March 2014

OB Planning Board Agenda for April 2, 2014

March 31, 2014 by Staff

Here is the agenda for the Ocean Beach Planning Board April meeting. The Board meets in the meeting room of the OB Rec Center, 4726 Santa Monica, at 6pm sharp.

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City’s Decision to Install “No Turn on Red” Signs at Voltaire and Catalina Is Flawed – Signs Should Come Down

March 31, 2014 by Source
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Editor: In January our Judi Curry warned readers that the City was no longer allowing right turns on red at the intersection of Voltaire Street and Catalina Boulevard. Geoff Page – a former member of the Peninsula Community Planning Board – vowed to get to the bottom of it. So, here is his the result of his research and analysis.

‘No Right Turn On Red’ Signs at Busy Intersection Should Be Removed

By Geoff Page / Special to the OB Rag

It has taken longer than I hoped but I do have the story about the No Right Turn On Red sign installed at Catalina/Famosa and Voltaire last September.

The road to this information was much longer than it should have been, considering the subject matter, and it required patience and aggressive persistence. The shame of it is that this isn’t a scandalous expose; this is information about placement of traffic signs. The signs are on southbound Famosa at Voltaire. Famosa becomes Catalina once you cross Voltaire. The turn restriction is from southbound Famosa to westbound Voltaire.

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Slightly Stoopid’s Miles Doughty on Ocean Beach Life, Tour Life, and Taking Control of Their Destiny

March 31, 2014 by Source
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By K.C. Libman / Phoenix New Times

Few bands remain as succinctly Californian and categorically challenging as San Diego’s Slightly Stoopid. Signed to the late Bradley Nowell’s Skunk Records in 1995, they’re an act that’s been a signed Golden State institution for almost 20 years, carving out their niche by pulling together a variety of genres into a melding that’s all their own. Having been road dogs for the entirety of their career, even after two decades, they still wouldn’t have it any other way, tribulations and personalities aside.

“You can’t be lazy as a touring artist,” says frontman and founding member Miles Doughty.

“So many bands just want that quick success when you need to have longevity. We’ve never been a band that’s exploded on the radio, that had any Top 10 singles, but we’re a band that draws people to shows, and that’s the difference — we can always tour. We strive to have the longevity in being on the road.”

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Review: the Brown Bag Deli

March 31, 2014 by Source
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By Kathy Blavatt

Brown Bag Deli
1912 Rosecrans Street
San Diego, CA 92106
http://brownbagsd.com

For a couple years in the 1980s, my husband and I lived in Roseville, and Brown Bag Deli was our favorite deli (besides Pomas). Located on Rosecrans across from NTC, Brown Bag Deli is much like its name, very basic when it come to atmosphere.

What made my early experiences of this deli special was the heavenly smell of fresh baked bread coming out of their large ovens in the early lunch hours.

The sandwiches are delicious, reasonably priced and there is a long menu list to choose from. The large size can easily be split between two people. Also, they have 3-foot and 6-foot sandwiches that can feed large groups and parties.

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A Green Balboa Park Centennial Celebration for 2015

March 31, 2014 by Source

By Lori Saldaña / San Diego Free Press

green globeAs George Santayana famously observed: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” But in the case of the Pan-American centennial planning, organizers need to learn from the history of the event to help them re-create its grandeur and appeal, and make the 2015 Balboa Park centennial a celebration of innovation, rooted in the first Exhibition’s origins.

Here’s a brief statement of the original events’ main theme: “The purpose of the Panama-California Exposition is to illustrate the progress and possibility of the human race, not for the exposition only, but for a permanent contribution to the world’s progress.”

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Zen and the Art of Baseball

March 31, 2014 by Jim Miller

IMG_4475By Jim Miller

It’s spring and opening week is here and that makes me very happy. Baseball helps me live. It’s perhaps the best American manifestation of the kind of daily ritual that enables us to achieve a small portion of the balance and harmony we need to provide ballast against the chaos of the world.

Whether it’s playing the game or simply contemplating it, baseball provides one with precisely the kind of focused yet purposeless activity that can take you out to the ballgame and into the heart of the moment.

It’s the stillness at the heart of the game that I love, the empty space out of which motion and grace emerge–the pregnant nothing that gives birth to the artful something. And baseball, like art, is gorgeously useless and inefficiently slow.

Perhaps that slowness is why baseball has given ground to the more brutal, time-driven, managerially efficient game of football. We go from the Taylorized, competitive realm of the corporate world to a gladiatorial weekend on the gridiron that celebrates many of the same values.

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CicloDias to Hit Pacific Beach – Sunday, March 30

March 28, 2014 by Source
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OBceans planning on riding from OB

The next CicloSDias is Sunday, March 30, 2014, 10am-3pm. This time it’s about introducing Pacific Beach up to La Jolla to this amazing open streets event. Check out the route above.

Decorate yourself, decorate your bike and join us for the first ever CicloSDias Bike Parade!

When: 11:30am, March 30th.

Where: Cass and Garnet HUB

A friendly panel of judges will determine the winners. Top 3 in store for some great prizes!

See you on the 30th for a Car Free PB!

Folks from OB will be congregating at the Robb Field Skate Board Park.

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Continuing Scandal: No Consequences for Balboa Park Centennial Screw Ups

March 28, 2014 by Doug Porter
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By Doug Porter / San Diego Free Press

The mismanagement of efforts to stage a year-long centennial celebration of the 1915 Panama-California exposition continues to make headlines today.

A City Council committee order an audit of public funds spent by Balboa Park Celebration Inc. yesterday. A follow-up hearing on April 23 was set by Councilman David Alvarez to measure progress toward production of records and along with information on the shutdown of BCPI.

Voice of San Diego drew upon its network of movers and shakers (a side benefit of continual fund raising) to produce a report on centennial efforts including points of view from insiders and those close to the soon-to-be-defunct nonprofit celebration committee.

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OB Bike-Share Locations to Be Revealed by End of Month

March 28, 2014 by Source
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5 Bike-share locations where customers able to check out 3-speed bicycles

By Tony de Grata

The locations of the five stations in Ocean Beach where bike-share customers will be able to check out a comfortable, easy-to-ride three-speed should be revealed by the end of the month, according to Brian Genovese, senior engineer in the city’s Transportation and Stormwater Department.

The Ocean Beach stations will be among the 180 to be installed under a 10-year agreement between the city and Florida-based DecoBike, the company that won the contract last year to run a bike-share program in San Diego. The system should be up and running sometime this year, according to DecoBike press releases.

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City Council Candidates at OB Town Council “Debate”

March 27, 2014 by Frank Gormlie
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Lorie Zapf a ‘No-Show’ After Town Council Tries to Re-schedule Forum

There was a hundred people in the audience at last night’s “debate” between the candidates for the District 2 council seat hosted by the OB Town Council. It wasn’t so much an actual debate inside the Masonic Center as it was an opportunity for residents of the district to ask questions of the candidates.

Three of the four candidates did show up; Sarah Boot, Jim Morrison and Mark Schwartz. Lorie Zapf couldn’t make it so sent her campaign manager, Sara Kamjab, to give a brief introduction. Kamjab explained that Zapf had committed long ago to being the speaker at a major Mira Mesa community fundraiser, however Town Council president Gretchen Newsom commented that the Council had offered an alternative date for the debate, but that the Zapf campaign declined to accept that one also.

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The Ocean Beach Campaign Against Starbucks 13 Years Later – Part 2

March 27, 2014 by Marc Snelling
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By Marc Snelling

The Story of How Ocean Beach Took on Starbucks

Part 2

The building being leased by Starbucks at 4994 Newport, like the Strand also had historical significance. Built in 1927 as a branch office for the Bank of Italy, it incorporated graceful interior features including antique mahogany furniture, chrome iron tellers windows, and marble. Ocean Beach Historical Society president Carol Bowers contacted Starbucks asking them to preserve the unique features of the building.

She was told that a “design team” would contact her to address her concerns. While she was waiting for the call that never came she walked by the site and saw that the arched windows and loft that had housed the former vault had already been walled off. Trees that had been growing int he parking lot had been removed. “So much for Starbucks touted community involvement” she wrote in a May 24th editorial for the Beacon.

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Love Transcends Borders and Legal Status

March 27, 2014 by Source

Juan and Alma in love.Shameful immigration policies separate loved ones

By Brent E. Beltrán / San Diego Free Press

Love doesn’t recognize borders. It doesn’t know if the person you love has papers or if they have done time for youthful indiscretions. None of that matters to love because love transcends all. My cousin Alma, who grew up on 29th St. near K St. in Grant Hill, knows about this kind of love. She and her children live it every day.

My cousin fell in love with, and eventually married, her husband Juan. Him not having legal status to live in the US didn’t bother her whatsoever. She was in love and her heart didn’t care if the man she wanted to be with was allowed to be in this country legally or not. Juan and Alma in love.

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What’s with all those protests at SeaWorld?

March 27, 2014 by Source
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By Barb Dunsmore / Special to the OB Rag

When it comes to impassioned feelings about Sea World, most readers of the OB Rag are well aware that much has recently been written, discussed, filmed, and documented. The world began to take notice with the release of Gabriella Cowperthwaite’s documentary Blackfish. It started with ripples of awareness that have now become waves of deep concern. The worldwide anger the movie unleashed is nearly impossible to ignore.

While SeaWorld was celebrating their 50th anniversary last Friday, everyday citizens, myself included, were standing on Sea World Drive protesting 50 years of inhumane captivity, drawing attention to what we, and a growing number of people around the world see as a new vision for SeaWorld: the recently proposed California Captive Orca Welfare and Safety Act – AB 2140. A new vision that could be a win-win for the orcas and SeaWorld alike, where the orcas would finally be free from the confines and cruel control inflicted upon them daily.

Who are we that protest you ask?

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Outgoing CEO Paul Jacobs to Shareholders: Tell Your Congressman to Give Qualcomm a Tax Break!

March 26, 2014 by Source

pauljacobs1By John Lawrence / San Diego Free Press

In his final message after more than eight years as chief executive officer of Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), Paul Jacobs on March 4 gave employees shareholders what he called a “homework assignment.” “Send your Congress people your opinion that you’d like American companies to be able to bring offshore money back to the United States to either reinvest or return to shareholders”, said Jacobs, now executive chairman of the San Diego based chipmaker, which has $21.6 billion in overseas profits.

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Attacks on Pregnant Women’s Rights on the Rise Across America

March 26, 2014 by Source

Marlise Muñoz was removed from life support, but a growing pattern of state intervention in pregnancies threatens women from Alabama to Wisconsin.

By Michele Bratcher Goodwin / Alternet

pregnant-belly-with-hands-300x3001In Texas, hospital officials refused for over two months to remove 33-year-old Marlise Muñoz, who was declared brain dead, from life support because of her pregnancy. A court ruling on Friday ordered John Peter Smith Hospital to take Munoz off life support in accordance with the family’s wishes, and her body was disconnected from machines on Sunday, Jan. 26.

The tragedy of Muñoz’s case is that it fits a terrible pattern of state interventions in women’s pregnancies.

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City Council Makes First Step Towards Raising the Minimum Wage in San Diego

March 26, 2014 by Doug Porter
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By Doug Porter / San Diego Free Press

The room was packed Monday, March 24th, for a meeting of the Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee as Councilman Todd Gloria successfully gained approval to draft ballot language on a measure proposed for the November ballot raising the minimum wage and granting paid sick leave for San Diegans.

Gloria will consult with City Attorney Jan Goldsmith and bring the measure back for consideration by the committee on April 30th. We can only hope the City Councilman president has the language double-checked by an outside attorney who doesn’t have a vested ideological interest in the measure failing.

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Ten-Unit Apartment Complex on 5000 Cape May Sells for $2.8 Million

March 26, 2014 by Staff
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A ten unit apartment complex in the mid-5000 block of Cape May Avenue in Ocean Beach was just sold for $2.8 million.

Morena Properties Inc. bought the property at 5058-5072 Cape May Ave. (assessor’s parcel 448-102-04) from Kerry Sean McLoughlin. The development was initially constructed in 1951 on a 14,000 square foot lot.

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The Story of How Ocean Beach Took on Starbucks

March 25, 2014 by Marc Snelling
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By Marc Snelling / Special to the OB Rag / Mar. 25, 2014

Part 1

Thirteen years ago today – March 25th, 2001 – the first No Starbucks in OB protest took place. Hundreds gathered at the corner of Newport Ave and Bacon St to send a message to the corporation that the community did not want their store.

OB got the message, Starbucks corporate HQ didn’t.

Starbucks is back in the news this month opening another controversial San Diego location. After a vote allowing a Starbucks to replace the the fair-trade Espresso Roma Cafe, two UCSD students stand accused of arson and ‘eco-terorism’ for lighting fires in Price Center restrooms to prevent the opening.

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OB Town Council to Hold City Council Election Debate – Wed., March 26

March 25, 2014 by Staff
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The Ocean Beach Town Council is inviting the community to a debate and community dialogue on Wednesday, March 26th regarding the City Council election that is taking place on June 3, 2014 for District 2.

Each participant will have 3 minutes of introductory remarks followed by 15-20 minutes of ‘debate’ wherein questions are asked by our audience community members of the candidates.

  • Sarah Boot, Candidate
  • Jim Morrison, Candidate
  • Mark Schwartz, Candidate
  • Sara Kamiab, Campaign Manager for Lorie Zapf
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    Point Loma Planners: Election Results, “Monster House”, Pipeline Repair, Drunks and Marshmallows

    March 25, 2014 by Source
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    By Tony de Garate / Special to the OB Rag

    Six members of the Peninsula Community Planning Board (PCPB) were selected by voters in annual elections held March 20 at the Point Loma/Hervey Library.

    Two incumbents – Peter Nystrom and Paul Webb – were returned to office for three-year terms. Voters also elected three newcomers:

    • David Dick, the top vote-getter among all 10 candidates;
    • Don Sevrens;
    • and Jon Linney.

    Incumbent Mike Ryan, who serves as the board’s first vice chair, tied for fifth with Linney and agreed to complete the one year remaining on an existing vacant position.

    The final vote totals of the six winners were: …

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    Marijuana Legalization is Coming to California, But What Path Will it Take?

    March 24, 2014 by Source

    MJcaliflagA breakdown of the initiatives in the state

    By Chris Conrad / The Leaf Online

    With four marijuana legalization initiatives vying for the California ballot, one thing is clear: All four sets of reforms are better than the state’s current prohibition. The initials and names are confusing, but the core question is, which one or ones will voters get to vote on?

    The California Cannabis Hemp Initiative (CCHI) has been gathering signatures the longest. TheMarijuana Control, Legalization and Regulation (MCLR) is the longest and took in the greatest amount of direct input from the public. A third version was drafted by a group of long-time reform activists, including remnants of the unsuccessful 2010 Prop 19 campaign. None of these has visible financial backing to make the ballot.

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    Really Beachy-Keen News Around OB

    March 24, 2014 by Staff
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    Annual Wisteria Party: A ‘Who’s Who in OB’

    It was a virtual “who’s who” at this weekend’s Annual Wisteria Garden Party held by the OB Historical Society. ….

    The Old Dover Is Gone as Construction Nears for Sunset Plaza

    Yup, the old Dover building is now gone – near the intersection of Voltaire and Sunset Cliffs Blvd.

    Mission Beach Celebrates One Hundred Years

    In 1923 neighbors were scarce. So were roads, indoor plumbing and electricity.

    Knife Attack on Host by Party Crashers in Mission Beach

    A Mission Beach man was stabbed early Sunday …

    Car Plunges Into Mission Bay

    That Time SeaWorld Tried to Slash Its Rent by 70 Percent

    A decade ago, SeaWorld asked for something most renters can only dream of: A roughly 70 percent reduction in its annual

    Daily Transcript Continues Mainstream Media History of Not Knowing Where Ocean Beach Is

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    Notes from the Class War: Killing “The Year of the Populist” in the Crib?

    March 24, 2014 by Jim Miller

    By Jim Miller

    democratic-party-where-are-youRecently, in “Neoliberalism and Its Discontents: What’s Left Beyond More Impoverished Choices?”, I continued my analysis of the national debate that followed the publication of Adolph Reed’s sharp criticism of what qualifies as the “left” in the contemporary American political landscape.

    After that column was posted, Reed wrote yet another piece in American Prospect, this time responding to Harold Meyerson’s dismissal of his call for a left less tethered to a Democratic Party increasingly colonized by Wall Street and other corporate interests.

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    What Will Happen to Pumbaa, the Shar Pei?

    March 24, 2014 by Judi Curry

    pumbaa - TrishBy Judi Curry

    Sometimes one hears a story that is so sad that you don’t even want to know the details because you know that you are helpless to do anything about it. Sometimes you hear a story that might have a happy ending if only the right set of circumstances happen in the right amount of time. Such is the sad tale of Pumbaa.

    Just a little background information: I have a 13 year old Golden Retriever – 91 in adult years – older than me! He has been having severe hip problems in the last year or so and he is having acupuncture once a week and swim therapy twice a week.

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    OB Book Sale Success Proves Books Are Still Cool

    March 24, 2014 by Frank Gormlie
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    The Friends of the OB Library held a book sale on Saturday, the 22nd, and their record-breaking success proves that books are still cool, and have not gone the way of the 8 Track Cassette.

    For over 3 hours, the volunteer team headed up by president Judy Collier did their work on the green in front of the old branch that serves Ocean Beach. And the Friends have announced that they made $645.75 during their sale.

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    Pioneer School Founder At Home in OB

    March 21, 2014 by Matthew Wood
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    By Matthew Wood

    Jim Liener knew there was a better way.

    Working as a special needs teacher in San Diego, mostly dealing with autistic children, he saw how the public schools system would routinely fail the kids that needed the most attention.

    Then he started working with an autistic child who was being home schooled, not able to make it in a normal school environment. He turned the family’s gazebo into a one-room home schoolhouse. An epiphany hit: Why can’t we take this home-school format, which works best for kids with these needs, and make it into an actual school?

    “It was kind of like I told myself, ‘Shut up and do something about it,’” Liener said.

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    Book Sale by Friends of OB Library – Sat., March 22

    March 21, 2014 by Staff
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    The Friends of the Ocean Beach Library are hold a Book Sale on Saturday, March 22, 9:30 to 12:30.

    Please tell your friends and neighbors. Come and browse; it really feels like a party. If you have gently used books or audiovisual materials (CD’s, DVD’s, VideoTapes), please bring them to the Library by Friday afternoon.

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    The Beacon vs Papa Doug Manchester

    March 21, 2014 by Source
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    Editor: In a recent editorial entitled” David or Goliath? Who really has your community’s best interest at heart?”, the leaders of the San Diego Community Newspaper Group came out charging against the area’s mega-press, the U-T San Diego and its head, Papa Doug Manchester. This is news and is worth sharing, as SDCNG publishes the Beacon as well as the Beach & Bay Press.

    EDITORIAL: David or Goliath? Who really has your community’s best interest at heart?

    by San Diego Community Newspaper Group

    There’s a battle for freedom and independence going on.

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    San Diego to Hold Hearing on Raising Minimum Wage – Monday, March 24

    March 21, 2014 by Source

    By Miriam Raftery / East County Magazine

    Should workers have the right to earned sick days? Should the minimum wage be raised in San Diego? A City Council committee will hold a hearing on these issues on Monday, March 24 at 9:30 a.m. at City Hall.

    A new organization, Raise Up San Diego will hold a rally outside Council Chambers at 202 C Street in support of these proposals.

    “Come be part of history as the Improving Wages and Working Conditions measure is introduced at the Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee,” an e-mail invitation from the organization states.

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    Seattle Police Re-examine Kurt Cobain Death

    March 21, 2014 by Source
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    By Casey McNerthney and Amy Clancy / KIRO 7

    Nearly 20 years after Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain was found dead in his home near Lake Washington, Seattle police have reexamined the case.

    Last month, police developed four rolls of film that had been sitting for years in a Seattle police evidence vault. The 35 mm film was processed by the King County Sheriff’s Office photo lab under high security.

    Though the pictures have a slight green tint because of deterioration, police say they more clearly show the scene than the earlier Polaroid photos taken by investigators.

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