Windham County Action Network (WeCAN)

“I had many moments of disappointment, despondency, and exhaustion, but I always found that by reading the literature and showing up at my lab, looking at the data (sets) as they emerged day by day and discussing them with my students and postdoctoral fellows, I would gain a notion of what to do next.”
Eric Richard Kandel 
(an Austrian-American neuroscientist and a University Professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University)

Friends, we'd like to take a moment to acknowledge that this week has been particularly trying for all of us. Our hearts and minds are with those in Syria and Sweden who are suffering and our intentions and concerns lie with those who have lost so much and are in pain.
In these times it is often easy to turn to disappointment and despondency, and to truly feel the exhaustion that has been creeping up in many of us since the start of the year. It can be quite difficult to see what the next steps may be and easy to start doubting yourself and your (incredibly amazing) abilities.
This week, if you can, may we suggest that you make an extra effort to "show up" to an event, a meeting, or even to a dinner date with like-minded friends. In Dr. Eric Kandel's words, look at the facts and discuss them with your peers. Through conversation and critical thinking ("showing up") it is often easier to determine what next steps to take. Talking openly about our disappointments and fears with those we trust can relieve stress, too, which can lead to better sleep, lower blood pressure, and a better sense of well being. 
And the better we feel, the more change we can facilitate:)

(For more tips to manage stress, check out this list by the American Psychological Association: http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/manage-stress.aspx)


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Happening TODAY, Sunday, April 9th, 2017


Song & Solidarity Weekly Meeting
Sunday, April 9th, 2017 at the Atrium in Holton Hall at The Winston Prouty  School (20 Austine Drive, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 
4th floor. 3pm. 

More information can be found on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/songnsolidarity/. There, you can sign up for regular e-mails. If you have questions not answered there, send us an e-mail at [email protected]. Thank you and we hope to see you soon!


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Weekly Update April 10th, 2017-April 16th, 2017

Vermont Workers' Center Organizing Committee
Tuesday, April 11th, 2017 at The Root Social Justice Center (The Whetstone Studio for the Arts, 28 Williams Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 1st Floor. 6pm-8pm. 
Doors open at 5:45pm. 

Building a movement for workers' rights and healthcare justice in Vermont. More info: [email protected] or 802-257-4436.

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Parenting 4 Social Justice Chat 
Wednesday, April 12th, 2017at the Brooks Memorial Library (224 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301). 6pm-8pm.

This is the second in a series of 3 chats (March 8, Apr 12, May 10) where we will be focusing on race and racial justice. We will share helpful resources, support each other in practicing hard conversations with our kids, and we will make a plan for how to take action with our kids. There will be a break-out discussion group for parents of kids of color. Spread the word!

Free and open to the public. Light Refreshments. All children welcome. Childcare is provided for kids ages 3 and up. Please RSVP to reserve a spot for your kids. I heard a rumor there might be a pajama party in the works... kids are welcome to wear PJs!

Parenting for Social Justice Chats at the Brooks Memorial Library are three Wednesdays from 6:00pm-8:00pm: March 8th, April 12th, and May 10th. Come to one or all. This initial series will focus on race and racial justice. We will have a break-out discussion group for parents of kids of color.

Parenting is beautiful and it is challenging. One of the things we struggle with as parents is having hard conversations with our kids. Many of us are seeking support and ideas for how to have the hard conversations with our kids about racism and police brutality, about immigration, about discrimination against Muslims, and many other racial justice issues. And we are looking to turn those conversations into action. The goal of these conversations is to contribute to successful communities by equipping parents with tools for engaging their children on social justice topics. This group provides a much needed boost of warmth, creativity, forgiveness, accountability, and love for the hard work ahead.

We will highlight resources and books. We often work in small groups, where parents share the hard social justice conversations they would like support with. We often practice those conversations to get group feedback. We always make commitments to taking action.

As Angela Berkfield wrote in her recent blog post on the Power of Community - “By sharing my parenting for social justice struggles with the world it made me accountable to continue trying, even through the struggle. Because of the support I have received from community I have seen my family shift in some subtle, and some groundbreaking ways.”

You can read more at www.act4socialjustice.com/power-of-coming-together
For more information or to RSVP email [email protected] or call 802.254.3400.


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Trans Women & Femme's Spectrum Group
Thursday, April 13th, 2017. For location information please email [email protected].
This is a regular meeting (the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month) open to trans women spectrum people with the purpose of focusing on both socializing and support.

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Sign-Making for the April 15th Brattleboro Tax March
Sponsored by Women Marching Forward

Thursday, April 13th, 2017 at the Brattleboro Food Co-Op Community Room (1 Canal Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 6pm - 7pm.
Gather to make signs for the April 15th Brattleboro Tax March. Bring your own supplies (we'll also have some additional cardboard and paint available.)


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People's Climate March Art Build
sponsored by 350Brattleboro

Friday, April 14th, 2017 at the Brattleboro Food Co-Op Community Room (1 Canal Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 4pm-7pm. Please use the 7 Canal Street entrance for this event.
Come join 350Brattleboro for an afternoon of ARTivism! We'll be making signs and banners for the People's Climate March in Washington, D.C. that will take place on Saturday, April 29th. No artistic skills necessary (although if you are an awesome artist then we'd love to see you there). Pizza likely. Inspiration, positivity and community-building guaranteed! Basic materials will be provided, but we'd love it if you brought extra poster board, canvas, sheets, paint, paintbrushes, pencils, rulers, scissors, etc. 

Questions? Email [email protected]


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Protest Vigils at TD Bank
Sponsored by Post Oil Solutions

Brattleboro
Friday, April 14th, 2017 (and every Friday) in front of TD Bank Brattleboro (215 Main St, Brattleboro, VT 05301). Noon-1pm. Signs will be provided.

Bellows Falls
Friday, April 14th, 2017 (and every Friday) in front of the TD Bank Bellows Falls (2 Church St, Bellows Falls, VT 05101). 1pm-2pm. Please bring your own signs.

TD is a major investor in Tar Sands. TD helps to fund the Dakota Access Pipeline. The State of Vermont Keeps Most of Our Cash in TD.
What You Can You Do (besides attending the vigils):
·       If you’re a TD depositor, change banks!
·       If you’re a Vermonter, demand that state funds not be deposited with a bank investing in fossil fuels.

Contact your state legislators to support the bills in the House & Senate calling for a commission to explore the possibility of a State Bank. 
Founded in 2005, Post Oil Solutions is a 501c3 community organizing project in Southeastern Vermont whose mission is to help empower the people of the Central Connecticut River Valley bioregion to develop sustainable, resilient , collaborative, and socially just communities leading to a self- and community-sufficient post petroleum society. For more information please contact [email protected] or call 802.869.2141.


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Soil Carbon Restoration Gives Hope for Reversing Global Warming
Sponsored by Living Earth Action Group

Friday, April 14th, 2017 at the Congregational Church of Westminster West (44 Church Street, Westminster, VT, 05346). 
5pm.
A talk by Marilyn Chiarello and Marlene Everingham. There is growing evidence that the answer to cooling the planet can be found right beneath our feet. In this presentation, we will take a closer look at soil, healthy soil full of microbial activity, and how regenerating our soils can not only help draw down carbon from the atmosphere, but it can also increase resiliency to floods and even result in healthier more nutritionally dense foods. Learn measures that you can take to regenerate the soils and let the microbes do the work of restoring balance. For more information call 802-387-5779 or email Caitlin Adair at [email protected]


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Tax Day March
sponsored by Women Marching Forward, The Action Pod, and the Family Solidarity Network
Saturday, April 15th, 2017 in Downtown Brattleboro from 1pm-2pm.

WE THE PEOPLE demand honesty, transparency, and integrity from our leaders, and we are calling on Donald Trump to release his tax returns. Without his returns, Americans are in the dark about Trump's conflicts of interest, his foreign entanglements, and whether he even pays any taxes at all.We are marching to remind Donald Trump: He works for us now.

There will also be a Tax Day March in Burlington at 1pm and marches all across the country. To find out more about the national movement visit: www.taxmarch.org

THE PLAN:

1) At 1pm meet at the Whetstone Walkway (the wide brick sidewalk that runs alongside the Coop parking lot).
2) We'll march through downtown (up the sidewalks to the library and then across the street and back down the sidewalks on the other side of the street).
3) We'll finish by gathering for a few brief speeches at Plaza Park (the triangular shaped park at the base on Holstein Place). 

THE SPONSORS:

Women Marching Forward, The Action Pod, and The Family Solidarity Action Network

THE BACKGROUND:

For decades, presidential candidates have shared their tax returns with the public to demonstrate their freedom from financial conflicts of interest and fitness to represent America. Throughout the 2016 Presidential Campaign, Donald Trump promised the American people that he—like the other candidates— would release his tax returns to prove his independence from foreign and corporate interests. Despite intense public pressure, he has not yet done so. Because of his refusal, Americans have been denied the opportunity to vet his potential conflicts of interest, and have been left wondering why Mr. Trump is so intent on hiding his business dealings and financial ties.

Within days of his inauguration, over one million citizens called on President Trump to release his tax returns, signing a White House Petition that garnered more signatures than any other in history. The Trump Administration’s response? “People don’t care.”

On April 15, we are marching to show that we do care. Americans across the country will, once again, come together to send a clear message to Donald Trump: the President is accountable to the American people, and he must answer to us.

This Brattleboro March for Tax Day will stand in solidarity with all the other Tax Day marches happening around the country (they are listed here: www.taxmarch.org). Together we'll send a message about the importance of transparency, honesty, and integrity in our leaders and demand that Trump release his tax returns so that any conflicts of interest can be appropriately vetted.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

“Symphony of the Soil”, a film screening
sponsored by Edible Brattleboro 
Monday, April 17th, 2017 at the Brattleboro Food Co-Op Community Room (1 Canal Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 5:30pm-8:00pm
Snacks at 5:30pm, screening begins promptly at 5:45pm.

From the website (http://www.symphonyofthesoil.com):"Drawing from ancient knowledge and cutting edge science, Symphony of the Soil is an artistic exploration of the miraculous substance soil. By understanding the elaborate relationships and mutuality between soil, water, the atmosphere, plants and animals, we come to appreciate the complex and dynamic nature of this precious resource. The film also examines our human relationship with soil, the use and misuse of soil in agriculture, deforestation and development, and the latest scientific research on soil’s key role in ameliorating the most challenging environmental issue of our time. Filmed on four continents, featuring esteemed scientists and working farmers and ranchers, Symphony of the Soil is an intriguing presentation that highlights possibilities of healthy soil creating healthy plants creating healthy humans living on a healthy planet.”




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Candlelight Vigil for Democracy
Sunday, April 23rd, 2017 at Pliny Park (the corner of Main Street and High Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 8pm.

The WE CELEBRATE DEMOCRACY / CIVIL RIGHTS FOR ALL banner will be hung for one week over Main Street in Brattleboro beginning on Sunday morning the 23rd of April.  We have called a Candlelight Vigil for Democracy under the banner for that evening and we have reserved Pliny Park. The Town of Brattleboro will accommodate a larger event if more people attend the vigil.
We believe that democracy needs all the help it can get.  A large, newsworthy Vigil for Democracy is just the thing for declaring that we are concerned, worried, afraid, scared, anxious, and mortified about what is happening to democracy around the world. Stand for love in the face of hate. Stand for sharing & caring, helping & loving in the face of taking & hoarding and hurting & hating.  
Please join us for democracy's sake, and spread the word far and wide.

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A Talk with Lt Governor David Zuckerman and Brattleboro House Representative Mollie Burke 
sponsored by Windham County Progressives
Sunday, April 23rd, 2017 in the Brattleboro Food Co-op Community Room (1 Canal Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 4pm. Please enter using the entrance on Canal Street.

Our Representatives will be speaking and meeting with constituents. We look forward to seeing you there.


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Rally for Science Brattleboro
sponsored by Positive Geek and presented in association with Patch of Sky Farm, the March for Science, and Latchis Arts. 
Saturday, April 22nd at Positive Geek (12 Flat St, Brattleboro, VT, 05301).12pm-5pm. FREE, family friendly, and open to the public.
An official rally associated with The National March for Science, www.MarchForScience.com.
Homemade treats will be available. 
Celebrate the quest for Science and the one planet in our solar system which can harbor life as we know it. Special events will include speakers and presentations highlighting our magnificent universe and the fragile planet on which we live. 


350.org founder Bill McKibben will be addressing attendees of our Earth Day event in a special video presentation. McKibben, author of a dozen books about the environment, is one of the best-known names in the environmental movement in Vermont and around the country. Showings of his presentation will take place at 1pm, 3pm, and 5pm at Positive Geek on Flat Street.

Patch of Sky Farm of Guilford (owned by WeCAN Admin and Certified Culinary Nutrition Expert Joanna Wilson Phillips) will be sponsoring the rally and Joanna will be giving a live presentation discussing how eating locally and organically benefits the environment.
Patch of Sky Farm will be providing refreshments and free seeds for attendees.

Sunnyside Solar from here in Brattleboro will be at the Rally for Science, giving a talk on solar energy for homes, and showing off their solar-powered robot! Animals are coming to the Rally for Science Brattleboro, too. The Southern Vermont Natural History Museum will be bringing animals, including birds of prey, a snake, cockroaches, and a friendly snapping turtle to the rally! Piper is a Red-Tailed Hawk, who was hit by a car in 2003 near Tunbridge, VT and will be at the rally. This magnificent creature is at least 16 years old. This species possesses the best daytime eyesight in the world. See your way to the rally where you can meet Piper and all the other animals that will be here celebrating Earth Day! The Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center (BEEC) and the Community College of Vermont will be also participating in the Rally for Science Brattleboro. We welcome them, as well. 

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS: Help Us Rally for Science and the Environment on Earth Day! We need volunteers to help out on Earth Day, as well as putting out the word before the event on social media and hanging flyers in the area--this would be a great opportunity to rack up some Community Service hours for those who are about to graduate high school or families looking to volunteer together. Please email [email protected] if you are able to lend a hand (or two!) ASAP. THANK YOU! 


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Brattleboro Time Trade Annual Potluck
Monday, April 24th, 2017 at Brattleboro Savings and Loan (221 Main St, Brattleboro, VT, 05301) in the Community Room. 
5:30pm-7:30pm.

The community meeting room at BS&L is located in the basement, with access at the rear of the building to the right of the drive-up tellers.  Ring the doorbell, and someone will dash up the stairs and let you in!
Please bring a main dish to share if you can! The more food the merrier. If you have any questions, you can reach the potluck committee via email at [email protected] or call the BTT office at 246-1199. See you there!

LINK TO EVENT: 
https://brattleboro.timebanks.org/event/20382-april-potluck


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Charter Bus to the Montpelier, VT People’s Climate March
Saturday, April 29th, 2017. The bus will leave from The Putney Park and Ride (Exit 3 off of I91) at 10:30am and will be returning at 6:00pm. $38 per seat. Payment required at time of reservation. Cash or check only.

A full size charter bus sponsored by the Putney Huddle to the Montpelier People's Climate March. Times are approximate and will be confirmed via email closer to actual date. The bus does have a bathroom. Yay!
Please call Laura Chapman 802-380-4379 to reserve your seat ASAP. When they're gone, they’re gone!

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Charter Bus to the People’s Climate March on Washington, D.C.
Saturday, April 29th, 2017 in Washington, DC. 
The bus will leave Brattleboro at 6am on Friday, April 28th and return overnight after the march on Saturday. Seats are available on a sliding scale and financial assistance may be available. 
The time is fast approaching for the second People's Climate March. Given the hostility of the administration in Washington DC to climate science, we absolutely need to flood the streets with passionate voices for bold climate action.  

Click this link to book a seat on the bus (fill in your personal information first and then the details will follow on the next page).

The bus from Brattleboro will leave at 6 am on Friday April 28th and return overnight after the march on Saturday. Seats are available at a sliding scale and no-one will be turned away due to lack of funds. If you need financial assistance please contact us!

Important Links
Here is what you need to know to get a seat on the bus, find a place to stay, volunteer, and make sure your voice is heard around the world.

 
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Major! Free Community Screening
sponsored by Green Mountain Crossroads
Saturday, April 29th, 2017 at the Latchis Theater (50 Main St, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 4pm-6pm. Admission is free.

This is the story of one woman’s journey, a community’s history, and how caring for each other can be a revolutionary act.
MAJOR! follows the life and campaigns of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a 73-year-old Black transgender woman who has been fighting for the rights of trans women of color for over 40 years. 
This is the first screening of Major! in Vermont! Through Major!’s “Major to the People” Program, we are thrilled to offer free admission to the film. 
We will also be collecting donations to be shared with Miss Major’s Circle of Care (missmajorfilm.com/circle-of-care) as well as local groups, Green Mountain Crossroads (greenmountaincrossroads.org) and The Root Social Justice Center (therootsjc.org). 
This screening is being brought to you through a collaboration between Green Mountain Crossroads and Lost River Racial Justice (LRRJ) as part of LRRJ’s racial justice film series. Huge thanks to The Latchis for making this wonderful community event possible!

Film synopsis: 
Miss Major’s personal story and activism for transgender civil rights, from mobile outreach and AIDS prevention to fighting the prison industrial complex, intersects LGBT struggles for justice and equality from the 1960s to today. 

She is a veteran of the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion and was incarcerated at Attica months after the 1971 Uprising. Most recently, Miss Major has served as the executive director of the San Francisco-based Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP), a grassroots organization advocating for trans women of color in and outside of prison that is led by trans women of color. 

Miss Major’s extraordinary life and personal story is one of resilience and celebration in a community that has been historically traumatized and marginalized. While mainstream gay rights and marriage equality dominate the headlines, Miss Major’s life is a testament to the fierce survivalism and every day concerns of transgender women of color, who so often live in the margin of the already marginalized.

Official trailer and more information at missmajorfilm.com.


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May Day March for Dignity! / ¡Marcha para La Dignidad! 
Monday, May 1st, 2017 at 259 N. Winooski Ave, Burlington, VT. 12pm - 1pm.
Sponsored by the Vermont Human Rights Council: Migrant Justice, Vermont Worker's Center, 350VT, Green Mountain Self-Advocates, VT Center for Independent Living, VT Interfaith Action, UE, United Academics, Pride Center, Rising Tide Vermont, Green Mountain Central Labor Council

March to Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop to demand they implement the Milk With Dignity Program as promised nearly 2 years ago. A rally at the Federal Building to lift up Vermont voices and campaigns will follow. 
Meet at the Migrant Justice/ VT Worker's Center at 12pm and we leave at 1pm sharp to march through the Old North End to Ben & Jerry's scoop shop to demand they implement the Milk with Dignity Program as promised nearly 2 years ago! (feel free to meet at us at 1:30pm at UU Church if you can't join earlier). Then we march and rally at the Federal Building (next to post office) demonstrating our unity and dignity in the face of Trump's hate and 
division--lifting up Vermont voices and campaigns in resistence to Trump's attacks on our communities.
This is especially crucial in the face of ICE arrests of migrant workers in Vermont. Carpools or vans from Brattleboro may be available. For more info or to sign up for a carpool or van ride please email [email protected] or call 802-257-4436. Facebook Event 


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High-Level Nuclear Waste Tour 
Saturday, May 6th, 2017 at the Centre Congregational Church (193 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301), in the Parlor. 4:40pm-6pm.

Citizens Awareness Network, the Safe and Green Campaign and the VT Yankee Decommissioning Alliance are organizing a High-level Nuclear Waste Tour in New England to address the abdication by the federal government and the nuclear industry to deal with stranded nuclear waste at reactor sites throughout the country. The tour will bring speakers who will discuss the issues of high-level nuclear waste (HLNW), Federal waste policy and environmental justice. The tour will be in Brattleboro May 6.

Speakers include:
• Rose Gardner from Sierra Club in Texas, a resident of a community impacted by both a Texas low-level waste dump and a proposed site for HLNW in Andrews County, Texas;
• Kevin Kamps with Beyond Nuclear will address the vulnerabilities of on-site storage of HLNW and federal policy; 
• Deb Katz with Citizens Awareness Network will address the issues of NorthStar, decommissioning, and hardened onsite storage at nuclear reactors. What is needed is a scientifically sound and environmentally just solution to this monstrous problem. 
Contact: Leslie Sullivan Sachs [email protected].


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Cross Class Dialogue Circle
Sunday, May 7th, May 21st, and June 4th, 2017 (participation all 3 days is required) at The Root Social Justice Center (The Whetstone Studio for the Arts, 28 Williams Street, Brattleboro, VT, 05301). 9am-3pm.
Childcare and transportation available, light refreshments provided, and wheelchair accessible. This event is fragrance free.

The dialogue circle is funded through a cost-sharing process. 

Cross-class dialogue circles are a powerful way for people across the class spectrum to come together to talk about their experiences with class, listen to each others’ stories and perspectives, better understand class as part of an economic system, and then to work together as change makers for economic justice. Sign-up today!


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Southeastern Vermont Community Action Community Event 
May, 2017 (Date TBD)
This year we will be moving from Advocacy to Activism, and – much like the WeCAN: Spring Into Action Fair - we wish to highlight different groups in the Brattleboro area who are making their voices heard on so many important issues. More information (like the date!) will follow, but please consider yourselves warmly invited!

 


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Rising with Roots: Courage, Conviction, and Community in this Beautiful, Teetering Time
a Joanna Macy inspired retreat
Friday, June 2nd, 2017 - Wednesday, June 7th, 2017 at Hallelujah Farm (98-42 Bradley Rd, Chesterfield, NH, 03443). Registration due by May 1st, 2017. Cost varies and is on a sliding scale: Please click here for more information or to register. 

Sign-ups now open for Joanna Macy-inspired retreat in June. Facilitated by Kirstin Edelglass and colleagues. Scholarships available for young adults (ages 18-30) who want to be part of the fourth Earth Leadership Cohort. That cohort will begin by participating in this multi-generational "Rising with Roots" retreat and then have additional trainings in facilitating the Work That Reconnects. For more information please visit http://interhelpnetwork.org/elcivprogamdescription-docx/.

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