Reuben Charles
Dear Charlestonians:
Shortly after the September 14 primary, Reuben O. Charles II was
named the Director of Operations of the Gray for Mayor campaign,
replacing Adam Rubinson, who had served as the campaign’s manager for
the primary race. Charles, a Guyanese native, has lived in Washington
since 2007. He met Chairman Gray in the spring of this year, and he
impressed Gray and his campaign officials with his fundraising skills.
In recent weeks, Charles has told reporters that he will be the Chief of
Staff to the mayor in a Gray administration. Charles’ meteoric
ascendance and sudden prominence has shocked many Gray supporters and
raised concerns among campaign workers, who have had questions about
Charles’ professional background, campaign experience, and knowledge
of the District. These concerns were heightened when Alan Suderman wrote
two articles about Charles on the City Paper web site, in the
first of which Adam Rubinson indicated that “he never vetted Charles
beyond a cursory Google search.” When Dorothy asked questions about
Charles to two members of Gray’s finance committee, they issued a
formal challenge to her to look into Charles’ background for herself.
One of the first things that she learned was that Charles is not a
registered voter in the District of Columbia, although he claims that he
has resided in DC since 2007. He is also not a member of the DC Bar or
the Missouri Bar, although he graduated from Washington University Law
School in St. Louis. An explanation for Charles’ not registering to
vote is that he is not a United States citizen. Although he moved to the
United States when he was fifteen years old and is now forty-one,
although he became a permanent US resident in 2000, he has not become a
naturalized citizen. Traci Hughes, Gray’s campaign press secretary,
relayed to Dorothy Charles’ statement that he was a naturalized
citizen, but then Hughes read Charles’ resume, which said that he is
“awaiting appointment for citizenship interview.”
Prior to joining the Gray campaign, Charles worked as a contractor
who performed work for several District agencies, including the
Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and the DC Public Library,
and also for WMATA. At the same time, however, he was the president of
ISA White Collar Prison Consultants, a firm in Washington that describes
itself as a “boutique practice group of premier prison, sentencing and
business consultants.” It specializes in advising white collar
criminals about imprisonment and in managing their business and personal
affairs while they are imprisoned, and it claims to have special
expertise because some of its principals “have served time in prison
for white-collar offenses.” It is unclear whether ISA Consultants is
still operating; its main web site is no longer live and two other web
sites run by it are only two pages each, with no staff or officer names,
no E-mail address or street address for its office, and an 800 telephone
number that only rings to a fax machine. Some of Charles’ initial
partners in ISA were also his business associates in St. Louis, where he
was the managing partner of Civic Ventures Investment Fund, which was
funded by the Small Business Administration and large companies based in
St. Louis (including Anheuser-Busch, Ameren, Edward Jones, and Monsanto)
before several of its loans collapsed, Civic Ventures was itself placed
in receivership, and investors in Civic Ventures lost millions of
dollars. Between the closing of Civic Ventures and Charles’ moving to
DC, Charles was subject to several lawsuits regarding other business
ventures, leaving him owing tens and perhaps hundreds of thousands of
dollars.
This week, Chairman Gray announced that he was not going to accept
District government funds to support the transition to his becoming
mayor. Instead, he will form a 501(c)(4) organization and raise private
funds to support the transition. There is no reporting requirement for
this funding, and no limit to how large a contribution can be, although
Gray has said that he will voluntarily report contributions and place a
limit on them. The person who has been named to do the fundraising for
the transition is Reuben Charles.
What does this issue say about Gray and his campaign? It raises
concerns that go beyond Charles. Neither Gray nor his campaign vetted
Charles’ background adequately. It seems evident that Charles was not
forthcoming about his problems, and that even after many troubling
matters were raised about him, the Gray campaign continued to support
him and to dismiss the legitimate questions that people were asking. We
can only hope that Gray and his advisers and staff will do a better job
of vetting potential appointees to government positions.
A list of links appears below in themail.
Gary Imhoff, themail@dcwatch.com
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
###############
Unresolved Problems at the BOEE
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
On Monday, October 18, the early voting center at 441 4th Street (One
Judiciary Square) opened its doors at 8:30 a.m. So that District
residents could cast their early votes in the November 2 general
election. However, because the four touch screen voting machines would
not turn on properly, all votes had to cast paper ballots. Line soon
developed because there are 286 ANC commission seats on the November
ballot and, as a result, there are 286 different paper ballots. Ballot
clerks had to dispatch other pollworkers to a room behind the old
Council chamber to find the correct ANC ballot that corresponded to the
voters’ addresses.
At 9:00 a.m., when I asked Rokey Suleman, the Executive Director of
the Board of Elections (BOEE), how the problem was going to be resolved,
I was told that he and his IT staff were waiting for the machines’
manufacturer, iVotronic, based in Omaha, to open for business and work
on a solution. Especially troubling was the fact that the BOEE claimed
it has tested the machines prior to the opening of the polling site on
Monday. Moreover, the same problem with the machines had occurred at
numerous polling sites across the District on September 14.
The first vote on the touchscreens was cast at 1:00 p.m. on Monday
afternoon.
###############
I recommend reading Richard Cohen’s October 19 Washington Post
column “When Thoughts Become A Crime,” [http://tinyurl.com/3xsbp5h].
Cohen contends that “[a]lmost as bad as hate crimes themselves is the
designation. It is a little piece of totalitarian nonsense, a way for
prosecutors to punish miscreants for their thoughts or speech, both of
which used to be protected by the Constitution.” He goes on to say:
“[I]t is not the criminal act alone that matters anymore but the
belief that might have triggered this act.” He then states that “hate-crime
laws arm the overly ambitious among [prosecutors] with permission to
seek punishment for unpopular and often dreadful political views — or
thought.” He notes that “[t]he upshot combines Orwell with Kafka.”
I concur.
###############
Tim Day Requests DC OAG and OIG to Investigate
“HarryGate”
Paul D. Craney, paul@dcgop.com
Tim Day, Republican candidate for Ward 5 DC Council, sent a letter to
DC Attorney General Peter Nickles and DC Inspector General Charles J.
Willoughby today requesting an investigation of the various nonprofits
that Councilmember Harry Thomas has recently been criticized for running
without an IRS tax deduction and a business license that was twice
revoked from the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.
“Mr. Thomas is busy campaigning in Georgetown and Tenlytown for a
special election; meanwhile his Ward 5 constituents are learning of his
various slush funds that are completely unethical and possibly unlawful,”
stated Tim Day. “I hope that the Attorney General and the Inspector
General can shed some light into what is appearing to be a large
conflict of interest,” concluded Day.
###############
Trash, Recycling Services Suspended October 21
Nancee Lyons, nancee.lyons@dc.gov
The DC Department of Public Works will suspend trash, recycling, and
bulk collection on Thursday, October 21, to allow sanitation staff to
attend funeral services for Larry Hutchins, a 24-year DPW employee who
was shot and killed while preparing for duty on Wednesday, October 13.
All Thursday trash and recycling collections, including once-a-week
collections, will slide to Friday, and Friday’s collection will be
picked up on Saturday. Any bulk collections scheduled for Thursday will
be rescheduled and those residents will be notified accordingly.
“DPW is mourning the loss of a cherished employee,” said DPW
Director William O. Howland, Jr. “Our solid waste employees will join
the rest of the DPW family to pay their respects to Mr. Hutchins and his
family on Thursday. I want to thank everyone — Mayor Adrian Fenty, the
Council of the District of Columbia, the residents we serve, the media
and our fellow colleagues — for their support during this time and
patience during the brief interruption of these services.”
###############
True History
Malcolm L Wiseman, Jr., mal@wiseman.ws
Mr. Imhoff is entirely correct regarding efforts to create the
elected office of DC Attorney General. The movement has nothing whatever
to do with Fenty, Nickles, et al., but everything to do with
building statehood-like structures into our self-government.
We should continue without letup to construct and reform ourselves
until we have all the properties of a state. This would include among
others the expansion of the DC council into a larger legislative body
and the evolution of a more evenly divided two or more party system.
By the way, I don’t think the folks at the Post are dumb.
They are businessmen. They want us to stay right where we are while they
profit by it. They are, as many business interests here in the colony, a
major impediment on our road to equality. Press on, DC statehood
activists. There’s a lot of work to do!
###############
Yes to Elected Attorney General
Lars Hydle, larshhydle@aol.com
I’m with Gary on this [themail, October 17]. The current DC law on
the attorney general is not clear on whether he/she should be an
independent person or a tool of the mayor, but an elected attorney
general would be inherently more independent of the mayor and council
than an appointed one, and that would be a good thing.
My only problem with the bill is that it requires that the attorney
general be elected on a partisan basis, like the mayor and council but
unlike the school board and Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners. That
means that the election for the attorney general would effectively be
elected by Democrats only, in their primary, rather than by all voters,
in the November general election. Moreover, the Hatch Act, to which DC
is currently subject, would severely limit the pool from which
candidates could be drawn, by excluding DC lawyers who work for the
federal government.
###############
Elected Attorney General
Dave Mallof, mallof@verizon.net
I testified on the Ides of March 2007 at Linda Singer’s
confirmation hearing as Attorney General that an elected Attorney
General was needed. Reason: even before she was installed in January as
Mr. Fenty’s choice on a temporary basis, she initiated firings in
November and December 2006 without any authority. If you review the
video at http://oct.dc.gov/services/on_demand_video/channel13/March2007/03_15_07_JUDICI_1.asx,
go to hourmark 1:02:00.
You can see that Mr. Mendelson was both a bit confused initially and
then intrigued. I like to think I planted the most recent seed in his
mind. Ms. Singer could not believe I was there arguing to elect her
position before she was even confirmed. She was afterwards, well, ice
when we shook hands. As my Dad used to say, the truth hurts.
###############
Severance Pay in themail
Michael Bindner, mikeybdc@yahoo.com
Appointed officials always receive severance. Giving it to Rhee or
Barnett is not unusual. All of Barry’s appointees received severance
in 1999 when we left office — with clawback provisions if we were
appointed by Tony Williams or found a job in DC government (most weren’t
and did not). It is not an unusual practice — what is unusual is the
growth in executive salaries, which is endemic and reflects the growth
in the private sector under the mistaken belief that executives that
command high salaries are somehow better managers. What would be better
is more promotion within for less money. That is as true in DC
government as it is for Fiat/Chrysler - especially since high executive
salaries lead to lower worker salaries and more indebtedness by lower
level workers to maintain any kind of standard of living.
###############
Comment on the 10/17
Outlook article by Mayor Fenty and Chancellor Rhee
Erich Martel, ehmartel at starpower dot net
The recent article by Mayor Adrian Fenty and Chancellor Michelle Rhee
[http://tinyurl.com/27yv99e]
and last week’s “Manifesto: How to Fix Our Schools” [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/07/AR2010100705078.html]
and almost all that has been written or publicly spoken by them and
their supporters talk of “education reform,” but beyond the
incessant, bipolar idealization-demonization of teachers, there is
hardly any description of the policies and practices of their reforms.
True reform must eliminate obstacles and replace them with policies and
practices that allow teachers to maximize effectiveness.
Where can one find a rational description and discussion about the
core elements of successful teaching and learning that go beyond
abstract descriptions of “quality teachers,” providing “an
excellent education,” “transformative changes needed to truly
prepare our kids for the 21st-century global economy,” “financial
incentives to attract and retain the best teachers,” etc.?
When the Manifesto finally, albeit rhetorically, describes a real
problem, reading deficiencies, the solution it offers is more technology
rather than offering the public solid answers from educational research:
“Even the best teachers — those who possess such skills — face
stiff challenges in meeting the diverse needs of their students. A
single elementary- or middle-school classroom can contain, for instance,
students who read on two or three different grade levels, and that range
grows even wider as students move into high school. Is it reasonable to
expect a teacher to address all the needs of 25 or 30 students when some
are reading on a fourth-grade level and others are ready for Tolstoy?”
The non-answer that sixteen highly paid educational leaders of major
school districts is stunning in its detachment from reality and
educational research: “We must equip educators with the best
technology available to make instruction more effective and efficient.
By better using technology to collect data on student learning and shape
individualized instruction, we can help transform our classrooms and
lessen the burden on teachers’ time.”
How is this an answer to the problem described as well as those not
mentioned? In fact, where is there any discussion of the strategies that
“a quality” teacher should come to our schools already trained and
equipped to teach reading and arithmetic or the quality of textbooks and
“learning programs” that teachers are required to use that, in many
cases, are more of an obstacle than a tool? Can any of these leaders
explain their views on key educational issues, such as: 1) reading
instruction: the importance of explicitly teaching sound to letter
correspondence; 2) the pros and cons of math textbooks that are filled
with distracting pictures; 3) how to develop quick recall and
automaticity and how early use of calculators undermines this process in
arithmetic/math (and why students in countries like Singapore, Korea,
China cannot use them until the middle or upper grades; 4) the
importance of teaching core knowledge in actual content areas in the
earliest grades; why middle and high schools are on 4x4 and block
schedules with ninety-minute periods — a class length well beyond
adolescent attention spans; the educational research that validates
policies as “teaching to multiple learning styles,” “multiple
intelligences,” “brain-based learning,” “differentiated
instruction,” heterogeneous versus homogeneous grouping,” requiring
teachers to teach students in groups, etc.; 5) how they hold their
principals accountable for adhering to legal and contractual mandates;
6) why principals who are unable to maintain safe and orderly buildings
and may have never taught in a classroom have the authority to evaluate
teachers — or why they are called “instructional leaders” when
they are not required to give model demonstration lessons.
The Manifesto also argues: “To make this transformation work, we
must also eliminate arcane rules such as “seat time,” which requires
a student to spend a specific amount of time in a classroom with a
teacher rather than taking advantage of online lessons and other
programs.” This is in line with the claim by Fenty and Rhee that “More
students are graduating and ready to attend college. . . .” More
students are graduating, because Rhee has dramatically expanded summer
school programs and instituted credit recovery programs at almost all
high schools to enable students to get credit for courses without
meeting the mandated courses standards. [See Erich Martel, “A for
effort shouldn’t count: Just say no to credit recovery,” in the
Fordham Institute, “Education Gadfly” weekly e-journal, http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/index.cfm?issue=599#a6419]
The American Institutes of Research recently reported that
approximately 30 percent of the students who go start college do not
return for the second year. The percentage for DCPS is easily twice as
great, since well over half of DCPS graduates needed easy summer school
or credit recovery classes to graduate.
###############
One of the problems I have with reading the Post or reading
comments in themail is that the perspectives expressed are often so
narrow, as people seem to only be able to grasp the moment, and their
moment in time, and have an inability to see into the future and future
possibilities, even if the future is defined as the day after today (“tomorrow”).
Bicycle sharing is about changing mobility paradigms generally, and
there are many issues raised in terms of its viability in DC or
elsewhere. One problem is that the industry is so new, and information
is proprietary for the most part, so there is a paucity of data and
experience from which to learn and make generalizations. I won’t go
into many details about it, because I am now involved in that business
myself, and I’d hate to disclose my scintillating analyses to
competitors.
Still, the problem with Bryce Suderow’s recounting of Jim Myers’
E-mail [themail, October 17] is that Myers (and the McGill research)
only tells an itty bit piece of the story of bike sharing in Montreal
and the nature of sustainable mobility in that city, doesn’t discuss
the fact that the City of Montreal has triple the population of DC, and
at the core of the city, arguably Montreal has a greater density of
transit stations and the service is more frequent (although the cars are
smaller). Montreal definitely has a much denser population in the
close-in boroughs (Ville Marie, Plateau-Mont Royal) than does DC. Plus,
Montreal has a phenomenal system of cycletracks (dedicated lanes for
bicyclists, in the right of way but separated from traffic, that makes
riding much more comfortable for children, women, and seniors, which isn’t
the case in most other North American cities, where most bicyclists are
expected to ride in traffic. On the contrary, “vehicular cyclists”
in the US tend to be men, white (with the exception of low income
cyclists such as Hispanics), and younger. Cycletracks make biking
comfortable for all demographic segments.
Furthermore, you have to look at the nature of trip behavior
generally. Biking’s effectiveness as a means to effect mode shift is
best for trips of three miles or less (51 percent of US household trips
are three miles or shorter). So, by definition, in the short and
intermediate term, bikesharing is not likely to have impact on trips
beyond that distance, at least not for what we might call everyday
bicyclists. But so what? Even small changes in the number of people
driving or taking transit — especially when, during rush periods,
riding the subway system is often inconvenient — can make getting
around more convenient and comfortable because of congestion reduction
by diverting trips to other modes.
Once bikesharing is paired with the right kind of bicycle
infrastructure, especially cycletracks and bicycle boulevards (streets
prioritized for neighborhood traffic prioritizing bicycling), the right
kind of short term and long term parking support, and the right kind of
support for commuters (parking, lockers, and changing facilities,
showers), biking can become a significant piece of the overall mobility
paradigm and infrastructure. Right now though, few people take biking
seriously, as they can’t fathom getting around without being tethered
to a car. That’s fine, because people who understand social change and
social movements recognize that it is a multi-decade process that takes
an appreciation of a time frame much longer than a week, a month, or
even a year or two. (E.g., with regard to the bike sharing
research in Montreal, 2010 is only the second year the system has been
in operation.)
And when Bryce Suderow or Jim Myers want to start writing about how
the residential parking permit system underprices the value of street
parking spaces to the tune of $2,000 or more each year, which is a
massive subsidy of automobility, then maybe I’ll start paying
attention to what they write about biking and other sustainable
transportation modalities.
###############
St. Louis Post Dispatch: “Ex-St. Louis Promoter Reuben Charles
a Big Player in DC Politics,” http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/article_4f2cefb6-d225-11df-9b96-0017a4a78c22.html
“Disbarred Attorney Charles E. Polk Jr. Resurfaces After Spending
Time in Prison,” http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/columns/deb-peterson/article_e1dbe37e-1202-5be6-aa82-f6997b6b03c6.html
Washington City Paper: “Who Is Reuben Charles?”, http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/looselips/2010/09/29/meet-reuben-charles/
“The Two Degrees of Separation Between Vince Gray and John Ashcroft,”
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/looselips/2010/10/01/the-two-degrees-of-separation-betweenvince-gray-and-john-ashcroft/
“Giving Money Has Never Been Easier,” http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/looselips/2010/10/19/giving-money-has-never-been-easier/
Articles about ISA: Press release, “Washington, DC Feb 6, 2010 —
ISA White Collar Prison Consultants, New Services Announced,” http://prlog.org/10518245-washdc-feb-6-2010-isa-white-collar-prison-consultants-new-services-announced.html
Press release, “Former Ashcroft Advisor Charles Polk Joins
Washington DC Prison Consulting Firm,” http://www.newszone.us/legal-law/attorneys/42955-Former-Ashcroft-Advisor-Charles-Polk-Joins-Washington-DC-Prison-Consulting-Firm.html
http://prisonconsultants.biz
http://alternativesentencing.biz
http://www.isawhitecollarprisonconsultants.com
(no longer active)
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Third Health Reform Implementation Committee
Public Meeting, October 25
Michelle Phipps-Evans, michelle.phipps-evans@dc.gov
Please join the members of the Health Reform Implementation Committee
at the third monthly public meeting to offer comment or to ask questions
about the implementation of the federal health care reform law in the
District of Columbia. Everyone is welcome. At the meeting, the committee
will provide updates on implementation and accomplishments to date since
the last HRIC meeting.
Join the committee on Monday, October 25, from 6:30-8:30 p.m., in the
Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, Room A-5, 901 G Street, NW,
Lower Level). Please RSVP by calling Public Affairs Specialist Lucy
Drafton-Lowery at 442-7775 or E-mailing lucy.drafton-lowery@dc.gov.
Attendees are invited to submit questions in advance by E-mailing suggest.disb@dc.gov
by October 21. If you require accommodations to fully participate in
this event, please inform Lucy Drafton-Lowery 442-7775 or lucy.drafton-lowery@dc.gov.
###############
National Building Museum Events, October 25-26
Johanna Weber, jweber@nbm.org
At the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary Square
Metro station. Register for events at http://www.nbm.org.
October 25, 12:30-1:30 p.m., Creating Great Places: A Vision for
Washington, DC’s Center City Public Realm. Urban planner Cy Paumier
presents specific proposals for improving the twelve most important
public spaces in Washington, DC’s center city. Free; registration
required. Walk-in registration based on availability.
October 25, 6:30-8:00 p.m., 21st Century World’s Fairs. Robert
Rydell, professor of history at Montana State University, and Paul
Greenhalgh, director of the Sainsbury Center of the Visual Arts,
consider the legacy and relevancy of world’s fairs, and the
significant impact of Expo 2010 in Shanghai. $12 for members and
students; $20 for nonmembers. Prepaid registration required. Walk-in
registration based on availability.
October 26, 12:30-2:00 p.m., Community in the Aftermath. The
Alternative Housing Pilot Program: Post-Disaster Housing Solutions. Joel
Pirrone, FEMA, outlines the Joint Housing Solutions Group, which
evaluates housing vendors for use in future disasters. Cynthia Barton,
New York City Office of Emergency Management, presents disaster housing
options for urban environments. Free; registration required. Walk-in
registration based on availability.
###############
Justice Brennan’s Career and Contradictions
Explored in New Book, October 27
George Williams; George.Williams2@dc.gov
Author Seth Stern will discuss Supreme Court Justice William Brennan’s
personal and professional contradictions in the book he co-wrote, Justice
Brennan: Liberal Champion, on Wednesday, October 27, at 7:00 p.m. at
the Northeast Neighborhood Library. Justice Brennan makes public
for the first time Brennan’s case histories, which include the
strategizing behind Roe v. Wade, affirmative action, the death
penalty, obscenity law, and the constitutional right to privacy. Stern
will compare Brennan’s personal life to his judicial positions, like
being Catholic and supporting abortion. The Northeast Neighborhood
Library is located at 330 7th Street, NE. To register early, visit http://bit.ly/cg8RZ0.
For more information, please call 698-3320. The lecture is sponsored by
the Friends of the Northeast Neighborhood Library.
###############
With God on Our Side, October 27
Ann Loikow, aloikow@verizon.net
On Wednesday, October 27, at 7:00 p.m. at The Lutheran Church of the
Reformation, 212 East Capitol Street, NE (Capitol Hill), there will be a
free showing of the film With God on Our Side, which is about Christian
Zionism. The film’s director, Porter Speakman, and Rev. Stephen Sizer,
author of Christian Zionism: Road-map to Armageddon?, will lead a
discussion after the film.
The showing is sponsored by The Lutheran Church of the Reformation;
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Capitol Hill; Episcopal Peace Fellowship
— DC; Middle East Concerns Committee of the National Capital
Presbytery; Middle East Working Group of the Metro DC Synod, Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America; Middle East Working Group of Grace
Presbyterian Church, Springfield, Virginia; St. Columba’s Episcopal
Church’s Peace Fellowship; Friends of Sabeel — DC Metro; and the
Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace (WIAMEP).
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — NOMINATE AWARDEES
Nominate Your Favorite History Maker for an
Award
Ingrid Drake, ingridnatasha@yahoo.com
During its annual opening gala for the Children’s Black History
Gallery in February, the DC-based nonprofit M.O.M.I.E.’s TLC
recognizes the heroes and sheroes in our community by making awards in
the honor of great Black history luminaries. For example, this past
February, Vivian Buckingham was given the Majora Carter Green Justice
Award, Jonathan Stith the Angela Davis Scholar Activist Award, and
Antoine Williams the Roberto Clemente Playing for the People Award.
This year, to celebrate MOMIE’s tenth anniversary year, we are
going to select a phenomenal group of 2011 award winners, and we are
seeking your nominations for people who have helped honor the legacy of
organizer and political strategist Dolores Huerta, visionary filmmaker
and teacher Haile Gerima, or civil rights and labor organizer A. Philip
Randolph.
By November 15, please E-mail ingridnatasha@yahoo.com
the name of the individual you would like to nominate, as well as a one
to four sentence explanation of how they have embodied the work or
spirit of either Dolores Huerta, Haile Gerima, or A. Philip Randolph.
###############
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