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JL Croner

@jlcroner.bsky.social
1.1K followers 592 following 1.6K posts

Back then, managing editor, KTTV in LA. Now, “Ordinariness/ bright as raspberries” (from This Morning by Jo McDougall.) Two of my poems in Mudfish 24.

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Reposted by JL Croner
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 22h
I recommend people read this to get a sense of the president's grave cognitive impairment. Trump is either unwilling or unable (or maybe both) to answer the questions he's actually asked, so he just rants and raves while the interviewers do their best to provide structure to his random brain firings
time.com
Read TIME’s ‘What Trump Has Built’ Interview Transcript
The U.S. President discussed the war in Iran, press freedom, AI, and more ahead of the midterm elections.
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Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 17h
No article or podcast that discusses Palmer Luckey should ignore the fact that he is Matt Gaetz’s brother-in-law. Also his extremist views.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16h
😳 Trump's hand as photographed moments ago (Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty)
close up pic of Trump's hand showing disgusting discoloration and skin ailments from his fingers to his wrist
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 19h
The most corrupt administration in the history of the US by far. You could add up all instances of corruption by every other admin in US history and it will not equal the amount of corruption perpetrated by this one in less than 2 years.
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Jeff (Hot Type) Jarvis @jeffjarvis.bsky.social · 1h
The next morning, The Times changes its headline to insult all its readers. No, #BrokenTimes, we are not all clueless. This guy is. But you give him free publicity without exposing his racist history and the eugenicist roots of his followers. That's clueless.
OPINION
INTERESTING TIMES
We Are Clueless
About What's Comi
out Whats Loming
Nick Bostrom is no longer worried about the apocalypse. Now
he’s worried about utopia.
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 1h
Big development: Dems are growing increasingly bullish on sweeping the big House races in South Texas. A DCCC official tells me internal polling shows Trump's approval cratering in key districts there: TX-15: 36% TX-28: 28% TX-34: 35% This and much more on the pod: newrepublic.com/article/2161...
newrepublic.com
Trump’s Weird Tirade on Midterms Accidentally Reveals Key GOP Weakness
As Trump’s monologue about his Texas midterm convention exposes a problem for the GOP, a Democratic operative argues that his collapse in South Texas is a real tell about what’s coming.
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Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 16h
You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me
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Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 15h
Republicans sent the Senate home this week without taking ANY real action to: - End Donald Trump's Iran war - Lower costs for American families - Regulate AI
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 12h
NEW: Governor Kathy Hochul has named Letitia James special prosecutor to investigate the Cornell rapers. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/n...
nytimes.com
Hochul Names Letitia James as Special Prosecutor in Cornell Case
Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed the New York State attorney general to investigate allegations by a former Cornell University student that several men sexually assaulted her.
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Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 12h
TODAY: New SNAP cuts are kicking in because of Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill." 5 million people have already lost food assistance, including 1.5 million+ kids since the bill was enacted. No kid deserves to go hungry so Trump can give his billionaire buddies another tax handout.
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Hoodlum 🇺🇸 @nothoodlum.bsky.social · 10h
Republican Congressman Mike Collins signals his intent to end Social Security: "[Old people need to] get off of Social Security [and] get back into the workforce."
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JL Croner @jlcroner.bsky.social · 2h
With all this happening, the US Senate went on recess. Complete abdication of responsibility. Leader Thune and the GOP Senators are cowards and do-nothings as Trump parades as crazed dictator. heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-1-...
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
October 1, 2026
John Hudson of the Washington Post reported this evening that the Trump administration is openly defying Congress, taking $52 million in military assistance lawmakers appropriated for European and Mid...
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The White House has removed CNN — again — from the press pool that's set to cover Trump today.
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The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 01/10/2026
A guide for the Democrats’ coming congressional majority. trib.al/sZCtQeq
trib.al
The Five Trump Scandals That Deserve Thorough Investigation
A guide for the Democrats’ coming congressional majority
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
As many people have noted, Marsha Blackburn claims to be suing Jack Smith for obtaining a lawful subpoena to find out whether Rudy was criming with her. It's more a lawsuit trying to retroactively claim his appointment was illegal, Aileen Cannon-style. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com
#1 in Blackburn v. Smith (M.D. Tenn., 3:26-cv-01398) – CourtListener.com
COMPLAINT against John L. Smith and The United States Department of Justice (Filing fee $405, Receipt number ATNMDC-4686955), filed by Marsha Blackburn. (sm) (Attachments: # 1 Attachment - Civil Cover...
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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Hegseth says “anti-American losers in our media” are committing “treason” by not obediently amplifying his Iran war lies. He hasn’t held a war briefing for reporters at the Pentagon since May. Which means he hasn’t justified his actions to the public, even though he’s conducting a war in our name.
nytimes.com
In Speech, Hegseth Targets Diversity, Transgender People, Reporters and Iran
In his “State of the Force” address, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth focused on the culture war and accused reporters of “treason” over Iran war coverage.
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Katie Phang @katiephang.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I think this investigation needs an independent prosecutor to conduct a thorough, transparent investigation into Jane Doe's allegations.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
When historians reflect on this regime, cruelty will be the word most often used to define it. www.commondreams.org/news/trump-dep…
commondreams.org
'Monstrous' US Deportation Hearings for Children Who 'Have No One' Shock Consciences | Common Dreams
Children as young as 3 facing deportation orders without legal representation in immigration court hearings. How can we
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Katie Phang @katiephang.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
As we talk about what happened at Cornell, please take a moment to learn about how a young LSU student is fighting for help against that school’s storied football program
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Katie Phang @katiephang.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
There are NEW updates in the case of the Cornell 7 as more details are revealed, including how the alleged victim stated “with 100% confidence [she] was raped”. So why did the local DA only present certain parts of her written statement? I've got the latest reporting: youtu.be/tcsZBeeJk9k?...
youtu.be
New DETAILS In Cornell ASSAULT CASE Revealed In BOMBSHELL Transcript!!
YouTube video by Katie Phang
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 30/09/2026
State Department employees were falsely accused of "censoring" Americans. When do they get justice? thehill.com/opinion/nati...
thehill.com
We need accountability for federal employee purges made on false pretenses
I was grilling chicken on a sweltering summer night in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, when I peeked at my phone and saw that a senior official in the administration had just accused me of lying to C…
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MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 30/09/2026
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Ron Wyden says the DOJ and FBI withheld a secret interview with a banker tied to Jeffrey Epstein from the files released to the public. And he says there may be more.
meidasnews.com
EXCLUSIVE: Senator Accuses DOJ and FBI of Withholding Secret Epstein Banker Interview, Demands Release of All FBI 302s
Senator Ron Wyden is accusing the Justice Department and the FBI of withholding a key record from the Epstein files, demanding in a letter obtained exclusively
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Politico @politico.com · 30/09/2026
EXCLUSIVE: Bernie Sanders is cracking open his war chest. The Vermont senator is putting hundreds of thousands of dollars toward key campaigns and has raised $2.8 million for his preferred candidates this cycle.
politico.com
Sanders ramps up his midterm play with cash boost for candidates
Sanders is putting hundreds of thousands of dollars toward key campaigns and has raised $2.8 million for his preferred candidates this cycle.
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Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
BREAKING: Republican attorneys general from Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas have filed two sweeping lawsuits targeting dozens of providers who ship abortion pills—and the blue states that protect them.
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“Local newspapers are dying, and I don’t think we’re prepared for a world without them…” tulsaflyer.org/2026/09/29/c...
tulsaflyer.org
Battle in McCurtain County at the center of new Peacock documentary
McCurtain County Sheriff’s officials wanted a family-run newspaper dead — literally. A new Peacock documentary explores the years-long battle and what it means for press freedoms.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Four-byline alert: “.. Meta claimed that $4.1 billion of stock options exercised by Mr. Zuckerberg counted as a research expense ..” @nytimes.com $META www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/t...
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Abdul El-Sayed @abdulelsayed.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Tomorrow, on October 1, the biggest transfer of wealth from the working class to the wealthy hits a critical milestone. Many of the provisions from the Big Ugly Bill will go into effect, harming hundreds of thousands of Michiganders in order to create tax cuts for the richest people in America.
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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
There is a moment at the very very end of Abdul El-Sayed's podcast with Ezra Klein (book recommendation section) where he talks about the idea of "speaking truth to pain" and this will be staying with me for an extremely long time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...
But there’s also something about truth to pain. We talk a lot about truth to power, but I think it’s actually a lot harder to speak truth to pain. I say that as someone who went to medical school, realizing that in a lot of our politics right now, we’ve got to get a lot better at speaking truth to pain if we’re going to get through some of these challenges that we have.

What does “truth to pain” mean?

It’s one thing to look power in the eye and say: You’re wrong about this. But there’s a way in which pain is very difficult to reason with. Because when somebody is in their pain, they’re in their trauma. They see that pain, and they may not see what’s causing it.

I remember just very explicitly being in a trauma ward with a gunshot wound patient and watching this big guy with his hand on his gunshot wound. All the folks are trying to pull his hand off his pain, that point of his gunshot wound, this clear vulnerability.

And this emergency room doctor had the presence of mind to be like: Everyone, stop. And she looks him in the eyes, and she’s like: I get that really hurts, and I’m so sorry that you’re here. You don’t want to be here. We don’t want you to be here. But if you don’t let us fix this, you could die. So I’m going to take your hand, and I’m going to move it off, OK? Because I need to get there so that you can live.

She was speaking truth to pain. He understands he’s at the hospital, he needs care, but he also doesn’t want anybody to touch the wound. Which is a natural thing. And I think it is a really great metaphor for how we think about a lot of these challenges we talked about today.
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I really think Jon Ossoff, James Talarico, and a few others are in the process of creating a new kind of language, a new politics, for the era of Late Stage Trumpism. As I argue in the piece, the banal cruelties of sunsetting Trumpism are all around us, and some Dems are pointing to a way out.
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Scoop — I've ID'd the two men sitting behind Sen. Eric Schmitt during his botched attack on Jack Smith this morning. Ethan Harper (left) is Chief Counsel to Schmitt, and Andrew Ceonzo (right) is Counsel to Schmitt and the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 29/09/2026
🤡 Schmitt beclowns himself 🤡 Schmitt concocted an elaborate conspiracy theory that Smith traveled to Atl for a Hawks game and to collude with Fani Willis, & flashed his "evidence" before accusing Smith of perjury. There's just one problem -- his facts were totally wrong. Here's the whole sequence:
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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
After Eric Schmitt lied and was corrected at the Jack Smith hearing, the NY Times called it a “misunderstanding.” This might be fair if Schmitt had a record of honesty (he doesn’t) and if Schmitt didn’t repeat the same lie after the hearing (he did). What the hell is the NY Times doing?
Devlin Barrett and Charlie Savage
Reporting from Washington
Jack Smith, who as special counsel twice charged Donald J. Trump with criminal offenses after his first term, defended his actions in testimony before Congress on Tuesday, as a Republican senator accused him of perjury based on what appeared to be the lawmaker’s misunderstanding about a basketball game involving the University of Iowa Hawkeyes.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 29/09/2026
Jack Smith: "History teaches that the rule of law is rarely destroyed all at once. It's often weakened by attacks on the institutions and the public servants sworn to uphold it. Since January 2025, we have witnessed precisely such an effort."
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 29/09/2026
Jack Smith: "Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation ... rather than accept his defeat in the 2020 election, he engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results and prevent the lawful transfer of power"
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
If the US had such good intelligence on the RAF Fairford suspects, then why did it take a 999 call to arrest the guys? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Rubio says foreign actor was ‘clearly’ behind suspected RAF Fairford plot
US secretary of state, who offered no evidence for claims, also says many people ‘disturbed’ that five suspects released on bail
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JL Croner @jlcroner.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
@duckworth.senate.gov @schumer.senate.gov You’re wrong. We do need impeachments. You’re wrong if you think we only need to get back to work and find some compromises. Democrats Are About To Learn The Wrong Lesson From Trump’s Failure open.substack.com/pub/brianbeu...
open.substack.com
Democrats Are About To Learn The Wrong Lesson From Trump’s Failure
He was done in by malice, incompetence, corruption, and pathological vanity, not by his willingness to act before he could be stopped.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 28/09/2026
yeah i am reasonably sure that i have a better chance of winning the democratic primary for president than rahm emmanuel
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JL Croner @jlcroner.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
“The ultimate goal was to create chaos and doubt in the vote-by-mail process,” he said. “You’re creating a rule to solve a problem that doesn’t exist.” The Trump Method. Chaos, Doubt, Failure. Sorry. Forgot: Meantime, Enriching Himself. Go ProPublica, go! www.propublica.org/article/trum...
propublica.org
The Untold Origins of Trump’s Plan to Sharply Restrict Mail-In Voting
ProPublica’s reporting reveals for the first time the extent of the White House’s role in trying to dictate how mail-in ballots are processed, spurring behind-the-scenes drama that played out for near...
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Q: If Johnson called the House back, they would have to immediately vote on Whiskey Pete Hegseth impeachment and not long after vote on Epstein, right? www.axios.com/newsletters/...
Tomorrow's Trump-Johnson AI summit with top tech CEOs suddenly looks a lot more consequential than it did just 72 hours ago.

🤖 Why it matters: Speaker Mike Johnson's preferred solution on AI — to let the companies take the lead on hashing out their own guardrails — is colliding with evidence that they're struggling to control their own creations.

🔥 In the last three days alone:

Axios scooped that AI companies are probing tens of thousands of incidents from frontier AI, including "bypassing guardrails, creating message boards, escaping sandboxes, website hijacking, self-prompting or seeking to bypass monitors."
The state of Florida asked a court for a temporary injunction against OpenAI and ChatGPT, saying the company can't self-regulate.
AI pioneers warned that AI could self-improve so quickly that the "intelligence explosion" would leave governments and institutions without much time to respond.
⛔️ Zoom in: Johnson has rebuffed calls to bring the House back into session, arguing lawmakers don't have anything ready to pass, while warning against the dangers of overregulation.
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Forbes @forbes.com · 29/09/2026
Nearly 80 pages of the company’s 261-page initial public offering prospectus is dedicated to potential risk factors, while only 48 pages outline its business.
forbes.com
Anthropic IPO Prospectus Warns Its AI Could Pose ‘Existential Risks To Humanity’
Nearly 80 pages of the company’s 261-page initial public offering prospectus is dedicated to potential risk factors, while only 48 pages outline its business.
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@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) @newsjennifer.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Rex is right: this sounds an awful lot like that Foxconn deal in Wisconsin when Trump promised a $4B deal with 13K jobs. Of course, that never happened...
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
When they get back in power, Democrats need to go all-in on higher education. We need a campaign of reinvestment in public universities across the country that makes the Morrill Land-Grant Act look like nothing by comparison *and* a GI Bill of Rights-style program of tuition grants.
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Katie Phang @katiephang.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Outrage erupted this weekend after a lawsuit was filed by a young woman against Cornell University & several defendants alleging she was gang raped at a fraternity. I explain the law, provide the facts, & discuss why it’s important the local DA now reopens the case: youtu.be/ZzKWgFvqEEo?...
youtu.be
DISTURBING Cornell ASSAULT Investigation REOPENED After BOMBSHELL New LAWSUIT!!
YouTube video by Katie Phang
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
WASHINGTON — Eight U.S. Marines were injured two weeks ago when an Iranian cruise missile attacked the ship they were operating on in the Strait of Hormuz, according to three U.S. officials. @nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
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Scott MacFarlane @macfarlanenews.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
THERE IT IS: Group of January 6 riot defendants have filed each filed federal civil lawsuits in DC seeking taxpayer-funded compensatory and punitive damages for alleged violations of their righrs They claim they were "targeted..and punished" for "protected expressive" activity
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
LONDON (AP) - UK police say 5 men arrested near a U.S. air base are being held on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act. @reuters.com
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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The question isn’t whether Trump and his fascist co-conspirators will rig the midterms — it’s how much. This is one way they’re doing it already.
nytimes.com
A Trump 2024 Campaign Ad Returns, Now Brought to You by the Government
The ad, which ethics experts said could violate federal law, shows Mr. Trump vowing to “expel the warmongers” from the government and fight the “deep state,” even as he wages a war with Iran.
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Absolutely extraordinary strategic and military concessions offered by Trump to Xi. Trump offered to sell weapons to China. That was revealed in an interview by David Perdue, the US ambassador. Trump is withholding a $14bn arms package to Taiwan already approved by Congress. All of this
nytimes.com
Trump Offered to Sell Arms to China, U.S. Ambassador Says
President Trump made the offer to Xi Jinping, China’s leader, said David Perdue, the ambassador to China. The White House later said the U.S. had no plans for such a sale.
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Referenced this yesterday in a post. The guy lives in Florida. More notable is that half of the GOP Congress seems to live there. Like Mike R and Tommy T. It’s part of MAGA identity. Like red hats and bad plastic surgery.
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
It seems like Todd Blanche and Mike Waltz got to tell lies about CNN on the Sunday shows, as a reward to them for banning the press.
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