The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will affect everyone in the UK, but the Ipswich Spy blog have declined an article on this because there is no "hook" to Ipswich.
MP's will discuss an Early Day Motion today proposing that the UK Parliament should have the chance to scrutinise TTIP proposals.
At the moment all the decisions are being made purely between the EU and the USA which means that only MEP's can have any direct input; once the proposals are voted through the UK Parliament will be completely powerless to do anything about them and another large piece of democracy will be undermined.
TTIP will give large corporations the weapons to sue Governments through the Investment-State Dispute Settlement arrangements embedded in the trade agreement. The settlement process will be secretive. Profits will be placed before people's welfare.
See War on Want's article
http://www.waronwant.org/campaigns/trade-justice/more/inform/18078-what-is-ttip
Wednesday 14 January 2015
Secretive TTIP will give huge corporations far-reaching powers and put profits before people.
SECRETIVE TTIP WILL GIVE HUGE CORPORATIONS FAR-REACHING NEW POWERS
Tomorrow on Thursday 15th January our MP's will
debate a motion put forward by Labour MP Geraint Davies: EDM (Early Day
Motion) 202 tabled in July 2014.
This is about a trade agreement known as
TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) which is currently
under negotiation between the EU and the USA.
However, the governments of the individual EU countries are not getting an automatic right to debate TTIP
The TTIP agreement will heavily favour
profits over people because corporations will be able to secretly sue
Governments if they feel that their profits are being affected by
measures like food standards regulations, workers' rights, environmental
protection rules and safety regulations.
Big corporations will be able to sue
governments because the agreement will include ISDS: Investor-State
Dispute Settlements and these settlements will be held in secrecy,
further undermining our democratic rights.
Geraint's EDM runs as follows:=
That this House notes that the
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership includes investor-state
dispute settlements that are being designed in secret, so enabling
multi-national companies to intimidate and sue governments for lost
profits due to Government policies designed to protect the public as
consumers or workers or to change the level of public ownership, that
such settlements will be decided in private by arbitration panels, not
in open court, that such actions and arrangements threaten to compromise
the UK's established democracy, human rights and the rule of law and
that the shared fruits of trade should not be at the expense of the
social and economic justice that democracy demands; and therefore calls
on the Government to ensure that all proposed arrangements are fully
scrutinised by Parliament and that no arrangements are made which
compromise established standards of democracy, human rights and the rule
of law.
Basically Geraint Davies is calling for all
proposed arrangements in connection with TTIP to be scrutinised by our
own MP's here in the UK Parliament and not just by the EU, otherwise the
agreement will be made and Parliament will be helpless to change it.
38 Degrees are asking people to petition their MP's ahead of the vote on Thursday 15th January 2015
Put people before profits and contact your MP today
Sally Wainman
Monday 15 December 2014
VAT MOSS Twitter Storm planned for 16th December at 10am
Twitter Storm on “VAT MOSS” planned
for 16th December 10am
It is more
than likely that the headline of this article will mean very little to you, but
for small and micro-businesses the EU juggernaut is about to plunge them into a
new VAT nightmare from January 1st
2015.
The ruling affects
any business supplying digital services to customers in the EU. At the moment
VAT is charged in the country supplying
the service so that UK businesses simply fill in VAT returns in the UK and, of
course, only need to register for VAT if their turnover is above £81,000
From January
1st the supplier will have to document the country of purchase and pay VAT in that country. Now there are 28 EU states and a huge variation
in VAT and furthermore there is no
minimum threshold on turnover, so even the smallest kitchen table digital business
will have to register for VAT.
HMRC is
offering VAT MOSS (Mini One Stop Shop)
but businesses are being told they will have to keep records for ten years,
make quarterly returns and of course will have to put prices up or absorb the
VAT of the purchasing country!
The
Government is claiming that this has been in the pipeline for years and
everyone should know about it but SME’s (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) have
reacted with horror at the complexity of the whole “VAT MESS” and many say they
will simply stop trading.
There is a
petition on Change.org and a twitter storm is planned for 16th
December at 10am
Sally
Wainman
15th
December 2014
Monday 8 December 2014
WIND TURBINE DECISION - 17TH DECEMBER 2014 - BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL
Babergh District Council will meet next Wednesday to consider the turbine application from PfR.
This is a public meeting and anyone may attend:
17th December 2014 at 09.30am
Those living towards the south-west of Ipswich will be the most affected, but this decision is important for all those who are against turbines being situated near residential areas. If large numbers attend the meeting it will help to show Babergh the strength of feeling that exists about this decision
17th December 2014 at 09.30am
Those living towards the south-west of Ipswich will be the most affected, but this decision is important for all those who are against turbines being situated near residential areas. If large numbers attend the meeting it will help to show Babergh the strength of feeling that exists about this decision
Friday 20 June 2014
Pembrokeshire County Council Planning Committee:- are reports biased towards refusal or approval?
On June 24th 2014 the Planning and Rights of Way Committee will meet at 10am to consider a number of applications including Application No. 12/1070/PA. The applicant is Megan Williams and retrospective planning permission is being sought for a hobbit-like roundhouse, built on private land a couple of years ago. Megan, baby Eli and father Charlie have lived there since July 2012.
(See https://www.facebook.com/pages/Charlie-and-Megs-Roundhouse/143456382471743)
The Director of Development has recommended REFUSAL for this and the 19 page report is therefore as negative a document as you could ever wish to read.
All the positive aspects of this dwelling are downplayed, muted: for example Paragraph 6.59 states that the use of electricity is approx 50% of the average annual household electricity use in the UK and yet the application is still criticised because a reduction in household energy use does "not appear to be a target" (Para 6.61)
All the possible drawbacks are magnified and the Director of Development has descended into ludicrous criticism here eg one source of income in the future is likely to come from meringue production, but the Director solemnly writes that a steady supply of eggs are needed for this and the couple have not identified the total number of chickens required or stated what the surplus yolks will be used for (!).
By contrast the report on Application No. 13/0744/PA concerning a Traveller's application for "Use of Land for one static caravan, one touring caravan with a utility dayroom/stable block, muck heap and access road has been marked for APPROVAL despite the fact that this development too is partly in retrospect. Now Charlie and Megan have been pilloried for not seeking planning permission first for their roundhouse, but no objections are raised here by the council: in Para 6.21 they write:
"With regard to concern about development commencing without permission (my italics), this is not a reason for withholding permission if the development is considered acceptable." (!)
There is similar disparity over the issue of a septic tank where again Charlie and Megan have been criticized, whereas all possible difficulties for the caravan site application have been waved through. The council stated that Charlie and Megan should have submitted percolation tests: "Pre-construction baseline data is important" (Para 6.72) but for the Traveller's site there is no concern:
Para 6.19 Drainage: the applicants agent has commissioned percolation tests but to date the results have not been received. In any event given the extent of the land adjacent to the application site which the applicant owns, it is considered that it would be practical for drainage to be accomodated within this land, should it not be possible to achieve the necessary drainage within the application site itself. In the unlikely event that this was not possible a sealed cesspit would provide an acceptable alternative method of disposal.
Finally family considerations: for Charlie's family it is curtains: the potential impact of bulldozing their home and therefore evicting them is considered to be "justified in pursuit of the rural restraint strategy of the Authority in the interest of the wider public interest."
In the caravan site application the Council go into some detail about the family's need for a pitch: "pitches may be provided to meet an identified need."
The immense disparity between the tone of the two reports submitted by the Director shows that the Planning and Right of Way Committee are not getting a truly balanced picture of either application!
95,000 people have signed the petition to save the roundhouse and many of the comments dispute the council's assertion that the roundhouse is a visual intrusion. Indeed even the Council have to admit in this report (despite earlier declarations) that the visual impact of the home is low and yet still they want to claim that the benefits of the development "do not outweigh the harm to the character and appearance of the countryside."
(See https://www.facebook.com/pages/Charlie-and-Megs-Roundhouse/143456382471743)
The Director of Development has recommended REFUSAL for this and the 19 page report is therefore as negative a document as you could ever wish to read.
All the positive aspects of this dwelling are downplayed, muted: for example Paragraph 6.59 states that the use of electricity is approx 50% of the average annual household electricity use in the UK and yet the application is still criticised because a reduction in household energy use does "not appear to be a target" (Para 6.61)
All the possible drawbacks are magnified and the Director of Development has descended into ludicrous criticism here eg one source of income in the future is likely to come from meringue production, but the Director solemnly writes that a steady supply of eggs are needed for this and the couple have not identified the total number of chickens required or stated what the surplus yolks will be used for (!).
By contrast the report on Application No. 13/0744/PA concerning a Traveller's application for "Use of Land for one static caravan, one touring caravan with a utility dayroom/stable block, muck heap and access road has been marked for APPROVAL despite the fact that this development too is partly in retrospect. Now Charlie and Megan have been pilloried for not seeking planning permission first for their roundhouse, but no objections are raised here by the council: in Para 6.21 they write:
"With regard to concern about development commencing without permission (my italics), this is not a reason for withholding permission if the development is considered acceptable." (!)
There is similar disparity over the issue of a septic tank where again Charlie and Megan have been criticized, whereas all possible difficulties for the caravan site application have been waved through. The council stated that Charlie and Megan should have submitted percolation tests: "Pre-construction baseline data is important" (Para 6.72) but for the Traveller's site there is no concern:
Para 6.19 Drainage: the applicants agent has commissioned percolation tests but to date the results have not been received. In any event given the extent of the land adjacent to the application site which the applicant owns, it is considered that it would be practical for drainage to be accomodated within this land, should it not be possible to achieve the necessary drainage within the application site itself. In the unlikely event that this was not possible a sealed cesspit would provide an acceptable alternative method of disposal.
Finally family considerations: for Charlie's family it is curtains: the potential impact of bulldozing their home and therefore evicting them is considered to be "justified in pursuit of the rural restraint strategy of the Authority in the interest of the wider public interest."
In the caravan site application the Council go into some detail about the family's need for a pitch: "pitches may be provided to meet an identified need."
The immense disparity between the tone of the two reports submitted by the Director shows that the Planning and Right of Way Committee are not getting a truly balanced picture of either application!
95,000 people have signed the petition to save the roundhouse and many of the comments dispute the council's assertion that the roundhouse is a visual intrusion. Indeed even the Council have to admit in this report (despite earlier declarations) that the visual impact of the home is low and yet still they want to claim that the benefits of the development "do not outweigh the harm to the character and appearance of the countryside."
Sunday 20 April 2014
'Bread' for the weekend: Easter Sermon 20th April 2014
Easter Sermon (Readings John 20 v.1-18 and Acts 10 v.23b - 48)
(If you do not have a bible to hand, then you can google the verses and read them online; if possible, read the whole of Acts 10)
The resurrection of Jesus emerges from the crucifixion and is not separate from it or from anything that has preceded it in the scriptures.
The resurrection is not a conjuring trick, or an illusion or a "cleverly devised myth" as Peter says in the book of 2 Peter in the New Testament:-
"For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty"
(The Second Letter of Peter: Chapter 1 verse 16)
That word 'majesty', according to Cassell's Dictionary means a quality which inspires awe or reverence and Peter is stating here that he has been an eye witness of the greatness and glory of God. His words have additional impact because he is aware that his own death will come soon and therefore wants to make every effort to testify whilst he still can.
Many others had the chance to be 'eyewitnesses', because right from the start of the Gospels, the kingship of Jesus is affirmed. In Matthew Chapter 2, the wise men from the East travel to Jerusalem and ask:
"Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we have observed his star at it's rising and have come to pay him homage." Matthew 2 v.2
When they find Jesus in Bethlehem, they kneel down and pay him homage and offer gifts fit for a king: gold, frankincense and myrrh. The whole purpose of their journey was not to see a baby, as such, but to search for this king.
When we fast forward to the events of Gethsemane and the arrest of Jesus, we find the Roman soldiers mocking him as King; the crown of thorns and the purple robe were placed on him after Jesus had been scourged; and yet this too is part of the Easter story because Jesus is a King who shares in the sufferings of mankind. He does not use his divinity, as he so easily could, to protect himself from the hunger, thirst, pain, insults or injustice.
On the cross too, his majesty is recognized by the thief who sees that "this man (Jesus) has done nothing wrong" and pleads with him, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
The masterstroke, however, is wrought by Pilate who orders that a sign should be placed above Jesus and this sign reads:
Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews
Pilate causes this sign to be written in Hebrew, in Latin and in Greek - all the most important languages of the known world. Hebrew was the language of the Jews and all the Jewish pilgrims flocking to Jerusalem for the Passover would have seen it. Latin was the language of Rome, of military might and Greek was the language of culture. This trinity of language, therefore would have reached the widest possible audience.
The chief priests are deeply unhappy about this, of course: they want Pilate to rewrite the sign to say that Jesus claimed to be the King of the Jews ie to show that he was an impostor, a fraud, but Pilate cuts them dead:
"What I have written, I have written," he says. (John 19 v22)
Now this failure to recognize his kingship, means that the chief priests, the scribes and the elders cannot possibly see beyond the crucifixion. They mock him, "He saved others", they said, "but he cannot save himself.... let him come down from the cross now and we will believe in him."
This is an extraordinary thing to say, because the priests, the scribes and the elders have shut their eyes to the many miracles that Jesus has performed during his 3 years of public ministry; they have rejected the witness of the man born blind, healed by Jesus in John 9; they have refused to believe the witness of Lazurus raised from the dead and yet at the cross they claim they will believe if he saves himself. (Matthew 27 v.41 -43).
On the cross Jesus was doing so much more than they could conceive: not saving himself, but overcoming death and this is the first message of the Resurrection, because when we allow God to work in us he is doing so much more than we can imagine; but God's work cannot take place fully until we recognize his sovereignity and his authority. (For the words 'author' and 'authority' are linked: he is the author of our being, and therefore the authority comes from being our Creator).
In the book of Romans, Paul quotes from Deuteronomy and the words of Moses:
"'The word is very near you
It is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe'
If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
The Resurrection gives us the sharp contrast between belief and unbelief, between the perception of those who are seeking him and those who are not. The Resurrection takes away all middle ground.
Secondly, the life and death of Jesus acknowledge suffering, acknowledge the gift of myrrh that he received first as an infant and then again in death when Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus wrap the body of Jesus in linen cloths with myrhh and aloes, the burial spices, according to Jewish burial customs. Myrhh comes from an Arabic word meaning 'bitter' and it symbolizes suffering. Even in death, however, his kingship is celebrated, for Nicodemus buys a king's ransom of spices for the burial ritual.
Then the day of Resurrection dawns and the linen cloths fall away, remaining in the tomb. The cloth that had been on Jesus' head has been rolled up and placed separately. Jesus has risen, but the trappings of death remain in their rightful place, in the tomb.
The bitterness of death is replaced by the joy of eternal life; the resurrection is therefore a time of healing and restoration: fear is cast out and the peace of Christ offered instead, when Jesus comforts his trembling disciples and breathes new life into them. Doubt is cast out when Thomas comes face to face with the risen Christ and calls out "My Lord and my God!". Loneliness is cast out as their fellowship is restored; and past failings are forgiven when Peter and Jesus talk together on the shores of Lake Tiberias.
Psalm 126 encapsulates this transformation:
May those who sow in tears
Reap with shouts of joy
Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing
Shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.
The sheaves are the harvest reaped after a period of suffering; the Christian author Jennifer Rees Larcombe founded a charity called Beauty from Ashes (taken from verses in Isaiah 61.)
(All great endeavours involve struggle: only last night the BBC were documenting the enormous difficulties Handel had to overcome in order to gain recognition for his "Messiah", one of the most famous oratorios ever written!)
Perhaps the most important message of the Resurrection, however, is that it is always in the here and now. The reading from the book of Acts 10 shows how the disciples 'lived' the resurrection: when Peter was with Jesus during his public ministry he listened often to his voice; after the Resurrection, through the Holy Spirit, God's voice continues to be loud and clear, giving Peter specific instruction, in this instance, on sharing the gospel message with Cornelius, a centurion living in Caesarea. Prior to Peter's visit, God's words have also reached Cornelius himself, paving the way for Peter's message and again giving absolutely specific directions on the actions that Cornelius needs to take. There can be no doubt in Cornelius' mind that he has been called by name and that it is the living God who has spoken through the apostle's words. The Holy Spirit falls upon the assembled household and all are baptized.
As it was for Peter and Cornelius, so it is with us. Every detail of our life is known, because he is the author of our being, the one who knows us even before we are conceived.
Psalm 139 testifies to the detail:
"Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You discern my thoughts from afar
You search out my path and my lying down
And are acquainted with all my ways.
This means that we can pray in detail too, because the author is listening.
Earthly families often have photos of their loved ones in their home and particularly photos of their children. We are God's children and God has a 'photo' of each one of us.
April 20th 2014
(If you do not have a bible to hand, then you can google the verses and read them online; if possible, read the whole of Acts 10)
The resurrection of Jesus emerges from the crucifixion and is not separate from it or from anything that has preceded it in the scriptures.
The resurrection is not a conjuring trick, or an illusion or a "cleverly devised myth" as Peter says in the book of 2 Peter in the New Testament:-
"For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty"
(The Second Letter of Peter: Chapter 1 verse 16)
That word 'majesty', according to Cassell's Dictionary means a quality which inspires awe or reverence and Peter is stating here that he has been an eye witness of the greatness and glory of God. His words have additional impact because he is aware that his own death will come soon and therefore wants to make every effort to testify whilst he still can.
Many others had the chance to be 'eyewitnesses', because right from the start of the Gospels, the kingship of Jesus is affirmed. In Matthew Chapter 2, the wise men from the East travel to Jerusalem and ask:
"Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we have observed his star at it's rising and have come to pay him homage." Matthew 2 v.2
When they find Jesus in Bethlehem, they kneel down and pay him homage and offer gifts fit for a king: gold, frankincense and myrrh. The whole purpose of their journey was not to see a baby, as such, but to search for this king.
When we fast forward to the events of Gethsemane and the arrest of Jesus, we find the Roman soldiers mocking him as King; the crown of thorns and the purple robe were placed on him after Jesus had been scourged; and yet this too is part of the Easter story because Jesus is a King who shares in the sufferings of mankind. He does not use his divinity, as he so easily could, to protect himself from the hunger, thirst, pain, insults or injustice.
On the cross too, his majesty is recognized by the thief who sees that "this man (Jesus) has done nothing wrong" and pleads with him, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
The masterstroke, however, is wrought by Pilate who orders that a sign should be placed above Jesus and this sign reads:
Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews
Pilate causes this sign to be written in Hebrew, in Latin and in Greek - all the most important languages of the known world. Hebrew was the language of the Jews and all the Jewish pilgrims flocking to Jerusalem for the Passover would have seen it. Latin was the language of Rome, of military might and Greek was the language of culture. This trinity of language, therefore would have reached the widest possible audience.
The chief priests are deeply unhappy about this, of course: they want Pilate to rewrite the sign to say that Jesus claimed to be the King of the Jews ie to show that he was an impostor, a fraud, but Pilate cuts them dead:
"What I have written, I have written," he says. (John 19 v22)
Now this failure to recognize his kingship, means that the chief priests, the scribes and the elders cannot possibly see beyond the crucifixion. They mock him, "He saved others", they said, "but he cannot save himself.... let him come down from the cross now and we will believe in him."
This is an extraordinary thing to say, because the priests, the scribes and the elders have shut their eyes to the many miracles that Jesus has performed during his 3 years of public ministry; they have rejected the witness of the man born blind, healed by Jesus in John 9; they have refused to believe the witness of Lazurus raised from the dead and yet at the cross they claim they will believe if he saves himself. (Matthew 27 v.41 -43).
On the cross Jesus was doing so much more than they could conceive: not saving himself, but overcoming death and this is the first message of the Resurrection, because when we allow God to work in us he is doing so much more than we can imagine; but God's work cannot take place fully until we recognize his sovereignity and his authority. (For the words 'author' and 'authority' are linked: he is the author of our being, and therefore the authority comes from being our Creator).
In the book of Romans, Paul quotes from Deuteronomy and the words of Moses:
"'The word is very near you
It is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe'
If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
The Resurrection gives us the sharp contrast between belief and unbelief, between the perception of those who are seeking him and those who are not. The Resurrection takes away all middle ground.
Secondly, the life and death of Jesus acknowledge suffering, acknowledge the gift of myrrh that he received first as an infant and then again in death when Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus wrap the body of Jesus in linen cloths with myrhh and aloes, the burial spices, according to Jewish burial customs. Myrhh comes from an Arabic word meaning 'bitter' and it symbolizes suffering. Even in death, however, his kingship is celebrated, for Nicodemus buys a king's ransom of spices for the burial ritual.
Then the day of Resurrection dawns and the linen cloths fall away, remaining in the tomb. The cloth that had been on Jesus' head has been rolled up and placed separately. Jesus has risen, but the trappings of death remain in their rightful place, in the tomb.
The bitterness of death is replaced by the joy of eternal life; the resurrection is therefore a time of healing and restoration: fear is cast out and the peace of Christ offered instead, when Jesus comforts his trembling disciples and breathes new life into them. Doubt is cast out when Thomas comes face to face with the risen Christ and calls out "My Lord and my God!". Loneliness is cast out as their fellowship is restored; and past failings are forgiven when Peter and Jesus talk together on the shores of Lake Tiberias.
Psalm 126 encapsulates this transformation:
May those who sow in tears
Reap with shouts of joy
Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing
Shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.
The sheaves are the harvest reaped after a period of suffering; the Christian author Jennifer Rees Larcombe founded a charity called Beauty from Ashes (taken from verses in Isaiah 61.)
(All great endeavours involve struggle: only last night the BBC were documenting the enormous difficulties Handel had to overcome in order to gain recognition for his "Messiah", one of the most famous oratorios ever written!)
Perhaps the most important message of the Resurrection, however, is that it is always in the here and now. The reading from the book of Acts 10 shows how the disciples 'lived' the resurrection: when Peter was with Jesus during his public ministry he listened often to his voice; after the Resurrection, through the Holy Spirit, God's voice continues to be loud and clear, giving Peter specific instruction, in this instance, on sharing the gospel message with Cornelius, a centurion living in Caesarea. Prior to Peter's visit, God's words have also reached Cornelius himself, paving the way for Peter's message and again giving absolutely specific directions on the actions that Cornelius needs to take. There can be no doubt in Cornelius' mind that he has been called by name and that it is the living God who has spoken through the apostle's words. The Holy Spirit falls upon the assembled household and all are baptized.
As it was for Peter and Cornelius, so it is with us. Every detail of our life is known, because he is the author of our being, the one who knows us even before we are conceived.
Psalm 139 testifies to the detail:
"Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You discern my thoughts from afar
You search out my path and my lying down
And are acquainted with all my ways.
This means that we can pray in detail too, because the author is listening.
Earthly families often have photos of their loved ones in their home and particularly photos of their children. We are God's children and God has a 'photo' of each one of us.
April 20th 2014
Monday 2 April 2012
"Granny Tax" Petition tops 50,000 signatures
Arthur Streatfield's E-Petition on the "Granny Tax" has now passed 50,000 signatures in just eleven days, with 300 - 400 signatures an hour at peak periods!
A total of 100,000 signatures is needed to make it eligible for a Parliamentary Debate.
RESTORATION OF AGE RELATED TAX ALLOWANCES
This is an important issue which will affect millions of pensioners both now and in the future.
A total of 100,000 signatures is needed to make it eligible for a Parliamentary Debate.
RESTORATION OF AGE RELATED TAX ALLOWANCES
This is an important issue which will affect millions of pensioners both now and in the future.
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