"I cannot wait to get the list..." UPDATED

Updatedadded on April 23, 2015:

Supporters of the Hoboken District Appeal Fund, please send your check (with "Expansion Appeal Fund" written in the memo) to:
HBOE - attn Bill Moffitt SBA
Demarest School
158 4th Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030
Thank you!!!!



Wherever one falls on the proposed 7th/8th grade expansion of HoLa Charter and the Hoboken School Board's decision to fund an appeal to stop it--with private donations, it is deeply troubling to see any person using threats and intimidation to scare off support for what they believe.

GA watched public comment prior to the board's vote on the funding resolution at the April 14, 2015 meeting; there were 3 speakers who directly or indirectly, suggested retribution for donors to the BoE's legal fund.

Out of The Scarlet Letter playbook,  the speakers promised OPRA requests for donations, a "list" of their names, shunning by neighbors once their identities become public record.  

 These are actual quotes from the April 14 meeting:

I cannot wait to get the list of the folks that are funding this ridiculous legal action.
-Lynn Danzker, former BoE candidate 1:13:30 [video at 1:13:30]


"... now all of those donations are then going to be OPRAed and… the individuals that, that pay into that are gonna be public record…  the next thing you know their neighbors aren’t talking to them… I’d rather you just say we’re going to continue to fund it...that would be more honest and then the charter school community could only hate 7 or 8 of you instead of dividing the city."
-Brian Murray, former BoE candidate [video at 0:51:21]

"... can private donations stay anonymous when they are donating to public entities such as schools? But... it will come on the agenda if we accept a donation and it’s not cash, correct
-Peter Biancamano,  BoE Trustee 

Note, all three waving the Scarlet Letter at BoE legal fund donors are former candidates for elected office.  One is an elected official.

Reasons NOT to have voted for Biancamano and Rhodes Kearns in 2014

Well GA has a couple of things to say (naturally). 

You ARE entitled to you are opinion, you are NOT entitled to threaten and intimidate people acting in accordance with what they believe is in the best interest of Hoboken District public school children, the public school system, and/or the Hoboken community as a whole. 

Peter Biancamano, shame on you for the "hint" donors cannot remain anonymous and will be published on the School Board agenda -- immediately following these statements: "I can't wait to get the list of folks that are funding this ridiculous legal action" and "the  next thing you know your neighbors won't be talking to you. What was your point?  So frigging what if donors are on the agenda?  You think they  care?

We all know what you meant by announcing no anonymity for donors, and placement on a future board agenda.   Discouragement; subtle intimidation, fear.  That's how you guys roll.  

I've read your email.

GA awaits the undemocratic behaviors one may expect from list-makers and threateners.

Message to supporters of Hoboken District public schools: Do not be bullied.

If you believe in the fight against de-funding public education ignore the bullies and follow your best intentions and beliefs. 

GA gives a special shout-out to parent Dan Weaver who I have seen around but don't know.

I loved what you said.

Comments

  1. Private funding of this suit is the dumbest thing since Leon Gold's letter.

    Know when to hold 'em.
    Know when to fold 'em
    Know when to walk away
    Know when to run....

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    Replies
    1. I disagree completely with you, but you are entitled to your opinion.

      The issue is bullying and threatening district parents and anyone else who opposes unsustainable defunding of district public schools.

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    2. Yours is one opinion of the issue. Other might observe that if you need to hide what you're doing maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place.

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    3. Is that why you are posting as anonymous? Are you concerned about intimidation? Appears you have answered your comment with the appropriate heaping of irony.

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    4. Frau Danzker understands the the old ways of instilling fear.



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    5. Would HoLa appeal? Yes. Nuff said.

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    6. It's a valid point. The lawsuit was and is a loser. Forcing taxpayers to fight it with weird monies surfacing through donations doesn't change any of that. So calling this dumb is not incorrect.

      It's factual and look no one is addressing that fact of the first commenter. Now why is that?

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    7. Quoting Kenny Rogers or Frozen is no way to decide education issues. There is no valid point presented only an unsupported opinion. You never read the Petition and hope the harsh reality of the demographic disparity is ignored. The fact that low income and special need students with no political power are getting screwed has to be addressed. You obviously don't care but, thankfully, our BOE is doing the right thing.

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    8. Bad Frank, - how is the BoE "doing the right thing" taking private monies toward an unknown legal bill for a losing case creating more infighting of parents vs. parents?

      How does wasting more Hoboken taxpayer money address anything when the case is a loser? If you want to address a problem, write a letter to Trenton. That would be at least constructive. This isn't.

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    9. The right thing is preventing de-funding of public education. Reform means reform what we have and fix whatever problem we have as a community. Reform does not mean run away because you were told to be scared of poor people. I think we all know who's business plan that is. If the BOE can prevent the de-funding, that would be a very good return on investment ($60,000.00 to save $1.2 million), as the capitalists in our town love to say. The only way to get any satisfaction for everyone is to go to Court. I'm not afraid of what this appellate or the NJ Supreme courts determine. Why are you?

      You keep writing the case is a loser but that's your opinion based on nothing but your desired outcome. Your faith in Trenton, when it decides for your position, does not address the objective merits of the Petition. Let's let the process work through the Court system which should be free of either of our respective biases. Justice is not cheap but it is part of our democracy.

      And the local dispute was not caused by the Petition but by a strategy to pit charters against the district. That plan has worked perfectly as you and I are arguing while Trenton looks around innocently pretending to be above it.

      Do you really think a letter to Trenton will move them to fix the funding formula when the State is presently being sued for failing to follow the 2008 funding formula? Will you write a letter? Will you support raising the school tax to fill the gap due to HoLa's drain on the traditional school's budget? I applaud you if you do, but from every charter parent (about 5 of them) I asked to support a school tax increase, the only response I ever received was radio silence.

      You may not like what the BOE is doing in pursuing this Petition, but even you have to admit it takes courage to stand up for what you believe even when a room of people you thought were your friends are screaming and fuming at you.

      Respectfully yours.

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    10. Sorry Bad Frank, you're projection and assumptions about frank legal questions (pardon the pun) is lacking in the non-answers you offer here. You don't say why continuing this lawsuit (which already lost) will somehow magically be changed by continuing more of the same.

      Putting aside the racist meme charge you imply against other parents, (sadly) does not make a better case on appeal. It's only going to see higher legal costs for Hoboken taxpayers.

      Of course a letter to Trenton doesn't fix education funding. Neither will an appeal of this loser lawsuit. No, I don't support higher taxes. Legal monies wasted on poorly thought out legal work isn't something I support either.

      A letter to Trenton however is more effective than continuing this lawsuit. The lawyers I've spoken to all agree with that so if you have something of substance to offer I'll listen.

      But I'm not likely to be persuaded by non-legal arguments such as calling other parents racist for sending their children to Hoboken charter schools.

      Best,
      Another Anonymous

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    11. The Petition has never been decided. While the Petition was pending in the Appellate Division, the DOE asked for a chance to reconsider its initial decision because it realized there were shortcomings. That reconsideration took a while, to be kind. Now it is back in Court.

      I said nothing about race, only poverty. That was not my projection. That was yours. You did not carefully read my comment or the point of fixing, not running away.

      Here's your proof:

      http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2015/03/njdoe-hespe-turn-blind-eye-to.html

      There's your data and there's much more where that came from.

      Not sure which lawyers you consulted or what they read or you told them, but those are the facts.

      Puns are always welcome. Bad ones especially.

      Respectfully,

      A fellow parent.

      Delete
    12. I smelled a charge of racism. Anyway, more taxpayer monies on the lawsuit is a loser and then what? Do I have to read more by jazzman? I'm familair with their anti-charter position but Hoboken has charters and that's not changing.

      Yes, following Hoboken always means plenty of lawyers. Not one sees continuing the BoE litigation as a winner. Nada uno. Not-a-one. They may exist but I've not heard that legal argument. I'm sure the BoE will make one. But I don't see it as a winning argument. I think they would have been informed by their lawyers there isn't one in this case.

      How much more taxpayer monies wil go down the drain for that?

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    13. Bad Frank nailed it. It's difficult, perhaps impossible, for some people to accept but it's true. And there are a lot of people in Hoboken who agree with him. Most people, I'd imagine.

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    14. He who smealt it, dealt it. Again, I made no such charge.

      I'm not too concerned about what your team of lawyers say to you. Although you want proof, you failed to provide any documentation unlike Jazzman's detailed and robust analysis. Also, he is not anti-charter. You have failed to carefully read his posts. Your comment is an example of attacking someone who disagrees with your position rather than disputing their position because you have nyet (please, no russian dual language charter) to respond.

      Again, the court has not yet decided. Unsure why you keep claiming the case was already decided. Hespe is not a judge. Stopping now would truly be a waste of resources.

      Thank you.

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    15. Not attacking anyone. Certainly don't see any benefit to inferring parents in Hoboken are racist or continuing to drain taxpayer monies with a failed lawsuit.

      Must I be "afraid of poor people" for saying the obvious?

      This thing is going to cost more money and you haven't said why the BoE will win. (Probably because you know enough that it won't.)

      So with that I await the final taxpayer bill and the announcement of failure which will follow the court proceedings.

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    16. That bill would come from Hola, I assume.
      "Let's start by laying out the facts, which are not in dispute: Hoboken's charter schools, and HoLa in particular, serve a very different population of students than the district schools. The charters, proportionally, have far more white students than HPS schools:
      They also have far fewer students who qualify for the federal school lunch program, a proxy measure of economic disadvantage:
      The charters also have very few Limited English Proficient students (LEP). The special education percentages are actually close -- with the exception of HoLa, the Hoboken Dual Language Charter School:
      HoLa serves a very small population of special needs students.

      All of this by itself ought to be enough to show how absurd Hespe's claim is. Of course HoLa has a segregative effect: just look at the numbers!

      Since nearly 6 in 10 children under 18 in Hoboken are white, the charter schools must reflect the city as a whole. Right?

      No.

      Understand: this would bolster Hespe's claim that HoLa reflects the community if it actually reflected the school-aged population of Hoboken. But Hespe's figure includes children too young to attend school. Look at the title of the graph: "17 & Under," which includes the Hoboken pre-school population.
      9 percent of Hoboken's total population are between 5 and 19 years old. But 7 percent are under 5 years old. Hespe's number includes all these children. And the under-5 population is disproportionately large compared to the total population of children: the tots are 44 percent of the total under-19 population.
      Clearly, the charters don't reflect the socio-economic profile of the entire city. And there is no good evidence the charters reflect the racial profile of the city's school-aged children.

      But Hespe, apparently, does not care. In his letter, he conflates the district's total student population -- private, district, charter, and home-schooled -- with the district's public school population. Here's the administrative code relevant to Hespe's role of overseeing the effects of charter schools on districts:
      On an annual basis, the Commissioner shall assess the student composition of a charter school and the segregative effect that the loss of the students may have on its district of residence. The assessment shall be based on the enrollment from the initial recruitment period pursuant to N.J.A.C. 6A:11-4.4(b). The charter school shall submit data for the assessment: 1. In a format prescribed by the Commissioner; and 2. No later than 4:15 P.M. on June 1."

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    17. Thanks Anon at 5:12.

      How many newborns attend 1st grade? That right there demonstrates the bs in Hespe's "reasoning" The link to Jazzman lays out all that and more with very informative (and, dare I say, attractive) charts.

      That's the regulation, I believe this is the law that's supposed to be enforced by Hespe, not aggressively ignored by him:

      e. "The admission policy of the charter school shall, to the maximum extent practicable, seek the enrollment of a cross section of the community's school age population including racial and academic factors." N.J.S.A. 18A:36A-8(e).

      It's practicable to get the student bodies of the charters to match the district. The question is does Hespe have the fortitude?

      Delete
    18. I am confused. The poster above said "failed" lawsuit. Did the courts hear the case already?

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    19. No. The Court has not yet issued a decision or even heard the case yet.

      The constant refrain that the Petition failed is just one of the many myths flying around about the Petition and about charter funding.

      Delete
  2. "For every action there is a equal and opposite reaction and opposite reaction."

    Sir Isac Newton



    Business owners in Hoboken making threats against their neighbors should remember that fact.


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    1. I wouldn't eat his sandwiches if he gave them away for free.

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    2. That shop is dirtier then a pigs trough.

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  3. While I didn't really need another reason to reinforce NOT voting for Lynn Danzker and Brian Murray it is good to see Hoboken also made the right decision.

    Does anyone think that Peter Biancamano actually writes the prepared statements statements he reads at BOE meetings ?

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    Replies
    1. I think a lot of those folks don't write their own material. What I don't get is why the people who end up writing the material of others don't just run for office themselves if they have so much to say about the issues they write material about.

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    2. Anyone who has had more than a passing conversation with Peter understands he is incapable of writing what he is reading.

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    3. I've often commented on how pathetic it is that he is on our BOE. I mean, it's embarrassing.

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    4. Yes and could you imagine this tool as our 2nd ward councilman? He is an embarrassment to new Hoboken to old hoboken he was barely acceptable. He looks like uncle fester.

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    5. Peter Biancamano is the Ringo Fonebone of Washington Street. He shouldn't be on the school board, and he really isn't capable of being a councilman. There's something off about him.

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    6. Something completely off. Same category as patzold and sandford.

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    7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub_a2t0ZfTs

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  4. Dan Weaver is a great guy and despite being a great planning board member Dawn Zimmer dumped him from the planning board. Do not question Dawn.

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  5. One very odd speaker stood up there as if it she was possessed. Very freaky. Her speech was disjointed and voice was monotone. She kept pausing and swaying back and forth. It was very uncomfortable to watch. I think she was an Hola parent.

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    Replies
    1. At what time, so I can scan forward to her.

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    2. I know who you mean-the exasperated drama queen. A real diva performance, most obnoxious of the night.

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    3. 1:19 mark? Pink version of Waldo. I think it's a female? Very odd.

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    4. That woman makes valley girls look intelligent.

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    5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub_a2t0ZfTs

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  6. Doesn't Brian Murry have kids in the district? Is he that dense that he does not support his own district? Does he not understand that Hola is taking food out of kids mouths? Where's his logic?

    Every time I see his name the image of him in the bathtub pops up.

    GA maybe a graphic with Brian and Peter scrub a dubbing along with their other friends would make an interesting pic. A reminder who they are in "bath" with.

    Oh and that woman works for a charter organization.

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  7. Peter cost the tax payers approx. $8,000 in legal fees to defend himself against an ethic charge. The atty he hired was around $450/hr. FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS!!!!

    Who was the attorney who was gifted this windfall?!

    Peter knew the board (taxpayer) had to foot the bill and he hired the most expensive one he could.

    Remember this move boys and girls when he runs for council because this knucklehead is gearing up.

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    Replies
    1. Peter B. threw the public school district under the bus on his 2013 Occhipinti campaign lit- I remember some bullshit about Hoboken cost per pupil are the same as the cost of attending University of Notre Dame! Absolute crap. Peter allowed the district to be trashed, and now he turns his back on the district children... all politics.

      The school board seat is just a stepping stone to the City Council. He doesn't give a crap about the kids, just reads what other people write for him.

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    2. what was the nature of Peter's violation?

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    3. http://hudsonreporter.com/bookmark/26588141-First-female-Hoboken-superintendent-of-schools-br-font-size-2-i-Also-Ethics-complaint-against-school-board-member-discussed-font-i-br-

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  8. Where can I donate?

    I like to stick in the eyes of bullies by doing exactly what they don't want me to do.

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    1. A Hola speaker stood up and applauded another Hola parent for raising a half a mil for the school. They acted so proud of this feat. So ignorant of the fact that the district is 70% free and reduced lunch no way would this demographic be able to raise that kind of money.

      This example is just another that shows the demographic makeup at Hola vs the district. White vs mixed. Keep walking nothing to see here. Just ignore all the blond and blue eyed children speaking spanish.

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  9. A director of the school spoke, Jen Sargent. Isn't she also a founder? What salary did she give herself?

    I guess anyone can open a charter school, name their salary at the tax payers expense.

    Duplication in services that is all these charters are about. How many administrators are there at Hola?

    Let's all jump in the Hola pool and name our price! But the big bad Board of Education can't defend themselves against Hola who is hemorrhaging money away from the district students. God forbid the district stick up for THEIR students.

    Never mind that Hola kicked the impoverished children out of their very own after school respite. Thanks goes to Reuben Ramos, Carmelo Garcia and Frank Raia. Way to turn your backs on the kids.

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  10. Petrosino is also the scumbag who wrote the pravda-worthy homage to Peter Biancamano's bought BOE victory. Petrosino, being a scumbag, never once mentioned the VBMs that made the difference. Petrosino should write a piece about Occhipinti's "win" in 2010. He's gotta be the only ahole willing to pretend it was legit and just talk about the totals.

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    Replies
    1. Petrosino? Don't you mean "Prosbus"?

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    2. Witness for the PlaintiffApril 22, 2015 at 10:33 AM

      Prosbusino? Curious Petro? Petrobus? Curiousino?

      http://grafixavenger.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-prosbus-mystery.html

      Delete
  11. The more I see this Murray fellow speak the more I realize he is unqualified for public office. In my opinion he does not have the temperment to serve. Threatening people who dare to disagree with him is not the sign of a leader.

    As for HOLA with leaders like Petro, Raia and the involvement of Garcia and Branco I just have no interest in supporting them. Their long history in Hoboken says enough for me

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    Replies
    1. Murray, a real estate agent, talks trash about Hoboken, the administration, the schools and other institutions and yet tries to sell property here? Don't worry, with that ingenious business model, he'll be out of work and out of our midst soon.

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    2. Unfortunately, his business model is actually selling people property OUTSIDE of Hoboken. Does the business model make more sense now?

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    3. This is why he is a cancer to this town. He's a sellout yet keeps his own kid in the district schools so you can use the logic that they really are pretty good after all.

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  12. Ironic. Hola brags about their fundraising and notes it as a positive, yet when the district school fundraises, it becomes an evil that needs to be cleansed.
    why not use some of that 500k to pay for their side of the attorney's fees.

    500k in donations for wealthy students.
    Community moral compass= off.

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  13. why is it divisive to support the district schools but not divisive to support the charter schools?

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    Replies
    1. Personally I think this is all nuts. Why is there a need for a subset charter school that takes $$ from the district but does not have the same oversight?

      What is to stop having numerous charter schools? Why not open one that specializes in Scientology and it takes money from the district?

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    2. who does one contact to donate to public school fundraiser?

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    3. I am told to please write a check to the Hoboken Board of Education and write in the memo Expansion Appeal Fund.

      They are working on a donor link but a check is the best way to donate because 100%.of your donation will go to the BoE fund (no commission).

      Thank you!

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    4. Anyone who would like to give anonymous can send a money order. But purchase out of town, a reverse look up at po's and town branch banks can be performed. The dark side is everywhere...

      Honestly who cares though. Sending mine in the form of a check. F'em.

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  14. Guess it can be easy enough to coax data to dance to the tune you choose... would be interesting to see demographic data for elementary school kids in particular, to focus the study. Ideally break it out by age, locality and income. Expecting to see evidence of survivorship bias, community concentration bias & general demographic trends (families moving out vs. in) skewing the data in a way that exacerbates perceived 'segregative' mechanisms in the school system itself. Without fair treatment of data, there is no fair argument.

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    Replies
    1. Here's someone who likes data: http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/search?q=hola

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