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Nth Doctor posted:Time Enough for Love is part of the Lazarus Long books (to which the immensely hosed up To Sail Beyond the Sunset is related I will always appreciate Heinlein's most hosed up sexual work wherein a teenage girl in an orphanage is impregnated by an older man, gives birth to a baby, is then given gender reassignment surgery turning her into a man, has her baby stolen and left in an orphanage by a time cop, then travels back in time with the help of a time cop to find the man who did this to her and sleeps with her teenage self, returns to the present and becomes a time cop, and then orchestrates this entire hosed up time loop for eternity its a shame it has a good title too
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Feb 11, 2021 15:16
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Ok Comboomer posted:our media has a vested interest in not ever legitimizing the economic concerns of people whose material circumstances and lived/learned experiences push them leftward. there are no unjust systems, merely unjust situations, and the only proper and just way to win there is in the arena of capitalism. Likewise our media has a vested interest in holding up the status quo and the beliefs and practices of our elders, as well as appealing to/subtly justifying and forgiving the white supremacy that underlies the self-identity of Americans. So, perversely, unjust systems (or at least big unjust situations) can exist in that context, as they allow bigotry to be easily blamed on a higher, unaccountable power and quickly forgotten about. This doesn't make sense at all. The article that prompted this whole economic anxiety bit was very specifically about the economic concerns of the people who attacked the capitol. The media is perfectly fine with talking about their financial burdens without the slightest prompting and without being judgmental in the way that they would with someone facing financial troubles for stuff other than tax evasion. These are small business owners who are definitionally bourgeoise and other people with the economic wherewithal to get over $20,000 in unsecured credit from lenders or fail to pay $40,000 or more in taxes. This is not working class in any meaningful sense. The reason that economic anxiety is such a punchline is this constant too-clever analysis that's motivated by proving "the libs" wrong without concerns about where it leads or how it gets there. It goes back to what I was saying in a previous post: The midcentury labor model was built from the ground up around racial inequality and the civil rights movement fought to upend that system in favor of one that is far more equal even if it hasn't achieved the ideal. "The libs" ultimately sided with the civil rights movement, that is what drives the right wing rage at them and the "economically anxious" are explicit that's why.
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Feb 11, 2021 15:22
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Xand_Man posted:This is sexist but also really funny The first Foundation novel is so turbo sexist in a corny 1950s way it turns around to being perversely funny. Like "distract women by giving them jewelry that glows because it's atomic powered" level stuff. The sequels do a hard pivot away from that to be fair, but still have the thing where there is like 1 named female character for every 24 dudes or whatever.
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Feb 11, 2021 15:24
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One thing I noticed in the Honorverse novels is that the bad guys are based on the planet Mesa. They're literally Mesans/Masons, which I didn't catch until it started talking about how influential young Mesans had started forming "Lodges." I still liked the series, and I really like the Safehold series. 
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Feb 11, 2021 15:24
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Ratzap posted:Altered Carbon is sci fi revolution - pretty gruesome though so not for the squeamish. I wouldn't describe it this way. Maybe the followups get revolutionary, but Altered Carbon is just power fantasy with cyberpunk and noir window dressing. It's not even revolutionary in its central conceit since digital immortality has been a thing since at least Rudy Rucker's Software. If you want some sci fi about revolution in a similar cyberpunk vein to Altered Carbon, try Bruce Sterling's Islands in the Net, Pat Cadigan's Synners, or Walter Jon Williams' Hardwired.
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Feb 11, 2021 15:24
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Ghost Leviathan posted:It's all pretty glorifying militarism and has a lot of anti-socialist screeds about how the bad guys are spending all their money on welfare instead of battleships, and also the protagonist is exploiting her own government to get rich at their expense in the middle of a war. It's more lovely libertarian than fascist but that's an almost academic distinction, I imagine they threw in some space fascists at the end to deflect criticism of the horrible politics. Archonex posted:I thought that series had the ultimate big bad be a bunch of aristocratic space fascists later on? Nah, those are actually Space Transhumanists. Their entire thing is they want to make a transhumanistic space empire and have been working for it all this time and their space fascism is to just throw people off because for some reason people think of slavery as less bad than generic engineering. Of course they also genetically engineer slaves. They have no aristocracy. They have a secret dictatorship. They pretend to be defeated in the final books and run off to prepare for their return. The actual final bad guys of the series is the Solarian League which was originally just a plot device to explain why the bad guys weren't just using kinetic death strikes on the good guys or vice versa (because if you did the Solarian League which is a Space UN that consists of 90% of humanity would annihilate you) to preserve the Space Age Of Sail setting. Then the author forgot this fact and just turned them into the next big villain who despite having been introduced as a super-advanced powerhouse turned out to be such a paper tiger that their technology is decades behind everyone else (despite the early books having a plot point that the original bad guys Haven were only keeping up with the heroes technologically because the SL was selling them their 10th-rate hand-me-downs) and their actual fleet is centuries old and smaller than the Heroic Alliance fleet. The Heroic Monarchist Heroes easily kick it over in the final 'battles' where the Plucky Little Empire and their allies casually defeat 90% of humanity without any real casualties and force them to rewrite their Constitution to spread Freedom to the Universe.  By the way this is the cover for the last book in the series. That's the book series 'protagonist'.
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Feb 11, 2021 15:26
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I think that if you are looking at the events of the day rationally you have to conclude that at least some of the reps and senators in the sedition caucus were at the very least, 'working toward hitler'. Trump had been telling them to delay and prolong the event as long as they could. The only reason for this would be to give the insurrectionists more time to get to them on the first day or some kind of hail mary play on the second day. Considering that Giuliani was apparently telling Tuberville that he had to delay until the evening on the 7th tells me that Trump's coup had a second phase that they were hoping to get moving, or put together on the spur of the moment, but something was in the works.
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Feb 11, 2021 15:27
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God drat that Gorka interview pisses me off. That even a combative interviewer would just let his "Antifa murdered 40 people" slide without challenge, I mean that is a hell of a claim to just let settle into accepted fact
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Feb 11, 2021 15:30
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https://twitter.com/JStein_WaPo/status/1359868586844688390 But what of the West Wing wonks and their oped reading habits
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Feb 11, 2021 15:35
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Kchama posted:
Fly, Penis Fleet, fly!
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Feb 11, 2021 15:35
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Thom12255 posted:This makes zero sense to me? Even if no one did any objections to the electors from any states it would've still taken like 3 hours to get through the whole thing. Yeah, ironically without Republican objections forcing them into seperate chambers father away it would have been a lot harder to evacuate
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Feb 11, 2021 15:36
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sean10mm posted:The first Foundation novel is so turbo sexist in a corny 1950s way it turns around to being perversely funny. Like "distract women by giving them jewelry that glows because it's atomic powered" level stuff. I still remember the throwaway bit from Foundation that the Foundation invented cigarettes that don't cause cancer because 1) nice little aside on the idea of harm-reduction, 2) holy poo poo how much free cognitive surplus do you have for that to be a thing you spend personnel on and 3) the very serious 1950s space-dads of the Foundation are all vaping
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Feb 11, 2021 15:36
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Was there anything more to the stories of alarm buttons being removed from offices in the days before the attack? That and the stories of congressional aides giving tours to the attackers could go either way for me: memory is notoriously unreliable and there could be perfectly reasonable explanations for all of it, but both of those things seem like extremely important details to follow up on.
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Feb 11, 2021 15:36
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Alkydere posted:-Stranger in a Strange Land which came across as overly horny even to my teen self with the whole "Okay so the obvious self-insert character insert has this convenient harem of secretaries, workers, and concubines around him and I'm supposed to take it seriously?" Don't forget: (1) Being in an enlightened hippie libertarian sex cult makes you hot! Your hardbodied ohsosexyohgod (nohomo nohomo nohomo) adonis cult leader never has to gently caress saggy titties because middle-aged women magically get perky breasts upon joining, only bad unenlightened people can be ugly. (2) Did I mention nohomo? Well, nohomo! You don't have to worry about another dude macking on you at the libertarian orgies because our virile heartpounding young Greek God with the tempting come-gently caress-me mouth that makes me feel all funny inside can instantly divine a homosexual by sensing his twisted homo soul and reject him from the cult up front, which is why I would definitely get in because I'm totally not gay for his rippling chest and washboard abs and alluring forbidden bulge and he would instantly recognize me as a fellow not-gay and let me watch him pound all those women while I would definitely not be wishing it were me taking his hefty manhood. I won't even admit to myself how bad I want the man-sex until several novels from now.
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Feb 11, 2021 15:37
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I thought William Gibson was pretty accurate in his predictions about corporate hegemony.
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Feb 11, 2021 15:40
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I just remember being really bored by Stranger in a Strange Land and not finishing it. I apparently missed out on a bunch of sex scenes.
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Feb 11, 2021 15:40
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To continue the sci-fi derail: Is there anything particularly problematic about Clarke or Baxter, as far as sci fi authors go?
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Feb 11, 2021 15:40
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GlyphGryph posted:To continue the sci-fi derail: Is there anything particularly problematic about Clarke or Baxter, as far as sci fi authors go? Arthur C Clarke? Yes. Just leave it at that.
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Feb 11, 2021 15:41
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hooman posted:When I was in my early 20's I read starship troopers and quite enjoyed the book (fairly oblivious to the fascist overtones, it was just a fun space story about a weird military future to young me). I went, hey this Heinlein guy seems like a good author, I should read some of his other works. So I read "The moon is a harsh mistress" and made the decision to never read another Heinlein novel again. I'll defend Starship Troopers just a tiny bit. The book is an exploration of the concept of what does a society do when faced with an existential threat that requires complete militarization? This is echoing the mobilization that the US wen't through in WWII that Heinlein was a part of but taken to the next level. That story, by it's nature, is going to have fascist overtones no matter how you tell it. Like other uncomfortable subjects, and regardless of the authors intent, it's a subject that should be considered before it's a necessity and some awareness to at least the issues and problems that are presented be considered. Which, frankly, is what good sci-fi does. Whether it's Asimov's foundation series with it's look at controlling populations through mass-psychology or Phillip K. Dick examining the morality of servitude of artificial intelligences in "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" or these types of discussions are easiest to frame and discuss in the realm of sci-fi because when done well it requires no investment by the reader to identify with a particular group and pick a side based on emotions involved with identity. These people are not us, they don't live here, their problems are not our problems. Yes, even Heinlein's later explorations of gender identity and sexuality in books like A Stranger in a Strange Land serve this purpose. edit: That doesn't mean you have to like them. Just that the subjects and stories themselves are not fundamentally 'wrong' Murgos fucked around with this message at 15:46 on Feb 11, 2021 |
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Feb 11, 2021 15:41
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FizFashizzle posted:Arthur C Clarke? Oh nooooo. Any particular works I should avoid if I want to maintain my ignorance as to the details?
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Feb 11, 2021 15:45
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OJ MIST 2 THE DICK posted:I will always appreciate Heinlein's most hosed up sexual work wherein  What in the actual gently caress Just loving what. How did anyone publish that?! 
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Feb 11, 2021 15:46
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Oracle posted:Americans do not consume media to think, they consume media to be entertained. Especially if that media is in the form of a summer blockbuster. Making them think when all they wanted was a good popcorn flick will just alienate the audience. This is a great point. Big budget movies and TV shows are effectively a form of escapism more often than not. What made John Wick so wildly successful is it didn't ask you to do any critical reasoning - it's a fun shoot 'em up with solid stunts and a protagonist most people can empathize with. It's 2 hours of not worrying about work, bills, etc. and that's great. Besides, if anyone here wants to watch a movie that really makes you think about capitalism, wealth inequality, racism, etc. go watch Sorry To Bother You. That and The Guest are two of my favorite movies to suggest to an audience if they've never seen one or the other. Edit: And if you haven't seen them, do not read a synopsis beforehand. It's a lot more fun going in blind.
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Feb 11, 2021 15:49
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GlyphGryph posted:Oh nooooo. Don't look into why he spent the end of his life in Sri Lanka.
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Feb 11, 2021 15:52
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TulliusCicero posted:
Not just that, but they turned it into a (surprisingly not bad) Ethan Hawke movie co-starring Shiv from Succession.
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Feb 11, 2021 15:53
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mango sentinel posted:Don't look into why he spent the end of his life in Sri Lanka. Don't even have to look it up since it's the same reason every wealthy White guy moves to a poorer Asian country.
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Feb 11, 2021 15:54
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TulliusCicero posted:
It even got made into a theatrical film 
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Feb 11, 2021 15:55
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Oh hey, it's the stereotypical evil-fascist antagonist. quote:By the way this is the cover for the last book in the series. That's the book series 'protagonist'. 
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Feb 11, 2021 15:55
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TulliusCicero posted:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0xnx1Q3Kqo
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Feb 11, 2021 15:56
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https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/1359682315228762113?s=21
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Feb 11, 2021 15:56
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It's obvious what really happened. The video evidence was just deleted in a freak coincidence after. 
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Feb 11, 2021 15:58
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mango sentinel posted:Don't look into why he spent the end of his life in Sri Lanka. I just see a retracted rumor? I didn't know he was gay and unfounded accusations of gay men being pederasts are common enough that I'd take those claims with a grain of salt Xand_Man fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Feb 11, 2021 |
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Feb 11, 2021 16:01
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Xand_Man posted:I just see a retracted rumor? [I didn't know he was gay and unfounded accusations of gay men being pederasts are common enough that I'd take those claims with a grain of salt I'd like to think Michael Moorcock wouldn't be vouching for the guy if the guy was a known pederast, but maybe I'm naive and don't know enough about Moorcock.
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Feb 11, 2021 16:05
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OJ MIST 2 THE DICK posted:I will always appreciate Heinlein's most hosed up sexual work wherein I just looked this up on Wikipedia out of morbid curiosity and now I'm just mad. What the hell is the supposed point of this story? Like... some halfass causality mental exercise or something like that?
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Feb 11, 2021 16:08
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https://twitter.com/JessReports/status/1359872350834073605?s=20
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Feb 11, 2021 16:09
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Groovelord Neato posted:Don't even have to look it up since it's the same reason every wealthy White guy moves to a poorer Asian country. That you, Elon?
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Feb 11, 2021 16:11
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Xand_Man posted:This is sexist but also really funny The joke taken straight is too stale to be funny to me regardless, even for the 40s. There is a very funny metajoke in there that the author is too sexist to even imagine a fantasy robot assassin being effective if it has boobs. A better author could have made the in-universe joke that the designers of the robot assassin were so sexist that its robot boobs rendered them incapable of succeeding, but alas.
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Feb 11, 2021 16:11
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KillHour posted:Oh hey, it's the stereotypical evil-fascist antagonist. The final books are filled with scenes where Heroic Imperials literally sneer at the Hapless Stupid Sollies mocking them for not realizing that they're all going to die soon, including one guy who tells his Solarian business partner who is being forced to evacuate due to the incoming war, that he's probably going to join the military soon and implicitly probably come and kill her. The war is brewing because a Solarian League ship blew up a Manticorean ship because stealth bombers blew up a civilian ship near the Manticorean ship so the SL ship returned fire at what they thought was the obvious culprit. This led to Manticore demanding to be given over the entire fleet in question and 'investigate' (execute) them. The SL refuse. Also the Heroic Imperials ring up the top dog of the Solarian League who tries to sue for peace since they don't really want to fight over something like that and the diplomat bares his in a sneer and stare with cold steely sapphire eyes and tells them that Manticore is coming for them and doesn't want peace. Also Manticore knows that this is all part of a plan for the Evil Transhumanists to take over the Solarian League and in fact defeating the SL plays right into that and yet they're doing it anyways as they basically want to take over the SL first. The Heroes of Freedom, folks.
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Feb 11, 2021 16:13
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I'll recommend Greg Egan's Orthogonal-trilogy. What would the universe be like if time and space were fully symmetric? Also the gender politics of an amorphous shapeshifting blob species. Pretty heavy on physics nerdery on account of the former.
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Feb 11, 2021 16:16
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GlyphGryph posted:Oh nooooo. There's a bunch of weird stories in a collection somewhere that's basically a guy bullshitting in a bar so other patrons will buy him drinks that always end with some variation of "I best get home before my wife gets mad enough to castrate me". Also there's a story about a woman being defenestrated multiple times or something that I think was supposed to be comedy but was horrifying. Tales from the White Hart?
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Feb 11, 2021 16:17
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Antifa Turkeesian posted:Was there anything more to the stories of alarm buttons being removed from offices in the days before the attack? It looks like not, for this one. It only happened to Aryanna Pressley, not in general, and it seems to have been a mixup by the Architect of the Capitol. Congressional offices have alarm/panic buttons, but they tend to be removed when an office is empty or they're moving furniture in and out, because its easy to hit them by mistake when you're doing that. When Katie Hill resigned, Pressley moved into her office, and it looks like the office of the Architect of the Capitol was working off a bad list that didn't reflect the office change, so they took the alarms out of what they thought was Hill's office (so that when it got assigned to somebody, they could move in), but was really Pressley's. It's not a complete explanation and raises other questions, which the Capital Police are still investigating (like, how come they didn't notify the office staff? If they did, how come the office staff didn't ask questions? Did they not notice the buttons were gone?), but it seems like a mistake and not something nefarious.
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Feb 11, 2021 16:17
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