So which one?


Which Republican presidential nominee?

Having just spent an hour or so watching the New Hampshire GOP Republican debate, having gleaned various tidbits over the internet since a while back, I can honestly say I don’t know.

Yet.

In comments at that link, Ron Paul’s supporters come across as a tad too fervent, as does Paul himself. He just comes across as a bit whiney. Quick to complain about a problem but a bit wishy washy with any solutions.

Romney arguably won, but he comes off as Obama-lite+religion. He’s big government but I will say he’s tending to own his opponents. He does look presidential and has the establishment’s backing… not necessarily a good thing when up against Obama who REALLY has the Establishment’s backing and REALLY (at least) talks presidential (except here where he sounds about as formidable as Julia Gillard). Read the rest of this entry »

Romney won Iowa – at least according to the AP and WaPo


 
If you get your news from any American paper that subscribes to the Associated Press feed (such as the Washington Post), you might be thinking right about now that the Team Elephant presidential primaries have resolved into a two-man race: “front runner” Mitt “Presidential Hair” Romney, and Rick “Bomb the shit out of Iran!” Santorum.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has won most of the delegates in the Iowa Republican caucuses, edging former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. Romney won a projected 13 delegates and Santorum won 12. Texas Rep. Ron Paul was shut out.

Wow, it doesn’t get any clearer than that. It looks like Dr. Paul and the remaining warm bodies still running are shit outta luck.

Just one problem: it’s a complete lie.

The fact is, Romney and Santorum TIED Ron Paul with seven delegates each. Newt Gingrich and Governor Perry Gardacil are still alive with two delegates each.

So why do you suppose that the AP and WaPo are reporting factual untruth? I mean, aside from the fact that Big Media (the BM for short) generally tends to side with Big Government politicians?

I’ll leave that to you to decide. My opinion is that it is part of an intentional push to eliminate the “anti-Romney” candidates who actually stand a chance of beating “The Hair”. “The Warhead” doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning this or any other election, so he’s safe (from the perspective of the Elephant elites) to leave in the race.

The BM doesn’t just report on the presidential races. It influences them as well. On purpose.

And it begins…


The pattern has been played out over and over. A potential Team Elephant presidential candidate starts to rise in the polls. A bulls-eye is affixed to that candidate. A combination of Republican elites, their allies in the punditocracy, and Big Media (the BM for short), which simply can’t help itself when an opportunity to dump on a Republican presents itself, begin hammering on any and all perceived defects of said candidate. Next thing you know, the new frontrunner is cast on the scrap heap, either to quit (like Herman Cain) or to flounder haplessly trying to regain momentum (like Michele Bachmann and Governor Perry Gardasil).

Now that Newt Gingrich is dropping faster than shares in Freddie Mac, Ron Paul has surged into a virtual tie and perhaps even the lead in Iowa.

That’s bad.

“Vulture, WTF? I though you were a Paul guy.” I am. Which is why I’m dreading what awaits. A decent and honorable man is about to be dragged through the slime, called everything but a child of God, and accused of all sorts of thought crimes ranging from racism to anti-Americanism.

Think I’m kidding. The threats have already started from the faux conservative media.

The establishment Elephants will NOT tolerate any attempt by the American people to choose a candidate other than Mitt Romney (and his presidential hair). They don’t care who they wreck in the process.

And we wonder why we have the caliber of candidates we have. Only the bravest, the most foolish, or the most power-mad need apply. Decent people need not apply.

The fix is in


During the 2008 presidential election cycle, I wrote over 60 posts — including extensive analysis of the primaries and conventions — at my personal blog, The Vulture Lurks (recommended by 4 out of 5 curmudgeons). So far this election cycle I’ve written a handful of minor posts. Why the drop-off? That’s easy. This isn’t an election we’re witnessing. It’s a coronation, at least on the Team Elephant side of the ledger.

Why would I call it a coronation? How could I call it a coronation when there is no clear front-runner and the first primary hasn’t even occurred yet? Follow along as I read the tea leaves.


Conservative media: Fox News (“fair” and “balanced”) is in the tank for Romney. Big time. Some of Fox’s so-called analysts are so far up Romney’s butt that they taste his lunch mere seconds after he does.

Fox has proclaimed Romney winner of nearly all of the debates. Yet after one of the debates, Michele Bachmann surged into the lead in the polls. After another, it was Herman Cain. After yet another, it was Newt Gingrich. You should be getting the idea by now. No matter Romney’s showing, he’s the winner.

Every time Fox gets on the subject of the “Primary front runners”, Romney’s name is first on their lips. No matter where he is in the latest polling, first, second, even FOURTH, he is always “a front runner”. Meanwhile, if he is first or second, NO ONE beyond second place gets a mention. Hell, when he was in fourth place in an Iowa poll recently, the candidate ahead of him, Ron Paul, was omitted from mention in the front runners discussion. But not Mitt.

Talk radio isn’t quite as blatant; in fact, many talk show hosts are reluctant to be seen as endorsing anyone, such is the general distaste for Romney among the listening public. But almost without fail, all talk show hosts assert that no matter who the Republican nominee is, no matter how much they might deviate from conservative principles, we HAVE TO vote for them – ANYONE but Obama. Never mind that a vote for Romney is a vote for “Obama-lite”. You gotta do it!

Columnists of various stripes have wandered hither and yon regarding Romney. But two powerhouse conservative pundits have lined up foursquare behind him: Ann Coulter and Charles Krauthammer. Both of these two alleged conservatives have shelved principle and gone with “electable” as be-all/end-all for their candidate. Never mind that it was said of Ronald Reagan in 1980 that he was unelectable. This is different.

Bang the war drums: Every candidate still in the race, with the exception of Ron Paul, is obsessed with proving their warrior bona fides. “I would go to war with Iran NOW!”, one after another will thunder. The audience (God help us!) eats that shit up. It would appear that so-called conservatives have bought into the propaganda that never-ending pre-emptive war is “defense”. Again, God help us!

One is left in amazement that a candidate can spew vitriol with regards to all of the wasteful spending in Washington, and yet opine that the military, estimated to hit around $1.4 TRILLION in spending in 2012, needs to be beefed up. We’re drowning in debt, but without war-without-end and the trillions of dollars it requires, we’re going to be overrun by cave-dwelling terrorists, and conquered.

The military-industrial complex lives and thrives.

The Team Elephant elite: They’ve made it clear for over a year – Romney is their guy. I suppose they’d settle for Gingrich in a pinch (much as they settled for McCommie last cycle, when Rudy Giuliani was their preference). But they’re adamant. It WILL be Romney or an equally conviction-free statist. Period.

Do you really think the attacks on Governor Perry Gardacil, Herman Cain, and Michele Bachmann happened because Big Media (the BM for short) hates “real” conservatives and wanted to destroy them? Those attacks were friendly fire. Those attacks were orchestrated. Don’t be surprised if Newt succumbs to something similar to what happened to Cain between now and mid-January.


“Okay, Vulture. You believe there’s a coronation afoot. What do you say we do about it, smart guy?”

What CAN we do? Truthfully, we in the West have gone so far down the slippery slope to ruin that I don’t think it matters any more who we elect.We might crash and burn and start to recover sooner with one candidate over another.

But crash and burn we shall.

A Decade of Tim Blair — Blogger, Legend


Gavin Atkins at Asian Correspondent marks the milestone:

Blogger/journalist Tim Blair has never been one to take a lot of notice of plaudits, awards or milestones – in fact, he assiduously ignores them – but the recent passing 10-year anniversary of his blog should not go by without comment.

For many Australians of a conservative or libertarian bent, about ten years ago, just reading or watching the news was like being asked to wade through a floating garbage dump of dogma to try and read what was written on the ground. What’s more, most of us were left cursing, as only the most watered down of our thoughts would ever make it through as a letter to the editor.

Tim Blair changed all that with his blog that tackled the idiocies of the left pretty much as they happened. His blog filled a niche that conservatives were crying out for, and his comment sections soon became almost as entertaining as the articles. […]

Along the way, he has invented terms such as Blair’s Law and the Gore Effect as well as alerting the world to the alarming tendency of lefties to tilt their heads in photographs.

And then there’s the Plastic Turkey meme, the new verbs “to beclown” and “to Fisk,” and probably a whole lot more that others can add in comments.

One thing Gavin didn’t mention was how global Tim Blair’s appeal has turned out to be  – in fact, one sledge often thrown at him by some of his resident trolls is that he has “too many” American fans and commenters.  For some reason, his Leftoid Australian detractors believed that was some sort of fatal “gotcha”.

Ah, his trolls!  Not only have Tim’s blogging efforts attracted some of the most clever and witty commenters over the years, they’ve seen him collect some of the most dedicated, demented, obsessive and sometimes just chuckleheadedly-silly assortment of sockpuppets and trolls ever seen in one place.

Go over and read Gavin’s whole piece, and be sure to leave your thoughts & favourite memories/recollections in comments either here or there.

Happy Tenth Blogiversary, Tim!

P.S. Where’s Wronwright with that mead…?

P.P.S. As our blogroll has been rather neglected of late, if you are one of the #BlairNation troupe of bloggers (new motto, #WeAreUs – thanks Julia!) and aren’t listed over on the right-hand side there ——->
just drop your blog link in comments and we’ll get it updated. Cheers.

UPDATE:  More comments now at The Blogfather’s here:  TEN YEARS OF LOVE.  As Puce would have said, CLICK.

Tea party Vs the Teat party?


Caught a classic comment over on Samizdata that needs a good airing.

“By the way, while typing in this posting (on an unfamiliar computer) I noticed that I had at one point put the “Teat” Party. But actually, I quite like that phrase, to describe all the kind of people who think that Tea Partiers really are terrorists.”

If people against government spending and tax increases are disparagingly called “Tea baggers” (a derisory sexual term), then surely they cant object to us referring to those suckling on the governments largesse as “Teat Partiers”.

 

After all fair is fair, right?

So which are you?

Or

Lefties, please note, black pig used as it was the first one in google search, not Raaaaacim!!!

Scandallous Palin email revelation #2


It would be funny if it wasnt so pathetic.

Large clumps of the MSN are making fools of themselves attempting a “gotcha” on Palins emails. The problem is they keep showing her in a better light.

 

Try these explosive revelations from the Guardians team of expert sewer divers/ email checkers….

 

They’re not earth-shattering, but there are plenty of interesting details about Alaskan life and work as a US governor that you’ve helped us find.

Here’s the best of what you’ve dug up to date:

 

Mama Grizzly once again demonstrates her passion for hunting in an email sent in January 2007 – reviewed by Mike S.

I am a hunter. I grew up hunting – some of my best memories growing up are of hunting with my dad to help feel [sic] our freezer…

(Oh noes!!, she knows how to hunt and enjoys it)

But in the email Palin is clear that she does not support “hunting the bears in the sanctuary”:

I don’t know any Alaskans who do support hunting the McNeil bears that frequent the viewing area. Many Alaskan and Outside visitors view these animals on the McNeil river, within the sanctuary, and, as my parents have reported back after their viewing trip, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see such beauty on that river.

(Oh noes!! #2 she believes in hunting selected animals outside of conservation areas!!!. Doesnt quite fit in with the scorched earth Barbie narrative weve been treated to for the last few years)

 

And now for the most damaging , terrible hugest revelation of them all!!

In an email sent on 7 January 2008, Palin discusses the potential of a “political attack” coming from the oil industry – thanks to Charlotte K for alerting us to this email. Palin is responding to a message from Patrick Galvin, Alaska’s commissioner of the department of revenue, which describes “rumblings of a strategy being developed by the producers and their allies to attack the administration”:

I hear from worker bees in the field that Industry is on a roll against us – on a rampage because they had no idea they wouldn’t get their way on all issues.

We need more bodies in Communications to help on this, too, so Alaskans know the truth about the situation and aren’t tempted to panic due to Industry spin.

And we don’t win ball games merely playing defense. We must go on the offense too.

 (Oh NOOOOOOES!!! Palin ISNT a stooge of the big oil corporations)

On twitter, @surfbenet on twitter spotted Palin responding to the Alaskan Public Officer’s Commission’s complaint that the alaska.gov website was not “educating the public in a fair manner”. In an statement that may surprise those who know her for her outspoken nature, Palin emailed:

Let the other side have space on the website for rebuttal. And I’ll forgo my First Amendment rights until the critics chill and I can once again express my personal opinion when asked.

 

(Oh Noes!!, Palin lets her critics speak openly against her!!!)

 

Finally, we’re all been in the situation of being the recipient of inappropriate emails. So one can only imagine what Palin was thinking when she received a missive instructing her to “tip the kids, and bring beef, tequila and condoms” to party at LA mansion. In this case, we can perhaps forgive her punctuation:

Donna – did you mean to give this to me?????

Perhaps, we can deduce, not.

So she got sent an email by mistake (note the Guardians oh-so-neutral use of the term “perhaps”), and responds with about the most polite followup she could…

 

All these emails are in plain english, and this is the “best” theyve found so far?

Theres quite a few more at the link,be sure to look and laugh at the pettiness of it all.

Pathetic, truly pathetic.

Candidate for the Elephant Elite


RINO in native environmentI’ve made no secret of my loathing for “The Hairdo”, AKA Mitt Romney. He’s the poster child for RINOs. He’s a gigantic flip-flopping fraud. And now, once again, he’s running for President.


Romney declared to cheers on a sunny farm in southern New Hampshire, “I’m Mitt Romney and I believe in America. And I’m running for president of the United States.”

The former governor and business executive aggressively challenged Democratic President Obama while trying to pitch himself to the coalition that makes up the modern GOP: fiscal conservatives, social conservatives, evangelicals and libertarians. Romney included nods to all as he sought to make himself the candidate with the broadest appeal and best shot at sending Obama home to Chicago as a one-term president.


Yeah, he’s trying to appeal to everybody. He certainly appeals to the Elephant Elitists, who have all but anointed him as The Chosen One. But if you really examine who he is and what he represents, he certainly won’t appeal to YOU.

Anyone who purports to be a “conservative” who supports this tool is a waste of oxygen and should be forcibly prohibited from voting.

The irony of the situation is mind-blowing. Ron Paul is “extreme” and “unelectable”. But Mitt Romney? Why, he’s everything a “conservative” could ever wish for!

Except conservative.

Levin rips Donald Trump to shreds


There’s James Board’s unedifying man-crush on Trump*, and then there’s reality

Levin points out many things about Trump that show he is no conservative, but a few of the glaring ones are the fact that he support Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio twice, as well as calling for the impeachment of George W. Bush, accusing him of lying to get us in the war. Oh yeah, and he supported Universal Health Care in America, the Canadian style.

And there’s more. This is a must listen.

And where the hell was he during the last few years of the Tea Party’s birth and rise, and the battles it was fighting?

President Trump?  Not. Gonna. Happen.

*LOL. You know I still love ya, man 😉

UPDATE:  Shy retiring type @DanRiehl has a word in the Trump fanbois’ shell-likes.  Heh.

via The Right Scoop and Mark Levin

I Want Your Money


It’s a new film coming out that takes a look at recent US government spending.

H/T RWB

cross-posted

The Desperate Left


A bunch of Lefties at the California State University have sifted through Sarah Palin’s trash to find out the details of her speaking engagements contract, handed it to a local Democrat pollie, who dutifully handed it to their propaganda department the media. And now Democrat California Attorney General, Jerry Brown is investigating.

Gee, nothing desperate going on there.

And as for Palin’s speeches, shock horror, she makes some decent coin from them – and with a few perks thrown in. We’re talking $100,000 bucks a speech.

OMG, it’s “embarrassing” writes Tim Reid at The Times and reprinted in The Australian.

Yes, it is. Even I’m embarrassed that the Left is getting so desperate nowadays. Noteable also is that the Australian places Reid’s article in the “news” section.

Bollocks his article is “news”.

SARAH Palin faced embarrassing revelations yesterday about lavish demands that she makes before speaking engagements, including first-class air travel or large private jets, suites in hotels and even bendable straws in her water bottles.

The latest revelation will do little to damage her reputation among the party’s grassroots activists, who view her as a straight-talking hero, but it undercuts her claim to be a down-to-earth “hockey mom” who is fighting for ordinary working Americans.

Sounds more like Leftist opinion to me, and a media beat-up, Chris Mitchell.

Anyway, let’s just have a look at who earns the big bucks for speaking engagements. There’s Al Gore who gets over $250,000 to peddle speculation. Australia’s Tim Flannery get’s $50,000 to do the same.

And here’s a tidy list from the website whose company drew up Palin’s contract.

The following receive upwards of $40,000 per engagement. Is Palin’s deal out of the ordinary?

Read the rest of this entry »

Yes, some TEA Party members are black


So who are the real racists?

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – They’ve been called Oreos, traitors and Uncle Toms, and are used to having to defend their values. Now black conservatives are really taking heat for their involvement in the mostly white tea party movement—and for having the audacity to oppose the policies of the nation’s first black president.

“I’ve been told I hate myself. I’ve been called an Uncle Tom. I’ve been told I’m a spook at the door,” said Timothy F. Johnson, chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, a group of black conservatives who support free market principles and limited government.

“Black Republicans find themselves always having to prove who they are. Because the assumption is the Republican Party is for whites and the Democratic Party is for blacks,” he said.

Johnson and other black conservatives say they were drawn to the tea party movement because of what they consider its commonsense fiscal values of controlled spending, less taxes and smaller government. The fact that they’re black—or that most tea partyers are white—should have nothing to do with it, they say.

Not taking any bets though that the Left will stop their lies and slander.

What’s good to see however, is that there’s a good chance more black Americans could run for office on the GOP ticket. And they won’t be pulling any racial crap, either, because any decent Right-winger worth his salt goes on policies, not any kind of childish racism nonsense.

And let’s face it it, how could Obama have possibly been a post-racial president when 96% of blacks voted for him?

*cross-posted at bing’s cubby house

Timewarpians Stroll London in Victorian Garb


Since Steampunk has pretty much gone main stream, I’ve thought retro garb was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Many lament the lack of style and grace in today’s living, including me (But I’m not ready to give up my jeans quite yet).

(CNN) — Social networking may be one of the biggest phenomenons of the 21st century, but for some denizens of the Web, it’s a way to get in touch with the past.

Web sites like livinghistoryworldwide.com (with a membership of more than 5,700) and groups on Facebook allow people who enjoy past eras to connect with each other. But it goes beyond that: Some of them dress and live like they would decades, if not centuries, ago.”

Funny thing is, if you pick any era from the 1950’s back, you’re going to be dressing with more class. Back in the 80’s, when I was going through my, “cool jazz musician phase,” I used to dress like this (As did quite a few of the straight-ahead swing musicians).

I can think of far worse social trends than tasteful dress and refined manners. In fact, this phenomenon has more than a few conservative elements to it.

“Why would one live this lifestyle? For many of these iReporters, it’s a reaction to modern society just as much as a love of the fashion and style of days gone by.

“I suppose others might call me an eccentric, but I just live the life I want to live and don’t care about what others say or think about me,” said Ray Frensham, a “Living Victorian,” from London, England. “Even though I’ve felt increasingly disconnected from the modern world for many years now, I’m not retreating into some past nether-world seeking a kind of comfort-blanket.”

Modern society in the United Kingdom can be “remarkably cruel and unforgiving,” Frensham said. “There is certainly no sense of any kind of community anymore,” he said. “People are purely self-centered, only in it for what they can get out of themselves.” He points to the recent MP expenses scandal there, which led to the resignation of British House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin, as an example.”

So, I’m all for it, but not ready for the top hat and ascot quite yet.

Brown/Coakley round up


Some awesome blogger did this bloody good post on the whole shebang. Check it out!

Obama Chooses to be Overshadowed by Apple Tablet Computer


OK, see if you can discern the logic here. This morning, Apple sent out invitations for an unveiling event of a new product on January 27th, which is almost certainly going to be the long rumored tablet; the most anticipated Apple product since the iPhone. More anticipated than the iPhone, in fact.

Then, this afternoon, President Obama announces that he’s going to give his State of the Union Address, also on January 27th.

Now, the Apple event is scheduled for 10AM California time, which is 1PM Washington D.C. time, while Obama’s SotU speech will be at 9PM Washington time – eight hours after the Apple event begins.

Now, I had to ask myself, “Self, why would Obama announce, on the same day Apple announced, an event eight hours later, on the same date, January 27th?” Could he and his handlers be so stupid as to not know that the intertubes will be cooking with Apple Tablet talk when Obama and his Teleprompter take the stage?

mmmmmmmmNo. Probably not.

Then I had to ask myself, “Self, why does Obama want his SotU speech to be buried beneath an avalanche of Apple buzz?”

Could it be that, Obama’s Approval Index sucks, and he wants his SotU event to be off the radar?

Could it also be that, Scott Brown’s polling rocks, and he seems poised to pull the upset of the century by pulling, “Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat” out from under the DNC-anointed Martha Coakley, and that would be a slap-in-the-face referendum on the Obama administration?

mmmmmmYeah, that’s what I suspect.

Unbelievable.

US Citizen? Sign the petition against cap n’ trade


If you’re a man-made global warming sceptic, or if you think the science perhaps isn’t settled, or if you are worried about a potential communist world government, or if you are worried about giant non-sovereign world taxes being imposed on all of us, or if you think the governments of this world already have too much power, or even if you’re not convinced yet either way, and don’t want a road paved that there’s no turning back on in just two short weeks, then sign this petition.

SIGN HERE

People literally right now are speaking at Copenhagen presenting the other side to this man-made CO2-driven man-made climate change/global warming argument. They will also be speaking tomorrow. Time is of the essence.

UPDATE

This post differs from the original. It came from watching the latest Monckton videos (the end of Part 4 of which part 1 was posted by 1.6 below), about a GLOBAL problem – but unfortunately only US citizens can sign that petition. Hence, first update removed, replaced with this.

End of the Australian Liberal party?


Has Malcom toadying up to Kevin signaled the end of the Australian Liberal party as a viable political party? I know it’s certainly cost them my vote.

 

I dont know who the next conservative party will be, the Nationals are a bit to country based to have a huge impact on the largely urban Australian voting areas.

Malcolm has effectively gutted his own party to give Kevin Rudd a photo opportunity for Copenhagen. Even in the face of the leaked emails he has pushed his own party to accept a foolish deal.

At the same time he has allowed the ALP the means to fund the most enormous expansion of government patronage in Australias history. They now have access to a new consumption tax (indirectly) which they can assign wherever they wish. The lines of rent seekers must be around the block in Canberra today.

And all those rent seekers will be at the beck and call of the ALP, in effect Malcolm has subsidised an enormous band of political opposition against his own party.

I despair at the stupidity of this decision.

Id urge any of our Aussie readers (bugger it is your from overseas feel free to let them know they are dickheads as well), to use the following link to let the Australian Liberal party know they have lost your vote for good.

For me, theres nothing they could now do to entice me to vote for them again, they have shown themselves to be nothing more than another high taxing left wing rabble.

Federal Secretariat

Liberal Party of Australia (the contact is in this link)

Heres my little message to the Libs.

Due to the extreme anti-mining (the industry I currently work in) and anti-business (I also run my own small business) nature of the Liberals voting for an emissions trading scheme you have lost my vote for good.

Congratulations we now have 2 left wing “tax and spend” parties as the majors here in Australia. The ETS is the largest GST ever, Im not willing to cut you any slack on this, you have voted to send enormous sums to rent seekers both here and overseas. Heres a promise, if my work is terminated due to the extra costs that MUST be levied because of this program then I opt out of being a productive member of society. If my employment is to be jeopardized by government fiat then you can get a wooly bull up you, I owe you nothing.

RIP Australian Liberal Party...

This is an abject betrayal of the Australian people all to let Kevin Rudd grandstand at Copenhagen. What a disgrace.

OMG! A Pollie who reads the bills!


I have no idea who John Sullivan is, but my goodness I’d like to vote the guy a raise.

Sure he’s no charismatic demagogue like Barry O, but you don’t want one of those pretending to look out for the country.

One congressman being prepared to actually come out and read the so-called healthcare bill is a small step, but it’s vital.

Now all we need to to is support him and encourage others in congress to do the same.

I honestly have NFI why a person would vote on legislation they’ve not read. It’s basically lying to your constituents, and any adverse consequences should fall squarely on your shoulders for having been a part of such a total disgrace.

His website’s here.

via GoV

Conserving Conservatives


Shhh! Gallup Reports That Conservatives Outnumber Libs in All 50 States; Media Plays Dumb

Thanks to some guy called TGordon… and by default, Mr Andrew Bolt.

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