a consideration to be factored into any permitting or other federal or government-based action or decision. There is no telling how a changing climate, which has affected the ice conditions in the Arctic, will impact oil development activities.
More at the link
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/05/20/us/ALASKA/ALASKA-articleLarge.jpgOn October 3, 2011, the Obama administration said it was moving forward with... more
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By David Edwards
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Roger Ailes’ latest comments about Sarah Palin will be further proof to many that the Fox News chairman is sexist, but he probably is too rich and too powerful to care.
In an interview celebrating the 15th anniversary of Fox News, Ailes told The Associated Press that he hired the former Republican vice presidential candidate “because she was hot and got ratings.”
According to one Republican who is close to the Fox News chairman, Palin certainly wasn’t hired because Ailes respected her intellect.
“He thinks Palin is an idiot,” the insider told New York magazine earlier this year. “He thinks she’s stupid. He helped boost her up. People like Sarah Palin haven’t elevated the conservative movement.”
Given Ailes’ history, many may find it difficult to believe the conservative network even if they bother to clarify what he meant.
In a 2008 prologue to his planned book, former Fox News executive Dan Cooper recalled that Ailes liked to “talk macho and compare the anatomies of women in the office.”
“I was too scared to make salacious comments about women in the office,” Cooper wrote. “Like everyone, I had taken classes in workplace behavior. Not Roger. ‘How about those bazookas on that Indian girl, or whatever the hell she is!’ Squirm squirm. ‘Pussy masala on the menu today?’”
Inside Cable News noted that Cooper’s claims were not verifiable — but it’s hard to dispute Ailes’ history of hiring leggy blondes.
In August, Fox News’ Megyn Kelly dodged a question about whether “Fox has cultivated a reputation as a stomping ground for news babes.”
“Roger is very good at finding attractive people who are also interesting and smart,” Kelly told Marie Claire. “But you have to be careful what you’re looking at. Some on-air talent have objected that some websites will Photoshop the skirts and make it seem like the women were wearing something more like a belt than a skirt. Don’t believe it unless you’ve seen it live.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/05/roger-ailes-i-hired-sarah-palin-because-she-was-hot/
"Honestly I thought Sarah was pretty Hot when she first made the scene, Man talk about Sparkle and Fade!!!"By David Edwards
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Roger Ailes’ latest comments... more
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Sarah Palin has announced she won't be running for President. As if the country was waiting with baited breath for this media whore to waste our time again.
See front page story on CNN.com for details.Sarah Palin has announced she won't be running for President. As if the country... more
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JustZ
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The Obama administration said Monday it was moving forward with oil-drilling leases off the coast of Alaska issued by the Bush administration in 2008, a victory for oil companies in the battle over Arctic Ocean drilling.
The Interior Department said it would uphold nearly 500 leases issued in the Chukchi Sea after several environmental groups challenged the sale of the leases in court.
The department's decision came in response to the lawsuit filed by environmental groups, and those groups still had the option of challenging the department's determination.
Among the companies securing leases in what is known as Lease Sale 193 was Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the energy giant already at the center of another high-profile fight to secure permits to drill in the Arctic.
Shell said it planned to begin exploring the Chukchi Sea area in 2012. Spokeswoman Kelly op de Weegh called the exploration plan "technically and scientifically sound."
Environmental groups oppose the Chukchi Sea leases, contending U.S. regulators don't know enough about the Arctic's marine life and ecosystem to allow drilling in the region. The groups, invoking last year's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, also raise concerns about the ability of energy companies to respond to spills in the Arctic's icy waters.
The Interior Department's decision is the latest example of the Obama administration siding with energy companies against environmentalists amid a weak economy. Last month, President Barack Obama withdrew proposed ozone-emission rules that businesses said would have killed jobs.
"The Obama administration said it would make decisions in the Arctic based on sound science, but today it flunked the test," said Erik Grafe, a lawyer at Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law firm.
The fate of Lease Sale 193 has been uncertain since 2010, when a federal court told the Interior Department to reconsider certain aspects of the sale. Among the issues the court asked the department to re-examine were the environmental impact of natural-gas development.
Environmental groups and Alaska native organizations had sued the Interior Department in 2008 to challenge the lease sale. In the 2008 lease sale, the Bush administration collected bids worth about $2.7 billion.
The Interior Department said Monday it had addressed issues raised by the environmental groups. It said those drilling in the area would be required to mitigate risks to wildlife and take precautions against spills.
The debate over Lease Sale 193 represents the latest skirmish in a broader battle over Arctic drilling. Last week, environmental groups sued to block Shell's plans to explore in the Beaufort Sea, east of the Chukchi, saying the company hadn't yet developed an adequate oil-response strategy.
More at the linkThe Obama administration said Monday it was moving forward with oil-drilling leases... more
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The Ironic News Report is a satirical news parody that skewers politics and current events. This weeks edition talks of tea party economics, Republican Candidates, and even Alex Trebek!
You can now find and download The Ironic News Report from iTunes! Go Here:
You can also get her on The Ironic News Report podcast on Itunes here:
http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/the-ironic-news-report/id465579757
This week's Question: The Italian Prime Minister called his own country 'shitty'. Here in the US, TX governor Rick Perry wanted to secede from the union. Is that the same insult?The Ironic News Report is a satirical news parody that skewers politics and current... more
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U.S. scientists have unveiled new video documentation of what they say is another stunning effect of the world's steadily warming oceans: the unusual haul-out of up to 20,000 walruses off the coast of Alaska.
The video compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey's Alaska Science Center, together with data collected from radio collars affixed to some of the animals, could help scientists learn more about the problems posed by shrinking sea ice for the creatures that call the distant Arctic home. The ice has been documented this year as among the lowest in recorded history.
Walruses normally spend summers far offshore in the Chukchi Sea, foraging for food on the relatively shallow continental shelf and resting on floating ice. But much of the ice isn't there this year. So the animals are forced either to dive unusually deep off the continental shelf looking for food or to choose -- as many apparently have -- to lumber ashore and try to find food there.
This is the fourth recent year that the barren coast near Point Lay, Alaska, has hosted the massive walrus gathering.
For an animal being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act, the unusual behavior is problematic. Most of the animals clustered onshore are females with calves, and calves can be trampled to death when so many animals crowd together, said Chad Jay, walrus project leader for the USGS' Alaska Science Center.
Moreover, scientists aren't sure there is adequate food for the animals so near shore. Adult walruses consume more than 100 pounds of food a day, mainly clams, snails and marine worms foraged from the ocean floor. That's why they prefer not to venture into deep water off the continental shelf, now the only place left with sea ice during the summer.
"They become a little more restricted in the areas they can forage, because they now can only access what's available from shore," Jay said in an interview with The Times.
Walruses have been swimming as far as 40 miles offshore from the haul-out to find food, he said.
There's more. Although similar haul-outs in Alaska were documented in 2007, 2009 and 2010 (in 2008 there was remnant sea ice and the walruses stayed offshore), this is the first year many walruses have left the Point Lay haul-out and begun venturing north.
Where are they going? There's no sea ice there. How will they manage?
"We're wondering what they're going to do, because they're spending their time in the water while they're out there," said Jay. He said radio-collared animals have been tracked to about 120 miles north of Point Lay, still in the Chukchi Sea.
"If the weather gets up, it could exhaust the animals," he said. "The concern is more for the very young animals. The calves are totally dependent on the mother for protection, and the calves are also hitching a ride on the mother when they're traveling, and sometimes the mother and calf can get separated."
More at the linkU.S. scientists have unveiled new video documentation of what they say is another... more
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The U.S. Geological Survey reports that a 7.1 magnitude earthquake has struck the remote Fox and Aleutian Islands off the Alaskan coast.
The quake was recorded at 1:55 a.m. It's not clear if the earthquake caused damage or injuries.
A tsunami warning has been issued for the Alaskan coastline.The U.S. Geological Survey reports that a 7.1 magnitude earthquake has struck the... more
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