Salon.com > Katie Mcdonough http://www.salon.com Tue, 02 Jul 2013 14:45:29 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Five states see new antiabortion laws go into effect http://www.salon.com/2013/07/02/five_states_see_new_antiabortion_laws_go_into_effect/ http://www.salon.com/2013/07/02/five_states_see_new_antiabortion_laws_go_into_effect/#comments Tue, 02 Jul 2013 13:32:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13349492 All eyes are on Texas right now as a sweeping abortion ban gets another shot at becoming law during a second special legislative session. And Ohio Gov. John Kasich made headlines Sunday night after signing his state's controversial budget, and approving all five of the antiabortion amendments state conservatives loaded into the bill.

But that's just new legislation. As ABC News reports, around the country, several laws to restrict abortion went into effect this week, creating new barriers to access for women in five states.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/07/02/five_states_see_new_antiabortion_laws_go_into_effect/feed/ 2 Six amazing signs from the “Stand with Texas Women” rally http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/six_amazing_signs_from_the_stand_with_texas_women_rally/ http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/six_amazing_signs_from_the_stand_with_texas_women_rally/#comments Mon, 01 Jul 2013 22:53:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13348084 While the first day of Texas' special legislative session lasted all of 30 minutes, the massive reproductive rights demonstration outside the Capitol building on Monday started early and extended well into the afternoon.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered to voice their opposition to the proposed abortion ban, many choosing to do so with a little levity.

A roundup of the best signs of the day:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/six_amazing_signs_from_the_stand_with_texas_women_rally/feed/ 4 Edward Snowden releases statement from Moscow http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/edward_snowden_releases_statement_from_moscow/ http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/edward_snowden_releases_statement_from_moscow/#comments Mon, 01 Jul 2013 22:26:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13348221 Edward Snowden released a statement on Monday, his first in the eight days since he arrived in Russia. In it, he says that he is "unbowed" in his convictions and goes on to denounce the Obama administration for efforts to "pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions."

The statement in full:

One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.

On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic "wheeling and dealing" over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.

This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.

For decades the United States of America have been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.

In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.

I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many.

Edward Joseph Snowden

Monday 1st July 2013

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/edward_snowden_releases_statement_from_moscow/feed/ 25 Texas Senate meets, promptly votes to recess until July 9 http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/texas_senate_meets_promptly_votes_to_recess_until_july_9/ http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/texas_senate_meets_promptly_votes_to_recess_until_july_9/#comments Mon, 01 Jul 2013 19:56:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13347789 The reproductive rights demonstration outside the Texas Capitol on Monday seems to have lasted longer than the actual legislative session it was intended to bolster. After taking a roll call and discussing official time-keeping methods, the Texas Senate voted to recess until July 9 at 11 a.m.

According to a report from the Associated Press, the Senate gallery was "full but calm" during the lightning-fast meeting.

Republicans have vowed to use the special legislative session to pass the restrictive abortion ban that state Sen. Wendy Davis and her Democratic colleagues defeated with a marathon filibuster last week, but that certainly didn't happen today.

Updated: 4:18 p.m.

The House is also adjourned until next week, but there will be a committee meeting held tomorrow.

 

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/texas_senate_meets_promptly_votes_to_recess_until_july_9/feed/ 10 Erick Erickson, Internet comedian, jokes about reproductive rights http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/erick_erickson_internet_comedian_jokes_about_reproductive_rights/ http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/erick_erickson_internet_comedian_jokes_about_reproductive_rights/#comments Mon, 01 Jul 2013 19:43:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13347727 I know it's hard to believe, what with all of his talk about female breadwinners being "anti-science" and his fixation on the "panties" of "emo lefties,"  but Erick Erickson is not a professional Internet comedian. He is a conservative pundit who gets paid money to share his ideas (about emo panties) on television and radio.

On Monday, Erickson posted a photo from the reproductive rights rally happening outside the Texas Capitol in advance of the legislature's special session, and asked if what he was seeing was "Salon's editorial board."

While we're flattered by the comparison, many of Erickson's Twitter followers were quick to point out his mistake.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/erick_erickson_internet_comedian_jokes_about_reproductive_rights/feed/ 19 Planned Parenthood gets the Tami Taylor seal of approval http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/planned_parenthood_gets_the_tami_taylor_seal_of_approval/ http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/planned_parenthood_gets_the_tami_taylor_seal_of_approval/#comments Mon, 01 Jul 2013 17:03:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13347315 Connie Britton -- whose "Friday Night Lights" character, Tami Taylor, is widely regarded as the patron saint of television moms/ultimate fictional wise woman/best head of hair in the business -- has partnered with Planned Parenthood on a campaign to support women's reproductive rights in Texas. (Texas forever!)

Britton commissioned a T-shirt to help support the campaign, which plays on her character's pop culture status as moral compass and asks: "What Would Tami Taylor Do?" (Answer, per the campaign website: "She would stand with Texas women.")

In a statement on the partnership, Britton said: "The character Tami on ‘Friday Night Lights’ is a Texas woman deeply committed to her community and to standing up for what is right for her neighbors and the people she loves. I have been inspired by how people around the country have united to stand with the women of Texas, and I can't help but think that, in this moment, we all have the opportunity to join with and become strong, powerful Texas men and women.”

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/planned_parenthood_gets_the_tami_taylor_seal_of_approval/feed/ 2 Ohio governor signs budget laced with antiabortion provisions http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/ohio_gov_signs_budget_laced_with_antiabortion_provisions/ http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/ohio_gov_signs_budget_laced_with_antiabortion_provisions/#comments Mon, 01 Jul 2013 16:14:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13347257 Ohio Gov. John Kasich made 22 line-item vetoes before signing his state's controversial budget into law on Sunday night, but left untouched the five provisions included to restrict women's health services and abortion access in the state, including a measure to defund Planned Parenthood and redirect state funding from comprehensive reproductive health facilities to faith-based "crisis pregnancy centers."

As Salon has previously reported, the antiabortion amendments in the budget block funding for rape crisis centers that refer women to abortion service providers, impose mandatory ultrasounds on women seeking abortions, and, because of a provision blocking transfer agreements between abortion clinics and hospitals, could shutter four of the state's 12 abortion service providers.

The move was quickly denounced by state Democrats and reproductive rights advocates.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/ohio_gov_signs_budget_laced_with_antiabortion_provisions/feed/ 21 The high cost of giving birth in the U.S. http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/the_high_cost_of_giving_birth_in_the_u_s/ http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/the_high_cost_of_giving_birth_in_the_u_s/#comments Mon, 01 Jul 2013 15:30:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13347152 Giving birth in the United States is far more expensive than in other countries, and the additional cost does not appear to come with additional benefits -- Americans do not have more access to care or better access to care than citizens in other developed nations, according to an analysis from the New York Times.

“It’s not primarily that we get a different bundle of services when we have a baby,” Gerard Anderson, an economist at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health who studies international health costs, told the Times. “It’s that we pay individually for each service and pay more for the services we receive.”

This is an unusual model among other countries, as the Times notes:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/the_high_cost_of_giving_birth_in_the_u_s/feed/ 9 Wendy Davis gears up for round two of Texas abortion battle http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/wendy_davis_gears_up_for_round_two_of_texas_abortion_battle/ http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/wendy_davis_gears_up_for_round_two_of_texas_abortion_battle/#comments Mon, 01 Jul 2013 12:53:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13347076 Less than a week after state. Sen. Wendy Davis' 11-hour filibuster defeated Texas' highly restrictive abortion ban, the Legislature is reconvening to vote on the Republican-backed measure, which is strongly opposed by Democrats, reproductive rights groups, the Texas Medical Association, the Texas Hospital Association and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

The second special session, called for by Gov. Rick Perry after the measure failed to pass in the previous session, will begin Monday at 2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) and could last up to 30 days.

The bill is expected to pass in the Republican-controlled Legislature, and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who supports the measure, told the Dallas Morning News on Saturday that the second session leaves little hope for a successful filibuster: “We’re not going to get it back from the House within filibuster range,” Dewhurst said. “We’re going to make sure that we’ve got plenty of time, and no human being can talk for two weeks.”

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/07/01/wendy_davis_gears_up_for_round_two_of_texas_abortion_battle/feed/ 16 Phyllis Schlafly: Latino voters “don’t understand” the Bill of Rights “at all” http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/phyllis_schlafly_latino_voters_dont_understand_the_bill_of_rights_at_all/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/phyllis_schlafly_latino_voters_dont_understand_the_bill_of_rights_at_all/#comments Thu, 27 Jun 2013 20:19:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13339110 Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly is still telling anyone who will listen that the Republican Party should only pay attention to white voters (something that it is already pretty good at doing, according to recent data).

This is a popular refrain for Schlafy, even though, as Jordan Fabian at ABC News notes, this is precisely the strategy that lost Republicans the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections, to say nothing of how offensive it is to suggest the GOP disregard entire segments of the voting population based on race and ethnicity.

Schlafly was a guest on a conservative California radio show when she fired off her latest proclamation about the future of the GOP, announcing that courting Latino voters is a waste of the grand ol' party's time because they "don’t have any Republican inclinations at all,” and are "running an illegitimacy rate that’s just about the same as the blacks are.”

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/phyllis_schlafly_latino_voters_dont_understand_the_bill_of_rights_at_all/feed/ 116 Rick Perry says Wendy Davis “hasn’t learned from her own example” http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/rick_perry_says_wendy_davis_hasn%e2%80%99t_learned_from_her_own_example/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/rick_perry_says_wendy_davis_hasn%e2%80%99t_learned_from_her_own_example/#comments Thu, 27 Jun 2013 17:08:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13338894 Addressing an audience at the National Right to Life conference Thursday morning, Texas Gov. Rick Perry suggested that state Sen. Wendy Davis should have "learned" from her experiences as a teen mother who worked to support her daughter while pursuing an education and a career -- by becoming a staunch opponent of women's autonomy and basic access to reproductive health care, just like him.

“Who are we to say that children born into the worst of circumstances can’t grow to live successful lives?” Perry asked the crowd.

Turning the life story of a fierce abortion rights defender into fodder for a polemic about undermining women's rights may seem like an odd choice to many (Planned Parenthood's Cecile Richards called it "incredibly condescending and insulting to women" in a statement), but the crowd of antiabortion activists roared their approval as Perry continued:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/rick_perry_says_wendy_davis_hasn%e2%80%99t_learned_from_her_own_example/feed/ 55 Putin: Law restricting gay rights in Russia is about “protecting children” http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/putin_law_restricting_gay_rights_in_russia_is_about_protecting_children/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/putin_law_restricting_gay_rights_in_russia_is_about_protecting_children/#comments Thu, 27 Jun 2013 16:26:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13338818 Russian President Vladimir Putin defended a proposed ban to place severe restrictions on the rights of gays and lesbians this week, saying that the measure to limit the speech and free assembly of LGBT individuals in Russia is about "protecting children."

The "gay propaganda" ban would impose fines of up to 100,000 roubles (more than $3,000) on individuals found guilty of "promoting non-traditional relations to minors," a provision that is so broadly defined that it effectively turns being gay and out in Russia into a serious legal liability. (To say nothing of jeopardizing the safety of gays and lesbians in the country.)

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/putin_law_restricting_gay_rights_in_russia_is_about_protecting_children/feed/ 18 Claire McCaskill responds to WSJ’s “spirited defense of a convicted sex offender” http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/claire_mccaskill_responds_to_wsjs_spirited_defense_of_a_convicted_sex_offender/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/claire_mccaskill_responds_to_wsjs_spirited_defense_of_a_convicted_sex_offender/#comments Thu, 27 Jun 2013 15:48:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13338763 Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., responded Thursday to James Taranto's recent Wall Street Journal ode to convicted sex offender Air Force Capt. Matthew Herrera, taking the conservative columnist to task for disregarding "the severity of sexual assault" in the military and acting as cheerleader for a status quo that allows violence against women and men to run rampant in the armed services.

More from McCaskill's response in the Daily Beast:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/claire_mccaskill_responds_to_wsjs_spirited_defense_of_a_convicted_sex_offender/feed/ 6 Wendy Davis: Texas Senate intentionally tried to rig the vote http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/wendy_davis_texas_senate_intentionally_tried_to_rig_the_vote/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/wendy_davis_texas_senate_intentionally_tried_to_rig_the_vote/#comments Thu, 27 Jun 2013 12:58:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13338628 Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, captured national attention on Tuesday with a marathon filibuster that defeated a draconian abortion omnibus bill in the state Senate. (Though the victory may be short-lived: Gov. Rick Perry has called a second special legislative session for July 1, giving antiabortion lawmakers 30 more days to try to pass the measure.)

Davis spoke with Anderson Cooper on Wednesday night about the experience of standing and speaking for 11 hours straight ("I underestimated how difficult it would be") and what the Texas legislative showdown could mean for the future of reproductive rights in Texas -- and democracy in the United States:

I think the most important thing we accomplished is we empowered the voice of people in Texas -- people who wanted to stand against this big government intrusion to their personal lives and liberty... What I think this is has done is empower people to understand that when they involve themselves in a democracy they truly can make a difference. They made a difference in the Texas Capitol yesterday, and I think this will linger, Anderson. I think that even if this bill passes in this next called special session, the reaction to it won't be a partisan one; it's a reaction coming from Republicans,, Independents and Democrats alike, which is saying: Gov. Perry, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, stay out of my private decision making.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/27/wendy_davis_texas_senate_intentionally_tried_to_rig_the_vote/feed/ 6 Louie Gohmert on DOMA: SCOTUS has defied “laws of nature and nature’s God” http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/louie_gohmert_on_doma_scotus_has_defied_laws_of_nature_and_natures_god/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/louie_gohmert_on_doma_scotus_has_defied_laws_of_nature_and_natures_god/#comments Wed, 26 Jun 2013 19:46:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13338067 Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, was unusually restrained (well, restrained for Gohmert) during a Wednesday press conference on the Supreme Court decisions on the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8.

Gohmert steered clear of his old standbys of anti-gay rights panic while talking to the press, instead saying, rather somberly, that gay marriage in the United States signals the "end of a great civilization" and scolding the high court for going against "the laws of nature and nature's God."

Embedding on the video has been disabled, but you can watch the full thing here.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/louie_gohmert_on_doma_scotus_has_defied_laws_of_nature_and_natures_god/feed/ 21 SCOTUS Voting Rights Act ruling may cost Wendy Davis her Senate seat http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/scotus_voting_rights_act_ruling_may_cost_wendy_davis_her_senate_seat/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/scotus_voting_rights_act_ruling_may_cost_wendy_davis_her_senate_seat/#comments Wed, 26 Jun 2013 19:07:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13337962 Just as Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, rose to national prominence with a Tuesday filibuster to defeat a highly restrictive antiabortion omnibus bill, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that helped her secure her seat in the Legislature.

As reported by Zachary Roth at MSNBC, Davis was one of many candidates -- and tens of thousands of Texas voters -- impacted by Republican redistricting efforts in 2011:

The GOP plan radically changed the demographic makeup of Davis’ district, among others, moving tens of thousands of black and Hispanic voters into neighboring districts. In fact, of the 94 precincts that were over 70% minority, Republicans cut out 48. In the new map, blacks and Hispanics were placed in separate districts from each other and were outnumbered by the white conservative majority, which tends to vote Republican.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/scotus_voting_rights_act_ruling_may_cost_wendy_davis_her_senate_seat/feed/ 85 Marriage equality fight continues in New Jersey, advocates say http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/marriage_equality_fight_continues_in_new_jersey_advocates_say/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/marriage_equality_fight_continues_in_new_jersey_advocates_say/#comments Wed, 26 Jun 2013 18:05:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13337913 New Jersey Assemblyman Reed Gusciora celebrated Wednesday decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court on the Defense of Marriage Act and California's Proposition 8 by urging his colleagues in the legislature to make equal marriage a reality in his home state:

"Now that DOMA has been declared invalid by the U.S. Supreme Court, New Jersey should no longer discriminate by upholding civil unions and instead, grant full marriage which is now confirmed by our federal government," Gusciora told the Express-Times.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/marriage_equality_fight_continues_in_new_jersey_advocates_say/feed/ 3 Watch: Prop 8 plaintiffs get surprise call from president http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/proposition_8_plaintiffs_get_surprise_phone_call_from_president_obama/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/proposition_8_plaintiffs_get_surprise_phone_call_from_president_obama/#comments Wed, 26 Jun 2013 15:48:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13337488 Proposition 8 plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier were in the middle of a Wednesday appearance on MSNBC when the segment was interrupted by a phone call from President Barack Obama, who was reaching out to offer his congratulations.

Perry and Stier were soon joined on air by fellow plaintiffs Jeff Zarrillo and Paul Katami to listen in on the celebratory call.

You can watch the surprising moment here:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/proposition_8_plaintiffs_get_surprise_phone_call_from_president_obama/feed/ 40 Twitter is feeling really, really good about the DOMA and Prop 8 rulings http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/twitter_is_feeling_really_really_good_about_the_doma_and_prop_8_rulings/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/twitter_is_feeling_really_really_good_about_the_doma_and_prop_8_rulings/#comments Wed, 26 Jun 2013 15:19:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13337412 The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, extending more than 1,000 federal benefits to gay married couples, paving the way to treat gay bi-national couples equally under immigration law and clearing a path for a host of other victories for same-sex couples in the United States.

The news made Twitter users feel pretty, pretty good.

A roundup:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/twitter_is_feeling_really_really_good_about_the_doma_and_prop_8_rulings/feed/ 0 Meet the Wendy Davis fan club http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/meet_the_wendy_davis_fan_club/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/26/meet_the_wendy_davis_fan_club/#comments Wed, 26 Jun 2013 14:26:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13337374 State Sen. Wendy Davis' marathon filibuster (aided by her Democratic colleagues and reproductive rights advocates in the gallery, natch) defeated Texas' sweeping antiabortion omnibus bill and helped to secure women's continued access to safe medical care in Texas.

It also garnered her a pretty fancy group of new fans on Twitter.

A roundup:

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