The Manhattan Declaration

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Boy, 8, tells Texas lawmakers how stem cells cured him

Please see: http://www.txcn.com/sharedcontent/dws/txcn/austin/stories/052108kvuestemcells-cb.15973e44.html for a video of this young child explains how adult stem cell treatment has cured him.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Notre Shame, For Shame Obama, For Shame Media

Never have I ever heard more obvious double-speak than I have heard during Obama's speech at Notre Dame commencement. Never. Also, never have I heard more shameful an attitude toward life. It is equal only to the Pres of Iran saying there was no such thing as a Jewish holocaust. Pathetic and even more pathetic that so many people have bought into these lies about what pro-life is and the absolute scientific and psychological damage to the mother, not even considering the torture to the child. TORTURE !

Example...

The media as well as President Obama *deliberately* say "stem cell research* to make people believe that Catholics are against stem cell research which is a complete and total lie and anywhere on the internet can you find that out. There is a deliberate effort to eliminate the word "embryonic" by the media, by Obama, and by Father Jenkins in his allowing this lie to be said at Notre Dame.

The facts of the futility of embryonic stem cell cures is also available on the internet easily found. As well, the cures from regular stem cell research not only is in excess of SEVENTY cures but also easily found on the internet.

Shame on Obama for lying and shame on Fr. Jenkins for assisting in this lie. They BOTH know the truth and they are bought and sold. One thing they both have very much in common....lies.

And another lie
...I am anti-abortion, Obama says, but yet now wants us to pay for abortion in other countries including the one child policy in China. Of all the money Obama promises he excludes any type of program that will help mothers of unwanted pregnancies. Obama pulled the funds for the mothers! Hello...are you listening?

If ever there were a forked tongue, Obama and Jenkins have exactly that.

I have to really wonder how educated our educated really are that people believe what was said by Obama at Notre Dame as truth. Our educated at one of the most notable universities have absolutely no clue what double speak is or how to recognize it. Obama has the cattle prod and the young people seem to be ready to to buy into it. Time to take a much closer look at "education."

Case in point. You can show a 3 year old a picture of a pre-born baby at 3 months and that 3 year old child will say, "that's a baby!" I have much more confidence in the intelligence of my 4 year old grandson than I now have in Obama or in Jenkins or in anyone who applauded the lies at Notre Dame.

It's a hard hard decision women have to make, says Obama. And he is really heart felt about what they go through. Really? And that's why he refers to a woman with an unwanted pregnancy as being "punished?" Hello? Are you listening? Punished? A child is a punishment for what? So...kill it ? Kill what we don't want is the answer?

Great...let's use that as a rule for society. Let's kill what we don't want. OH?? You don't think that's ok? Why? Because you can't actually see the person you kill in the womb? Is it any less killing because you cannot see the baby? Ok...the answer is NO and not just "no" but "hell no." Believe it or not, rationalize it to fit your needs, describe your sad situation...it's the killing of a human being.

A pepperoni pizza is a pepperoni pizza no matter how badly you want it to be a NY strip steak. And abortion is murder no matter how badly you wish to dismiss that fact.

It's your body you can do what you want? Really. Let's think about that. There is a test that is given to see if someone in an accident is brain dead. No brain waves? The person is dead. So tell me exactly WHY the pro-aborts put all the money they can into preventing these same tests from being done on the pre-born baby EVEN.....EVEN....at the earliest stages of pregnancy. Ok, you guessed it. Because there ARE brain waves.

Your body? Is there one heart or two? Is there one nervous system or two? Are there only 2 legs and 2 arms and no head because it's YOUR body you want to kill? Ah, no...don't think so. Another lie...the heart beats at THREE weeks. Wanna know the double speak given about that? "It's not a heart beat..it's heart "motion". Hello? Are you listening?

The media...........if you don't hear it, you think it isn't happening? Oh, think again. You think when they say that Catholics object to stem cell research that that is true? You are being lied to 100%. And it is deliberate. So, think again. Catholics DO promote stem cell research because it is NOT the destruction of human life. I challenge you to find the truth of "adult stem cell cures" and the futility of embryonic stem cell research.

Check out the Discovery Channel and any other programs that like to walk us through surgeries. Check the made-for-TV-movies/CSI programs/etc to see every kind of gory detail of blood and guts but do you EVER see an abortion? Why is that? It's the most common surgery in the United States...in fact, the world...but you have never seen it ! Are you listening?

Forget religion? If that bothers you then just check the scientific facts about the unborn. I challenge you to do just that. Not convinced? Go to the website of http://www.priestsforlife.org and look at the pictures of aborted babies.

Look, if you don't want to look, you already know it's murder. If you do look, and you are pro-abort, then I am convinced you won't be after you see it. America won't outlaw abortion until America sees abortion. And that, my dear, is a fact. If you don't want to look because you already know it's murder, then you are desperately trying to rationalize some type of genocide as "ok" as long as it doesn't interrupt your life. Hey...I know a lot of 2 year olds who disrupt life. Should we kill them? No?? Why not?? Just because you can SEE them? Oh. Listen. Up. You can see the unborn.

Look at the pics and you will see the reality of genocide.

It's not YOUR body
being pulled apart limb from limb. It's not YOUR body being burned to death. It's not YOUR body that has the brain sucked out of your head. So, it obviously is NOT your body that you choose to kill. And...do you value your freedom more than you care about murder? Ok then..................do this........

Have the baby and let the baby live !!!!! Let the baby live with an adoptive family who can't have a baby that you so desperately want to kill to be rid of.

SHAME on Obama. SHAME on Jenkins. SHAME on anyone who chooses to abort when adoption is ALWAYS an option.

Wait !! Saving you the trouble of searching for pictures of aborted babies ! I knew you would thank me for this so here is the link: http://www.priestsforlife.org/images/index.aspx#galleries

If you already know abortion is murder, you won't look. If you are convinced that abortion is ok.. I dare you! And then come back after you see the pics and leave me a comment on what you saw. Please do that. I will look forward to your pro-abortion ideas after you look.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Thousands More, 12 Bishops, and 18 Politicians Join in Regional Marches for Life Across Canada Total Number of Bishops: 24

Tuesday May 19, 2009


By Alex Bush

May 19, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The 12th annual March for Life in Ottawa may have drawn a record number of participants; but the pro-life show of strength this past week was not just limited to the national March, with numerous regional events taking place across the country. In addition to the 12,300 people and 12 bishops that participated in the Ottawa March for Life, approximately 4,000 people, including 12 bishops, participated in regional Marches For Life.

All told, more than 16,000 Canadians participated in pro-life demonstrations last week, and the number of bishops involved totaled 24.

In addition to the multitude of marchers and bishops, 18 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from New Brunswick joined in the New Brunswick March for Life, including the PC Opposition Leader David Alward and the Liberal Minister of Health Mike Murphy.

Marches took place coast to coast across Canada, setting numerous records for attendance. 40 people from Newfoundland, 140 from Manitoba, 350 from Nova Scotia, 400 from New Brunswick, 400 from Alberta, 700 from Saskatchewan, and a mighty 2,000 from British Columbian took part in various local marches.

The Bishops that participated at the Marches across Canada were, in New Brunswick, Archbishop Robert Harris; in Alberta, Archbishop Richard William Smith, Bishop Frederick Henry, Bishop Joseph Luc André Bouchard, Bishop Gérard Pettipas; in British Columbia, Archbishop Michael Miller, Bishop Richard Gagnon, Bishop David Monroe; in Saskatchewan, Archbishop Daniel Bohan, Bishop Albert LeGatt, Ukranian Bishop Bryan Bayda, and Ukranian Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski.

The Liberal MLAs from New Brunswick also used the March for Life as an opportunity to throw their support behind a PC bill that would allow distraught women to give their newborn babies to hospital staff. The "Safe Haven Bill" was introduced after the public mourning of a baby boy, known as Baby Taylor, who was left to die of exposure near Moncton, New Brunswick over the winter and was only found during the spring thaw.

The marchers from New Brunswick also placed 250 Roses at the Legislature and at the three main abortion facilities in the province (which includes two full-fledged hospitals) to commemorate the 25,000 unborn babies who have been aborted in New Brunswick since 1969.

The Complete list of bishops that participated in the various Marches for Life is as follows (to find the contact information to send the bishops a letter of thanks for their participation, see: http://www.cccb.ca/site/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,1211/lang,eng/):
1. His Eminence Marc Cardinal Ouellet - Quebec City
2. His Grace Archbishop Terrence Prendergast - Ottawa
3. His Grace Archbishop Thomas Collins - Toronto
4. His Grace Archbishop Brendan O'Brien - Kingston
5. His Grace Archbishop Sutton, OMI, emeritus archbishop of Keewatin-LePas
6. His Grace Archbishop Richard William Smith - Edmonton
7. His Grace Archbishop Michael Miller - Vancouver
8. His Grace Archbishop Daniel Bohan - Regina
9. His Excellency Bishop Paul-André DuRocher - Alexandria-Cornwall
10. His Excellency Bishop Ronald Fabbro - London
11. His Excellency Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe - Sault Ste. Marie
12. His Excellency Bishop Stephen Victor Chmilar - Ukrainian Bishop of Toronto and Eastern Canada
13. His Excellency Bishop Michael Mulhall - Pembroke
14. His Excellency Bishop John Stephen Pazak - Byzantine Rite
15. His Excellency Bishop Robert Harris - Saint John
16. His Excellency Bishop Frederick Henry - Calgary
17. His Excellency Bishop Joseph Luc André Bouchard - Saint Paul
18. His Excellency Bishop Gérard Pettipas - Grouard-McLennan
19. His Excellency Bishop Richard Gagnon - Victoria
20. His Excellency Bishop David Monroe - Kamloops
21. His Excellency Bishop Albert LeGatt
22. His Excellency Bishop Bryan Bayda, Ukrainian Bishop of Saskatoon
23. His Excellency Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski Ukrainian Bishop of Westminster
24. Mgr Gerard Drainville, retired bishop of Amos (Quebec)


12,000: Canadian 2009 March for Life Smashes Previous Attendance Records
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09051409.html

Now 11 Bishops Confirmed: Unprecedented Promotion of March for Life from Catholic Bishops
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09051303.html

New Brunswick Right to Life Says Abortion Law Being Abused at NB Hospitals
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/may/09051517.html

Notre SHAME !

Friday, May 15, 2009

Self-Induced Abortion Pill And 2009 Facts From American College of OB/GYN

United States use of the abortion pill RU486 was approved by the pro-abortion administration of President Bill Clinton. But this action, finalized in 2000, did little more than whet the appetite of the abortion industry, since there were some strings attached.

At the top of the list of items abortionists have worked unceasingly to remove were the commonsensical limitations on its use and the attempt to assure that the two-drug abortion technique is administered in a manner that decreases the chances that there will be complications for the mother. (The first drug kills the baby. The second drug-- typically the prostaglandin misoprostol--stimulates severe uterine contractions to expel the dead or dying baby.)

For example, the abortion industry didn't like that the protocol put in place by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expected the woman to come back for separate visits to take each of the drugs in the chemical cocktail (at least 24-48 hours apart), and which limited the drugs' use to the first 49 days of pregnancy.

But what happens when women do receive both RU486 and the prostaglandin simultaneously? It is "not as effective," according to a study just released by researchers at the Boston Medical Center.

The findings, presented at the 2009 Annual Clinic Meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) found that women receiving the drugs simultaneously required "surgical interventions" (to deal with bleeding, failed abortion, patient satisfaction) nearly twice as often as those women who observed an interval of at least a day between the administration of the RU486 and the prostaglandin (7.4% vs. 3.9%).

Rates of completed abortion after two weeks were 77% for the group receiving the two drugs simultaneously, and 84% for those taking them separately. Both completion rates are considerably lower than the 97% figure advertised by the industry. See, for example, Planned Parenthood's webpage on the abortion pill at www.plannedparenthood.org

.

According to Medscape Medical News (5/5/09), Melissa Stafford, the lead researcher who presented the findings at the ACOG meeting, indicated that simultaneous administration was "convenient," according to a reporter, "because it allowed the physician to confirm that medication was taken properly" and because "it eliminated the risk of losing medications."

Unspoken, but obviously a factor to patients, was the "convenience" of not having to plan a return visit for the second pill.

In the end, Dr. Stafford indicated, the reduced effectiveness was too big a hurdle for the Boston Medical Center. "We have changed our practice," she told Medscape, "and we no longer offer simultaneous administration of mifepristone and misoprostol for medication abortions."

None of this came as any surprise to pro-life experts who have followed the twists and turns over the last decade.

"Those who have developed and promoted RU 486 have told women that the abortifacient offers them a way to have an abortion without the risk of surgery," says Dr. Randall K. O'Bannon, National Right to Life's Director of Education and Research.

"But as this latest study shows," he continued, "the abortion industry's efforts to tamper with the FDA protocol have decreased the 'effectiveness' of these drugs and put many of these women in line for surgical abortions after their chemical abortions failed."

Almost immediately after the drug combination received government approval, the abortion industry began to ignore the FDA-prescribed protocol. They altered the doses-- decreasing the dose of the expensive RU486 (at one point, priced $90 a pill, three pills to a dose) and increasing the dosage of the cheap prostaglandin (misoprostol). Rather than have women return to the office a couple of days later to take the prostaglandin orally, the clinics gave the women the misoprostol in their first visit when they came in for the RU486, with instructions to take the prostaglandin home and vaginally self administer. The ignored the 49 day limit, prescribing the pills to women at 8 weeks, 9 weeks, 10 weeks or more along in their pregnancy.

Although the industry refused to link the decision, when women began to die, they pulled back some.

Planned Parenthood, the leader in the abortion industry, announced it would no longer be recommending the vaginal self administration of the misoprostol. Their website temporarily reduced time frame it could be used from 63 to 56 days. (It is back up to 63 now.)

This most recent study shows that the industry continues its efforts to streamline the process, with all the risks inherent in that.

O'Bannon noted, "Making chemical abortions more 'convenient' for patients, for abortionists, may help the industry attract more customers, but it may also have the consequence of making these already dangerous abortions even more dangerous for women."

He concluded, "As long as the abortion industry puts its own profits and preferences ahead of patient safety, both mothers and their unborn children will continue to face danger behind clinic doors."

www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/index.html

Saturday, May 2, 2009

And *We* Pay For This Insanity Thanks To Obama

Render Unto Caesar? I don't really think this is our obligation in any way shape or form. Asking us to pay for this?? No words can I think of to describe the insanity of this.

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Chinese officials force paid surrogate mothers to have abortions

Guangzhou, China, May 2, 2009 / 07:43 am (CNA).- Echoing other reports of coercion in enforcement of China’s one-child policy, Chinese authorities have reportedly forced mothers to abort their children in a crackdown on the country’s underground surrogate pregnancy industry.

One U.S. investigator of China's one-child policy said the alleged coercion was “not surprising.” In the latest incident, Reuters reports that three young surrogate first-time mothers were discovered by authorities hiding in a communal flat in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. District family planning and security officers broke into the apartment, corralled them into a van and drove them to a district hospital where they were compelled into a maternity ward.

"I was crying 'I don't want to do this'," a 20-year-old woman called Xiao Hong told Reuters. She was pregnant with four-month-old twins.

“But they still dragged me in and injected my belly with a needle,” she said, reporting that the incident took place in late February.

She said the government officers had forced her thumbprint onto a consent form before carrying out the abortion.

Another surrogate mother, a 23-year-old from a village in Sichuan province, said officers made her take pills and then surgically removed her three-month-old unborn child while she was unconscious.

"I was terrified," she said to Reuters.

The official Guangzhou Daily newspaper quoted district family planning officials as saying the women were unmarried and acting as “illegal” surrogates. The paper also reported that the mothers had agreed to undergo “remedial measures” in accordance with the law.

Official media coverage critical of surrogacy has led some observers to expect more action against the practice in the future.

According to Reuters, underground networks of surrogacy agents, hospitals and doctors have grown in recent years as wealthy infertile Chinese couples hire surrogates to produce babies for them.

The surrogates are often confined to secret flats for most of their pregnancy to avoid detection. Medical staff at public hospitals and health clinics who are part of the surrogacy network discreetly perform fertility, obstetrics and childbirth procedures.

Surrogacy has been on the rise globally. India in particular has become a center of surrogacy for infertile and homosexual Western couples.

In China, prospective surrogate mothers are paid between 50,000 to 100,000 yuan ($14,460) per pregnancy by some businesses, attracting many women from poor rural areas. The average per capital income for rural households is around $600. An estimated 25,000 surrogate children have been born in China.

A March investigation by the Population Research Institute (PRI) reported that the one-child policy and coercive abortion had links to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The UNFPA claimed to have mollified the one-child policy and to have “played a catalytic role in introducing a voluntary reproductive health approach in China.”

Colin Mason, Director of Media Production at PRI, had conducted the investigation. In March he told CNA that coercive measures undertaken by the government are “worse now than ever.”

"Crippling fines, intense pressure to be sterilized, the flagrant display of quota information, and even the seizure of ‘illegal children’ by the government are commonplace," Mason continued. "The UNFPA insists that its presence has led to the removal of these measures. It has not."

Under President Barack Obama’s recent omnibus spending bill, the UNFPA is slated to receive $50 million in U.S. funding.

During the George W. Bush presidency, the UNFPA was denied a reported $235 million because of investigations linking it to coercive abortion practices in China. Funding for such groups is banned under the Kemp-Kasten Amendment.

CNA spoke about coercive abortions in China with PRI’s Colin Mason in a Friday phone interview.

He reported that he didn’t run into “that many” cases of forced abortion.

“It’s not something people are willing to talk about when they think will get into trouble,” he said.

However, he said the law is clear that any couple with a child over the policy limit will be fined a certain amount, “five to seven times the yearly wage.”

The policy also encourages such couples to “opt” to be sterilized, but Mason explained “the law made it clear that that’s not really an ‘option.’”

Responding to the report about one woman being coerced to sign a consent form before her alleged forced abortion, Mason told CNA “That doesn’t surprise me at all.”

“It’s entirely possible that that happened,” he said.

“The UNFPA claims that they essentially eradicated coercion. That’s clearly not the case.”

“Based on what I saw, the government will go to any length it thinks it needs to.

“The tragedy is not only that this is going on but that Americans are so ignorant about it. The Chinese are trying to keep this a well-kept secret, and to certain extent Western aid groups are aiding and abetting it by keeping it under the radar.

“They realize that if the international community is made aware of this situation, they would be horrified.

“We in the West, even in this media age, know so little about it.

“We keep hearing more stories, we keep being surprised.

“Anything at this point shouldn’t surprise us.

“The idea that things are getting better in China is complete nonsense,” he told CNA, saying his opinion was based on the ease with which he discovered cases of coercion in China.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Notre Dame and a Woman's Choice

This, a beautiful story by a Notre Dame student who faced an unexpected pregnancy, the choice options, and the strength and conviction to make that choice. It is my pleasure to share this with anyone who happens upon this blog hopefully that is will touch anyone in this situation or knows someone who is....or will be. God bless Lacy Dodd and daughter, Mary.

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http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=1402

Notre Dame, My Mother

By Lacy Dodd
Friday, May 1, 2009, 12:00 AM

For many members of the Notre Dame Class of 2009, the uproar surrounding the university’s decision to honor Barack Obama with this year’s commencement address, and to bestow on him a doctorate of laws, has provoked strong feelings about what the ensuing conflict will mean for their graduation.

I know how they feel. Ten years ago, my heart was filled with similar conflicts as we came closer to the day of my own Notre Dame commencement and my commissioning as an officer in the United States Army.

You see, I was three months pregnant.

That March, I had gone—alone—to a local woman’s clinic to take a test. The results were positive, and I was so numb I almost didn’t grasp what the nurse was getting at when she assured me I had “other options.” What did “other options” mean? And what kind of world is it that defines compassion as telling a young woman who has just learned she is carrying life inside her that she has the option to destroy it?

When I returned to campus, I ran to the Grotto. I was confused and full of conflicting emotions. But I knew this: No amount of shame or embarrassment would ever lead me to get rid of my baby. Of all women, Our Lady could surely feel pity for an unplanned pregnancy. I recalled her surrendered love to God’s invitation to become the home of the Incarnate Word. “Let it be done to me according to thy word,” she had said. In my hour of need, on my knees, I asked Mary for courage and strength. And she did not disappoint.

My boyfriend was a different story. He was also a Notre Dame senior. When I told him that he was to be a father, he tried to pressure me into having an abortion. Like so many women in similar circumstances, I found out the kind of man the father of my child was at precisely the moment I needed him most. “All that talk about abortion is just dining-room talk,” he said. “When it’s really you in the situation, it’s different. I will drive you to Chicago and pay for a good doctor.”

I tried telling him this was not an option. He said he was pro-choice. I responded by informing him that my choice was life. And I learned, as so many pregnant women have before and since, that life is the one choice that pro-choicers won’t support.

Still, I count myself lucky. I was raised by a mom and dad who marched for life—and who walked the walk when I needed them. However much I may not have wanted to embarrass them with my pregnancy, amid my troubles I always knew I had a priceless gift: a family that would welcome into their hearts the life that God had put in my womb.

I also had the advantage of a good and loving friend, Sara, who reminded me that her mom was a counselor at the Women’s Care Center in South Bend. It was this Women’s Care Center that provided me with the encouragement that everything was going to be all right. They educated me on my pregnancy, and they provided me with information on how to stay healthy.

So, without my boyfriend’s support, I graduated from Notre Dame on schedule with a bachelor’s degree in American Studies. I earned my ROTC commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. I returned to my parents’ home in Florida, having been granted a delay from active duty. I sought and received advice and loving counsel from Kimberly Home, a pregnancy resource center in my hometown. And I prepared to give birth to the human being who has given me the greatest and most unexpected joy in my life.

Because I was to be an unmarried mom (in the Army no less), I felt compelled at least to research adoption through Catholic Charities. A counselor at Kimberly Home guided me through the decision process and provided me with referrals. Kimberly Home connected me with other women of unplanned pregnancies who had gone through closed as well as open adoptions. It was helpful and caring.

After much prayer, I came to terms with the fact that this baby was a gift I had already chosen to accept. With the support of my family, I would make it work. Through the State of Florida Child Support Enforcement Agency, I obtained a court order for my daughter to receive child support from her father.

And then a miracle came: On All Saints Day 1999, I gave birth to baby Mary. Her name is no accident. This Mary was living inside me while I walked the campus of a university dedicated to a woman who is mother of us all, and it was Mary Our Mother who gave me courage when I was afraid of what would lie ahead. Mary teaches us always to be open to seeking the will of God in our lives, no matter what it is, and never to be afraid of God’s will. God’s will may contain suffering, but God’s will also brings peace and joy. When we place ourselves at God’s disposal, he will do great things for us.

Those great things included the precious moment when my father came to meet his granddaughter on that glorious day she was born. He took one look at Mary in my arms and said to me, “This is your gift for making the right decision.” At that moment, I realized my little girl and I would be forever blessed.

Notre Dame is a special place, but it is not immune to the realities of modern life. There are students who face unplanned pregnancies, and—most tragically—women who think their only option is abortion. Statistics show that one out of every five women who have an abortion is a college student; many of these women cite the fear that they will not be able to complete their education as a primary reason. On campuses all across this country, abortion is the status quo. We need to change that with an unambiguous stand for life, and Notre Dame needs to be in the lead.

There have been many things written about the honors to be extended to President Obama. I’d like to ask this of Fr. John Jenkins, the Notre Dame president: Who draws support from your decision to honor President Obama—the young, pregnant Notre Dame woman sitting in that graduating class who wants desperately to keep her baby, or the Notre Dame man who believes that the Catholic teaching on the intrinsic evil of abortion is just dining-room talk?

Lacy Dodd is a member of the Notre Dame Class of 1999 and a proud mother. She also serves on the board of Room at the Inn, a Charlotte-based nonprofit now working to build at Belmont Abbey America’s first campus-based maternal care facility for pregnant college students.

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