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SF Immigrant Film Festival to benefit Day Laborers

­by the staff of El Reportero

An scene of La Trailera.An scene of La Trailera.

The San Francisco Immigrant Film Festival will offer three special screenings for the student community of the City College of San Francisco, California, and one charity screening for the San Francisco Day Labor Program (SFDLP) on Wednesday, November 30 and Dec. 3rd, with the premiere of movies about the Hispanic, Arab and African communities.

The screenings on November 30th will take place at 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. at the City College Mission Campus.

The charity screening on behalf of the San Francisco Day Labor Program, also known as “La Traila”, is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 3rd at 2 p.m. On that occasion, it will open in San Francisco the series of four short documentaries directed by Mexican actor Gael García Bernal with the English director Marc Silver and produced by Amnesty International recently.

Omar d’León and other artists at the Paul Mahder Gallery

The Paul Mahder Gallery will host the 5th annual holiday party and group exhibition on Thursday December 1, from 6-9pm. Featuring new works from Omar d´León and other artists, such as Otto Aguilar and Oscar Camilo de las Flores, to discover some of today’s finest artists at one of San Francisco’s leading galleries. Admission is free. 3378 Sacramento Street at Walnut, San Francisco, California 94118. For more information visit http://www.paulmahdergallery.com.

Masked Hero Zorro Returns to Peralta Hacienda Zorro, Mexican California’s original champion for the 99 per cent, returns to Oakland December 1, 6-9pm for a reprise of “Zorro by Night,” Peralta Hacienda’s popular gala fundraiser. This year the fiesta will include a spectacular live flamenco with Fanny Ara and her musicians, period food and drinks.

For more information or to book tickets go to ­peraltahacienda.org or call 510-532- 9142. Admission starts at $50, with reduced prices for under 30s and over 70s. 2465 34th Avenue, Oakland.

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Civil rights organizations file lawsuite challenging Alabama’s anti-immigrant law

­­by the staff of El Reportero

A coalition of civil rights organizations filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging a provision under Alabama’s harsh anti-immigrant law that threatens to push people out of their homes. Section 30 requires persons to prove their lawful status before they can renew their mobile home tags and prohibits “business transactions” between the state and persons who cannot produce paperwork proving their citizenship or immigration status.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two undocumented Latino immigrants in Elmore County who also risk being charged with a misdemeanor if they do not purchase the decals in addition to fines for failing to register their mobile home by the statewide deadline.

HIV in the Latino community: early testing and treatment makes it possible for people to live longer

Latinos are greatly impacted by HIV/AIDS. The rate of HIV infection in Latino men is twice as high that of white men. For Latina women, it is four times higher that of white women. For the past 3 years, Latinos represented 24 percent of all new HIV infections diagnosed in the Emergency Department at San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH).

Latinos tend to delay testing and they present for care in the advanced stages of the disease, as there are many barriers to seeking care, such as stigma, fear and isolation, cultural and language difficulties, immigration status and mistrust of medical system.

Nevertheless, advances in HIV-related care now make it possible for people to live longer. Patients are able to have children, return to work/school, and live healthy lives. In order to take advantage of the advances in medicine it is important that Latinos get tested, know their HIV status and access care early after diagnosis.

Hyatt housekeepers filed retaliation charge with the EEOC

On Nov. 18, housekeepers Martha and Lorena Reyes filed a retaliation charge against the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara with the federal agency, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). The Reyes sisters were among many Hyatt employees whose faces were pasted atop bikini-clad cartoon images on the company’s bulletin board. Humiliated, Martha Reyes tore down the photographs of her and her sister and both sisters were later fired by the hotel.

OSHA or its state counterparts have issued 16 citations against the Hyatt or its subcontractors, alleging violations of safety regulations that protect housekeepers and other employees. Community leaders joined the Reyes sisters in calling on Hyatt to immediately reinstate the housekeepers with back pay and to issue a public apology.

The real story of Thanksgiving

por Susan Bates
Manataka American Indian Council

Most of us associate the holiday with happy Pilgrims and Indians sitting down to a big feast. And that did happen – once.

The story began in 1614 when a band of English explorers sailed home to England with a ship full of Patuxet Indians bound for slavery.

They left behind smallpox which virtually wiped out those who had escaped. By the time the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts Bay they found only one living Patuxet Indian, a man named Squanto who had survived slavery in England and knew their language. He taught them to grow corn and to fish, and negotiated a peace treaty between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Nation. At the end of their first year, the Pilgrims held a great feast honoring Squanto and the Wampanoags.

But as word spread in England about the paradise to be found in the new world, religious zealots called Puritans began arriving by the boat load. Finding no fences around the land, they considered it to be in the public domain. Joined by other British settlers, they seized land, capturing strong young Natives for slaves and killing the rest. But the Pequot Nation had not agreed to the peace treaty Squanto had negotiated and they fought back. The Pequot War was one of the bloodiest Indian wars ever fought.

In 1637 near present day Groton, Connecticut, over 700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe had gathered for their annual Green Corn Festival which is our Thanksgiving celebration. In the predawn hours the sleeping Indians were surrounded by English and Dutch mercenaries who ordered them to come outside. Those who came out were shot or clubbed to death while the terrified women and children who huddled inside the longhouse were burned alive. The next day the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared “A Day Of Thanksgiving” because 700 unarmed men, women and children had been murdered.

Cheered by their “victory”, the brave colonists and their Indian allies attacked village after village. Women and children over 14 were sold into slavery while the rest were murdered. Boats loaded with a many as 500 slaves regularly left the ports of New England. Bounties were paid for Indian scalps to encourage as many deaths as possible.

Following an especially successful raid against the Pequot in what is now Stamford, Connecticut, the churches announced a second day of “thanksgiving” to celebrate victory over the heathen savages. During the feasting, the hacked off heads of Natives were kicked through the streets like soccer balls. Even the friendly Wampanoag did not escape the madness. Their chief was beheaded, and his head impaled on a pole in Plymouth, Massachusetts — where it remained on display for 24 years.

The killings became more and more frenzied, with days of thanksgiving feasts being held after each successful massacre. George Washington finally suggested that only one day of Thanksgiving per year be set aside instead of celebrating each and every massacre. Later Abraham Lincoln decreed Thanksgiving Day to be a legal national holiday during the Civil War — on the same day he ordered troops to march against the starving Sioux in Minnesota.

This story doesn’t have quite the same fuzzy feelings ­associated with it as the one where the Indians and Pilgrims are all sitting down together at the big feast. But we need to learn our true history so it won’t ever be repeated. Next Thanksgiving, when you gather with your loved ones to Thank God for all your blessings, think about those people who only wanted to live their lives and raise their families. They, also took time out to say “thank you” to Creator for all their blessings.

Bilderberg 2011 The Rockefeller World Order and the High Priests of Globalization

FROM THE EDITOR: In continuing with our research and coverage of significant issues that have and are currently affecting our way of life, the following article, written by Andrew Gavin Marshall brings us into a long journey of historical passages about the Bilderberg group, a little known organization that has much to do with the policies that decide world events, such as future wars, countries invasions, mass destructions in other countries, or formation of new ‘free’ trade agreements for the benefit of the world ruling elite and the consolidation of a New World Order, and leading to the culmination of a New World Government to enslave humanity.

Due to its length, it will be divided into many parts. So please sit tight on your seat for a long ride, and hope that at the end, you’d have learned a big chunk of history.

by Andrew Gavin Marshall
Global Research
Third part

Recently by Andrew Gavin Marshall: The Logic of Imperial Insanity and the Road to World War III

To say we were striving for a one-world government is exaggerated, but not wholly unfair. Those of us in Bilderberg felt we couldn’t go on forever fighting one another for nothing and killing people and rendering millions homeless. So we felt that a single community throughout the world would be a good thing.

~ Denis Healey, 30-year member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group

— At their first meeting, Bilderbergers covered the following broad areas, which remained focal points of discussion for successive meetings: Communism and the Soviet Union; Dependent areas and peoples overseas; Economic policies and problems; and European integration and the European Defense Community.

Nearly every single American participant in the Bilderberg meetings was also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Among the notable American members of the Bilderberg Group in its early years were David Rockefeller, Dean Rusk, John J. McCloy, George McGhee, George Ball, Walt Whitman Rostow, McGeorge Bundy, Arthur Dean, and Paul Nitze. As Political Scientist Stephen Gill wrote, “Prominent in the American section were the network of Rockefeller interests.”

Certainly, while Rothschild interests have remained in the Bilderberg Group, as evidenced by Edmond de Rothschild having 2been a member of the Steering Committee, and Franco Bernabe, Vice Chairman of Rothschild Europe being a current Steering Committee member,[18] the Rockefeller interests seem to be most dominant. Not only is David Rockefeller sitting as the single individual of the Member Advisory Group of the Steering Committee, but close Rockefeller confidantes have long served on the Steering Committee and been affiliated with the organization, such as: Sharon Percy Rockefeller; George Ball, a long-time leader in the Council on Foreign Relations, who was Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations; Henry Kissinger, long-time Rockefeller aide and American imperial strategist; Zbigniew Brzezinski, who co-founded the Trilateral Commission with David Rockefeller; Joseph E. Johnson, former U.S. State Department official and President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; John J. McCloy, former Chairman the Council on Foreign Relations (superceded by David Rockefeller), former Assistant Secretary of War, Chairman of Chase Manhattan Bank (where he was superceded by David Rockefeller), former Trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation, Chairman of the Ford Foundation, and President of the World Bank; and James Wolfensohn, former President of the World Bank and Trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation.

One current Steering Committee member, who is representative of not only a continuation of Rockefeller interests, but also of the continuing influence and role of the major foundations is Jessica T. Matthews. She is President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who had served on the National Security Council under Zbigniew Brzezinski, was a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (at which David Rockefeller remains as Honorary Chairman), is a member of the Trilateral Commission, is a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation, and has served on the boards of the Brookings Institution, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Joyce Foundation.

Next week: The Bilderberg and the European Union.­

Occupy UC Davis pepper spray video goes around the world

­by news and services and Yashenka Baca

Un policía rocia con gas pimienta a unos estudiantes de la Universidad de Davis.: (PHOTO REPRINTED FROM THE NEW CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENTS)A cop uses pepper spray on UC Davis University students who protested peacefully.(PHOTO REPRINTED FROM THE NEW CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENTS)

A video that shows a dozen students from UC Davis being pepper-sprayed at point blank on Friday Nov. 18 by two university police officers, has gone viral worldwide. The students, part of the Occupy UC Davis movement, were passively sitting down and locking arms on a sidewalk, to protest the destruction of their encampment.

The video was shared in You tube and has more than 2 million views. The images show police officer, Lt. John Pike, casually spraying students with the strongest kind of pepper spray known to exist. According to witnesses, Pike sprayed them straight in the eyes and then in the mouth.

It all started Thu. 18, when a few dozen students set up encampment in the UC Davis main quad and stayed in 25 tents overnight. In the morning they received a letter from the University’s Chancellor, Linda Katehi, saying they had to remove the tents and leave by 3 p.m. Most Occupy UC Davis protesters decided to stay.

The campus police showed up in riot gear, destroyed the encampment, and pushed and dragged people around. News about the site being raided were quickly posted in social media and dozens of students showed up to see what was going on.

After seeing their encampment destroyed, a dozen of protesters decided to passively sit down on the sidewalk, they linked arms and chanted. Minutes later, the leader of the police group, Lt. John Pike, and another officer brought out their pepper spray cans, and sprayed students at point blank directly in the face.

Professor Nathan Brown said in an open letter to the chancellor that the officers even took care that some students would open their mouth so the spray would go down their throat. Two students had to be hospitalized and one more was coughing blood hours after the incident, according to the professor.

Crying and yelling are clearly heard in the video as hundreds of students watched in horror what was happening. The crowd then got together and started yelling “Shame on you! Shame on you!” while the police arrested the students that had being sprayed. Moments later the crowd yelled, “you can go!” to the officers, and then actually walked the police out of the quad.

The video went viral over the weekend. By Mon. the chief of campus police Anette Spicuzza and the two police officers who used the spray had been suspended. UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi has being asked to resign by both students and a group of professors, but she refuses to step down.

In a very emotional statement, Katehi offered an apology to the students, later she told the press she doesn’t plan to resign. “If I leave right now we are going to be defined by what happened on Friday” she said. According to the latest declarations of the Chancellor, the police had been told not to use any violence against students, she said “there will be 5 reports (on the incident) and the truth will come out”.

The students of UC Davis are camping by the main quad of the campus again and now have 75 tents,­three times more than before the incident last week. The protesters called for a General Strike on Mon. Nov. 28 to shut down all California campuses and prevent the UC Regents from holding their vote, as they will be meeting in four UC campuses on that date.

 

Cover-up of scientific data showing link between vaccines containing mercury and autism

by Ethan A. Huff
(NaturalNews)

Deniers of the link between mercury-laden vaccines and autism are going to have a hard time denying the latest findings by the Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs (CoMeD). The nonprofit group has obtained critical documents via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that exposes the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) role in deliberately lying about and manipulating a key Danish study that showed a clear link between vaccines containing mercury and autism.

In 2003, the journal Pediatrics published a study conducted in Denmark that observed a significant decline in autism rates following the country’s elimination of Thimerosal, a mercury-based component, yellfrom vaccines. But thanks to the CDC’s corrupting influence, the published version of the study in Pediatrics actually claimed the opposite, and alleged that removal of Thimerosal brought about an increase in autism rates.

According to the documents, CDC officials removed large amounts of data from the study that showed a decline in autism rates following the removal of Thimerosal. The agency then twisted the remaining data to imply an increase in autism rates following the removal of Thimerosal, and suggested that there was no link between Thimerosal and autism.

Upon submission of the CDC’s tainted version of the study to Pediatrics, the study’s authors contacted CDC officials to let them know that the agency had incorrectly interpreted the data. They tried ­to tell the CDC that its figures and conclusions were wrong, and that corrections needed to be made.

The CDC allegedly responded by saying that it would take a look at the incorrect data, but proceeded to submit the corrupted version of the study to Pediatrics anyway. After encouraging the editors of Pediatrics to perform an expedited review of the corrupted study, the CDC ended up convincing the journal to publish the fraudulent study, which it did in 2003.

Now that this critical information has been officially released for the world to see, CoMeD is pressing the CDC to conduct a full criminal investigation into the matter, and make a formal declaration about whether or not scientific fraud was involved. CoMeD is also calling for a full, immediate retraction of the corrupted study from Pediatrics.

“This should not be tolerated by those who are entrusted with our children’s health and well-being,” says Lisa Sykes, President of CoMeD.

A turbulent week for México

­by the El Reportero’s news services

Francisco Blake MoraFrancisco Blake Mora

The past week has produced one shock and two surprises. The shock was the helicopter crash on the morning of Nov. 11 which killed the interior minister, Francisco Blake Mora, and the other seven passengers flying with him (see page 3). Almost certainly the crash was an accident. The first surprise was the victory of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) in the gubernatorial election in Michoacán on Nov. 13 This was the last major election before the presidential and congressional elections on 1 July 2012. The second surprise was Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s easy annexation, on Nov. 15, of the Left’s presidential nomination for 2012.

­Even more of a haven?

The long drawn out saga of the Euro-debt crisis, which even prompted China to abandon its mask of inscrutability and express impatience with European policymakers, again underlines the attractions of Latin America as a place to invest. Latin America’s greatest economic asset is not its raw materials but its democratic approach to economic policymaking.

Mexican leaders air drug-war differences using U.S. forums to impress at home

The debate over solutions to the escalating violence associated with the wars between drug cartels and the government’s response has been taken once more to U.S. audiences. President Felipe Calderón has used an interview with the New York Times to portray at least a sizable sector of the opposition Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) as favouring an ‘understanding’ with the cartels, while his predecessor Vicente Fox (2000-2006) aired before a forum in Washington his proposals for a truce and eventual amnesty.

On eve of eleventh debate Ron Paul places high in polls

by Kurt Nimmo
Infowar

In addition to the Revolution PAC commissioned poll revealing Ron Paul’s strong placement in Iowa prior to the caucus, other polls place the Libertarian 2011running within the Texas Republican Party in a tight race for the nomination.

A Bloomberg News poll shows Ron Paul locked in a four-way statistical tie for first place among Iowa Republicans — 20 percent for Herman Cain, 19 percent for Paul, 18 percent for Mitt Romney and 17 percent for Newt Gingrich.

Meanwhile, an Iowa State-Gazette-KCRG poll places Paul five points behind Cain and a New Hampshire poll shows Paul tied with Newt Gingrich for second place behind establishment candidate Mitt Romney.

A Public Policy Poll presented Paul as the only Republican candidate to best Obama among independent voters (48 to 39 percent), and a late October CNN/Time poll also showed him in the top three in the key states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, according to MarketWatch.

Ron Paul’s support has remained remarkably consistent considering the fact nearly all the other candidates have endured fluctuations in their support. Romney, Cain, Gingrich and Perry all scored low in this summer’s Iowa Straw Poll. Pawlenty and Santorum ranked higher, but are not even considered serious contenders four months later. Ron Paul came in second, trailing Michele Bachmann by a mere 157 votes (out nearly 17,000 votes recorded). Like Pawlenty and Santorum, Bachmann is no longer considered a serious candidate.

Despite his consistency and the fact he can win the nomination, the corporate media continues to either ignore Paul or dismiss him as a fringe candidate. An email leaked by the Bachman campaign revealed that CBS went out of its way to silence Paul during the last debate. Paul was allowed a meager 89 seconds to answer questions during a debate that ran 90 minutes.

A scientific study released in October demonstrated conclusively that Ron Paul was allowed the least amount of face time during the debates despite his high ranking and popularity as a candidate.

It remains to be seen if the pattern will continue this evening during the 11th debate. The Christian Science Monitor seems to think Paul will once again be ignored by the moderators.

CBS and CNN may ignore Paul, but despite this he continues to draw support from average Americans, particularly young Americans determined to restore a constitutionally limited republic. And, once again demonstrating Ron Paul’s ability to sidestep artificial ­political barriers, he has drawn the support of an unlikely group – socalled “progressives” and Democrats opposed to the prospect of neverending war that persists regardless of what party is in the White House.

The night of the Zorro in Oakland

­by the El Reportero’s staff

Jessie MárquezJessie Márquez

The Peralta Hacienda in Oakland, will celebrate Zorro By Night, a fund-raising Fiesta, Flamenco and Fire party to take place Dec. 1 in the Hacienda’s Historical Park from 6 to 9 p.m.

The celebration will transform the Hacienda into the land of El Zorro, showing guests the spirit of justice and equity the hero projected in his movies. The organizers look to ignite the stage with Flamenco dancers performances, followed by the projection of the most distinguished Zorro movies in a candlelit environment.

The Peralta Hacienda will offer food, wine and live music during the fund-raising party, all donations are considered crucial to continue the after school program, community garden, field trips and historical preservation the Peralta Hacienda supports. For more information about the event go to: www.peraltahacienda.org.

A night of Jazz in La Peña

Latin jazz vocalist Jessie Marquez will let her Cuban, Brazilian and pop music influences be heard in a performance to remember, at La Peña Cultural Center on Dec. 2. The vocalist, whose themes revolve mainly around love, promises to wrap attendees in a soothing heart healing vocal wave.

Marquez has trained in Havana, Cuba, where she recorded with Afro Cuban all-stars. Her lyrics display a poetic sensibility and appreciation for love. The artist’s most recent work is All I See is Sky, produced by pianist Phil Baker, features “a texture soundscape alongside the singer’s intimate and understated approach.”

Jessie Marquez will be at La Peña on Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. for tickets and information go to www.lapena.org, or call (510) 849-2568. La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, Ca.

30th Canto Popular celebration

This year the Encuentro del Canto Popular turns 30, and for this special occasion organizers bring more than a dozen singers, bands and Latinoamerican performers.

The Brava Thethre will be the host of the Encuentro de Canto Popular, which has become one of San Francisco’s most important Latino folk music festival. This year the event will feature Cuban music by John Santos Sextet, Puerto Rico and the Afro-Caribbean diaspora and jazz improvisation; a reunion of Grupo Raíz, interpreting the Nueva Trova Cubana, and Los Peludos playing tropical folk music of ­Central America and the Caribbean, as well as the Mexican corrido.

The event will take place on Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. in the Brava Theathre, 2781 24th St, San Francisco. Tickets: $15-$18. For more information call (415) 648-1045.

SF Ballet launches Nutcracher guide

­by the El Reportero’s staff

Ballet NutcrackerBallet Nutcracker

The San Francisco Ballet, the first professional ballet company in America, and the first in the country to perform Nutcracker, launched this month its Nutcracker Guide to the City of San Francisco.

The interactive magazine that can be accessed online going to www.sfballet.org/cityguide, is inspired by SF Ballet’s classical Nutcracker production.

The guide shows early twentieth-century San Francisco through pictures, and ensures a rich journey for anyone who wishes to watch it while visiting some of the cities most important sight seeing locations: Alamo Square, the Conservatory of Flowers, Chinatown, the Palace of Fine Arts, and the War Memorial Opera House.

The magazine features interesting blog entries with both historic and architectural information, a contribution made by local experts. As visitors of the city, or enthusiast locals, go through the guide they will be able to watch video interviews with the Ballet dancers, as well as vintage photography from the early 1900s.

“The guide celebrates the long-standing ties between the city and Nutcracker, an annual holiday tradition,” said SF Ballet Executive Director Glenn McCoy.

Casa Caliente! at Galería La Raza

Video, electronica and spoken word performances will take place every other month in La Galería as part of ¡Casa Caliente!, a series of salon shows featuring local and international artists.

Performances will introduce work-shopping ideas, not finished products to the audience. The idea is to encourage attendees to work with the artists and test the presentations potential.

The first installment of ¡Casa Caliente! is Duel Discourse, a two-hour psychomagic presentation on Friday Dec. 2 at La Galería and the adjacent Studio 24. Artists, including electronic composer Guillermo Galindo, and performance artist Ginger Murray will present conceptual tarot readings. In parallel, choreographer Sara Shelton Mann and performance activist Larry Bogard will introduce Spoken choreography, a text-based work.

Masters of Venice at the de Young Museum

The worldwide exclusive presentation of some of the most important paintings from Venice artists of the sixteenth century, Masters of Venice: Renaissance Painters of Passion and Power, is in San Francisco’s de Young Museum through February.

The collection, a loan from the Gemäldegalerie of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, features 50 paintings from Venetian artists such as Titian, Giorgione, Veronese, Tintoretto, Mantegna, among others. The works represent the richness of ­Venetian accomplishment in Renaissance-era painting.

Among the highlights of the exhibition are Portrait of a media que dura la obra.

Teatro Nahual ha trabajado por más de ocho años en el Área de la Bahía, educando y entrenando para crear discusión sobre los hechos históricos y actuales a través de las obras de teatro hispano. Young Woman (1506) and Youth with an Arrow (ca. 1508–1510), from Giorgio da Castelfranco, known as Giorgione. Also Annointing of David (ca. 1555), and the heroine Lucretia (1528–1588) from Paolo Caliari. “Many of these paintings have been unseen on these shores until now,” explained John E. Buchanan, Jr., director of museums for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Visitors can appreciate this presentation now through Feb. 12. There are discounts for seniors, youth, and students. Free lectures on the subject will be given Nov. 27 at 1 p.m. and Dec. 3 at 10:30 a.m.

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