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Ed Murray New Seattle Mayor

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray

 

 

 

 

Mike McGinn is out and our new Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is in the house.  History hasn’t been good to previous Mayors in-fact the last 3 have consecutively been voted out after their re-election attempts.  Mr. Ed Murray won with approx. 56% of the vote.  His election win makes him Seattle’s 53rd Mayor and also the first openly gay Mayor.  Reviewing the election he simply had more support and being someone who is fresh/new really won him this election.  He even had the full support of Seattle’s Chamber of Commerce which is a big deal in my opinion.  Another concept he preached was “collaboration over confrontation”.  Voters can really related to that and are fed up with all the feuding in politics right now from both sides.  In just the last few days of the race there was a Washington Post article which stated several of the large telecom companies were supporting Ed Murray over McGinn which just pushed it in Mr. Murray’s favor even more.

Personally, I’m just happy to write about someone else for a while.  I’m not a big supporter for either right now honestly and I do believe that the average Joe off the street would get us all better results but that simply will not happen this day and age.

I give everyone a fair shot and if they do a great job and make positive changes I will be the first to support them fully.  I do have a few concerns one being his long history in state politics.  Some view this as positive but for me that is a obvious negative.  Our state is in horrible shape and being involved for so long (18 years as a law maker) that would mean he was part of that effort.  Having done that for so long, I have my doubts he is in the loop of what the average worker needs and feels in their daily lives.  Both Mike McGinn and Ed Murray support the $15 per hour minimum wage increase.  Just him making a stance to support it and going along with Mike McGinn makes him suspicious.  Obviously he just wanted that issue to be an even playing field (vote numbers) and it was a wise choice for him to take that stance politically.  It is a sign, however, that he is savvy and playing the game of politics.  The truth is $15 per hour minimum wage is scam to get more tax revenue out of the workers paychecks.  It’s a huge boost of revenue actually.  If you’re trying to find a job it doesn’t make sense because it only makes it more difficult for you.  It’s a scam and shouldn’t be supported.

I found that Ed Murray’s election campaign was very “play it safe” and identical to Mike McGinns thoughts about issues.

Welcome to the Emerald City Journal Mayor Ed Murray I hope my thoughts and opinions about you are not true.  I support you fully to do the right things for this city.  Don’t play the political games.  Be real, open, honest, and 100% transparent.  Make your budgets and request for funds open to public review and you’ll be very successful here.

 

 

 

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Mike McGinn

Mike McGinn News

This is our hot topics page regarding the Seattle, Washington Mayor Mike McGinn.  Below you’ll find are hottest news articles

Two-Thirds Tax Law Dumped

Yesterday 2-28-13 the will of the people of the state of Washington was wiped out. Hard to believe that for

Warning About Cindy Smith Cleaning Services

Cindy-Smith-Cleaning-Services-Seattle

I never dreamed that if I hired a cleaning service they would try to take me to the cleaners instead. I am elderly and do my own cooking, light cleaning etc but can no longer clean behind the toilet, under the bathtub so I hire someone to that. I had a regular lady that had helped me before several years but she got sick and could no longer do that. I was leery about Seattle.Craigslist.org so I went through an employment agency. I chose Thumb Tack. they send you the resumes of 4 and you can choose one by what they wrote. At least this agency would know that this stranger was to be at my house at a certain time if something happened. I chose Cindy Smith. She came right on time and was as nice as could be. I wanted my windows done on the inside and the paper changed under my kitchen cabinet and behind the toilet and under the tub cleaned. She started in the bathroom. She has two big green garbage bags. No mops or brooms. She says she does everything on her hands and knees. One bag is for her clean rags, one for the dirty ones. I never thought anything about that, but over two hours went by and I never heard a sound of water running or toilet lids closing and I thought OMG maybe she fainted or something, but she had everything out of my medicine cabinet and was washing the cough syrup bottles, etc. I said geez I did not want you to even open those doors. I can do that kind of cleaning if I want it done. It was noon then. She put it back in and did finally clean the toilet etc She said her job is to clean top to bottom and that included inside cabinets. I said no not at my house. I think looking back she was looking for drugs. Well she did not find any. I don’t take tranquilizers, sleeping pills, pain pills or a thing. but man with big garbage bags it would sure be easy to slip in some of a guys pills and you would never know. She finally got to the kitchen and it was 6 o clock and I told her to just go and we would finish another day. She did good where she cleaned, I have no complaint with that. I didn’t get the windows washed or stuff I wanted done but sure have clean shampoo and hand lotion bottles. lol Anyway, the gist of my story is this. She came one time and it was a Saturday. I made an appointment for the next month on the 19th Less than a week later I get this e mail (see below).

Good evening Lilly,

How are you holding up in this heat? 🙂 I got you message about the 19th, I will also email you a day ahead for reminding 🙂 I shall tackle more for you on the 19th too 🙂

Do you know of ANYBODY that can help me with a personal loan and I pay them back with agreement. My Ex Husband stole a lot of money from me and my house payment was in it 🙁 If I don’t make my house payment by this weekend, I am going to Lose my home 🙁

I have a $ 3500 contract check that I am waiting for, I don’t receive it until the end of the month. I will pay back the payment as soon as I receive my check.

My Ex Husband Really messed me over!!

I am so Desperate, I am trying anywhere. I don’t know what else to do.

Do you know of anybody?? I am Reliable.

Thanks Lilly 🙂

She really tried to manufacture a tear jerker on an old lady knowing we are from an era that we would help anyone asked. Or I would feel sorry for her and help. She must have thought I had STUPID written on my forehead because my house and furniture sure does not look like I am someone that would have an extra thousand or two to hand out to a stranger. I have children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and a great great grandchild to give any excess money I might ever have to give to. She did not specify how much the house payment was. But lets guess it’s around $2,000. This was a Friday night I got her email, and wouldn’t you think that was cutting the time pretty short if she would lose her house the next day? First real red flag. She wanted  a personal loan to be paid back with agreement. What the heck that means I don’t know. Said she had a $3500 contract check. I don’t believe that either but she could sure take it to Money Tree if she had it and SAVE HER HOUSE.

She told me when she was working she raised her children alone and they were grown and she was a grandma so it’s funny the Ex-Husband suddenly appeared and she just happened to have the house payment in plain sight. She simply wanted a handout. She would have taken any amount I might have said I could spare and I would never see her again.   I decided not to get into a conversation with her at all and simply wrote

CANCEL MY SEPTEMBER 19TH APPOINTMENT. But she emailed again. see below.

Are you okay?

I wasn’t asking for you to help me, maybe you or somebody knew of a loan officer or a really good resource that can direct me in the right direction for a home loan? 🙂

If she wasn’t asking me to help her, why did she ever send me the first e mail. This e mail was sent to me on Saturday right after noon and she is looking for a loan officer or good resource (what does this mean) for a home loan. Remember this was the weekend she had to make the payment or lose her home and its Saturday noon already. lol  How many good loan officers does any old woman know? She should have walked into a bank and asked for a loan officer. Of course she was not looking for a loan, she may not even own a house, don’t know don’t care but anyone that desperate to scam an old 90 year old woman should not be turned loose in anyone’s house with two big garbage bags.

Her cleaning was fine, she was nice, and I don’t think she stole a thing and for sure I did not loan/give her any money but the fact that she would ask makes me branded her as not someone I would recommend.

Just wanted to share.

Lilly

Can’t Afford Obamacare? Get To Work!

Can't afford Obamacare then get to work!

There are many reasons why I didn’t support Obamacare.  One of them has really not been discussed in the public or by the supporters of the law.  First, most supports of the law in my opinion have their regular 9 to 5 jobs.  They feel their insurance is covered by their employer so who cares about the costs to the other Americans right?  Most Americans fall into that category. Self employment is a big deal here in a America, however, and with that being said I do understand entrepreneurship and business ownership isn’t for everyone.  I for one want to be wealthy one day and don’t want to settle for an average $40,000 per year job.  I have always felt that this opportunity is what America is about.  Many come to American for this opportunity.  You can go on your own and make a difference for yourself here.  If you work hard and build your own empire (instead of working for someone else) then you can be your own King.  You can be a multi-millionaire and not have the worries of working for the man.  Sure, it’s not for everyone and mostly about your environment and how you were raised I believe.  I have great friends who don’t want to take that chance or leap into something that could be much more beneficial.  They have so many opportunities due to the field of work they are in. It’s the difference of being happy with $3,000 per month or giving it a shoot to make $50,000 per month.  They are content with the average routine of 9 to 5er’s.  I don’t really understand that reasoning but it’s a personal choice and I respect that.

My point is that Obamacare is a set back in entrepreneurship.  Before Obamacare, you had that opportunity to quit your job (saving up and putting some cash away) and try to make it happen.  However, with Obamacare you have to take into the healthcare monthly fees now.  Since you won’t be supported by a company, you have to factor this in.  It’s much harder to be a business owner or self employed just starting out.  The law puts a bigger burden of financial responsibility on you and there is a less chance you’re American Dream of self entrepreneurship will ever happen.  The burdens are much larger and most likely to much for most to risk.  Many more won’t take that chance now.  In short, I have felt the Obamacare law is a big step back for people who want to make a better future for themselves.  It’s a set back for the dreams of what America is to many people all over the World.  An opportunity to spread your wings, give your idea a shot, and perhaps you can have live a life of prosperity.

The truth about Obamacare is….that it’s much harder now.  Many won’t even bother to give it a shot and more people will have to just get normal jobs working for the man.  From a Government and taxes perspective this is a great system.  They can force people to the workforce and build up the taxes and revenue which is what they need so greatly right now.  Obamacare, because of the rates/plans, forces you to the 9-5 workforce.  You probably can’t afford it going the entrepreneur route anymore (especially just starting out) so you’re going to need to get a job and support our economy. You need to get your taxes automatically taken out of your paycheck each week and be the perfect citizen. Obviously the more citizens working the better the economy is.  It’s that hidden agenda nobody talks about and one big step back for the American Dream and entrepreneurship.
 

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Has America Changed It's Standards

Has America Changed?

This is an interesting read. Written by Ken Huber – he does make some interesting points about American and what

Obamacare Monthly Fees Way To HIGH

Obamacare Monthly Fees Rates To HIGH

The day has come where you can officially get online and start the process to order your law required health care (Obamacare). Just like the new system in place even the online websites were a complete failure. The excuse provided by the White House is that there was and is to much traffic. Being an Internet guy I assure you fixing those issues doesn’t take over a day (30 min max). Don’t you find it odd that the official Health.gov website is fine but the others can’t stay online? Even though the White House will never admit it, the issue comes to satisfaction and negative customer sentiment. Imagine all the negative publicity regarding the high rates of Obamacare right now. You can pretty much search any new article on the subject, read the comments, and see the population is pissed about the costs. Turns out the public got screwed about the rates because they are not even close to being cheaper for the American public. When the website exchanges doors opened for business the public began to complain. This negative sentiment was and is reaching far and wide right now and to save face (and the system) they had to lock it down. What’s the perfect excuse? The White House blames it on the traffic. By doing so you also create a demand for the service which they need. They need everyone onboard with the program and participating. The only reason they are down right now is to control the propaganda of negativity. It’s bad… really bad.

I find it amazing as I read the comments from people. Many are blaming the Republicans already. The others are blaming Obama even people who supported him are now starting to see another Government failure. They, like most, support the idea and “hope” of what it would bring, however, at this point I see them coming to the conclusion that they got duped on this one. It’s sad to see so many have the passions in their hearts about American and still believe the people in charge will protect them and provide the hope and care this nation needs. Politics is all the same. They truly believed in Obama with his stellar speeches about Hope. Unfortunately, behind the doors is all about capitalism and the numbers. I admit he is the best I’ve seen when it comes to talking and many feel into that trap. I just hope this is an awaking to many. Obamacare is now the law and nothing is going to change that. Republicans can continue to play games and even shut the government down but Obamacare is going to push forward.

I have seen the monthly fees associated with Obamacare and they are ridiculously high. It is no even close to the affordable range for most. Being that most live paycheck to paycheck there is no way they are going to be able to pay the monthly fees for health coverage. Doing a search for myself out of curiosity and it came to $282 per month. If you have a family you’ll easily be $400 plus per month here in Seattle. If you voted for Obama in the second term, you have nobody to blame but yourself on this one. I’m not saying it would have been better with someone else in the office (both are evil) but supporting this law is going to hurt a lot of Americans financially. We are starting to see it in the news now and comments/feedback people are reporting after searching for these so called affordable plans. Turns out there is nothing affordable about it.

Downtown Seattle Unsafe

Downtown Seattle Is Unsafe

There’s a saying that good guys finish last. That’s the way it is downtown. It is not safe to walk right in the heart of downtown in the middle of the day. I am not talking about Pioneer Square or Bell town at night when just the drunks hit the streets. The main place to catch buses is at 2nd and Union or 3rd and Pike. To get there from anyplace you have to do business is downright scary. Drug sales right in the open all along Pike, you have to walk around them to pass. To get from Group Health on Capitol Hill I need to walk from the bus at 5th and Pine to 3rd and Pike. That is through Westlake Park. Drug sales, skateboards, drunks, men urinating right in plain site. What isn’t in site is a Policeman. Now I know why and can even understand that the Police have a problem enforcing what they say are civil rules, not criminal ones. Which means until these unruly drunks/thugs, ( pants on the floor druggies) murder or maim you the police can’t or wont do a thing. Police use to issue tickets for street disorder but have learned it’s useless. If they ticket you three times you have to show up in court, but of course they never do, so that ends that.

Mayor McGinn wants more money to put more police in the downtown core but the city attorney refuses to take anyone to court that the police cite. the Mayor thinks (or says) it’s because they need more housing. I beg to differ. 90% of the drug selling, skate boarders and rabble rousers are already living in free housing, get food stamps, medical and everything that a “good guy” has to work and pay for. They are bored and think they are entitled to do whatever they please with no consequences. There are some seriously mentally ill people downtown and eventually they pull out their gun and shoot a metro driver, or stab an innocent school teacher who attended a hockey game but until they do that they can’t touch them. As it stands when I go to town, transfer to my doctor all I can do is hope I MAKE IT without getting shot, stabbed or knocked down and a hip broken. That is not the way a well run city should operate. In 2007 they wrote 2,262 tickets. In 2013 they wrote 271. I believe out of those 271 they took two (2) to court. In other words downtown is totally unsafe, no amount of police can fix it if they are told to look the other way. They want people to take the bus but the transit stations are not safe at all and no one can do anything about it. There has to be a consequence if a doped up skate boarder is swinging his skate board around his head yelling profanities in Westlake Park, guys peeing on trees, this means the good guys came in last for sure.

Maybe they just need to have police available to escort us law abiding citizens to the next bus stop and let the thugs have the streets. If you readers have any good ideas please leave comments and/or get in touch with our Mayor and City Attorney. If you don’t renew your cat license, the fee jumps from $25 to $42, but if you ignore that an officer comes to your door and that costs you $125.00 plus whatever other crap they add on to the $42. It’s all about money. They will punish anyone they think they can squeeze a buck from but the lawless downtown don’t pay anything. Priorities are really screwed up. LLL (Lilly)

Seattle Taxi Drivers Losing Business

Seattle Taxi Drivers
Local Seattle taxi drivers are angry. The complaint comes from the new rideshare type companies in Seattle. Taxi owners feel they are stuck because their prices are controlled by the City of Seattle while these other type of transportation services are not. Mike Judd, the owner of Yellow Taxi, has a good point in my opinion and he says, “These guys don’t have business licenses, the drivers, they don’t have proper insurance, they’re doing a tremendous bite into our business and undercutting our rates that are regulated by the city and undercutting the safety of the public…” I do agree with that for the most part. I don’t agree with the public safety. Taxi’s are no safer than any of the other newer transportation options available. Common Mike Judd we all know how these Taxi drivers drive around town lets be real.

The Seattle Council has a meeting scheduled tonight with the committee on taxi for-hire and limousines. Who knew there was a committee to handle Taxi’s! Sounds like more wasted money to me. None the less, that is the situation for now. What I find most interesting is that in public, TV, and in ads they push and encourage more options for riders. They want the public to use the other public transportation options available. They want people to rideshare to work. Leave your car at home and ride to work or ride the bus – we have all seen this type of propaganda. EXCEPT – when they start to lose money because they are overpriced and new companies/solutions are readily available. That is NOT ok with the City and they must be shut down or highly regulated quickly.

What happened to capitalism and entrepreneurship? These companies have found a solution that a lot of Seattle residents are embracing. The demand is high and this is what American is about. It’s about being creative, finding a new solution, and that includes competitiveness for businesses. They are considerably less and easier to work with. You can order a ride from you mobile phone! Some of these newer solutions just ask for a donation for the driver. Another named UberX charges similar rates as the taxi’s but doesn’t require tips. These are just creative options and in my opinion the more options and competitiveness the better.

It’s a shame I feel the City is going to side with the taxi drivers on this one due to the money and regulations involved for the City. I feel, however, if the taxi drivers would actually clean up their acts, lower their fees, and COMPETE they actually may do quite well. With the monopoly in place there are no reason to do anything. They can continue to be rude, blow off pickup times, keep their cars filthy, and continue to only shower once a week. Why change anything when you’re the only option available? Time for a change and time to allow entrepreneurship to grow. This is supposed to be America after all.

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USPS Wants More Money Now

USPS Raising Rates Mailings

The black hole of a business, USPS, has requested to raise the rates again. Sure, it’s not much (3 cents) but it seems every few months now they are asking for another nickel or dime. It’s a sound strategy asking for a little at time. Obviously if they just asked for a .50 cents per piece of mail they would be denied, however, small increases get approved. This increase will put us as .49 to mail one piece of mail. I have talked about the United States Postal Service before and how they basically are killing themselves by not changing with the times. The reality is this will most likely get approved. However, they are going to learn quickly that physical mail is a black hole. It may help in the short term but people are just about done with them raising the rates and playing these games. More and more each day are giving up on the mail service and moving entirely digital. Almost every company offers paperless services now (except your sewer bill which is another topic). If they really want to alienate people, they are going down the right path with these constant raises. Time will tell I guess.

I sure find it interesting that they have the money for paying all the executives 200K to 500K per year. I see them advertising at the Tour De France and NASCAR. Their top executives make more than the Vice President of the United States. Last Summer they got busted for spending $400K on sporting tickets, booze, and fancy meals. Where do we draw the line and say make it work or even bring in a new company? I sure there are a lot of companies who would be more than happy to make this work for much less. It’s time for a change that is for sure.

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Senator Maria Cantwell

Senator Maria Cantwell

I recently wrote to our Senator Maria Cantwell regarding raising the debt ceiling and the nations over spending habits.  Here is

Washington State Affordable Healthcare Rates

Affordable Healthcare Act Seattle

The time is coming in just a matter of days when you can do the “right thing” and purchase Obamacare (Affordable Healthcare).  As you know, I strongly didn’t support Obama or the Affordable Healthcare Act.  I liked the idea, however, it doesn’t really correct the real issue and that is overpricing and ripping people off.  A better solution would have been for the Government to say “no” to all the bills and overpriced items.  Breaking an arm and going to the ER shouldn’t cost a family $5,000 dollars – when nothing is done with the broken arm except x-rays and an arm sling to go home with.  This is where the problem is and not enough was done to correct this.  None the less, we are here now with Affordable Healthcare Act and the supporters are going to have a shock and awe when they see the prices.  I can’t help but laugh each time I do a search online at the fees and really just wonder how everyone is going to pay for this?  They don’t have money now what makes you think this is “affordable”.  Most live paycheck to paycheck with just a few dollars left over each month.  I suspect everyone will just be supported by the Government or go into debt to the IRS over the fees of not getting it.  If you don’t have a job, you’ll pretty much be supported by the Government – what else are you going to do to participate into the program.  It’s a requirement so if you’re unemployed, you must get it through claiming poverty (applying) or paying the IRS fees.

I have looked at many comparison websites now.  For Washington State, this appears to be the main one: wahealthplanfinder.org.  Out of curiosity, I ran a basic search.  Husband (35 years old) and Wife (29 years old) making $45,00o per year with one child under 21 years of age.  The total came to a laughable $687 per month.  This maybe reduced to $346 per month with a Government subsidy (however that works) who knows when or how the check comes in the mail.  How about another you ask… OK how about a single male (35 years old) not married and no kids.  Lets say he makes $30,000 per year.  This basic search comes to $282 per month.  There is a subsidy of $73 dollars of that.  Who thinks these numbers up?  Out of the 314 million people in America paying for these high rates now you would think it would be more realistic wouldn’t you?  By the way, these numbers are from the exchange so they’re going to be higher through an insurance company.  It’s just laughable to me that people are just going to support this and pay it each month.

The next few months should be interesting to say the least.

 

 

 

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Seattle Home Prices On The Rise

Seattle Home Prices Going Up
There has been lots of news recently about home values increasing.  I know some have increased in my area.  The Seattle Times is reporting this as well.  According to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home-price index, Seattle jumped 1.9% in July.  Of course very few mention that the market is down 18% from 2007.  I guess by not mentioning that it builds customer confidence.  Also according to S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home-price index, there were only 3 large metro cities that made gains.  These were Seattle, Tampa Florida, and Washington DC.

If you read the Emerald City Journal, you probably know I’m not a fan of buying a home.  I just don’t understand how someone could pay $250K for a home and another $350K in just interests and think they are going to make a profit on that.  Add in the property taxes and it’s just ridiculous the amount you pay in the end.  The “American Dream” is alive and well I guess.  I’m happy people are still falling for this because these are suckers paying for all the roads, schools, and city expenses.  America needs you to believe.

 

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Seattle Micro Housing

Seattle Micro-Housing

The Seattle Council is considering allowing micro-housing in the city. If you’re not in the loop of what micro-housing is

Wikipedia – You’re Fired!!

Wikipedia is a rip off

After several attempts to be included into the Seattle media section on Wikipedia, it’s time to throw in that towel. Wikipedia a “non profit” website which is visitor edited and claims to be the source for much of the World’s information, has failed us here at the Emerald City Journal. No only have they failed us but they have failed you our readers. It is true we are smaller publication. True we are the one and only Seattle newspaper which is open to all opinions and topics. Whether you agree with the topics or not on our paper, you surely understand that this paper is by and for he people. There is no other news source like ours and that should honestly be respected. Sure, we are no Seattle Times or Tacoma New Tribune. Our content, reader, and news is very different. With that being said, we certainly deserve to be recognized in the community and in the Seattle media group acknowledged by Wikipedia.com. We are unique and can’t be compared to the others “media” news sites listed. Lets go over a few of those “media companies” listed on Wikipedia and really not going to spend to much of my time on this.

Here is the page in question if you would like to take a look:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_in_Seattle

First lets take a look at the community websites listed. They are all the same company and look the same! Unlike the Emerald City Journal, all most all their content/news is syndicated. Copy and pasted from other sources. They display content from the Times and many other newspapers. These group of newspapers are all the same.. nothing original and the same old garage. To lazy to create their own news and topics. To scared to share the truth and the reality of World. It’s all about scraping news from other sources and capitalizing the ad revenue they generate by the volume of pages they display. Honestly, this deserves to be listed and we don’t Wikipedia?

Let’s look at another – how about “Seattle Gay News”. This media company doesn’t even have news, stories, topics on their website. Their website is 3 pages and looks like it was put together by a 3 year old. Seriously, what is this garbage. Take it off Wikipedia and put up quality news websites who produce real content that is unique. We have 100’s of topics on the Emerald City Journal! Yes, every article and post is original also.

Here is another one called the “Seattle Press” another horrible looking website. It provides no value to anyone in Seattle or the rest of the country. The news content and stories are not unique at all. If you actually try to read one of their news or topics I think their biggest article is 3 or 4 sentences in total. Does this deserve to be called “media”? Is that what people want to read and think about? Seriously, this is a joke.

After discussing with Wikipedia and their gatekeeper (who is ego driven to say the least). We are done with them. We don’t need them and we’ll be just fine without them. Share you thoughts and tell the World.

Peace and Love.

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