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2010
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July
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- Barker's Newsbites: Friday, July 30, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, July 29, 2010
- U.S. v. Arizona -- No. CV 10-1413-PHX-SRB
- Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, July 27, 2010
- Summer Reading 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Monday, July 26, 2010
- Weekend Newsbites: Sat. & Sun., July 24 & 25, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Friday, July 23, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, July 22, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, July 21, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, July 20, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Monday, July 19, 2010
- Weekend Newsbites: Sat. & Sun., July 17 & 18, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Friday, July 16, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, July 15, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, July 14, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, July 13, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Monday, July 12, 2010
- Deputy Assistant Attorney General Julie Fernandes
- Weekend Newsbites: Sat. & Sun., July 10 & 11
- Barker's Newsbites: Friday, July 9, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, July 8, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, July 7, 2010
- Barker's Newsbites: Tuesday, July 6, 2010
- Weekend Newsbites: Sat., Sun., & Mon., July 3/4/5
- Barker's Newsbites: Friday, July 2, 2010
- Operation Wetback
- Barker's Newsbites: Thursday, July 1, 2010
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July
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About Me
- William R. Barker
- Pearl River, NY High School Class of '81; Northeastern University, Boston, MA Class of '87.
11 comments:
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2007202,00.html
President Obama has called the BP oil spill "the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced," and so has just about everyone else.
* NOT ME! I NEVER BOUGHT INTO THAT RIDICULOUS HYPERBOLE. SORRY, TIME MAGAZINE... WRONG AGAIN!
(*SMIRK*) (*SNORT*)
Rush Limbaugh has been a rare voice arguing that the spill...is anything less than an ecological calamity, scoffing at the avalanche of end-is-nigh eco-hype.
(*CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)
Well, Rush has a point.
* GIVE THE WRITER POINTS FOR HONESTY!
The Deepwater explosion was an awful tragedy for the 11 workers who died on the rig; it's the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. It's also inflicting serious economic and psychological damage on coastal communities that depend on tourism, fishing and drilling. But so far...it does not seem to be inflicting severe environmental damage.
"The impacts have been much, much less than everyone feared," says geochemist Jacqueline Michel, a federal contractor who is coordinating shoreline assessments in Louisiana.
Yes, the spill killed birds - but so far, less than 1% of the birds killed by the Exxon Valdez. Yes, we've heard horror stories about oiled dolphins - but, so far, wildlife response teams have collected only three visibly oiled carcasses of any mammals. Yes, the spill prompted harsh restrictions on fishing and shrimping, but so far, the region's fish and shrimp have tested clean, and the restrictions are gradually being lifted. And, yes, scientists have warned that the oil could accelerate the destruction of Louisiana's disintegrating coastal marshes - a real slow-motion ecological calamity - but, so far, shorelines assessment teams have only found about 350 acres of oiled marshes, when Louisiana was already losing about 15,000 acres of wetlands every year.
* FUNNY WHAT YOU LEARN WHEN YOU READ BARKER'S NEWSBITES, HUH?
* To be continued...
* CONTINUING... (Part 2 of 2)
Coastal scientist Paul Kemp, a former Louisiana State University professor who is now a National Audubon Society vice president, compares the impact of the spill on the vanishing marshes to "a sunburn on a cancer patient."
Marine scientist Ivor Van Heerden, another former LSU prof who's working for a spill response contractor, says "there's just no data to suggest this is an environmental disaster. [W]e're not seeing catastrophic impacts," says Van Heerden. "There's a lot of hype, but no evidence to justify it."
* IMAGINE THAT! (*SMIRK*)
The scientists I spoke with cite four basic reasons the initial eco-fears seem overblown. First, the Deepwater Horizon oil, unlike the black glop from the Valdez, is comparatively light and degradable, which is why the slick in the Gulf is dissolving surprisingly rapidly now that the gusher has been capped. Second, the Gulf of Mexico, unlike Prince William Sound, is balmy at more than 85 degrees, which also helps bacteria break down oil. Third, heavy flows of Mississippi River water helped keep the oil away from the coast, where it can do much more damage. Finally, Mother Nature can be incredibly resilient. Van Heerden's assessment team showed me around Casse-tete Island in Timbalier Bay, where new shoots of spartina grasses were sprouting in oiled marshes, and new leaves were growing on the first black mangroves I had ever seen that were actually black. "It comes back fast, doesn't it?" Van Heerden said.
Van Heerden is controversial in Louisiana, so I should mention that this isn't the first time he and Kemp helped persuade me the conventional wisdom about a big story was wrong. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, when the Army Corps of Engineers was still insisting that a gigantic surge had overwhelmed its levees, they gave me a tour that debunked the prevailing narrative, demonstrating that most of the breached floodwalls showed no signs of overtopping. Eventually, the Corps admitted that they were right, that the surge in New Orleans was not so gigantic, that engineering failures had drowned the city.
Van Heerden and Kemp were right about Katrina, and when it comes to BP, they're sticking to the evidence gathered by the spill response teams - which all include a state and a federal representative as well as a BP contractor. So far, the teams have collected nearly 3,000 dead birds, but less than half were visibly oiled; some may have died from eating oil-contaminated food, but others may have simply died naturally at a time when the Gulf happened to be crawling with carcass-seekers. In any case, the Valdez may have killed as many as 435,000 birds. The teams have found 488 dead sea turtles, which is unfortunate, but only 17 were visibly oiled; otherwise, they have found only one other dead reptile in the entire Gulf.
The shoreline teams have documented more than 600 miles of oiled beaches and marshes, but the beaches are fairly easy to clean, and the beleaguered marshes don't seem to be suffering much additional damage. Oil has blackened the fringes of the marshes, but most of it stayed within a few feet of the edge; waves from a recent tropical storm did carry some more oil a few meters inland, but very little of it infiltrated the wetland soils that determine the health of the marsh. LSU coastal scientist Eugene Turner has dedicated much of his career to documenting how the oil industry has ravaged Louisiana's coast with canals and pipelines, but he says the BP spill will be a comparative blip; he predicts that the oil will destroy fewer marshes than the airboats deployed to clean up the oil.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jul/28/omb-nominee-got-900000-after-citigroup-bailout/
President Obama's choice to be the government's chief budget officer received a bonus of more than $900,000 from Citigroup Inc. last year - after the Wall Street firm for which he worked received a massive taxpayer bailout.
* WELL IT'S NOT LIKE IT WAS A MILLION DOLLARS... RIGHT!? (*SMIRK*) (*SNICKER*)
The money was paid to Jacob Lew in January 2009, about two weeks before he joined the State Department as deputy secretary of state, according to a newly filed ethics form. The payout came on top of the already hefty $1.1 million Citigroup compensation package for 2008 that he reported last year.
* NICE! (*SMIRK*) (*SNORT*)
Administration officials and members of Congress last year expressed outrage that executives at other bailed-out firms, such as American International Group Inc., awarded bonuses to top executives. State Department officials at the time steadfastly refused to say if Mr. Lew received a post-bailout bonus from Citigroup in response to inquiries from The Washington Times.
(*ARMS OUT WIDE; GAZING HEAVENWARD*)
White House officials declined to discuss the compensation Wednesday...
* YEAH. I BET! (HEY... MAYBE GOOD OL' "UNCLE JAKE" WILL THROW SASHA A FEW BUCKS TO BUY A SOUVENIR WHILE VACATIONING IN SPAIN?!)
"Jack Lew has dedicated two decades to public service," White House spokeswoman Moira Mack wrote in an e-mail to The Times.
* OH, YEAH... "SERVICE"... "PUBLIC SERVICE"... WHAT A GUY... WHAT A GUY... WHAT A GUY...
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40416.html
A House ethics report charges that Rep. Charles Rangel, an iconic New York powerbroker, broke the chamber's rules...
* YA GOTTA LOVE POLITICO! (*LAUGHING*) "ICONIC POWERBROKER." "BROKE THE CHAMBER'S RULES." (*CHUCKLE*)
The panel's statement of alleged violations reports that there is substantial reason to believe that the 40-year House veteran violated a series of 13 ethics and federal regulations on public officials.
* "VIOLATED." (*SNORT*) "REGULATIONS."
* HMM... HOW'BOUT WE TRY "BROKE THE LAW," OR... PERHAPS... "ENGAGED IN CORRUPTION." (*SMIRK*)
* NAH... NOT "GOOD OL' CHARLIE..." (*SMIRK*)
The headliner allegations are that he improperly solicited money from corporate officials and lobbyists for the Charles B. Rangel Public Policy Center in New York...
* WHICH TO ME IS THE LEAST OF IT UNLESS IT TURNS OUT RANGEL WAS GETTING CASH KICK-BACKS.
...that he failed to disclose hundreds of dollars of income and assets on financial disclosure forms...
* "HUNDREDS" OF DOLLARS...??? (*CHUCKLE*) HMM... TYPO OR SIMPLY WISHFUL THINKING? (*SMIRK*)
... that he maintained multiple rent-stabilized apartments in violation of New York City rules...
* WHICH OF COURSE SAVED HIM GOD KNOWS HOW MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OVER THE YEARS...
(*SMIRK*) (*SHRUG*)
...and failed to pay income taxes on a Dominican island resort home.
* HMM... CAN'T HELP BUT NOTICE THE REPORTER FAILS TO GIVE A FIGURE EXACTLY HOW MUCH MONEY RANGEL STOLE FROM THE GOVERNMENT VIA HIS TAX FRAUD...
(*SNICKER*) (*SHRUG*)
The 41-page Statement of Alleged Violations, released Thursday afternoon, offers a sweeping indictment of Rangel, drawing a portrait of a lawmaker who failed to accurately report his financial assets, used his office to raise money for the Rangel center, and avoided taxes.
* HMM... SOUNDS LIKE CRIMINAL ACTIVITY TO ME! (SO... WHEN WILL HOLDER BE FILING CHARGES...???)
* SERIOUSLY, FOLKS, IF THIS FORETELLS HOW THE MSM WILL COVER RANGEL'S "TRIAL" THEN WE'RE IN WORSE SHAPE THAN EVEN I'VE LONG THOUGHT!
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-grayson-sends-dvd-20100728,0,154249,full.story
If U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) were a rock star, his latest PR blitz - a DVD sent to tens of thousands of Central Florida residents - would be called Grayson's Greatest Hits.
The DVD comes wrapped inside a mailer covered with promotional slogans: "Congressman Alan Grayson, Hard at Work for You," "He works hard. He pays attention. He gets things done," and "Video DVD Inside: Watch Congressman Grayson in Action!"
Thanks to perks given to all members of Congress, it's not Grayson's campaign but taxpayers who footed the nearly $73,000 bill to produce and mail the DVD to 100,000 homes in Grayson's district of Lake, Marion, Orange and Osceola counties.
* YEP. THAT NANCY PELOSI IS REALLY "CLEANING OUT THE SWAMP."
[L]ike the director's cut of a Hollywood movie release, the DVD is sprinkled with narration from Grayson. Of the 31 separate clips on the DVD, 10 feature Grayson wearing an American flag tie and seated in front of a photo of the U.S. Capitol, telling viewers what they're about to see or criticizing the Fed, bank bailouts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Though Grayson isn't the first lawmaker to use taxpayer money to send a DVD, aides with the bipartisan House administration committee — which oversees franking requests and approved Grayson's DVD - could recall only a handful of other examples.
* INTERESTING, ISN'T IT, THAT NONE OF THESE "HANDFUL OF OTHER EXAMPLES" IS SPECIFIED/IDENTIFIED...???
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/28/AR2010072806141.html
The Obama administration is seeking to make it easier for the FBI to compel companies to turn over records of an individual's Internet activity without a court order if agents deem the information relevant to a terrorism or intelligence investigation.
(*SIGH*)
[W]hat officials portray as a technical clarification designed to remedy a legal ambiguity strikes industry lawyers and privacy advocates as an expansion of the power the government wields through so-called national security letters.
* ANYONE EVER READ "THE EAGLE HAS LANDED" BY JACK HIGGINS? REMEMBER THE "FUHRUR LETTER?"
These missives, which can be issued by an FBI field office on its own authority, require the recipient to provide the requested information and to keep the request secret.
* KEEP THE REQUEST SECRET FOR HOW LONG...???
To critics, the move is another example of an administration retreating from campaign pledges to enhance civil liberties in relation to national security. The proposal is "incredibly bold, given the amount of electronic data the government is already getting," said Michelle Richardson, American Civil Liberties Union legislative counsel.
The critics say its effect would be to greatly expand the amount and type of personal data the government can obtain without a court order. "You're bringing a big category of data - records reflecting who someone is communicating with in the digital world, Web browsing history and potentially location information - outside of judicial review," said Michael Sussmann, a Justice Department lawyer under President Bill Clinton who now represents Internet and other firms.
* HEY! I KNOW MIKE!
The use of the national security letters to obtain personal data on Americans has prompted concern.
* YA THINK...?!?!
The Justice Department issued 192,500 national security letters from 2003 to 2006...
(*SIGH*)
The officials said the transactional information at issue, which does not include Internet search queries, is the functional equivalent of telephone toll billing records, which the FBI can obtain without court authorization.
* AND WHY CAN THE FBI OBTAIN TELEPHONE BILLING RECORDS WITHOUT A WARRANT...???
http://www.newsplex.com/home/headlines/99497354.html
* FILE UNDER: "ONLY IN FRIGG'N OBAMA LAND!"
President Barack Obama posed with a Charlottesville woman at a White House event on July 19. What we didn't know - and what the White House may not have known - is that court records show she's been found guilty of prescription drug fraud.
* IF THE WHITE HOUSE DIDN'T KNOW, THEN I SUGGEST WE NEED NEW LEADERSHIP - AND STAFF - AT THE SECRET SERVICE.
CBS19 learned Thursday that Leslie Macko, the Charlottesville woman who appeared in the Rose Garden with President Barack Obama on July 19, has had more than one run-in with the law. In June of 2007, Macko was charged with grand larceny. The charge was reduced in court to petit larceny, and she was sentenced to two years good behavior.
Charlottesville resident Leslie Macko was once employed at ACAC in the Albemarle Square Shopping Center. In April 2009, she lost her job as an aesthetician in the spa at ACAC. (CAC CEO George Wells tells the Newsplex that Macko was not fired because of any illegal activity, but Wells would not comment on the condition of her termination.)
[When] President Barack Obama called on Congress...to extend unemployment insurance[,] Macko stood next to the President of the United States as his example of the need to extend jobless benefits.
[President Obama's guest, supposedly a poster child for the need to yet again increase government borrowing and spending] was found guilty of prescription drug fraud in March 2009, one month before Macko lost her job at ACAC.
Macko joined two other unemployed people and President Obama at the podium for a speech...
"We need to extend unemployment compensation benefits for women like Leslie Macko, who lost her job at a fitness center last year, and has been looking for work ever since. Because she's eligible for only a few more weeks of unemployment, she's doing what she never thought she'd have to do. Not at this point, anyway. She's turning to her father for financial support," Obama said in his speech.
CBS19 contacted Leslie Macko about the conviction, and she declined to comment until she speaks with her attorney. We have also reached out to the White House to see if they know the full story behind the woman they chose to stand next to President Obama, but have not received comment from them either.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704201604575373253893718806.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
*** The author - Jack Devine - is a former CIA deputy director of operations and chief of the CIA Afghan Task Force 1986-87.
The U.S. military will not achieve anything resembling victory in Afghanistan, no matter how noble the objective and heroic the effort.
* AGREED. (AND CERTAINLY NOT AT ANY BEARABLE COST - EITHER IN LIVES OR TREASURE.)
It's time to face this reality. We should start by developing a new covert action plan to be implemented by the Central Intelligence Agency. The strategy should focus on forging the kinds of relationships necessary to keep Afghanistan from re-emerging as al Qaeda's staging ground once our forces depart, and also on continuing the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
If there is any lasting lesson from the recent demise of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, it's that the large and visible occupying army he commanded in Afghanistan is simply the wrong force to wage the battles being fought there. The British and the Russians know this too well.
In the '80s we essentially ended the Cold War with a well-funded and broadly supported covert action program.
In 2001...a small band of CIA operators restored old ties to Afghan tribal leaders, teamed up with U.S. Special Forces and, backed with U.S. air power, toppled the Taliban in a matter of weeks.
Our presence in Afghanistan is better left unseen. Most Afghans, even those willing to deal with us, would rather we get our military out of their country. A covert action program would address this concern. It would also cost less than a military effort in treasure and lives, and allow the U.S. to continue to protect its interests...
Afghanistan is a tribal society, not a nation state, and tribal interests are often easy to accommodate with cash and other assets that help tribal leaders maintain their power. Make no mistake: We're not talking about supporting advocates for Jeffersonian democracy here. But these partnerships have proven dependable and highly advantageous to U.S. policy makers in promoting regional stability in the past.
Preventing a return to a pre-9/11 version of Afghanistan is a realistic and achievable goal as long as our strategy is calibrated to the Afghan political, cultural and physical landscapes. A CIA-run covert action program is by nature custom-tailored to the reality on the ground. As such, it is a highly valuable tool that we should use to advance a modified objective in Afghanistan.
Covert activities should not be outsourced to private contractors, as has reportedly occurred in Afghanistan.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703940904575395713088598850.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLESixthNews
[New York] state education officials on Wednesday acknowledged that hundreds of thousands of children had been misled into believing they were proficient in English and math, when in fact they were not.
[*HEADACHE*]
[L]ast year more than 77% of New York state students in grades 3-8 reached "proficiency" in state English exams.
The bar for what it means to be "proficient" has now been set substantially higher.
(*SNORT*)
Under the new standards, only 53% were considered proficient this year. The difference amounts to nearly 300,000 students across the state.
(*CRACKING UP AT THE ABSURDITY OF IT ALL*)
"We are facing the hard truth that the gains in the past were simply not as advertised," said Merryl Tisch, the chancellor of the state Board of Regents, during a news conference announcing the new standards.
* IT'S NOT FUNNY, FOLKS; IT'S SAD... IT'S SICK... IT'S DISGUSTING. TAXPAYERS, CHILDREN, AND PARENTS HAVE ALL BEEN ROBBED.
In New York City, the number of students scoring proficient in English fell to 42% this year from 69% in 2009. In math, 54% of city children scored proficient this year, down from 82%.
(*SHAKING MY HEAD IN DISGUST*)
The huge drops across the state raised questions about how much of the academic gains touted in the past several years were an illusion.
* YA DON'T SAY...?!?! (*SMIRK*)
State officials said they believed some of the gains represented actual learning - though they acknowledged it was impossible to say how much.
(*SNORT*)
They were careful not to assign blame for the previously low standards...
* NO... OF COURSE NOT! (*SMIRK*)
In Rochester...the number of 8th-graders proficient in math dropped to 15% from 43%, while in Syracuse the number fell to 13% from 35%.
* 15% IN ROCHESTER... MEANING 85% WEREN'T PROFICIENT. 13% IN SYRACUSE... MEANING 87% WEREN'T PROFICIENT.
The losses were also more pronounced for minority children. The number of black children proficient in English in 3rd grade through 8th grade was cut nearly in half, to 34% from 64%. Among Hispanic children, 65% proficiency in English turned into 37%.
* MEANING 66% OF BLACK CHILDREN AND 63% OF HISPANIC CHILDREN BASICALLY FAILED!!!
* FOLKS... WE'RE IN DEEP, DEEP DOO-DOO.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703578104575397302459792766.html?mod=WSJ_hps_MIDDLETopStories
Citigroup Inc. will pay $75 million to settle regulatory charges that it failed to disclose $40 billion in subprime exposure to investors in the second and third quarters of 2007.
* HMM... YA THINK THEY'LL USE TARP MONEY TO PAY THE FINE? (SERIOUS QUESTION!)
The settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission won't charge Citigroup with fraud, but rather material omission of disclosure requirements...
* OH... WELL... NOW THAT'S A TOTALLY DIFFERENT MATTER... (*SNORT*)
The SEC alleges that Citi "repeatedly made misleading statements" in conference calls with investors and public filings about the extent of its holdings of assets tied to subprime mortgages.
* HMM... IS THAT A "MR. CITI" OR A "MS. CITI?" (*SMIRK*) WHO EXACTLY ALLEGEDLY MADE REPEATED MISLEADING STATEMENTS?
Former Chief Financial Officer Gary Crittenden and former head of investor relations Arthur Tildesley Jr., the two executives in charge of investor communication and public disclosure and discussion of Citi's financials, will pay $100,000 and $80,000, respectively, the SEC said.
* BIG FRIGG'N DEAL! YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT GUYS WHO PROBABLY SPEND MORE THAN THAT ON JEWELRY PURCHASES FOR THEIR WIVES, DAUGHTERS, AND MISTRESSES IN AN AVERAGE YEAR!
* SERIOUSLY... IF THEY'VE COMMITTED FRAUD WHY AREN'T THEY BEING TRIED, CONVICTED, AND SENTENCED TO JAIL FOR COMMITTING FRAUD?
* HMM... I WONDER IF EITHER MAN WILL BE AT CHELSEA'S WEDDING THIS WEEKEND...???
Mr. Crittenden left Citi in mid-2009. Mr. Tildesley now has a different role at Citi; both neither admitted or denied the SEC's findings...
* TILDESLEY IS STILL AT CITI...?!?!
(*MY HEAD IS READY TO EXPLODE*)
* WELL... I SUPPOSE IT COULD BE WORSE... MAYBE OBAMA WILL APPOINT ONE OR BOTH MEN TO AN ADMINISTRATION POST!?!?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703700904575391464237730330.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop
* NOW THE FOLLOWING IS INTERESTING... AND INSTRUCTIVE... AND CAUTIONARY!
Today's "teachable moment" is Tennessee Republican Zach Wamp, who claimed in a recent interview that ObamaCare is making secession an attractive option.
* I WOULDN'T SAY "ATTRACTIVE." (*ROLLING MY EYES*)
Mr. Wamp later said his remarks were taken out of context...
(*CHUCKLE*)
Mr. Wamp, now in a three-way gubernatorial primary, is an instructive lesson in the ways that Washington often changes politicians more than they change it. Elected with the Gingrich class of 1994, Mr. Wamp went on to become a member in good standing of the powerful Appropriations Committee and an epic spender and earmarker, especially for the Tennessee Valley Authority and other federal boondoggles.
On the National Taxpayers Union's annual fiscal responsibility scorecard, Mr. Wamp rated 54% in 2004, 62% in 2005 and 56% in 2006 during the dissolute late period of the Republican majority, down from 87% in 1995. He told NPR in 2006 amid backbench attempts to impose even modest spending discipline that "You know, I will defend until my death the ability of the Congress to direct the funding or to earmark projects."
Mr. Wamp is once again trying to appeal to the GOP's opposition to big government, but Tennessee voters will want to look at his priorities when he was in a position of actual power.
* YEP! DAMN THE RINOs TO HELL!
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