Biden’s Education Department Gives Unions ‘Concierge-Like Service’

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Biden’s Education Department Gives Unions ‘Concierge-Like Service’

(Tom Gantert, The Center Square) Public school unions receive “concierge-like service” from President Joe Biden’s Department of Education while parents get “vastly inequitable treatment,” according to a federal watchdog group.

Protect The Public’s Trust released a report Tuesday on the U.S. Department of Education and their “constant contact” with the two largest teachers’ unions in the country – the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers.

The report included documents received in a Freedom of Information Act request that detailed the relationship between union officials and high-level Department of Education administrators. The emails revealed that Department of Education administrators talked with union officials as much as twice per week.

“These documents reveal what everyone already knew, that the teachers’ unions are driving the Department of Education bus,” Michael Chamberlain, director of Protect the Public’s Trust, said in a news release. “While the unions could not have received better access had they had an office in the building, the Department completely botched an attempt to create a parent advisory group. The sad reality is that parents may be spending more time discussing education policy with FBI agents monitoring their discussions at school board meetings than with the Department of Education.”

In June 2022, the U.S. Department of Education formed the National Parents and Families Engagement Council to help with recovering from the pandemic. However, the U.S. Department of Education disbanded the parents’ council after organizations filed a lawsuit claiming the National Parents and Families Engagement Council was not “fairly balanced in terms of the points of view.”

The NEA and AFT and the U.S. Department of Education did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Protect The Public’s Trust report produced emails that highlighted the access the unions received from a top U.S. Department of Education official.

Acting Assistant Deputy Secretary Montserrat Garibay, who was the secretary-treasurer of the Texas AFL-CIO before joining the U.S. Department of Education, sent an April 2021 email to two NEA employees thanking them for meeting with her twice a week. At the time, Garibay was the senior advisor for Labor Relations with the U.S. Department of Education.

In a July 2021 email, Garibay reached out to the AFT to schedule a “monthly” meeting with AFT president Randi Weingarten.

AFT administrator Shital Shal sent Garibay a March 2021 email containing the National Labor Management Partnership’s policy recommendations with the subject line “thank you!”

“Finally, thank you so much for listening to my ramblings about lifting up youth voice and strategic partnerships around various issues,” Shal told Garibay in the email.

The role of parents in education has become a national issue.

In 2021, the National School Boards Association sent a letter to President Joe Biden comparing “acts of malice, violence and threats” by parents during school board meetings to domestic terrorism.

In 2021, then Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said during a debate, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”

In 2022, the Michigan Democratic Party questioned the role of parents in education in a Facebook post.

“Not sure where this ‘parents-should-control-what-is-taught-in-schools-because-they-are-our-kids’ is originating, but parents do have the option to choose to send their kids to a hand-selected private school at their own expense if this is what they desire,” read the post. “The purpose of a public education in a public schools is not to teach kids only what parents want them to be taught. It is to teach them what society needs them to know. The client of the public schools is not the parent, but the entire community, the public.”

The Michigan Democratic Party removed that post.

“We have deleted a post that ignored the important role parents play – and should play – in Michigan public schools,” the Michigan Dems wrote. “Parents need to have a say in their children’s education, end of story. The post does not reflect the views of Michigan Democrats and should not be misinterpreted as a statement of support from our elected officials or candidates.”

Advocacy Groups Clash over Colorado Coach Deion Sanders’ Prayers

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Advocacy Groups Clash over Colorado Coach Deion Sanders’ Prayers

(Joe Mueller, The Center Square) The University of Colorado’s legal department is reviewing a letter that’s part of a war of words between two advocacy groups clashing over the Christian prayers of football coach Deion Sanders.

The First Liberty Institute, which advocates for religious freedom, sent a letter and demands to the university on Tuesday in response to a January letter and demands from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

“As we’ve just recently received it, our legal department is reviewing, and we don’t have comment at this time,” Steve Hurlbert, director of communications and chief spokesperson at the University of Colorado Boulder, wrote in an email to The Center Square.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote Phil DiStefano, chancellor of the university, in January about concerns with Sanders’ “promotion of religion and potential religious coercion through the football program.”

Sanders, 55, was hired by the university in December after he led Jackson State, a historically black university, to a 12-1 record in 2022. Colorado was 1-11 last season.

The letter, signed by staff attorney Christopher Line, stated many concerned Coloradans complained to the organization, which states on its website it promotes “the constitutional principle of separation of state and church” and educates the public “on matters relating to nontheism.”

The three-page letter requested Sanders be “educated as to his constitutional duties under the Establishment Clause” and also send notification in writing of the actions the university is taking to ensure Sanders “will not continue to proselytize to his players or subject them to coercive team prayers.”

On Jan. 31, Patrick O’Rourke, the university’s executive vice chancellor, wrote to Line and stated the university is committed to non-discrimination.

“Last Friday, the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance personally met with Coach Sanders to provide guidance on the non-discrimination policies, including guidance on the boundaries in which players and coaches may and may not engage in religious expression,” O’Rourke wrote. “Coach Sanders was very receptive to this training and came away from it with a better understanding of the University of Colorado’s policies and the requirements of the Establishment Clause.”

On Tuesday, the First Liberty Institute wrote a six-page letter to DiStefano claiming “recent unconstitutional censorship” of Sanders’ religious expression at the university.

The institute represented Joe Kennedy after he lost his job as a high school football coach in Washington state for kneeling and praying with players at midfield after games. In a 6-3 decision last year, the U.S. Supreme Court found the Bremerton School District violated Kennedy’s constitutional rights. O’Rourke mentioned Kennedy’s U.S. Supreme Court case in his letter to Line.

“We write to correct the Freedom from Religion Foundation’s (FFRF’s) misstatements regarding the requirements imposed by the First Amendment on public school employees’ religious expression,” the letter, signed by counsel Keisha Russell, stated.

First Liberty Institute sent a Colorado Open Records Act request to the university for any and all communications from July 2022 to the present concerning Sanders, DiStefano, O’Rourke, FFRF’s Line and Athletic Director Rick George.

“Coach Sanders does not lose his constitutional right to free exercise of religion simply because he is an employee at CU,” Russell wrote. “Yet, giving ‘guidance on the boundaries in which players and coaches may and may not engage in religious expression’ presents a risk of state-sponsored censorship of Coach Sanders’ private speech.”

FBI Director Wray Admits COVID Started in Wuhan Lab

Mark Pellin
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FBI Director Wray Admits COVID Started in Wuhan Lab

(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) After years of obfuscation, censorship and disinformation, the truth about the origins of the COVID pandemic are mysteriously and suddenly coming to light, as the Biden regime shifts its approved lab leak theory narrative.

The latest example came from FBI Director Christopher Wray, who during a Tuesday interview with Fox News admitted that the bureau “has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan.” 

“So here you’re talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab that killed millions of Americans. And that’s precisely what that capability was designed for,” Wray said during an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier.

“I should add that our work related to this continues, and there are not a whole lot of details I can share that aren’t classified,” Wray told Fox News. “I will just make the observation that the Chinese government, it seems to me, has been doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate the work here. The work that we’re doing, the work that our U.S. government and close foreign partners are doing. And that’s unfortunate for everybody.”

Wray’s admissions followed the Biden’s Department of Energy coming clean about the Wuhan-origins of COVID resulting from a lab leak.

An American public that had been lied to for years noted how quickly the acceptable, regime-approved narrative had changed.

“And just like that, they all change their tune,” tweeted one commenter. “It’s so frustrating, although it’s obviously designed to be that way.”

“If you even questioned the origin of the virus being a lab leak that was considered a right wing conspiracy theory,” one commenter noted.

Whistleblower Tied to FBI Agent Who Tanked Hunter Biden Investigation Arrested in Cyprus

Mark Pellin
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Whistleblower Tied to FBI Agent Who Tanked Hunter Biden Investigation Arrested in Cyprus

(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) A top adviser to an energy company closely aligned with the Chinese government that paid Hunter Biden millions of dollars dropped a bombshell on his former business partner after being arrested last month in Cyprus.

Gal Luft, a Washington-based think tank director, previously represented CEFC China Energy, which funneled millions of dollars to Hunter Biden to gain influence and access to then-Vice President Joe Biden. CEFC “aligned itself so closely with the Chinese government that it was often hard to distinguish between the two,” according to CNN.

Luft was arrested last month on charges that he illegally sold weapons to China and Lybia, reported the Washington Free Beacon. Luft claimed that the arrest, made under an Interpol Red Notice issued at the request of the United States, was retaliation for providing the FBI with damning information years ago on the Biden clan’s alleged nefarious business dealings.

Luft claimed that the FBI suppressed the information he provided, so now he’s threatening to “name names.”

“I’ve been arrested in Cyprus on a politically motivated extradition request by the US. The US, claiming I’m an arms dealer. It would be funny if it weren’t tragic,” Luft tweeted. “I’ve never been an arms dealer. DOJ is trying to bury me to protect Joe,Jim&Hunter Biden. Shall I name names?”

CEFC donated at least $350,000 to Luft’s think tank and paid Hunter Biden at least $6 million in 2017 to secure business deals in the United States.

Luft hasn’t provided any details about what he has on the Biden family, but the claim of providing information to the FBI in 2019 that was ignored would coincide with special agent Timothy Thibault’s tenure “investigating” Hunter Biden. Thibault was later fired for stalling and trying to derail the investigation for political reasons, in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election.

Any evidence that Luft has could prove another Biden-link to CEFC, which is already receiving close scrutiny. Eric Schwerin, long-time business associate of Hunter Biden and former president of sketchy investment fund Rosemont Seneca Partner, is reportedly cooperating with the House Oversight Committee investigating the Bidens’ foreign business dealings.

Luft’s attorney strongly implied that his client would be following a similar path.

“Dr. Luft is a whistleblower,” Luft’s American attorney Robert Henoch told the Washington Free Beacon, claiming that the Justice Department ignored his client’s information “and are instead targeting him with trumped-up and false charges.”

“This unfortunately appears to be part of an attempt to discredit a witness with critical information about an ongoing congressional and DOJ investigation.”

Luft attorney Mordechai Tzivin made similar claims during an interview with YnetNews.

“The arrest came four years after Luft cooperated with FBI and Department of Justice investigators to help them with information about the case,” he said, referring to a 2019 meeting when Luft allegedly gave incriminating information on the younger Biden.

Tzivin said that Luft’s testimony could “bury Hunter Biden, that’s why they’re trying to bury him first. His testimony will be very devastating, it will divert attention to the president himself as well.”

The Twitterverse offered guidance and warnings for Luft, if he starts to “name names” associated with Biden Inc.

“His name is Gal Luft and I’m just gonna say this now … he didn’t hang himself and he didn’t shoot himself while hanging either,” cautioned one commenter.

Democrat COVID Hypocrisy on Display in First China Committee Meeting

Ken Silva
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Democrat COVID Hypocrisy on Display in First China Committee Meeting

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) At Tuesday’s inaugural hearing of the special House committee dedicated to countering China, human rights activist Tong Yi denounced the oppressive COVID-19 lockdowns perpetrated last year by the Chinese Communist Party.

“In late November of last year, students and others in several large cities gathered … to protest lockdowns that Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policy imposed on millions of people,” Yi said, wondering how “one muddle-headed dictator could impose so much harm.”

After her speech, Democrats on the committee expressed support for Yi, with Rep. John Torres, D-N.Y., asking whether President Xi is willfully sacrificing economic growth in his quest to centralize his power.

But what Democrats didn’t mention was that the CCP lockdowns denounced by Yi are some of the same policies supported by their party, as well as some Republicans, in the first two-plus years of the pandemic.

While lockdowns in the U.S. weren’t as long or as extreme as in China, they did entail business shutdowns, stay-at-home orders, park closures and a variety of mandates.

When Americans opposed these mandates, they were demonized by the Democrat-friendly media as “Anti-Vaxxers” and “Neo-Nazis”—as the New York Times deemed them in 2020.

CNN also published an open letter in 2020 from “over 1,000 health professionals,” who denounced anti-lockdown protests as “rooted in white nationalism”—while at the same time admiring “China’s Covid success compared to Europe.”

Moreover, Canada did have CCP-like restrictions that were supported by the U.S., which helped Justin Trudeau crush anti-lockdown protests.

Even amidst the anti-lockdowns in China last year, Democrat patron saint Dr. Anthony Fauci justified lockdowns to enforce vaccine mandates.

“When you want to shut down in order to interrupt immediately the spread of an infection, there should be a purpose to it—like, if you want to make sure you get enough ventilators or PPE or you want to get your population vaccinated,” Fauci said on CNN last November. “You have to have an end game. You have to have a purpose. If the purpose is to get all the people vaccinated, particularly the elderly, then OK.”

Instead of addressing their own failings, Democrats promised to join Republicans in their effort to get tough on China.

The committee’s chairman, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., urged his Democrat colleagues to get on board.

“Time is not on our side. Just because this Congress is divided, we cannot afford to waste the next two years lingering in legislative limbo or pandering for the press,” he said. “We must act with a sense of urgency.”

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

GOP Bigwigs Snubbing CPAC as Event Nears, Schlapp Scandal Lingers

Joshua Paladino
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GOP Bigwigs Snubbing CPAC as Event Nears, Schlapp Scandal Lingers

(Joshua Paladino, Headline USA) Two likely presidential candidates and other high-ranking Republicans will not attend CPAC in Maryland next week after a male Herschel Walker staffer accused American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp of sexual assault, NBC News reported.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence both decided not to attend CPAC, which the ACU has hosted since 1974, though they did not publicly cite the accusation against Schlapp as their reason for missing it.

Former President Donald Trump, and the leading contender for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, will speak at CPAC on Saturday.

The former Walker staffer, who remains anonymous in the lawsuit, sued Schlapp for sexual battery and for disparaging his character, and he seeks a $9.4 million settlement. The court filing gives details about the case in fewer than 20 pages.

Schlapp denied the allegations.

“The Schlapp family is suffering unbearable pain and stress due to the false allegation from an anonymous individual,” said lawyer Charlie Spies. “No family should ever go through this and the Schlapps and their legal team are assessing counter-lawsuit options.”

Other prominent Republicans will skip CPAC, too, including: Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

DeSantis will attend fundraisers in California and Texas instead of speaking at CPAC.

An anonymous source who claimed to have knowledge about Pence’s decision to skip the event said that there has “been a distance between the two entities for a few years now… Principles and values no longer align.”

The lawsuit against Schlapp did not make the decision for these Republicans, but it gave them an additional reason to avoid CPAC.

The same person close to Pence said Republicans “are increasing their distance because of that, because of those allegations.”

Another anonymous Republican operative relayed the general tone of Republicans: “Someone said to me, ‘We all wanted an excuse not to go, and Schlapp gave it to us,’” the operative said.

Biden Taps COVID-Fraud Enabler for Labor Secretary

Adrienne Ferguson
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Biden Taps COVID-Fraud Enabler for Labor Secretary

(Adrienne Ferguson, Headline USA) With his administration already under fire for mishandling billions of dollars worth of COVID relief funds, President Joe Biden on Tuesday tapped Julie Su to succeed Marty Walsh as Labor Secretary. Su oversaw massive pandemic relief fraud under her watch while serving as a top official in California.

Su served as the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency’s secretary before taking over as Walsh’s deputy secretary of labor in July 2021, reported the Daily Wire.

“It is my honor to nominate Julie Su to be our country’s next Secretary of Labor,” Biden said in a statement. “Over several decades, Julie has led the largest state labor department in the nation, cracked down on wage theft, fought to protect trafficked workers, increased the minimum wage, created good-paying, high-quality jobs, and established and enforced workplace safety standards.”

If Su is confirmed by the Senate, she will become the first Asian American to serve in the Biden administration’s Cabinet, which has given itself huge kudos for being history’s most diverse, if not most effective.

Su previously faced scrutiny for indirectly managing the California Employment Development Department, which handled $114 billion in pandemic relief claims, and found that 10% of those claims involved fraud. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, since an extra 17% of the benefit payments were made to accounts that were frozen during an investigation, the total amount of fraud may have exceeded $31 billion.

According to a report from the Government Accountability Office, fraudsters may have actually stolen up to $60 billion from the various federal unemployment programs established by stimulus legislation passed during the lockdown period. According to other estimates, fraud eventually cost the federal government $400 billion, or 50%, of the unemployment benefits that were authorized.

Su’s appointment would take place as some lawmakers demand answers over the widespread abuses of COVID stimulus money. Over the past two years, House Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee have repeatedly asked for hearings to look into the fraud; Democrats have routinely denied the requests, the lawmakers claim.

“There is no sugarcoating the reality. California has not had sufficient security measures in place to prevent this level of fraud, and criminals took advantage of the situation,” Su told the Los Angeles Times.

‘Hogwarts Legacy’ Video Game a Huge Hit Despite Activists’ Protests

Dmytro "Henry" Aleksandrov
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‘Hogwarts Legacy’ Video Game a Huge Hit Despite Activists’ Protests

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) The recently released Harry Potter-themed video game, Hogwarts Legacy, has become a massive hit despite protests and boycotts from J. K. Rowling-haters.

In the first two weeks of its debut, the action role-playing game that was developed by Avalanche Software sold more than 12 million copies, earning more than $850 million in sales, which makes it the biggest global launch in Warner Bros. Games history and one of the fastest-selling video games of all time, according to the Daily Wire.

Before the game was even released, so-called “trans” activists decided to boycott it because they didn’t want to give even a penny to the creator of the Harry Potter universe.

J. K. Rowling recently became a target of leftists all around the world for questioning the trans agenda and accusing activists of ignoring the rights of women, thus proving that leftists will throw anyone under the bus for even slightly not aligning with their ideology.

Even though Avalanche Software started working on the game way before leftists started screeching about Rowling, the developers still tried to distance themselves from the creator of the fictional world.

“J.K. Rowling was not involved in the creation of the game,” the FAQ page on the game’s official site said.

The Daily Wire also reported that the developers bowed to the “trans” mob by including a “trans-identifying character” who says “I was actually a witch, not a wizard” in the game.

Not surprisingly, bending the knee is not enough for the woke radicals.

“Hogwarts Legacy cannot and should not be judged solely on its own merits, because the end result of supporting this game financially and socially isn’t simply a matter of how much you’ll enjoy it, or how nostalgic it might be to experience the world of Harry Potter,” Percy Ranson, a GamesHub reviewer and a self-identified “transgender,” wrote about the game.

“If you purchase this game — if you praise its qualities and encourage others to ‘support the developers’ or ‘treat yourself to a guilty pleasure’ — you are making a choice that will harm the transgender community, whether you want to admit it or not,” he added.

Supreme Court Justices Raise Concerns about Biden’s Ability to Forgive Student Debt

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Supreme Court Justices Raise Concerns about Biden’s Ability to Forgive Student Debt

(Casey Harper, The Center Square) The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in a legal challenge to President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt.

Biden announced in August of last year that his administration would “forgive” $10,000 in federal student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 per year or $250,000 for married couples. Debtors who borrowed money before July 1 can qualify.

For Pell Grant recipients, the debt reduction would total $20,000. The U.S. Congressional Budget Office estimated that the plan would cost taxpayers roughly $400 billion.

The Biden administration argued that the administration has the legal authority to cancel the debt. Justices poked back at that claim, asking whether Congress’ HEROES ACT, which allowed the federal government to delay debt collection because of national emergencies, really grants power to cancel that debt.

Justices pointed out that the law does not explicitly allow for the waiving of student debt in this way, but the Biden administration argued that forgiving the student debt was still in line with the purpose of the bill.

The Biden administration has paused student loan repayment until the Supreme Court rules on this case, expected by June and no later than July.

“Today, my Administration argues our case for student debt relief in the Supreme Court,” Biden said in a statement. “This relief is critical to over 40 million Americans as they recover from the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. We’re confident it’s legal. And we’re fighting for it in court.”

A poll from August 2022 found Americans are concerned that forgiving the student loan debt will hike inflation.

A CNBC/Momentive survey found that 59% of those surveyed said they are concerned forgiving the debt will make inflation worse.

“Republicans are especially concerned: 81% of Republicans say student loan forgiveness will make inflation worse, nearly double the number of Democrats who say the same (41%),” Momentive said.

Senate Panel Schedules Norfolk Southern Subpoena

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Senate Panel Schedules Norfolk Southern Subpoena

(Christen Smith, The Center Square) A Pennsylvania Senate panel will gather Wednesday to consider subpoenaing Norfolk Southern after its chief executive officer ignored an invitation to testify about the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment.

The vote would come one week after the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee heard from local residents living on both sides of the Ohio-Pennsylvania border about how their lives changed after Norfolk Southern completed a controlled burn of five train cars carrying vinyl chloride Feb. 6.

People in attendance at the Beaver County meeting complained of skin rashes, respiratory issues, headaches, a chemical smell in the air and anxiety over how the health of their families could be affected in the future, The Center Square previously reported.

Alan Shaw, the railroad’s CEO, declined to participate given Gov. Josh Shapiro’s pending inquiry into the emergency cleanup effort that unfolded after the train derailed on Feb. 3. The governor accused Norfolk Southern of ignoring best practices and prioritizing speed over safety to reopen the rail line faster.

State and local officials also told the committee Norfolk Southern’s cagey response plan left them in the dark about its “controlled release” plan – a term at least one testifier described as a corporate spin word meant to deflect from their decision to “drain all the cars and light them on fire in a ditch.’”

A Norfolk Southern spokeswoman told The Center Square the company remains committed to supporting residents affected by the derailment. But, Shaw’s absence at several public meetings and town halls in western Pennsylvania leave many residents feeling abandoned.

On Tuesday, the Shapiro administration said a clinic will open in Darlington, in northwestern Beaver County, to treat health problems arising from the accident.

Committee Chairman Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Chambersburg, applauded the announcement in a statement released Tuesday, but said it shouldn’t have taken so long.

“I can’t help but ask why Ohio was able to open a clinic for its residents so much faster than Pennsylvania,” he said. “The delayed response to help Pennsylvanians has a long way to go.”

He added the residents still need filtered watered in enough quantities for their animals, too.

“Local residents began reporting health concerns within days following the train wreck, but it has taken nearly a month to meet their needs,” he said. “These people needed and deserved help sooner than this.”

The Shapiro administration said Monday the state Department of Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began door-to-door visits on Sunday to administer chemical exposure surveys that will delve into symptoms, experiences and concerns. The outreach will begin with residents evacuated within the 1-mile radius of the derailment.

The Department of Environmental Protection will also perform its water sampling to monitor ongoing contamination risks.

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