Big Tech Employees Donated More to Biden’s Campaign Than Any Other Sector

Employees at Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, donated at least $15.1 million to President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, according to Open Secrets.

The donations eclipsed the amount given from employees in the banking and legal sectors, according to The Wall Street Journal. The five companies were also the largest fundraising sources for Biden’s campaign.

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Biden’s Child Detention Centers Are Now Bursting at the Seams

Government facilities that host unaccompanied migrant children are rapidly reaching capacity due to COVID-19 operational restrictions, causing the Biden administration to rely on a privately operated Trump-era facility in Texas.

An emergency temporary facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, was reopened Monday and around 200 migrant children were transported to the facility that will hold up to 700 migrant teenagers due to permanent facilities reaching maximum capacity and increasing apprehensions of unaccompanied children, CBS News reported. U.S. Border Patrol encountered over 5,700 unaccompanied minors in January 2021, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

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Amazon Stops Selling Book Critical of Transgender Movement

Amazon has removed from its cybershelves a book with “thoughtful answers to questions” about transgenderism—without informing the author and without explanation. 

“When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment” by Ryan T. Anderson, a former senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation and now president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, contends that ideology is more of a factor than biology in American society’s acceptance of transgenderism.

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Former National Security Advisor KT McFarland Talks Kingmaker Trump and Her New Book, Revolution: Trump, Washington, and ‘We the People’

Listen online at iHeart Radio. Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed former Trump national security advisor and author KT McFarland to the newsmakers line to talk about the Trump Revolution and her new book Revolution: Trump, Washington, and ‘We the People’.

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Opposition Grows Against Neera Tanden, Jeopardizing Her Path to Confirmation

Senate confirmation for Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget, is becoming increasingly unlikely after one Democrat and key Republicans announced that they would vote against her.

Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Mitt Romney, Rob Portman and Pat Toomey all said that they would vote against Tanden’s confirmation, joining West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin who announced his opposition Sunday. Without Manchin, Tanden would fall one vote short of confirmation, assuming that every Republican votes against her.

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Analysis: The New York Times Regularly Publishes Falsehoods That Spur Violent Unrest and Civic Dysfunction

A New York Times essay by columnist Kevin Roose frets that the U.S. is suffering from a “reality crisis” and proposes this solution: President Biden should set up a “truth commission” to combat the “scourge” of “hoaxes, lies and collective delusions” that lead to “violent unrest and civic dysfunction.”

Yet, the Times’ idea of “truth” often consists of falsehoods that cause violent unrest and civic dysfunction.

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Commentary: 60 Years After Eisenhower’s Warning, Distinct Signs of a ‘Digital-Intelligence Complex’

In June 2019, Susan Gordon stood on a stage at the Washington Convention Center. Behind her loomed three giant letters, “AWS,” the abbreviation for Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing division of the giant Internet retailer. After three decades at the Central Intelligence Agency, Gordon had risen to one of the top jobs in the cloak-and-dagger world: principal deputy director of national intelligence. From that perch she publicly extolled the virtues of Amazon Web Services and the cloud services the tech giant provides the CIA.

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Biden Administration Weighing How to Prevent a Humanitarian Crisis with Increasing Numbers of Unaccompanied Children Arriving at the Border

The Biden administration aims to avoid a humanitarian crisis at the southern border as the number of migrant children seeking asylum increases.

Over 5,700 unaccompanied minors reached the border in January and government shelters are quickly reaching capacity, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shelters for migrant children are operating at 60% capacity to maintain COVID-19 guidelines and were 93% full as of Friday.

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Commentary: When the Free Market Freezes over

Thucydides recalls a scene from the Peloponnesian War when the Athenians, fleeing before their enemies, come to the Assinarus River. They stop to drink from its flowing waters even as their foes bear down on them.

The Syracusans, Thucydides writes, “showered missiles down upon the Athenians, most of them drinking greedily and heaped together in disorder in the hollow of the river.” Then the Peloponnesians “came down and butchered them, especially those in the water which was thus immediately spoiled, but which they went on drinking just the same, mud and all, bloody as it was, most even fighting to have it.”

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Georgia Business Interests Suspected of Trying to Kill Voter ID Legislation

Georgia State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Woodstock) said this week that she suspects certain of the state’s business interests are working behind the scenes and trying to kill her Voter ID legislation. As The Georgia Star News reported Tuesday, that legislation, if enacted into law, would require non-U.S. citizens to have “BEARER NOT A U.S. CITIZEN — NOT VOTER ID” printed on their licenses, permits and/or identification cards. Byrd said State Rep. Bonnie Rich (R-Suwanee) is working to block Byrd’s legislation in a Special Committee on Election Integrity subcommittee.

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Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee Kills Ban on Cyber Flashing

Delegate Kelly Convirs-Fowler’s (D-Virginia Beach) HB 2254 passed with unanimous support in the House of Delegates. The bill would ban people from sending unsolicited obscene images to others. But after the House sent the bill to the Senate, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted eight to five to table the bill February 17, citing concerns that the bill could be applied too broadly.

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Ohio Gov. DeWine Orders Flags to be Lowered Until Friday at Sunset

  COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine ordered all United States and State of Ohio flags to be lowered Tuesday to half-staff on all buildings and public grounds throughout the state until sunset on Friday. The proclamation is in lockstep with the president of the United States who ordered flags to be lowered in remembrance of 500,000 deaths believed to be caused by COVID. On Monday the Ohio COVID dashboard reported 1,611 cases, 120 hospitalizations, 16 ICU visits and 58 deaths against a 21-day average of 2,681 cases, 145 hospitalizations, 269 deaths and 16 ICU visits. According to State of Ohio data, the highest number of cases in one day was 13,523 on November 30. The height of hospitalizations was also November 30 at 401. Deaths peaked at 209 on December 16. During a Monday COVID briefing, DeWine reported 343 new COVID cases in Ohio nursing homes, a sharp decline from the one-day December high of 2,832. According to the COVID tracking dashboard, Ohio has reported a total 16,874 deaths due to the virus since the global outbreak began. Those numbers coupled with vaccinations administered to nursing home residents and employees coalesced to compel the governor to remind…

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Dunnavant’s In-Person Learning Bill Moves out of Committee

The House Education Committee voted Monday to approve changes to Senator Siobhan Dunnavant’s (R-Henrico) bill to require schools to provide in-person learning. After passing the Senate with bipartisan support, the House of Delegates Education Committee proposed a substitute that Republicans said would have effectively left the status quo intact. However, Dunnavant worked with the committee to create a new substitute including specific definitions for the in-person requirement, creating a compromise bill that received bipartisan support in the committee. The bill would be effective for the 2021-2022 school year — efforts to give the bill emergency status were shot down.

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Despite Filing, Perdue Won’t Run Against Warnock

Despite filing to run with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), former U.S. Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) says he will not mount a comeback bid against U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) in 2022.

“After much reflection and prayer, Bonnie and I have decided that we will not enter the race for the United States Senate in 2022,” Perdue said in Tuesday press release. “This is a personal decision, not a political one. I am confident that whoever wins the Republican primary one next year will defeat the Democrat candidate in the General election for this seat, and I will do everything I can to make that happen.”

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Michigan Public School Forced to Change Mascot over Racism Concerns

Saugatuck Public Schools will no longer use the nickname “Indians,” after an 11-year saga culminated into the changing of the school system’s mascot over concerns of racial insensitivity. 

According to Tuesday reports, the school will now use the nickname “Trailblazers,” following the trend of professional and other sports teams changing their nicknames from anything related to Native American culture. 

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Doug Collins to Debut and Host Political Talk Show out of Georgia Next Week

Former U.S. Republican Congressman Doug Collins is scheduled to launch his own talk radio program Monday, March 1, and the show will feature guests local to Georgia as well as guests who hold national stature. The Doug Collins Show will broadcast from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. every weekday on the Georgia-based WMLB (1690 AM). People outside of the Atlanta-listening area may also listen to the show through the John Fredericks Radio Show app.

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Professional Golfer Tiger Woods Injured in Car Accident, Trump Calls Woods ‘a True Champion’

Tiger Woods was injured Tuesday morning in a rollover car crash, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Multiple news reports say Woods was removed from the vehicle with a “jaws of life” device, he was the only person in the vehicle and the extent of his injuries are unknown. But later multiple reports corrected the part about the “jaws of life,” and say that it was not used to extricate him.

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Williamson County School Board Hires Firm to Fight Racism, Despite Warnings it Might Indoctrinate Students

Williamson County School Board members voted unanimously this month to hire a firm to help stamp out what they said was a pattern of racism within the school district. This, even though parents told board members that they researched school disciplinary records and, going by that, racism was not as rampant as suggested. Those parents also said this move falls well beyond a school system’s primary function and might indoctrinate students politically.

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Bill Lee Among the 17 Republican Governors Calling on President Biden to Rescind Executive Order Halting New Oil and Gas Leases on Federal Land

A group of Republican governors sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Monday asking him to rescind an executive order that halts new leases for oil and gas development on federal land, arguing that it will have a negative impact on their economies and will cost consumers. 

Biden signed the lease moratorium Jan. 27 as part of a broader series of executive actions seeking to curb climate change. The executive order, which applies to offshore leases, does not apply to existing leases for development on federal lands or leases on tribal land.

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Nation’s Top Small Business Group Doubles Down in Minimum Wage Fight

The leading advocacy organization for small businesses in the U.S. is focusing its legislative efforts on defeating a proposal to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.

The minimum wage is the biggest issue the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) has lobbied on recently, the group told the Daily Caller News Foundation. After a series of pandemic-related victories on Capitol Hill, capped off by the December stimulus package that included $284.5 billion for small businesses, NFIB decided to lobby Congress to “do no harm.”

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U.S. to Pay $4 Billion for Coronavirus Vaccine Distribution in Poor Countries

Joe Biden is set to announce today that the United States will be spending $4 billion on an effort to increase distribution of the coronavirus vaccine in poor and third-world countries, as reported by ABC.

Congress had approved spending the funds on an international vaccine distribution effort back in December; half of the money will go to an organization called Gavi, an international group that focuses specifically on vaccine distribution and is backed by the United Nations. The funding will cover Gavi’s operations throughout 2021 and 2022.

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Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch Blast Supreme Court’s ‘Inexplicable’ Refusal to Hear Pennsylvania Election Lawsuit

by Debra Heine   The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a Republican challenge over absentee ballots received up to three days after Election Day in Pennsylvania. Republicans in the Keystone State had sought to block a state court ruling that allowed the Nov. 6  deadline extension in the 2020 election. The decision prompted dissents from three conservative justices; Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch. The trio argued that while the legal questions in the case may not have affected the outcome of the November election, the Supreme Court should take the opportunity to clarify election law because the same legal issues could impact future elections. Throughout his dissent, Thomas characterized the Court’s refusal to take cases challenging the election as “inexplicable,” “befuddling,” and “baffling.” “These cases provide us with an ideal opportunity to address just what authority non-legislative officials have to set election rules, and to do so well before the next election cycle. The refusal to do so is inexplicable,” Thomas wrote. “The Constitution gives to each state legislature authority to determine the ‘Manner’ of federal elections,” Thomas argued. “Yet both before and after the 2020 election, non-legislative officials in various States took it upon themselves to set…

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Over $14 Million Worth of Drugs, Firearms and a Man Wanted for Murder Detained by Border Officials in February

Around $14.3 million worth of narcotics and several weapons have been seized since the start of February at an Arizona port where officials also arrested a man wanted for murder, Customs and Border Protection announced Tuesday.

Officials seized 440 pounds of methamphetamine, 385,000 tablets of fentanyl, 84 pounds of heroin and almost 13 pounds of cocaine in around 25 instances since Feb. 1, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). A 28-year-old man wanted for murder in Las Vegas was arrested while in possession of an AR-15 assault rifle, a handgun and over 300 rounds of ammunition.

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Florida Official Will Direct Offices to Ignore Governor’s Plan to Lower Flags to Honor Rush Limbaugh

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried issued a press release on Monday stating that she will direct offices within her purview not to lower flags to half-staff in honor of the recently deceased conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh.

The announcement from the Democrat comes after Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had previously indicated that flags would be lowered to half-staff to honor the late conservative icon.

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House Democrats Pressure TV Broadcasters to Deplatform Conservative Networks

Two House Democrats sent letters Monday to a dozen television broadcasters suggesting that they stop airing Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News Network, a move which a Republican commissioner on the FCC called a “chilling transgression” aimed at deplatforming the conservative networks.

“Are you planning to continue carrying Fox News, OANN, and Newsmax on your platform both now and beyond the renewal date?” California Reps. Anna G. Eshoo and Jerry McNerney wrote in a letter to the companies.

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Biden Pick for Interior Secretary Likely to Face Rocky Confirmation Hearing

U.S. Senate Republicans may use next week’s Interior confirmation hearing for Rep. Debra Haaland to air their grievances about the Biden administration’s energy policies, running the risk of alienating Native Americans in Western states.

GOP Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming and Steve Daines of Montana sit on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which will hold the Tuesday hearing, and both have already raised objections that Haaland holds “radical” views. Daines vowed to block her progress in the Senate unless she addresses several issues that concern him.

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‘The Muppets,’ ‘Peter Pan,’ ‘Dumbo,’ and Other Disney Products Receive ‘Offensive Content’ Disclaimer

Disney’s new streaming service, Disney+, has begun attaching formal disclaimers to many of its products at the start of each movie or TV show declaring that the content may be “offensive,” as reported by the New York Post.

Among these products is “The Muppets Show,” which begins with a disclaimer that the show features “negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now.” The disclaimer continues to say that “rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it, and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together.”

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McDonald’s Ties Executive Pay to Diversity Targets

McDonald’s will tie executives’ pay to diversity goals and aims to hit gender parity in management by the end of 2030 as the company tries to overhaul its workplace culture. Fifteen percent of the company’s annual bonuses will be used to reach these targets, McDonald’s said in the statement.

The world’s biggest restaurant chain on Thursday said the company aims to increase the number of women in leadership roles to 45 percent from 37 percent by 2025. It also wants to boost “historically underrepresented groups” in leadership positions to 35 percent from 29 percent over the same time frame, CNN reported.

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Vaccinations Slow After Storms Delay Shipments of 6 Million COVID-19 Doses

The extreme cold weather across much of the country has delayed 6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, slowing a vaccination rate that has been steadily rising since the Biden administration took office last month.

The backlogged doses account for roughly three days’ of delayed shipments affecting all 50 states, due to road closures, snowed-in workers and power outages, said Andy Slavitt, senior adviser on the White House’s COVID-19 response, during a news conference Friday.

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Commentary: The Origin and True Agenda of ‘Anti-Racist’ Politics

With President Biden and Kamala Harris steering the American ship of state, there isn’t much left at the federal level to stop “woke” politics from encroaching even further into all aspects of American society. In every federal agency including the military, in corporate America including sports and entertainment, throughout the colleges and universities, and even down into the K-12 public schools, “woke” ideology now permeates the culture. It is a seductive, divisive philosophy that emphasizes group conflict over individual competition and achievement. If it isn’t stopped, it will destroy everything that has made America great.

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Following Full Republican Support, Senate Bill to Establish Legislative Oversight of Governor’s and Agency Orders Now in Ohio House

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senate Bill to Establish Legislative Oversite of Governor’s and Agency Orders Now in Ohio House

Last Wednesday Ohio Senate Bill 22 (SB22) passed the upper chamber 25-8 – all Republicans were in favor, all Democrats opposed.

SB22 was introduced by primary sponsors Terry Johnson (R-District 14) and Rob McColley (R-District 1) and establishes legislative oversight to the Governor’s and health orders.  

In its original form, the bill granted the General Assembly authority to immediately rescind a public health state of emergency declaration along with rules and orders the Governor and Ohio Department of Health (ODH) issued related to a public a health state of emergency.

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General Assembly Votes to Make Virginia First Southern State to Abolish Death Penalty

The Virginia General Assembly passed a death penalty repeal on Monday. Governor Ralph Northam is expected to sign the bills, which would make Virginia the first state in the South to ban capital punishment. Advocates have argued that the death penalty is vulnerable to wrongful conviction, is expensive, cruel, and applied unfairly, but opponents say some of the most heinous crimes require a death penalty to make sure the criminal doesn’t get free. During the 2021 session, House Republicans have emphasized the names of victims of particularly serious crimes, who they say are being ignored by Democrats.

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Former Michigan House Speaker Resigns from New Job After Pressure from LGBT Community

The Republican former Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives Monday resigned from his new post as Chief Executive Officer of the nonprofit Southwest Michigan First (SWMF) after the organization faced backlash from the LGBT community for hiring him. 

“For the betterment of the Kalamazoo community, the businesses that the board of directors represent, the staff at SWMF and for the sake of my conscience, please see the letter of resignation I offered this morning. I remain grateful for having had this incredible opportunity,” Lee Chatfield said on Twitter. 

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Virginia Bill to Allow Absentee Ballot Distribution by Contractors Heads to Governor’s Desk

Legislation that would allow third-party contractors to handle the distribution of absentee ballots is headed to Gov. Ralph Northam’s desk as other voting reforms await further action.

Senate Bill 1239, sponsored by Sen. John Bell, D-Broadlands, would allow general registrars to contract to these third parties for printing, assembling and mailing the ballots. This would not allow third parties to handle ballots that have already been cast. The Democratic-led bill passed with some bipartisan support, clearing the Senate 27-12 and the House of Delegates 70-30.

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Minnesota Legislators Want State to Award Contracts Based on Skin Color

A group of black legislators in Minnesota wants the state to begin awarding contracts on the basis of race, according to a Monday report. 

“The United Black Legislative Caucus, made up of 10 Black Minnesota state senators and representatives, announced in a recent virtual town hall that they’ll push for the state to require 15% of all public contracts to be awarded to businesses owned by people of color,” The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal said.

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Georgia Voter ID Bill Could Die as Republican Legislator Stalls Moving it Forward

Georgia State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Woodstock) said Monday that a Republican colleague is holding up Voter ID legislation that Byrd said will help prevent fraud in the state. As reported, that legislation, if enacted into law, would require non- U.S. citizens to have “BEARER NOT A U.S. CITIZEN — NOT VOTER ID” printed on their licenses, permits and/or identification cards.

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Loeffler Founds Voter Registration Group in Georgia

In what is being viewed as an attempt to counter the efforts of former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, a Republican former U.S. Senator from the Peach State has founded her own voter outreach group.

“Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler is starting a voter registration and outreach group called ‘Greater Georgia,’ in her first major public move since losing her Senate seat to Democrat Raphael Warnock in a Jan. 6 runoff,” Fox News reported Monday. 

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Tennessee Senate Approves Bill to Allow School Districts, Governor to Reopen Classes

The Tennessee Legislature is looking into giving local education districts more leeway to open or shut schools during public emergencies — or the governor the power to send students back to campus.

On Monday, Tennessee State Senator Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) presented Senate Bill 103 to the full Senate. The bill passed the Senate as amended, 27-5.

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More Than 1,300 COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Expire in Shelby County

Around 1,315 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine scheduled to be administered in Shelby County expired as winter weather closed vaccination sites this week, the Shelby County Health Department announced Friday.

Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter said the health department was not informed the doses were about to expire. The department contracts with a pharmacy, and the pharmacist is responsible for managing the vaccine and thawing doses in the appropriate timeline for use. The vaccine spoilage was first reported by the Commercial Appeal.

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