Welcome! "The Evening Blues" is a casual community diary (published Monday - Friday, 8:00 PM Eastern) where we hang out, share and talk about news, music, photography and other things of interest to the community.
Just about anything goes, but attacks and pie fights are not welcome here. This is a community diary and a friendly, peaceful, supportive place for people to interact.
Everyone who wants to join in peaceful interaction is very welcome here.
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Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features a musician with a really diverse career in rockabilly, r&b, soul, disco and country music, singer and piano player Big Al Downing. Enjoy!
Big Al Downing - Oh Baby
“When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say.”
-- George R.R. Martin
News and Opinion
'Nation's Top Censorship Officer': Targeted NYT Journalist Rebukes Eric Holder over Press Freedoms
Persecuted New York Times journalist James Risen accused U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder of being the "nation's top censorship officer" in a searing rebuke to comments made by Holder on Tuesday that the way his department handled the case of the now-imprisoned CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling should exemplify "how the Justice Department can proceed."
During his comments, Holder further argued that the Department of Justice has been lenient on government whistleblowers, despite the fact that his office under the Obama Administration has overseen more prosecution of such leaks under the Espionage Act than every other administration combined.
After the comments were made public, Risen took to Twitter and unleashed a series of comments exposing what he said was Holder's "true legacy on press freedom."
EU moving toward talks with Assad regime
The EU is moving toward engaging in discussions with the government of Bashar Assad’s regime, Elmar Brok, the chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, said Wednesday. Brok, who is currently on an official visit to Lebanon, also said he hoped Hezbollah officials would foster a climate of political unity in the country, hinting that the party’s military wing could be removed from the EU’s terror list in the future.
Brok explained that the international community is in the middle of a debate about whether to engage with Assad, particularly in light of the threat that ISIS poses to the region and to the world. “Europe is a little bit going in that direction,” he told a small gathering of journalists.
“But the debate is a very open debate ... We know for example that the United States and other states have a different opinion, especially Turkey. And a key country in all of these questions will be Turkey.”
When asked about Hezbollah, whose military wing was added to the EU’s list of terror groups in July 2013, Brok said that “it’s very clear for the moment, for the world community, ISIS ... is the most dangerous group.”
If Hezbollah was able to “show responsibility” and help ease tensions in Lebanon, the EU “might be in a good position to change our policy toward Hezbollah,” he added. Brok said that while it was still “too early to say” whether the EU would remove Hezbollah’s terror designation, it has had “discussions about new relationships” with the group.
Isis: Paranoid But Determined, Islamic State Is Ready for Fight to the Death in Mosul
The Iraqi government is threatening that it will soon send its army north to recapture Mosul, a city of two million, the loss of which last June was the first in a string of victories by Isis. The Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced this week in an interview that “we are now planning an offensive against Mosul in a few months”.
If the army does attack it will face formidable resistance from the armed forces of Isis that may now number well over 100,000 in Iraq and Syria. Moreover, people in Mosul, the northern capital of Iraq, are divided in their loyalties, judging by interviews with The Independent conducted this month, either after they left the city or by mobile phone, although Isis has banned their use. In a predominantly Sunni Arab city, many are more frightened of largely Shia Iraqi government forces than they are of those on the side of Isis, though they may not like either. ...
Despite Mr Abadi’s declaration that the Iraqi army will recapture Mosul this year, such an assault appears to be well beyond the strength of the Baghdad government, if it relies on its own regular army. This is now said to number 12 brigades with a nominal strength of 48,000 that might be made battle-worthy when aided by US advisers. But this is barely enough to defend Baghdad and fight in some neighbouring provinces, while the disintegration of the Iraqi army last year as it abandoned northern and western Iraq is not a hopeful portent. ...
A successful counter-offensive against Isis leading to the recapture of Mosul does not look likely this year whatever Mr Abadi’s declared intentions. Many of those in the territories of the “Islamic State” would like to end its rule, but only if it were replaced by an Iraqi army that is disciplined and non-sectarian enough to provide an acceptable alternative.
White House: Israel Cherry-Picking Intel to Distort Iran Talks
White House officials today are confirming reports from earlier this week that they are withholding details about the Iran nuclear talks from Israel, saying they believe Israel has been leaking fragments of that information to try to sabotage the talks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed outrage at the US withholding details of the talks from him, saying it proves the negotiations are bad for Israel.
It should not be surprising, however, as Netanyahu openly said earlier this month that he intended to do everything in his power to sabotage the Iran talks.
In Fight Against “Extremists,” the Enemy Proves Elusive
The White House is holding an international summit this week to shore up domestic and global support to fight “extremists,” but who those extremists are is difficult to say. ...
In a hastily arranged pre-summit call with reporters on Monday, senior administration officials speaking on background struggled to describe the purpose of the summit, or the Department of Justice program behind it. The officials provided few details on what to expect at the conference — from strategy and guest list to goals and new policy initiatives, if any.
They even had trouble naming a specific extremist group the administration was focusing on. “The message at the White House and the agenda itself is not entirely focused on ISIL itself,” an official said. “ISIL is the near term threat you all are focused on, but we also recognize that in the United States there have been violent extremists that come in all shapes and sizes and so the agenda for all three days is going to show speakers and participants from all backgrounds to combat radicalization, extremism and terrorism.”
The clearest message came Tuesday, in an op-ed by Barack Obama published in the Los Angeles Times.
“In Syria and Iraq, the terrorist group we call ISIL has slaughtered innocent civilians and murdered hostages, including Americans, and has spread its barbarism to Libya with the murder of Egyptian Christians,” President Barack Obama wrote in an op-ed published Tuesday. “In recent months, we’ve seen deadly attacks in Ottawa, Sydney, Paris and Copenhagen.”
Obama, who is scheduled to speak Wednesday afternoon at the summit, also singled out the Taliban in Pakistan, al-Shabaab in Somalia, and Boko Haram in Nigeria as examples of “violent extremists.”
All of the groups named by Obama in the op-ed are Muslim.
The US Has Issued New Rules For the Foreign Sale of Military Drones
The United States has codified how it wants to export drone warfare to the rest of the world.
On Tuesday, President Barack Obama announced new rules for the sale of military Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) to America's allies. While the US has sold armed drones to Britain and unarmed intelligence-gathering drones to NATO allies like France, Italy, and others in recent years, these new rules would force foreign buyers of General Atomics' Predators and Reapers, Northrup Grumman's Global Hawks, as well as other drones to adopt a set of principles before they deploy the remote-controlled aircraft into the field.
"As the most active user of military UAS, and as an increasing number of nations are acquiring and employing UASs to support a range of missions, the United States has an interest in ensuring that these systems are used lawfully and responsibly," a State Department fact sheet on the new policy said. The full text of the policy is classified.
The fact sheet says the US government will judge each request for drone sales on a case-by-case basis. But, when the sales are allowed, the new rules say foreign buyers must use their American-made drones in accordance with international law and only when the use of force is lawful, like for self-defense. The rules would also prohibit foreign governments from using American drones for unlawful surveillance or to attack their own citizens.
Lastly, the rules require governments to train drone pilots to avoid unintended casualties, a measure that appears to be aimed at addressing criticism of drone warfare. ...
Rachel Stohl, a senior associate at the nonpartisan Stimson Center think tank, notes that the new rules ironically impose stronger requirements on foreign governments than the US places on itself.
Guantánamo torturer led brutal Chicago regime of shackling and confession
A Chicago detective who led one of the most shocking acts of torture ever conducted at Guantánamo Bay was responsible for implementing a disturbingly similar, years-long regime of brutality to elicit murder confessions from minority Americans.
In a dark foreshadowing of the United States’ post-9/11 descent into torture, a Guardian investigation can reveal that Richard Zuley, a detective on Chicago’s north side from 1977 to 2007, repeatedly engaged in methods of interrogation resulting in at least one wrongful conviction and subsequent cases more recently thrown into doubt following allegations of abuse.
Zuley’s record suggests a continuum between police abuses in urban America and the wartime detention scandals that continue to do persistent damage to the reputation of the United States. ...
Several techniques – prolonged shackling, threats about family, pressure to confess – used by Zuley bear similarities to those he enacted when he took over the interrogation of Mohamedou Ould Slahi at Guantánamo, described in official government reports and a best-selling memoir serialised last month by the Guardian as one of the most brutal in the history of the notorious US wartime prison.
After Zuley took over in July 2003, Slahi was subjected to even more extreme interrogation tactics: multiple death threats, extreme temperatures, sleep deprivation and a terrifying nighttime boat ride in which he was made to believe that worse was in store.
Court nixes Guantanamo conviction of Australian ex-detainee
An appeals court on Wednesday struck down the terrorism conviction of Australian David Hicks, reversing one of the few successful prosecutions of a prisoner before a U.S. military court at the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay. ...
Hicks, 39, pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorism. It was a plea bargain in which all but nine months of his seven-year sentence was suspended and he was allowed to return home by the end of that year.
Last year, an appeal's court ruling in the case of another detainee found that material support was not a legally viable war crime for conduct that occurred before 2006, when Congress passed legislation authorizing the special wartime court at Guantanamo known as a military commission. Hicks had been in custody since late 2001.
"What he was doing there was not at that time illegal," said Stephen Kenny, his Australian lawyer. "He wasn't doing anything that was a breach of Australian, international or U.S. law. That is what this decision today confirms."
In Spite of Fighting in Debaltseve, Ukraine Ceasefire May Hold
Leaders discuss crumbling Ukraine ceasefire as fighting continues
Fighting continues to rage in eastern Ukraine despite European efforts to resurrect a stillborn ceasefire, a day after pro-Russian separatists who spurned the truce forced thousands of government troops out of a strategic town.
Western nations have refused to give up on a peace deal negotiated in Minsk last week even though rebels disavowed it to seize the strategic railway hub of Debaltseve.
Thousands of besieged Ukrainian troops pulled out of the town on Wednesday in one of the worst defeats for the Kiev government of a 10-month war that has killed more than 5,000 people.
The leaders of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia spoke by telephone on Thursday morning.
The office of the French president, François Hollande, said the four leaders had condemned the ceasefire breaches and agreed that the package of measures worked out in Minsk should be implemented “strictly and in their entirety”.
Reuters journalists in Vuhlehirsk, a rebel-held town near Debaltseve, said artillery was thundering down in the area, although with less intensity than the previous day.
Local military in Mariupol said separatists had launched mortar attacks on government-held positions and were building up their forces there.
Ceasefire Holds as Ukraine Withdraws From Contested Debaltseve
The Ukraine ceasefire is looking much stronger today, as the site of the only real violations, Debaltseve, seems to be resolved, with Ukrainian soldiers conducting a coordinated withdrawal from the town.
In the days leading up to the ceasefire, the strategically located Debaltseve was surrounded by rebel forces, but the town itself remained under military control. After the ceasefire, the two sides were constantly trading fire in the town, even as calm prevailed over the rest of the frontier.
Who Killed the Argentine Prosecutor? 400,000 March for Justice in Buenos Aires as Controversy Grows
Germany rejects Greece request for six-month loan extension
Greece formally requested a six-month extension to its euro zone loan agreement on Thursday, offering major concessions as it raced to avoid running out of cash within weeks, but immediately ran into strong objections from EU paymaster Germany.
Berlin’s reaction was hostile, with the finance ministry describing the Greek proposal as “not a substantial solution” as it failed to fulfill conditions of an EU/IMF bailout program which leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had promised to ditch when he won an election last month. ...
Greece had committed to maintain fiscal balance during the interim period, take immediate reforms to fight tax evasion and corruption, and measures to deal with what Athens calls its “humanitarian crisis” and kick-start economic growth, he said.
In the document seen by Reuters, Greece pledged to meet its financial obligations to all creditors, recognize the existing EU/IMF program as the legally binding framework and refrain from unilateral action that would undermine the fiscal targets.
Crucially, it accepted that the extension would be monitored by the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, a climbdown by Tsipras who had vowed to end cooperation with “troika” inspectors accused of inflicting deep economic and social damage on Greece.
However, the document stopped short of accepting that Greece should achieve this year a surplus on the primary budget – which excludes repayments on Greece’s huge debts – equal to three per cent of the country’s annual economic output, as promised under the bailout deal.
How Radical is the SYRIZA Party in Greece?
Eurogroup has only two choices: to accept or to reject the Greek request
The swift rejection by Berlin after what many viewed as near complete capitulation by Athens is just the latest in a series of breakdowns over how to keep the Greek government financed when the current EU programme expires next week.
But coming at the eleventh hour it raises the prospect that Athens will enter March without EU financial support for the first time since May 2010, which many eurozone officials fear will spark market panic and a possible bank run.
Reacting to the German comments on Thursday a Greek official said: “The government sent a letter to eurogroup seeking a six-month extension of the [bailout] loan agreement. Tomorrow’s eurogroup has only two choices: to accept or to reject the Greek request. This will show who wants to find a solution and who doesn’t.”
Samsung smart TVs send unencrypted voice recognition data across internet
Some Samsung smart TVs are sending users’ voice searches and data over the internet unencrypted, allowing hackers and snoopers to listen in on their activity.
The revelation comes 10 days after Samsung found itself in the middle of a row over the “Orwellian” privacy policy for its smart TVs, after it was revealed that it was sending user voice data to third parties.
It was believed that the information was encrypted but now a security expert has found that data is vulnerable while in transit. Samsung had stated that it uses “industry-standard security safeguards and practices, including data encryption, to secure consumers’ personal information and prevent unauthorised collection or use”, in a blog post clarifying its privacy policy.
When a user carries out a voice search using a smart TV the audio is sent across the internet to a voice recognition service that interprets the speech and sends back the results in text.
In some Samsung models, neither the audio, nor the text returned, is being encrypted, meaning hackers or snoopers can clearly see the words and phrases that users speak to the TV. The television also sends other personal information about the TV and user in the unencrypted information.
Ruling by Right-Wing Judge Delays Long-Awaited Reprieve for Millions of Undocumented Immigrants
Native American activist to sue Facebook over site's 'real name' policy
A Native American activist plans to lead a class action lawsuit against Facebook over its “real name” policy, which has drawn the ire of drag queens, domestic abuse survivors and political activists across the globe. ...
Dana Lone Hill is one of many Native Americans to report being suspended from their Facebook accounts, a process that blocks users from accessing any profile information until they provide proof of identity by handing over documents. Lone Hill was suspended after changing the account from her mother’s last name, Lone Hill, to her father’s last name, Lone Elk. Once her case was covered by national news outlets, service was restored.
“I want to bring this lawsuit for Native America because these are our real names, these are the names that we were given, these were the names we were born with,” Lone Hill said.
She and other members of the community suspect that part of the problem is that Native American names mix adjectives and nouns – leading them to look more suspicious under Facebook’s enforcement system.
“I’m not saying it’s racism, I’m just saying they need to fix the system,” said Lone Hill.
#FightFastTrack: Coalition Takes Aim at Lawmakers over Corporate-Friendly 'Trade' Agreement
Environmental, labor, and community groups are organizing rallies, public forums, and creative direct actions this week urging their congressional representatives to say "no" to a renewed bid to rush through the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership "trade" deal by passing "fast track" legislation.
"Senate Finance Committe Chair Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is saying he wants to reintroduce Fast Track legislation for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) this month — right after Members of Congress return from the Presidents Day recess," explains Citizens Trade Campaign, referring to legislation that would allow the Obama administration to avoid transparency and full congressional review of the deal. "Now’s the time to tell Congress: no Fast Track for the TPP!"
Hellraiser Preview
Sherman, set the time machine for tomorrow's Hellraisers Journal which will feature letters from Joe Hill to Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and others. Lest we forget FW Hill locked up these many months in the Salt Lake County Jail.
Tune in at 2pm!
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West Coast Ports Reopen, but Crippling Labor Dispute Has Already Cost US Economy Billions
Ports along the West Coast reopened Tuesday after a longstanding labor dispute led companies that operate the shipping terminals to lockout most of their dockworkers over the weekend, restricting the loading or unloading of cargo from idling ships and causing severe slowdowns in operations.
For months, disagreement over a new contract has roiled relations between port operators and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) — one of the strongest labor unions in the country — resulting in slowdowns and bottlenecks that observers estimate are costing the US economy billions of dollars each month. West Coast ports account for about 50 percent of US cargo, and manage more than 70 percent of imports from Asia. ...
With pressure for a resolution mounting from labor and trade groups as well as members of Congress, President Barack Obama dispatched Secretary of Labor Tom Perez to San Francisco to mediate stalled negotiations between dockworkers and their bosses that have stretched on for nearly ten months. Perez arrived in the city on Monday. ...
Roughly 20,000 dockworkers represented by the ILWU across the 29 ports from San Diego to Seattle have been without a contract since July as their union hashes out terms with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents shippers and dock operators. While important elements like healthcare have been resolved, issues like the employers' refusal to pay premium wages on weekends and holidays remain in arbitration.
West coast port crisis: companies offer 'last, best and final' contract to workers
Cargo companies have gone straight to west coast dockworkers with what they call their “last, best and final” offer in a contract crisis that has choked off billions of dollars in international trade.
In a move very likely to upset union leaders who were negotiating behind closed doors under a media blackout, the employers distributed letters with the contract offer to rank-and-file longshoremen at ports from Los Angeles to Washington state. ...
Employers appear to hope that union members will conclude the offer – which the letter said includes wage and pension increases and the maintenance of low-cost health benefits – is strong, and dockworkers will then pressure their negotiators to accept it.
One labor expert questioned whether that would work, especially with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which has a history of fighting employers and winning contracts that are the envy of other blue-collar industries.
The letter’s “last, best and final offer” language is significant because it could lay the groundwork for the declaration of an impasse and therefore a full lockout of workers by employers.
The Evening Greens
Blast devastates refinery, sends ash raining down on area
TORRANCE — An explosion devastated a section of a refinery on Wednesday morning, shaking nearby homes, raining down ash and injuring four people. Experts said the disruption to production would likely drive up gas prices in California.
The blast at the Exxon Mobil Corp. facility occurred in a recently installed processing facility, Fire Department spokesman Steve Deuel said. The four-story structure was shattered, and four contractors suffered minor injuries. ...
Students at 13 nearby schools were kept indoors, said Tammy Khan of the Torrance Unified School District. The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a smoke advisory for areas surrounding the refinery, and it dispatched inspectors to the facility with air sampling equipment.
Exxon Mobil said no harmful emissions were detected by its air-quality monitors on the refinery fence line.
The refinery about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles covers 750 acres, employs over a thousand people and processes an average of 155,000 barrels of crude oil per day. It produces 1.8 billion gallons of gasoline per year, which accounts for about 8.3 percent of the state's total refining capacity.
As Extreme Cold Engulfs Eastern U.S., Fossil Fuel Mishaps Leave Disaster Areas on Fire
Accused of 'Terrorism,' Animal Rights Activists Head to Federal Court
Two activists are scheduled to appear in a federal district court in Chicago on Thursday, marking the first time that the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA)—which criminalizes protected speech and protest activities that cause an 'animal enterprise' to lose profits—will be legally challenged as a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
"The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act is a poorly disguised attempt to chill legitimate advocacy by an unpopular group of activists," said Center for Constitutional Rights senior staff attorney Rachel Meeropol, who argued for the defendants in court. "Liberating animals is not terrorism."
Kevin Johnson, 27, and Tyler Lang, 25, face up to 10 years in prison for allegedly releasing thousands of mink and foxes from fur farms in the Midwest in 2013. They were indicted in July 2014 under the AETA on federal charges of conspiracy and interstate travel to damage and interfere with the operations of an animal enterprise.
"The recent charges brought against Kevin and me are not only wrong but egregious," Lang stated last year in response to the charges, on a blog dedicated to supporting the activists. "When we think of terrorism, we think of violence being committed against individuals. The government’s 'terrorist' targeting of two friends with a history of speaking out against injustice is an affront to the meaning of what violence really is, and a slap in the face to a public that sadly knows what terrorism actually looks like."
Green Groups Say Another Coal Ash Spill Remains Likely, One Year After North Carolina Accident
One year ago this month, a 48-inch metal storm pipe running beneath an impoundment of coal ash — the byproduct of coal-burning power plants — broke open, dumping an estimated 30,000-39,000 tons of ash and 27 million gallons of contaminated water into North Carolina's Dan River. ...
The Dan River accident was among the worst such spills in the nation's history and helped to push the issue to the forefront of environmental concerns. In part due to the Dan River spill, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revised federal regulations for storage of coal ash. Yet, a year after portions of the Dan River turned an ash-grey hue, environmentalists remain concerned about the risk of additional soil and water contamination from coal ash ponds. ...
In December, the EPA rolled out new regulations aimed at preventing coal ash spills. New coal ash facilities will be required to install protective liners aimed at preventing leaching of coal ash into the soil and groundwater.
"Even though it was those high profile and catastrophic events, like the Dan River, that really drove the rule making, the resulting rule is not strong enough to have prevented one of those disasters," Harrison said.
The new regulations, complain many environmental groups, leave monitoring of existing, sometimes decades-old, facilities largely up to the companies that operate them. And, more fundamentally, the agency chose to regulate coal ash as a solid waste, rather than hazardous waste, which would have resulted in tighter restrictions.
Harvard prepares to fight fossil fuel divestment case in court
World’s richest university will appear in court on Friday to seek dismissmal of lawsuit brought by students calling for it to pull investments out of coal, oil and gas companies
Lawyers for Harvard University will appear in court on Friday to fight off attempts to force the world’s richest university to dump coal, oil and gas companies from its $36bn (£23bn) endowment.
A lawsuit filed late last year by seven law students and undergraduates argues the university has a duty to fight climate change by pulling out of fossil fuel companies.
The university and the state of Massachusetts, which is also named in the lawsuit, are asking the judge to dismiss the case.
But a student sit-in at the Harvard president’s offices last week – and the rapid expansion of the campus divestment movement – suggest that the university can expect continued pressure.
“This is important to us because climate change is supposed to be a huge problem and so far our existing institutions have been unable to address it in a way that is commensurate with the problem,” said Alice Cherry, a second year law student and one of the seven bringing the suit. “We think it is past time for our legal system to have something to say about it.”
The lawsuit argues that Harvard, by continuing to invest in fossil fuels, is putting current and future generations in danger.
Blog Posts of Interest
Here are diaries and selected blog posts of interest on DailyKos and other blogs.
What's Happenin' Is On Hiatus
Argentina’s Soybeans Help Feed the World But Monsanto Might Be Making Locals Sick
In their cynicism about Putin, western diplomats are making the Ukrainian crisis worse
Since 9/11, We've Had 4 Wars in the Middle East. They've All Been Disasters
Jump Shift?
A Little Night Music
Big Al Downing - Georgia Slop
Little Esther Phillips & Big Al Downing - You Never Miss Your Water (Till the Well Runs Dry)
Big Al Downing - Beer Drinkin' People
Big Al Downing - Long Trucking Night
Big Al Downing - Cornbread Row
Big Al Downing - Just Around The Corner
Big Al Downing - Yes I'm Loving You
Big Al Downing - Miss Lucy
Big Al Downing - Piano Nellie
Big Al Downing - All I Want Is You
Big Al Downing - A Cigarette, A Bottle, and a Jukebox
Al Downing - Down on the Farm
Big Al Downing - It Must Be Love
Big Al Downing - Heartbreak Hill
Big Al Downing - These arms you push away
Al Downing - Gimme some lovin'
It's National Pie Day!
The election is over, it's a new year and it's time to work on real change in new ways... and it's National Pie Day. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to tell you a little more about our new site and to start getting people signed up.
Come on over and sign up so that we can send you announcements about the site, the launch, and information about participating in our public beta testing.
Why is National Pie Day the perfect opportunity to tell you more about us? Well you'll see why very soon. So what are you waiting for?! Head on over now and be one of the first!
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