December 2013

Second Year in Row Ocean Beach Misses Being “Dirtiest Beach”

December 17, 2013 by Source
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For the second year in a row, OB has missed out being called the “dirtiest beach” by San Diego Surfrider and Coastkeeper. Actually, this year this dubious award goes to Cardiff State Beach. OB was the dirtiest beach in 2011 in terms of trash and debris being picked up off the sand by the two groups.

Here is their press release:

Cardiff State Beach replaces Mission Beach as dirtiest beach in San Diego County

San Diego Coastkeeper and the Surfrider Foundation San Diego County Chapter—two of the region’s leading environmental organizations—removed 9,544 pounds of trash from San Diego beaches in 2013. After tallying this year’s results, organizers say 6,489 volunteers removed 1,950 more pounds than in 2012, collecting 157,908 items of trash.

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Ocean Beach Entryway Project Delayed … Again

December 16, 2013 by Matthew Wood

By Matthew Wood

The city has given an extension to Phase II of the Ocean Beach Entryway Project, meaning the plan is to have the project done by the end of 2014.

It was originally scheduled to be finished by the end of this year, but budgeting problems threatened to entirely derail the plan.

“But hopefully it will be done much sooner than a year,” said Tom Perrotti, president of the Ocean Beach Community Development Corporation. “We’re happy that the city is pursuing it.”

“That project has been going on for many, many, years, and this is the last piece of it,” he said.

Perrotti said he was notified “within the last week” of the delay to the final phase of the project, which he says will be the end of a years-long push to improve the look of the entrance to OB.

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Beach News You May Have Missed Due to the Holidays

December 16, 2013 by Staff
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Point Loma to Get Famosa Townhomes at Catalina and Voltaire

Here is more info on the townhouses being built at Voltaire and Catalina (here’s our original post):

SD Daily Business Report

Veritas Urban Properties has broken ground on The Famosa Townhomes, a mixed-use townhome development at Voltaire and Catalina streets in Point Loma. The project, which features nine for-sale units and a pedestrian-oriented retail component, is the second local urban community to be built by Veritas since the company’s founding in 2011.

Man carjacked in Point Loma Heights by woman he met online and male accomplice

SanDiego6

A man was carjacked in Point Loma Heights by a young woman he met online and a gun-wielding male accomplice, a police officer said.

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Santa’s Dreaming of a Green Christmas

December 16, 2013 by Source

From now on, naughty children will no longer receive coal in their stockings

green santaBy Jill Richardson / OtherWords

Santa’s changing some policies at the North Pole.

You see, he’s concerned about global warming. If the polar ice caps melt, his workshop will sink into the Arctic Ocean. He’d become a climate refugee.

What’s more, our changing climate is endangering our food supply. It’s not just the hotter average global temperatures. Climate change also triggers more extreme weather.

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Selling Kevin Faulconer: The Big Bamboozle

December 16, 2013 by Jim Miller

They want you to glare at the union worker asking for a cookie while they walk away with the whole jar.

By Jim Miller

free-cheese-trapLast week over at the SD Rostra they posted an interesting commentary entitled “Electing Kevin Faulconer: Make a Clear Distinction on Fiscal Conservatism” that outlined the path to a Republican victory. While not particularly surprising, the strategy suggested there is revealing in some important ways.

What, according to our friends on the right, needs to be done?

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Neighbor Dispute In OB Over Backyard Torrey Pine Resolved

December 16, 2013 by Matthew Wood
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By Matthew Wood

A dispute between neighbors over an endangered Torrey Pine tree has apparently been resolved, at least for now.

The tree, located in the back yard of a private residence on the 4300 block of Orchard Avenue, recently had a large branch cut off, hopefully appeasing neighbors who were calling for the tree to be completely cut down.

In August we reported about the tree in the yard of Chris Caplaneris, which his neighbors to the east said was causing cracks in their driveway and patio. “We fixed it three years ago, now we gotta fix it again,” said Adelaide Dasilva at the time, who added she had to have surgery after falling while cleaning up the pine needles.

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OB Planning Board Approves Community Plan Update With Modifications – Finally!

December 13, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
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Board Chair Disallows Any Discussion on Kodiak or on Changing Zoning in Ebers – Point Loma Ave Area

Finally, after a 12 year process, the community plan for Ocean Beach has been officially “updated” by a unanimous vote by the OB Planning Board. The vote occurred at a Special Meeting called just to deal with the plan update, held on Wed., December 11th in the usual meeting hall at the OB Rec Center.

Through a long and often tedious process, the Board went over dozens of proposed changes to the update by residents and Board members alike with outlining the recommendations of the sub-committee, …

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Ocean Beach Holiday Parade Winners Announced

December 13, 2013 by Staff
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The organizers of this year’s OB Holiday Parade, the OB Town Council, have just announced the winners in each of the parade’s categories – and this year was the 34th parade.

And here they are – from a press release from the OBTC:

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OB Town Council Meets in Secret and Plots How to Spend Its Money … on OB’s Needy

December 12, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
Thumbnail image for OB Town Council Meets in Secret and Plots How to Spend Its Money … on OB’s Needy

A picture says a thousand words, they say. And so it does.

We caught the Ocean Beach Town Council holding a secret meeting at the OB Rec Center the other night – Wed., Dec. 11th.

There they all were – plotting and conspiring – in the innocent looking “crafts room” at the center.

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OB Man – Missing for 1 Year – May Have Been Murdered in Humboldt County

December 12, 2013 by Source
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UPDATE from Dec 17: The Humboldt County Coroner has identified the human remains located in a gravesite off of Jewitt Ranch Road, Harris area of Humboldt County as that of missing person Garret Rodriguez, 29 years old from San Diego, California.

Editor: Last July we published an article about an Ocean Beach man – Garrett Rodriquez – and that he had been missing for 6 months. Now it’s been a year – and the following article from the Lost Coast Outpost in Humboldt County sheds some light on a probably tragic ending to his life.

By Kym Kemp / Lost Coast Outpost

Revelations in the case of missing person Garret Rodriguez and the recently discovered body in Southern Humboldt continue to emerge. More information was revealed today by Chris Cook, of Cook & Associates Private Investigations.

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Join Surfrider on “Ocean Friendly Garden” Tour in Ocean Beach – Sat., Dec. 14th

December 12, 2013 by Staff
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Surfrider San Diego is holding another one of their tours of what they call “Ocean Friendly Gardens Lawn Patrol” in Ocean Beach this Saturday, Dec. 14th.

The tour will begin at the corner of Cable and Orchard streets in OB and will go from 9am to 11am.

Join them and other OBceans for their Ocean Friendly Gardens Lawn Patrol and take a tour of neighborhood gardens while discussing the Ocean Friendly Gardens principals …

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Homelessness and Hunger on the Rise in U.S. Cities, Nation’s Mayors Say

December 12, 2013 by Source
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By Matt Pearce / LA Times / December 11, 2013

Although the jobless rate is at its lowest level in five years and the stock market has surpassed its pre-recession high, the economic gains have not reached many poor urban residents, and 2014 could be even worse, a new survey said Wednesday.

Homelessness and hunger have increased and are expected to keep rising in many cities next year, according to the latest U.S. Conference of Mayors survey of 25 large and midsized metro areas.

Last year’s national poverty rate of 15% is still near the Great Recession’s high of 15.1%, according to U.S. Census figures.

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Monsanto, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Global Food Dominance

December 12, 2013 by Source

monsanto279By Ellen Brown / EllenBrown.com

“Control oil and you control nations,” said US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the 1970s. ”Control food and you control the people.”

Global food control has nearly been achieved, by reducing seed diversity with GMO (genetically modified) seeds that are distributed by only a few transnational corporations. But this agenda has been implemented at grave cost to our health; and if the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) passes, control over not just our food but our health, our environment and our financial system will be in the hands of transnational corporations.

Profits Before Populations

According to an Acres USA interview of plant pathologist Don Huber, Professor Emeritus at Purdue University, two modified traits account for practically all of the genetically modified crops grown in the world today. One involves insect resistance. The other, more disturbing modification involves insensitivity to glyphosate-based herbicides (plant-killing chemicals). Often known as Roundup after the best-selling Monsanto product of that name, glyphosate poisons everything in its path except plants genetically modified to resist it.

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Volunteers Needed for San Diego’s Homeless Census Count

December 12, 2013 by Frank Gormlie

weallcount-300x167By Doug Porter

The Regional Task Force on the Homeless is seeking over one thousand volunteers to assist in counting homeless individuals in San Diego on January 24, 2014.

The Point In Time Count (PITC) is an annual census effort encompassing both sheltered and unsheltered homeless individuals. Data about locations and demographics is collected, enabling agencies in the San Diego region to better understand the scope, impact and potential solutions to homelessness.

The PITC is also crucial in that it supplies information essential to applications for funding to address homeless issues. Based on San Diego’s 2013 census, approximately 8,900 individuals, families and unaccompanied children experience homelessness annually in San Diego County.

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Work set to begin on OB Elementary School crosswalk over winter break

December 12, 2013 by Matthew Wood
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By Matthew Wood

The area around Ocean Beach Elementary School is about to get a little bit safer.

Work on the proposed crosswalk on Santa Monica Avenue just outside the school is expected to begin in the next few weeks, according to John Ly, a council representative and policy adviser for Councilmember Kevin Faulconer’s office.

In an e-mail, Ly said construction on a street light – a step necessary to stay within city code for crosswalks – would begin Dec. 23, the first official day of winter break for the school. He said he expects work on the street light to be completed by the time students return on Jan. 6, at which time work can begin on cutting curbs for the crosswalk.

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More Thoughts on the Most Recent OB Planning Board Meeting

December 11, 2013 by Frank Gormlie

As I also attended – along with OB Rag reporter Stephanie Denton – the most recent Ocean Beach Planning Board meeting held on the 4th of December – I wanted to share some of my notes and offer insights into that oft-confusing meeting. (The Board is holding a special meeting tonight, Wed, Dec. 11, solely on the Community Plan.)

Stephanie’s report of the Dec. 4 meeting is an excellent summation of the actions the Board took that night regarding CVS Pharmacy and two local development permits.

CVS Confusion

But there was some confusion on the Board – and certainly in the audience – when Chair Tom Gawronski modified the agenda by moving the CVS-related agenda item, scheduled for 7:25pm, to the fore of the board’s business for the evening. (If anyone came at that later time they were simply out of luck.)

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Have You Ever Wondered How Rumors Get Started?

December 11, 2013 by Judi Curry
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The New “Hippie House” of Sunset Cliffs

Have you taken a walk along the south part of Ocean Beach lately?

Have you walked along Sunset Cliffs and Adair and wondered if you had stepped into a time capsule and were transported back to the 1960’s?

Have you ever said to yourself – or out loud – I wish I were living in the days of the Beatles, Mario Savio, Angela Davis, or Samuel I Hayakawa?

Well, my friends, hold on to your roach clip, because you may be taking that trip into that tunnel as this is being written. Is this going to be the new maryjane house of Ocean Beach?

Oh my goodness! Is this house going to give the Kodiak a run for it’s money?

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South Africa’s Role in My Evolution as an Educator

December 11, 2013 by Ernie McCray

As I reflect on Mandela’s passing I’m reminded of how the struggle of his people has played an important role in my development as an educator, starting back in ’57 or ’58 before I had taken my first “How to Teach” course at the University of Arizona.

At the time I was writing a research paper and found some essays on South Africa and the word “apartheid” leapt off the pages at me and I discovered that my struggle in Southern Arizona was so similar to what blacks were going through in the southern tip of the Dark Continent.

Of course, apartheid was more brutal. I didn’t have enough time to dwell on the subject so I just tucked my new found information away and got back to a life of pop quizzes and mid-terms and the like.

But, I didn’t know how much I had internalized what I had learned until the next year when I was in a class listening to a glowing lecture on South Africa that highlighted the country’s sparkling beaches and stunning countryside and rugged mountains and rich resources.

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Nelson Mandela – Rock Star? (Thoughts on His Passing)

December 11, 2013 by Ernie McCray

By Ernie McCray

First thing that came to my mind when I heard that my hero of heroes, Nelson Mandela, had passed away was “Man, what a Rock Star he was!” Now I know it seems profane to diminish a great man’s name like he was a Beatle or Rolling Stone or some facsimile thereof but let me explain.

When I got the news I had just spent a very pleasant morning and early afternoon with fellow University of Arizona alumni listening to one of us, a bright inspirational warm and beautiful woman, a motivational speaker, share from her successes as a business person, what leadership should be all about. Kristi Staab is her name. And she has a lot to say. To summarize, she advocates leading like a Rock Star, “inside out,” with passion and with solid ethics and personal values. That sure epitomizes Mandela.

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OB and Point Loma Neighbors Battle Over New “Kodiak” Restaurant

December 10, 2013 by Staff
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Opponents Want to Protest at Wednesday OB Planning Board Special Meeting on the Community Plan

There’s a small battle brewing in south Ocean Beach and it’s all over a restaurant that hasn’t even opened yet.

The owners of the planned restaurant – called “Kodiak” – want to open in the building at the southwest corner of Point Loma Avenue and Ebers. This is the same building where the VFW wanted to open up a chapter house but ended up giving up due to neighborhood opposition.

Now, those same neighbors are battling each other over the projected opening of “Kodiak”. (Judi Curry reported on it about a month ago.)

One side wants zoning changes that would potentially prohibit any restaurants from ever opening along the commercial street of Point Loma Avenue, despite the history of eateries in the area. This side views the new OB Community Plan zoning changes as a window of opportunity to achieve this goal.

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“Trashy Holiday Ornament Contest” for Ocean Beach

December 10, 2013 by Staff
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Check out this OB holiday art contest!

Take your trash and make an ornament, take a photo of it and win!

Your friends at “Cleaner Streets Initiative – OB” (CSI-OB) are sponsoring a “Trashy Holiday Ornament Contest” for the Land of OB. Contestants are asked to design and create an ornament made primarily from litter and trash found from Ocean Beach streets, parks and beaches.

Just submit a photo of your trashy ornament with a brief description of where the litter or things were found to CSI-OB facebook. (They’re also looking for sponsors.)

Now, there is a deadline.

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There’s No Fool Like an Old Fool: The Final Chapter – Not!

December 10, 2013 by Judi Curry

Instead of finding love, many online daters are left deceived and heartbroken. The FBI’s San Diego branch stated it deals with more than 1,000 “Catfishing” cases a month. Here’s a candid account of one such scam.
1765667By Judi Curry

For months I have been experimenting with “on-line” dating. As each of the paid sites have finished, I have not renewed my membership. However, there are two dating sites that I still frequent, because there is no money needed for membership. I want to talk specifically about OK Cupid.

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The Race for San Diego Mayor Is in a Dead Heat

December 10, 2013 by Source

New Poll has Alvarez at 46% only 1% behind Faulconer

By Brent E. Beltrán / San Diego Free Press

The race for mayor has gotten a lot closer as a new 10 News/San Diego Union Tribune poll has big business friendly Republican candidate, and maritime industry minion, Kevin Faulconer at 47% with surging District 8 councilman David Alvarez coming in at 46% with 7% undecided.

The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA, has a margin of error of +/- 4.4% making this race a statistical dead heat. See full poll data here.

The question that the pollsters asked was: If the runoff election for San Diego mayor were today, who would you vote for? Kevin Faulconer? Or David Alvarez?

Though polls funded by 10 News and the SDUT have historically been inaccurate in favor of Republicans (see last year’s mayor’s race when they had Carl DeMaio up by 5% over Bob Filner) it is very interesting to see a poll by them that actually shows positive numbers for the Democratic candidate.

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Construction at Voltaire and Catalina: 3-Story Development With 9 Units and One Commercial

December 9, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
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A number of readers have asked us, ‘what’s going on at the corner of Voltaire and Catalina?’ Certainly many have seen the construction.

What’s going on at that busy intersection is a three-story “mixed-used” development that will include 8 townhomes, one flat, and one commercial space that has nearly 2130 square feet.

Locals will recall that the corner used to have a Chevron gas station up until 1996. And the site has remained vacant ever since. Then on February 21st of this year, the Peninsula planning board voted unanimously 8 zip to approve the project.

The owner applicants included the Holt Family Trust, the Barnes Family Trust, Russell C Murfey and Scott B Murfey.

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As Temperatures Drop, Occupy Activists and Vets for Peace Reach Out to San Diego Homeless

December 9, 2013 by Doug Porter

Homeless and coldBy Doug Porter / San Diego Free Press

It’s easy to make light of the colder weather Southern California has experienced over the past few days. People from the east county were joking on Twitter this morning about having to use spatulas to clear their windshields of frost. But for the thousands of San Diego’s who live on the streets, the chilly temperatures are pure torture.

While the weather conditions locally can’t compare with those in northern tier cities, it doesn’t take below freezing temperatures to induce hypothermia, a potentially fatal drop in body temperature, usually caused by prolonged exposure to cold temperatures. And San Diego simply lacks enough shelter space for its homeless population when the temperature drops. Four people have died from exposure in the Bay Area in the past weeks and well over 700 die annual from exposure to the elements.

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“The Defining Challenge of Our Time”: Four Things Obama Should Do To Really Start Addressing Inequality

December 9, 2013 by Jim Miller

Obama_inequalityspeechBy Jim Miller

Just as he did last summer during the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, President Obama addressed the issue of economic inequality last week during a speech on the minimum wage and health care, which he delivered in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Washington D.C. His message was stark and pointed as he told the crowd that, “The combined trends of increased inequality and decreasing mobility pose a fundamental threat to the American dream, our way of life and what we stand for around the globe.”

Sounding a populist note, Obama decried the fact that American workers at the bottom end of the pay scale are continuing to “work their tails off and …”

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Special Meeting of OB Planning Board for Vote on Community Plan Update – Wed., Dec. 11th

December 9, 2013 by Staff

OCEAN BEACH PLANNING BOARD

PUBLIC NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING

Wednesday, December 11, 2013 6:00 p.m.

Ocean Beach Recreation Center – 4726 Santa Monica Ave., Ocean Beach 92107

A special meeting of the Ocean Beach Planning Board has been called for this Wednesday, Dec. 11th, in order to have a final vote on the OB Community Plan Update Draft.

The meeting will be in the usual meeting room at the OB Rec Center, 4726 Santa Monica Avenue, at 6pm sharp.

There is only one item on the agenda, “to consider changes to the OB Community Plan as a result of community input and to consider approval of the OB Community Plan.”

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Christmas Tree Shopping OB Style

December 6, 2013 by Matthew Wood
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By Matthew Wood

OBceans looking to buy a Christmas tree in the neighborhood basically have a couple options.

You can go to Rite-Aid and buy an overpriced tree that was probably shipped in before Thanksgiving – at last check they had about a half-dozen left on the lot.

Or they can go see local residents Blake Finvold and Ginnie Lynch at OB Trees in the parking lot behind James Gang.

Seems like a no-brainer. (For the record, Stumps Market has quite a few quality trees for a moderate price. But to say they are located in OB is a bit of a stretch.)

“It’s so amazing being a part of the community,” Lynch said of selling trees in the neighborhood for the past five years.

“I just love OB.”

Yes, these are the same people who have been selling out of the Apple Tree Market parking lot.

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San Diego Did Avoid Another “Black Eye” With Dismissal of Felony Hedge Trimmer Case But What About Vince Adame’s Black Eye?

December 6, 2013 by Frank Gormlie
Thumbnail image for San Diego Did Avoid Another “Black Eye” With Dismissal of Felony Hedge Trimmer Case But What About Vince Adame’s Black Eye?

The following is based on remarks I made at a press conference earlier this week on Tuesday, Dec. 2, to announce the dismissal of felony vandalism charges against Vince Adame by the DA’s office. I did represent Mr. Adame in the final phase of the case.

By Frank Gormlie

The main editorial at the U-T San Diego today – Dec. 2nd – spoke of how San Diego has avoided another black eye what with the District Attorney’s dismissal of felony charges against Vince Adame, the hedge trimmer. The first black eye was the prosecution by the City Attorney’s office of the chalk drawer. So yes, San Diego has avoided another black eye.

This is all well and good, but what about Vince Adame’s black eye.

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OB Town Council Raises $5,000 at Annual Christmas Toy Auction

December 6, 2013 by Staff

Last night at their annual Christmas Toy live auction, the Ocean Beach Town Council raised at least $5,000. That’s an unofficial figure, arrived at last night at the end of the proceedings at the Sunshine Company bar, provided to an inebriated OB Rag staffmember by Steve Grosch.

With such auctioneers as Mike James, New York Mike, Ed Decker and

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