Gun control doesn't stop shooters

  (My Eastern New Mexico News column for December 16, 2020)

A couple of weeks ago I was in Lubbock for a while. Before heading home I stopped by a Lubbock Walmart so I could grab a few items without being herded like a cow through a chute. As it happens, I missed the fatal shooting there by moments. I was almost surely still in the parking lot when the tragic crime occurred.

Crimes-- real crimes against life, liberty, and property-- infuriate me. There is simply no excuse. There is also no excuse for enabling such crimes with ignorant policies which help the bad guys by putting the good people at a disadvantage.

What do I mean by this?.

I mean, once again, a place with a "No guns" sign by the door was the scene of a shooting. Will wonders never cease?

Very little makes me sicker than a "No guns" sign at a business. Bad guys will never obey such signs. You might as well roll out the red carpet for those set on murder. You've offered the rest of your customers to them on a silver platter with your compliments.

A "no guns" sign has never in the entire history of the world stopped a criminal from bringing in a gun and shooting someone if it's what he's set on doing.

If someone could be stopped by a sign, he could also be stopped by someone looking him in the eye and saying "No!" In fact, that would probably be more likely to work than a sign posted by the door. At least this is personal and he knows he has been noticed and called out for his behavior.

Instead, those signs, and those who enforce them, only keep out the people who are prepared to defend the employees and customers from such criminals.

It's the polar opposite of being helpful. It's a cheap political stance-- political theater-- prioritizing feelings over reality in the name of imaginary safety.

I never want someone intent on harm to be able to pull out a gun, a knife, a stick, or a fist without being stopped cold where he stands. Not even once. Some might believe that's a little harsh, but he made a choice. When police get in the way of this result, they've done more harm than good.

I don't support criminals or those who side with them by making up or enforcing victim disarmament rules. As if there's a difference.

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Holding your tongue at the gun counter

A couple of days ago I was at the gun counter in a national sporting goods chain. A customer told the counter guy he was just looking, but then commented that he noticed that they seemed to have sold a lot of scopes in the past week. Counter guy said, "We are selling a lot of everything!" He said people are even coming in to buy .22 long guns for home defense. I knew the reasons behind that.

Another counter guy and customer were talking, and I overheard that customer expressing his opinion that Trump had been the defender of liberty, and that Biden would basically be the end of America. 

I bit my tongue to stop myself from pointing out that while Biden is openly an anti-gun bigot with big plans for your guns, Trump was sneakier about it. He pretended to be on your side while violating your rights the first opportunity he got. Trump is no friend of gun owners; unfortunately, Biden-- with the help of a majority of anti-liberty congressvermin-- will probably be much worse.

But, yeah, I said nothing. I just stood there looking complacent and oblivious. It's the best I can do in such situations.

Long ago, I decided it is best to not comment on politics while in a gun store. Other than my favorite gun store back in Colorado, but that was different (...I believe).

During my time in Pennsylvania I had visited a gun store in my first couple of days there, and as I was leaving-- on foot-- it began to rain hard enough to drown frogs. Another customer who was also leaving noticed I was on foot and offered me a ride back to my motel. On the way, he warned me that the gun shop owner was a former cop and that many of its customers were current and former cops. He told me to watch what I said in there to avoid problems. (I hadn't said anything to anyone, so I was safe.) I thanked him for the warning.

You never know when there might be a snake in the grass. Yes, the popular (with cops) thug-rug haircut can be a dead giveaway but don't rely on it.

And anyone might be Stasi.

There's a time to speak up and a time to observe and collect data. Wisdom is knowing which time it is.

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Pride

It bothers me that the word "pride" is misused for things like the various sexualities. (I am told this makes me "-phobic"; another word misuse that annoys me.) 

"Pride" is for accomplishments. There is no accomplishment in being gay, straight, white, black, American, or anything else like that. Those are very dumb things to feel "pride" over.

To be clear, it would be just as dumb to be ashamed of those things.

However, there is another meaning of the word "pride" that actually could apply. A pride is a social group-- a family group-- of lions. A tribe.

In that case, "pride" fits perfectly.

There can be a gay pride, a white pride, a male pride, a liberty pride-- pride associated with any group which wants to express its identity. Every pride can have their own flag if they want. And many do

The Time's Up flag is my pride flag. Cops' pride flag is the Blue Line abomination. The US flag, Nazi flag, POW/MIA flag, Confederate flag, and all the other flags that express a tribal identity are pride flags.

So, even if that's not how they are using the word "pride", I'm going to give them the benefit of a doubt and pretend it is. Just because it's smarter.

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Want a laugh?

 Check out the updates on the most recent blog post for a laugh.

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USPS is failing me

Right after Christmas, I ordered a couple of items with Christmas money. And I'm still waiting for them to arrive. 

Both were sent United [sic] States Postal Service. Both have tracking numbers, but...

One apparently disappeared into the USPS system immediately after leaving the Denver distribution center, and the other has been criss-crossing the country, coast to coast, ever since it shipped. It got as close as Dallas twice, but then passed me by and ended up on the other side of the country again. Seriously, it doesn't stop going one direction until it bounces off the coastline, when it just changes direction like a very slow game of Pong. (Update: 1-15-2021-- It is back in Dallas again. Third time now. Where will it go next?)

Neither case seems to be the seller's fault in any way. 

In fact, one (Wazoo Survival Gear- not a paid link) was nice enough to ship out a replacement after I gave them a head's up that their package seems to have disappeared somewhere between Denver and here. I wasn't expecting them to do that, I just wanted to let them know there might be a problem. (Update: 1-15-2021-- The original shipment arrived today, and I immediately emailed to let them know and offer to pay for the replacement if it's too late to cancel it.)

So I don't blame the sellers. I blame the USPS.

Yes, I understand "Covid blah blah blah...". Delays, unprecedented volume, etc. But this isn't a delay, it is incompetence. Stuff is staying in the system far longer than necessary, taking up more of their employees' limited time. No real business could be this incompetent and stay in business. 

The local USPS employees are nice and helpful, but the USPS as a system is everything wrong with a big (semi)government bureaucracy. No real accountability being one big problem.

The holsters I have reviewed come from Slovakia and arrive faster, but they are shipped by a non-government business. And I got something else that was shipped through FedEx and it got here in 2 days. What a difference being a real business makes.

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"Unity"

The incoming Parasitic Political Figurehead (PPF)* spent a lot of breath after the recent selection ritual calling for "unity". (Funny, he didn't want "unity" before the ritual, only afterward.)

This was before the Expedition to Congress-- after which the mask slipped a bit with his people. Now they are frothing at the mouth to punish-- literally-- anyone who isn't "of The Body". 

They sure were quick to drop the "unity" mantra.

I'm OK with that.

I have no intention of uniting with him and his gang. Not a chance.

Why would I ever sink so low as to unite with those who believe it's OK to violate others-- to use the political means? I haven't done so in the past and I'm not about to start now. Unity with bad guys isn't anything to advocate or to be proud of. Nope. They are on their own.

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*PPF Uncle Joe Bad'un has clearly indicated he is planning to declare war on gun owners when he ascends to power, and his gang is positioned to waste no time in doing so. Hopefully, their absurd, pointless vendetta against Trump will distract them for a while to give us a little more time to prepare. But I'm not counting on it. So if I seem more hostile toward him than you believe is reasonable, that's why. He has set his sights on ME. (Although, I don't have to wait to be targeted personally to oppose legislation-- I oppose it all automatically.)

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You can always try to make papyrus...

If you were in a small town a couple hundred years ago and wanted to get your message out, you could have letters published in the local paper.

If the paper decided it didn't want your message to get out, maybe because a powerful local politician didn't want your idea out in society so the paper got "influenced" and stopped publishing your letters, you could probably go to another paper-- hopefully, a paper owned by a different individual. Even if it were in the next town over, your message can still be read where it can make a difference. 

What happens if, in fact, all the papers available to you in a real-world sense are owned by the cronies of that powerful politician, or politicians who share his agenda? He doesn't want your message to get out, and his friends help him so to it that it doesn't. Not effectively, anyway.

If no one would publish you, you could start your own paper, even if you had to write each copy by hand. So you decide to print your own flyers. 

But no one will sell you paper for the same reason-- all the paper sellers are buddies with the political enemy. All the ink sellers, too. 

If you point out the problem, some people might say all those businesses have a right to refuse to do business with you. Even if it means your message goes unheard. After all, you have a right to speak and write; no one is obligated to let you do so using their medium. 

You could learn to make papyrus and ink, or start inscribing clay tablets. And your message's reach gets smaller and smaller.

And you can still stand in your living room and speak as freely as you want, 24 hours per day. (in that era, anyway, maybe not today.) Your words can neither help nor hurt anyone this way, but you can speak them.

You still have your freedom of speech... right?

Not really.

No, the local paper is not the government, but what if it were owned by the local politician's best friend? Or a political crony of some sort? Someone who isn't technically an agent of government but acts in that capacity anyway.

And, it's not "censorship" to stifle your freedom of speech as long as it's not being stifled by government through legislation. But that's who is stifling it, due to conflicts of interest. The politician doesn't want his buddies to allow you to have a platform, so they don't. Or, maybe the people who can keep your message hidden just have their own agenda that meshes nicely with that of the politician.

Others may claim you still have freedom of speech, and that you aren't being censored by government, but what's the reality of your situation?

About the same situation with regard to your freedom of speech as is going on today.

No, Twitter, Facebook, and Google are not "private businesses"-- they are corporations run by government-supremacist cronies of (almost exclusively) Left-Statist politicians, or who coincidentally share the same government-supremacist agenda with those political parasites. 

Even if they were "private businesses", it's not OK to violate people just because they accepted an invitation to your yard and you only violate them while they are there and because they are using your property.

I would never do that to someone, and I can't respect anyone who does.

Just because you aren't a "conservative", don't think you aren't going to be targeted. If you are anyone other than a w0ke Left-statist, you are in the crosshairs. Maybe you think by saying the correct, supportive things they'll eat you last. Maybe.

This isn't a good situation. It is dangerous to stifle speech, even if you can dishonestly, but with technical accuracy, claim it isn't censorship and that people still have freedom of speech, just not where it can make a difference. I hope those who are trying to stomp out free speech in this purge suffer the consequences. Hard.

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A little note on Section 230 or whatever. You know the thing...

I'm opposed to legislation. ALL legislation. As I understand it, that particular legislation protected social media platforms from being held accountable for what their users said-- as long as the platforms didn't edit those comments (becoming the publisher of said comments in the process). Once they started editing what their users said, the legislation no longer applied to them anyway because they had become, essentially, the writers, not just the platform.
I'm probably wrong about all of that, but it seems to me to be a moot point either way.

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Take back your own responsibility

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for December 9, 2020)

Like it or not, everyone has the responsibility to make their own decisions. If they decide to wear a mask because they believe it will keep them (or others) safe, they are free to do so. They are violating their responsibility when they threaten to use government violence to force others to wear a mask.

People have the responsibility to run their business without intentionally causing harm. Customers have the responsibility to choose which businesses to use. Anyone who dictates how other people's businesses must be run is violating their responsibility to not harm others.

Responsibility is hard, and it's uncomfortable for a lot of people. They'll listen to, and obey, politicians instead of doing what is responsible and right.

You are responsible for your body, your actions, and your property. Your main responsibility is to not violate the life, liberty, or property of any other person. Responsibility can be scary. It seems most people would rather shift their responsibility to government, and government would be happy to take it.

Except, you can't give your responsibilities to others. You can only pretend to do so. You are still responsible for anything done on your behalf.

Responsibility is power. You can decide whether to use this power or ignore it, but loaning your power to others isn't wise. When your power is used by others to harm people, the responsibility is still yours. Letting government borrow your responsibility is like loaning a gun to someone who has a history of robbing banks and admits he plans to do so again. It's unethical and irresponsible to loan your power to any such person or group of people.

If you abdicate your responsibility anyway, government will claim it. Then, they will pervert it. They will misuse your responsibility-- your power-- to violate the rights of others. When you consent to what is being done, the responsibility is on your shoulders. Stop consenting for your power to be used against others in harmful ways.

Take back your responsibility and hang on to it like the treasure it is.

Realistically, it isn't safe to take your power back from those who want it. They'll threaten and punish you. Your neighbors will probably stand against you. The brainwashing is strong, and after 12 or more years of indoctrination in government schools-- or government-friendly schools-- most people simply can't overcome it.

Do it anyway. It's the right thing.

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Want a Time's Up flag?

If you want a Time's Up flag of your very own, I am selling them on eBay.

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Hey, statism-- Time's Up!

In the past month or two-- basically since November 3rd's political ritual-- my Time's Up design has been getting a lot of attention again.

After the Expedition to Congress on January 6th, the attention ramped up even more.

I would like to pretend this means people are getting smart (or ethical) and rejecting politics, which is the main message of "Time's Up", but realistically I know it's probably mostly "conservatives" who are upset at the generally reported results of November 3rd's political ritual. If things had gone their way they wouldn't be noticing my design so much.

I never try to hide or water down the message. I'm glad for the sales of patches (I wish it would translate into sales of TeeSpring products, too) but it is not a statist design-- not for any faction of statism. The eBay listing says as much for all to read. And I never pretend otherwise. Not even for more sales. 

Statism is being shown for what it is for anyone to see if they look. It has been running on borrowed time. 

Time's Up for statism; for all forms of political government and those who support such a barbaric, uncivilized, antisocial abomination.

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Break it into millions of pieces

I think it's dangerous to allow Trump supporters to be treated the way they are being treated by almost everyone who isn't them.

Yes, they are wrong to support police, the Constitution, "borders", and statism in general (Trump isn't even their biggest flaw).

But the difference in how they are treated versus how the toxic statists of the other side [sic], who are just as wrong on just as many issues, are treated-- by "social" media platforms, the national mainstream media, and the dominant congressvermin-- is shocking. And it's purely because those entities opposing the "Right-statists" have sided with the "Left-statists". As if Biden isn't just as bad! They only care that he isn't Trump-- a stupid position to stake out.

I'm sick of it all.

It's long past time for multiple secession initiatives to get serious. There isn't "a United States". There's no longer even "these united States". It's over and done and people need to face it. It's not coming back. It's down to peaceful secession or violent breakups.

Yeah, I know all the arguments against it. I don't care.

Now, people may calm down after a while, and they may put on an act in public so they can keep pretending for a few more years. But the issue is going to fester under the surface from now on.

Interesting times are here, and they may well get even more interesting soon.

Are you prepared?

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On violence

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Violence isn't inherently wrong. Violence can be the right response to aggression. Violence can be the right response to threats to your life, liberty, and property. Violence can be the right response to archation. Violence is not the fundamental problem, archation is.

If you don't want violence, don't start it. Don't back your victims into a corner. Don't attack them or their property. Don't make them feel they are left with no choice; with nothing to lose.

If you are someone who makes a habit of violating others, and violence comes to your door, don't whine when it happens. You earned it good and hard.

Feel free to cower and snivel and posture, pretending you have the moral high ground, but you are the bad guy. That's right. You are the bad guy. I have no compassion for you whatsoever. Seeing you cower in fear under your chair makes me happy.

Yes, I know you'll retaliate in a way you believe keeps you separate from the violence. You'll send other bad guys to kill and die in your place. But I know what you are.

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I want great things to happen for you

A couple of days ago I shared how happy it makes me when others have good fortune, and one of my favorite "friend stories" is along those lines. I don't know how many times I asked him to tell me about it, just because it made me happy to hear.

A few years before I met him, he and his wife bought an old house. The previous owner had died and it had been on the market for a while. It needed a bit of cleaning and renovation, but they moved in and worked on it. 

Months later, they decided to replace the old rusted wood stove in the basement and as they were carrying it out, the firebricks fell out of place, revealing cash. There was $41,000 hidden behind the fire bricks inside the wood stove.

I just loved hearing him tell about that. Because I like it when good things happen to people I like.

And I want good things to happen to-- and for-- you, too.

Feel free to tell me of any time something really good happened to you or someone you know.

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Those grapes are probably sour, anyway

Back a little over a week ago, when I wrote about my old FB friend who spent an odd amount of time and energy hating on Bitcoin and those who use it, I didn't dream a resurgence of that attitude was on the near horizon.

Yet, the past couple of days on Twitter has exposed a lot of it. I guess the recent surge in the Bitcoin price triggered some people.

At certain times I'll see post after post saying anyone who has Bitcoin, but no acreage, is an idiot. That Bitcoin users had better have a backup plan, etc. And some just saying Bitcoin is a scam and its value will drop to zero soon, "and how foolish you'll look when that happens!"

It's not that I even necessarily disagree with the first two. I'm less convinced of the last claim-- that Bitcoin will become valueless-- but admit it's always possible.

I would prefer acreage-- in a place where I want to be-- over Bitcoin any day. But Bitcoin is more attainable for me at the moment (since I already have a little). No one has yet donated acreage in the Rocky Mountain forests to me, nor do I expect it to ever happen. The price of Bitcoin would have to increase by a few orders of magnitude for me to be able to use it to buy such acreage.

And everyone had better have a backup plan. No matter how smart you are or how assured you believe your situation to be.

Agreeing with them on those points isn't enough to soothe them. I'm the enemy because I don't hate Bitcoin. Weird.

I can't know for sure, but I wonder if a lot of the hostility is "sour grapes".

If you are doing well and I'm not, I don't have any bad feelings about you (as long as you aren't archating, of course). Why would I? You didn't harm me. Your good fortune didn't cost me anything.

But I've noticed a lot of people don't see things that way. If you are doing well, they imagine it must be at someone else's expense (probably their own). If they realize they missed an opportunity that others didn't miss, it's not a pretty picture.

I honestly hope some of you are Bitcoin billionaires. And I hope you also have acreage where you want to live and at least one backup plan. I want you to do well. I can't imagine being someone who wouldn't want this.

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Being neighborly and responsible

I may have mentioned that we have a lot of wind here. Yesterday was one of those blustery days. But today wasn't bad, so this afternoon I got out and was picking up some of the trash that always ends up in my yard, snagged on cacti, mesquite, and yucca, and just lying on the ground where it happened to stop.

Among the litter was an Amazon Prime bubble pack. But it hadn't been opened and wasn't empty. It had apparently blown off of someone's porch and ended up in my yard, disguised among the scattered debris.

I looked at the address and saw that it belonged to the house next door, so I took it over and handed it to them.

This wasn't the house where the neighbor I get along with lives; these are the neighbors I've had trouble with since before they actually moved in. But I was nice, friendly, and returned property they didn't even know they'd lost.

I am far from the only person who would do the same. Most people would. Why do some people imagine the whole world needs to be based on how bad people act?

This is part of how I know liberty works. It's still in my own best interests to do the right thing. Even if I'm not exactly on the best terms with the people I'm helping. It may be repaid, or not, but it's still the best thing to do.

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Feeling a little extra freedom lately

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for December 2, 2020)

Did you just feel a little breeze of extra freedom? I felt it.

Why would I feel a bit freer than I did a couple of months ago? How could this happen?

It's mental freedom. Freedom from caring what government does or says.

Government stopped pretending to play by the rules which apply to it. The compliance of the people depends on government living within the rules. This is part of what is meant by "the consent of the governed". This consent requires an appearance of legitimacy.

It's gone.

Also gone is any concern over being scolded by the diehards still trying to play the rigged game. Some people will never face reality. They are making it harder on themselves.

I have a head start on them since I stopped believing in political government and withdrew any implied consent to be governed decades ago. I can still be bullied by those who claim to govern us, but I see them as common bullies; nothing more.

I'm also free of any illusion of the importance of voting. There's nothing anyone can say to overcome the reality exposed by the election of 2020.

As political observers throughout history have pointed out, it doesn't matter who votes, or how they vote, all that matters is who gets to count the votes.

It also matters whether courts decide it's more important to keep a veil of legitimacy around the whole system or if it's safer to hand the office to those who threaten to riot if they don't get what they want. Maybe the courts would rather keep them calm to avoid social disorder in urban areas.

In the past, I suspected elections went to whoever cheated the hardest. Now I suspect this new policy means future elections may go to whichever party makes the scariest threats. This suggests a new strategy for third parties who've so far been denied a seat at the table. The Libertarian Party is still at a serious disadvantage since its foundation rests on a principled rejection of aggression and respect for property rights.

The process-- the system-- has lost any credibility it may have once had. From now on I can ignore or ridicule the campaigns as I see fit without the slightest twinge of guilt.

However things turn out, government's own behavior has freed us from any responsibility to care what it does or decrees.

This is liberating. Do you feel it, too?

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The "power vacuum" deception

How many times have you heard a statist argue against liberty by proclaiming that it would leave a "power vacuum", ready to be filled by some other evildoer?

Have you ever really thought about that claim?

Getting rid of political government doesn't leave a power vacuum. There is no lack of power in its absence. This simply puts the power back where it has really always been: with the individual. It's up to you to use your power correctly.

Yes, some individuals might seek to join forces to impose themselves on others, as is the current situation. So? This is just the silly "But wouldn't a warlord take over?" excuse slightly rephrased.

Once you get rid of the imaginary veil of legitimacy you can shoot such bad guys without being considered a criminal. Thus always to tyrants.

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A foundation of lies

Government-supremacists aren't good at making an honest argument. Have you noticed?

They have no leg to stand on, so they try to muddy the waters. Does this make them feel like a winner?

One was trying to argue against liberty yesterday by saying everyone wants government to keep them safe, and that people will always seek positions of power. I said that even if everyone he knows is either a coward or a bully, and therefore imagines they need the State, that says nothing about the whole species.

So he accused me of using an ad hominem attack against him. When I pointed out I didn't do so, he told me to read a dictionary. I carefully pointed out what I said and what he had said, compared that to what an ad hominem attack means, so he tried a different approach. This sort of thing happened several times.

But people like him aren't the only ones.

How many times have you seen a politician scurry away after being asked a question they don't want to consider, much less answer. They all do it. That's if anyone is allowed to get close enough to ask.

If they do answer, usually the answer has nothing to do with what they were asked, or they just lie.

Statism is a delusion sitting on a foundation of lies. That fact makes me happy.
It doesn't make me as happy that so many people fall for the lies, but it is what it is.

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Welcome to 2021

I hope I'm proven wrong with my recent "prediction" about 2020 being a dress-rehearsal for 2021.

I was proven right about a couple of things regarding 2020. Not in a necessarily good way.

I'm hoping 2021 is a better year for us as individuals, at least. The State can sink and rot in a cesspool of its own evil actions.

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To Serve Man

By Source, Fair use

Apologists for political government often claim that government exists to serve the people.

In a way they are right. A way that was explored in the old Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man". 

You are on the menu. Your rights and your liberty, too. And the appetite of government can never be satisfied. Supporting government-- in any way-- is supporting your mortal enemy. Don't do that.

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