Squatter, Bank of America Battle for $2.5M Mansion

Bank of America is taking a Florida man to court after he attempted to use an antiquated state law to legally take possession of a $2.5 million mansion that is currently owned by the bank.

Andre "Loki" Barbosa has lived in a five-bedroom Boca Raton, Fla., waterside property since July, and police have reportedly been unable to remove him.

The Brazilian national, 23, who reportedly refers to himself as "Loki Boy," cites Florida's "adverse possession" law, in which a party may acquire title from another by openly occupying their land and paying real property tax for at least seven years.

The house is listed as being owned by Bank of America as of July 2012, and that an adverse possession was filed in July. After Bank of America foreclosed on the property last year, the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office was notified that Barbosa would be moving in, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

The Sun-Sentinel reported that he posted a notice in the front window of the house naming him as a "living beneficiary to the Divine Estate being superior of commerce and usury."
On Facebook, a man named Andre Barbosa calls the property "Templo de Kamisamar."

After Barbosa gained national attention for his brazen attempt, Bank of America filed an injunction on Jan. 23 to evict Barbosa and eight unidentified occupants.

In the civil complaint, Bank of America said Barbosa and other tenants "unlawfully entered the property" and "refused to permit the Plaintiff agents entry, use, and possession of its property." In addition to eviction, Bank of America is asking for $15,000 in damages to be paid to cover attorney's expenses.

Police were called Dec. 26 to the home but did not remove Barbosa, according to the Sentinel. Barbosa reportedly presented authorities with the adverse possession paperwork at the time.

Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Povery Law Center, says police officers may be disinclined to take action even if they are presented with paperwork that is invalid.

"A police officer walks up to someone who is claiming a house now belongs to him, without any basis at all, is handed a big sheaf of documents, which are incomprehensible," Potok said. "I think very often the officers ultimately feel that they're forced to go back to headquarters and try to figure out what's going on before they can actually toss someone in the slammer."

A neighbor of the Boca property, who asked not be named, told ABCNews.com that he entered the empty home just before Christmas to find four people inside, one of whom said the group is establishing an embassy for their mission, and that families would be moving in and out of the property. Barbosa was also among them.

The neighbor said he believes that Barbosa is a "patsy."

"This young guy is caught up in this thing," the neighbor said. "I think it's going on on a bigger scale."

Barbosa could not be reached for comment.

The neighbor said that although the lights have been turned on at the house, the water has not, adding that this makes it clear it is not a permanent residence. The neighbor also said the form posted in the window is "total gibberish," which indicated that the house is an embassy, and that those who enter must present two forms of identification, and respect the rights of its indigenous people.

"I think it's a group of people that see an opportunity to get some money from the bank," the neighbor said. "If they're going to hold the house ransom, then the bank is going to have to go through an eviction process.

"They're taking advantage of banks, where the right hand doesn't know where the left hand is," the neighbor said. "They can't clap."

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Court says Obama exceeded authority in making appointments

President Obama exceeded his constitutional authority by making appointments when the Senate was on a break last year, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The court’s broad ruling would sharply limit the power that presidents throughout history have used to make recess appointments in the face of Senate opposition and inaction.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit flatly rejected the Obama administration’s rationale for appointing three members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) while the Senate was on a holiday break.

Chief Judge David B. Sentelle sharply criticized the administration’s interpretation of when recess appointments may be made, saying it would give the president “free rein to appoint his desired nominees at any time he pleases, whether that time be a weekend, lunch, or even when the Senate is in session and he is merely displeased with its inaction.” He added, “This cannot be the law.”

The issue seems certain to end up before the Supreme Court, which ultimately could clarify a president’s authority to fill his administration and appoint federal judges when a minority of the Senate blocks consideration of his choices.

Although recess appointments have been made throughout the nation’s history, they have been more commonly made by modern presidents who face partisan opposition that has made it hard for nominees to even receive a vote in the Senate.

Additionally, Friday’s decision casts doubt on hundreds of decisions the NLRB has made in the past year, ranging from enforcement of collective-bargaining agreements to rulings on the rights of workers to use social media.

The ruling also raises questions about the recess appointment of former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray to head the fledgling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and about the actions taken by the agency during his tenure, including major new rules governing the mortgage industry. Obama named Cordray at the same time as the NLRB nominees, and his appointment is the subject of a separate lawsuit in D.C. federal court.

The White House criticized the court ruling. “The decision is novel and unprecedented, and it contradicts 150 years of practice by Democratic and Republican administrations,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Friday. “We respectfully but strongly disagree with the ruling.”

Presidents from both parties have made hundreds of recess appointments when the Senate has failed to act on nominations. Ronald Reagan holds the record with 243. Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, made 105, and it was during his term that Senate Democrats began holding pro-forma sessions, some lasting less than a minute, when the Senate went on break. They contended that that kept the Senate in session and did not allow Bush to make recess appointments.

Republicans took up the practice when Obama was elected. But Obama decided to challenge it in January 2012, when the Senate was on a 20-day holiday but holding pro-forma sessions every three business days to block presidential action.

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Latin America, Europe open summit to boost trade

SANTIAGO: Latin American and European leaders open a two-day summit Saturday to give a fresh impetus to efforts to seal a free trade agreement between their two blocs.

Attending the gathering are some 45 leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Cuban leader Raul Castro as well as European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Although the two blocs have met seven times, it is the 27-member European Union's first summit with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC, its Spanish-language acronym).

Set up in Caracas in December 2011 at the behest of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, CELAC groups all American nations except the United States and Canada and aims to boost regional trade and institutional cooperation,.

Chavez, who is convalescing from cancer surgery in Cuba, will not attend the weekend gathering.

Monday, CELAC leaders will hold their own summit here, with Cuba taking over the chairmanship from Chile for one year.

The meeting will seal Cuba's full regional reintegration and mark a major diplomatic coup for President Castro, whose communist-ruled country is still reeling from a 50-year-old crippling US trade embargo.

The 33 CELAC leaders hope to overcome their ideological and economic differences to foster greater regional integration.

"Our efforts (in this area) have not lived up to that is needed and what Latin America deserves," Chilean President Sebastian Pinera conceded.

Shortly before Castro landed here on Friday, about 200 people protested both for and against Havana.

An estimated 100 demonstrators massed outside the Cuban embassy, heeding a call by Chile's ruling party, the conservative Independent Democratic Union, or UDI, to demonstrate against the Castro`s presence in the Chilean capital.

The UDI accuses Castro of harboring the murderers of their party's founder, Jaime Guzman, a senator who was killed in 1991 by the nearly extinct radical leftist group Patriotic Front of Manuel Rodriguez.

The UDI president, along with other lawmakers, also came to the embassy to deliver a letter demanding to know the whereabouts in Cuba of those they allege killed Guzman: Ricardo Poblete, and three other accomplices.

However, the lawmakers were denied entry and then threw the letter into the garden.

Another 100 demonstrators, from a "Group of Solidarity with Cuba," also gathered near the embassy to show support for Cuba .

Ahead of the EU-CELAC summit, Pinera, the host, said the meeting aimed to "to seal a new strategic alliance for development and more open markets."

"It will be the first timethat Latin America will speak with one voice" with Europe, Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno said recently.

The EU is the biggest outside investor in Latin America, with three per cent of the direct foreign investment in CELAC or $385 billion in 2010.

Thursday, Van Rompuy and Barroso attended a EU-Brazil summit with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia.

The two sides called for the speedy conclusion of a free trade pact between the EU and the South American trading bloc Mercosur.

Negotiations over the pact have so far stumbled over differences on agriculture -- notably Europe's subsidies to its farmers, which undermine South America's efforts to sell its own products.

Meanwhile, a parallel Summit of the Peoples got under way here Friday with a march of 1,000 leftists protesting capitalist economic policies.

The march turned violent when hooded demonstrators tore down traffic lights and shops' shutters in central Santiago, prompting police to intervene with water cannons ans tear gas.

At least five protesters were arrested.

The two-day counter-summit brings together representatives of more than 400 social movements from across Latin America and Europe.

- AFP/fa

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Republic Day functions held peacefully in Kashmir Valley

SRINAGAR: The Republic Day functions in the Kashmir Valley passed off peacefully Saturday, with Rural Development Minister Ali Muhammad Sagar saying the gun had only caused destruction.

Taking salute at the main parade in the summer capital Srinagar, Sagar said peace was a national agenda which would be pursued notwithstanding "recent provocative developments".

Contingents of police, paramilitary forces and the army marched before the podium inside the highly-secured Bakshi Stadium in the city which had been sealed days ahead of the function.

Entry into the stadium was regulated by security personnel using metal detectors. They also frisked people entering the stadium.

No untoward incident was reported anywhere in the Kashmir Valley where Republic Day parades were held at all district headquarters and important state and central installations.

Despite sub-zero temperatures, there was visible enthusiasm and patriotic fervor in Leh and Kargil towns of Ladakh region.

Separatists called for a protest shutdown Saturday in the Kashmir Valley.

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Pictures: The Story Behind Sun Dogs, Penitent Ice, and More

Photograph by Art Wolfe, Getty Images

If you want the beauty of winter without having to brave the bone-chilling temperatures blasting much of the United States this week, snuggle into a soft blanket, grab a warm beverage, and curl up with some of these natural frozen wonders.

Nieve penitente, or penitent snow, are collections of spires that resemble robed monks—or penitents. They are flattened columns of snow wider at the base than at the tip and can range in height from 3 to 20 feet (1 to 6 meters). The picture above shows the phenomenon in central Chile. (See pictures of the patterns in snow and ice.)

Nieve penitente tend to form in shallow valleys where the snow is deep and the sun doesn't shine at too steep an angle, said Kenneth Libbrecht, a physicist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena who studies ice crystal formation.

As the snow melts, dirt gets mixed in with the runoff and collects in little pools here and there, he said. Since the dirt is darker in color than the surrounding snow, the dirty areas melt faster "and you end up digging these pits," explained Libbrecht.

"They tend to form at high altitude," he said. But other than that, no one really knows the exact conditions that are needed to form penitent snow.

"They're fairly strong," Libbrecht said. "People have found [the spires] difficult to hike through."

—Jane J. Lee

Published January 25, 2013

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WH, Senators to Begin Push on Immigration Reform

The White House and a bipartisan group of senators next week plan to begin their efforts to push for comprehensive immigration reform.

President Barack Obama will make an announcement on immigration during a Tuesday trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, the White House said on Friday. The Senate group is expected make their plans public around the same time, the Associated Press reported.

See Also: Where Do Labor Unions Stand on Immigration?

For Obama, immigration reform is a campaign promise that has remained unfulfilled from his first White House run in 2008. During his 2012 re-election campaign, the president vowed to renew his effort to overhaul the nation's immigration system. It has long been expected that Obama would roll out his plans shortly after his inauguration.

The president's trip to Las Vegas is designed "to redouble the administration's efforts to work with Congress to fix the broken immigration system this year," the White House said.

Ever since November's election, in which Latino voters turned out in record numbers, Republicans and Democrats have expressed a desire to work on immigration reform. Obama has long supported a bill that would make many of the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants without criminal records eligible to apply for an earned pathway to citizenship, which includes paying fines and learning English.

Charles Dharapak/AP Photo

But the debate over a pathway to citizenship is expected to be contentious. Other flashpoints in an immigration reform push could include a guest-worker program, workplace enforcement efforts, border security, and immigration backlogs.

In a statement, the White House said that "any legislation must include a path to earned citizenship."

Ahead of his immigration push next week, Obama met today with a group of lawmakers from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), including chairman Rubén Hinojosa (D-Texas) , Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), and CHC Immigration Task Force Chair Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), the latter's office said. CHC members are expected to play a pivotal role in the debate.

"The president is the quarterback and he will direct the team, call the play, and be pivotal if we succeed. I am very optimistic based on conversations with Republicans in the House and Senate that we will do more than just talk about the immigration issue this year," Gutierrez said in a statement following the CHC meeting with Obama. "The president putting his full weight and attention behind getting a bill signed into law is tremendously helpful. We need the president and the American people all putting pressure on the Congress to act because nothing happens in the Capitol without people pushing from the outside."

A bipartisan group of eight senators, which includes Menendez, has also begun talks on drafting an immigration bill and will play an integral part in the process of passing a bill through Congress. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has been participating in talks with others senators, has also unveiled his own outline for an immigration proposal.

The group of senators have reportedly eyed Friday as the date when they'll unveil their separate proposal, according to the Washington Post.

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OPM plans to shake up charity program raise concerns about reduced donations

The Office of Personnel Management wants to shake up the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the charitable-giving system for federal employees, but in the process the agency could risk losing donors and reducing contributions.

One rule under review by the Obama administration would “eliminate the use of cash, check and money order contributions. Instead, all donations will be required to be made through electronic means.”

This could “streamline the operations,” as proposed rules from OPM suggest, but whether it also would “increase the effectiveness of the program to ensure its continued growth and success” is questionable.

The reason: In 2011, the last year for which OPM data are available, just 22 percent of the money pledged was donated electronically. Moreover, 88.4 percent of the donors did not make electronic contributions.

So, a move to electronic-only donations would seem to put CFC at risk of losing a majority of its donors. The proposal worries executives of some charitable organizations, even as they welcome other sections of the plan.

Federal employees contribute through the CFC to various charities. Donations exceeded $272 million in 2011. That’s a lot of money, but it represents a drop of almost $10 million from 2009, the high point.

An OPM spokeswoman said the agency does not comment on rules under review. In the 53-page document that contains the proposed regulations, however, OPM Director John Berry wrote:

“These proposed changes will introduce efficiencies and cost savings into the CFC by leveraging technology that was not widely available just a few years ago. They will make the CFC more efficient, more transparent, more accountable and more relevant to Federal, Postal and military service personnel who want to make the biggest impact with their donations.”

Scott Jackson, chief executive of Global Impact, said electronic giving can save $14 a pledge, by reducing processing costs.

“That’s very, very powerful,” he added. How the change to electronic-only contributions might effect donations presents “important issues to work through,” he said. Global Impact administers the overseas campaign of the CFC.

Those issues leave Stephen M. Delfin “highly concerned.” He is president and chief executive of America’s Charities, a group that works with CFC organizations. Delfin said he is worried that the rules, previously reported by the Federal Times, could result in lower donations.

“You have to be careful,” he said. “Technology is not a panacea.”

Marshall Strauss, chief executive of the Workplace Giving Alliance, a consortium of CFC federations, agreed. Although he thinks “electronic donations are an excellent addition to the campaign,” he said he worries that relying solely on that “may dramatically reduce the number of people giving and the overall receipts of the campaign. Many thousands of people prefer to give by check or even cash, and we would hope the government would preserve these options.”

In addition to electronic-only giving, Delfin and others have concerns about a proposal to eliminate 184 local CFC committees in favor of fewer and larger regional panels.

This would require “a reduced number of Federal personnel for oversight purposes,” according to the plan.

But it also would diminish the sense of community that charitable leaders say is crucial in motivating individuals to give.

Dumping the local committees will shrink the “person-to-person feeling of the campaign, which is very, very important,” said Kalman Stein, president and CEO of EarthShare, which was recently selected to administer the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area.

Stein said that he doesn’t think OPM understands “how critical that local component is” and that he is “very concerned the campaign will decline precipitously” if the Local Federal Coordinating Committees are eliminated.

“Our history shows that more consolidation leads to less donations,” said Stein, who, along with Strauss, was a member of the CFC-50 Commission. The commission, formed in 2011 to mark CFC’s 50th anniversary, issued a report last year. A number of its recommendations were incorporated into OPM’s proposals.

But Stein said consolidating the local committees into regional ones would go “way beyond the commission’s recommendations.”

The commission said its 24 recommendations were designed to further encourage a “history of giving” by federal employees, who have “set the standard for workplace giving to charitable organizations.”

But the recent decrease in donations “is a cause for concern,” the report said.

Now there is concern that parts of the OPM plan could make the situation worse.

Previous columns by Joe Davidson are available at wapo.st/JoeDavidson.

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Xi Jinping given Japan PM's letter amid islands row

BEIJING: An envoy from Tokyo handed Chinese leader Xi Jinping a personal letter from new Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday, in a meeting aimed at smoothing relations amid a bitter territorial row.

Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of the New Komeito party, the junior partner in Japan's ruling coalition, is the most senior Japanese parliamentarian to visit China since the long-running row over disputed islands intensified last September.

At the Great Hall of the People in Beijing both sides expressed appreciation for the trip before beginning private talks, and it was not revealed what the letter said.

"Mr Yamaguchi visits China at a period in which Sino-Japanese relations face a special situation. We attach great importance to your visit," said Xi, the head of China's ruling Communist party and the country's president-to-be.

Yamaguchi said he was "incomparably happy" about the meeting.

While he has no official role in the Tokyo government headed by the hawkish Abe, the occasion was a rare positive step as the territorial dispute weighs heavily on relations between the two Asian giants.

Beijing has repeatedly sent ships to waters near the islands since Japan nationalised part of the chain in September, a move that triggered a diplomatic dispute and huge anti-Japan demonstrations across China.

China has also sent air patrols near the Tokyo-controlled islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan but claimed by Beijing as the Diaoyus. The chain could sit atop vast mineral reserves, it is believed.

Earlier this week, Yamaguchi said he hoped to improve ties but that Tokyo had no plans to compromise over the islands.

"I would like to make a step toward opening the door to normalising our relations," he told reporters before his departure.

Regarding the islands, he said: "Our stance is that no territorial problem exists. That's a shared recognition among the government and coalition."

- AFP/fa

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Won't get fair treatment in BJP without Yeddyurappa: Shobha Karandlaje

BANGALORE: Even as chief minister Jagadish Shettar delays acceptance of her resignation letter from the ministry - purportedly to arm-twist the BJP rebels - Shobha Karandlaje wants to get done with the party at the earliest. In an interview to TOI, Shobha claims she can experiment with her political career by leaving a national party like the BJP.

Why did you quit the BJP and RSS, which helped you become what you are today?
With former CM B S Yeddyurappa leaving the BJP, who could I trust and bank upon for my political future? This is the question I posed to BJP seniors. As a minister for the past four-and-a-half years, nobody encouraged or supported me other than Yeddyurappa. So whom do I trust in the BJP? The party adopted one rule for Yeddyurappa and another for others, hatched conspiracies against him and were successful.

Will I get a fair treatment now without him in the BJP?

Is there no one in the BJP, who will encourage you?
Besides Yeddyurappa, BJP leader Arun Jaitley stood by me when I was dropped from the cabinet to placate the Reddy brothers in 2009. Jaitley was concerned that I should be reinducted into the cabinet after things became better. Sushma Swaraj was also helpful, but after a time withdrew.

What future do you see for yourself in the KJP vis-vis a national party like BJP, which would have given you a wide political canvass?
Political parties needn't always be governing. I am a person who needs freedom to work and I will get this in KJP. A regional party is inevitable to amplify the issues pertaining to Karnataka. In New Delhi, only the voices of J Jayalalithaa, Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar or Biju Patnaik are heard, only because they are strong regional parties. National parties in Karnataka have been taken for granted.

There is apprehension among those wanting to join the KJP that you will call the shots. Recently, Kannada actor Madan Patel quit, accusing you of denying him assembly ticket from Malavalli.
I have not joined the KJP formally. But how many times has Patel visited Malavalli? The ticket has been given to a local candidate Muniraju, who has been nurturing the constituency for the past four years and quit the BJP to join KJP. What's wrong in that? I am least bothered by such talk.

There was a similar complaint against you of interfering in other departments while in the cabinet?
Let those who speak of my interference cite one example of my seeking favours regarding transfers or for issuing tenders. If questions cannot be asked why should there be a cabinet meeting? The CM can call each department's minister and hold discussions. If one wants to get to the truth, such questions are seen as interference. I am not going to break my head on that.

Would you reconsider returning to BJP, if space and trust is ensured to you?
Where are the leaders in the BJP to call me? The party has got fragmented.

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Deformed Dolphin Accepted Into New Family

In 2011, behavioral ecologists Alexander Wilson and Jens Krause of the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Germany were surprised to discover that a group of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus)—animals not usually known for forging bonds with other species—had taken in an adult bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).

The researchers observed the group in the ocean surrounding the Azores (map)—about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) off the coast of Lisbon, Portugal—for eight days as the dolphin traveled, foraged, and played with both the adult whales and their calves. When the dolphin rubbed its body against the whales, they would sometimes return the gesture.

Among terrestrial animals, cross-species interactions are not uncommon. These mostly temporary alliances are forged for foraging benefits and protection against predators, said Wilson.

They could also be satisfying a desire for the company of other animals, added marine biologist John Francis, vice president for research, conservation, and exploration at the National Geographic Society (the Society owns National Geographic News).

Photographs of dogs nursing tiger cubs, stories of a signing gorilla adopting a pet cat, and videos of a leopard caring for a baby baboon have long circulated the Web and caught national attention.

A Rare Alliance

And although dolphins are known for being sociable animals, Wilson called the alliance between sperm whale and bottlenose dolphin rare, as it has never, to his knowledge, been witnessed before.

This association may have started with something called bow riding, a common behavior among dolphins during which they ride the pressure waves generated by the bow of a ship or, in this case, whales, suggested Francis.

"Hanging around slower creatures to catch a ride might have been the first advantage [of such behavior]," he said, adding that this may have also started out as simply a playful encounter.

Wilson suggested that the dolphin's peculiar spinal shape made it more likely to initiate an interaction with the large and slow-moving whales. "Perhaps it could not keep up with or was picked on by other members of its dolphin group," he said in an email.

Default

But the "million-dollar question," as Wilson puts it, is why the whales accepted the lone dolphin. Among several theories presented in an upcoming paper in Aquatic Mammals describing the scientists' observations, they propose that the dolphin may have been regarded as nonthreatening and that it was accepted by default because of the way adult sperm whales "babysit" their calves.

Sperm whales alternate their dives between group members, always leaving one adult near the surface to watch the juveniles. "What is likely is that the presence of the calves—which cannot dive very deep or for very long—allowed the dolphin to maintain contact with the group," Wilson said.

Wilson doesn't believe the dolphin approached the sperm whales for help in protecting itself from predators, since there aren't many dolphin predators in the waters surrounding the Azores.

But Francis was not so quick to discount the idea. "I don't buy that there is no predator in the lifelong experience of the whales and dolphins frequenting the Azores," he said.

He suggested that it could be just as possible that the sperm whales accepted the dolphin for added protection against their own predators, like the killer whale (Orcinus orca), while traveling. "They see killer whales off the Azores, and while they may not be around regularly, it does not take a lot of encounters to make [other] whales defensive," he said.

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