Independent Investigative Journalism and Commentary from New Orleans, LA
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
congratulations america
...now get ready for Pakistan.
1 comment:
Anonymous
said...
Mr. Obama, >>> Given the uproar about the simple question asked you by Joe the >>> plumber, >> and the persecution that has been heaped on him because he dared to > question >> you, I find myself motivated to say a few things to you myself. >> While Joe >> aspires to start a business someday, I already have started not one, >> but 4 businesses. But first, let me introduce myself. You can call me >> 'Cory the well driller'. I am a 54 year old high school graduate. I >> didn't go to college like you, I was too ready to go 'conquer the >> world' when I > finished >> high school. 25 years ago at age 29, I started my own water well >> drilling business at a time when the economy here in East Texas was >> in a tailspin from the crash of the early 80's oil boom. I didn't get >> any help from the government, nor did I look for any. I borrowed what >> I could from my > sister, >> my uncle, and even the pawn shop and managed to scrape together a >> homemade drill rig and a few tools to do my first job. My businesses >> did not start > as >> a result of privilege. They are the result of my personal drive, >> personal ambition, self discipline, self reliance, and a >> determination to treat my customers fairly. From the very start my >> business provided one other (than >> myself) East Texan a full time job. I couldn't afford a backhoe the >> first few years (something every well drilling business had), so I >> and my helper had to dig the mud pits that are necessary for each and >> every job with > hand >> shovels. I had to use my 10 year old, 1/2 ton pickup truck for my >> water > tank >> truck (normally a job for at least a 2 ton truck). >>> A year and a half after I started the business, I scraped together a >>> 20% >> down payment to get a modest bank loan and bought a (28 year) old, >> worn > out, >> slightly bigger drilling rig to allow me to drill the deeper water >> wells > in >> my area. I spent the next few years drilling wells with the rig while >> simultaneously rebuilding it between jobs. Through these years I >> never > knew >> from one month to the next if I would have any work or be able to pay >> the bills. I got behind on my income taxes one year, and spent the >> next two years paying that back (with penalty and interest) while >> keeping up with ongoing taxes. I got behind on my water well supply >> bill 2 different years (way behind the second time.... $80,000.00), >> and spent over a year paying > it >> back (each time) while continuing to pay for ongoing supplies C.O.D.. >> Of course, the personal stress endured through these experiences and >> years is hard to measure. I do have a stent in my heart now to >> memorialize it all. >>> I spent the next 10 years developing the reputation for being the >>> most >> competent and most honest water well driller in East Texas . 2 years >> along the way, I hired another full time employee for the drilling >> business so that we could provide full time water well pump service >> as well as the > well >> drilling. Also, 3 years along the path, I bought a water well screen > service >> machine from a friend, starting business # 2. 5 years later I made a >> business loan for $100,000.00 to build a new, higher production, >> computer controlled screen service machine. I had designed the >> machine myself, and > it >> didn't work out for 3 years so I had to make the loan payments >> without the benefit of any added income from the new machine. No >> government program > was >> there to help me with the payments, or to help me sleep at night as I >> lay awake wondering how I would solve my machine problems or pay my >> bills. >> Finally, after 3 years, I got the screen machine working properly, >> and > that >> provided another full time job for an East Texan in the screen >> service business. >>> 2 years after that, I made another business loan, this time for >> $250,000.00, to buy another used drilling rig and all the support > equipment >> needed to run another, larger, drill rig. This provided another 2 >> full > time >> jobs for East Texans. Again, I spent a couple of years not knowing if >> I > had >> made a smart move, or a move that would bankrupt me. For the third >> time in >> 13 years, I had placed everything I owned on the line, risking >> everything, in order to build a business. >>> A couple of years into this, I came up with a bright idea for a new >>> kind >> of mud pump, a fundamentally necessary pump used on water well drill >> rigs. > I >> spent my entire life savings to date (just $30,000.00), building a > prototype >> of the pump and took it to the national water well convention to show >> it off. Customers immediately started coming out of the woodworks to >> buy the pumps, but there was a problem. I had depleted my assets >> making the prototype, and nobody would make me a business loan to >> start production of the new pumps. >>> >>> With several deposits for pump orders in hand, and nowhere to go, I >> finally started applying for as many credit card as I could find and >> took cash withdrawals on these cards to the tune of over $150,000.00 >> (including modest loans from my dear sister and brother), to get this >> 3rd business going. >>> >>> Yes, once again, I had everything hanging over the line in an effort >>> to >> start another business. I had never manufactured anything, and I had >> to design and bring into production a complex hydraulic machine from >> an untested prototype to a reliable production model (in six months). >> How > many >> nights I lay awake wondering if I had just made the paramount mistake >> of > my >> life I cannot tell you, but there were plenty. I managed to get the >> pumps into production, which immediately created another 2 full time >> jobs in > East >> Texas . Some of the models in the first year suffered from quality >> issues due to the poor workmanship of one of my key suppliers, so I >> and an > employee >> (another East Texan employed) had to drive across the country to >> repair customers' pumps, practically from coast to coast. I stood >> behind the product, and made payments to all the credit cards that >> had financed me > (and >> my brother and sister). I spent the next 5 years improving and >> refining > the >> product, building a reputation for the pump and the company, working >> to > get >> the pump into drill rig manufacturers' product lines, and paying back > credit >> cards. During all this time I continued to manage a growing water >> well business that was now operating 3 drill rig crews, and 2 well >> service > crews. >> Also, the screen service business continued to grow. No government > programs >> were there to help me, Mr. Obama, but that's ok, I didn't expect any, >> nor did I want any. I was too busy fighting to make success happen to >> sit > around >> waiting for the government to help me. >>> Now, we have been manufacturing the mud pumps for 7 years, my >>> combined >> businesses employ 32 full time employees, and distribute >> $5,000,000.00 annually through the local economy. Now, just 4 months >> ago I borrowed $1,254,000.00, purchasing computer controlled >> machining equipment to start my 4th business, a production machine >> shop. The machine shop will serve > the >> mud pump company so that we can better manufacture our pumps that are > being >> shipped worldwide. Of course, the machine shop will also do work for > outside >> companies as well. This has already produced 2 more full time jobs, >> and 2 more should develop out of it in the next few months. This >> should work > out, >> but if it doesn't it will be because you, and the other professional >> politicians like yourself, will have destroyed our countrys' (and the > world) >> economy with your meddling with mortgage loan programs through your > liberal >> manipulation and intimidation of loaning institutions to make sure >> that unqualified borrowers could get mortgages. You see, at the very >> time when > I >> couldn't get a business loan to get my mud pumps into production, you >> were working with Acorn and the Community Reinvestment Act programs >> to make > sure >> that unqualified borrowers could buy homes with no down payment, and >> even > no >> credit or worse yet, bad credit. Even the infamous, liberal, Ninja >> loans > (No >> Income, No Job or Assets). While these unqualified borrowers were >> enjoying unrealistically low interest rates, I was paying 22% to 24% >> interest on > the >> credit cards that I had used to provide me the funds for the mud pump >> business that has created jobs for more East Texans. It's funny, >> because after 25 years of turning almost every dime of extra money >> back into my businesses to grow them, it has been only in the last >> two years that I > have >> finally made enough money to be able to put a little away for >> retirement, and now the value of that has dropped 40% because of the >> policies you and your ilk have perpetrated on our country. >>> You see, Mr. Obama, I'm the guy you intend to raise taxes on. I'm >>> the > guy >> who has spent 25 years toiling and sweating, fretting and fighting, >> stressing and risking, to build a business and get ahead. I'm the >> guy who >> has been on the very edge of bankruptcy more than a dozen times >> over the >> last 25 years, and all the while creating more and more jobs for East > Texans >> who didn't want to take a risk, and would not demand from >> themselves what > I >> have demanded from myself. I'm the guy you characterize as 'the >> Americans >> who can afford it the most' that you believe should be taxed more to > provide >> income redistribution 'to spread the wealth' to those who have never > toiled, >> sweated, fretted, fought, stressed, or risked anything. You want to >> characterize me as someone who has enjoyed a life of privilege and >> who > needs >> to pay a higher percentage of my income than those who have bought >> into > your >> entitlement culture. I resent you, Mr. Obama, as I resent all who >> want to >> use class warfare as a tool to advance their political career. >>> >>> What's worse, each year more Americans buy into your liberal >>> entitlement >> culture, and turn to the government for their hope of a better life > instead >> of themselves. Liberals are succeeding through more than 40 years of >> collaborative effort between the predominant liberal media, and >> liberal >> indoctrination programs in the public school systems across our land. >>> >>> What is so terribly sad about this is this. America was made >>> great by >> people who embraced the one-time American culture of self >> reliance, self >> motivation, self determination, self discipline, personal >> betterment, hard >> work, risk taking. A culture built around the concept that success >> was in >> reach of every able bodied American who would strive for it. Each >> year > that >> less Americans embrace that culture, we all descend together. We >> descend >> down the socialist path that has brought country after country >> ultimately > to >> bitter and unremarkable states. If you and your liberal comrades >> in the >> media and school systems would spend half as much effort >> cultivating a >> culture of can-do across America as you do cultivating your >> entitlement >> culture, we could see Americans at large embracing the conviction >> that > they >> can elevate themselves through personal betterment, personal >> achievement, >> and self reliance. You see, when people embrace such ideals, they >> act on >> them. When people act on such ideals, they succeed. All of America >> could >> find herself elevating instead of deteriorating. But that would >> eliminate >> the need for liberal politicians, wouldn't it, Mr.. Obama? The >> country > would >> not need you if the country was convinced that problem solving was >> best > left >> with individuals instead of the government. You and all your liberal >> comrades have got a vested interested in creating a dependent >> class in our >> country. It is the very business of liberals to create an ever >> expanding >> dependence on government. What's remarkable is that you, who have >> never >> produced a job in your life, are going to tax me to take more of >> my money >> and give it to people who wouldn't need my money if they would get >> off > their >> entitlement mentality asses and apply themselves at work, demand >> more from >> themselves, and quit looking to liberal politicians to raise their >> station >> in life. >>> You see, I know because I've had them work for me before. >>> Hundreds of > them >> over these 25 years. People who simply will not show up to work on >> time. >> People who just will not work 5 days in a week, much less, 6 days. >> People >> always looking for a way to put less effort out. People who >> actually tell > me >> that they would do more if I just would first pay them more. >> People who > take >> off work to sit in government offices to apply to get free government >> handouts (gee, I wonder how things would have turned out for them >> if they >> had spent that time earning money and pleasing their employer?). >> You see, >> all of this comes from your entitlement mentality culture. >>> Oh, I know you will say I am uncompassionate. Sorry, Mr. Obama, >>> wrong >> again. You see, I've seen what the average percentage of your >> income has >> been given to charities over the years of 2000 to 2004 (ignoring >> the years >> you started running for office - can you pronounce "politically > motivated"), >> you averaged less than 1% annually. And your running mate, Joe Biden, >> averaged less than ?% of his annual income in charitable >> contributions > over >> the last 10 years. Like so many liberals, the two of you want to >> give to > the >> needy, just as long as it is someone else's money you are giving >> to them. > I >> won't say what I have given to charities over the last 25 years, >> but the >> percentage is several times more than you and Joe Biden. combined >> (don't > you >> just hate google?). Tell me again how you feel my pain. >>> In short, Mr. Obama, your political philosophies represent >>> everything > that >> is wrong with our country. You represent the culture of government >> dependence instead of self reliance; Entitlement mentality instead of >> personal achievement; Penalization of the successful to reward the >> unmotivated; Political correctness instead of open mindedness and >> open >> debate. If you are successful, you may preside over the final > transformation >> of America from being the greatest and most self-reliant culture >> on earth, >> to just another country of whiners and wimps, who sit around >> looking to > the >> government to solve their problems. Like all of western Europe. All >> countries on the decline. All countries that, because of liberal > socialistic >> mentalities, have a little less to offer mankind every year. >>> God help us... >>> Cory Miller >>> just a ordinary, extraordinary American, the way a lot of >>> Americans used >> to be. >>> P.S. Yes, Mr. Obama, I am a real American... meet me: >> www.cmillerdrilling.com : orwww.centerlinemanufacturing.com
1 comment:
Mr. Obama,
>>> Given the uproar about the simple question asked you by Joe the
>>> plumber,
>> and the persecution that has been heaped on him because he dared to
> question
>> you, I find myself motivated to say a few things to you myself.
>> While Joe
>> aspires to start a business someday, I already have started not one,
>> but 4 businesses. But first, let me introduce myself. You can call me
>> 'Cory the well driller'. I am a 54 year old high school graduate. I
>> didn't go to college like you, I was too ready to go 'conquer the
>> world' when I
> finished
>> high school. 25 years ago at age 29, I started my own water well
>> drilling business at a time when the economy here in East Texas was
>> in a tailspin from the crash of the early 80's oil boom. I didn't get
>> any help from the government, nor did I look for any. I borrowed what
>> I could from my
> sister,
>> my uncle, and even the pawn shop and managed to scrape together a
>> homemade drill rig and a few tools to do my first job. My businesses
>> did not start
> as
>> a result of privilege. They are the result of my personal drive,
>> personal ambition, self discipline, self reliance, and a
>> determination to treat my customers fairly. From the very start my
>> business provided one other (than
>> myself) East Texan a full time job. I couldn't afford a backhoe the
>> first few years (something every well drilling business had), so I
>> and my helper had to dig the mud pits that are necessary for each and
>> every job with
> hand
>> shovels. I had to use my 10 year old, 1/2 ton pickup truck for my
>> water
> tank
>> truck (normally a job for at least a 2 ton truck).
>>> A year and a half after I started the business, I scraped together a
>>> 20%
>> down payment to get a modest bank loan and bought a (28 year) old,
>> worn
> out,
>> slightly bigger drilling rig to allow me to drill the deeper water
>> wells
> in
>> my area. I spent the next few years drilling wells with the rig while
>> simultaneously rebuilding it between jobs. Through these years I
>> never
> knew
>> from one month to the next if I would have any work or be able to pay
>> the bills. I got behind on my income taxes one year, and spent the
>> next two years paying that back (with penalty and interest) while
>> keeping up with ongoing taxes. I got behind on my water well supply
>> bill 2 different years (way behind the second time.... $80,000.00),
>> and spent over a year paying
> it
>> back (each time) while continuing to pay for ongoing supplies C.O.D..
>> Of course, the personal stress endured through these experiences and
>> years is hard to measure. I do have a stent in my heart now to
>> memorialize it all.
>>> I spent the next 10 years developing the reputation for being the
>>> most
>> competent and most honest water well driller in East Texas . 2 years
>> along the way, I hired another full time employee for the drilling
>> business so that we could provide full time water well pump service
>> as well as the
> well
>> drilling. Also, 3 years along the path, I bought a water well screen
> service
>> machine from a friend, starting business # 2. 5 years later I made a
>> business loan for $100,000.00 to build a new, higher production,
>> computer controlled screen service machine. I had designed the
>> machine myself, and
> it
>> didn't work out for 3 years so I had to make the loan payments
>> without the benefit of any added income from the new machine. No
>> government program
> was
>> there to help me with the payments, or to help me sleep at night as I
>> lay awake wondering how I would solve my machine problems or pay my
>> bills.
>> Finally, after 3 years, I got the screen machine working properly,
>> and
> that
>> provided another full time job for an East Texan in the screen
>> service business.
>>> 2 years after that, I made another business loan, this time for
>> $250,000.00, to buy another used drilling rig and all the support
> equipment
>> needed to run another, larger, drill rig. This provided another 2
>> full
> time
>> jobs for East Texans. Again, I spent a couple of years not knowing if
>> I
> had
>> made a smart move, or a move that would bankrupt me. For the third
>> time in
>> 13 years, I had placed everything I owned on the line, risking
>> everything, in order to build a business.
>>> A couple of years into this, I came up with a bright idea for a new
>>> kind
>> of mud pump, a fundamentally necessary pump used on water well drill
>> rigs.
> I
>> spent my entire life savings to date (just $30,000.00), building a
> prototype
>> of the pump and took it to the national water well convention to show
>> it off. Customers immediately started coming out of the woodworks to
>> buy the pumps, but there was a problem. I had depleted my assets
>> making the prototype, and nobody would make me a business loan to
>> start production of the new pumps.
>>>
>>> With several deposits for pump orders in hand, and nowhere to go, I
>> finally started applying for as many credit card as I could find and
>> took cash withdrawals on these cards to the tune of over $150,000.00
>> (including modest loans from my dear sister and brother), to get this
>> 3rd business going.
>>>
>>> Yes, once again, I had everything hanging over the line in an effort
>>> to
>> start another business. I had never manufactured anything, and I had
>> to design and bring into production a complex hydraulic machine from
>> an untested prototype to a reliable production model (in six months).
>> How
> many
>> nights I lay awake wondering if I had just made the paramount mistake
>> of
> my
>> life I cannot tell you, but there were plenty. I managed to get the
>> pumps into production, which immediately created another 2 full time
>> jobs in
> East
>> Texas . Some of the models in the first year suffered from quality
>> issues due to the poor workmanship of one of my key suppliers, so I
>> and an
> employee
>> (another East Texan employed) had to drive across the country to
>> repair customers' pumps, practically from coast to coast. I stood
>> behind the product, and made payments to all the credit cards that
>> had financed me
> (and
>> my brother and sister). I spent the next 5 years improving and
>> refining
> the
>> product, building a reputation for the pump and the company, working
>> to
> get
>> the pump into drill rig manufacturers' product lines, and paying back
> credit
>> cards. During all this time I continued to manage a growing water
>> well business that was now operating 3 drill rig crews, and 2 well
>> service
> crews.
>> Also, the screen service business continued to grow. No government
> programs
>> were there to help me, Mr. Obama, but that's ok, I didn't expect any,
>> nor did I want any. I was too busy fighting to make success happen to
>> sit
> around
>> waiting for the government to help me.
>>> Now, we have been manufacturing the mud pumps for 7 years, my
>>> combined
>> businesses employ 32 full time employees, and distribute
>> $5,000,000.00 annually through the local economy. Now, just 4 months
>> ago I borrowed $1,254,000.00, purchasing computer controlled
>> machining equipment to start my 4th business, a production machine
>> shop. The machine shop will serve
> the
>> mud pump company so that we can better manufacture our pumps that are
> being
>> shipped worldwide. Of course, the machine shop will also do work for
> outside
>> companies as well. This has already produced 2 more full time jobs,
>> and 2 more should develop out of it in the next few months. This
>> should work
> out,
>> but if it doesn't it will be because you, and the other professional
>> politicians like yourself, will have destroyed our countrys' (and the
> world)
>> economy with your meddling with mortgage loan programs through your
> liberal
>> manipulation and intimidation of loaning institutions to make sure
>> that unqualified borrowers could get mortgages. You see, at the very
>> time when
> I
>> couldn't get a business loan to get my mud pumps into production, you
>> were working with Acorn and the Community Reinvestment Act programs
>> to make
> sure
>> that unqualified borrowers could buy homes with no down payment, and
>> even
> no
>> credit or worse yet, bad credit. Even the infamous, liberal, Ninja
>> loans
> (No
>> Income, No Job or Assets). While these unqualified borrowers were
>> enjoying unrealistically low interest rates, I was paying 22% to 24%
>> interest on
> the
>> credit cards that I had used to provide me the funds for the mud pump
>> business that has created jobs for more East Texans. It's funny,
>> because after 25 years of turning almost every dime of extra money
>> back into my businesses to grow them, it has been only in the last
>> two years that I
> have
>> finally made enough money to be able to put a little away for
>> retirement, and now the value of that has dropped 40% because of the
>> policies you and your ilk have perpetrated on our country.
>>> You see, Mr. Obama, I'm the guy you intend to raise taxes on. I'm
>>> the
> guy
>> who has spent 25 years toiling and sweating, fretting and fighting,
>> stressing and risking, to build a business and get ahead. I'm the
>> guy who
>> has been on the very edge of bankruptcy more than a dozen times
>> over the
>> last 25 years, and all the while creating more and more jobs for East
> Texans
>> who didn't want to take a risk, and would not demand from
>> themselves what
> I
>> have demanded from myself. I'm the guy you characterize as 'the
>> Americans
>> who can afford it the most' that you believe should be taxed more to
> provide
>> income redistribution 'to spread the wealth' to those who have never
> toiled,
>> sweated, fretted, fought, stressed, or risked anything. You want to
>> characterize me as someone who has enjoyed a life of privilege and
>> who
> needs
>> to pay a higher percentage of my income than those who have bought
>> into
> your
>> entitlement culture. I resent you, Mr. Obama, as I resent all who
>> want to
>> use class warfare as a tool to advance their political career.
>>>
>>> What's worse, each year more Americans buy into your liberal
>>> entitlement
>> culture, and turn to the government for their hope of a better life
> instead
>> of themselves. Liberals are succeeding through more than 40 years of
>> collaborative effort between the predominant liberal media, and
>> liberal
>> indoctrination programs in the public school systems across our land.
>>>
>>> What is so terribly sad about this is this. America was made
>>> great by
>> people who embraced the one-time American culture of self
>> reliance, self
>> motivation, self determination, self discipline, personal
>> betterment, hard
>> work, risk taking. A culture built around the concept that success
>> was in
>> reach of every able bodied American who would strive for it. Each
>> year
> that
>> less Americans embrace that culture, we all descend together. We
>> descend
>> down the socialist path that has brought country after country
>> ultimately
> to
>> bitter and unremarkable states. If you and your liberal comrades
>> in the
>> media and school systems would spend half as much effort
>> cultivating a
>> culture of can-do across America as you do cultivating your
>> entitlement
>> culture, we could see Americans at large embracing the conviction
>> that
> they
>> can elevate themselves through personal betterment, personal
>> achievement,
>> and self reliance. You see, when people embrace such ideals, they
>> act on
>> them. When people act on such ideals, they succeed. All of America
>> could
>> find herself elevating instead of deteriorating. But that would
>> eliminate
>> the need for liberal politicians, wouldn't it, Mr.. Obama? The
>> country
> would
>> not need you if the country was convinced that problem solving was
>> best
> left
>> with individuals instead of the government. You and all your liberal
>> comrades have got a vested interested in creating a dependent
>> class in our
>> country. It is the very business of liberals to create an ever
>> expanding
>> dependence on government. What's remarkable is that you, who have
>> never
>> produced a job in your life, are going to tax me to take more of
>> my money
>> and give it to people who wouldn't need my money if they would get
>> off
> their
>> entitlement mentality asses and apply themselves at work, demand
>> more from
>> themselves, and quit looking to liberal politicians to raise their
>> station
>> in life.
>>> You see, I know because I've had them work for me before.
>>> Hundreds of
> them
>> over these 25 years. People who simply will not show up to work on
>> time.
>> People who just will not work 5 days in a week, much less, 6 days.
>> People
>> always looking for a way to put less effort out. People who
>> actually tell
> me
>> that they would do more if I just would first pay them more.
>> People who
> take
>> off work to sit in government offices to apply to get free government
>> handouts (gee, I wonder how things would have turned out for them
>> if they
>> had spent that time earning money and pleasing their employer?).
>> You see,
>> all of this comes from your entitlement mentality culture.
>>> Oh, I know you will say I am uncompassionate. Sorry, Mr. Obama,
>>> wrong
>> again. You see, I've seen what the average percentage of your
>> income has
>> been given to charities over the years of 2000 to 2004 (ignoring
>> the years
>> you started running for office - can you pronounce "politically
> motivated"),
>> you averaged less than 1% annually. And your running mate, Joe Biden,
>> averaged less than ?% of his annual income in charitable
>> contributions
> over
>> the last 10 years. Like so many liberals, the two of you want to
>> give to
> the
>> needy, just as long as it is someone else's money you are giving
>> to them.
> I
>> won't say what I have given to charities over the last 25 years,
>> but the
>> percentage is several times more than you and Joe Biden. combined
>> (don't
> you
>> just hate google?). Tell me again how you feel my pain.
>>> In short, Mr. Obama, your political philosophies represent
>>> everything
> that
>> is wrong with our country. You represent the culture of government
>> dependence instead of self reliance; Entitlement mentality instead of
>> personal achievement; Penalization of the successful to reward the
>> unmotivated; Political correctness instead of open mindedness and
>> open
>> debate. If you are successful, you may preside over the final
> transformation
>> of America from being the greatest and most self-reliant culture
>> on earth,
>> to just another country of whiners and wimps, who sit around
>> looking to
> the
>> government to solve their problems. Like all of western Europe. All
>> countries on the decline. All countries that, because of liberal
> socialistic
>> mentalities, have a little less to offer mankind every year.
>>> God help us...
>>> Cory Miller
>>> just a ordinary, extraordinary American, the way a lot of
>>> Americans used
>> to be.
>>> P.S. Yes, Mr. Obama, I am a real American... meet me:
>> www.cmillerdrilling.com : orwww.centerlinemanufacturing.com
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