Aunt Fay Turns 100.Off To "The Rotten Apple." Racism Wrong Focus According To Woodson, Sowell Other Articles.

Friday, if I am physically up to it, we leave for "The Rotten Apple" to participate in a family tribute to Lynn's Aunt Fay who is turning 100. The celebration ends Sunday.

Then we will drive to Kingston, N.Y, to spend time with Granddaughter Emma and our newest-grand -son-in law and spend several days driving around and exploring this beautiful area of America.  

Scott and Emma fled Brooklyn and we want to see them in their new setting.

Memos should cease 

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We have totally allowed racists to intimidate us into wearing the wrong slip on's. They are flooding our school system with garbage/ espoused by the likes of BLM, CRT and communist union advocates. Our focus, as Bob Woodson reminds us every time this eloquent self made black speaks, we waste our time on the dregs while we fail to recognize and support the accomplished.

We are told money is the root of all evil. Money is not the issue, just like a car at rest, money does not influence until it is used for such purpose, nor does a gun locked in a cabinet kill. Only in the hands of a human does it become deadly.  When man, seeks power, then cars, weapons, money can become activated and used for evil/dangerous intent.

The ability to influence laws, to pass legislation, to engage in political activities for the purpose of controlling lives can become the pinnacle of power driving "man.".

Politics is a flame, a magnet that attracts. All too often the very worst, the most manipulative are drawn to politics.  Until recently, power and access was the primary attraction but now money and wealth have entered the arena.  

America, like Russia, now has it's cadre of influential and wealthy oligarchs   One of the most dangerous is a man named Soros.

And then, of course, there is Thomas Sowell, the brilliant economist who is the antithesis of evil
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The Point of No Return

Thomas Sowell

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

This is an election year. But the issues this year are not about Democrats and Republicans. The big issue is whether this nation has degenerated to a point of no return -- a point where we risk destroying ourselves, before our enemies can destroy us.

If there is one moment that symbolized our degeneration, it was when an enraged mob gathered in front of the Supreme Court and a leader of the United States Senate shouted threats against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, saying "You won't know what hit you!"

There have always been irresponsible demagogues. But there was once a time when anyone who shouted threats to a Supreme Court Justice would see the end of his own political career, and could not show his face in a decent society again.

You either believe in laws or you believe in mob rule. It doesn't matter whether you agree with the law or agree with the mob on some particular issue. If threats of violence against judges -- and publishing where a judge's children go to school -- is the way to settle issues, then there is not much point in having elections or laws.

There is also not much point in expecting to have freedom. Threats and violence were the way the Nazis came to power in Germany. Freedom is not free. If you can't be bothered to vote against storm-trooper tactics -- regardless of who engages in them, or over what issue -- then you can forfeit your freedom.

Worse yet, you can forfeit the freedom of generations not yet born.

Some people seem to think that the Supreme Court has banned abortions. It has done nothing of the sort.

The Supreme Court has in fact done something very different, something long overdue and potentially historic. It has said that their own court had no business making policy decisions which nothing in the Constitution gave them the authority to make.

Get out a copy of the Constitution -- and see if you can find anything in there that says the federal government is authorized to make laws about abortion.

Check out the 10th Amendment, which says that the federal government is limited to the specific powers it was granted, with all other powers going to the states or to the people.

Why do we elect legislators to do what the voters want done, if unelected judges are going to make up laws on their own, instead of applying the laws that elected officials passed?

This is part of a very long struggle that has been going on for more than 100 years. Back in the early 20th century, Progressives like President Woodrow Wilson decided that the Constitution put too many limits on the powers they wanted to use.

Claiming that it was nearly impossible to amend the Constitution, Progressives advocated that judges "interpret" the Constitutional limits out of the way.

This was just the first in a long series of sophistries.

In reality, the Constitution was amended 4 times in 8 years -- from 1913 through 1920 -- during the heyday of the Progressive era.

When the people wanted the Constitution amended, it was amended. When the elites wanted the Constitution amended, but the people did not, that is called democracy.

Another great sophistry was using the federal government's authority to regulate interstate commerce to call all sorts of other things interstate commerce. In 1995, elites were shocked when the Supreme Court ruled -- 5 to 4-- that carrying a gun near a school was not interstate commerce.

States had a right to ban carrying a gun near a school, and most of them did. But the federal government had no such authority. Nor did the Constitution give the federal government the right to make laws about abortion, one way or the other.

What both state and federal laws do have the right to stop is threats against judges and their families.

This is not a partisan issue. The Republican governor of Virginia is providing protection to Supreme Court Justices who live in that state. But the Republican governor of Maryland seems to think that harassing judges and their families is no big deal.

Voters need to find out who is for or against mob rule, whether they are Democrats or Republicans. We are not going to be a free or decent society otherwise.

And:

One of our most popular 5-Minute Videos of 2021

He’s an economist, a historian, a philosopher, and one of the greatest social theorists America has ever produced. His name is Thomas Sowell, and he might be the most important scholar you’ve never heard of. Jason Riley, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, tells his inspiring story.

Watch Now

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Other meaningful articles:
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Even Biden’s Favorite Economist Says Inflation Reduction Act Won’t Reduce Inflation

By Joseph Simonson

The $433 billion Inflation Reduction Act will have no meaningful impact on consumer costs, according to the economist President Joe Biden cites most often.

By the end of 2031, the latest Democratic reconciliation bill would shave just .33 percent from the Consumer Price Index, the traditional inflation metric, according to a report from Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi. The current CPI is 9.1 percent, the highest in over 40 years.

Zandi and his coauthors say the Inflation Reduction Act will only "nudge the economy and inflation in the right direction." And that conclusion strains the definition of "nudge." Americans will see no change in inflation due to the bill, the report states, until the third quarter of 2023—a .01 percent decrease.

Zandi's analysis is often shared by the White House or the president himself. During a February 2021 speech, Biden cited Zandi's work twice while pitching his economic agenda. In July of last year, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) called on lawmakers to read Zandi's favorable report on the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

But Zandi's latest findings have not deterred the White House. Both Chief of Staff Ron Klain and Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates retweeted a CNN reporter's tweet that quotes the report as saying the bill will "meaningfully address climate change and [reduce] the government's budget deficits."

The White House's celebration of the report signals how desperate they are to pass a budget reconciliation package before the midterm elections. Initially named "Build Back Better," the bill has seen a number of rebranding attempts as voters increasingly sour on Biden's presidency over the economic concerns.

Zandi and his coauthors conclude that the inflation reduction bill lowers consumer costs for some medications, something the White House highlighted, although they decline to specify the total savings. Moreover, the deflationary benefits from lower health costs, the authors write, do not kick in until "mid-decade."

"Moreover, large corporations will attempt to pass through some of their higher tax bill to consumers in higher prices for their wares," the authors write, although they add that this may be difficult "in competitive markets."

The immediate impact of the bill may also slow growth as well, the authors find. Starting in late 2023 for over a year, according to data in the report, the bill will slightly shave off expected GDP growth. Despite those data, the authors say the Inflation Reduction Act will add "an estimated 0.2 percent" to GDP by the end of 2031.

The Inflation Reduction Act contains $433 billion in spending and purports to raise $750 billion in revenue from higher taxes and lower Medicare prescription drug costs. A report from the nonpartisan Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation found that, despite White House claims, Americans making below $400,000 a year would see higher taxes.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.), who led negotiations on the bill, grew defensive when asked by Fox News about tax provisions in the bill and whether the bill will meaningfully address inflation.

"I know people who don't like the president and don't like Democrats might be upset," Manchin said. "It is not whether you like the president or you like Democrats. Do you like America? Do you want to fight inflation? This bill does it."

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Louisiana AG to Reveal ‘Treasure Trove’ of Biden Admin Documents

 READ MORE

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George Soros Is Singlehandedly Destroying American Criminal Justice

By John Dempsey

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

George Soros Is Singlehandedly Destroying American Criminal Justice

Crime is rapidly rising in major American cities, primarily where liberal District Attorney's (DA) received large sums of money from liberal billionaire George Soros in their election campaigns. Many of these DAs take it upon themselves to dismiss charges for various reasons – whether it is income, racial, or status based, ignoring the law. Liberal George Soros DAs, like any other politician, do what their largest donor wants them to do. In the case of American criminal justice, we see what George Soros wants: criminals who get away with crime and victims who never see justice.

America is a unique country. We are a nation guided by the Constitution which provides Due Process, prohibiting the government from depriving a person of his or her day in court. It means that someone cannot be accused of a crime and thrown in jail, making the court process an integral part of our criminal justice system should the accused want to face their accuser. 

But what happens when the justice system is made a mockery by a liberal billionaire donor such as Soros? Simple: There will be no justice system, and society will start to crumble. 

Soros is perhaps the godfather of woke criminal justice reform. He has also dolled out tens of millions of dollars into district attorney races. The candidates he supports are primarily in large left-wing cities, and we are starting to see the fruits of his labor in crime spikes. Violent crime is rising at an unprecedented rate, and Soros is primarily to blame, whether he accepts reality or not. 

In New York City, Jose Alba, a bodega worker, was attacked by Austin Simon after Simon believed Alba mistreated his girlfriend's minor daughter over a bag of chips. After Simon began to assault Alba, he managed to stab Simon, who died of his injuries. A clear case of self-defense that was captured on surveillance footage. Soros-funded District Attorney Alvin Bragg levied murder charges against Alba. Later, after outrage and a review of surveillance footage, the charges were dropped; the arrest should have never occurred.

Alba's case is just one out of thousands where Soros-backed attorneys hold victims accountable for crimes they did not commit. Criminals remain accessible on the streets to cause havoc, destruction, and social disintegration. All the while, Soros denies the reality that he is responsible for the degradation of American criminal justice and the freedom to walk down city sidewalks without fear of being mugged, seeing homeless urinating in public, or stepping in feces. 

Completely detached from reality in his billionaire ivory tower, Soros claimed that his progressive DA's policies are not the reason for crime spikes in large cities after he was called out in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. In his defense, Soros claimed that Republican-led states have more crime but could not back up his claim. Like many other leftists, he is devoid of reality and is more focused on power, reform, and so-called equality than reality. 

The reality is that crime is spiking in major American cities where Soros is responsible for donating enough money to get progressive, light-on-law prosecutors elected; however, citizens are starting to realize the damage of progressive prosecutors. One of the most liberal cities in America recalled San Francisco prosecutor Chesa Boudin, with received a 61% of voters wanting him out of office – a message that should reverberate across the country. Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon is likely to face a recall vote as well. If Gascon gets recalled, we will see two of George Soros' picks kicked out of office. 

Removing Soros-backed DAs is essential for the safety of communities. However, voters must realize that left-wing legal policies are unsuitable for their community or the country. When liberals or leftists say they want progressive prosecution, they want to decriminalize crime for politics; law enforcement and politics should never hold hands. 

Soros' DAs must get recalled and replaced with prosecutors who believe criminals should be held accountable. Right now, major American cities are quickly decaying and turning into a real-life Gotham City. However, even Batman cannot save them, for he will be arrested and charged by a progressive Soros-backed district attorney.

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Xi demonstrates his insecurity by reacting like a bully.  Xi  wants to replace America as the world's dominant nation and we have allowed it to happen in many aspects.

Xi is like a college student who moves into the dorm and takes over the assigned room of his roommate.

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Finally, A Decent Week. It Will Not Last.

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THIS MEMO IS DEVOTED TO DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE "Inflation Reduction Act" TAX BILL BIDEN HOPES TO SHOVE THROUGH NOW THAT HE HAS MANCHIN'S HELP (WILL SINEMA CAVE AS WELL?) THE IMPLICATIONS OF TAIWAN AND FINALLY THE KILLING OF AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI;

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I HAVE NOT, NOR  WILL I READ THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT TAX PROPOSAL.  Senator Sinema may have the last word on whether it survives or goes down in flames. I have read excerpts of sections. It is obvious it proposes to raise taxes in order to reduce the impact of more spending,

I am not a Nobel Economist like Paul Krugman who after

receiving the check proved to be an idiot. The man is so incompetent, he actually works and writes economic columns for the NYT.  I am practical and I know it is unwise to raise taxes during a recession. 

I also know transferring money to the government is also unwise and unproductive because the government produces nothing and the more GDP slips under the control of politicians and bureaucrats the less productive our economy.

Taxing corporations always impacts capital formation and eventually workers pay part of the bill as it they are being taxed.  The "free" market is always the best allocator of capital,  When the government gets in the business of picking winners it seldom works. Operating outside it eludes the give and take of what the market knows. Market judgement is preferable to that of bureaucrats.

The taxation of the pharmaceutical Industry will also have a negative effect on critical medical research and thus progress in bringing solutions to solving certain medical issues.

Furthermore, slowing capital spending impacts rehiring.  Another issue pertaining to hiring is the lack of qualified workers.  Bringing business back to America is a positive but if we lack qualified workers that is not positive.

Like all tax bills, huge sums are directed toward pet projects and this bill goes overboard in support of questionable green projects and unproductive spending.

Strengthening the power of the IRS is never a positive citizen friendly act.

Rest assured, those on the bottom will eventually be hurt the most because many of the costs will trickle down and they will bear some of the burden while inflation continues to hit them as another tax.

Finally, this bill will increase inflation because it will add to our enormous deficit as interest rate increases consume more GDP .

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As for Pelosi's stop in Taiwan, apparently some fool in the administration leaked the idea she was going and thus, assured her going. The consequence is a plus for Democrats who are always weak when it comes to asserting American foreign policy.

Being in Taiwan when her husband's drunk driving hearing is held is an unplanned benefit considering a lot of hanky-panky has been going on to make sure he proves the powerful get one type of justice and other less powerful drunks get jail time.

Finally, Xi will be forced to show a display of power but I seriously doubt showing off his muscle will be more than just that because he has festering issues of his own. 

The trip to Taiwan will prove to be a Pelosi vainglory success.

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Taking out Al-Zawahiri is a net plus for several reasons.

First, it interrupts, for the moment, al Qaeda's leadership.

Second, it gives the mass media something they can gloat about in portraying  a strong Biden.

Third, Biden can use the news to take voter's minds off the economy, gas prices, Ukraine, inflation, the southern border, crime and deathly drugs. 

Fourth, Biden can try and use the over the horizon attack as proof we can be effective without boots on the ground.

What he cannot do is erase the consequences of his politically driven withdrawal from Afghan which proved a disaster including the lives of 13 of our finest.  We were assured by Biden  al Qaeda was finished, yet the head of the organization was killed in the home of  one of the Taliban's top leaders. To make matters worse, our open southern border has consistently been breeched by terrorists.  Some have been identified but we have no proof our nation is secure. 

Whatever "victories" Biden can claim, most assuredly they will prove ephemeral. Terrorists are engaged 24/7, have proven how many signals have slipped through our hands and we are short of "humit"  as a consequences of our self deception 

Add these events up and one can conclude Biden, with help from Pelosi and the CIA had a decent week. But Yogi was right, ie. "ain't over til it's over.

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Hunter Has No Mommie. Prager: BLM Fascist/Racist Org. Defund Stacey. Snerdley Pitches. Hoover Weekly Posting. National Crisis.

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Pelosi touches down in Taiwan.

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"If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact -- not to be solved, but to be coped with over time.”

 

            — Shimon Peres (1923-2016), Prime Minister of Israel, and 9th President of the State of Israel, born this day, August 2nd in Wiszniew, Poland.

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Good analogy, but Hunter has no mommie to cut off his hominy and grits:

https://thefederalist.com/2022/08/02/hunter-biden-is-americas-prince-andrew/

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Dennis Prager: “Black Lives Matter is the Most Racist Organization in America and a Hate Group”

Jewish Groups Which Attacked ZOA/Mort Klein for Correctly Calling BLM a Racist Group Should Apologize

Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:

Last week, on the widely respected Dennis Prager radio show on July 18, 2022 (minute 50:10), Dennis Prager correctly stated  the Black Lives Matter (BLM) organization is a “hate group.”

Prager also elaborated on BLM previously. During a September 8, 2020 radio broadcast, Prager stated: “BLM is a despicable, fascist group. Why can't people say that? It is so obvious. Do you see what they do in almost every city? Now Rochester and Pittsburgh. The other one was Washington, D.C. They scream and curse people, white people, who are having dinner because they're white. And they're not a racist organization? It's the most racist organization in the country outside of the Ku Klux Klan. It's just beyond belief.”

Dennis Prager’s recent and previous statements that the BLM organization is a hate group that promotes racism are well-supported by other knowledgeable commentators (including Melanie Phillips; Professor Alan Dershowitz; Joel Pollak, Caroline Glick, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Muhammad Ali, Jr., etc.); by courageous business leaders (Veronica Wu, Phil Berk, etc.); and by ZOA’s extensive collection of information about the BLM organization’s antisemitism, in ZOA’s “The BLM Organization’s Files.” In addition, BLM’s failure to help Black families and corruption have come more to light.

The BLM organization’s racism, antisemitism, failure to assist Black families and corruption is now widely acknowledged and fully documented. 

The Zionist Organization of America urges the Southern Poverty Law Center to join this moral, ethical fight by adding the Black Lives Matter organization and its leaders to SPLC’s hate group list. 

ZOA thus reiterates our demand for a public apology from Union of Reform Judaism (URJ) leader Rick Jacobs and leaders of certain other left-leaning and far-left groups who outrageously called ZOA and ZOA’s president, civil rights activist Morton Klein, despicable names and attempted to remove ZOA from umbrella groups, simply because we documented and called out the BLM organization’s Jew-hatred and Israel-hatred. (See “ZOA Demands Apology from URJ’s Rick Jacobs & Others for Denouncing ZOA’s Condemnation of BLM Org’s Anti -Semitic Israel-Hating Platform,” June 29, 2020.)

 

 Read More

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DEFUND STACEY!
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 Stacey Abrams Uses Former Cop From Outside State as Prop

 

Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams does not appear to have much support from law enforcement officers in the state. In fact, she had to bring in a Democratic activist and former law enforcement officer who worked outside the state to publicly support her campaign in a new ad.

In the new spot, the Abrams campaign appears to be attempting to bolster her image in the eyes of law enforcement by having a “former deputy sheriff” identified only as “Dennis” argue that incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is making Georgia “less safe.”

The ad was produced by Abrams’ PAC One Georgia and is titled “Dangerous.” It uses video of “Dennis” to claim that the state’s new permitless constitutional carry law “makes us less safe.”

What the ad doesn’t mention is that “Dennis” has never worked inside Georgia in law enforcement. He is in reality attorney Dennis Collard, who is an activist for LGBT and Democratic causes. He is a Florida native and worked as a police officer there in the late 1990s.

Collard’s LinkedIn profile shows that he uses the pronouns “he/him” and went on to work for an Atlanta law firm in 2003 before later forming his own divorce firm there.

Collard filmed another ad for Abrams’ failed 2018 campaign for governor and contributed $500 to her campaign this year. He filed a campaign finance complaint against Gov. Kemp in 2019.

The fact that Abrams had to use someone whose experience is from another state decades ago is not unusual, as her campaign has largely been supported by political interests outside of Georgia. Of the $50 million her campaign has raised, only 14% has come from Georgia residents. Almost half of her contributions have come from D.C., California, New York, and Delaware.

Meanwhile, Kemp has been endorsed by more than 100 Georgia sheriffs. Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum said that she was “not surprised at all” to learn that Abrams could not find an officer working in the state to support her campaign, given her resolve to defund the police.

Abrams has notably served as a board member of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, a group that promotes defunding police departments. After she joined the board in May 2021, the group announced its “Answer the Uprising” movement, designed to fund groups working to “transform, defund, and abolish police.”

The Foundation has also provided $200,000 to the Louisville Community Bail Fund, which afterward paid $100,000 to provide bail for an anti-police activist charged with attempting to murder a mayoral candidate.

The best that Abrams has come up with to distance herself from the Foundation is to claim she does not support defunding police. The group’s website said that the “Answer the Uprising” initiative was fully supported by its board, going on to specifically name Abrams.

Abrams has previously worked as a romance novelist and has served in the Georgia state legislature. She ran against Kemp for governor in 2018 and never conceded defeat after the election, claiming it was “stolen” from her through “voter suppression.”

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Snerdley keeps pitching:
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Fellow Conservative:

Goodbye Red Wave.

House? We’re still good there. But the chances of the GOP taking back the Senate are slipping out of our grasp.

And one of the main culprits is Trump impeachment manager Val Demings who’s surging against stalwart conservative Marco Rubio in Florida.

Demings is a Pelosi Puppet and the epitome of what the Democrats expect from their Black voters – total, blind compliance. How else do you explain Demings, a former police officer, supporting BLM’s Defund the Police policies?

It’s time to expose Val Demmings’ progressive record and free Black voters from the chains of their Democrat oppressors so we can take back our country and deliver the American Dream to all Americans. Will you help us?

We have a proven plan to bring Black voters into the Republican Party and deliver Florida for Marco Rubio. But in order to fully execute this game plan, we need your $25, $50, or $100 donation by midnight tonight.

The Democrats think all they have to do is trot out another Black “yes man” who Headlinecalls Republicans “racists” and shouts out the liberal talking points that have caused Black voters to vote blue for over 60 years.

At New Journey PAC, we are uniquely positioned to count the Democrat Party’s manipulation of Black voters. We’re Black Republicans that know EXACTLY how to reach out to Black voters and bring them to the Party of Lincoln.

That’s how we successfully got Rep. Byron Donalds and Winsome Sears elected!

And we can do the same in stopping dangerous Democrats like Val Demings. She’s fallen into the same trap we’ve seen from other Black Democrats like Chicago’s Lori Lightfoot and Georgia’s Raphael Warnock.

We don’t need an AOC-styled Leftist like Demings causing havoc in the Senate. That’s why it’s vital you chip in $50, $100, or $500 today to help us turn out the Black vote for Marco Rubio.

I can’t emphasize enough the danger to our country if the Democrats hang on to the Senate. Not only will a Dems controlled Senate block any attempt to investigate Hunter Biden, impeach the “Big Guy”, or stop Biden’s destructive “emergencies” he plans to declare – I fully expect Demings to join with Chuck Schumer and pack the courts!

2nd Amendment protections? Gone!

Roe overturned? Not any longer!

Lockdowns and Mandates? Prepare for the next round!

This is why you can see how important it is for us at New Journey PAC to kickstart our Florida Action Plan immediately and help put this nation back on a path towards freedoms so people can live, work and pray without fear of the government standing in their way yet again.

We only have 4 months left before the election. That’s barely enough time!

But if we’re going to successfully stop Demings from defeating Marco Rubio, it’s going to require a big commitment from you. Can I count on you to chip in $100, $500, or $1,000 today?

Help us educate Black Voters and break, them free from “Does as she’s told” Demings this November. Help us deliver a victory in November!

For a New Journey,

James Golden, AKA Bo Snerdley

Founder, New Journey PAC

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Hoover Weekly Posting:

Victor Davis Hanson: The Waning Of Trust In Our Leaders

interview with Victor Davis Hanson via The Victor Davis Hanson Show

Hoover Institution fellow Victor Davis Hanson talks about weaponizing government institutions in general, the FBI-Hunter computer investigation, the economic crisis, green energy blindness, and the threat from China including farm land purchases.

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Why is it a nation crisis when illegal immigrants "overwhelm"  D.C. and New York but not when they flood small local Texas communities?

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Tuesday Evening We Will Have Our Answer. Will She Or Won't She? What Will Xi Do?

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Will Pelosi seek to land in Taiwan tomorrow or not? We will know Tuesday evening.

We  have a battle fleet in the area but most in The Pentagon do not believe we are prepared to got to war.  If provoked and we do not respond, however, we will lose face. and China will rub our face in the mess Pelosi will have created.

Xi, also,  has placed himself out on a limb with his bellicosity.

Obviously Xi has a lot going on regarding the outcome of this schoolyard bullying.  

Meanwhile, for a brief moment,  the CIA has given Biden a victory, he can savor,  as a consequence of the death of al Queda's leader.

No one really knows what is motivating Pelosi to poke her finger in Xi's eye.  Certainly Biden wishes she had chosen not to go.

Stay tuned.  In a few hours we will have our answer.

AND:

FT is out with some further details on the White House's handling of the Pelosi trip, now being watched carefully around the world...

BY TYLER DURDEN

Pelosi did not include Taiwan on her official itinerary — which includes Japan, South Korea and Malaysia — over security concerns, but the Financial Times first reported that she would be the first Speaker to visit Taiwan in 25 years. 

...President Joe Biden dispatched senior officials, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan, to lay out the risks to Pelosi, but people familiar with the situation said she had decided to press ahead with the landmark trip.

A senior official in Beijing said the atmosphere of last week’s Biden-Xi telephone conversation was the worst among the five talks between the leaders. President Xi was said to have showed the toughest attitude he has ever shown to any world leader, while the most important topic in the conversation was China-US relations especially the 'Taiwan Question'. 

If indeed it's accurate that Xi got "tough" in the call with Biden, expressing Beijing's 'red lines' directly to the US president, this is certainly recipe for something big in terms of a major Chinese response (of course... in what form - diplomatic or military - nobody knows) should Pelosi show up in Taipei this week.

Amid concerns that if she lands with fighter jet escort guiding her military transport plane - which has been widely reported to be set for Tuesday night - this could trigger nothing short of a shooting war with China.

And now, a number of military analysis publications are examining the various possible 'worst case scenarios'. One independent analyst and China-Taiwan watcher has laid out a full range of hypothetical, albeit realistic scenarios involving different potential levels of Chinese aggression against the self-ruled island of Taiwan. 

Below is an excerpt from an insightful post titled Red Clouds of War Looming Over Taiwan by a Westerner who is a Taiwan-based researcher...

Scenario 1: The minimalist approach. The PLA occupies Jinmen or Matsu islands, as well as Taiwan’s islands in the South China Sea, and maybe even the Penghu Islands. They also declare part or all of the Taiwan Strait a “no go” zone to foreign military shipping. This would probably be fairly easy for the PLA, and Taiwan would probably not want to overcommit to naval action against the huge PLA Navy (PLAN) if it didn’t directly approach the main island.

Scenario 2: Hybrid warfare. Some sort of partial naval and aerial blockade of Taiwan intended to interfere with the economy, combined with stepped-up harassment, such as direct flyovers of Taiwan’s territory by PLA Air Force (PLAAF) jets, or incursions into Taiwan’s maritime space by China’s naval militia, protected by PLAN warships. This might also be accompanied by cyberattacks designed to shut down the internet and other infrastructure for days at a time. Taiwan would have no choice to assert a stiff defensive posture, resulting in real engagements between Taiwanese and Chinese forces, posing a serious risk of escalation.

Scenario 3: A serious attack but no invasion. This would involve air and sea warfare only, no boots on the ground. A full aerial and naval blockade, a protracted set of naval and aerial battles designed to degrade Taiwan’s military, combined with ballistic missile attacks on military targets. Aggressive cyberattacks turning off the internet and shutting down critical infrastructure for days or weeks. Once air and naval superiority were established, China could pick off targets at will, ratcheting up the threat until the government breaks.

Scenario 4: The Full Monty – a proper invasion. Total air and sea blockade, massive ballistic missile attacks on military targets, massive cyberattacks to paralyze virtually all military, governmental, and civilian communication and shut down critical infrastructure. Aggressive naval and aerial engagements to degrade Taiwan’s forces and achieve battlespace superiority, followed by sustained aerial assaults by fighters and bombers on military targets. A decapitation strike at Taipei by special forces units to try to seize key leadership personnel. Well-coordinated insider treason and sabotage actions by gangsters, planted CCP agents, and other groups sympathetic to China – the so-called “5th column”. An amphibious assault with close air support from fighters, helicopters, and battle drones at one or more locations in Taiwan, and very possibly a move to seize a major port, such as Keelung, Taipei Port, Taichung, or Kaohsiung. Then hundreds of thousands of troops would start rolling in until the island was occupied. That would be the plan, anyway. PLA success in such an endeavor is very unclear. But they could do a hell of a lot of damage trying. And yes, they might actually succeed, at least partially, such as in seizing and holding the region around Taipei.

Scenario 5: Worst Case (short of nuclear) scenario. Full air and sea blockade, massive ballistic missile attacks on military targets, massive cyberattack, aggressive naval and aerial attacks to degrade Taiwan’s forces and achieve battlefield superiority, followed by aerial assaults by fighters and bomber on military targets and area bombing of civilian targets. There are massive casualties, and Taiwan is crushed by brute force, surrenders, and then the occupiers enter the country and take it over.

The full analysis can be read here.

Update(1509ET): The White House in an afternoon press briefing condemned Beijing's escalating rhetoric after it was widely reportedly hours earlier that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will likely touch down in Taiwan Tuesday evening. There's speculation she could even spend the night, based on anonymously sourced statements to Taiwan officials.

"There’s just no reason for this to escalate," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said as a warning to China. "There’s every reason given the our national security interests — as well as the interest of our allies and partners that are that are staking the Indo Pacific on any given day — there’s every reason for this to not escalate." Kirby didn't confirm whether she'll go through with it.

China reiterated over the weekend and into Monday that it will take "strong and resolute measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity" - seeing in a possible Pelosi visit a violation of 'red lines'.  "Put simply, there is no reason for Beijing to turn a potential visit consistent with long-standing U.S. policy into some sort of crisis conflict or use it as a pretext to increase aggressive military activity in or around the Taiwan Strait," Kirby continued in his statement.

Kirby blamed China's actions of staging provocative military drills both across from Taiwan and elsewhere in the South China Sea as a sign Beijing "appears to be positioning itself to potentially take further steps in the coming days, and perhaps over a longer time horizon." He added: 

"These potential steps from China could include military provocations, such as firing missiles in the Taiwan Strait or around Taiwan."

Kirby further repeated the White House stance that it won't interfere with members of Congress making their own decisions on visiting Taiwan.

"Nothing has changed. There’s no drama to talk to. It is not without precedent for the Speaker of the House to go to Taiwan,” he said. "Nothing about this potential, potential business — which, oh by the way, has precedent — would change the status quo and the world should reject any PRC effort to use it to do so."

Chinese officials and state media are vowing a swift, severe response if Pelosi flies into Taiwan...

Update(10:55ET): The vast majority of breathless Western media reports about Nancy Pelosi's now "imminent" Taiwan visit are being sourced to Taiwanese media and officials; and among Taiwanese outlets it seems to race is on to produce more and more specific detailed predictions. For example, this is the latest out of Taiwan tabloid ETtoday - picked up by international news wires: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will arrive at Songshan Airport Tuesday evening at 10:30pm local time.

At the same time The Wall Street Journal is reporting Monday that "she's definitely coming" - based on an unnamed source in contact with top Taiwan officials: 

People whom Mrs. Pelosi is planning to meet with in Taiwan have been informed of her imminent arrival, this person said, though some details remain in flux. Some of Ms. Pelosi’s meetings have been scheduled for Tuesday evening, but most are set for Wednesday, the person said, adding that they include, but aren’t limited to, Taiwanese government officials. "She’s definitely coming," the person said. "The only variable is whether she spends the night in Taipei."

And now being reported by Bloomberg - minutes following the WSJ:

PELOSI IS EXPECTED TO VISIT TAIWAN TUESDAY: PEOPLE FAMILIAR SAY

And yet Pelosi herself - not to mention the White House - could likely be very much on the fence given China's military has ramped up threats, and is now on a war-footing, based particularly on harsher quotes coming out in state media on Monday. Taiwan's defense ministry has said "no comment" when asked to confirm is she's arriving.

China has also announced closure of waters in the South China Sea amid ongoing PLA navy drills.

After weekend drills, specifically in response to reports of a Pelosi Taiwan visit, more have been announced, set from Tuesday through Friday.

This as the USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group continues to patrol waters near Taiwan - possibly preparing to respond to any aggressive acts from China which could threaten a potential Pelosi visit to the self-ruled island.

More on the US strike group's movements... the USS Tripoli amphibious assault ship is also said to be headed for Taiwan.

Liberty Times reports, citing people familiar with the matter, Pelosi plans to visit the Legislative Yuan and meet lawmakers on Wednesday.

However, the US and Taiwan are still preparing for last minute changes, the paper adds.

Futures were sliding already but the Pelosi headlines pushed them to overnight lows...

The offshore Yuan also tumbled on the report...

Interestingly, crude prices are notably lower (after disappointing China PMIs) and are accelerating lower after the Pelosi-Taiwan headlines..

China meanwhile Monday once again warned its military is prepared to take action if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi follows through on a landmark visit to Taiwan

According to her published itinerary, which does not as yet name Taiwan - this could see her flying to Taiwan after her delegation visits Malaysia and just ahead of going to South Korea.

Amid Chinese PLA drills ongoing in regional waters, and with the USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group also in the South China Sea, Nikkei writes that "The U.S. military is moving assets, including aircraft carriers and large planes, closer to Taiwan ahead of an anticipated but unconfirmed visit to the island by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi."

The PLA military also on Monday issued a fresh propaganda video saying essentially 'we're ready for war' - consistent with prior messages circulating on official Chinese military channels...

As FT notes additionally of PLA muscle-flexing as a warning to Pelosi: "China’s PLA also on Saturday carried out live-fire exercises in Pintang, a coastal area in south-eastern Fujian province about 125km from Taiwan. State media also broadcast footage of a Chinese destroyer firing its weapons in the South China Sea, through which the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier group is believed to be sailing after visiting Singapore."

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This is what one calls standing tall:

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Has Manchin and Biden asked voters to read their lips and then lied?

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New Study Wrecks Dem Narrative That Manchin-Schumer Spending Splurge Doesn't Raise Taxes

By Matt Vespa

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Harvard Defines Insurrection, Finds J/6 Doesn't Measure Up. Salena Zito.

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I thought an insurrection was transgenders trying to raid the women's Locker Room.

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Dem's 'Jan 6 Insurrection' Claims Blown Apart by Harvard Study - Obliterates Jan 6 Committee's Credibility

By Brett Davis

A new Harvard study throws cold water on characterizing the breaching of the Capitol by rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, as an “insurrection.”

According to the study conducted by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, more than 40 percent of rioters were motivated by former President Donald Trump’s claims the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, as well as a desire to see him re-elected.

According to The Harvard Crimson, researchers found that 20.6 percent of rioters were motivated by wanting to support Trump, while another 20.6 percent of rioters cited Trump’s election claims as the reason they stormed the U.S. Capitol more than 18 months ago in a bid to thwart certification of now-President Joe Biden’s election.

Less than 8 percent were motivated by a “desire to start a civil war or an armed revolution,” the Crimson reported.

The study has been released as a working paper because it has not yet been peer-reviewed, according to the Crimson. It is titled, “‘President Trump Is Calling Us to Fight’: What the Court Documents Reveal About the Motivations behind January 6 and Networked Incitement.”

It found a smattering of other causes as well, including “pursuit of historical significance” (7.43 percent), “protect the country or ‘take back'” the country” (5.76 percent), and even “Marxism, socialism, communism” (5.76 percent).

Study authors Joan Donovan, Kaylee Fagan and Frances E. Lee wrote that their analysis found the largest portion of defendants were “motivated, in part, to invade the U.S. Capitol Building by Donald Trump,” according to the Crimson.

Donovan is research director at the Shorenstein Center. Fagan is a Shorenstein research fellow. Lee is a professor of politics and acting chairwoman of the department of politics at Princeton University.

The report explained how the former president was able to persuade a number of his supporters that the country faced a catastrophe.

Has "insurrection" become a Democratic propaganda word?

“The documents show that Trump and his allies convinced an unquantifiable number of Americans that representative democracy in the United States was not only in decline, but in imminent, existential danger,” the study said.

“This belief translated into a widespread fear of democratic and societal breakdown, which, in turn, motivated hundreds of Americans to travel to D.C. from far corners of the country in what they were convinced was the nation’s most desperate hour.”

In other words, it was the exact opposite of “insurrection.”

While the Harvard study is not complimentary toward Trump, of course, in that it paints a picture of a cult of personality as the main reason for the violence, it does damage the narrative put forth by Democrats and the mainstream media that an “insurrection” took place that day.

An insurrection has traditionally been defined as an organized attempt by a group of people to defeat their government and take control of their country, usually by violence.

As legal scholar Jonathan Turley wrote, the study showed that while there was violence involved in the Capitol incursion, the attack was not a serious, organized attempt to take over the U.S. government.

In his online column “Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks,” Turley, a professor at George Washington University  wrote:

“Once again, none of this exonerates or excuses those who rioted on January 6th or those who fueled the riot. However, the use of ‘insurrection’ by the politicians, pundits, and the press is not an accurate characterization of the motivation of most of the people who went to the Capitol on that day. It was clear that this was a protest that became a riot.”

Turley went on to say that most of the people who showed up in the nation’s capital on Jan. 6, 2021, only wanted to peacefully protest.

“There is no question that there were people who came prepared for such a riot, including some who are extremists who likely would have welcomed a civil war,” Turley wrote. “Yet, the vast majority of people on that day were clearly present to protest the certification and wanted Republicans to join those planning to challenge the election.”

Labeling the awful events of that day as an “insurrection” is all about politics, according to Turley.

“It is possible to express revulsion about what happened on Jan. 6th without claiming that this was an insurrection and attempt to overthrow the nation,” he concluded. “This was a collective tragedy for the entire nation, a desecration of our constitutional process. The effort to mandate ‘insurrection’ as the only acceptable description prevents the country from speaking with a unified voice. It clearly serves political purposes but only makes a national resolution more difficult as we approach a new presidential election.”

It’s unclear what, if any, impact the Harvard study will have on the House select committee investigating what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, but it certainly provides ammunition to those who think the committee is in a clearly wrong direction.

As the only Republican on the committee who is seeking re-election this year, possibly no House member should be getting that message more than Liz Cheney.

Earlier this month,  Cheney, a Wyoming Republican and the panel’s vice chairwoman, told ABC News that a decision on criminal referrals is in the works.

“We’ll make a decision as a committee about it,” she said when asked about the prospect of referring Trump for prosecution, as Breitbart reported.

“The Justice Department doesn’t have to wait for the committee to make a criminal referral, and there could be more than one criminal referral,” Cheney said.

Cheney has essentially staked her political career on smearing Trump and his supporters over the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and painting their actions as an “insurrection.”

Brett Davis, who earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Western Washington University, has written for newspapers, public policy organizations, a major humanitarian institution and a software company. Brett lives in Federal Way, Washington, just south of Seattle.

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Dispatches from

         the middle of somewhere   

By Salena Zito

     

In my estimation, there is no patch of geography in this country that is the "middle of nowhere." This is America; everywhere is the middle of somewhere.

For those of you who rely on politicians and the media, for much of the past 20 years, you have been trained to believe that climate change is the end of the world. Nearly every aspect of our culture that touches your life has echoed that dire warning — corporations, institutions, government, academia, Hollywood, and social media have all had a hand in it. From the coffee you drink to the school supplies you buy for your children, you can’t escape the message that fossil fuels are killing us, turning our planet into a blazing inferno.

The problem with this avalanche of opinion is the failure to educate ourselves and our children on the other side of the story in a meaningful way. 

When I was a child, our teachers took us on a tour of a nuclear plant. They also took us on a tour of where they made Heinz ketchup and Wonder Bread, and a coal mine. They didn’t try to indoctrinate us, they just showed us the world.

When is the last time you saw anyone in the media dispassionately show the public what is going on in the energy industry? Or showed you what happens at a well pad?

Derek Yanchak is the other side of the story. The 34-year-old Washington County native is the Completions Engineering and Operations Manager for Range Resources at its Dalbo well site here in southwest Pennsylvania.

Yanchak is like the thousands of other professionals working in the natural gas industry — young, well-educated (Penn State 2010), and deeply connected to the land he works on. It matters to him what goes in and out of the ground, because he fishes, swims, hikes, and hunts in the same region where his company drills. 

Click for the full story:

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What kind of a President would cheapen the meaning of citizenship by flooding the nation with illegal immigrants?

What kind of president would flood his nation's streets with deathly drugs from cartels?

What kind of president would constantly lie to his people about economic conditions and change the meaning of definitions to fit his false narrative?

what kind of president would sign executive orders that patronize the nation's adversaries?

What kind of president would refuse to take a mental health test when it is obvious he is not up to the daily  stress of the job?

What kind of president would purposely create disunity among his military  so that enlistment rates decline to perilously low levels?

What kind of president would support far leftist elements in his party's ranks and, as an election nears, change his tactics purely for political reasons?

What kind of president would fail to support a loyal ally and favor their sworn enemy intent on that ally's total annihilation ?

What kind of president would oppose the finest educational opportunities for all citizens simply to favor the  narrow interests of union bosses.

What kind of president would vacate American citizens knowing he has left large numbers stranded in dire straits? 

What kind of a president? One that needs to be impeached.

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Don't Tread On Me No Longer Has Meaning. Yes, For The Want of A Nail. Timidity Seldom If Ever Workds And The Timid Never Learn.

When don't tread on me meant something.

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AS I PREVIOUSLY WROTE: FOR THE WANT OF A NAIL. I could not agree more:

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IRAN SPINS CENTRIFUGES WHILE ISRAEL SPINS DREIDELS

By David E. Sarfatti

Everyday I read the Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel online, sometimes two or three times a day. What do I see? Total political dysfunction: Did Sara Netanyahu have a personal chef? Arrest her! Did Bibi accept a box of cigars from a visitor? Imprison him! Doctors threatening to go on strike. Some professionals !  A fourth or fifth up-coming election, who could keep count?

But, while all of this mishegas continues Iran is single-minded. Enrich uranium to destroy the Jews. In fact, they already have enough enriched U235 to construct a bomb in less than a month. The moment of decision for Israel is today. America will not come to the rescue. We have not supplied deep bunker busters. We won’t even supply long range tanker planes so Israeli bombers can re-fuel. Right now it’s a close to a one-way trip.

Yes, it’s time to say it. As former Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barack recently admitted, the “window has closed“ where a military solution can succeed. But, of course, this is only true if one limits the response to a conventional attack. It is time for Israel to issue an ULTIMATUM to Iran and the World. Never Again means Never Again. Not Today, Not in the Future, Not Ever ! If Iran persists on its murderous path, Israel will use ANY and ALL means to stop it in its tracks, definitively.

AND:

I am reposting an excerpt to a question I put to Cliff May again.

Delay seldom if ever works. Hesitancy seldom if ever works. Mental paralysis seldom if ever works. Bibi  and Barak were right and timidity undercut them.

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"It would have been easier for the IDF to cripple Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and personnel years ago, before the development of advanced centrifuges. But former prime minister Bibi Netanyahu’s cabinet, along with the head of the IDF, declined to back him when he and his defense minister Ehud Barak wanted to attack twelve years ago. Now, it’s very likely that neither Israel’s political class nor its airmen are confident that they can strike as effectively.

Jerusalem’s tempo of attacks on Iranian interests in the region in the last two years, including assassinations inside Iran, is, therefore, best understood as an upping of the conventional ante. These actions signal to Tehran that its nuclear accomplishments will not deter Israel from pushing back against the clerical regime when it can. Jerusalem’s more aggressive behavior isn’t a girding of the loins before a preventive attack but an acknowledgment that it has failed to stop the clerical regime’s nuclear ambitions. 

That might change as Israelis internalize the possible ramifications of the Islamic Republic’s going nuclear. The clerical regime, which has repeatedly sponsored or directed terrorism against Jews worldwide, might provoke Jerusalem one too many times, giving the high ground to those who still want to act.

The same still might be true for the United States. Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, might make a monumental mistake and execute a mass-casualty terrorist attack against Americans. Over the years, under Democrats and Republicans, Washington has blinked at Iranian terrorism — and, in Iraq, Iranian-sponsored militia attacks against U.S. forces — and done little in response. Khamenei undoubtedly approved the thwarted bombing of an Iranian opposition rally outside of Paris in 2018; if it had succeeded, hundreds, including many Americans, might have died. The supreme leader, who can expatiate endlessly on his enmity for the United States, might let hubris get the better of him — he’s unquestionably winning in his decades-old quest to develop nuclear weapons. If enough Americans died through Iranian terrorism, the bipartisan reluctance to support another military foray into the Middle East might evaporate."

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Pathetic:
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https://link.theepochtimes.com/mkt_app/senator-expects-deal-to-conceal-indictment-of-hunter-biden_4633759.html

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