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"The cage door was ALWAYS open."..and still is.

We can walk out at any time!

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author

Right on! We still have to deal with our psycho overlords, but the first move is psychological.

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Another great chapter! I will always remember that moment in the Matrix films. I think it was the highlight of the series. My soul said YES! YES! and my life changed in the moment. I remember so well also all the times when someone said "You have to.." and how it made me feel. There was a part of me that always said "No, NO I don't have to!" I can opt out and you can't stop me. You have to pay your "fair share," well no I don't! I am the one who draws the line and decides what my fair share is.

I am the one who can find a way. I don't have to fund your cruel idiotic wars and murders abroad, I don't have to pay for my own enslavement for a little present convenience. I am the one who decides what line won't be crossed, what is intolerable. I got off the convenient little path to slavery being provided for us over twenty years ago, and it has made all the difference. A difference in that most valuable commodity self esteem, in relative abundance of what truly matters to me, even a measure of real rather that manufactured convenience. April 15 is just another nice Spring day, I don't go to some bureaucrat to get permission to build what I want to live in, how I get around, what I am allowed to do on my own land, what I exchange for my services and products. My conscience rests better at night knowing those bombs and missles being sent abroad are not being paid for by me.

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author

You are ahead of most of the rest of us!

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"Government could cease to exist and we’d still be here. And even when you live under a set of laws, your mind is still free, and you are still free to act, in spite of whatever consequences your actions may produce."

This is very reminiscent of one of my favorite Heinlein quotes: "I am Free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am Free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do."

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author

Ha—yep. I have that quote sitting in a file of quotes to be used at appropriate points in future installments. Love it!

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Imagine my surprise and delight when I read further into the chapter and discovered you too are well acquainted with that quote! lol

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author

Oh that's right—I already used it! Good lord, I need a break. This writing pace has turned my brain to jello.

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No, far from jello, unless you are referring to its flexibility and versatility. Still hitting all the high points.

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author

Thank you :-) I will probably benefit from the Thanksgiving break, though.

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You do deserve it Christopher, and it will be good for you and us! You are one of many things I will be giving grateful thought to on the 28th.

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author

Thank you Hat—and the very same to you.

(I will post one more DN installment next week for sure.)

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It's like the earth would still be the earth even if all the humans were gone. We would still be humans even if all the governments were gone. The natural state of government is to be an extension of tyranny. Our natural state is that we are as free as the wind. Government can never be free of itself whereas we can be free from government. One day.

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author

Yep, yep, yep, yep, and yep.

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founding

Magnificent Christopher!

I especially liked:

"Government is a thing that, for better or worse, seeks to interpose itself between you and your freedom, between you and other people, between you and your land. In some cases—between you and God. But government could vanish tomorrow, and you’d still be you, we’d still be us, God would still be God, and the land would still be there."

And your conclusion:

"Over the last few thousand years, we have come to accept involuntary government as some sort of inevitable force of nature. It feels like it sits atop everything—the capstone in the pyramid of our reality.

It is time to shed that feeling. The so-called “state of nature” is not some abstract thing that we use to describe our condition in the absence of government. The state of nature IS our reality.

For the time being, this is primarily a psychological step. But it is an essential one.

Recognize who you are. See the universe in which we live. You are not “beneath” any government or “under” its laws.

Government is the Matrix. You are Neo."

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author

Thank you, Albert.

For the longest time, I was stuck in a boilerplate acceptance of the classical-liberal picture of the state of nature. Then suddenly, one day, I was like, "Hey. Wait a minute…" And it all fell into place. (It was probably while taking a shower. So many thoughts happen in the shower!)

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founding

I'm so glad you broke through it - and those Light Bulb moments are the best.

The shower has the same effect on me (I usually immediately start to sing or on occasion get a break-through) - I believe the reason is we are at our most authentic and closest to our Essence while in or around Water. Water is the most Rebellious of the 4 Elements (High Beings entrapped here) and does not accept the imposition of the Controllers (The Matrix) as evidenced by the Tides.

I have always tried to live on or close to the Water (after getting out of the industrial part of NJ) and I feel the many benefits especially of water which moves freely:

Babbling Brook with a small waterfall in the mountains of NJ

NJ Shore

On the Mad River in Vermont

On a Beautiful Stream in Montana

On and near a small Lake in Michigan

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author

Did you live in Montana?

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founding

Yes, Bitterroot Valley in Stevensville and then between Hamilton and Darby. beautiful but a very crazy place!

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author

Oh, I think I remember we talked about this. I lived in Missoula for a while—had a friend near Stevensville. I miss it in many ways.

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Exactly right! I don’t want to break laws, I want to disappear to a wee cabin in the Scottish highlands or islands and be left TH alone by governments 😂 Zero internet, live off the land, send messages by carrier pigeon 🤣 It WILL happen 🙌🤩

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author

Do you know the Irish band Horslips, and their album Book of Invasions? We listened to it over and over on those dark winter nights in the St. Andrews winter.

There is a song near the end called "Sideways to the Sun" that expresses a similar sentiment, in a way. Whenever someone talks about disappearing in that way, I think of that song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2MFfAo98KY

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I like it!

We had Runrig on repeat! Many greats, Protect and Survive is one of my favourites ✊🫶🤩

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I was on the bus from St. Andrews to Dundee, and I was listening to Runrig on my Walkman. Some Scottish kids my age must’ve been able to hear it through the headphones, because they were laughing at me. But I liked it, so screw ‘em.

A mile frae Pencaitland, on the road to the sea…

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Aww LOVE THAT! They must’ve been too cool for skool 😂 We were proud fans, never much cared for being in the gang 😂 Hearts of Olden Glory gives me tears to this day 🫶

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author

“never much cared for being in the gang”

—💯 In fact, the pressure of the collective is one of the many ways in which humans’ nature as an ultra-social species becomes utterly toxic. I have written about this some in the past.

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Ach I can do the whole social etiquette when required, but I find surface level chat taxing and my chat can seem kind of kooky to some. I have my good pals, had them my whole life. Met a small but quality few here in Australia that get me and I feel blessed to have that.

I have never felt pressured to fit in, I just be 😄

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I’ll listen now 😃🤩

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Sometimes external conditions impose themselves so strongly that reality seems out of our reach. Thanks for the reminder that being governed from without is not reality; governing ourselves is.

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author

Right on. It's not going to be easy. But realizing is always the first step!

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thanks for your writing...

Two pieces stood out- as they form the foundation of truly understanding the One Living System - that is Life and her Universal/Natural Laws...

'When you’re in a moment of joy, on your death-bed, or looking into your child’s eyes…there is no state. There is just life. Not only can the state of nature exist, the state of nature is existence. Everything else is layered on top.'

AND

From a practical standpoint, our laws are also subject to the laws of nature. Laws that comport with natural realities will work better. Laws that run counter to the law of nature are far more likely to fail, and to produce failed, miserable societies. '

Life is - life holds law - Life creates to her way and we are a part of that.. we are without our willingness to honour it, one piece of the whole, and that whole is governed by the universal laws that allow all things to exist and be and thrive...

an enormous piece of our course correction is in returning to this knowing

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author

Yep. Well said.

The thought kind of blew my mind when it finally sunk in. But then I also realized that on some level, I had believed it all along.

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It is amazing to consider what might truly be possible and within our power…

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I would have to challenge the quote "our minds are free". For example, if your mind was free, you could easily write a piece that is totally against everything you have been writting on. This is unlikely because your mind, like everyone else's is programmed (this realization can be illustrated by your Matrix clip). The mind is simply a neurological computer that can only process what it allows us to. Forget the government, we are ruled by our beliefs and character.

https://open.substack.com/pub/warrenbaxter/p/free-will?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=pg6fv

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author

I think of free will this way. Biological substrate, childhood upbringing, etc. are like the ocean beneath your ship. External circumstances are wind and weather. In spite of these, you still choose to where and how to steer your ship. Free will is not total and unconstrained, but it still exists.

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If circumstances are the wind, then the waters woukd be our emotions, which we could say is 'governed' by the moon. If our will is steering the ship, then the sails would be our beliefs and the rudder out intent. The wind representing the causality and effect forces.

To have free will is like traveling with intent through a tempest at night with only the stars to guide. If one doesn't understand the stars or ability to overcome the waters and wind they will likely become lost.

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author

That is an excellent continuation of the metaphor!

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Thanks. You provide a great written platform for thoughts to chew on. Now I'm thinking I should take my own challenge and write on the opposite of what my beliefs are. Darkness and evil as a needed force.

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author

I would certainly say that darkness and evil are inevitable, because we are free to do bad things, and some people choose to do so. Also, because the universe itself is free to produce bad outcomes (natural disasters, e.g.).

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As our dialogue of the sailboat was used as a metaphor, for me, it was also a physical experience. While sailing from Anaheim CA to Ventura, myself and two others gat caught in a storm, pushing our trip through the night. Obviously the sails came down. Like in the metaphor, it represented belief. Because in this scenario, believes don't drive your boat or provide you with new knowledge. Being at the helm, I ran on pure instinct with and against, up to 10 foot swells. No stars could be seen, the only visible light came from the very distant glow of Los Angeles. This violent and dark part of nature was the best feeling of my life.

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Thanks. Resonated. Good thought experiment.

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author

I am pleased that it resonated.

(I suspect some people will read this and then look at me like I am insane :-)

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To clarify, the statement you are insane was a compliment. In that the brainwashed masses would think you are.

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author

I thought it might’ve been, but I wasn’t sure. Thank you!

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As the picture shows.. we are talking to a cave- man.

Re- thinking and re- learning are not easy.

It is not the strongest or the most intelligent that will survive.. it is those that adapt.

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I would conjecture that the holistic learning skills of a ‘cave person’ would adapt to modernity easier than most modern folks could do the inverse.

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Lol. Caveman is a slur that makes me giggle. Highly likely any ‘cavepeople’ had a vast number of skills, health and social connections you are not likely to have or be capable of achieving. They were able to live with what nature provided. They are not inferior.

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author

I have made a similar point before. Not so much about cavemen, but about the “Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” scenario. People think that if they went back to the Middle Ages, they would be able to show those knuckle-draggers how it’s done. But they would quickly find out that we moderns, as individuals, know very little. We are highly dependent on economic specialization, automation, technology, etc. We are adapted for that kind of life, and have very little knowledge that could even take a Middle-Ages technology to the next level, let alone replicate something from modernity. Other than some highly trained people, most of us would be less useful even than one of the locals.

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You are insane. That is what resonates.

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author

Why thank you!

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No argument? Just an insult? lol

- Those that dance are always considered mad

by those that cannot hear the music.

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author

“ Those that dance are always considered mad by those that cannot hear the music.”

—What a lovely expression. I’d never heard that before.

Was he trying to insult me? I don’t know. I chose to think of it as a compliment. But perhaps it wasn’t meant that way. 🤣

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I just ran across it and love it. So true!

The reason people get so angry at those that tear the matrix down is fear. Their little bubble is bursting, they might have to take some responsibility for their life .. those still inside the box do not even have words anymore.. free thinking and expressing themselves without "a narrative" has been taken away for so long.. all they can do is act out in their frustration... total capitulation...

Then ya add the shots, meds, all the crap in our food and of course alcohol and such ... and out goes the light.

The wheel is spinning but the hamster is dead ... just the way they want us...

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Yup. It’s sad.

At first, I was really baffled by the anger I was getting. Especially from people on the conservative side/political right, with which I was associated for most of my adult life. All of a sudden, some are freaking out on me as though I were a full-blown communist or something.

This was me, trying to understand it early on:

https://christophercook.substack.com/p/six-reasons-why-conservatives-hate-anarchism

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I do not have access. Can't afford it.

These things are a real test. Am I getting discombobulated by some emotional outburst of a "lost sheeple" or not... do I even engage in their misery.. sometimes I just cannot resist!! LOL

Then block, mute and report at times.

The herd is losing it's grip, their reality is shattered and they do not know where to go hide.. there is no hiding. That was the bubble.

They act like 3 year olds..

I just wonder how bad we will let it become under this new "doom- ship"... the wolfs and rats now have the key to the kingdom..

Reminds me of Animal Farm... electronic and finacial terror and oppression.

Those that are not awake will awaken when it is too late.. as usual.

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Excellent thoughts as always Christopher. On a completely off topic note, I had to give you props for the Buckaroo Banzai quote - I remember watching that flick in the 80's and that one line stuck in my head so deep, I still use it to this day. Too funny.

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author

It was good wisdom!

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Where is it proved that "The state of nature is the only state there is?

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I think it is self-evident. If you accept "nature" as the sum total of reality, then reality is reality.

The understanding I am trying to impart is that we are part of the natural world. That our existence transcends citizenship or subjection by a state. Those things seem so inevitable and inescapable, and it is important to remind ourselves that they are not.

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by "nature" do you mean a physical object?

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I mean the sum total of reality. What IS.

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I note that you did not answer my question. The pertinence of it lies in the fact that the role of a government is to govern and the entities that are governed are physical systems.

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nature can be expressed as a or any physical object or as a part of greater physical encompassing everything depending on your view, focus or purpose. what is the purpose of those systems governed? every system created has a purpose for its creation & that is measurable. and if it is a fact that the role of government is to govern what exactly, specifically, precisely does it govern? whereby does it have authority to govern? each system is governed and each system ever designed has a designated purpose, mission, goal which is measurable and each system is affected & accountable to another system. then you have separate government systems even if you recognize one overlaying one with its own systems and each system is it's own to govern with it's own distinct role, purpose & goal. this could go on into twisted riddles most cannot follow so i will stop...who authorized, deemed, gave power for the government? who established the government? what were the systems patterned after? you see, any real governance is done as and by a part of the system it governs and is subject to & affected by not as an overseer or set apart from. if the system is malfunctioning the governance is also malfunctioning. if the system is functioning well the governance is too. this is all measurable in physical, observable means & ways on all levels and each process of the system. there are natural systems and there are manmade machine systems. there are systems of governance that regulate, systems that govern by reporting on the system by what is reported by gauges & there are systems that govern the supply. none of those systems just listed serves or provides any governance. they are systems of reporting system conditions to system operators to report to system managers. so what exactly is government governing, what physical system entities and who gave it the authority or jurisdiction to govern any physical system it is not subject to? especially if the physical system is self regulating as many natural systems are. this is all defineable. your question is moot i dont care how you try to spin, twist, complicate, simplify it...if the governance is not subject to nor affected by the real condition & results it is not government.

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author

I did answer your question. Nature comprises, and is comprised by, everything. All the things in the universe. Physical, energy, things we have not discovered yet—it's all nature.

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Do you think you could disprove it? I would be interested to see you or anyone attempt that...

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I would say anything man- made is.

Natural/ nature/ devine creation is perfect.

Humams seem to mess things up.. LOL

Led by greed, arrogance and ignorance.

We have forgotten that something else is in charge.. the laws of nature- physics for intance.. cannot be broken.

Spirituality is the anti- dote for all that human hubris.

Not religion because that is man made too.

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Thank you for your reply, An.

What a negative view of us humans! Are not we humans also part of, in your words, “divine creation”? The christians say we are made “in the image of god”.

Granted, some humans have caused great destruction and despicable evil. But have not other humans created amazing wonders and great good?

Natural law tells us that the universe is simply a giant mirror, reflecting back to us the effects of the sum total of our aggregate behaviors. The Natural Laws governing the predictable consequences of human behavior are as Universal and Immutable as the natural laws of physics. The more people in a society act in violation of Natural Law, the more that society in the aggregate will experience war, enslavement, and poverty. The more people act in accordance with Natural Law, the more we will experience Peace, Freedom, and Prosperity.

It is our choice.

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Of course! And thank you too!

If I didn't believe I would not have responded. I was raised christian. I'm not happy that so many are leaving the church.. church messed up. Big time.

I see how people live and end up in misery because they do not live by natural

Law/ spritual principals and yes I do blame the arrogance of church people. Humans left to their own devices seem to mess up everything.. I'm a realist.

Not sure how much you know about the history of church .. I grew up in Europe.. church is another "men's club", it has gotten better but vilifying the sacred female and making women the servant of man like second class citizen started the oppression of women... subjugation... the women was silenced and degraded.

there is just too much wrong.

A friend of mine in her 60's, she was a life- long practicing member of the catholic church. She had a terrible marriage, for decades, finally got out, found a good man and married this year again. Not in her church .. She was afraid to tell her priest and indeed when she admitted it afterwards the dude told her she cannot be forgiven, she lives in sin now! Not only that but to recieve communion she would have to go through some sort of a trial, this process would involve the ex- abusive husband returning into her life.. oh the arrogance. She was in tears, she loves communion .. she will never go back to church. And she was the one that always felt sorry for me, tried to convert me because I didn't have that.. lol

Every human being on this planet is a child of god. The whole world, this universe is gods creation. Not just christians...

There are billions of other faithful good people and church has managed to create wars and huge separations in human kind.

How dare these religious creeps to use it for control, oppression and subjugation...

The vatican refuses to open the vaults.. lol

If these people truly had spiritual guidance and lived it, like the St. Francis prayer ( my favorite ) the heads of all religions would get over their petty differences/ arrogance and find a way to unite human kind.

... yeah.. right! We are so lost.

I lived in the mid east.. don't get me started on islam... or judaism ... more men in charge... for centuries.

It is a man's world now and just look at where it has gotten us... religion, politics and industry all "men's clubs" have brought this world to the brink all in the last 100 years.

Greed, arrogance and ignorance.

Pedophiles, rapists, egotistical maniacs and massmurderer.

However, human kind is waking up. I believe

we will collectively step away from all the misguidance and come together because no matter what the fools will do, there is something else in charge.

And we all know it, deep down.

It has started. 🙏

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Indeed, controlmind (government) is the matrix! May enough of Us grasp this to affect the positive change We seek!

And I will take this opportunity to again offer to All:

Just Stop Consenting! (article): https://amaterasusolar.substack.com/p/just-stop-consenting

AND

Join Me as a Sovereign Here on Ethical Ground (article): https://amaterasusolar.substack.com/p/join-me-as-a-sovereign-here-on-ethical

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