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The Shields

@shieldscreate.bsky.social
77 followers 131 following 67 posts

Amputee, socialist, disabled rights, human rights and as much comedy and laughing as possible.

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Reposted by The Shields
Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
If you can’t sell your soybeans because of Trump’s tariffs after Argentina stepped in and took your customers, you can take solace that the guy you voted for also just gave $20 billion of your tax dollars to the country that is bankrupting you.
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Andrew Weinstein @andrewjweinstein.com · 10/10/2025
Just felt like sharing this today. No reason.
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Joe Scaramangaaaarrrggghhh!!! @joescaramanga.co.uk · 15/10/2025
I have awoken to an utter bastard of a headache.
Vyvyan in the Young Ones with a stick of dynamite strapped to his head.
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Fun @funkelly.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
how happy we’d all be if this was all the internet was for
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I Am Incorrigible @imincorrigible.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Polanski appears to be doing an incredible and impressive job, but it is madness that this Labour govt has not only been unable to articulate "a different view" to the far right (call a spade a spade @newsagents.bsky.social), they've spent much of their time agreeing with them. #r4today
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Temu’s EU operations doubled pre-tax profits to $120m (£90m), employed just 8 people, $18m corporation tax, It is smoke and mirrors of profit shifting, offshore tax havens. UK High street can't compete. Govt must review customs duty exemptions, require multinationals to show where they pay taxes.
theguardian.com
China’s Temu more than doubles EU profits to nearly $120m despite having only eight staff
Online marketplace paid just $18m in corporation tax, leading campaigners to call for government action
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
New industrial robots added in China last yr, 295,000; UK 2,500. China has 567 robots per 10,000 manufacturing workers; UK 104 . China investing 40.4% of GDP in productive assets; UK 18.2%. UK won't win the economic race with neoliberalism or without state intervention. archive.ph/DuZGe
archive.ph
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
UK faces highest inflation in G7 this year and next, IMF warns. Biggest cause is profiteering led by energy, water and food businesses. No govt checks it. Real average wage stuck at 2008 level. 1% have more wealth than 70% of the population combined. Govts needs to remove cash from the rich.
theguardian.com
UK faces highest inflation in G7 this year and next, IMF warns
According to fund’s World Economic Outlook, Britain is on course to average 3.4% this year and 2.5% in 2026
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Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Crypto vs AI — which bubble bursts first? youtu.be/9oP9HPhB-VI?... AI doesn’t think. Crypto isn’t money. Both claim to be revolutionary, but both are built on fantasy. From the greed driving crypto to the fear driving AI, I argue that both reflect a deeper crisis in capitalism itself.
youtu.be
Crypto vs AI — which bubble bursts first?
YouTube video by Richard J Murphy
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Banks make $26bn in a decade of financing deforesting companies. Destruction of the world’s forests reached the highest level - agricultural expansion, mining, infrastructure, logging. Profits before climate change, human lives and the planet. The cult of deregulation will make matters worse.
globalwitness.org
Banks make $26bn in decade of financing deforesting companies
US, EU and UK banks have made over $10 billion in income since Paris Agreement by financing companies involved in deforestation, new analysis ahead of COP30 reveals
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The News Agents @thenewsagents.co.uk · 15/10/2025
"He told me that he was too honourable to break off a friendship in a text or a letter, and then that email says we'll 'play some more soon'," Emily Maitlis says. "What does that even mean? It sends shivers down my spine" www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/prin...
thenewsagents.co.uk
‘Prince Andrew’s Epstein email sent a shiver down my spine’, says Emily Maitlis | The News Agents
Prince Andrew is accused of maintaining a friendship with Jeffrey Epstein for at least a year later than he previously claimed to have cut all communications, suggesting he lied to Emily Maitlis…
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aidThompsin (live, fridays @ 19:30) @aidthompsin.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Rogan, Theo Von, Tim Dillon - all of them dismissively smirked/scoffed at the idea Kamala Harris was a more suitable candidate than Trump. None of them listened when they were warned about Project 2025, camps, mass deportations etc Now they all pretend this is unexpected & too far for them.
media.tenor.com
a bald man is talking on a walkie talkie while another man watches .
ALT: a bald man is talking on a walkie talkie while another man watches .
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
UK banks oppose tax rise. Falsely claim to be paying 46.4% tax rate. The PwC generated number includes PAYE, employee national insurance which is paid by workers. VAT which is borne by customers. it is extrapolated from a sample, can't be verified Why do media reports not expose this sham claim?
news.sky.com
Banks step up lobbying over threat of Reeves tax hikes
The gap between the tax burden on British banks and their international rivals is widening, even before the imposition of any further levies in next month's budget, according to a report seen by Sky N...
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Private equity takeover of US hospitals led to rise in patient deaths. Cuts to staffing/investment; high debt, profiteering; worse patient outcomes. More deaths in nursing homes, increased post-operative complications Why is UK Govt handing the NHS to PE? Why no investigation of the impact of PE?
theguardian.com
Private equity takeover of hospitals led to rise in Medicare emergency patient deaths, says study
Study found seven more deaths per 10,000 patients in private equity hospitals’ versus non-private equity hospitals
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
Green party leader urges the Bank of England to stop paying interest on commercial banks' reserves. ECB stopped paying interest on a portion of banks reserves. The left has long urged Govt to stop this £20bn subsidy to banks, a consequence of QE. What could govt do with £20bn? archive.ph/LyP2e
ft.com
Green leader calls for BoE to end interest payments to commercial banks
Zack Polanski echoes Reform UK’s push for central bank policy change
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
‘Motherhood penalty’ costs women an average £65,618 in pay by time first child turns five. This is followed by gender pay gap, pension gap, health gap; slow career progression, harassment and violence, unpaid carer work, retirement insecurity. All women deserve justice.
theguardian.com
‘Motherhood penalty’ costs women an average £65,618 in pay by time first child turns five
Women’s average monthly earnings fall by 42% compared with one year before birth, ONS study finds
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
England nationalized rail passenger services lease carriages from rolling stock companies (ROSCOs). 87% of rolling stock controlled by 3 Luxembourg companies. Paid £1.282bn dividends in last 3 yrs. Not taxed in UK. Privatization has hollowed out the UK - Taxes lost, it is all about exploitation.
leftfootforward.org
If the government wants economic growth it must bring essential industries into public ownership
Successive governments clobber households and small businesses by hiking interest rates to manage inflation, but don’t inconvenience corporations.
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Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
Fascism is an ideology that divides humanity into “superior” and “inferior” groups — with catastrophic consequences. In this video, I explain what fascism really means, why its essence is exclusion, and why true democracy depends on equality and respect for all. youtu.be/H7pjd_G3088?...
youtu.be
What is fascism really about?
YouTube video by Richard J Murphy
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
Average real wage of UK workers is stuck the 2008 level. Some bosses are collecting 1,112 times more than the average employee wage. Millions forced to rely on food banks and charity. Workers have no say in income distribution. Govts do nothing. Can't build economy/society on huge inequalities.
leftfootforward.org
The government must ensure fair distribution of income
'The average real wage of workers has hardly moved from the 2008 level whilst bosses never had it so good.'
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
Thames Water lenders submit rescue plan to stave off collapse- may write off a third of the £20bn debt. It can't solve the crisis: It is a monopoly No competition No substitute service Owners want profit Customers will be fleeced Public ownership is the only viable option.
bbc.co.uk
Thames Water lenders submit rescue plan to stave off collapse
London & Valley Water, a consortium of investors, plans to write off some of the company's huge debts.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
Elon Musk Just Became The First Person Ever Worth $500bn. He has used his wealth to buy govts/legislators, unleash Trumpism, promising to hand $100m to Farage, create social strife and divisions. Like the rest of us, he will leave the world empty-handed.
forbes.com
Elon Musk Just Became The First Person Ever Worth $500 Billion
Musk is now half-way to becoming the first ever trillionaire.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
UK workers take bad bosses to employment tribunals for unfair treatment and dismissal, and win cases. But bosses don't pay. Some liquidate companies and start another one to dodge payments. Workers can't afford legal action. Successive govts have done nothing, embolden abusive practices.
bbc.co.uk
'I won £65,000 at an employment tribunal – but I haven't seen a penny'
A BBC investigation reveals thousands of workers are still missing out on tribunal payouts.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
Thames Water's bidders ask to be excused from fully complying with rules on pollution until 2035-40. Rule of law? Anything given to TW can't be denied to others. Sewage will be dumped. Customers will be fleeced. Returns will be extracted. One law for corporations, another for lesser mortals.
theguardian.com
Thames Water creditors ask for up to 15 years’ leniency from river pollution rules
Lenders say a ‘full return to legal, regulatory and environmental compliance’ under new rescue plan would not be completed until at least 2035-2040
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
16% of Britons have no savings. 39% have less than £1,000; struggle to survive without income. Profiteering, low wages, high living costs condemn millions to insecurity. 1% have more wealth than 70% of population. Can't rebuild without redistribution.
blog.moneyfarm.com
Average Savings by Age in the UK 2025: by Age, Income & Region
It is important to have some savings aside, but are you putting away enough? Check the 2025 average savings by age and income in the UK here.
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Jana Bacevic 🌲🌳✊🏴 @unsocialtheory.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
What's effectively happening here (in the British media at large, too) is the construction of "anti-racism" as somehow a "political alternative" to racism, rather than as a minimal civilisational standard, which in turn (further) vindicates racism as *also* an acceptable political position.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
Reform UK receives £100,000 donation from firm that faced winding-up petition; cost borne by workers/creditors. Party funded by the super rich, tax exiles, offshore entities, hedge funds, foxhunting enthusiasts. Reward: policies that will enrich a few
theguardian.com
Reform UK receives £100,000 donation from design firm that faced winding-up petition
Exclusive: Interior Architecture Landscape, which faced closure by HMRC early this year, made donation in June
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Richard Murphy @richardjmurphy.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Is a maximum pay cap the answer to inequality in the UK? youtu.be/GKevsgaMxAQ?... CEO pay in the UK is out of control. The median FTSE 100 boss now takes home £4.5 million a year – while millions struggle to live on the minimum wage. If we can set a minimum wage, why not a maximum pay cap?
youtu.be
Is a maximum pay cap the answer to inequality in the UK?
YouTube video by Richard J Murphy
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The Shields @shieldscreate.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
One has to ask, only 25 people arrested at yesterday's far right rally in London? Just watching a brief video I saw quite a bit of violence. This is in stark contrast to the HUNDREDS arrested for peacefully holding placards protesting the IDF in Gaza.
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The Shields @shieldscreate.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
This is where the US is right now. I abhor violence, and Charlie Kirk's death is terrible, whether I like his views or not (I don't). But punishing anyone expressing "dissident views"? How did the USA become the modern USSR?
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Dependence on food banks is the new norm in the UK. In a rich country 14m people, including 3.8m children, food insecure. One in six households went hungry last year. Result of low wages/benefits, unchecked profiteering, govt indifference. 1% have more wealth than 70% of the population combined.
theguardian.com
Failure to tackle dependence on food banks in UK driving public discontent
One in six households went hungry last year, says Trussell, with Britain facing ‘new normal’ of severe hardship
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it's Candy Love @candylovely.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
61% of Latino proudly voted for Trump 👇
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Reform UK think-tank plans Trump-style constitutional changes. DICTATORSHIP. Weaken the authority of judiciary, civil service. Farage to issue Trump-like orders. Emasculated parliament, obedient judiciary, goodbye democracy, farewell the NHS , hello fascism. Legacy for future? archive.ph/49xWE
ft.com
Reform UK think-tank plans Trump-style constitutional changes
Country in danger of becoming a democracy ‘run by judiciary and bureaucrats’, says head of Centre for a Better Britain
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
UK banks sued over shared appreciation mortgages that left people with huge debts. Borrowed £33,000, repayment £660,000+. No attempt by regulator to bring a test case. Products not tested for potential harms before sale. No end to bank scandals. Govt deregulating, diluting customer protection.
theguardian.com
UK banks face lawsuits over mortgages that left people with huge debts
Group actions against Barclays and Bank of Scotland over products that left some people owing up to 20 times the sum they borrowed
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Corruption Inc Boris Johnson traded PM contacts for global business deals. Used publicly funded office to manage commercial deals. Secret meetings with Palantir, handed NHS data. Secret Dinners during COVID lockdown to secure refurbishment of his flat. £200,000 from a hedge fund.
theguardian.com
Revealed: how Boris Johnson traded PM contacts for global business deals
Exclusive: Leak exposes how former leader has used publicly subsidised office to manage commercial interests
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
I know that any debate around trans rights and free speech excites big passion, but please try to be civil both to us and, even more importantly, to each other. Remember that it's just a conversation - not meant to be a complete treatise on every facet of the debate - and that it's okay to disagree.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
Shein UK accused of moving ‘vast bulk of income’ to Singapore to cut UK tax. £9.6m corporation tax on £2bn sales. Profit hard to know, 84% or the sales transferred to a Singapore company as a “purchasing” cost. UK loses billions due to profit shifting. HMRC poorly equipped to challenge it.
theguardian.com
Shein UK accused of moving ‘vast bulk of income’ to Singapore to cut British tax
Fast-fashion retailer rejects accusations as Fair Tax Foundation questions its tax arrangements
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
Privatizations have created a rentier economy. England's water companies privatized in 1989 for £6.1bn. Little shareholder investment since. No new reservoirs, sewage dumped in rivers, poor infrastructure, customers ripped-off, £85.2bn extracted in dividends. Why do govts cling to privatization.
leftfootforward.org
How successive government have created a new rentier economy
Governments appease corporations and the super-rich by following the old policies which benefit a few.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
Holding govts to ransom. Head of UK's banking lobby warns chancellor about additional tax on banks. Banks happy to be bailed out, take £895bn QE, £10bn+ interest a year on central reserves. Banks make excessive profits, must face windfall tax.
news.sky.com
Bank lobby chief warns Reeves over budget tax raid
In a letter to the chancellor obtained by Sky News, the UK Finance boss David Postings said she risked undermining economic growth if she increased the tax burden on UK lenders.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
Tesla boss Elon Musk will receive $1tn (£740bn) pay package if he hits targets. Already the richest man in the world. Used his wealth to support Trump. Wants to fund Farage and create the same mess in the UK. Classic example of how the rich buy power.
bbc.co.uk
Tesla proposes $1tn award for Elon Musk if he hits ambitious targets
The car firm boss's enormous pay package depends on him hitting sky-high targets.
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~Kitty👻Kat~On the turning away~Pink Floyd~📚🌸🪴🌸📚 We, The People… @katarinakriz.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
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Dr. Jack Brown @drjackbrown.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
"I believe in being truthful, not neutral. We must stop banalizing the truth." Christiane Amanpour
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
Graph provides glimpse of England's housing problems. Social housing vanished. 2m council homes sold. 40% ended-up with private landlords, increasingly corporations. Housing seen as investment, high private rents, more poverty & need for benefits. www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Labour's cowardice in the face of extremism iandunt.substack.com/p/labours-co...
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
Energy bills to rise by more than expected ahead of winter. UK's 20 largest companies made £514bn operating profit since 2020, causing inflation, poverty, business failures, enriching shareholders. No party tackling corporate power, profiteering, rentier economy.
bbc.co.uk
Energy price cap: Gas and electricity prices to rise by 2% in October
The £35 a year increase for a typical household is twice what analysts had predicted.
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John @johngoodman.bsky.social · 26/08/2025
realistic Star Trek
A comic on the bridge from Star Trek the Next Generation.
Picard: COMMANDER DATA, PLEASE IDENTIFY THAT ROMULAN VESSEL.
Data: THAT'S A GREAT IDEA CAPTAIN!
IDENTIFYING A VESSEL IS A GREAT PLACE TO START - IN ANY TACTICAL OR STRATEGIC OUTER SPACE SITUATION.
THIS VESSEL APPEARS TO BE A 23rd CENTURY KLINGON BIRD OF
PREY! 🚀🦅✨
Picard: ARE YOU SURE?
LIKE I SAID WE'RE... PRETTY SURE IT'S ROMULAN.
Data: ...
Data: OF COURSE! SO SORRY ABOUT THAT, YOU'RE RIGHT!
ON CLOSER EXAMINATION IT'S A ROMULAN VESSEL! CAN I RECOMMEND SOME SOONG™ BRAND PRODUCTS THAT CAN HELP YOU WITH THAT?
Picard cradles his face in his hand in a gesture of frustration.
Data: DID I MENTION THE PLIGHT OF OPRESSED WHITES IN SOUTH AFRICA?
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
Hong Kong billionaire, owner of Northumbrian Water, touted as Thames Water bidder. He won't provide necessary infrastructure investment. Any private owner would want profit, main cause of the crisis. Profits go abroad, misery stays home. Public ownership is the only way ahead. archive.ph/NCYXf
telegraph.co.uk
Chinese suitor ‘would cut billions from Thames Water investment’
CK Infrastructure touted as likely buyer if debt-laden water company is nationalised
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Matthew Mullins @mmullins.coginiti.co · 14/08/2025
Adding "Epistemicide" to my vocabulary! We're in the midsts of the largest organized destruction of knowledge imaginable.
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christhebarker @christhebarker.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Neigh-naw neigh-naw!
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Chinese firm a leading contender to buy Thames Water. 90% of water already owned from abroad. Shareholders out of touch with realities. Tax on dividends dodged. Any private ownership will mean continuation of profits, dividends, neglect, fleecing. Public ownership is the only way forward.
theguardian.com
Chinese firm a leading contender to buy Thames Water, reports say
Hong Kong’s CKI among those lining up to acquire struggling company if it collapses
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