Author Archives: Gray Rinehart

Monday Morning Insight: A Ghost’s Report

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(Another in the continuing series of quotes to start the week.)

 

Hey, it’s Halloween, so why not start the week with a famous report from a well-known ghost (not the Gray Man)? Briefly released from Purgatory to walk the earth, this ghost said,

… I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres,
Thy knotty and combined locks to part
And each particular hair to stand on end,
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine.
But this eternal blazon must not be
To ears of flesh and blood.

Many readers will recognize the source: Hamlet, Act I, Scene V.

The old haunted abbey - Whitby.

(Image: “The old haunted abbey – Whitby,” by Darren Flinders, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

 

I hope you survive the horrors of the day — that they don’t harrow your soul or freeze your blood or make your hair stand on end — and that you have an awesome week!

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Third-Party Voting, and Baseball

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Or, more precisely, third-party voting and the World Series.

I get it: a lot of us are sick of politics, and in particular of one or the other or both of the major party candidates. As a result, many of us who would normally vote along with one of the major parties are thinking and talking about voting for a third-party candidate.

I’m not sure I can do that.

The way I see it, a usually reliably major-party voter opting for a third-party candidate is equivalent to pulling for the White Sox or the Reds in this year’s World Series.

(In case you missed last night’s Game 1, or you’re not much of a sports fan, only the Cubs and the Indians are actually playing in the Series.)

In other words, I feel that if I voted third-party, it would be like cheering for a team — any team — that’s not even on the field. It certainly wouldn’t be cheering on the winner, helping them to victory, and it wouldn’t even effectively be cheering against whichever of the two teams I’d rather see lose.

Image: “The great national game — last match of the season to be decided Nov. 11th 1884.” Macbrair & Sons Lithograph, from the Library of Congress online collection, showing “a sandlot baseball game of presidential hopefuls with James G. Blaine pitching to Chester A. Arthur, with Samuel J. Tilden behind the plate and Roscoe Conkling as umpire, at first base is Benjamin F. Butler with a handgun in his belt, at second base is John A. Logan holding Ulysses S. Grant close to the bag, at shortstop is John Kelly, and at third base is Sereno E. Payne, in left field is John Sherman and in centerfield is Samuel J. Randall. They are playing on a field labeled “Potomac Flats” with the Potomac River in the background.” (Click here for a larger image.)

 

Maybe your third-party vote is more clear-cut. Maybe you believe in the values represented by the Libertarian Party or the Green Party or whatever, and consider yourself affiliated with them. Maybe you’re an Independent, and have no history with either the Democrats or the Republicans (and certainly no loyalty to either). If so, more power to you on your third-party selection.

But maybe, like me, you usually vote for a particular party. (If it matters that you know, I usually vote primarily Republican, though I don’t recall ever voting a straight ticket.) And since I usually ally with one of the major parties, I see voting third-party as a de-facto vote against my usual party.

If I vote third-party, it will not send any kind of message to the Republican leadership. It might clear my conscience or assuage my guilt by giving me the ability to say “I didn’t vote for X” when they try to implement some ill-considered policy. (Talk about self-interest in politics. I could achieve the same result by simply not voting.)

Heinlein had it right when he pointed out that if we have nothing or no one we want to vote for we can surely find something to vote against. Voting third-party may feel good, as if I’m voting against both of the major parties, but it seems like a damn ineffective way of doing so because it cannot prevent the side I find most disagreeable from winning.

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Monday Morning Insight: Good Manners, Part II (Heinlein Edition)

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(Another in the continuing series of quotes to start the week.)

 

Last week in this series I presented a quote from Jonathan Swift on the meaning of mannerly behavior. This week I’m offering up a quote from Science Fiction Grand Master Robert A. Heinlein’s novel Friday (emphasis in original):

Sick cultures show a complex of symptoms … but a dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot.

I’m not sure that needs much commentary, so I’ll just insert this relevant image:

Well, amen. #sundaythought #nice #beadecenthumanbeing

(Image: “Well, amen (etc.)” by Francesca Castelli, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

 

Have a great week….

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Zombie Blog Post: ‘Making It Real’ in North Carolina

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(Nothing Halloweenish here; this is a “zombie” post only in the sense of it coming back from the dead.)

 

I’m about to take a few hours off to visit the NC State Fair (it’s Military Appreciation Day, and I appreciate the military), but I thought I’d reprise an old blog post that I particularly like. It was published six years ago today on the old NCSU-IES blog,* though it had actually appeared on the Beyond Lean blog a little over a week earlier than that:

Because I’ve driven across the country several times, from one Air Force assignment to the next, I sometimes think in terms of the nation as a whole and forget just how big some states are. When I helped the NC State University Industrial Extension Service (IES) conduct the “Manufacturing Makes It Real” tour, covering over 1100 miles in 5 days, I realized very quickly that North Carolina is a pretty big state.

The central message of the tour was that manufacturing — the actual production of durable and consumer goods — matters to all of us, because it is the source of almost everything we have and almost everything we do. As Dr. Terri Helmlinger Ratcliff, IES Executive Director, wrote before the tour, “Manufacturing makes the difference between imagination and reality in ways that make modern life possible.” Invention creates new products, but manufacturing brings them into all our lives.

To spread the message about how much manufacturing matters, we went to every region of North Carolina: the piedmont, the mountains, and along the coast. As we traveled, we held rallies where manufacturers showed off their products and praised their workers. The host sites made the rallies truly “local” events: some had employees sing the National Anthem, some invited Junior ROTC or other school groups to perform, and one invited the local area’s apple orchards to bring some of their products for attendees to sample. Local, State, and even Federal elected officials attended various events, which usually included plant tours to show off the host sites’ capabilities in more detail.

Our convoy included a tractor-trailer with dozens of different “Made in NC” items that showed off the diversity of products made throughout the state. At each rally, people lined up to walk through the trailer to see their handiwork as well as others’. Many people expressed surprise at the variety of products made in the state: “from tortilla chips to microchips,” as IES Deputy Director Dr. David Boulay said.

I like to think the individual rallies were like “county fairs” for manufacturing, and we were pleased at the number of companies that attended, even though we didn’t have blue ribbons to award. And considering the weather we had — record levels of rain along the coast, making us travel on nearly-flooded roads** — we were very fortunate to make it to each stop and hold each rally on time.

The MMIR Tour bus at Scott Health & Safety in Monroe. (NC State University image.)

 

The most memorable rally for me was held at Scott Health & Safety in Monroe (east of Charlotte). The Monroe Fire Department had set up two ladder trucks and suspended a huge U.S. flag to help the company demonstrate their “Made in the USA” pride. That pride-of-workmanship theme was repeated at every stop, but the Monroe event was special to me because I relied on Scott Air Pak breathing gear when I worked disaster response in the Air Force. Their workmanship can literally mean the difference between life and death in dangerous situations. (I wrote more about the Scott Health & Safety rally on the tour blog***).

All week long, from companies big and small and representing many different industry sectors, we heard stories of continuous improvement through lean and Six Sigma, expanded markets through ISO certification, and risk-taking through entrepreneurial ventures and new produc

Oops. What happened there?

What happened is that IES (now named “Industry Expansion Services” for some reason) destroyed its old blog and that’s all my former co-worker was able to recover. Seriously, the recovered portion they sent me ends right there, in the middle of the word “product.” (I contend that the blog was a historical record of the university and that doing away with it like that violated the rules for retaining official state records, but what do I know?) Thankfully, since this particular entry was cross-posted elsewhere and is still available there, we can include the rest of it as follows:

… new product development. Company leaders admitted to a lot of belt-tightening and uncertainty in the last couple of years, but seemed pleased that people were paying attention to the good work they do.

The tour ended with a final rally at the NC Legislative Building in Raleigh, where NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson symbolically presented the truckload of products to NC Secretary of Commerce Keith Crisco. The speakers at the final rally, along with the companies that sponsored and participated in the “Manufacturing Makes It Real” tour, testified that manufacturing is alive and well in North Carolina. We are all committed to keeping it that way.

It’s hard to believe that was six years ago now! We kept the momentum of the tour going for a few more years through the MMIR Network, but eventually the IES leadership found other interests and higher priorities. I consider that a little sad, but I’m still proud that for a while I was part of celebrating real people who make real things that we use every single day.

And just this week I suggested that an author friend of mine visit the Scott plant in Monroe, which I never would have known about had it not been for the MMIR Tour.

Anyway, if you’re of a mind I hope you’ll take note of something you use and think of the people who worked on producing it for you. And if you’re one of the thousands of people who make things for the rest of us, please accept my gratitude. Thanks for all you do!

___
* I’ve removed all links to the old NCSU-IES blog, since it doesn’t exist anymore. When I clicked on old links to it, they redirected to the College of Engineering page, which I find a bit ridiculous.
** The storms we drove through were pretty intense, though we didn’t mind because we needed the rain to counteract that summer’s drought. At least it wasn’t a full-blown hurricane!
*** I’m surprised that old tour-specific blog is still active, but it was a WordPress blog and not maintained by the University. They may decide to take it down, if they realize it’s out there. But at least for the moment you can find more from the tour, including pictures from most of the sites, at http://mfgmakesitreal.wordpress.com/.

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Monday Morning Insight: Good Manners

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(Another in the continuing series of quotes to start the week.)

 

Given the rancor we observe and occasionally encounter online — and sometimes even encounter in real life — and the oft-repeated reports, accusations, and exhibitions of what can most charitably be described as boorish behavior by people in positions of power or prominence, manners seem rather a timely topic.

Many years ago I had the pleasure of hearing Tony Campolo speak at the National Youth Workers Convention in San Diego, and one of his topics was the importance of mannerly behavior. I often repeat part of what he told us, about a study conducted in the late 1930s in Britain and Germany. I’m not going to repeat that story here, or even quote from Mr. Campolo, but I thought about him while considering this quote from Jonathan Swift:

Good manners is the art of making those people easy with whom we converse. Whoever makes the fewest persons uneasy is the best bred in the company.

I think Mr. Campolo would appreciate that quote, which is the opening of “A Treatise on Good Manners and Good Breeding.” Swift’s essay has much to recommend it, despite it clearly reflecting the 18th century emphasis on gentility and class. The essay is nearly as much about the dangers of going overboard with setting out troublesome rules as it is about “ill manners” as opposed to “good manners.”

Good Manners

(Image: “Good Manners,” by Sharon Sinclair, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

 

Swift insists (his word) “that good sense is the principal foundation of good manners,” and that rules for behavior have been developed because good sense is something very few of us have. Indeed, he lists “the three great sources of ill manners” as a lack of sense, an “ill nature,” and pride.

It’s an interesting exercise, when we encounter or observe poor manners, to speculate on whether the perpetrator lacks sense, is bad-natured, or suffers from an excess of pride. But ultimately that’s a fruitless exercise, as it serves more to puff up our own pride than to induce us to behave better.

And behaving better is the constant challenge. For if we display good manners, if we are able to set people we interact with at ease, we avoid making others speculate about us.

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Two Friends on Patreon: Lee and Mikey

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Would you like to be a patron of the arts for as little as a dollar a month? You can!

Several friends of mine have a presence on “Patreon,” an online resource that connects you with creative people doing their artistic things. Usually they promise to produce certain things on a regular basis — maybe a drawing or painting, maybe a song or a music video, it’s all up to them depending on their art — and you as their patron get first access to what they do and often “insider” specials as well!

Dollar Heart

(Image: “Dollar Heart,” by Chris Palmer, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

 

Anyway, two of my friends you might want to support are Alethea Kontis and Mikey Mason.

Alethea Kontis is primarily known as an author of fantasy novels and two well-received children’s books in which the letters of the alphabet rearrange themselves. “Princess Alethea” often produces humorous “Fairy Tale Rants” on video, and her latest novel is Trix and the Faerie Queen. Alethea’s Patreon is set up for monthly donations as low as $1 per month, though higher levels earn additional bonus videos and such.

Mikey Mason is primarily known as the “Comedy Rock Star,” or on the science fiction and fantasy circuit as the “Comedy Rock Geek.” Perhaps his most famous song is “She Don’t Like Firefly,” though his more recent “The Secret Origins of the Robot Holidays” has been played frequently on The Dr. Demento Show. Mikey’s Patreon is set up a little differently, as his patrons pledge per song or music video; however, you can become Mikey’s patron for as little as $1 for each new song or video he produces.

Both Lee and Mikey have had some unexpected expenses recently, so your patronage — either recurring, through Patreon, or on a one-time basis by buying a book or CD — would mean a lot to their being able to continue writing their stories and songs.

___
For more information:
– You can find Alethea online at http://aletheakontis.com/
– You can find Mikey online at http://www.mikeymason.com/

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The Power of a Single Thought

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I had a dream last night, but I can’t remember anything about it because in that tenuous state between sleeping and waking I had another thought — specifically, an idea related to a short story I plan to write — and that thought drove every vestige of the dream from my mind.

And, in the process, it impressed upon me the power of a single thought: that it only takes one single thought to crowd out all other thoughts. One single thought, if we concentrate strong enough on it or if we find it sufficiently compelling, will color our perceptions and bind us in mental chains.

I admit that this observation is not really new or particularly profound — others have pointed out our tendency to hold on to and defend various ideas in the face of contrary evidence — but it hit me this morning in a powerful way.

Consider this: complete each of the following sentences with the first thing that comes into your mind.

  • Hillary Clinton is a __.
  • Donald Trump is a __.
  • Gary Johnson is a __.
  • Jill Stein is a __.

Locked and Loaded

What strong chains we forge to bind our thinking! (Image: “Locked and Loaded,” by Thomas Hawk, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

 

Was your first thought about each of them positive, negative, or neutral? It likely depended on where you fall along the political spectrum and, in the case of the Libertarian and Green party candidates, whether you know much about them at all.

Now, consider each of the following statements that may be considered observable facts:

  • Hillary Clinton is a lawyer.
  • Donald Trump is a businessman.
  • Gary Johnson is a businessman.
  • Jill Stein is a doctor.

How do you react to those simple statements about the career paths of the candidates, based on your first thought about each of them? Do you find that the first thing that came to mind earlier influenced your reaction to the next thing that was presented?

It seems to me that those first thoughts become our filters, the lenses (rose-colored or otherwise) through which we see the world. The first thought, especially if it conveys a value judgment, becomes, if you will, a self-fulfilling mental prophecy.

This applies to more than just politics, of course, but the political example occurred to me this morning because it’s particularly timely. In some respects this tendency is wired into the way we think and learn: according to Theory of Knowledge, we form concepts and then test those concepts against reality, but sometimes our concepts affect how we perceive reality. As a result, I’m not sure any of us can (or if it would even be desirable to) remain completely objective, with neutral impressions of everything. We are not Vulcans, after all.

But maybe, if we recognize this mechanism in our own thinking, we can be a bit more accepting, a bit more forgiving, not by rejecting our first thought or convincing ourselves that our first thoughts are wrong, but simply by recognizing that our first thought may be incomplete.

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Monday Morning Insight: the Goal of Writing a Book

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(Another in the continuing series of quotes to start the week.)

 

In my college years, I read a lot by James Clavell (who was born on this date in 1924), and particularly enjoyed Shogun, Noble House, and King Rat, which was inspired by Clavell’s experience as a prisoner of war in Changi Prison in Singapore in World War II. Later, I discovered his translation of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, the introduction to which is well worth reading even if you are already familiar with Master Sun’s masterwork.

Clavell was born in Sydney, Australia, as Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell. He eventually became a naturalized U.S. citizen after settling in California, where he was the screenwriter for the classic science fiction film The Fly (among other notable films). Quite an amazing man!

In a 1986 interview, Clavell said:

… the goal of writing any book is to create the illusion that what you are reading is reality and you’re part of it.

I love that quote, and try very hard in my own writing to make my fiction seem realistic. Whether I ever succeed, of course, is up to my readers to decide.

Keep Calm and Read a Book

Even if you don’t read my book — which I would appreciate — I hope you can find the time to read some good books! (Image: “Keep Calm and Read a Book,” by Robert Burdock, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

 

In that same interview, Clavell also said,

All stories have a beginning, a middle and an ending, and if they’re any good, the ending is a beginning.

That’s another thing to strive for, I think: to make the end of a story a jumping-off point for other stories. Not necessarily sequels, and not even necessarily stories that will be written, but stories that the reader can imagine because the characters and the situations seemed real and resonated.

I can only hope that my fiction achieves those things.

Speaking of which, my newest story, “We Side With the Free,” is coming out in the November issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. If you read it, or anything else I’ve written, let me know how you think I did with respect to Clavell’s advice.

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Monday Morning Insight: Proclaiming National Thanksgiving

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(Another in the continuing series of quotes to start the week.)

 

On this date in 1789, President George Washington — based on a resolution passed in the Congress — proclaimed that Thursday, 26 November 1789, would be set aside for the people of the nation to unite in devotion to “the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.” The proclamation began with a statement that seems quite bold today, especially for a public official:

… it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.

Congress had recommended “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God.” Washington’s proclamation enjoined the people to offer “sincere and humble thanks” to God for several things, including:

  • “His providence in the course and conclusion of” the Revolutionary War,
  • “the great degree of tranquillity [sic], union, and plenty” they enjoyed,
  • “their civil and religious liberty,” and
  • “all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.”

Gratitude changes the way we look at the world

(Image: “Gratitude changes the way we look at the world,” by BK, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

 

President Washington also encouraged the people to beseech “the great Lord and Ruler of Nations” to forgive “our national and other trangressions [sic],” and, in particular,

to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed.

It seems a shame that we have let our government get so out of control, and that we seem unable to place people in positions of trust who are wise and just, who respect the Constitution, and who are able to “discreetly and faithfully” execute the nation’s laws. Perhaps if we used Thanksgiving for giving thanks, and for reflecting on our freedom and what it takes to maintain it, we might have less trouble in that regard.

___
P.S. The full proclamation is available here.

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Some ‘Anti-Candidate’ Post-Debate Thoughts

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First, a confession: I didn’t watch all of Monday night’s debate. I missed about the last half hour, I think.

Second, an evaluation: Mrs. Clinton looked poised and was better prepared than Mr. Trump, though that seems a fairly low bar to clear. Mr. Trump’s failure to take what would have been some fairly easy shots at Mrs. Clinton seemed almost deliberately contradictory to his usual “attack dog” style. (Yes, people have pointed out Mr. Trump’s interrupting Mrs. Clinton and the unfortunate moderator, but Mr. Trump seemed mild-mannered and deferential compared to his performances in the primary debates. Whether that was intentional, I cannot say, though I have seen speculation that it was calculated to make him seem less intimidating to voters.)

Now, some more specific observations:

  • Both candidates talked a bit about the National Debt. Mr. Trump made the point about how large it is now, without driving home the point that it is much larger now than it was eight years ago. Mrs. Clinton made the point that Mr. Trump’s proposed tax cuts would add to the debt, without explaining whether her proposed tax increases would actually reduce it. But the moderator missed an opportunity to ask them one simple question: Are you going to balance the Federal budget every year? Because if not, then you’re not going to reduce the National Debt.
  • Mrs. Clinton scored some points with the “Trumped Up Trickle-Down” phrase, and she praised her husband with respect to the booming economy we enjoyed during his Presidency. Then, however, she made the curious statement that trickle-down economics led to or was responsible for the recent recession. I found that curious because trickle-down economics was not a hallmark of George W. Bush’s 2001-09 term; it was a hallmark of Ronald Reagan’s 1981-89 term. If trickle-down economics lasted until the 2008 recession, then, that would imply that the economic policies of the intermediate terms didn’t count for much.
  • Mrs. Clinton also scored points by pressing Mr. Trump about his company’s failure to pay suppliers for services rendered. I would like to know the story behind that, and the terms of the agreements that were violated — or that were negotiated so strongly in favor of the Trump conglomerate.
  • Just once I would like to see a debate in which one of the candidates actually takes a moment to explain what is and is not the President’s job. With respect to economics, for instance, to explain a bit how the budget process works (I’m not sure Mr. Trump knows very much about that). With respect to military matters, instead of sniping at each other about who has a plan to defeat ISIS/ISIL/Daesh/whatever the Islamofascist quasi-Caliphate is calling itself today, it would be refreshing to have a candidate say, “No, I don’t have a plan because that’s not the Commander-in-Chief’s job. That’s why we have a Secretary of Defense; that’s why we have Combatant Commanders; that’s why we have the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I will give them direction, they will recommend courses of action, and I will make the decision. Next question.”
  • The two of them had a lot to say about policing, but policing is a local issue rather than a Federal one. It would have been nice to have them discuss whether they think the Executive Branch has a role in local matters, and if so what that particular role might be, rather than hearing about whether “stop and frisk” was or was not effective when it was in place in New York City.
  • The crime and gun control portion was one of Mr. Trump’s missed opportunities. A simple question that he could have asked: How many criminals and gang members have ever gone through a background check in order to purchase a firearm legally?
  • The question about cybersecurity was another missed opportunity. Mr. Trump certainly did not display any sort of killer instinct, or he would’ve pointed out the irony of someone trying to come across as knowledgeable about security who could not recognize that paragraph markings in a message denoted classified content; alternately, he could’ve asked about how increased cybersecurity might have protected mishandled emails that, it turns out, included very highly classified information.
  • Also on my list of things I wish Presidential candidates would talk about in order to show that they understand or at least appreciate National Security and military-related issues: the DIME: the instruments of National power.

Prepping the debate

(Image: “Prepping the debate,” by Leigh Blackall, on Flickr under Creative Commons.)

 

In the end, I was disappointed that the smaller-party candidates had not crossed the threshold of making it onto the debate stage. That might have been more entertaining, and almost certainly more enlightening.

It is easier, of course, to talk about playing the game than it is to play the game: to analyze the debate afterward than to participate in it in real time. It may be that if I had the chance to debate I would not have fared any better. Then again … I think if I had a team of people to help prepare me and quiz me, I would be able to hold my own.

Put me in, Coach. I’d love to take a swing at it.

___
P.S. I’m the Anti-Candidate, and I approved this blog post.

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