Time Magazine:

Cortellessa: Do you think states should monitor women’s pregnancies so they can know if they’ve gotten an abortion after the ban? 

Trump: I think they might do that. 

“Trump just told TIME he plans to drag our country into a dark new era that would closely resemble authoritarianism. You don't have to take our word for it, take his. He just said he would deploy the military to do mass deportations, he would allow states to monitor pregnant women to see if they have abortions, he would fire U.S. attorneys that fail to carry out his orders, and he would pardon January 6 insurrectionists.” —Nichol Wallace 

 

I think Trump should choose Governor Noem as his vice president.

They would make THE perfect MAGA ticket:

The Rapist and the Puppy Killer  

P.E. is off to California.

 

I'll be checking in now and then for some light posting.

Looking forward to spending 3 weeks with my daughter and grandsons!

Be excellent to each other!

Meanwhile, in Trump's immunity hearing at the SCOTUS:

 "In a question to Trump attorney, Sauer, Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor asked a simple hypothetical question: If the president ordered the military to assassinate a rival he views as corrupt, "is that within his official act for which he can get immunity?" Trump’s lawyer responded, “It would depend. We can see that could well be an official act." 

 WHAT? I am begging MAGA supporters to tell me that that is what our founding fathers wanted."

This is how a tyrant, king, or despot acts, not the head of a democratic republic.

Trumpublican Logic

 

House Republicans: “Biden Must do something about the border”

Biden: “Pass the Border Bill”

Trump: “Don’t pass the border bill, it may help Biden”

House Republicans: “No Border Bill if it's connected to the funding of Ukraine, which we don’t want”

Biden: “Pass the border bill”

House Republicans: “We just passed the Ukraine bill that we said we didn’t want and that we used as the reason for not passing the Border bill”

Biden: “Pass the border Bill”

Republicans: Crickets

BTW: Happy "Inject Disinfectant Into Your Veins Day," from Dr. Trump

 

It’s hilarious that Trump supporters actually defend him by saying:

“He did NOT tell people to inject bleach!!

He simply said doctors should experiment with injecting disinfectant directly into people’s lungs.” https://t.co/BvEsrukBZN

— Jon Cryer (@MrJonCryer) April 23, 2024

Lindsey Graham @LindseyGrahamSC: "If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed.......and we will deserve it."

 

David Axelrod: 

 

“...As Trump sits and watches the criminal trial he hoped to avoid unfold, he must know that a potential reckoning he has spent a lifetime eluding could be coming. He has been reduced to a criminal defendant in a courtroom where someone else has absolute power and the rules very definitely apply. The weariness and vulnerability captured in those courtroom images betray a growing recognition that he could wind up as the thing his old man most reviled:” 

 A convicted criminal? No, worse. 

A loser.”

Writer Fiona Webster:

"To those who’ve known DJT a long time, or who used to work for him, it’s no surprise the gravity & process of this criminal trial would uniquely & severely grate on him. Stephanie Grisham, Trump's former WH press secretary, commented on his complaints of the courtroom being cold, saying, 'In his normal world, someone would have jumped up & run, not walked, to get the temperature perfect for him. This entire experience must be beyond uncomfortable for him—not just the fact that it dives into such personal details, but that he has absolutely no control for probably the 1st time since he was a young child.' ”

Miles Taylor:

"When Trump would see disaster strike around the country, it’s the President’s job sign these disaster declarations and send federal aid.. but if a disaster happened in a blue state, Trump saw an opportunity because he was like ‘this is the state where the governor doesn’t like me, people who didn’t vote for me, maybe I don’t sign that disaster declaration or maybe I call up the governor and see if he’s willing to cut me a deal.’ That was his mindset and we saw that happen in several circumstances. We talked him off of it but it’s the type of thing that will happen in a second term."

GOP Senator Marco Rubio: “For years to come, there are many people on the right, in the media and voters at large, that are going to be having to explain and justify how they fell into this trap of supporting Donald Trump.”
(March 2016)
pic.twitter.com/Gzca6c5soa

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 22, 2024

Tell us, Senator Rubio, HOW DID YOU FALL INTO THE TRUMP TRAP?

FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP...

 

has instructed his lawyers in his criminal trial to tell the Court that he wants to be referred to as "President Trump."

We have only ONE president at a time.

Trump is the FORMER president, who lost the 2020 election and never conceded to the winner (first time in our history.)

Trump doesn't deserve to be called "President Trump." He's NOT the president, and when he was, he incited an insurrection against his own government with the purpose of overturning a free and fair election, and he said his own vice president deserved to be hanged because Mike Pence wouldn't break the law to keep Trump in power.

Trump should be referred to as "Defendant Trump."

That's what he is. A defendant in a criminal trial.

Stormy arrives at the courthouse today. Quite a fashion statement!

(Mushrooms are photoshopped.)

The Defendant blames Biden for his bad behavior.

JoJo From Jerz:

“ This week alone, Donald The Godfarter Trump trended for ripping ass mid-snooze in court, he lost his bid to pause a string of civil lawsuits related to the Jan. 6th attack, he lost a motion to have Judge Merchan recuse, he lost every attempt to delay that trial, he found out he might be held in contempt for repeatedly violating his gag order, he got scolded for harassing a potential juror, his Truth Social stock went down faster than Lauren Boebert’s hand at a kids show, and he found out that the bond he said he had secured for his business fraud case will likely end up being voided because the bond company doesn’t actually have the funds to cover it.

All of this while being subjected to a fweeeezing cold courtroom and having to wait hours without his phone in between his feeding/Addy/accordion hands “witch hunt” tantrum times.

And then today, many of his MAGA minions turned on him and his daddy Vladdy by passing critical aid for Ukraine a few hours before he had to cancel his NC Hatefest due to bad weather.

Trial starts Monday.”

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

SATURDAY NIGHT FUNNIES

 

LOL!!!!!!

 

MT GREENE (R-LOONY TUNES) CONTINUES TO DEMONSTRATE HER ALLEGIANCE TO THE BUTCHER OF MOSCOW, PUTIN

 

Funding for Ukraine and Israel has been hotly contested in Congress. 

For Marjorie Traitor Greene, it’s just fodder for trolling. 

As two separate supplemental aid packages make their way through the House, Greene has proposed a series of outlandish amendments to both bills. 

For a measure on Ukrainian military aid, Greene submitted amendments requiring members who vote for the aid to “conscript in the Ukrainian army,” and directing President Joe Biden to withdraw from NATO.

In the below video, MT Greene gets deservedly humiliated by a scholar and expert on Ukraine, Nazis, and Fascists. 

If Greene had any self-awareness (she doesn't -- stupid people rarely do), she'd take a lesson from this spanking she got from Dr. Timothy Snyder, (the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. He speaks five and reads ten European languages), and not speak again on subjects she knows nothing about:

WOW. https://t.co/p03IkBeMkA

— Unni Hundhammer🇳🇴🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@UnniHundhammer) April 19, 2024

Lies, and the Lying Liar Who Tells Them:

 

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Remember when MT Greene (R-GA) appeared with pro-Hitler, pro-Putin, neo-Nazi, Nick Fuentes?

 

And just recently wondered if US aide to Ukraine would fall into the hands of Nazis?

Here is your new Putler, US. If you can’t read between the lines, and see what’s going on, there is no hope for you. https://t.co/YKrUM9d8s8

— Anne Grete🇳🇴 (@Grete77136Anne) April 18, 2024

 

Senate Dismisses Impeachment Charges Against Mayorkas Without a Trial

Democrats quickly swept aside the articles of impeachment accusing the homeland security secretary of refusing to enforce immigration laws and breach of public trust, calling them unconstitutional.  

“Tabling articles of impeachment would be unprecedented in the history of the Senate — it’s as simple as that,” said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader. 

 Mr. McConnell did not mention that he voted in favor of an unsuccessful Republican effort in 2021 to dismiss a second impeachment case against former President Donald J. Trump over the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol before the Senate held a trial."

Yes. Trump deserved an "F."

 

SERIOUSLY, America! Is this the best you can do?

 

Comer: I believe that the President should be impeached. I mean, when you look at all of the bad policies, you can't impeach for bad policy.

This is the sort of "thinking" that permeates Trumplandia: Nonsensical and confused. It's like a Conservative declaring, "Trump is not a true Conservative, but he does represent our values."

Comer: I believe that the President should be impeached. I mean, when you look at all of the bad policies, you can't impeach for bad policy. pic.twitter.com/fcmyjxB3H8

— Acyn (@Acyn) April 16, 2024

MAGAs: They love Trump and they love authoritarians/dictators.

The Captain of the Mother Ship:

"MAYBE CHANGING PRESIDENTS SO OFTEN IS WHAT CAUSES OUR WEAK, CONFUSED REACTIONS TO MOST THINGS….

MAYBE WE NEED A DICTATOR !! 

SOMEONE WHO MAKES DECISIONS AND STICKS TO THEM AND THE WORLD KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE."

The Mother Ship's captain is a HUGE fan of authoritarians/dictators:

"I happen to be a huge fan of Salvador’s President Bukele and she is, too!  She’s very proud of him and all he’s doing there.  (Remember Kamala went to Central America to figure out what makes the illegals come from those countries?  She never visited El Salvador to see what Bukele is doing to KEEP his people, of course….creating jobs, arresting gangs, etc…) I told her we need a president Bukele here in America, too! She beamed!"

****************************

So the Captain of the Mother Ship, who often claims how much she loves America, is a great admirer of Bukele, an anti-democratic authoritarian? 

Yes, he's gone after the gangs and eliminated most of their thuggery, but at what cost? He is moving toward being a dictator. 

 "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." --B. Franklin

"Bukele has made moves to tighten his grip on power. 

"Bukele's legislative allies removed and replaced members of the Supreme Court, stacking the court with loyalists. That move made it possible for Bukele to run for an immediate second term, even though El Salvador's Constitution forbids it, because the court reinterpreted that section of the Constitution in 2021. 

 In 2023, in what opponents said was another effort to consolidate power, Bukele and Nuevas Ideas pushed through a law to downsize the legislature from 84 seats to 60. Nuevas Ideas could go from a two-thirds majority to occupying nearly every seat. 

 'We're moving towards a one-party state with only the semblance of democratic legitimacy,' says Jorge Cuéllar, a professor of Latin American, Latino and Caribbean studies at Dartmouth who has written about El Salvador. 'And I think that's basically already happened.'

 'People have a sense of security now and safety that they hadn't felt in quite a long time. So we can't discount that,' says Cuéllar. But thousands of people with no gang connection have also been swept up in the arrests, human rights advocates say. 

Verónica Reyna, who researches human rights for the Salvadoran group Passionist Social Services, says prisons are overcrowded and prisoners face unsanitary conditions, limits on food and water, and other mistreatment.  An aid group recorded at least 223 deaths in prisons so far during the state of emergency, 'some of these with clear signs of having suffered torture,' she told NPR in an email. 

Reyna says journalists, trade unionists and informal vendors have also been intimidated by the police and threatened with arrest. 'In some way,' she adds, the state of emergency 'is a permanent threat to anyone who may be inconvenient to the president's interests, and could be applied to anyone at any time.' 

TRUMP:

"Trump has vowed to 'root out … the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.' 

Trump’s own words have made increasingly clear how fixated he is on revenge and targeting his perceived enemies if he wins a second term in the White House next November. 

The former president has openly mused in recent days that his own indictment has 'released the genie out of the box' and would allow him to weaponize the government against his opponents." 

 'His policies are not centered around improving the lives of his supporters or Americans in general, it’s centered around consolidating power for Trump, and that way he can wield it to enact that revenge on anyone he deems as an enemy,' said Sarah Matthews, a former Trump White House and campaign press aide who resigned over the Jan. 6 riots."

Will Bunch:

"I went to the Schnecksville rally today to talk with Trump voters, because our biggest story isn't a wannabe dictator but the 74 million who want to live under one.  I met people trapped inside a hopeless doom loop of disinformation."

 

Jon Stewart: 

"Stewart listed everything from Trump claiming the New York Times leaker should be arrested (a violation of freedom of the press) to former Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper’s claims that Trump asked about shooting protestors (a violation of freedom of assembly). He also included Trump’s now-famous remark that he wants to be dictator for “one day.” 

 “Just so you know, that is how it starts,” Stewart said. “‘I’m not saying anybody has to do the arm salute! Let’s just start with a few people doing the arm salute, and we’ll see if the arm salute catches on.’”

Robert Kagan: 

" Among other things, Mr. Kagan cited Mr. Trump’s effort to overturn an election that he had lost, disregarding the will of the voters. And he noted Mr. Trump’s overt discussion of prosecuting opponents and sending the military into the streets to quell protests. 

'In just a few years, we have gone from being relatively secure in our democracy to being a few short steps, and a matter of months, away from the possibility of dictatorship,' Mr. Kagan wrote."

THIS IS WHAT IS KNOWN AS...

 

a functioning illiterate:

I will never understand why millions of Americans want to see this demented clown back in the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/nZrC2PjUr0

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 15, 2024

Trump said Gettysburg was a "beautiful thing." Fifty thousand Americans died in that battle.

And General Robert E. Lee NEVER said that. R.E. Lee is not in favor anymore because he fought against the United States of America: he was by any definition a traitor.

Donald Trump knows NOTHING about Robert E. Lee, the Battle of Gettysburg, or ANY American history.

DJ Trump is a bullshi**er of the first order.

And his cultists love every stupid thing he says because either they're as functionally illiterate as he is or they enjoy being bamboozled by the charlatan.

TRUMP: "It's a country that's failing".

 

Reality:

Trump keeps his cultists fearful and enraged by telling them the opposite of what reality is. 

 And they eagerly believe his lies.

Criminal defendant, Donald J. Trump, on trial today.

BREAKING: Donald Trump just walked into the court room in Manhattan. He blamed Joe Biden for his prosecution -- which is absurd.   Trump knows this is NOT even remotely true, but he also knows his cultists will believe any lie he tells them. He certainly understands their level of intelligence. After all, he did say he loves "the poorly educated."

Donald Trump makes history as the first ex-president and presidential candidate to be a defendant in a criminal trial for covering up his extra-marital affairs so that it would not unfavorably impact his 2016 presidential campaign -- a crime:

David Corn:

motherjonesmag

Out of the four criminal cases that Donald Trump faces, the one scheduled to begin on Monday in a New York City courtroom is not the prosecution that most addresses the threat he posed (and still poses) to American democracy.

But it carries powerful symbolism, for of all Trump’s cases, this one reminds the nation that he emerged from a sleazy sewer that blended trashy celebrity culture and misogyny.

Prosecuting Trump for falsifying business records related to the hush-money pay-off made to stop porn star Stormy Daniels from blabbing about her alleged tryst with him (while Melania was home with four-month-old Barron) may not seem as consequential and serious as placing the former president in the dock for allegedly swiping top-secret documents or for attempting to overturn American democracy so he could remain in power.

Yet it seems appropriate that this history-making trial—the first time a former commander in chief will be prosecuted on criminal charges—arises from a tawdry and tabloidesque episode. How Trumpian.

Across decades, Trump pumped up his image as a swinger who viewed women as trophies and toys, with their value dependent on their looks. The Stormy Daniels case snugly fits into this narrative: Trump was a player who apparently cheated on his wife (a new mother) with a porn star. That could have been hard-core National Enquirer material—except that Trump was an important operator within the tabloid cosmos and a close pal of David Pecker, the president of the company that published the National Enquirer. Pecker and the magazine’s editor conspired with Trump to prevent Daniels from going public with her allegation right before Election Day in 2016. That resulted in the $130,000 hush-money pay-off to her.

This caper did not arise from an abuse of power; it did not concern a serious governmental matter. But it casts a light on an important slice of Trump’s origin story: his cultivation of a sordid and crude celebrity infused with misogyny.

Where is Melania? Why isn't she supporting her husband? She's NEVER accompanied him to any of his criminal arraignments, nor is she with him today.

Why is that?

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

SATURDAY NIGHT DANCING

 

Another Trump non-issue to rile up Trump cultists:

Noncitizen voting isn’t an issue in federal elections, regardless of conspiracy theories.

 

"Former President Donald Trump turned to one of his favorite themes on Friday — the specter of immigrants improperly voting in federal elections. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson came to the former president’s Florida compound to announce that he would introduce a bill to stop those who are not citizens from voting in elections. Trump has made baseless claims about this subject before, like in 2016, when he blamed his loss of the popular vote on voting by immigrants, and then appointed a commission to investigate the issue. It disbanded without identifying a single case of a noncitizen casting a vote. He and other Republicans have recently revved up their conspiratorial claims about the issue with the influx of migrants across the southern border under Biden, contending Democrats are letting them in to add them to the voter rolls.

The theory involves two complicated subjects, immigration and voting, but it’s actually very simple. There isn’t any indication that noncitizens vote in significant numbers in federal elections or that they will in the future. It’s already a crime for them to do so. And we know it’s not a danger because various states have examined their rolls and found very few noncitizen voters."

And what on earth is Trump doing behind him? https://t.co/JiNjWO5dZL

— dorothee V. Plessis (@dorotheedillon) April 13, 2024

Trump was NEVER "pro-life!"

 Donald Trump 2016:

 

Trump, 2024:

February 16: The New York Times reported that Donald Trump—who stacked the U.S. Supreme Court with the express purpose of ending Roe v. Wade— privately confirmed his support for a national abortion ban. 

March 1: Politico reported that Donald Trump confirmed what we all knew to be true: if given the opportunity, he would sign a national abortion ban. 

March 18: In an interview with Fox News, Donald Trump again bragged about overturning Roe v. Wade and reaffirmed his support for a national abortion ban if reelected to the presidency. 

 Conservative writer, David French, NYTimes, 4/12/24: 

 "On Wednesday, Trump reversed his previous position supporting a 20-week ban on abortion; he announced that he would not support a national abortion ban if he wins the presidency, and he said the policy should instead be left up to the states. This is a traditional pro-life position, but only if you also urge states to use their autonomy to pass pro-life bills. 

Instead, Trump’s advice to voters was to “follow your heart” and “do what’s right for your family, and do what’s right for yourself.” It’s “all about the will of the people,” he said. 

This is the most pro-choice position a Republican presidential candidate has taken since at least Gerald Ford." 

 [skip] 

 "It’s no wonder, then, that the pro-life cause is in a state of emergency so soon after its greatest legal triumph, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. It has lost every referendum since the Supreme Court decided Dobbs, including ballot measures in red states like Kentucky, Kansas, Montana and Ohio. 

Early polling indicates that Florida’s proposed pro-choice referendum may well cross the 60 percent threshold needed to pass and overturn the state’s six-week abortion ban. In fact, a majority of Republican voters appear to support the referendum. 

Even more ominously from a pro-life perspective, the abortion rate rose under Trump, and the total number of abortions has actually increased since the Dobbs decision.

******************************

Donald Trump was never "pro-life." Donald Trump is "pro-Trump and for ANYTHING and any abortion position that will get him elected. 

The pro-life movement showed its true colors when it enthusiastically backed a serial adulterer, rapist, racist, sexist, misogynistic man who bragged about grabbing women’s genitals. No value placed on women in that setting. But they are ok with that. 

The pro-lifers have been had by America's greatest liar and conman.

THE FIRST RULE OF THE "FIGHT TRUMP CLUB" IS...

 

NEVER BELIEVE ANYTHING TRUMP SAYS!

Donald Trump’s video statement on abortion Monday — saying the legalities around the procedure should be up to the states — came after months of his publicly and privately discussing the possibility of a federal abortion ban. 

Trump’s positions on abortion have been a roller coaster for decades. At one point in 2015, during his run for president, he took “five positions on abortion in three days,” according to The Washington Post and as NBC News detailed at the time.

Here are some of the highlights: 

October 1999: 'I am very pro-choice' 

February 2011: 'I am pro-life' 

August 2015: Divided over defunding Planned Parenthood 

February 2016: Says he'll defund Planned Parenthood — while also praising the group 

March 2016: 'Some form of punishment' for women who seek abortions 

October 2016: Trump vows to overturn Roe v. Wade 

January 2017: Trump nominates Neil Gorsuch to Supreme Court 

October 2017: House passes 20-week abortion ban with Trump's support 

January-May 2018: Trump advocates for a 20-week national abortion ban 

July 2018: Trump nominee Brett Kavanaugh assures skeptics Roe v. Wade is 'settled' 

October 2020: Senate confirms Amy Coney Barrett June 2022: Trump said, 'God made the decision' to overturn Roe v. Wade 

November 2022: Republican midterm losses 

December 2022: McConnell blames Trump 

January 2023: Trump blames abortion for the midterm losses 

September 2023: Trump makes vague promises about an abortion compromise 

February-March 2024: Trump flirts with a national abortion ban 

(After reports surfaced that he told others he was considering a federal abortion ban at 16 weeks, his campaign dismissed them as “fake news.” Soon after, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told NBC News that “Trump is warming up to 16 weeks.” And then Trump himself in an interview suggested he’d support a 15-week ban.) 

April 2: Trump avoids answering on Florida's six-week abortion ban 

April 8: Trump says abortion should go back to the states

Trump doesn't give a flying donut about God, fetuses, girls and women, or abortion. He's transactional and will go with whatever will get people to vote for him. 

Trump now says abortion should be left up to the states.  What did he mean by this, then?:

Donald Trump is facing new blowback from anti-abortion activists for refusing to commit to national abortion restrictions and for calling Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signing of a six-week ban on the procedure a “terrible mistake.”

A DARK DAY IN ARIZONA

 

Arizona's Supreme Court, dominated by radically extreme right-wing judges, has upheld an 1864 law banning virtually all abortion - a law in effect during the Civil War and 50 years prior to Arizona becoming a state and women getting the right to vote. 

"It is a dark day in Arizona... The near-total Civil War-era [abortion] ban...only serves to create more chaos for women and doctors in our state."

— Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) on the state Supreme Court upholding 1864 abortion ban, virtually wiping out abortion access in the state pic.twitter.com/7E4rvD9xej

— The Recount (@therecount) April 9, 2024

ARIZONA REPUBLICANS DOING THEIR BEST TO TURN ARIZONA INTO IRAN AND AFGHANISTAN

 What you see here is anti-American and unconstitutional. IOW, breaking the law of the land:

@thisiscamaron Arizona senator brings prayer group into the Capitol, where they proceed to bow over the state seal and pray in tongues for their god to “release the presence of the lord” in the Senate chamber. #azpol #reprorights #everythingarizona #abortionaccess ♬ original sound - Camaron Stevenson

HAPPY SOLAR ECLIPSE DAY

 

Protect your eyes.

YOUR SUNDAY MORNING MOMENT OF REALITY

 

The Far Right Is Crawling With Eclipse Conspiracy Theories 

Everyone has lost their g-d minds

 Unfortunately, this is behind a paywall. But who's surprised? The Far Right Trumpers are claiming the recent earthquake in New Jersey and New York was some sort of signal from "God" for something, something, and that the coming solar eclipse is a warning from God as well.

It's not surprising to learn that far righters are making these absurd claims. They believe in a lying liar's claim that he won the 2020 election and that he is a devout Christian.

Trumpers are easily duped by anyone with a fake story. They're not critical thinkers.

Marjorie Taylor Greene thinks earthquake and eclipse are a warning from God Following a 4.8-magnitude earthquake felt in NYC and nearby cities, Greene says it's time to repent 

 Alex Jones weighed-in on the upcoming eclipse with, "All this is a dress rehearsal. No government in modern times have ever acted like this for a solar eclipse." 

While others on social media pointed out, mostly in jest, that today's earthquake, centered only 6.5 miles from Donald Trump’s Bedminster National Golf Club, had something to do with him.

We will experience the eclipse on Monday as a strictly natural cosmic event that has nothing to do with anything supernatural. 

 We also don't believe any of Trump's lies. 

SATURDAY NIGHT FUNNIES

 

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