Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A consequence of cucumbers

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Fani Willis claps back at Trump chihuahua, Jim Jordan.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Bark louder, little dog.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

Second rate reporter says what?

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Republicans in disarray!

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Call To Action: One Tiny Thing You Can Do To Help Today (Open Thread)

Call To Action: One Tiny Thing You Can Do To Help Today (Open Thread)

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Hey BJ Peeps,

You guys totally came through yesterday so let’s see if some of you can help out today.

I assume that most of you have seen or heard talk of the Join the Fight! project some of us are working on, or at least have heard about one part of the project – our Social Media Initiative.

Call To Action: One Tiny Thing You Can Do To Help Today

Big thanks to everyone who followed us yesterday @Actual_Citizens on twitter!  Extra thanks to anyone who not only followed us, but also liked us, double-thanks to everyone who retweeted one of our tweets, and triple-thanks to anyone who quote tweeted us.

Fun fact: Most of you may know this, but I did not until recently.  In terms of the twitter algorithm which controls how much of what is seen on twitter… to use an analogy… a “like’ is maybe worth a penny, a retweet is worth a dime, and a “quote tweet” is worth a quarter.  (A quote tweet is where you add your comment to the tweet you are retweeting.)

So if you followed us yesterday but didn’t “like” or retweet, you can always retweet or quote tweet the tweet from yesterday, if you’re willing.

Here’s the TINY ASK for today.  Can you tell us who else should be on the social media contact list?

We have a database of social media contacts that we think are key either because they have good-to-great content that we want to amplify, or because they are “both sides” types that we want to call out and push in the right direction.

For the folks who are clearly on the other side, we will mock them as needed but we will never retweet them or tweet at them because that just moves them up the in the twitter algorithm, which then works in favor of disinformation, and we don’t want that!  So those people don’t need to be in the database.

Aaron Rupar Fred Wellman Marc E Elias
Acyn Gary Peters Marcy Wheeler
Adam Parkhomenko Gene Wu Mark Ruffalo
Adam Kinzinger George Conway Matt Negrin
Adam Schiff Glenn Kirschner Matt Pearce
Alexander Vindman Grace Segers Maxine Waters
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Hakeem Jeffries Maya Wylie
Anderson Cooper Heather Cox Richardson Mehdi Hassan
Arizona Republic Ida Bae Wells Molly Jong-Fast
Balloon Juice Jaime Harrison Mr. Weeks (Wonderking82)
Beau of The Fifth Column Jake Tapper Nancy Pelosi
Benjamin Wittes Jamie Raskin New York Times
Bennie Thompson Jay Rosen Oliver Willis
Bob Schneider Jeet Heer Palmer Report
Brian Schatz Jen Psaki Pete Aguilar
Brian Tyler Cohen Jennifer Mercieca Popehat (Ken White)
BrooklynDad_Defiant Jennifer Rubin Preet Bharara
Caroline Orr Bueno Jimmy Kimmel Rachel Bitecofer
Charles Gaba Joaquin Castro Rachel Maddow
Charles Johnson Jonathan Capehart Ragnarok Lobster
Chris Hayes Jonathan Swan Raw Story
Chris Murphy Joy Reid Ron Klain
Chuck Schumer Joyce White Vance Samantha Bee
Chuck Todd Judd Legum Seth Myers
Crooks and Liars Karoli Sheldon Whitehouse
Dan Froomkin Kenneth of House Pfizer 1st of His Name Soledad O’Brien
David Weigel Kevin M. Kruse Stephanie Murphy
Dick Durbin LOLGOP Stephen Colbert
Distill Social Laura Vozella Susan Vermazen
Don Winslow Lawrence O’Donnell Tea Pain
Elaine Luria Liz Cheney Ted Lieu
Elie Mystal Los Angeles Times The Hill
Elizabeth Warren Lynn V Virginia Heffernan
Frances Langum Magdi Semrau (Magi Jay) Wajahat Ali
Ben Wikler Blue Virginia Washington Post
Josh Marshall George Takei Zoe Lofgren

Who should we add?  Please let us know in the comments.

Oh, and here’s the ask from yesterday, in case you missed it:

I have one simple ask of every person who sees this today. If you have an account on twitter, please follow us. We set up our group account on Saturday, so we are just getting started, and the (fucking) Twitter algorithm will allow our content to be seen more widely if we have a bunch of followers. So I am asking you to please follow us, even if you don’t get any more involved than that.

Our full group name is: Actual Citizens United – Join us in the Fight and you can find us on twitter as:

Please follow us on twitter: @Actual_Citizens

All our tweets will use the hashtag #ActualCitizensUnited

Plus, there’s another group doing something similar with a focus totally on Michigan, so if you are willing to follow them, that will help boost their cause, which is a good one: @DistillSocial

This really is a totally Open thread.

 

Reader Interactions

173Comments

  3. 3.

    WaterGirl

    This really is an open thread, so talk about whatever you want.  Though I do hope some folks come up with suggestions, too.

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    @Reboot: Is that a blog or a newspaper?

    edit:  neither?  this must be him? @bluevirginia

    yes?  (added)

    edit: is he mostly focused on Virginia, or does he also focus on national stuff?  (not sure whether to classify him as just Virginia or national)

  11. 11.

    NotMax

    Chuck Todd? Really?

    Quick scan reveals the absence of Harris and Biden, also too.

  13. 13.

    trollhattan

    This fuckin’ guy.

    A Marine who was kicked out of the Marine Corps after sharing white supremacist materials is now running for local office in Kentucky.

    Thomas Cade Martin is a candidate for District 4 Constable in Bullitt County [attention, will the writers please report to my office for a time-critical meeting?]. What is a constable? It’s a somewhat obscure position that predates modern police forces. In the 21st century, they can serve court papers, kill and bury livestock and in Kentucky, make arrests and write citations without undergoing the same training as other peace officers.

    Martin was serving as an anti-tank missile gunner with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton, California when he received field grade non-judicial punishment and was busted down from lance corporal to private first class. He was separated from the Marine Corps on Sept. 11, 2020, although officials declined to specify the type of discharge he received.

    “Martin’s premature discharge and rank are indicative of the fact that the character of his service was incongruent with Marine Corps’ expectations and standards,” Yvonne Carlock, a Marine spokeswoman, said at the time. “Due to the associated administrative processes, further details are not releasable.”

    In an April 28 Facebook post, Martin claimed that he was a “victim of cancel culture” and said he “was discharged under honorable conditions and retained my earned benefits.”

    According to Andrew Dyer, a reporter with the San Diego Union-Tribune, Martin repeatedly posted what was described as “white supremacist messaging” over a two-year period. That included a flyer with the white supremacist slogan “not stolen, conquered” over a map of the United States, and “‘stylized patriotic graphics and photo illustrations of early 20th Century nationalistic propaganda.’”

    Martin also founded an organization called the United States Nationalist Initiative, which its now-defunct website claimed was “comprised of patriotic men and women who wish to make a difference within their country and local communities.” The organization’s vice-president, Everett Corley, was condemned by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in 2018 for appearing in 2014 on a white nationalist YouTube show called “The Ethno State.”

    https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-kicked-out-the-corps-white-supremacist-flyers-running-local-office/

    I’ll gladly give him to Kentucky since it keeps him out of the Marines.

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    @NotMax:  From up top – bolded part applies to Chuck Todd.

    We have a database of social media contacts that we think are key either because they have good-to-great content that we want to amplify, or because they are “both sides” types that we want to call out and push in the right direction.

  20. 20.

    debbie

    Would you consider adding Amy Siskind? I know some aren’t impressed by her, but she’s very active, has about 169,000 followers on FB. Her most recent post:

    Plan and work towards a surprise upset by Democrats in midterms, including picking up seats. Then, we need new, smart leadership who can devise a long-term strategy to right things and be ruthless. Pelosi will be hard to replace. Schumer has got to go – he is totally ineffectual.

    We need people with vision, who can come up with a plan and implement it. For short-term accomplishments, but also with the same multi-decade arc used by the far-right to end Roe. We have to stop screwing up lay-ups like we just did in NY. New, tough, pragmatic, smart faces!

    Bonus: She’s linked to this Threadreader thread about the 17th century “doctor” Alito reveres so hard:

    Link

    (Can’t get it turned into a link, sorry.)

  21. 21.

    WaterGirl

    @laura:

    Imani Gandy, Charlie Peirce, Melissa Murray and Stonekettle.

    I can’t believe we didn’t have Imani Gandy.  Added her and Charlie Pierce and Stonekettle.

    Who is Melissa Murray?

  25. 25.

    Alison Rose ???

    Irin Carmon (repro rights), Rebecca Pilar Buckwalter-Poza (attorney, judicial affairs, formerly of DK and CAP), Adam Serwer (politics, race issues), Shannon Watts (gun control), Stacey Abrams (you know her ;) )

  27. 27.

    Reboot

    @WaterGirl: Focused on Virginia politics–Another Scott (I think that’s right) references this one a lot, which is how I learned about it.

  28. 28.

    Taphozous

    @WaterGirl:

    Amanda Marcotte is a politics writer for Salon (among other things.)

    Lindsay Beyerstin is an investigative journalist and is a terrific twitter follow

    Mark Pitcavage is a research fellow at the center for extremism and an expert on right wing extremism. Another interesting twitter follow.

    I would also suggest:

     

    Jennifer Gunter – women’s health issues

    Lauren Rankin – abortion rights and access

  31. 31.

    WaterGirl

    @Alison Rose ???:

    Who are these people? Irin Carmon, Rebecca Pilar Buckwalter-Poza

    thanks, added the other two, writing to hear who these guys are. :-)

    edit: never mind!  by the time I posted that, you had added the info.  you must be psychotic psychic. :-)   All 5 added!

  32. 32.

    Alison Rose ???

    @WaterGirl: Added some more info. Irin is a repro rights journalist and activist, Rebecca is an attorney who covers judicial affairs, formerly an editor at DKos and a fellow at Center for American Progress.

    ETA lol wrote this while you edited, hahaha

  42. 42.

    eachother

    Totally Open Thread.

    I have come to the limit of my limited search skills. I read somewhere Martin Luther King Jr. had a list of rituals for participants before peaceful protesting. One I think was cleansing. Didn’t look in the direction of Gandhi.
    The searches talk about his protests, not the preparations ahead of going out.
    Is an internet search becoming denser or am I? I added all the words I could think of to the search and cleansing brought up protest signs? Not to mention MLK cleaners.
    Not exactly three clicks to an answer.
    As to the denser question; It is me getter denser. Skull thicker, arteries harder.
    And come to think of it, protests and protest signs are cleansing.

  43. 43.

    WaterGirl

    Whew, I think I am caught up, except for the few people I have asked about.  Waiting to hear about them so I can add notes with the entries since I have no idea who they are. :-)

  51. 51.

    schrodingers_cat

    Greg Siskind, David Leopold for immigration issues

    Maura Healey, Mass AG and she is running for governor

    Jorts the cat is a bit a Bernie bro but good on labor issues.

  53. 53.

    Anyway

    @WaterGirl: @WaterGirl:

    Redistricting maps thought to be favorable to Ds was thrown out.
    D LtGov had to resign after federal corruption charges
    Liberal NYC getting Eric Adams for Mayor is a fiasco.

  56. 56.

    NotMax

    Again, no idea if they’re on the platform: Michael Beschloss? Frank Figliuzzi? John Oliver?

    Maybe, to mix it up, John Scalzi and/or Wil Wheaton? Dolly Parton?

  60. 60.

    DB11

    Second for James Gleick. Science writer, author of Chaos, Genius, The Information.

    Sherrilyn Ifill

    Michael Harriot

    David Rothkopf (foreign policy / deep state expert)

  62. 62.

    la caterina

    @Anyway: Don’t forget Gov. Hochul just poached a Dem incumbent from a swing seat in the U.S. House as her new Lt. Gov. after screwing up on her first choice!

  64. 64.

    SuzieC

    Can’t believe you don’t have Teri Kanefield on your list!  Law professor, posts excellent blog every Sunday.

  65. 65.

    Yutsano

    *cough* Katie Porter? *cough​

    EDIT: also, too @goldengateblonde although I may have her Twitter handle wrong.

  71. 71.

    VFX Lurker

    This is already a good list.

    Hood Feminism author Mikki Kendall and fiction writer Gail Simone may be good additions. Gail Simone regularly uses her Twitter powers for the forces of good.

    I, too, also recommend Imani Gandy.

    Sandman author Neil Gaiman, who has a huge following and often works to help the UNHCR refugee charity.

    All four may be good signal-boosters.

  79. 79.

    la caterina

    How about Dr. Jason Johnson?

    Journalism Professor & MSNBC commentator

    ~275K Twitter followers

  88. 88.

    Chris Sherbak

    Not sure how far you’re casting your net, or how many is your goal, but:

    * My rep Jan Schakowsky is one of the most liberal in Congress.  She (or her staff) post on Jewish stuff, Trans allyship (she has a trans grandkid), Unions and more – https://twitter.com/RepSchakowsky
    * Chasten Buttigieg – https://twitter.com/Chasten often posts on thoughtful topics despite his high profile position
    * Politics Girl – https://twitter.com/IAmPoliticsGirl – Queen of The Angry TicTok has a podcast now but her memes are kinda legendary
    * Brian Sims – https://twitter.com/BrianSimsPA – State rep in the Gayborhood in Philly, now running for Lt. Gov in PA. Fun sing alongs to Disney in addition to angry rants in the Statehouse. Like Sen. Brian Schatz (is he on the list?), he has no more f-cks to give.

  91. 91.

    WaterGirl

    @Chris Sherbak: Thanks.

    Brian Schatz is already in there, he’s great.  Added the others except for Jan S because she’s not national.  I think you spelled her name wrong and I was too lazy to look it up.

  94. 94.

    NotMax

    @NotMax

    Dunno why I can never remember how she spells it: Mazie Hirono.

    (Stuck on thinking it’s Maisie as in Ann Sothern.)

  96. 96.

    Dahlia

    @WaterGirl: DB11 covered him pretty well.  I sometimes see his tweets on William Gibson’s twitter feed, GreatDismal.  Gibson is a science fiction writer in Vancouver B.C., not overly political,  but James Gleick’s tweets tend to be political.

  101. 101.

    planetjanet

    @WaterGirl:  Lowell Feld  (Blue Virginia) certainly focuses on Virginia, but also so many national issues that affect all of us.   He is the most read Virginia blogger with quite a reach.

  102. 102.

    Don K

    I’m glad to see one of my Senators (the Hon. G. Peters) as well as a past chair of my local Dem club (Charles Gaba, aka Brainwrap, health policy analyst exctraordinaire) on the list. Although I don’t know whether they have much Twitter presence, I would also recommend fellow Michiganians Barbara McQuade and my present Member of Congress (although probably not after November because of redistricting) Andy Levin. Andy truly is a good guy, following in the footsteps of dad Sander and uncle Carl, member (and Whip) of the House Progressive Caucus when that’s probably not a plus in this district.

  106. 106.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @la caterina: I bookmark No More Mister Nice blog…he’s a Debbie Downer in many respects. Maybe his Twitter feed is more engaging?

  107. 107.

    Sandia Blanca

    Please add Daniel Dale, the fact-checker extraordinaire! He’s @ddale8.

  108. 108.

    Juliet

    Amy klobuchar and Tina Smith the two minnesota senators. Tina was president of mn planned Parenthood before she became senator.

  110. 110.

    la caterina

    @Sure Lurkalot: Yes, he is a Debbie Downer.  I still find his posts well-reasoned.  Maybe not an influencer. Met him at a Balloon Juice meet up ages ago.

  111. 111.

    schrodingers_cat

    @zhena gogolia: I follow some of the same black women, they speak harsh truths that many here don’t want to hear or take it personally.

    (check out this morning’s thread and compared to those women my critique is mild. But was characterized as throwing sharp elbows, painting with a broad brush etc.).

  112. 112.

    Geminid

    Elaine Luria (VA-2nd) and Sharice Davids (KS-3rd) represent two of the battleground districts that Democratic control of the House will turn on. I hope they get a lot of attention.

    I’m really glad to see Mr. Weeks (@ Wonderking82) and  Kenneth House of Pfizer on the list. These “citizen journalists” really impress me. Mr. Weeks works as a counselor in a New York City school with a lot of economically disadvantaged children. Kenneth House of Pfizer works retail in the Denver area, or as he puts it, “Occupied Arapaho Territory. I was introduced to both by Ragnarok Lobster, whose day job is a civilian employee at a Chicagoland police station.

    I would caution people that some of the above have taken taken a side in Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate race and people may not like what they say about it. But a month from now the primary will be past us and I don’t think this will matter.

  113. 113.

    UncleEbeneezer

    No press people I can think of who aren’t already on the list.  But my Rep. Judy Chu is great.  Very loyal Dem.  Doesn’t tweet endlessly like some, but she’s always on message for promoting the Dem brand.

  115. 115.

    UncleEbeneezer

    PropaneJane
    Heather McGhee

    Elie Mystal veers a little too-close to DoSomething twitter (especially about DOJ/Garland) imo, but all around he’s pretty good.

  120. 120.

    DB11

    Three more to consider:

    Karen Attiah:  Ghanaian. Nigerian. Texan / Khashoggi’s former editor. Interesting perspective as a smart, young, progressive black women who lives in Texas, writes an opinion column for the WaPost, and has roots in Africa.

    Joyce Alene: law professor / legal analyst.  Great on abortion / Supreme Court etc.

    Ruth Ben-Ghiat: authoritarian and propaganda expert – necessary knowledge for current times.

  121. 121.

    geg6

    I did not see John Heilman or anyone else from Showtime’s The Circus. I think the others are Jennifer Palmieri, Alex Wagner and Mark McKinnon.

  122. 122.

    japa21

    @WaterGirl: ​
      Has a Sirius XM show. A somewhat comedian and political activist. Very realistic about what can be accomplished, not looking for any unicorns. Has 487K twitter followers. Has no patience with people who call themselves Christians but don’t walk the walk. States some of the best Christians (in action) are atheists.

  123. 123.

    Juliet

    @japa21: His father was a Catholic priest and his mother was a nun. Knows more about what’s in the bible than what most anyone else knows.

  125. 125.

    Another Scott

    Chris Savage’s Eclectablog is a great source for Michigan politics. He was on fire during the Flint water crisis and was constantly after DeVos.

    @eclectablog

    @LOLGOP (based in Ann Arbor) seems/ed to work with him, but I don’t know if it’s anything formal.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  126. 126.

    Bex

    @WaterGirl: Pavlovitz gets called a heretic by crazy Christians.  They’re obviously afraid of him.  That’s influential in my book.

  127. 127.

    glyph2112

    Not sure if you have her but Leigh McGowan is a go to for me.  On twitter its IAmPoliticsGirl and she has a great podcast.

  129. 129.

    MomSense

    @Geminid:

    Not just an MD – she is the medical director of a psychiatric hospital in Houston. Veterans of the Obama blog days will know that she was close with Meta.

  136. 136.

    laura

    Melissa Murray is a law prof at NYU, podcasts Strict Scrutiny with Leah Litman and Kate Shaw, wicked smart, snazzy sartorial style, puppy lover

    Big ups on Jorts- the office cat is a huge labor and work life spokeskitteh.

  138. 138.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Michael MacDonald (not the Doobies singer)

    Charlotte Clymer (trans issues/awareness)

    LJoyWilliams- BrooklynNAACP, Political strategist

    Oliver Willis

    Jelani Cobb

    Jamele Bouie

    Jemele Hill

    Howard Bryant

    Wesley Lowery

  141. 141.

    WaterGirl

    @laura:

    Melissa Murray is a law prof at NYU, podcasts Strict Scrutiny with Leah Litman and Kate Shaw, wicked smart, snazzy sartorial style, puppy lover

    I can’t tell if that is all about one person or if you are suggesting several people.

  143. 143.

    Argiope

    Rick Wilson, who is still the enemy of our enemy
    Ezra Klein, if he tweets
    Dahlia Lithwick, ditto
    Mark Hamill
    Stephen King

  144. 144.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    Charles M. Blow @CharlesMBlow

    Dick Polman @DickPolman1

    Political columnist

    Emily Bazelon @emilybazelon

    Staff writer NYT Mag. Co-host Slate Political Gabfest. Truman Capote Fellow at Yale Law School

    Heather McGhee @hmcghee

    Board Chair Color of Change

    Joan Walsh @joanwalsh

    Joe Conason @JoeConason

    Editor-in-chief National Memo

    Michael Tomasky @mtomasky

    Editor, New Republic

    Rebecca Traister @rtraister

    Writer @NYMag

    Sherrilyn Ifill @Sifill_LDF

  145. 145.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    Here are 2 more names

    Christina Greer @Dr_CMGreer

    Political Scientist; Assoc. Prof at Fordham Univ.

     

    jami floyd @jamifloyd

    Civil Rights Journalist, Legal and Political Analyst

  148. 148.

    Another Scott

    @DougJBalloon is being recognized more and more.

    Seriously.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  153. 153.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    Joshua Johnson @NBCJoshua

    Host of NBC NOW Tonight, former NPR host

  159. 159.

    Hogeye Grex

    Katie Porter

    Stacey Abrams

    @goldengateblond

    Jeff Tiedrich

    Michael Harriot

    so many

  160. 160.

    meander

    @RepBarbaraLee of California
    Rep. @BillPascrell of New Jersey
    @jamisonfoser (primarily a media critic, but much more too)

  162. 162.

    WaterGirl

    @Another Scott: I am waiting to issue the special invitations to John Cole and especially to DougJ until we are actually rolling along and are tweeting regularly.  If, fingers crossed, some of DougJ’s peeps check us out, I want us to be happening when they do.

  166. 166.

    Chat Noir

    Shauna (@goldengateblond)

    Southpaw (@nycsouthpaw)

    Asha Rangappa (@asharangappa_)

    Jon Favreau of Pod Save America (@jonfavs)

    darth (@darth)

  167. 167.

    Emily B.

    David Hogg @davidhogg111
    Jorts (and Jean) @Jortsthecat
    Reverend Raphael Warnock @RevendWarnock
    Melissa Murray @ProfMMurray
    Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw

  168. 168.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Just wanted to share this here as it may be useful for this project.  From IndivisibleSonomaCounty:

    Monday, 5/9, 6-7:15pm (pst)

    Please join us this coming Monday when we welcome speakers Patti Crane and Duane Bindschadler of Grassroots Messaging Works, a national team of activists from Indivisible and other groups with backgrounds in professional communications fields. In November 2021, they decided to stop complaining about uncoordinated Democratic messaging and start building a coherent, marketing-informed alternative. On Monday, come learn about Grassroots Messaging Works’ three goals – equipping pro-democracy champions, clarifying the high-stakes choice this election, and remobilizing the 81 million Americans who voted against hate in 2020 – and their five-point strategy to achieve them.

    Patti Crane serves as Creative Director and Co-Lead for Grassroots Messaging Works. From Los Angeles, her post-retirement activism includes leading several local, regional, and national Indivisible groups plus service as a founding Roundtable member steering Field Team 6, the national voter registration organization. For several decades she led her own strategic marketing agency from Atlanta, serving universities and non-profit consortia in North America and Europe.

    https://www.mobilize.us/indivisiblesonomacounty/event/457236/

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