once again, Sweden shows the way | Attack Machine

First, they instituted public school vouchers. Now they?re adopting policies that actually work.

The headlines from across the pond read ?Europe Rejects Austerity? as the French and Greeks elected socialists and even some neo-national socialists to office. These new officials have promised tax rates as high as 75 percent on millionaires, and have vowed to continue government spending unabashed in the wake of staggering levels of debt and anemic economic growth and persistent double- digit unemployment. However, there is one finance minister in one European nation that is bucking the trend, and, instead of ridicule and failure, he?s been named Europe?s best finance minister by the Financial Times. He?s not from Britain or Germany and certainly isn?t Greek. He isn?t some old fat cat in a suit either. In fact he?s famous for rocking a pretty awesome ponytail and gold earring. His name is Anders Borg and he?s Swedish.

That?s right, the European nation famously stereotyped for having aggressive taxation to fund an omnipresent state has actually decided that in response to the Eurozone crisis and the continued effects of the global economic downturn, or ?Great Recession?, that it?s time to ease up on taxes and reduce the size of government. While Sweden is not technically in the Eurozone, as it does not use the Euro as currency, it has been drawn into the financial mess of the Eurozone by sheer proximity. Unemployment in 2011 was north of 7.5 percent and GDP growth was anemic at .4 percent projected for 2012.

While the rest of Europe and the United States have gone on massive spending sprees fueled by government borrowing and tax hikes, Sweden took a different approach. In the Spring 2012 Economic and Budget Policy Guidelines, the Swedish Government and its Finance Minister, Anders Borg, have laid out a plan that is focused on lowering taxes. Their rationale? ?When indviduals and families get to keep more their income, their independence and their opportunities to shape their own lives also increase.?

Borg also wants to lower the corporate tax rate as a?way of meeting the government?s goal of ?full employment?. The government has already cut property taxes and other luxury taxes on the rich to lure investors and entrepreneurs back to Sweden. The government has also slashed spending across the board, including on the welfare programs that used to be Sweden?s claim to fame. They?ve also installed caps on annual government expenditures: real and enforceable limits that the Swedes believe are pivotal to economic stability. They explain in their Policy Guidelines that ?the expenditure ceiling is the Government?s most important tool for meeting the surplus.? Imagine that, a government that stays within its limits. So why didn?t Sweden hop on the stimulus bandwagon like the U.S. and much of Europe?

Anders Borg explains, ?Look at Spain, Portugal or the UK, whose governments were arguing for large temporary stimulus? Well, we can see that very little of the stimulus went to the economy. But they are stuck with the debt.? We have now seen that attempts at austerity within the Eurozone have met a similar fate: none of it was serious. As spending increases have been squandered, spending cuts have been a charade, failing to target the big government programs at the core of the debt crisis. So Anders Borg and the Swedish Government have undertaken an economic and budget plan that slashes taxes and (actually) caps government spending. If you told Paul Krugman and the rest of the Keynesians back at the onset of the financial crisis that Sweden?s finance minister was planning such action, they would have surely laughed in your face and cynically predicted doom and gloom for the Scandinavian nation. However, in reality, a place Keynesians seem to be unfamiliar with, it?s become clear that what Sweden is doing is working. And it?s working better than even Minister Borg expected.

Despite slow projected growth for 2012, Sweden is expecting annual GDP growth of over 3 percent starting next year, projected out through 2016 by which time their unemployment is expected to slide down to just about 5 percent. During this time the Swedish gross debt is expected to drop from 37.7 percent/GDP to 22.5 percent/GDP as a result of government surpluses. For comparison, US gross debt to GDP is well over 100 percent and climbing. All this success must be on the backs of the working class right? Wrong. Wages are slated to rise in Sweden by nearly 4 percent annually through 2016.

The recovery-by-stimulus model has failed across the board, and as Mr. Borg has pointed out, we are still stuck with the damage it has done. With the refusal of the Obama administration, Congress, and their European counterparts to accept serious spending cuts, maybe it?s time to try something that?s actually working. Heck, I?ll even grow the pony tail.

Source: http://attackmachine.com/blog/2012/08/03/once-again-the-swedes-show-the-way/

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Why women cheat |

August 3, 2012 ? 10:00 am

As we watch the fallout from Kristen Stewart?s affair with director Rupert Sanders, it?s gotten me thinking about why women choose to cheat.

At just 22, Stewart has presumably been with actor beau, Robert Pattinson, for about four years. This is a long time for a relationship, especially for someone so young. In a previous post, I wrote that if you get married before about age 30, you might as well call it a ?starter marriage.?? The same can be said about serious, monogamous relationships.

When we turn 18, we?re called ?adults.?? Just because one is called an adult does not mean they behave as such.? Your late-teens and early-20s should be the time when you figure things out. You learn more about who you are and who you want to be than any other time in your life. Figuring these things out also shapes what you want out of a long-time partner or spouse. Your ideal at 18 will not be your ideal at 30. ?I can guarantee you that.

So, why did Stewart cheat?? Various articles have revealed that she thought her life was too easy.? Others have suggested that this might all be a ploy to get more publicity for the final ?Twilight? movie.? Whatever her reasoning, if she was bored she?s not anymore.? It?s quite obvious that she wanted to be caught.

I?ve interviewed many women who are now single who had affairs in their previous marriages. I asked why they chose to even begin the affairs. The following are the most common reasons:

  1. Revenge ? They caught their husband in an affair at some point during their marriage and after a period of time, became more and more angry about it. If they received attention elsewhere, they embraced it.? They felt justified having an affair, like ?an eye for eye.? Once they began the affair, they enjoyed receiving extra attention and admiration from others. Eventually, many of these women initiated a separation from their husbands and began divorce proceedings. They knew their marriage was broken.
  2. Low self-esteem ? Many women who cheat are married for a long time. They became housewives and mothers. They admit their marriage is dead. They don?t feel loved and/or appreciated. ?They stay married for the kids. ?In life and marriage we all need an adequate amount of affection and admiration from our partners. ?If this attention falters, the person feeling low self-esteem can become more and more insecure and start looking for the attention in other people.
  3. Boredom ? An unsatisfying, dull, and predictable relationship that isn?t growing in depth can make the excitement of a new relationship very attractive.? The affair is not only exciting due to the new person involved, but also to the whole experience of sneaking around and hiding it. ?This can be a huge adrenaline rush and, for some, mildly addictive. Women who have multiple affairs may be experiencing this kind of stimulus.

The most important thing in any relationship is communication. When your relationship starts to lose its luster, talk to your partner about it. Seek attention from them, not from outsiders. If you try to make it work and it doesn?t, at least you tried. Then you can both go your separate ways without the added pain an affair will cause.

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Filed under Advice, Dating, High End Matchmakers, Love, New York dating, Philadelphia dating, Washington DC dating

Source: http://premiermatch.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/why-women-cheat/

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Purple martins flock to Va. for annual summer stay

Retired teacher and amateur birder, Adolph White, holds up a poster on purple martins under pear trees that the birds roost in Richmond, Va., Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. The birds once scorned for the droppings they leave, the tens of thousands of purple martins that check in each night in a small row of pear trees and are now celebrated with their own festival called "Gone to the Birds." ( AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Retired teacher and amateur birder, Adolph White, holds up a poster on purple martins under pear trees that the birds roost in Richmond, Va., Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. The birds once scorned for the droppings they leave, the tens of thousands of purple martins that check in each night in a small row of pear trees and are now celebrated with their own festival called "Gone to the Birds." ( AP Photo/Steve Helber)

FILE - In a July 26, 2008 file photo, onlookers gawk as thousands of purple martins arrive at the 17th Street Farmers' Market in downtown Richmond, Va. The birds roost in a line of Bradford pear trees just north of the Farmers' Market, on 17th Street. The arrival of the birds has spawned the first purple martin festival, called "Gone to the Birds." (AP Photo/Richmond Times-Dispatch, P. Kevin Morley, File)

FILE - In a July 26, 2008 file photo, Daniel Pitts, 14, dressed as a purple martin, watches as thousands of purple martins arrive at the 17th Street Farmers' Market in downtown Richmond, Va. The birds roost in a line of Bradford pear trees just north of the Farmers' Market, on 17th Street. The arrival of the birds has spawned the first purple martin festival, called "Gone to the Birds." (AP Photo/Richmond Times-Dispatch, P. Kevin Morley, File)

A passerby walks down the street in front of a sign for the Gone To the Birds festival in Richmond, Va., Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. The birds once scorned for the droppings they leaveare now celebrated with their own festival called "Gone to the Birds." ( AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Retired teacher and amateur birder, Adolph White holds up a poster he drew of purple martins under pear trees where the birds roost, in Richmond, Va., Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012. The birds once scorned for the droppings they leave are now celebrated with their own festival called "Gone to the Birds." (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

(AP) ? Virginia is for lovers ? and thousands of purple martins.

They begin flitting into town in early June, and by midsummer the purple martins that roost in a one-block section of downtown Richmond are so thick, their synchronized mass movements can be seen on weather radar.

Once scorned for their mess, the purple martins that check in each night in a row of pear trees are now celebrated with their own festival. "Gone to the Birds," now in its fifth year, will be held Saturday as bartenders serve up "Purple Martinis," restaurants offer discounts and guides take birders on tours of this urban aviary.

It's a mystery why the blackish-purple birds, the largest of the swallow family in North America, selected a row of 15 Bradford pear trees to spend their last six summers in a crowded entertainment district known for its restaurants, clubs and former tobacco warehouses converted into lofts.

Most people don't care and just enjoy the show, which includes raptors sweeping down from high-rises to snatch a purple martin in flight. There are plenty to go around: organizers said they counted 27,000 birds at the 2011 festival; 14,000 have been counted this year.

The most spectacular show is at dusk when the birds circle the skies, tightening into a ball to return to their roost in waves.

"Who would think standing around watching birds would be something cool to do?" said Jon Baliles, who helped organize the first festival with his brother-in-law.

"We were like, wow, it's totally surreal, right in the middle of the city," Baliles said. "I'm no bird aficionado but that remains one of the coolest things I've ever seen in Richmond."

The festival is supposed to help businesses in a section of downtown called Shockoe Bottom, once the center of Richmond's slave-trading commerce. The low-lying area is still recovering from floods brought by Hurricane Gaston in 2004.

Purple martins, like other migratory birds, often roost in a staging area before they begin their flight south, which for the martins is South America. They gorge on beetles, increasing their body weight by 30 to 60 percent, to fuel their 5,000-mile journey.

"They're associated with eating insects, so people love having them around, and they're purple," said Mary Elfner with the Virginia Audubon.

But why pit stop in Richmond?

Louis Verner, a biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, said the dense leaf cover and twig structure can support thousands of birds in one tree and the James River is less than a half mile away.

Mike Wilson, a biologist with the Center for Conservation Biology, said Richmond is not the only urban setting for the birds.

"What these birds do is they're relying on these routes for safety in numbers," he said. Martins are gregarious, he said, and they form big flocks.

Dilnesaw Bitew wasn't a fan of the birds at first because of the mess they left on the cars at his Addis Ethiopian Restaurant. Now he offers 20 percent discounts while the birds are in town.

"Now I like them. It's fun to watch them in the evening," he said.

Adolph White, a retired teacher and amateur birder, is out every morning to wash down the sidewalk that runs along the row of pear trees. He was there Wednesday with his grandson.

"It's covered up pretty bad," White said of the layer of droppings.

His night job is much better. He's a guide several nights a week for people who want to see the purple martins return at dusk to their pear trees.

"They are amazed," he said.

___

Steve Szkotak can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sszkotakap

___

Online:

Center for Conservation Biology: http://ccb-wm.org/

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-08-02-Purple%20Martin%20Festival/id-70fb5cc99a2349ba923b2a5eadc3c305

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Solo would consider playing in England

Imagine it: Hope Solo-->, British sports star. The tabloids would love her. Outspoken. Charismatic. Photogenic. Reality-TV star. Unapologetic tweeter.

It just might happen. With prospects uncertain for a major U.S. women's soccer league, members of the Olympic team will be considering whether to play overseas. The leagues in Sweden, Germany, Japan and France are more developed, but Solo could see herself back in the UK.

"It's not necessarily about the play, it's about bringing the game to a whole different level globally, the women's game," she said. "So I would think about staying right here in England and helping build the sport here, the beautiful game where the game has such a rich history, yet the women's game is lacking."

? 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.nbcolympics.com/news-blogs/soccer/hope-solo-says-she-would-play-in-england-uk.html

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DataSaver (for Android)

Capped data plans are the new normal, so it's time to use every trick in the book to maximize your available smartphone data. DataSaver, from Devicescape, should definitely be in an Android phone owner's toolkit. Running in the background, DataSaver automatically connects you to a range of Wi-Fi hotspots, auto-negotiating those tricky login pages so you can surf without hitting your carrier's 3G network. It's like Boingo Mobile ($8 per month), but free.

Installation and Display
Installing DataSaver is easy: just download it from Google Play and run it. It runs on Android 2.2 and up; I tested it on a Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx, an HTC One S, and a Samsung Galaxy S III (Verizon Wireless)?and it worked fine on all of them. The app runs in the background. You can quit it manually by pressing the menu button and selecting "DataSaver Off." You'll also need to restart it by hand when you restart your phone.

DataSaver has a few main screens. The primary screen shows whether you're on 3G or Wi-Fi, the speed of your connection, and how much data you've saved so far by using Wi-Fi. There's a data counter involved, so you can set it to reflect your data plan and see how close you are to your limit. You can also see which apps have used the most data, as a pie chart. Delving into the settings lets you add passwords you know for private hotspots.

Unfortunately, the data readouts on two of my three phones were inaccurate. After a day's worth of use, the Galaxy S III reported it had used 106 TB of data on 3G?yes, that's terabytes, and no, that's not right. The HTC One S reported that it had used 201 MB of 3G data on the main page, but only 90.9 MB on the pie chart. Devicescape general manager Jean-Marc Matteini said the company is looking into both issues.

Performance
DataSaver beats OEMs' automatic Wi-Fi connection software because in many cases, it knows how to negotiate the "captive portals" which prevent you from just logging in and surfing. You know, those annoying Web pages which force you to approve terms and conditions?DataSaver does away with those.

DataSaver worked well in Hilton hotels, at Starbucks and McDonald's, and with public hotspots run by the Surfintown network. DataSaver didn't work with every public network I wandered into, though. In Warwick, Clarion, and Carlton hotels in Manhattan, it connected briefly to the networks, but then couldn't figure out how to negotiate and disconnected.

That isn't the end of the story, though. Here's something really cool: according to Devicescape execs, Datasaver uploads those portal pages to Devicescape, which solves them either through automated or human means and then adds them to the database. So within a few weeks, a rejected portal may start working.

It's hard to find and target DeviceScape hotspots because there's no map in DataSaver, although you can go to easywifi.com to find a map of hotspots. In much of New York City, there seems to be one on every block. Unfortunately, when I then roamed a few block trying to attach to hotspots on the map, most of them didn't connect. Devicescape's Matteini said a future version of DataSaver may have a coverage map function.

Everything you run in the background uses battery, of course. Over the course of a day, Android reported that DataSaver had used 5% of my battery life?far less than I'd used on the gallery app, but more than Gmail. So you'll have to balance the ability to automatically log into Wi-Fi hotspots with a slight decrease in battery life.?

Conclusions
With the size of DeviceScape's offload network remaining mysterious, it's hard to say how much you'll benefit from DataSaver where you live. But it's certainly worth downloading and trying for a few days.

DataSaver had mixed results when combined with our Editors' Choice for data-saving apps, Onavo Extend. Onavo Extend seemed to initially block DataSaver from detecting some hotspots, and then it started working. Devicescape's Matteini said DataSaver and Onavo Extend should be able to work together. That would be the best of both worlds: Onavo Extend compresses data while you're on 3G, and DataSaver connects you to Wi-Fi when it can. The combination will help make your capped data go much further.

For more Android Software, see:

??? DataSaver (for Android)
??? Final Fantasy III (for Android)
??? Net Nanny 2.0 (for Android)
??? AppGarden Lite (for Android)
??? Amazing Alex (for Android)
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/jJAqdzfXgb8/0,2817,2407020,00.asp

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Reasons to Purchase Aetrex Shoes Online ? What Ever It Is

Owing to the increased popularity of online shopping, nowadays, a large number of popular brands have launched their products online. Be it dress or be it shoes or fashion accessories, now, one can find everything available across the web. If you are someone who is interested in purchasing aetrex shoes, then you should search for the online stores. Convenience of shopping is the first and foremost reason why people recommend for online shopping. There is no need to search for the stores and go all the way through the traffics. Just place your order from home and get the product delivered at your doorstep.
When you are making the purchase of aetrex shoes over the internet, you will be able to get a large number of discounts and special deals on the purchase. As you will be able to get hold of a large number of discounts and deals on the purchase, it will be easier for you to save money. If you cannot find any suitable offer on the merchant?s site, you can browse the web and find the sites, which offer coupons on the purchase. There are several sites, which offer discount coupon codes for online shopping and getting hold of any of the authentic ones will serve your purpose.
Apart from this, purchasing aetrex shoes for women online will also allow you to take enough time for making the selection. You can easily view all the products in the online catalogue of the store, which might not be possible when you are shopping from a brick and mortar store. As you will be able to view all products at once, it will be easier for you to pick the one suiting best to your need and make the purchase. Yet, make sure that the product is in stock and also check the number of days required for shipping

Source: http://whateveritis.com/?p=1260

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Police Computers - What Ever It Is Directory Site

With the rapidly evolving scenario in the field of technological advancements, availability of police computers has given a powerful arsenal in the kitty of the governmental security agencies. This has proved one thing for sure ? the use of computers is no longer restricted to offices and households.
The benefits of police computer have prompted the authorities to get rugged varieties for their counter terrorism activities that are carried in extremely difficult weather conditions. The designing of these computers are done in such a manner that when it comes to its operational part, it has enough potential to perform in harsh conditions. Some of the commonly prevalent weather conditions are continuous vibrations, harsh temperatures, wet conditions or dusty conditions.
It is the ability to withstand extreme conditions has earned police laptop appreciation from every quarter. They are regarded as the best fit to non-traditional environments. There are many elements in the environment that can have damaging consequences on it. Hazardous environmental situations are responsible for making the devices redundant.
Naturally, the question arrives where to find police MDT that are reliable and effective. It is from auctions that you can find the laptop of your desire. The police department feels the need to conduct such an auction in times when they feel an urgent requirement for getting rid of its unused inventory. They have their own justification for getting rid of these devices through an auction. They contend, since the devices lose their usefulness through passage of time, it is always better to conduct an auction and sell them. The laptops and computers found here are commonly used in areas such as transportation industries, in retail, manufacturing, healthcare field, agriculture, etc. Such a laptop is of great help for those researchers who carry many different kinds of researches in Antarctica. The rugged variety is built in a manner so that it is capable of handling moderate vibrations and shocks

Source: http://whateveritis.com/?p=961

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Understanding Business Communication in Today's Workplace ...

Free Understanding Business Communication in Today's Workplace, Understanding Business Communication in Today's Workplace ppt, Understanding Business Communication in Today's Workplace slides, Understanding Business Communication in Today's Workplace presentations download

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Source: http://ppt-search.blogspot.com/2012/08/understanding-business-communication-in.html

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Eat Starch, Lose Weight | Maria's Farm Country Kitchen

potatostarch


by guest blogger John McDougall, MD, author, internist, and TV host

Most people have been ingrained with the false notion that starch and carbs make you gain weight. If this were true, there would be an epidemic of obesity among the 1.73 billion Asians living on rice-based diets. After moving to the West and replacing their starch-based diet with animal foods, people from Japan and the Philippines would become trimmer and healthier looking. But that?s not so. In fact, the opposite happens.

Consider the populations around the world that look the youngest, healthiest, and trimmest. Many are in Japan, China, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, eating mostly rice with some vegetables. In places like Peru where potatoes are the staple food, people are trim and strong. In rural Mexico, we find people eating corn, beans, and squash. No one is overweight or on a diet there. They have no need for Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig. Worldwide, populations with the highest dietary consumption of starch are the most trim and fit. Delving deeper, they have extremely low rates of diabetes, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, and cancers of the breast, prostate, and colon. Their diets are centered around copious quantities of starch, and they?re healthy.

The body?s metabolism is genetically encoded to run most efficiently on starch. No amount of willpower, dieting, or wishful thinking will change that fundamental fact. The hunger drive keeps us alive. You cannot fool hunger by pushing yourself away from the table, putting down your fork between bites, eating from a small plate, or counting calories. You will never train yourself not to experience the discomfort associated with hunger.

Meat, dairy, animal fats, and vegetable oils lead to excess weight gain and illness. Starches, vegetables, and fruits support a trim, fit body and a lifetime of excellent health.

You may have heard that all calories are the same when it comes to body weight. That?s not true, especially when it comes to satisfying the appetite and accumulating fat. Three components of food provide the fuel we know as calories: protein, fat, and carbohydrate. Starches like corn, beans, potatoes, and rice offer abundant carbohydrates and dietary fiber and are very low in fat.

Satisfying the appetite begins with filling the stomach. Compared to cheese (4 calories per gram), meat (4 calories per gram), and oils (9 calories per gram), starches contribute only about 1 calorie per gram. They help you to feel full for just a quarter of the calories in cheese and meat, and one-ninth of those in oil. Plus, they offer a great deal of satisfaction. Research comparing the way carbohydrates and fats appease the appetite shows that carbohydrates lead to hours of satiety, whereas fats have little impact. In other words, when you fill up on starch you stay full for a long time, whereas when you fill up on fats and oils you still want to eat more.

Before I understood the importance of a starch-centered diet, my meals consisted of red meat (no carbohydrates), chicken (no carbohydrates), fish (no carbohydrates), cheese (2 percent carbohydrates), and animal fats and vegetable oils (no carbohydrates). After finishing a full plate of these foods, I still found myself ravenous. My second plate left my belly feeling a sense of physical fullness, yet I was still yearning for more. After my third plate of carbohydrate-deficient foods I finally received the signals that it was time to stop eating: I felt overstuffed and in pain. Still, because I remained unsatisfied, I remember thinking, ?If I had room, I would stuff in one more pork chop, I?m still so hungry.? At times I wondered whether I might have emotional issues with food. After all, I had just downed large quantities and I was still starving. It wasn?t until I began eating sufficient amounts of appetite-satisfying carbohydrates that I realized my ?mental illness,? commonly known as obsessive-compulsive overeating, was completely cured by this simple shift in my diet.

You can learn more about my diet by visiting?www.drmcdougall.com

?

John McDougall, MD is a board-certified internist, author of 11 national best-selling books, the international on-line ?McDougall Newsletter,? host of the nationally syndicated television show ?McDougall M.D.,? and medical director of the 10-day, live-in McDougall Program in Santa Rosa, CA.? He is an Associate Professor at the Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Mare Island,?Vallejo, California.?www.drmcdougall.com

?

For more from Maria Rodale, go to www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com

Source: http://blogs.prevention.com/marias-farm-country-kitchen/2012/07/31/eat-starch-lose-weight/

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