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Kathleen J. Frydl

@kfrydl.bsky.social
1.7K followers 411 following 1.8K posts

February 2026: Liberalism & the Reinvention of the Modern Corporation global.oup.com/academic/product/lib…

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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 5h
Care work is challenging. It's nice when this happens to be the view from your window.
Prague castle at night
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Public Citizen @publiccitizen.bsky.social · 6h
It's clear that OpenAI does not have the safety protocols in place to protect people from their own technology. Enough corporate recklessness. We're demanding the DOJ & Congress do their job and investigate these serious incidents.
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Kate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
After WWII, the allies concentrated on the “four Ds” - denazification, democratization, demilitarization, and decartelization. We need to account for the last bit when we make our reconstruction plans. And we need to aim it straight at the broligarchs.
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Dr. Todd Arrington @btarrington.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"Sir, Yours of this date proposing Armistice, and appointment of Commissioners, to settle terms of Capitulation is just received. No terms except an unconditional & immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works." ~Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, 1862. Image: LOC.
This black and white photo shows a bearded man, Ulysses S. Grant, seated and wearing the Civil War-era military uniform of a United States major general.
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Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.eu · 29/09/2026
“Estonian authorities have confirmed that the 15 August arson attack against the Estonian defence company Milrem Robotics in Tallinn was an act of sabotage ordered by Russian security services.” www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...
theguardian.com
Estonia says arson attack on ‘consistent with other acts of sabotage carried out in Europe on behalf of Russia’ - Europe live
Foreign minister summons Russia’s chargé d’affaires over attack on Milrem Robotics as security agency says incident was ‘deliberate and pre-planned’
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Soraya Nadia McDonald @soraya.press · 28/09/2026
What I would not give for a publicly funded search engine. Like an uncaptured PBS or Library of Congress but for search. Lol we should name it COBOL
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If you talk to counselors who work in the field of sexual assault, they will tell you: assaults spike in August-September (back to school) but only some schools inform students of this trend in orientation or other settings; never talk to campus police before talking to a confidential advisor.
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Ian Weissman, DO @drianweissman.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
"NIH funding cuts delayed a promising childhood brain cancer trial. Patients lost time they didn’t have." www.cnbc.com/2026/09/25/n...
cnbc.com
NIH funding cuts delayed a promising childhood brain cancer trial. Patients lost time they didn't have
A delayed clinical trial underscores the stakes of federal research funding cuts for children with DIPG, a deadly brain tumor with few treatment options.
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johnedwinmason @johnedwinmason.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Very sad news. The great Ian Berry has left us. He was the sole photographer at one of the crucial events in South Africa's struggle against apartheid. 👇🏽
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 26/09/2026
In response to our reporting, Susan Collins has mustered a defense that is full of incorrect and misleading claims. We’ve reviewed FBI evidence, examined thousands of pages of records and interviewed dozens of people. Here are the receipts.
propublica.org
ProPublica Debunks Susan Collins’ Claims About FBI Anti-Corruption Probe
ProPublica revealed that the FBI was circling Sen. Collins over a defense contractor’s donations — until President Trump gutted the unit in charge. Collins has since mustered a defense with a series o...
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
If you liked "Heartwood" by Beverly Gaige, I think you'd like this smart, literate page-turner. Recommend:
us.macmillan.com
Birnam Wood
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERA Best Book of the Year: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time, Financial Time...
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
If you liked "Heartwood" by Beverly Gaige, I think you'd like this smart, literate page-turner. Recommend:
us.macmillan.com
Birnam Wood
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERA Best Book of the Year: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time, Financial Time...
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The Republican Party has repudiated the venerable just war/treatment of enemy combatants legacy of Lincoln for many years now. Yet rarely so succinctly & with such maniacal contempt.
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
t.v. list does not seem as crazy to me as the songwriter list.
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Amanda Weiss @amandaweiss.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
🚨 New Working Paper! 🚨 Do voters *like* local prisons? Are prisons that good for the economy? After years of data collection (+ using a novel estimator?!), @nottone & I find new prisons: • Reduce Republican incumbent vote shares 1-3pp • Decrease per cap. incomes >$2,500 osf.io/dnwke 🧵👇
Abstract for the paper "The Electoral Effects of U.S. Prison Construction" by Ottone & Weiss: From 1980 to 2000, the United States opened over 400 prisons, a rapid expansion of carceral capacity mirroring the punitive turn in public policy and public opinion. Yet few studies have examined the impact of prison construction on nearby residents and their political behavior. We develop a theoretical model tracing how prison openings affect economic, attitudinal, and electoral outcomes in surrounding communities. Us- ing modern difference-in-difference methods and a novel county-level dataset covering forty years of prison openings, we find that prison construction decreases county-level vote share for Republican candidates, especially if Republicans represented the county during prison construction. Drawing on analyses of economic outcomes and prison bond measure support, we argue that voters sanction issue-owning Republican candi- dates for negative economic externalities and turn against funding for prisons. These findings challenge conventional wisdom about the political economy of prisons and have implications for how we understand contemporary expansions of carceral capacity.
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
As my father said about his small Czech village, after the war, everyone was in the resistance.
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jon christian @jonchristian.net · 17/09/2026
NEW: We spent months investigating a little-known media startup called Brown Brothers Media, which buys legit news sites and turns them into AI-powered zombie content farms What blew my mind was its traffic -- it appears to be getting more readers than NPR or CBS News futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com
How Three Brothers Built an AI Slop Empire by Buying Legitimate News Sites and Turning Them Into Zombie Content Farms That They Say Get 50 Million Page Views per Month
Brown Brothers Media is a media empire raking in millions of clicks with AI, fake writers, and plagiarism.
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Once again recommending my brother's very occasional newsletter w/ practical action items for any anti-Trump conservatives in your life. (This edition's action item: protect the polls & vote for Democrats.) Very Bill Kristol vibes--as in, actually making sense. DM me if you want more info.
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Penelope Wang @pennywriter.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
"Why does no one in power even pretend anymore to support a health care system with such humanity at its core? Instead, both political parties have protected a status quo utterly devoid of it, that routinely leaves patients to fight for their lives..." www.vanityfair.com/story/health...
vanityfair.com
My Insurer Denied My Cancer Treatment—and My Humanity. So I Emailed the CEO
At 36, Elizabeth Nicholas was diagnosed with breast cancer. After her insurance company refused to pay for a new form of chemotherapy, she took a direct approach. As Luigi Mangione’s trial brings the ...
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Rob Shum @robshum.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
And now — Carbon Oligarchy: The Podcast Episode has dropped. Listen all!
podcasts.apple.com
Robert Shum, "Democracy or Carbon Oligarchy?: Climate and Energy Politics between Crisis and Decarbonization" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026)
Podcast Episode · New Books in Public Policy · September 5 · 25m
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Roosevelt Institute @rooseveltinstitute.org · 10/09/2026
Our research traces how decades of deregulation and market-first policymaking helped create this concentration in the first place. Beginning to treat media as the public infrastructure it is will be the key to reversing it.
rooseveltinstitute.org
The Political Economy of the US Media System: Excavating the Roots of the Present Crisis - Roosevelt Institute
Bilal Baydoun, Shahrzad Shams, and Victor Pickard trace the roots of the US media crisis to decades of deregulation and commercial capture, outlining how consolidation, news deserts, and platform domi...
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I see that folks are starting to pay attention to Roy Cohn. Here's my take from many years ago now. Sadly, still stands:
medium.com
Donald Trump & “A Conspiracy So Immense”
It’s Time to Think About McCarthyism Again
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
NYTimes has clearly made a decision to direct attention & resources to state-level Republicans up for election this "nationalizes" the conversation about them & perhaps provides a lift to opponents But it should also disabuse anyone from thinking this is just Trump
nytimes.com
As He Backs ICE Crackdown, Nebraska Governor Employs Undocumented Workers
Gov. Jim Pillen’s family business is one of the nation’s largest pork producers. As he seeks re-election, he has aligned himself with President Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda even though his farms have...
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Jas Easterly @jaseasterly.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
"[I]n responding to threats, we are potentially our own worst enemy. This story is well enough known, but worth repeating. We didn’t need to go to war in Iraq. Unscrupulous politicians can exploit our lesser instincts for their own ends, often to our detriment." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | We’ve Forgotten the Most Important Lessons of 9/11
The world has lost track of the truth about Al Qaeda.
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Hannah Harris Green @whatsitlike.me · 08/09/2026
Doctors have been working overtime to fight an unforeseen, life threatening withdrawal syndrome in Pennsylvania. It’s not slowing down. End of August saw a spike in cases. Very few outlets are paying attention. Scientific American killed this story, btw. www.whatsitlike.me/improvising-...
whatsitlike.me
Doctors rush to treat dangerous medetomidine withdrawal
In 2024, a mystery fentanyl adulterant began causing potentially withdrawal symptoms, like stroke and heart attack, in Pennsylvania.
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
"The unpaid bills ranged from several thousand dollars to as little as $101... Some facing lawsuits were new mothers with outstanding bills from their deliveries. Most lived in Barton County, a rural area with above-average uninsured and poverty rates."
nytimes.com
Roger Marshall Sued 700 Patients for Debts; 81 Were Arrested. Now He’s a Senator.
Patients sued by Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas were routinely charged 18 percent interest, The Times found. Some had bank accounts garnished.
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I was surprised when I look into it how economists generally minimize the Smooth-Hawley/Depression-era tariffs as actually *driving* global recesison. So I thought this op-ed was going one way. It went another. Recommend:
nytimes.com
Opinion | Voters Have Spoken. Why Aren’t Democrats Listening?
Less than two years after a catastrophic election, the Democratic brand remains unpopular, and the party is still in the grip of a divisive identity crisis.
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
as dismaying as any election news from Germany if not actually surprising.
nytimes.com
Thousands of Serbs Gather to Mourn Ratko Mladic, the ‘Butcher of Bosnia’
The government insisted the funeral was a private affair, even as government ministers attended and state-controlled news media lavished praise on the convicted war criminal.
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Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
“Settler militias clearly act with state backing in the service of a greater national project that is largely uncontested in Israel: Israel’s permanent control over much of the West Bank.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | It’s Not Just the West Bank Settlers. It’s Israel.
Settler violence is reaching new heights.
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
terribly sad & sobering; also a useful lens to clarify dynamics outsized appeal of Heimat/blood & soil politics in places/for people left behind by globalism --and, in this case, reunification.
nytimes.com
German Far-Right Surges, in Threat to Postwar Taboo on Extremists in Power
Sunday’s vote in the state of Saxony-Anhalt could produce the strongest showing in the history of the Alternative for Germany party, and potentially a far-right government in the statehouse.
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Flingjore @flingjore.com · 05/09/2026
Shadow operatives are scouting Scandinavian freight gates under the guise of harmless photography. Danish intelligence confirms active Russian sabotage plots are targeting local defense companies, escalating a covert hybrid war against nations providing robust military support to Ukraine.
euractiv.com
Denmark reveals Russian plans for sabotage against defence companies | Euractiv
Copenhagen is a staunch supporter of Ukraine
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
9 women, 3 men on jury. Much gratitude to the 11 members, including 2 men, who listened to painful evidence & applied their understanding of the law to it.
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Claire E. Aubin @ceaubin.com · 04/09/2026
Almost every young woman academic I know (including myself) has been targeted and belittled, sexually or otherwise, at some point by a higher-ranking man. After the state of the job market, it’s probably the number two thing I warn prospective grad students about.
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play by post @playbypost.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
"Multiple inmates said they felt uneasy making partisan phone calls. Two indicated that they had been in prison so long that they were not familiar with the names of political candidates. One was unsure what MAGA or a Trump Republican was."
governing.com
When Your Call Center Is Inside a Prison
Oklahoma allowed private companies to employ incarcerated workers for outside calling campaigns, including work that ultimately reached a presidential campaign.
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Jen Bendery @jbendery.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
NEW from me -- Federal judges rarely speak publicly about the work they do, but in 2 separate reports released this week, dozens of judges, tapped by presidents in both parties, open up about the surge in violent threats they’re facing as they try to do their jobs. www.huffpost.com/entry/federa...
huffpost.com
Dozens Of Federal Judges Go On Record About The Rising Threats They Face
In rare first-person accounts, judges describe a surge in disturbing threats, “swatting” and “pizza doxxing” since Trump took office in 2025.
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Just listened to a NYT "Headlines" summary that discussed the Clancy trial without ever mentioning that she is paralyzed from the waist down because she jumped out of a window during her psychotic episode.
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
best of my summer reads, excluding Flavia de Luce & Canon Clement murder mysteries (to not swamp the list) -John & Paul, A Love Story in Songs -What We Can Know -Everything I Never Told You -The Noise of Time
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Josh Eidelson @josheidelson.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Congressional Dems sent more questions to the NLRB general counsel about her office's unilateral settlements in Amazon cases, citing our reporting: democrats-edworkforce.house.gov/imo/media/do... "These questionable agreements appear to deviate from your office’s guidance to regional offices"
democrats-edworkforce.house.gov
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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
NEW: We @lawfaremedia.org sued Marco Rubio over the State Department’s failure to publish certain international agreements, as required by the Case Act. Yesterday, Judge Boasberg denied the government’s motion to dismiss our suit. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Case 1:26-CV-00798-JEB Document 18
Filed 08/31/26
Page 1 of 32
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
THE LAWFARE INSTITUTE,
Plaintiff, v.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE, et al.,
Defendants.
Civil Action No. 26-798 (JEB)
MEMORANDUM OPINION
In an effort to open the curtains concealing certain international agreements formed by the Executive, Congress enacted the Case-Zablocki Act in 1972. The Act requires the Secretary of State to post the text of some of those agreements on a public website within a specified time.
The Lawfare Institute, a media organization that reports on national-security issues, believes that
State has largely flouted that requirement, failing to post the text of numerous international
agreements formed during the current Administration. So Lawfare brought this suit, seeking
relief under the Administrative Procedure Act for agency action that is contrary to law and has
been unreasonably delayed, as well as a writ of mandamus to compel the Department of State
and Secretary Marco Rubio (jointly referred to as Defendant) to comply with their Case Act
obligations.
State now moves to dismiss, deploying both jurisdictional and merits arguments. It
contends that Lawfare lacks standing to pursue its claims because it does not plausibly allege a
legally cognizable injury, let alone one that could be redressed by a court order against the Department. On the merits, State asserts that Lawfare's contrary-to-law claim is not subject to
Case 1:26-CV-00798-JEB Document 18
Filed 08/31/26
Page 2 of 32
judicial review because Plaintiff has not plausibly alleged final agency action. Defendant also
argues that Plaintiff has not sufficiently stated a claim upon which relief can be granted for cach
count. Although some of the analysis is nuanced, the Court holds that State does not prevail on
the lion's share of its positions and thus will deny the Motion in the main.
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Difficult to overstate the importance of Radio Prague to Czech democracy.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
4/ The whistleblower disclosure, filed with @blumenthal.senate.gov, says workers were forced to create the new system in weeks when it should have taken 9 months. The whistleblower alleges that work continued on implementing the plan, even after it was ordered to be stopped.
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Melody Schreiber @melodyschreiber.com · 31/08/2026
Kennedy and the CDC aren't yet counting the Pennsylvania deaths from measles -- a "highly unusual” move, @drdebhoury.bsky.social told me. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
US health officials exclude measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania from counts
RFK Jr, the health secretary, has suggested the deaths were ‘fabricated’ while the CDC claimed it was reviewing them
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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 31/08/2026
The conservative legal movement spent decades working to overturn Roe v. Wade. Its effort to do the same to birthright citizenship has already begun, Quinta Jurecic argues.
bit.ly
How the Right Could Actually End Birthright Citizenship
The conservative legal movement doesn’t consider the Supreme Court’s recent ruling to be the final word on the Fourteenth Amendment. And it already has a playbook for overturning it.
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
As someone who serves as legal guardian for a mother who lives in the Czech Republic, I think about this a lot. The extent to which the US government makes us run around is a ridiculous; an enormous transaction/opportunity cost. On taxes alone! Let alone social services .
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
need a word or phrase for Libby holds, placed at different times & with staggered delivery dates predicted, all coming in at once.
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
a big issue that like affordability & AI/data centers can cross parties & build coalitions
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🗽LOLGOP🗽 @lolgop.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
"Just as torturers on the ground teach their tactics to one another... we can claw back our culture on the ground locally too."
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Stars and Stripes @starsandstripes.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
A civilian geography professor was fired from West Point for pushing back after department officials barred faculty from teaching that humans contribute to climate change.
stripes.com
West Point professor fired after pushing back on limitations to teaching climate change, lawsuit says
Adam Kalkstein pushed back after department officials barred faculty from teaching that humans contribute to climate change, the lawsuit says.
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Kathleen J. Frydl @kfrydl.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
That there is an electoral opening is clear...& very fortunate. Still unresolved are the Qs I raise in this piece. Not only has there been substantial security state-building on Trump, the American state was already weighted heavily in this direction.
liberalcurrents.com
The Security Leviathan
The American path in state-building is heavily skewed towards security and control.
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