The Not-So-Subliminal Messaging Of Fox News

Posted by Mark NC on December 21, 2011 at 1:57 pm. 2 Comments :

The Fox Nationalists are not even trying to mask their dishonest misrepresentations designed to keep their flock ignorant and ill-informed.

Indeed, the approval rating of Congress is dismally low. However, the House of Representatives is controlled by GOP Speaker John Boehner and a majority Republican caucus. But when Fox publishes their story about the floundering body they accompany the piece with a picture of Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi. Boehner, et al, are nowhere to be seen.

This deception is even more unseemly when you take into account that it is the Republican Party that is held in far lower esteem that the Democrats. And particularly with regard to the current debate over the Payroll Tax, the American people are incensed that the GOP has refused to allow its extension to come up for a vote. The result will be that 160 million workers will get a tax increase beginning January 1.

Merry Christmas America,
Yours ~~Truly~~, The Republican Party.

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Politifact Lie Of The Year Confirmed True By Fox News

Posted by Mark NC on December 20, 2011 at 7:35 pm. 5 Comments :

The widely respected and Pulitzer Prize winning Politifact has announced their annual selection for “Lie of the Year.” Unfortunately, they have selected something that is demonstrably true: “Republicans voted to end Medicare.”

There has already been a tidal wave of criticism for this selection, which I will not regurgitate. If you’re interested in reading some of the takedowns, Media Matters has complied a few and posted their own cogent remarks.

“Paul Krugman and Dan Kennedy and Steve Benen and Jonathan Cohn and Jonathan Chait and Matthew Yglesias and David Weigel, among countless others, have debunked Politifact’s ruling, which holds that as long as something called ‘Medicare’ has something to do with health care for the elderly, it’s a lie to say the program has ended, no matter how ‘dramatic’ the ‘change of course’ has been.”

My contribution to this discussion will be to point out that Fox News reported on Politifact’s finding that the claim that Republicans voted to end Medicare was a lie, and at the same time published an article wherein Republicans advocated an end to Medicare:

That’s right. The Fox Nationalists, who ordinarily revile Politifact as just another liberal mainstream media outlet, now regale in this award. But they also publish an editorial wherein the resident Fox News MD, Marc Siegel says this:

“Not all practicing doctors will readily admit this, but we all look at Medicare (and all health insurance for that matter, public or private), the same way. Medicare is cumbersome, an unnecessary interface between us and our patients…”

The fact that Republicans have been trying to kill Medicare is irrefutable. And now the evidence is right on the web site of the GOP PR machine, Fox News. It takes some massive cajones to place these conflicting stories in such close proximity, but that’s what Fox was created for.

The Annual Fox News Tradition Of Bashing The Obama’s Holiday Greeting

Posted by Mark NC on December 19, 2011 at 4:07 pm. 7 Comments :

It’s that time of year again. The time when winter’s chill nips at your nose and poinsettia blooms abound. The time when children’s laughter echos through the streets and families come together for joyous feasts. And the time when Fox News lambastes the President and his family for not celebrating the holiday in the manner that they think good American, Christian, patriots ought to.

What would the season be without Fox News dredging up this absurd and insulting story as they do every year? It is a tradition that really makes the holiday complete. And this year it is extra special because they brighten it with the cheerful words of Sarah Palin who calls the Obama’s holiday greeting “odd” and “strange,” and, in the spirit of the season, she complains that it doesn’t reflect the…

“…American foundational values illustrated and displayed on Christmas cards and on a Christmas tree. […] It’s just a different way of thinking coming out of the White House.”

Indeed, the current residents of the White House are so “different” than the rest of us. They look different and think different and pray different, but mostly look different. And they express their warm wishes to the nation differently than other “normal” presidents like, for instance, George W. Bush, whose Holiday greetings also didn’t mention Christmas:

Click to enlarge:

Along with the Bush family, Rupert Murdoch declined to mention Christmas in his greeting to the tens of thousands of people who work for him. And Fox News itself aired “Holiday” greetings to their television viewers.

But the cherished holiday tradition of bashing a family for choosing to include people of all faiths (or none) in their hopes for joy and peace and well being, is reserved only for the Obamas. It’s that special treatment Fox saves for those they hate during this season of love.

[Addendum] To complete the hypocrisy, Fox has unveiled their own Christmas card that Palin might also consider lacking the “American foundational values.” In fact, it is downright mean-spirited as it delivers a message of competition and acrimony.

The card mockingly depicts the Fox sled (drawn appropriately by sheep) as winning the race against ABC, NBC, and CBS. What a heartwarming tribute to the birth of their savior, a man of peace and acceptance, who beseeched his followers to love their enemies. And in addition to being self-serving and tasteless, the card is also a barefaced lie. The highest rated program on Fox News (The O’Reilly Factor) has about half the audience of the the lowest rated network news program (CBS Evening News). So the Fox sled should be in the rear, if they cared about telling the truth.

Judge Not: Newt Gingrich Adds Another Zany Plank To His Platform

Posted by Mark NC on December 19, 2011 at 9:30 am. 5 Comments :

GOP frontrunner Newt Gingrich continues to adopt some of the most lunatic positions from the right-wing fringe. First it was calling child labor laws “truly stupid.” Then it was calling Palestinians an “invented people.” Now Gingrich wants to go after judges he doesn’t like.

Gingrich was questioned about his prior comments that he would, as president, eliminate judges and courts that he regarded as overstepping their authority. As an example he suggested that the entire Ninth Circuit could be done away with. On Face the Nation, host Bob Schieffer noted that Gingrich’s proposal would violate the Constitution, and asked the former Speaker how he would enforce this. Would he send the Capitol police to arrest such judges? Gingrich replied…

“If you had to. Or you’d instruct the Justice Department to send a U.S. marshal.”

This may go down in history as one of the stupidest, and most dangerous, statements from a presidential contender. The notion that a president could unilaterally punish judges for decisions with which the president disagrees is fundamentally unconstitutional and anti-American. Such power would mean that judges would have to live in fear of losing their job if they displeased the White House. It would mean that they could not decide cases on the merits, but would have to decide based on the political repercussions of their ruling. That would, in effect, make the judiciary an irrelevant appendage of the White House, rather than an independent and impartial administrator of the law.

It will be interesting to see how Gingrich’s Tea Party supporters respond to this repulsive stance. The Tea Party has always tried to portray itself as opposed to big government and the encroachment of power by government institutions. There is nothing more representative of a power grab than one branch of government asserting that it has the authority to eliminate another branch. And that’s exactly what Gingrich is proposing.

But I wonder if Gingrich has thought this through. If President Obama were to adopt Gingrich’s view today, he could have Justices Thomas and Scalia arrested and thrown off the bench. Then he could appoint two new judges to take their place. Somehow I don’t think that’s what Gingrich had in mind? In fact, were Obama to try that he would be swooped on by outraged Republicans and Tea Partiers and castigated as a traitor.

And if it wasn’t disgusting enough that Gingrich would propose something so contrary to American values, Fox Nation characterizes this as Gingrich criticizing “Anti-American Judges.” That’s a loaded term that implies that any judge that makes a ruling that a president doesn’t like is anti-American and, therefore, subject to impeachment. Of course, it’s the policy advanced by Gingrich, as well as the spin given to it by Fox, that is anti-American, not the judges that Gingrich yearns to impeach.

[Update] Fox Nation doubles down with a second column on Gingrich’s dictatorial aspirations. This one sports a curious headline that lamely tries to tar Bob Schieffer of Face the Nation as having been “jacked up” by Gingrich and calls the program “Slay the Nation.”

Also note that on the morning following the death of Kim Jong Il, the Fox Nationalists place this rehashed story at the top of their web site above a much smaller link to a story on the deceased leader of North Korea.

Republicans Reveal Their Top Priority For America In Iowa Debate

Posted by Mark NC on December 17, 2011 at 12:38 pm. 5 Comments :

At a time when the nation faces some formidable challenges on critical matters of economics, employment, national defense, health care, etc., the Republican candidates for president met in Iowa to debate the issues that they regard as most important to voters and the country.

Leading off the Fox News sponsored debate, Fox anchor Bret Baier summarized just what issues the GOP held as their highest priority, and it wasn’t any of those enumerated in the paragraph above.

Bret Baier: We have received thousands of tweets, Facebook messages and emails with suggested questions. And the overall majority of them had one theme: Electability. People want to know which one of you on this stage is able to be in the best position to beat President Obama in the general election. And that’s the number one goal for Republican voters, obviously.

So there you have it. The number one goal is not restoring the nation’s economic health. It is not creating jobs or strengthening the middle-class. It is not Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Al Qaeda, or any other source of international hostility. It isn’t even Republican pet causes of guns, gays, God, or repealing ObamaCare. The number on issue is electability. Republicans are focused squarely on the singular issue of evicting the Kenyan socialist from the White House, to the exclusion of all other principles or positions. Just like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said shortly after Obama was inaugurated.

Taking this theme to heart, the debate continued with a series of question that addressed nothing substantive other than the candidate’s prospects for beating President Obama next November. Here are the first seven questions asked at Thursday’s debate:

Bret Baier: Speaker Gingrich, since our last debate your position in this race has changed dramatically. You are now physically in the center of the stage, which means that you are at the top of the polls, yet many Republicans seem conflicted about you, They say that you’re smart, that you’re a big thinker. At the same time many of those same Republicans worry deeply about your electability in a general election saying perhaps Gov. Romney is a safer bet. Can you put to rest, once and for all, the persistent doubts that you are indeed the right candidate on this stage to go up and beat President Obama?

Megyn Kelly: Cong. Paul, you have some bold ideas, some very fervent supporters, and probably the most organized ground campaign here in Iowa, but there are many Republicans, inside and outside of this state, who openly doubt whether you can be elected president. How can you convince them otherwise, and if you don’t wind up winning this nomination, will you pledge here tonight that you will support the ultimate nominee?

Megyn Kelly: Sen. Santorum, no one has spent more time in Iowa than you. You have visited every county in the state. And yet, while we have seen no fewer than four Republican candidates surge in the polls, sometimes in extraordinary ways, so far you and your campaign have failed to catch fire with the voters. Why?

Chris Wallace: Gov. Romney, I want to follow up on Bret’s line of questioning to the Speaker because many of our viewers tell us that they are supporting Newt Gingrich because they think that he will be tougher than you in taking the fight to Barack Obama in next fall’s debates. Why would you be able to make the Republican’s case against the President more effectively than the Speaker?

Chris Wallace: Cong. Bachmann, no one questions your conservative credentials, but what about your appeal to Independents who are so crucial in a general election? If you are fortunate enough to become the Republican nominee, how would you counter the efforts by the Barack Obama campaign to paint you as too conservative to moderate voters?

Neil Cavuto: Gov. Perry, by your own admission you are not a great debater. You have said as much and downplayed debating skills in general. But if you were to become your party’s nominee you would be going up against an accomplished debater in Barack Obama. There are many in this audience tonight, sir, who fear that possibility and don’t think you’re up for the fight. Allay them of their concerns.

Neil Cavuto: Gov. Huntsman, your campaign has been praised by moderates, but many question your ability to galvanize the Republicans, energize the conservative base of the party. They’re especially leery of your refusal to sign on to a “no tax hike” pledge. How can you reassure them tonight.

Nothing is more revealing of a party’s intentions than what they themselves place at the forefront of their campaigns. And nothing could be more clear than the fact that Republicans simply do not care about issues or the welfare of the American people as much as they do about their own selfish quest for power.

What’s more, the debate sponsor, Fox News, and other right-wing spokesmodels concur with the GOP’s directive on beating Obama above all else. That’s why the questions were littered with words like “worry,” “doubt,” “fear,” and “leery,” to describe the electorate’s mood toward the GOP frontrunners. And the debate amongst Republican elites is raging at an unprecedented pace. Rush Limbaugh thinks Romney is a milquetoast candidate. Glenn Beck called Gingrich a progressive (a pejorative for Beck) and the one candidate he would not vote for. Even Fox’s Chris Wallace slammed Ron Paul saying that a win by Paul in Iowa would discredit the state’s caucuses.

So what we have here is both the candidates and the media fixated on electability. All they talk about is the horse race and not the underlying issues. And of course, the reason for that is that they don’t care about the issues, only the power that comes from political control. And now they have confessed this obsession unabashedly.

Unfortunately for these polito-Narcissists, they aren’t quite smart enough to craft accurate predictions of who is or isn’t electable. They will undoubtedly make the wrong choice and their anointed candidate will suffer an embarrassing defeat. But to be honest, that’s an easy call for me to make because any of the current GOP candidates would be the wrong choice. They are all presently losing to Obama in national polls, and that’s quite a feat considering Obama’s low favorability ratings. The best thing that’s happened for Obama’s reelection prospects is that he’s running against this batch of pathetic Republicans.

Fox Nation vs. Reality: On Watergate

Posted by Mark NC on December 16, 2011 at 3:35 pm. 1 Comments :

Today Fox Nation ran an article by Jeffrey Kuhner, a devout birther and columnist for the “Moonie” Washington Times. The article sought to draw a correlation between President Obama and Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal.

Kuhner’s outrageous theory was that the failed Department of Justice’s “Fast and Furious” initiative, intended to track weapons sold in the U.S. to Mexican drug cartels, was somehow akin to Watergate. But the only thing that this piece illuminates is the profound ignorance that Fox Nation, the Washington Times, and Kuhner have of what happened at the Watergate, and the subsequent cover-up.

The scandal began when Nixon’s henchmen unlawfully broke into the Democratic Party’s campaign offices one night. They were caught and arrested. The White House, recognizing the political fallout if they were implicated, decided to try to payoff the perpetrators and sweep the whole thing under the rug. That effort failed as well, and the administration came crashing down amidst charges of felony burglary, bribery, corruption, and abuse of power.

Kuhner alleges that the Fast and Furious project was “part of an illegal Obama administration operation.” First of all, the operation was initiated during the Bush administration. Secondly, while it may have been ill-advised, it was not illegal. What’s more, although it failed to achieve its intended goals, it was not rooted in corruption or personal gain by any participant. So Kuhner is stretching mightily to associate Fast & Furious with the obvious law-breaking engaged in by Nixon’s “plumbers” and the bribes that later emerged.

Fox News has been peddling this story for weeks. They have been attempting to fabricate an emotional appeal built around allegations that guns sold in the program wound up in the hands of Mexican criminals and resulted in the death of an American Border Patrol Agent. There is, however, no definitive evidence that the agent was shot with one of the guns from the DoJ operation. But even if there were such evidence, do these simple-minded fable spinners at Fox News really believe that if the errant guns from that project had not been lost, that the wealthy kingpins of the drug cartels would not have found other ways to arm themselves? They were well armed before Fast and Furious and they are certainly finding sources for new weapons today. The risks faced by Border Patrol Agents, and all law enforcement officers, have always been, and will always be, a disturbing reality. But they are in no more danger as result of Fast and Furious than they would have been had it been called off by the Bush DoJ that started it.

Unfortunately, in addition to dealing with the failure of the project, and the loss of life, we also have to endure Fox News exploiting the affair for their partisan political ends. That’s a shameful way to undertake their role as a so-called news enterprise, but it is no less than what we expect from Fox.

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Fox Nation Features The Nazi Neurosis Of Rep. Allen West

Posted by Mark NC on December 16, 2011 at 1:12 pm. 5 Comments :

Fox Nation, the web site of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News, may have lost Glenn Beck and his Nazi Tourette’s Syndrome, but they needn’t worry as long as GOP representative Allen West is around:

West’s apparent Nazi Neurosis has been in effect for quite some time. Here is a sampling of his references to the regime that he can’t stop dreaming about (including the one from yesterday):

“If Joseph Goebbels was around, he’d be very proud of the Democrat Party, because they have an incredible propaganda machine.”

“In 1930 there was a gentleman in Germany who took away private gun ownership. And you know what happened to that population. You must be well-informed and well-armed because this government that we have now is a tyrannical government.”

“If we allow those Gestapo-type intimidation tactics to prevail in the United States of America, what happens to our liberties?”

“In reviewing history, I would say Sir Neville Chamberlain was naive in his negotiations with German Chancellor Adolph Hitler. However […] I cannot attribute this incompetent statement [by Obama] to naivete, but rather to conscious, nefarious, and malicious intent.”

“Mainstream media’s is no longer reporting the news, they are propagandizing and I think that is another dangerous situation that we find developing in the United States of America […] Goebbels is doing somersaults and back flips in his grave.”

West has been admonished in the past for his insensitive exploitation of the horrific atrocities of Hitler and his Nazi Party. He has been condemned by Jewish and civil rights groups. And his usual response is to stiffen his resolve and defend his unconscionable rhetoric.

By repeatedly assaulting his political opponents with talk of Nazis, he trivializes the very real pain and loss of millions of victims and soils their memory. And Fox News is equally accountable for promoting West’s offensive behavior.

Apocalypse Soon: Is Glenn Beck In Financial Trouble?

Posted by Mark NC on December 16, 2011 at 10:06 am. 5 Comments :

For several years now the shlock jock turned evangi-pundit, Glenn Beck, has been frightening his glassy-eyed viewers with exhortations that some Apocalyptic Perfect Storm is upon us. He has been predicting the imminent end of the world on a nearly daily basis. Little did we know that he was only referring to his own batty world.

Beck’s company, Mercury Radio Arts, just announced that they will be leasing studio space from The Studios at Las Colinas, a production facility in Irving, Texas. I’m sure that’s a lovely facility, however, there is a marked difference between that space and the former Gateway Church complex that he had previously announced would be his production home. Take a look at these photos for comparison:

Beck was set to move in to the Gateway Church when he suddenly withdrew his zoning requests and abandoned the deal. The Gateway can accommodate 20,000 people, far more than the 500 seats at the Las Colinas site. That’s a substantial downsizing. Beck has apparently come to his fractured senses and realized that he cannot afford the extravagance of the Gateway hall. And he is likely also aware that his ability to draw big crowds has withered.

Beck’s popularity is in a nosedive since he was booted off of Fox News. He has been struggling to attract the sort of media attention to which he had become accustomed. Perhaps that’s what led to his remarks last week that the Tea Party is racist for preferring Newt Gingrich over Barack Obama. Insulting your fan base may generate controversy, but it is not the best way to boost ticket sales. And with his latest public revival meeting, “Restoring Love,” scheduled for next summer, he is going to have a hard time filling seats without Tea Party behinds – I mean behind him.

The only predictions that will be fulfilled for Beck are the Biblical ones that News Corpse has pointed out before: Deuteronomy 28:27-29, describes the punishment from the Lord if you should fail to follow his laws:

27: The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
28: The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart.
29: And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.

We hardly need to speak of Egypt and how badly Beck botched that. The emerods (or hemorrhoids) he has already had, and it nearly killed him. The potential blindness he announced tearfully last year. The madness is self evident. And now even his prosperity is being plundered as this year he lost his television program, numerous radio stations have canceled his show, and he has to live with a puny 500 seat theater instead of the 20,000 seat stadium he really wants. And all because he has pissed off the wrong guy:

With all of these foreboding signs of doom, it must be time to buy more gold. Too bad Beck’s gold merchant, Goldline, has been indicted for fraud.

Fox News Debuts The Rush Limbaugh Hyperbole Hour

Posted by Mark NC on December 15, 2011 at 12:21 pm. 3 Comments :

The Fox News web site for “those opposed to intolerance, excessive government control of our lives, and attempts to monopolize opinion or suppress freedom of thought, expression, and worship,” Fox Nation, generally exhibits the same calm, thoughtful, and reasoned demeanor in its presentation of the news as its TV parent. For example, this morning the Fox Nationalists posted this headline story:

For anyone who didn’t tune in to the interview of Rush Limbaugh by Greta Van Susteren yesterday (which was 99% of the country), what you missed was seeing Van Susteren turn over almost half of her program to Limbaugh. She asked a couple of questions and then let Limbaugh ramble on incessantly in his trademarked hyperbolic manner. And in all of the time he consumed he said nothing more than “Obama sucks,” over and over again.

And speaking of hyperbole, notice the Fox Nation headline saying that “Limbaugh Shatters Obama Into a Million Pieces.” Really? Because the last time I looked Rush is still hosting an AM radio program with an audience of self-described “dittoheads” and Obama is the leader of the free world. But this is typical of Fox Nation. Here is a small sampling of prior headlines that have graced this alleged “news” site:

Newt Obliterates OWS: ‘Go Get A Job Right After You Take A Bath
Allen West Obliterates Obama Official at Hearing
Flashback: Bill O’Reilly Obliterates Barney Frank
Bush Official Obliterates Code Pink Founder Over Krugman Column
CBO Director Obliterates Obama Budget
Limbaugh Demolishes Warren Buffett
Laura Ingraham Completely Demolishes Matt Lauer on ‘Today Show’
Wow! McCain Demolishes Boxer
O’Reilly Demolishes Liberal Hypocrisy
GOP Ad Destroys Obama with His Own Words
AP Fact Check Destroys Obama’s Libya Speech
FLASHBACK: Herman Cain Destroys Bill Clinton in Hillarycare Debate
Paul Ryan Destroys Reid Bill in Blistering Speech
Krauthammer Destroys Obama’s ‘Spike the Football’ Analogy
MUST WATCH: Gov. Christie Destroys ‘Thin-Skinned’ Reporter
LISTEN: Howard Stern Destroys Dem Senate Candidate
WATCH: Trump Destroys Mosque-Loving ‘Morning Joe’ Panel
O’Reilly Destroys Eminem and Media Matters
Politifact Annihilates Harry Reid
Must See! Cheney’s Daughter Annihilates MSNBC Anchor
O’Reilly Crushes Atheist Richard Dawkins
Palin Crushes TIME Magazine Over Their ‘Lies’
George Will Crushes ABC Panel
SHOWDOWN: Rubio Torches Kerry on Senate Floor
Risqué GOP Ad Torches Harry Reid for Vegas Blowout
‘The Fact Checker’ Nukes Pelosi
CEO GOES NUCLEAR ON OBAMA
Ann Coulter Goes Nuclear on Scott Walker
Mark Levin Goes Nuclear Over Obama Destroying the Country
Trump Goes Nuclear on CNBC
Levin Goes Nuclear on Trump

By Fox News standards any time someone criticizes someone else they are either obliterated, demolished, destroyed, annihilated, crushed, torched, or nuked. Particularly if the criticism is directed to President Obama or a Democrat. And I didn’t even check my thesaurus to come up with other histrionic synonyms Fox might have employed.

The one thread that runs through all of this is how overtly hostile and violent their editorial rhetoric is. Clearly Fox regards their mission as one of war against their ideological adversaries. And given the fact that their audience consists of an inordinate percentage of fairly unbalanced and well-armed individuals, this is irresponsible and potentially dangerous.

As Newt Gingrich once said, the Tea Party is “the militant wing of the Republican Party.” And Fox News is their Clarion Caller.

Fox News Faux Pas: What’s Wrong With This Picture?

Posted by Mark NC on December 14, 2011 at 2:48 pm. 7 Comments :

This graphic illustrating the results of a poll for the Iowa Republican primary appeared this morning on the Fox News program America Live with Megyn Kelly.

So what is Fox trying to say here? Is it that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are interchangeable? Is this an effort to make their viewers think that Obama is losing to Newt Gingrich? Or are they just trying to confuse their dimwitted viewers so that they stumble around with vacant stares and do whatever the voices on their television tell them to do?

As I’ve said on the other many occasions when Fox News screws up: These amateurish flubs are typical of Fox’s sloppy brand of pseudo-journalism. It demonstrates their lack of seriousness with regard to reporting and informing the public. What’s more, they are aware of the problem. A couple of years ago they distributed a memo to their newsroom warning of the consequences of continued blunders:

“Mistakes by any member of the show team that end up on air may result in immediate disciplinary action against those who played significant roles in the ‘mistake chain,’ and those who supervise them. That may include warning letters to personnel files, suspensions, and other possible actions up to and including termination.”

So will heads be rolling at Fox News? Don’t count on it. Fox doesn’t regard these incidents as mistakes. In fact, they are an integral part of their mandate. A mistake would be if they inadvertently allowed something truthful to get on the air. That would be cause for termination at Fox News.

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