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School
Board Candidate Carol Seay Destroys the Chance to Make Blacks the Majority
The November 2006 election was a great
opportunity for the Blacks to take back the majority on the Sumter County school
board. Carol Seay, a minister, who ran for the same seat in District 3 four
years ago, ran against Donna Minich and Darius Harris in 2002 and again in
2006. In 2002, the president of the NAACP asked Seay not to run since Harris,
the incumbent did a great job. Of course, Seay bristled at the thought of our
NAACP president telling her what to do and went ahead and ran. As a result
Harris lost the race in a runoff with Minich.
Also, a school board member told the
Americus Sumter Observer that she asked Seay to support Harris in the 2002
runoff but Seay flatly refused. This led to the reign of terror for the Black
community as Minich joined up with newly elected board member Dr. Michael
Busman. When the Busman-Minich era began, they went after the first and only
Black school superintendent, Dr. Franklin Perry. Our local NAACP asked a very
simple question of the new White majority on the board, "Why are you not
renewing the contract of this man?" (Dr. Perry) and school board member Karen
Gatewood, wife of Dr Schley Gatewood, said, "we want a change."
Craig Walker, vice president of the local
NAACP, overheard a conversation between two White men in attendance at a school
board meeting saying, "We want to clean the school system before our children
come back." The board's vote to fire Dr. Perry led to protest and several
newspaper articles condemning the Board. The greatest outcry was against Dr.
Busman, newly elected board chairman and Donna Minich. The local NAACP went to
several school board meetings with posters and loud protest to expose Busman,
who was under investigation by the Composite State Board of Medical Examiners
for allegedly using cocaine and other elicit drugs. Busman escaped losing his
license because informants were afraid to tell the medical board. The
investigation was ended and Busman dodged a bullet.
Donna Minich had a son in the Sumter County
school system who was put out because of problems with drugs and on one
occasion, he started a fire in Sumter Middle school. The reason why Minich did
not deserve to return to the school board was the situation when she pulled rank
and kept her troubled child from going to the alternative school. The NAACP
reported that a special called meeting was held with Busman as chairman in which
the decision of a tribunal was reversed so that Donna Minich's son would not go
to the alternative school for problem students. Instead, they sent Minich's son
to the Performance Learning Center giving her child preferential treatment
because she (Minich) was a school board member. Her son didn't even qualify for
the Performance Learning Center.
The screams and cries of the local NAACP
went on deaf ears. The Black leadership did not help fight for Dr. Perry. Many
in our community received negative information on Perry primarily from teachers
he had to remove or discipline. We reminded the citizens in this newspaper that
Dr. Perry had our system moving in the right direction. The academic markers of
achievement were all positive, six schools made AYP under Perry, drop out rate
decreased, PTO attendance was at an all time high. We needed a Black
superintendent who could relate to an overwhelming majority Black student body.
After Dr Perry, Busman and the White board
members brought in Dr. Dennis McMahon who was run out of the school system in
South Carolina. One White lady who knew of Dr. McMahon in South Carolina told
this newspaper that he (McMahon) is a divider and a deceiver and that he will
meet with several groups quietly creating division. We know Dr McMahon has met
with many Black community leaders and has made them feel special because the
school superintendent met with them.
What have we in the Black community gained
by having Busman and Minich lead our school board? The most obvious loss is the
number of Blacks in the school administration. We actually lost four Black men
with doctorates including Dr. Perry. Everything in administration is
practically White. The one decent Americus High principal, Tony Overstreet,
could not deal with the mindless discipline oriented McMahon and no work on
student achievement. When Overstreet resigned as Americus High principal, the
students protested. We don't have much information on the new Americus High
principal, Dr. Moore, who happens to be Black.
Our local NAACP has been receiving
information that the school system is going backwards since Dr. Perry left. The
leadership of Busman and Minich cannot be in the best interest of Black
children. Busman was named in the lawsuit by our NAACP president, Dr. John
Marshall, who lost his privileges at Sumter Regional Hospital. The lawsuit was
resolved and Dr. Marshall appears to be pleased with the outcome. Busman is
currently named in a second lawsuit where another minority, Dr. Mila Keh, a
psychiatrist, lost her hospital privileges. Busman has been involved in too
many attacks on Blacks to not be called a racist. He was sued by Dr. Marshall
and Dr Keh for his involvement in their losing hospital privileges. He had a
hand in the shameful attack on Victoria Harris,principal of Americus- Sumter
High north campus who almost lost her teaching certificate but fortunately she
did not. He forced out a great superintendent, Dr. Perry and jerked around Dr.
Perry's assistant superintendent, Dr. Drew. All of these people are Black. We
are perplexed because we understand that Dr. Busman himself is a minority.
Darius Harris lost the school board seat
because of the split Black vote between him and Carol Seay. He also lost
because we are highly suspicious of Carol Seay qualifying the last 30 minutes
before qualifying was over and Dr Busman was at the courthouse the same
morning. The NAACP president tried to talk with Carol Seay but she was
extremely hostile according to him (Marshall). Marshall said he spoke with her
mother Mrs. Helen Barner, Carol Seay's husband, her sister in Tennessee, her
brother-in-law, and her father-in-law and they all said that they are unable to
talk to Carol. Some of them said that she is a hot head and you cannot tell her
anything.
We are surprised by her hostility toward
Dr. Marshall and the NAACP as she was praised by them as one of the girls who
were put in an old stockade during the civil rights struggle in the 1960's. We
were in attendance when the county commissioners gave a proclamation to the
victims of that horrible jailing and this newspaper covered the story. We also
covered the documentary, "Lulu's Girls," that played here in Americus. We may
never know what would cause a Black female minister to knowingly help Michael
Busman and Donna Minich remain in power. Maybe she will hear from Heaven
because she surely isn't hearing us down here on earth.
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PRIORITIES
By Elizabeth Dede
I want to quote a few financial statistics in this column,
without being too creative, or original, to show how our misplaced priorities
during the Bush Administration have harmed so many of our brothers and sisters.
I got this information from the most recent issue of The Crisis, the news
magazine of the NAACP, founded in 1910, and edited first by W.E.B. Du Bois.
The fall of 2006 marked two important national
anniversaries: the five-year anniversary of September 11, 2001, and the
terrorist attacks; and the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which
devastated the Gulf Coast, and claimed the lives of some 1,500 people in
Louisiana alone.
The Bush Administration's reaction to 9/11 was swift: war
in Afghanistan and war in Iraq. Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, hiding out in
Afghanistan, were allegedly responsible for the attacks. The citizens of the
U.S., Iraq, and the world still have no idea why the U.S. invaded Iraq and
caused, and continue to cause, such death and destruction there.
Osama bin Laden remains at large, and Afghanistan and Iraq
are in chaos. As of June 2006, the U.S. had spent more that $318.5 BILLION on
the war in Iraq. Nearly 3,000 U.S. soldiers have lost their lives, and this
does not count the severely injured and disabled, mentally and physically,
soldiers, who return from the war each day.
According to the National Priorities Project, all that
money could have provided more than 15 million students with 4-year scholarships
to public universities, hired 5.4 million public school teachers, provided
health insurance to 186 million children, and built 2.8 million public housing
units.
Which would you rather be doing? Killing and destroying
people in far-off lands? Or building up people in your own country?
High School graduation rates in big-city school districts
are less than 50%. The unemployment rate of African American men in New York is
nearly 50%. The child poverty rate in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina was
38%, more than twice the national average. Yet nobody in Congress reacts to
these issues, like the immediate and violent response to 9/11.
The response by the government to Hurricane Katrina was
devastatingly slow. The stranded people, who were mostly African American and
poor, waited for days without food and water. Finally the federal government
showed up in New Orleans.
In the year since the storm, Congress has approved $110
billion in aid (compare that to the ever-increasing military spending, which was
at $318.5 billion in June), but federal agencies had only spent $44 billion by
the one-year anniversary. If you gave me the $318.5 billion, I'd have every
displaced and homeless person back in a house in New Orleans within a year! But
our priorities are so misplaced.
Victoria Valentine, Editor of The Crisis, wrote, "You can
tell a lot about a person and their priorities by how they respond under
pressure; how they react in a crisis situation. The same could be said about a
government agency or a country." What can we say about the U.S.? I'm afraid it
is a shame and a disgrace.
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Food: New Weapon of Mass Destruction
By RIDGELY MUHAMMAD,Ph.D
Agricultural Economics
Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply,
and it come to pass, that, when war occurs, they join also unto our enemies, and
fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew
women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered
before the midwives come in unto them"
Now since the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, taught us that the
Ancient Egyptian did not do this to the Children of Israel, but this was a
prophesy to be fulfilled in this day, we must observe the practices of the
modern "Pharaohs" or presidents and defend ourselves against their plans.
On September 28, 2005 former Secretary of Education, Bill
Bennett stated on a radio broadcast and we quote:
"But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce
crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black
baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an
impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime
rate would go down."
Now let’s look at some of the policy debates and research
done to fulfill these goals. In June 1997 Jane’s Defense Weekly reported that
former defense Secretary Cohen "quoted other reports about what he called
‘certain types of pathogens that would be ethnic specific so that they could
just eliminate certain ethnic groups and races." More can be read about
biological warfare in a recent publication by the British Medical Association
entitled, "Biotechnology, Weapons and Humanity" where it states that "Genetic
engineering of biological agents, to make them more potent, has been carried out
covertly for years..." p. xviii.
But what is more disturbing is testimony which has surfaced
in the South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission around "Dr Death"
(Wouter Basson): "There were revelations of research into a race-specific
bacterial weapon; a project to find ways to sterilize the country's black
population; discussions of deliberate spreading of cholera through the water
supply; large-scale production of dangerous drugs; ..."
Methods of population sterilization include inoculation
under false pretenses and poisoning the water and food supply. The international
biotechnology firms have become more intrusive into third world countries in
their attempt to control all germ plasma of the planet. They go into an area and
collect the local staple germ plasma, break down its genetic code then patent
that code and variety. They then try to force the local farmers to buy the
corporation’s seeds threatening them with patent violations if they plant their
once native varieties. When America invaded Iraq, one of the first moves that it
made was to force the Iraqi farmers to turn in their seeds and buy Monsanto’s
genetically modified seeds.
The recent "Rice Genome Project" is heralded as a great
break through and a step in locking down the genetic code of the other main food
staples including corn and wheat. Now rice can be manipulated at will, even
inoculated with vaccines to "prevent" diseases. Could one of these "diseases" be
"overpopulation" of an unwanted ethnic type?
Cyrus Vances’ 1980 "Global 2000 Report to the President",
and Al Gore’s book, "Earth in the balance" suggested that the world was quickly
becoming overpopulated. Al Gore suggested in his book that the rapid growth in
human population was leading to environmental degradation and that the world
should institute a "Global Marshall Plan". The first tenant of such a plan would
be "Stabilizing World Population". Mr. Gore, the former Vice-president,
demonstrates his points by focusing in on three countries as examples of
overpopulation; Kenya, Egypt and Nigeria. These are the only countries that he
mentions and they all are interestingly on the continent of Africa.
On September 18, 2002, Melanie Gosling wrote "South
Africans have been eating genetically modified organisms for the past five
years, according to Monsanto, the world's biggest biotechnology company."
The article goes on to say that, "…over 100,000 hectares of
genetically modified yellow maize was grown in South Africa, which would
increase to 150,000 hectares next year and to one million hectares by 2005."
But fear not, Monsanto adds comforting words, "The biggest
problem with people who oppose GMOs is that they are ignorant. Already 42
billion portions of GM food have been consumed worldwide and not one person has
got sick from it. People in the United States have been eating GM foods for 15
years," he said.
Other scientists have been working specifically on
producing food that would kill human sperm. Robin McKie, science editor, for the
The Observer wrote on September 9, 2001:
"Scientists have created the ultimate GM crop:
contraceptive corn. Waiving fields of maize may one day save the world from
overpopulation. The pregnancy prevention plants are the handiwork of the San
Diego biotechnology company Epicyte, where researchers have discovered a rare
class of human antibodies that attack sperm."
However, in their hurried attempts to use their newly
acquired knowledge of the genes and their functions, they have made some crucial
errors which render their intended race specific weapons general poisons that
could destroy the fabric of life itself on our planet. Jeffrey Smith in his book
"Seeds of Deception" points out that the method of genetically modifying a food
crop to add a specific protein producing gene was flawed from the outset. Early
theories had predicted that each gene was a specific code for producing one
protein. However, scientists now know that a single gene can produce many
proteins depending on a number of situations and circumstances that scientists
are just beginning to explore, but have no way to control. According to Mr.
Smith a single gene from a fruit fly, for example, can "generate up to 38,016
different protein molecules".
Not only do they not know how a new gene introduced into an
organism will operate under different circumstances, they do not know if in the
process of rearranging the DNA they may have damaged it, causing it to produce
life threatening toxins within its host. It seems like the little joke that I
made with the then president of Dupont back in the days of the Y2K scare was
truer than I had expected. I told him that "I hope that the same scientists who
tried to put those 4 digits into the 2 slots on the computers are not the ones
working on genetic engineering?" So it seems that Pharaoh’s modern helpers are
busy working on our DNA and the joke and the jokers are on us.
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THE NAACP Wins AGAIN!
By Mathis "Matt" Wright, Jr.
On Wednesday Nov. 29, 2006 a hearing was held at the Sumter
County courthouse with the Honorable Judge, James Sizemore hearing the
proceedings. In the small courtroom the evidence or lack thereof, was centered
around whether or not the Georgia Open Record Act was violated?
The Americus Times-Recorder proudly made the proceedings
its lead story with a headliner… Denied-Judge nixes Bryant's application for
criminal warrants against Ratliff, Board of Elections.
I am not going to engage in a tit for tat overview of this
column. However, the law was broken! It's nothing new when it's Black vs.
White or White vs. Black, or even any other ethnic person(s) vs. white, the
results are almost always the same. It seems that when conflicts arise between
a person of color vs. white people the person of color has to dot every (i) and
cross every (t)! And yet, that is still not good enough in most instances!
Today, you taught this branch of the NAACP a valuable
lesson in law and politics, and we will never let just being right be enough
anymore. It is very plain that if I ask you for documentation that is from open
public records, and you refuse to grant my request even though the law states
you are suppose to, then it can't get any plainer!! It was noted Mr. Thomas
Sims, Jr. had abstained because of his relationship to Mr. James Bryant. I
wonder if it would have been ethical for Judge Sizemore to have abstained from
hearing this case. After all, isn't he employed by Sumter County and is paid by
the same? If this is true it might be hard for one to rule against "the Hand
that feeds you!!"
We will not
contest the finding and are moving forward with conviction, humbleness, patience
and the understanding of prevention of repeated errors!! Looking to meet you in
the future……..
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- CAST THE FIRST STONE
- Year End Review
By: James L. Bryant, Jr.
I can hardly believe it, but it has been an entire year
since this column first made its debut in the Americus Sumter Observer and what
a year it has been! I would like to give a big thank you to the publisher, the
staff, and all my supporters who read this column every month and gave me such
positive feedback. You have truly made "Cast the First Stone" one of the premier
features in this newspaper. To celebrate the Anniversary of his column, I have
decided to print a year- end review of each editorial to remind the readers of
what issues we faced in 2006 and to give an update on where those issues are
going into 2007. Enjoy your holidays, see you in the New Year, and remember, he
that is without sin, let him cast the first stone!
December 2005 - Thomas Holloway - debut edition of "Cast
the First Stone" reveals over 30 combined civil and criminal actions against
Thomas Holloway, publisher of the weekly tabloid, the "Sumter News." Some of the
charges revealed were a theft conviction as well as several lawsuit judgments,
tax liens, and garnishments. We have seen very little improvement in the way
the Sumter News portrays blacks in its paper and really don't expect much more
out of Thomas Holloway.
January 2006 - Local Issues Dr. King would Address -
Honoring the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by addressing how he would
disapprove the following issues: a white school superintendent representing a
nearly 80% black school system, the manner in which the local newspapers portray
black people, the lack of black elected officials in a county in which nearly
half of its registered voters are black, and the lack of leadership from the
black clergy. Going into 2007, none of these issues have changed they have only
gotten worse.
February 2006 - Janice Harris - Black Election Board member
and Sumter County Democratic committee secretary is asked to resign because a
criminal background check showed shoplifting and bank account fraud. Ms. Harris
had fought against the interests of former candidate for Sheriff Nelson Brown
and former mayoral candidate James Bryant Jr. Ms. Harris later resigned from the
Board of Elections, but still serves on the democratic committee.
March 2006- William Bronson III - Publisher of the Americus
Times Recorder is blasted for his role in dividing the community with racist and
bias reporting from the daily newspaper. Publisher is called out on telling the
black community who should be our leaders, what issues we should address, and
how we should address them. Apparently after several letters to Times Recorder
owners Community News Holdings in Birmingham, Alabama, Bronson has called the
publisher of the Americus Sumter Observer to extend an olive branch.
April 2006- Black Clergy - Anticipation was high to hear
Rev. Joseph Lowery who was the keynote speaker for the 30th annual NAACP freedom
fund banquet. Rev Lowery came to Americus shortly after criticizing President
Bush about his war policy in Iraq at Coretta Scott King's funeral. The call was
made for more black clergy to follow Rev. Lowery's example of being politically
involved by criticizing our enemies, but none have answered the call as of yet.
May 2006- William "Bill" Murray - explanation of why I
described local attorney Bill Murray as a "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" at the
freedom fund banquet. I exposed Mr. Murray more so as an enemy of black people
rather than a friend because he is known to charge blacks $4,000 - $10,000 to
represent them in cases that a lot of times can be resolved by a simple phone
call to the prosecutor. He also used his newspaper to discuss attorney client
privileged information that is still under investigation.
June 2006- Americus Owes Black Girls an Apology - National
renown magazine Essence blasts how Sumter County jailed 33 young black girls for
nearly seven weeks for their role in trying to integrate public facilities in
Americus. This editorial condemns city and county officials for not offering an
official apology to "Lulu and the Girls," but designating April as Sons of
Confederate Veterans Month. At the urging of Commissioner Al Hurley, the County
Commissioners later gave the women a proclamation.
July 2006- Sumter County Board of Education - Under
Superintendent Dr. Dennis McMahon and Board Chairman Dr. Michael Busman, half of
the schools in the Sumter County School System failed to make Annual Yearly
Progress (AYP) and a record number of students attended summer school. The
system's AYP record was better under Dr. Franklin Perry, the system's first and
only black school superintendent, who was terminated by a 5 to 4 vote down
racial lines. The Board of Education has not made any improvements heading into
2007.
August 2006- Michael James Ross - best man at my wedding
writes headline article in the Americus Times Recorder accusing me of trying to
physically attack election supervisor Sherry Ratliff. Ross's article was full of
deception, lies, and started a barrage of editorials that created a hostile
racial environment and helped former Sheriff Randy Howard win the county
commission race against caterer Mathis "Matt" Wright. The Times Recorder removed
Ross from covering election board meetings and he hasn't written any more
articles criticizing the NAACP.
September 2006- Gladys Kitchen - popular black-owned
restaurant decides to remove the Americus Sumter Observer newspaper rack from
its business after a "prominent" white customer told them Dr. Marshall was
causing a major disturbance with his newspaper. The question was asked what evil
person would pressure Gladys to remove the paper. They still haven't told us who
it was and we still would like to know.
October 2006- Police Chief James Green - Detective Alphonso
Ross of the Americus police department arrests NAACP Vice President Craig Walker
on felony child cruelty charges for spanking his niece, but fails to arrest
attorney Bill Murray or his wife Sandra for cursing and pointing shotguns at one
another. An open letter was written to Chief James Green asking him to explain
and we have yet to hear from him.
November 2006- Good Ole' Boy Network - Newspaper exposes
the Good Ole' Boy network by publishing headline article on how city officials
and the Americus Times Recorder covered up the criminal arrests of the children
of Mayor Blount, City Attorney Skipper, School Board member Minich, and attorney
Murray. Many citizens have expressed great interest in this story and thank us
very much for bringing it to the light.
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Black voters made the
difference in 2006 election
By Ron Walters
I have to begin this brief review of the 2006 elections
with something of a requiem for the fact that the so-called Michigan Civil
Rights Initiative passed 56/43 in that state and, as a result, affirmative
action will be eliminated for higher education, government contracting and other
purposes.
It was a heroic fight waged by the forces of United
Michigan and the Black community, where the corporate leaders and major
politicians all vowed their support of keeping affirmative action. However,
Whites in the states voted to eliminate it by 62 percent and Blacks supported it
86 percent. However, Whites constituted 85 percent of the Michigan electorate
and Blacks only 11 percent.
Although there will be subsequent legal action to retain it
in light of the Supreme Court decision last year, Ward Connerly will doubtlessly
move on to other states such as Georgia to continue to wreak havoc on this
version of civil rights protections.
Otherwise, the election was a source of joy with the
election of the second Black governor, Deval Patrick in Massachusetts (56
percent to 35 percent), who was supported by virtually every major group in the
states. Nevertheless, there was also the anomaly that ballots ran out in the
Black community, in a continuing pattern of disfranchisement problems.
Other Blacks who ran for governor were Republicans who did
not fare very well. For example, Lynn Swann in Pennsylvania badly lost his bid
to defeat Ed Rendell, a popular Democratic incumbent governor with only 13
percent of the Black vote, and Ken Blackwell in Ohio suffered a similar fate,
also losing badly to Democrat Ted Strickland. And although Blackwell garnered 20
percent of the Black vote, this was far below his normal level of support that
reached 40 percent of the Black vote in previous elections.
In high profile senate races, Harold Ford Jr. lost his bid
in Tennessee to Bob Corker, whose racist ad featuring a White woman asking Mr.
Ford to come hither was launched when they were running neck-and-neck. But with
it, he was able to pull away to victory by evoking the traditional angst of
Whites about the relationship between Black males and White women. But because
he ran such a superlative campaign, he will doubtless be sought as a regional
player in the attempt of Democrats to attract Southern regional appeal in the
2008 presidential campaign.
Republican Michael Steele lost his race for the U.S. Senate
from Maryland to Democrat Ben Cardin—in an election that featured extensive
concern for the way in which the Black vote would split. In this election, the
racial vote was striking, since Whites voted in the majority for Mr. Steele (was
well as Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Ehrlich), but Blacks who
constituted 23 percent of the electorate, voted substantially for winning
Democratic Senate candidate Ben Cardin 72 percent and gubernatorial candidate
Martin O’Malley 84 percent.
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus all won
re-election and a new member was added to their number from of Minnesota. Keith
Ellison (Dist. 5) who will be the only Black Muslim in the U.S. Congress. He won
a strong mandate at 56 percent of the vote and will be the focus of attention
because of the American policy and actions in the Middle East.
Bill Jefferson’s race was in doubt in Louisiana because of
the taint of scandal and the consequent lifting of his committee seat by
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. He won 30 percent of the vote, but because he
did not capture more than 50 percent, he will have to compete in a Dec. 9
runoff. He will be opposed by State Senator Karen Carter, who won 22 percent and
was endorsed by the state Democratic Party. Finally, in Colorado, Angie Paccione
(4th Dist.) lost to Musgrave, the incumbent, in a surprisingly close race.
What this means is that the Black vote was absolutely
critical to the Democratic sweep in the Senate and House of Representatives.
National exit polls showed that Whites voted 51 percent for Democrats, to 47
percent for Republicans. By contrast, Blacks voted 89 percent for Democrats, but
only 10 percent in favor of Republicans.
This is testimony to the sophistication of Black voters who
not only are aware of their interests and vote accordingly, but who also
withstood all of the voter suppression schemes to cast their ballots.
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