Putin is actually making a lot of sense

We are normally subjected to a news media blackout concerning what our main global political rivals have to say. So it's sort of refreshing when anything at all is allowed through the corporate media censors.

“The pandemic has been replaced by new challenges of a global nature, carrying a threat to the whole world, I’m talking about the sanctions rush in the West and the West’s blatantly aggressive attempts to impose their modus vivendi on other countries, to take away their sovereignty, to submit them to their will,” Putin told delegates at Russia’s Eastern Economic Forum in the port city of Vladivostok on Russia’s Pacific coast.

“The high level of industrial development in Europe, the standard of living, social and economic stability — all of this is being thrown onto the fire of sanctions,” he added.

“They are being wasted on orders from Washington in the name of so-called Euro-Atlantic unity. Though in reality, they are basically being sacrificed in the name of preserving the U.S. dictatorship in global affairs,” Putin said.

Hmmm. Yeah, that sounds about right. I can't find any flaws in his thinking.

Russia’s president, who has been largely ostracized by developed Western countries following Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, said he believed the current situation had been precipitated by the “slipping dominance” of the U.S. in global politics and economics.
...
Describing the Asia-Pacific region as a “magnet” for human resources, capital and production capacities, Putin said that “despite that, Western countries are trying to maintain the old world order that only benefited them.

Have you noticed that our news media always includes the adjective of "unprovoked" when they say "invasion of Ukraine"? But in two decades they never used the "unprovoked" adjective to our invasions and bombings of Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and Syria?

“Western countries have undermined the key pillars of the world economic system built over centuries,” Putin said.

“We have seen the loss in trust in the dollar, and the euro and the pound as the currencies in which you can carry out transactions, hold deposits or assets and that is why, step by step, we are moving away from the use of these unreliable, compromised currencies,” he said.

Washington's response to this was to point out that Russia is propping up their economy with "budget deficit at more than $15 billion in the month of July alone."
To put that into perspective, the U.S. budget deficit in July was $211 Billion, which was dramatically down from $302 Billion last year.

But let's go back to the "key pillars of the world economic system".
The U.S. and Europe has decided that it is going to tell Russia what it wants to pay for Russia's oil. In other words, a buyer's cartel.

The Group of Seven is trying to find ways to limit Russia's lucrative oil export revenue in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine in February. Several different countries have banned imports of Russian crude and fuel, but Moscow has managed to maintain its revenues through increased crude sales to Asia, particularly China and India.

The price cap's level is unclear, and U.S. and EU officials have not specified a numeric range. However, extrapolating from recent U.S. guidance suggests that it could be set at around $60 a barrel.

A buyer's cartel is not without precedent. Two examples of working buyer's cartels are Walmart and Amazon. Both of those companies can dictate terms and prices on producers of goods, even to the point of driving some manufacturers out of business if they don't play ball.
However, this only works if a) you are the largest buyers, and b) there isn't "leakage" i.e. ways of getting around your rules.

The strength of any price cap may turn on participation from China and India, which have stepped up their purchases of discounted Russian crude as others have banned Russian barrels.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo on Thursday told Yahoo! News that India had agreed to continue talks about whether to join, and Washington hoped China would also consider it.

China is a) the largest buyer of oil in the world, and b) NEVER, EVER going to join this cartel. It is laughable that Washington can threaten China militarily and impose sanctions on it, and then expect them to play ball.
China is going to prop up Russia for the EXACT same reason the U.S. is propping up Ukraine - a common enemy.
Meanwhile, India has a) dramatically increased its purchases of Russian oil in 2022, and b) just got done doing war games with the Russian military. Do they seriously think that India is about to turn on Russia?
PM Modi's answer was clear and logical.

Speaking to CNBC Monday, India’s Petroleum Minister Shri Hardeep Singh Puri said the country would consider the proposals “very carefully,” but added that he felt no moral obligation to sign up.
“No, there’s no conflict. I have a moral duty to my consumer. Do I as a democratically elected government want a situation where the petrol pump runs dry?,” Puri told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble at Gastech 2022 in Milan, Italy.
...During an online address to the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, Modi spoke of a “special partnership” between the two countries and expressed particular interest in bolstering their cooperation on energy and coking coal.
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Comments

are beginning to sound like code speak for non-western aligned dealings.

The line of thought which Putin advanced ..

he believed the current situation had been precipitated by the “slipping dominance” of the U.S. in global politics and economics.

holds credence in the context of present disturbances. I would add the EU and GB into that equation, but they are acting more like programmed robots in the service of Uncle Sam's wishes.

It is heartening to see that the other major powers of the world are acting in concert against the
dominance of a single entity.

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@QMS

It is heartening to see that the other major powers of the world are acting in concert against the dominance of a single entity.

Russia, Iran and China have been pushed into resisting the U.S./U.K./NATO.
Russia had the choice of either grabbing Crimea, or allowing themselves to be slowly surrounded by a hostile military alliance. (note: I still don't think the 2022 invasion was inevitable and that Russia had run out of options.)
As long as Israel has oversized influence on Washington and London, then Iran will always be looking for allies against the West. Iran would prefer to rejoin the world, but they aren't given a chance.
China was doing fine with the way things were going until Trump took office. Now China knows that if Russia is brought to heel then they are next.
As for India, the West thinks of them as some wayward ally. India, OTOH, remembers being under the bootheel of Britain for two centuries. It was only 80 years ago that India suffered under the final man-made famine, and Britain didn't lift a finger to save millions from death.

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Pricknick's picture

@gjohnsit
how our government would react to a country such as Russia, openly and loudly providing billions of dollars in weapons to Iraq or Afghanistan during our 20 year occupations? Countries such as Russia, weren't ready yet.
They all are now and I think the incessant bully has found itself an equal match. And I do believe Russia had no other options.

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Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

@Pricknick
Just not in a long time.
It happened during Vietnam. Before that you would have to go all the way back to at least the Civil War, or even the War of 1812.

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@gjohnsit

and the CCP, and Jeffrey Epstein...

Here's a deep dive into the Humpty Dumpty Institute:

Israel, Epstein, and Humpty Dumpty: Putting It All Back Together Again

The Epstein-led, CCP-tied Humpty Dumpty Institute was founded by Israeli nationals moving within the highest levels of Israel's government

by FRANKIE STOCKES September 8, 2022 in China, Deep State, News, Politics, The Swamp HDI CCP Israel

Last Updated on September 8, 2022

A Non-Profit once headed by the brother of suicided sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein can be linked to a web of high-level Israeli government officials and globalist elites...

https://nationalfile.com/israel-epstein-and-humpty-dumpty-putting-it-all...

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I couldn't possibly have come to that conclusion by simply weighing in with MSM. There isn't any reporting sources within the mainstream that is recognizable as "sourced reporting"

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..."the West’s blatantly aggressive attempts to impose their modus vivendi on other countries, to take away their sovereignty, to submit them to their will,” says the man whose tanks rolled over the borders of a sovereign country to re-take its lands, people and infrastructure in order to impose the will of his regime, and in order to expand his empire.

Geez. You gotta be kidding here.

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"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

@Fishtroller 02
If Putin personally threw Ukrainian babies into ovens and drank the blood of the innocent, it still wouldn't have made anything he said be false.

Metaphor #2: Conservatives use the record of Stalinism to claim that what Karl Marx wrote was wrong/evil. When in fact Stalinism had extremely little to do with Marxism. It's just an excuse not to pay attention to what Karl Marx actually had to say.

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@gjohnsit

And excuses for the actions of a long time tyrant whose only goal is to redraw the maps back to the "glory" days of Russia. You don't know this about him? You don't SEE what he is doing to the world? Watch what he pulls now that he is being backed into a corner militarily and more and more Russian families are noticing that this "Special Operation" is a full out lie.

I'd say I only use reason and observation. I know a world class criminal when I see one. Why don't you see it?

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"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

@Fishtroller 02
“Anyone can deal with victory. Only the mighty can bear defeat.”
― Adolf Hitler

You know what? Adolf Hitler spoke the truth with that quote. According to you, I am "making excuses for a tyrant."

"If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself."
Joseph Goebbels

You know what Goebbels spoke the truth with this quote. Does that mean I am making an excuse for genocide?

I am able to accept when a truth is spoken regardless of who speaks that truth.

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@gjohnsit

What he accuses the West of is exactly what he is doing to Ukraine.

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"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

snoopydawg's picture

@Fishtroller 02

Putin isn’t trying to conquer territory. And the main reason why it’s taking Russia so long to reach their goals is because he’s trying to keep civilian casualties down unlike America’s shock and awe when they illegally and unprovoked invade countries to steal their resources. How many times does that need explaining to you? Gawd knows that we have tried numerous times to educate on what’s happening there and why but you refuse to let go of the propaganda you have swallowed that you got from the mainstream media that you admitted was where you got your news. There are none so blind than those who can’t see.

Putin doesn’t want to rebuild the Soviet Union territory. He wants to get rid of the military threat to Russia and to get rid of the Nazis. It’s that simple.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg

West......

"Putin isn’t trying to conquer territory. And the main reason why it’s taking Russia so long to reach their goals is because he’s trying to keep civilian casualties down unlike America’s shock and awe when they illegally and unprovoked invade countries to steal their resources. How many times does that need explaining to you? Gawd knows that we have tried numerous times to educate on what’s happening there and why but you refuse to let go of the propaganda you have swallowed that you got from the mainstream media that you admitted was where you got your news. There are none so blind than those who can’t see.

Putin doesn’t want to rebuild the Soviet Union territory. He wants to get rid of the military threat to Russia and to get rid of the Nazis. It’s that simple."

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"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

@snoopydawg Where Germany, even NATO is concerned, they will rudely awaken when it is too late.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@Fishtroller 02 Your first statement was this.

absolutely no flaws in this thinking...

Now you're saying that he's hypocritical, for which you can make a much better case for.
But it's also moving the goal post up to the midfield.

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CB's picture

@Fishtroller 02 @Fishtroller 02

And excuses for the actions of a long time tyrant whose only goal is to redraw the maps back to the "glory" days of Russia. You don't know this about him? You don't SEE what he is doing to the world??

Back up your assertions with factual reports or stop making them. Unlike dkos, C99% is a fact based site. The truth is that Putin was against the US goals of destabilizing dozens countries all around the world: How Many Countries has the US Invaded 2022.

The only territory Putin has 'annexed' was Crimea after a referendum in 2014 where 80% of Crimean's voted 96% in favour of seceding from Ukraine. Crimea asked for this. Does not the will of the people have any meaning for you? The only other countries that Putin has been militarily involved in was to maintain the status quo.

A short history of Crimea:

In 1783 Catherine II (the Great) annexed the peninsula after war with the Ottoman Empire and it became permanent Russian territory. The territory was ceded to Ukraine in 1954 by Nikita Khrushchev to mark the 300th anniversary of the Pereyaslav Agreement (1654). In 1992 the Republic of Crimea was formed that gave Crimea the status as independent autonomous region in Ukraine. This was overturned in 1995 by the Ukrainian government in Kiev. Until the joining with Russia, there were many failed referendums for more autonomy from the Ukraine government despite overwhelming voter support for such.

For your information, the Donbass regions also wanted a referendum to join Russia at the same time but Putin turned them down - until NATO (US, UK, EU) started taking military control of the Ukraine government. This doesn't sound like a man who is a "long time tyrant whose only goal is to redraw the maps back to the "glory" days of Russia." NATO had to push him to the wall before he acted.

We are waiting for a proof of the veracity of your statement. You need to study history more so you won't be so gullible to false stories/claims made by the western MSM.

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snoopydawg's picture

@Fishtroller 02

Since 1945 America has committed 50 coups and the latest one was in Ukraine in 2014. How many countries has America invaded that were thousands of miles away from its shores? And how much longer will you ignore the reason Russia sent troops into Ukraine after its been explained to your so many times? Self defense is a valid reason for military operations. And Russia has no plans to expand its empire. Don’t believe what the propaganda says. Americans can never claim that’s why they invaded and killed tens of millions of people just so corporations can steal resources.

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CB's picture

@Fishtroller 02
of the past history of Ukraine vis-à-vis the Russians or even the most recent history? It is obvious that you don't have a fucking clue if you think that Putin created the conditions for the Russians to FINALLY going into Ukraine to support ethnic Russians from being genocided!

The following map should give you a hint. You really should study Ukrainian history and not listen (and believe) the US MSM propaganda. Ukraine made speaking Russian illegal right after the US engineered coup in 2014 (look it up - educate yourself).

OSCE Reports Reveal Ukraine Started Shelling The Donbas Nine Days Before Russia's 'Special Military Operation'
The Biden Administration, U.S. political officials, and the corporate media are lying the American public into World War III.
...
Jacques Baud, a former NATO intelligence analyst wrote about the OSCE reports, “On 17 February, President Joe Biden announced that Russia would attack Ukraine in the next few days. How did he know this? It is a mystery. But since the 16th, the artillery shelling of the population of Donbas had increased dramatically, as the daily reports of the OSCE observers show.”

While the western media spent the last year reporting on Russia’s troop buildup at the Ukrainian border, they failed to inform the public about Ukraine amassing “half of it’s army or 125,000 troops” along the Donbas conflict zone during this same time period.

Ukraine began to reposition its forces along the Donbas as early as March 24, 2021, when Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree for the recapture of the Crimea, and began to deploy his forces to the south of the country.

It is unlikely Zelensky would make such an aggressive decree without first receiving the approval of the United States and NATO.
...
“In Poland and the Baltic states, US forces are being reinforced … the intensity of aerial reconnaissance has been doubled compared to last year, and the intensity of naval reconnaissance has increased by one-and-a-half times,” he said.

The minister accused the US and its allies of carrying out active military activities “with a clear anti-Russian orientation”.

“In the spring of this year, the joint armed forces of NATO began the largest exercise in the last 30 years, Defender Europe 2021,” he said.

While both sides accuse the other side of being the aggressor, the OSCE maps clearly show that the Ukrainian side backed by the United States and NATO forces began shelling the Russian side on February 16th, 2022.

This shelling is corroborated by on-the-ground video journalism from an independent reporter named Patrick Lancaster who has been interviewing civilians in the eastern Ukrainian warzone for the last eight years.
...
(Take note that this video is from February, 2022)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFl2IDsHsYk&t=8s]
...

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@Fishtroller 02

under the Great Reset globalist plan. And Russia is declining to go along with the program.
And not only surviving but relatively prospering under very adverse conditions.

Not at all in keeping with the globalist plan for your life and they are desperate to see it eliminated.

*That* is the main real issue underlying this conflict.

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some basic principles at Davos in January 2021. Together with his acknowledgement that Russia has natural resources, instead of financial games to be played, he seems to be what Biden said he was when they met last summer -- reasonable, practical, and acting in the interests of his people and of his country.

http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/64938

Session of Davos Agenda 2021 online forum

Vladimir Putin spoke at the session of the Davos Agenda 2021 online forum organised by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

January 27, 2021

The Kremlin, Moscow

... I would like to point out four key priorities, as I see them. This might be old news, but since Klaus has allowed me to present Russia’s position, my position, I will certainly do so.

First, everyone must have comfortable living conditions, including housing and affordable transport, energy and public utility infrastructure. Plus environmental welfare, something that must not be overlooked.

Second, everyone must be sure that they will have a job that can ensure sustainable growth of income and, hence, decent standards of living. Everyone must have access to an effective system of lifelong education, which is absolutely indispensable now and which will allow people to develop, make a career and receive a decent pension and social benefits upon retirement.

Third, people must be confident that they will receive high-quality and effective medical care whenever necessary, and that the national healthcare system will guarantee access to modern medical services.

Fourth, regardless of the family income, children must be able to receive a decent education and realise their potential. Every child has potential.

This is the only way to guarantee the cost-effective development of the modern economy, in which people are perceived as the end, rather than the means. Only those countries capable of attaining progress in at least these four areas will facilitate their own sustainable and all-inclusive development. These areas are not exhaustive, and I have just mentioned the main aspects.

A strategy, also being implemented by my country, hinges on precisely these approaches...

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@Linda Wood

The US did not listen to the simpler points. Like uphold the Minsk agreement. Stop with the
eastern advance of NATO and give us credit for withholding military actions agains the Ukies
bombing our kin in the east. Zelensky and his TV crew saw this as an opportunity to make
big bucks, under the tutelage of western war mongers. So it is not the fault of diplomatic
overtures by the Rus so much as scheming of the western warlords. Another slow motion
disaster unfolding now.

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@QMS

But I also agree with gjohnsit that there must have been alternatives to the military operation. I just can't think what they would be. Putin, I think, wrote the Minsk agreement, as well as having gotten the parties to sign it, and for 8 years he actively worked to get them to uphold the agreement, especially the ceasefire, while my government armed Nazi private military forces and flooded the country with weapons.

The one idea I have read that Putin could have used was to stop supplying gas and oil to Ukraine or to Europe if they supported the never-ending attack on the Donbass. But I tend to think the Russian government had thought that out and could see US/NATO wanted that outcome. Plus the much more urgent prospect was that Zelensky announced that if NATO didn't provide him with nuclear weapons, he would buy them independently. The only thing worse than Nazis are Nazis with Nukes.

I think the other urgent threat was that the U.S. had 29 biological weapons labs in Ukraine. No joke. Bad stuff.

Joe Biden said it clearly in the weeks leading up to the invasion. When asked if he thought Russia would invade, he said, "yes, I think he has to." And then just days before the invasion he said, "I think he will. He has to do something."

In other words, we did everything we could to force him to do it. I'm a pacifist. I guess my idea is for Putin to look the other way, hand over the keys to his country, and say oh well, I can't think what else to do. But he's not a pacifist.

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snoopydawg's picture

@Linda Wood

people in the Donbas? They were attacking them before Russia crossed the border and it was why Russia had moved so many troops to the border after watching the build up of troops close to the area. I don’t remember the name of the organization that was monitoring things there that starts with an A, but they had been documenting what Ukraine was doing there and what they saw was alarming. Poreshenko (?) recently admitted that the Minsk2 agreement was a farce the whole time and it was a delaying tactic until more troops were trained and more equipment was sent to Ukraine. Ukraine also had the biggest military in Europe because of America’s involvement there after the coup. But the thing that Putin said that he wouldn’t tolerate was Nazis on Russia’s borders after what they did during the Great War. I think Russia had been patient enough trying to get NATO/America to stop encroaching on their borders. Since Clinton’s tenure NATO has steadily moved East after promising not to. Putin and Russia talked until they were blue in the face and after the last proposals were ignored by Biden’s puppet masters they finally said fck it we’re going to protect those people who have been slaughtered the last 8 years. We’d never have waited that long if the roles were reversed and Russia had coup'd Mexico or Canada.

As for Russia cutting off the gas to Europe they had agreements with them to supply it and they wanted to uphold them. It wasn’t until just recently that they have cut it off, but that’s because the sanctions against Russia is preventing Gazprom from serving the equipment that is needing repair.

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@snoopydawg

that’s because the sanctions against Russia is preventing Gazprom from serving the equipment that is needing repair.

This is a convenient excuse for now. Leave it to Canada and sanctions to force the hand of the
provider of gas to EU. What the Rus is now saying, drop the sanctions and we can discuss the
pipelines and gas supply. Putin holds the cards. Germany was being short sighted to end the
NS 2 deal. Rus is now exacting payment for their flippancy. Can't say I blame him. As pissed-off
as the western NATO block is now, it would have been more of a provocation earlier.

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snoopydawg's picture

@QMS

Link

Russian gas giant Gazprom turned off the taps of Nord Stream 1, which is also able to pump up to 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Germany, on August 31, citing maintenance issues. Last Friday, the company announced that it had received a warning from Russia’s technical watchdog about an issue with Nord Stream 1’s only remaining operational turbine, and said that the Portovaya compressor station responsible for pumping the gas westward would be shut down indefinitely the until problems are resolved. The compressor station normally has six operating turbines, but had resorted to operating only one as Western companies stopped providing maintenance on the equipment due to sanctions.

On Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov suggested that European countries’ violations of maintenance agreements on Nord Stream 1’s equipment were to blame for the pause in gas supplies through the pipeline.

This wasn’t the article I read that spelled it out more clearly and I spent 20 minutes looking for it to no avail. Now Russia could be using the sanctions as an excuse, but Canada delayed returning one of the turbines before because they said the sanctions prevented them from doing so and one has been in Germany for some time and Gazprom is getting the run around for why they haven’t returned it. But I agree with Linda that Russia could have stopped all gas to every country that sanctioned them, but Putin said that Russia would honor its contracts.

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@snoopydawg

I'm not very clear when trying to explain that even though I am a lifelong pacifist and believe war is the problem, not the solution, I understand why Russia did this. I have no idea what else Putin and the Russian government could have done.

All the reasons you gave are absolutely right. And Putin's most compelling reason is that nuclear weapons in Ukraine would be 5-7 minutes from Russia's command, control, and population centers, thereby eliminating Mutually Assured Destruction, Russia's only ability to responsibly decide whether to retaliate, which is Russia's, and our, only prevention against nuclear attack. It's too short a time. Elimination of Mutually Assured Destruction is NATO's reason for moving eastward.

Russia is defending the Donbass. They aren't trying to take over Ukraine. Putin made that very clear in his statement. And they are also defending Russia, because nuclear weapons 5 minutes from their population centers are a threat to Russia's existence.

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