Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Let there be snark.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

People are weird.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Republicans in disarray!

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

So many bastards, so little time.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Thursday Evening Open Thread: Checking Off the Boxes

Thursday Evening Open Thread: Checking Off the Boxes

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Nah, Senator Cotton has already proven his Astute Leadership Potential by switching to a domestic issue where his Talibangelical supporters have yet to concede defeat, per Mr. Pierce:

“I think it’s important we have a sense of perspective,” Cotton said. “In Iran, they hang you for the crime of being gay.”

***********
Apart from shaking our heads at the ever-receding Wingnut Event Horizon, what’s on the agenda for the evening?

Reader Interactions

106Comments

  1. 1.

    David Koch

    President Obama’s plaque on Mount Rushmore

    ☑ Landmark peace agreement with Iran
    ☑ Regulated CO2 – cut emissions by 30%
    ☑ Ended Bush’s war on Iraq
    ☑ Withdrawing all troops from Afghanistan
    ☑ Kept the US out of war in Syria, Iran, and Ukraine
    ☑ Repealed DADT
    ☑ Overturned DOMA
    ☑ Enacted Federal ENDA
    ☑ Endorsed Gay Marriage
    ☑ Set strong Net Neutrality regulations
    ☑ Raised car millage to 55 mpg
    ☑ Rescued the Auto Industry
    ☑ Prevented a 2nd Great Depression
    ☑ Ended Bush’s tax cuts for the rich
    ☑ Brought health insurance to 32,500,000 million people
    ☑ Nomalized relations with Cuba after 54 years
    ☑ Stopped Keystone Pipeline
    ☑ Enacted Dodd-Frank financial reform
    ☑ Deferred to Colorado’s and Washington’s pot laws instead of using federal preemption
    ☑ Overturned the ban on stem cell research
    ☑ Saved millions of Latinos from deportation
    ☑ Enacted free contraceptives for women
    ☑ Enacted 6 weeks maternity leave for federal workers
    ☑ Extended Social Security benefits to gay couples.
    ☑ Eliminated color coded terror alerts
    ☑ Rebuilt FEMA
    ☑ Appointed first 11 opnely gay judges on Federal bench
    ☑ Appointed first Latina to Supreme Court
    ☑ Appointed first female Solicitor General
    ☑ Appointed first femaled Federal Reserve Chairwoman
    ☑ Apponted 41% of female judges to Federal Bench
    ☑ Ended rescission, pre-existing conditions, lifetime caps
    ☑ Enacted Fair Sentencing Act
    ☑ Ended federal criminal asset forfeiture
    ☑ Ended gender discrimination in the Military
    ☑ Enacted Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
    ☑ Enacted Lilly Ledbetter Act
    ☑ Enacted Mathew Sheppard Hate Crimes Act
    ☑ Enacted Credit Card Reform Act
    ☑ Enacted Food Safety Act
    ☑ Eliminated banks from federal student loans
    ☑ Found bin Laden
    ☢ Reduced Nuclear arms with Russia by 66%
    ☑ Provided crucial finacing for Telsa’s electric car
    ☑ Negotiated Co2 reduction accord with China
    ☑ Expanded SCHIP and Pell Grants
    ☑ Syria surrendered their WMDs
    ☑ Enacted world program to secure loose fissionable material
    ☑ Saved movie “The Interview” from being censored and buried by Sony Pictures
    ☑ Secured release of POW Bowe Bergdahl
    ☑ Saved Yazidis and Benghazi from genocide

    Obama has accomplished all this in only six years, in the face unpresented obstruction by the wingnuts and the corporate media.

  4. 4.

    Cervantes

    Senator Cotton has already proven his Astute Leadership Potential by switching to a domestic issue

    Don’t bet on that. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is considering legislation that would make it explicitly illegal for the President to suspend sanctions.

  5. 5.

    The Dangerman

    Obama has accomplished all this in only six years…

    Now, if only he could convince Michelle to run for President…

  6. 6.

    geg6

    @David Koch:

    I’ll sign the petition to get that done!

    I’ve been giggling about this ever since I heard. Good on Obama and good on Secretary Kerry. I still think he would have been a really good president, too.

  10. 10.

    Mike G

    Cotton said, “In Iran, they hang you for the crime of being gay.”

    I’m sure he sounded wistful when he said this.

  13. 13.

    Baud

    “I think it’s important we have a sense of perspective,” Cotton said. “In Iran, they hang you for the crime of being gay.”

    Given that a bunch of terrorists in Kenya just killed a lot of innocent Christians, maybe Indiana should have had some perspective about religious freedom in this country.

  14. 14.

    Cervantes

    @Mike J:

    Surely not, if it ever gets to his desk — but I was responding to the notion that Cotton has already switched his focus away from Iran and to domestic issues instead. He is still around, this bee is still in his bonnet, and he’s perfectly capable of causing trouble, even if he doesn’t write any more pathetic letters to the Ayatollahs!

  15. 15.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    Cotton must be as strong as an ox, the way he can move those goalposts around.

    Bet all his muscles are like cantaloupes.

  17. 17.

    WaterGirl

    @David Koch: Great man, great list.

    Nit picking only because I’m pretty sure you will copy and paste that for use later…

    Appointed first femaled Federal Reserve Chairwoman

    What is a femaled Federal Reserve Chairwoman? Did she start out as male? :-)

    Also, did they End federal criminal asset forfeiture? I thought they just said the state and local cops can’t confiscate stuff and then share in the $$ with the feds. But maybe I’m wrong.

    I have no idea what The Interview is. I am going to head to google.

  18. 18.

    Kropadope

    Cotton said. “In Iran, they hang you for the crime of being gay.”

    So then he agrees it’s a crime.

  19. 19.

    MomSense

    @David Koch:

    There is a great story about then Senator Obama visiting Mt. Rushmore in 2008. The park ranger asked him if he thought he would be there one day and he said he thought his ears were too big.

  20. 20.

    Violet

    I need to go water the garden. Yesterday’s promised rain didn’t really materialize. I think my failure to water has already doomed the green bean seedlings.

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    @Violet: I know! Those lying bastards at the weather channel have done it again. I knew nothing good would come of them taking over weather underground!

    I put out a bunch of grass seed because we were getting rain last night, rain tonight, then a one day break, then a few more days of rain. It sprinkled for a few minutes last night and maybe for a minute this morning, now they’ve changed the forecast completely. Bastards!

  26. 26.

    Violet

    @WaterGirl: Yeah, I really miss the old Weather Underground. So good.

    I’m seriously old school and I still prefer the classic Weather Underground format. To access it, just add “classic” followed by a “.” before whatever the URL is for your selected area to see the classic layout. Like: http://classic.wunderground.com.

  27. 27.

    jimmiraybob

    “…the ever-receding Wingnut Event Horizon…”

    I would hope this means we’re moving away from the Wingnut Black Hole of Derp & Suck and not us looking back as we fall deeper into the hole.

  28. 28.

    David Koch

    Imagine all the RWNJ heads exploding in October when John Kerry and Javad Zarif win the Nobel Peace Prize.

    Oh, their tears of unfathomable sadness will be so delicious.

  30. 30.

    jl

    ” This is not simply a deal between my administration and Iran. This is between Iran, US and the major world powers ”

    Well, hell, that makes it even worse, Nobama! What real American cares about the major world powers? Who are they?

    That would imply “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind”. What real American (by definition Exceptional, patent pending) cares about those unAmericans? If they are not doing exactly what Bolton and Kristol want, they are evil and unworthy of our cooperation.

    Freedombots, like Jefferson, would be outraged.

  32. 32.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    This is between Iran, US and the major world powers

    Whenever I hear wingers jibbering about getting tougher with Iran, it seems like they genuinely don’t know that the sanctions won’t work if the rest of the world, or just Russia, India and China, give up on them.

    @Mike J: They’re one vote away from 67 votes to override in the Senate (bastards), but I heard somebody on TeeVee say Pelosi can hold the House below two-thirds.

  33. 33.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: Damn straight.

    P.S. It’s a good thing I wasn’t drinking anything when I read your “that’s crazy, ruemara!” comment last night. It’s been a long time since I snorted liquid out my nose, and I’d like to keep it that way.

    P.S. again to say: how could anyone thing they look alike? mind boggling.

  36. 36.

    jl

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: For the wingers, nothing is a failure if we are still eager and willing to use force and violence, blow stuff and commit war on anybody. Moving closer to that recourse, is apparently by definition, a success.

    And we will be able to destroy and exploit, er.. i mean celebrate even more, our glorious Warrior Class.

  38. 38.

    WaterGirl

    @JPL: Well, I hope you gave them an earful from me! retroactively, I guess, unless you have precognition.

  40. 40.

    Cacti

    @David Koch:

    Imagine all the RWNJ heads exploding in October when John Kerry and Javad Zarif win the Nobel Peace Prize.

    Oh, their tears of unfathomable sadness will be so delicious.

    Alternative head exploding scenario:

    Pope Francis wins Nobel Peace Prize for helping to facilitate normalized diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba.

  41. 41.

    germy shoemangler

    I really enjoyed the previous thread of great movie dialogue. Brought back memories of movies I’d seen, and made me want to see others quoted that I was unfamiliar with.

    This isn’t a movie, but I remember Homer Simpson’s reply when he was accused of infidelity: “Why should I go looking for Fancy Feast when I have Tender Vittles at home?”

  42. 42.

    germy shoemangler

    @Cacti: Wife and I like watching Rick Steves on PBS explore the world. I remember when he featured Iran on one of his trips. So many beautiful young people on the street he interviewed. I can’t imagine doing to them what we did to Iraq, no matter how disagreeable we find whoever is in charge over there. The young people were so open and friendly.

    I thought every member of congress should be shown that episode.

  43. 43.

    Tree With Water

    @David Koch: My list would look a lot different than yours. That said, today I happily jump on the bandwagon in patting the president on the back. Days like these have been too few and far between in my lifetime.

  45. 45.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: referring to the Corker bill, which already has eight Dem co-sponsors, the one vote away headline I saw assumed, I guess, that Coons and Cardin would fold.

    To inch closer to the 67-vote veto-proof majority, proponents of the bill will likely target Democratic Sens. Ben Cardin (Md.) and Chris Coons (Del.), which would leave them only one supporter short.
    Coons let his skepticism be known Thursday, saying that he has told the administration that “no deal is better than a bad deal” and that he will work with his colleagues to “ensure that Congress’ voice is heard in this process.”

  46. 46.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @David Koch:

    That is a gratifying and inspiring list. We sometimes get so caught up in the hateful negative stuff that it’s easy to overlook the President’s many accomplishments. I seriously believe he will be judged as one of the four or five greatest presidents in our nation’s history.

    And there have to be some Republicans somewhere who must recognize that at least some of these initiatives are in their/their constituents’ best interests. At some point, wouldn’t you think, Hmm, I’d like a piece of that glory and work with Obama instead of always knee-jerkedly obstructing and sabotaging every single proposal? The GOP Congresscritters are the epitome of biting off your nose to spite your face.

  47. 47.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Corker’s Dem co-sponsors, plus King
    Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ]* 02/27/2015
    Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA]* 02/27/2015
    Sen. Donnelly, Joe [D-IN]* 02/27/2015
    Sen. Heitkamp, Heidi [D-ND]* 02/27/2015
    Sen. Nelson, Bill [D-FL]* 02/27/2015
    Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME]* 02/27/2015
    Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO] 03/10/2015
    Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] 03/17/2015
    Sen. Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY] 03/26/2015

  48. 48.

    Baud

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I’m not sure how much that means. Things are different now that there is actually a deal, and even a Dem that votes for the bill might not vote for an override. But it is troubling.

  50. 50.

    jl

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: We need to target Cardin and Coons too. Tell them money will go to primary opponents if they fold. They aren’t from deep red states. Threaten enough trouble that they will think twice

    Edit: ‘We’ being all and any lesser people who are not warmonger loons, which is a slim bet, but, what else to do?

  51. 51.

    Baud

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I seriously believe he will be judged as one of the four or five greatest presidents in our nation’s history.

    Not that I disagree, but we’ve only had 44 presidents and most of them have been crap.

  52. 52.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    Oh, well, as long as we’re picking Mr Koch’s nits….

    ☑ Raised car millage to 55 mpg

    Mileage, I think he means.

    Edited for stupid.

  54. 54.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: I’m pretty sure I heard Pelosi can hold Dems desertions below two-thirds, and as that talking head I heard said (don’t know who it was), what the GOOPers want as much to kill the deal is to be able to say the President is OVERREACHING!

  57. 57.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    Yes, but someday we will have had a good many more than 44 (“A Republic, gentlemen, if you can keep it!”) and I predict — not that I’m likely to see it happen — that he is going to be at or near the top of the list for decades and centuries to come.

  58. 58.

    Tree With Water

    @Baud: Even then there are gradients of wretchedness. I’ll contend James Buchanan- come to think of it, any of them including Nixon- look relatively OK next to GW Bush.

  59. 59.

    JPL

    Bibi should be more concerned about WW III because Israel will be a target. I understand that he has suffered because his brother died at Entebbe but those that wish ill will against Israel also lost loved ones. There is a difference though because those that wish ill will are called terrorists.

  60. 60.

    NotMax

    Ought to be a necessity for anyone holding federal office to read through Barbara Tuchman’s The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam.

  61. 61.

    Mandalay

    Some good news: a deranged cop acting like a mega-asshole who was caught on camera is actually facing consequences for his vile behavior:

    The New York City Police Detective caught on camera berating an Uber driver has been stripped of his gun and put on desk duty.

    Patrick Cherry, a member of the NYPD/FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force is being transferred out of the elite division.

    This is what his union’s president said about his behavior:
    “Detective Cherry is a person of good character and an excellent detective. He really should not be judged by one isolated incident“.
    Whatever you say asshole – just keep your psychofuck pig away from the gerneral public forever.

  63. 63.

    jl

    @Baud: 43 presidents: don’t forget Grover’s non-consecutive terms.

    And wiki says that the two studies by historians already have Obama tied for 14th, just above the Cleveland line, while Big Dawg is just below.

    I use Grover Cleveland as the dividing line between successful presidents and also rans. But, hey, maybe that is just me. Tastes may differ.

    But if Obama can keep up pulling rabbits out of hat, he can only go up.

    Edit: and sadly, as the way in which Big Dawg helped set the stage for the economic mess of the 2000s is better understood, he can only go down. But not as far down as Bush II will go, who took Clintons missteps and ran with them as fast as he could, all the way to the Great Recession.

  64. 64.

    Cacti

    @Mandalay:

    “Detective Cherry is a person of good character and an excellent detective. He really should not be judged by one isolated incident“.

    Mmmmm no. If you wield a gun and the authority of the state, one big eff-up should mean the end of your law enforcement career.

  69. 69.

    gf120581

    @Baud: Bottom five in my view are these guys:

    1. Dubya (obviously). Everything he touched turned to shit.

    2. Buchannan. Sat on his ass and did nothing while the nation broke apart and then left Lincoln to clean things up. (Similar to Dubya and Obama, don’t you think, only on a lesser scale.)

    3. Pierce. A weak-willed, drunken Southern ass-kisser who, like Buchannan, only hastened the road to civil war.

    4. Harding. Hopelessly incompentent (and he knew it), let his friends run roughshod over him and loot the country while he played poker and screwed his mistresses. Dying was probably the best thing that happened to him.

    5. Johnson. Badly botched the aftermath of the Civil War, pigheaded racist and while he shouldn’t have been impeached, his own behavior pretty much brought it down on his head.

  71. 71.

    Pogonip

    I had a flu shot in October, which seemed to work; caught a 2-day case of the flu in January or February, as opposed to the week-long Vulcan Death Flu you’d have without vaccination. So NOW I’m running a fever, sore throat, aches. I thought flu shots were good for a year? Should you get them in the fall and in spring too?

  72. 72.

    David Koch

    @jl: that list is hilarious. it ranks hoover at 29 and shrub 34. great depressions don’t sink you to the 40s? it ranks do-nothing ike at 8, but LBJ at 14. the problems we have with iran stem from ike overthrowing a democracy and installing a corrupt cruel dictator.

  73. 73.

    Tree With Water

    Off topic: Alternet.com reports that a Florida republican, of all people, stands to school democratic politicians on how to shoot fat fish in small barrels.

    “..That’s when Detert got her shots in: “I appreciate the mail-outs that you do against me on a monthly basis that say I give money to Hollywood moguls, which, of course, I don’t have any money to give, and neither does the state of Florida give money to Hollywood moguls. “You’re all on the Koch brothers’ payroll. Good for you. I’m glad you’re all employed … I hope you’re getting paid a lot of money to show up to these meetings and say meaningless things. “Obviously you’re for prosperity for yourself and not anyone else … You people serve absolutely no purpose.”

  74. 74.

    delk

    The religious wing nuts were crawling out of the woodwork today.

    My favorite was Pat Robinson. Instead of talking about the cross thing that happens tomorrow, and the arise stuff on Sunday, he opted to spend this Holy Weekend talking about anal sex, oral sex, and everybody’s #1 man on animal action.

    Chuck Woolery even jumped in, forgetting the fact that the only reason any of us know who he is, is because a gay man hired him.

  76. 76.

    Cervantes

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Here’s a good op-ed from the Financial Times on the Iran deal.

    Thanks.

    Surprising omission: Cuba.

    Anyhow, the author’s father was a minister in Thatcher’s government until he resigned over the Falklands invasion.

  79. 79.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Violet:

    It has been raining like a sumbitch in metro Atlanta for the past few hours. Supposed to clear out around midnight, with a couple of beautiful days on tap for us going into the weekend — but the skies this afternoon were scary!

  80. 80.

    Shana

    Frantically cleaning the kitchen prior to Passover. Thankful that Hubby came home early to help shlep dishes and food up and down stairs when we change over. My knee will be acting up all day tomorrow if I carry all that stuff up and down stairs. 8 for dinner tomorrow!

  81. 81.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @gf120581:

    3. Pierce. A weak-willed, drunken Southern ass-kisser who, like Buchannan, only hastened the road to civil war.

    Not to mention the fourth cousin, four times removed, and the second cousin, five times removed, of the odious Barbara (née Pierce) Bush.

  83. 83.

    Mike in NC

    We’re watching the HBO documentary about nutcase L. Ron Hubbard and his weird “church”. Very bizarre stuff.

  86. 86.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @SiubhanDuinne: Not to mention the fourth cousin, four times removed, and the second cousin, five times removed, of the odious Barbara (née Pierce) Bush.

    Now there’s some math! a cousins’ marriage back there somewhere, a la Franklin and Eleanor?

    And she truly is odious, isn’t she? I used to scoff at Maureen Dowd’s depictions of her as the Luca Brazzi of the WASP Corleones, but the reign of the Idiot Princeling of Walker’s Point opened my eyes.

  87. 87.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @Mike in NC: I was approached by scientologists in 1978, in Boston. I was a student at the time, and one day while walking down the street I was accosted by an attractive young lady who asked me if I wanted to participate in a survey. Sure, why not?

    I was taken inside, and given a “psychological” test. At it’s conclusion, I was offered a chance to join their religion. Something about the whole thing set off alarm bells in my mind, and I politely declined.

    1978. The girl who administered the test sure was pretty. I’m talking model/actress pretty. Which is why they had her grabbing people off the street. I wonder where she is now? She’d be in her late fifties.

    What bugs me is seeing all these celebs on talk shows, and they’re asked questions about success and motivation, and they’re fawned over and held up to us as shining examples, and even the ones that fuck up and get drunk, they come out of rehab and we’re supposed to admire their strength, and then they go home and write checks to the church.

    I understand that celebs intro to the church is different than what I saw, but can’t they still do some basic research into Hubbard and scientology?

    I’ve always wondered, are all the celebrity scientologists really that ignorant and stupid? I wasn’t the brightest college student, but after fifteen minutes with that group I could see it was all bullshit. If anyone does a simple investigation; some easy research, they can learn that L. Ron was a con artist. Do any of these celebrities ever pick up a book?

    I’m guessing the scientologists prey on celebrity narcissism. Maybe someone here can explain the long, depressing list of actors and musicians (someone mentioned Beck) who subscribe to this nonsense. And what I find really depressing is that nowadays we have a celebrity culture, where comedians and actors and musicians for are held up as role models for their success.

    Leah Rimini recently got out, at least that’s what I read. Beck, Cruise, and a thousand others still write checks.

  88. 88.

    Violet

    @Pogonip: The flu shot this year wasn’t as good, in the sense that they didn’t predict very well which strains of flu would be most prevalent, so the vaccine didn’t target the most prevalent flu strains this year.

    Whatever you had in January might or might not have been the flu and what you have now might or might not be flu as well. You could have had one version for which the flu vaccine was effective and now have one for which it isn’t. No, you’re not supposed to get more than one flu vaccine per year unless your doctor prescribes that for some reason.

    Either way, it sucks to be sick and I hope you feel better soon!

  89. 89.

    Tree With Water

    Idle question: when was the last year Major League Baseball adjusted the height of the pitching mound? My recollection is 1968, in reaction to low run totals of 1967. Recall that Carl Yastremski won the last triple crown in ’67 with a batting average just above .300. I ask because apparently the idea has again gained vogue as a solution to the same perceived problem among certain the owners.

  90. 90.

    grandpa john

    @SiubhanDuinne: If future selections of POTUS continue with the same relative caliber of choices as the past choices have been, then He shouldn’t have a problem holding his position

  94. 94.

    SFAW

    “I think it’s important we have a sense of perspective,” Cotton said. “In Iran, they hang you for the crime of being gay.”

    And Tommy Boy, if YOU pulled the shit over there that you have over here, they’d torture you, THEN behead you, you sanctimonious, idiotic fuck. (And with YOUR neck, well …) Well, actually, they’d torture you, then hand you over to ISIS – although ISIS might realize that you’re a soul mate of theirs.

  95. 95.

    SFAW

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    I was approached by scientologists in 1978, in Boston.

    On Beacon Street, near a bunch of MIT frats. They took over the old Katharine Gibbs School building. Big loss for the frat boys.

    Of course, some of those frat boys used to give the Scientologists a hard time, whenever possible. I think Elron was still alive in those days. But those numbskulls were everywhere. (The Scientologists, that is.)

  97. 97.

    Tree With Water

    @Mike E: Thanks for that link. So it was lowered for the ’69 season, and not 1968. Honestly, that what I first wrote, before overthinking it. I just perused the article, but hit on this and agree with Keithe Hernandez who said: “They should get rid of four teams,” he said. “Too many players. There’s too much dilution of talent. The pitching’s not better. It’s the same.”

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