Transmetropolitan Vol. 8: Dirge

Customer Reviews:

Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03

A few things hit in this issue. Another assassin, but a sneaky one. A massive storm hits the city, and at the same time, a serious case of the blue flu hits the police force.

Spider's illness is getting much worse, but here he gets a lot of help from the filthy assistants, as he tries to get everything done before he can't work anymore. Yelena herself is even growing to look more Spider-like.

They do have some friends, and aid comes from an unlikely source.

Spider strikes again.......2003-08-04

The latest TPB of this fantastic series features a pretty big plot point for our bowel-disrupting hero, Spider Jerusalem. This is definately NOT the book for an unsuspecting reader who is new to transmet to purchase. You'll want to start from the beginning.

That said, it's obvious from the stories in this volume that the series is coming to a final end. It has ended for all of you who bought the issues themselves, but for late-comers such as myself, you'd better start savoring the time you spend with Spider as much as possible.

The meat of this collection is the 4 part story featuring a huge storm, which thrusts Spider into a deep coma. We meet one of the Filthy Assistants father, and gear up for the last dozen or so issues of the series. Issues 43-48 are reprinted in lovely colour, a great cover, and the standard vertigo TPB fare. Transmet stops at issue 60, so you'd better pay catch up before the we hit bottom!

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

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Essential Reading
RENEWAL OF FAITH: Myth or Reality?
VISION OR PHYSICAL RESURRECTION
I BECAME A CHRISTIAN AGAIN!
Verdict: Reality Reduced to Myth

Resurrection: Myth or Reality?
John Shelby Spong
Manufacturer: HarperOne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0060674296

Book Description

A daring examination of the foundational event

of Christianity, and an inspiring vision for

reconciliation between Jews and Christians.

Using approaches from the Hebrew interpretive tradition to discern the actual events surrounding Jesus' death, Bishop Spong questions the historical validity of literal narrative concerned the Resurrection. He asserts that the resurrection story was born in an experience that opened the disciples' eyes to the reality of God and the meaning of Jesus of Nazareth. Spong traces the Christian origins of anti–Semitism to the Church's fabrication of the ultimate Jewish scapegoat, Judas Iscariot. He affirms the inclusiveness of the Christian message and emphasises the necessity of mutual integrity and respect among Christians and Jews.

Customer Reviews:

Essential Reading.......2007-01-04

John Shelby Spong is an Episcopal Bishop and the author of several books, among them Born of a Woman, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, and This Hebrew Lord. In the current book Spong examines the most minute details about the Resurrection in an attempt to re-visit the "Easter" story that is at the core of Christianity. Spong's unique contribution to this analysis is his deep familiarity with Hebrew literature and the midrash tradition, the lens through which the all Jewish people of the first century interpreted the gospels.

Part One (Chapters 1-3) is a 40+ page introduction to the study of the gospels, the use of words, and the midrash method. Part Two (Chapters 4-9) is a detailed study of each of the gospels as well as the epistles of Paul. Part Three examines some of the major images present in the Resurrection story (e.g., the suffering servant, the son of man. In Part Four (Chapters 14-18) Spong provides his own interpretation of what the gospels really say, and in Part Five he provides us with an idea of what the resurrection story means to him on a personal level.

This book is a monumental work of scholarship and it will completely revise your idea about biblical research as well as the story of the resurrection. Literalists beware, this is not the book for you. But anyone with an open mind who has ever questioned the inconsistencies in the gospel accounts (e.g., did Jesus appear to the disciples in Galilee or in Jerusalem? Did one, two,three or more women go to the tomb?) or wondered about the strange and impossible to explain issues (e.g., cursing the fig tree, the cowardly disciple who becomes the Rock upon which the church is founded) will find this book a true eye opener.

The book is well written, but the notes are sketchy and far too few. There is an extensive bibliography and a detailed index of topics. The book will appeal to beginning students as well as the most advanced scholars.

Bottom line - there is no more engaging or provocative book on the resurrection. This book belongs in everyone's library.

RENEWAL OF FAITH: Myth or Reality?.......2006-12-15

When I read this piercingly insightful book I was, for all intents and purposes, a former Christian turned atheist. So, I was both wary and skeptical when I finally read it. Page after page brought idea after idea cascading into my mind. Ideas and insights and facts that I did not know at the time and hence had not considered. After reading Resurrection through several times I came away with a renewed and transformed faith in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I now know the true nature of the Resurrection experience and how to enter into it. I know what it meant to the first Christians, and that is now what it means to me. I now identify with the Risen Christ, and with him I have been raised. Raised from time into Eternity, into the eternal Fact of the Resurrection, and of Life and Light in the immanental yet transcendent Kingdom of God!

Resurrection, Myth or Reality is a spiritual detetive story, a story that wiil take you deep into the Biblical texts, Christian history, psychology, Mythology, and the Nature of God. Not in any of the shopworn and powerless ways you were taught (and perhaps forced) to believe, but in a new way, an authentic way, a way that is in actual fact the Original Way. I have never read any other book by a so-called "liberal" scholar that exalts the Risen Christ as does Bishop Spong in this remarkable volume.

Are you an intelligent, educated, 21st century person whose faith is in exile? Do you yearn to return to the faith of your fathers, but in a way that enables you to keep your intellectual integrity intact? Yes? So was I. God brought Bishop Spong to my attention and with the Bishops help, my faith was both restored and transformed. CHRISTOS ANESTI! ALITHOS ANESTI! (CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN!)

In the Grace of the Eternal Logos of God,
Rev. Nathaniel J. Merritt

You will also enjoy I WAS A TEENAGE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS and JEHOVAH UNMASKED, my first two published books.

VISION OR PHYSICAL RESURRECTION.......2006-09-25

According to John Shelby Spong, Jesus did not literally rise from the dead. Jesus was crucified, died, and was thrown in a common grave. Some time after Jesus' crucifixion, an event occurred that created the Christian movement. The heart of the Christian message is that the "crucified one lives." This alleged truth arose in Peter spontaneously. The moment that convinced the Apostles of this truth occurred in Galilee and Simon was the primary person in whom this truth first dawned. To call that idea (hereafter the resurrection vision) that allegedly popped into the mind of Peter a "truth" is quite a surprise. Spong tells us Peter saw "a realm of God from within which Jesus appeared to Simon. Was it real? Yes...Was it objective? Spong does not think that Peter's vision was objective. Spong's thesis is subject to serious epistemological challenge. Peter did not observe any objective event upon which to conclude that Jesus (the crucified one) was alive. There was no corresponding factual basis upon which Peter could believe that Jesus was alive. On this view, Peter had no justified true belief. Spong's thesis is a subjective and speculative house of cards that cannot stand.

Following Peter' resurrection vision, the need arose to reinterpret the life of Jesus Christ as a faith story. According to Spong this was done by the method of midrash.
Although he acknowledges midrash as a method for interpreting scripture, Spong brings new meaning the conception midrash by positing it as a method by which Scripture writers affirmed events and transcendent experiences into symbolic forms with no concern for linear time or literal events. Spong blames the western mind for insisting that the details of the Gospels were actual, historical events. Early in its history, the Church lost touch with its midrashic origins and claimed too much through literalizing scripture. With the dawn of the enlightenment, Spong suggests that the literal reading of Scripture was proven to be fantasy. Today, evangelical and fundamentalist elements of the Christian church, Catholic and Protestant, cling to the fading possibility of a literal truth being present in the details of their faith story. However, we need not fear, Spong's methodology will restore the original meaning of the midrashic message.

Applying his methodology, we cannot be, in the least bit, certain of the historicity of the Old or the New Testaments. Spong applies his midrashic method to show that whatever events the disciples experienced were set forth in the Gospels as non literal myths or legends. Specifically, since he places the location of Peter's resurrection vision in Galilee, it follows that the entire burial tradition must all be dismissed as not factual, including the female visitors who discovered the empty tomb. Jesus' appearances that purport to be the physical manifestations of the dead body that somehow was enabled to be revivified and to walk out of a tomb are also myths and legends. After disposing of the resurrection narratives as legend, Spong then embarks upon what he calls his speculative reconstruction of the events surrounding the resurrection while admitting that no one "can finally do anything other than speculate!"

Spong's concept of vision is not unique. For Spong, Jesus appeared to Simon from the realm of God. What Peter saw was not objective and yet it was real. Both subjective and objective visions have been refuted by scholars. The objective vision includes the experience of some literal minimal light phenomen with a corresponding mission. Spong speaks of a species of subjective vision also called hallucination. Gary Habermas offers an excellent treatment and refutation of the subjective and objective visions of resurrection. (see, Geivett, R. Douglas, Habermas Gary R. In Defense of Miracles, Downers Grove: Illinois, InterVarsity Press, 1997, pages 262-267) Hallucinations are private events that are not contagious to the masses and are not likely to inspire dying for one's vision. Spong's version of the vision transfer from Peter to the Apostles is ludicrous at best: "He tried to open their eyes. His tortured mind poured out his words in torrents...until light dawned in James, John, and Andrew." (p. 257) Spong wants us to believe that the Apostles faced the threat of certain death on the basis of a subjective vision. However, the New Testament reveals that the early church faced both threats and death for testifying to a literal resurrection.

In stark contrast, the Apostle Paul made the claim of the historical fact of Jesus' resurrection in no uncertain terms. He presented the fact of the resurrection as the litmus test of the Christian faith. The resurrection is the primary basis for Christian faith. Paul stated in no uncertain terms in 1 Cor 15:14-17 that if Christ was not raised, preaching and faith in the bodily resurrection is useless making professing Christians false witnesses for making such declarations. By positing the resurrection to be a legendary invention, he removes the basis upon which Christianity stands: salvation from sin through faith in a literal resurrection of Jesus Christ. Spong's postmodern approach might score high marks in a university literature class, however, rejecting the miracle of the resurrection with this midrashic method would score him low marks with theologians, historians, and philosophers who support the veracity of the New Testament.

I BECAME A CHRISTIAN AGAIN!.......2006-09-16

When I read this piercingly insightful book I was, for all intents and purposes, a former Christian turned atheist. So, I was both wary and skeptical when I finally read it. Page after page brought idea after idea cascading into my mind. Ideas and insights and facts that I did not know at the time and hence had not considered. After reading Resurrection through several times I came away with a renewed and transformed faith in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I now know the true nature of the Resurrection experience and how to enter into it. I know what it meant to the first Christians, and that is now what it means to me. I now identify with the Risen Christ, and with him I have been raised. Raised from time into Eternity, into the eternal Fact of the Resurrection, and of Life and Light in the immanental yet transcendent Kingdom of God!

Resurrection, Myth or Reality is a spiritual detetive story, a story that wiil take you deep into the Biblical texts, Christian history, psychology, Mythology, and the Nature of God. Not in any of the shopworn and powerless ways you were taught (and perhaps forced) to believe, but in a new way, an authentic way, a way that is in actual fact the Original Way. I have never read any other book by a so-called "liberal" scholar that exalts the Risen Christ as does Bishop Spong in this remarkable volume.

Are you an intelligent, educated, 21st century person whose faith is in exile? Do you yearn to return to the faith of your fathers, but in a way that enables you to keep your intellectual integrity intact? Yes? So was I. God brought Bishop Spong to my attention and with the Bishops help, my faith was both restored and transformed. CHRISTOS ANESTI! ALITHOS ANESTI! (CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN!)

In the the Grace of Christ,
Rev. Nathaniel J. Merritt

You will also enjoy I WAS A TEENAGE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS and JEHOVAH UNMASKED, my first two published books.

Verdict: Reality Reduced to Myth.......2006-09-12

Spong inhabits a worldview in which rationality and religion are remotely distant cousins. Through postmodern eyes, Spong sets the mythological stage upon which resurrection should be viewed. For the intellectual, the demise of objective reality and certain historical knowledge are well accepted premises secondary to limitations of language and culture. To Spong, only the "ignorant," those who are left behind in the dungeon of "premodern ignorance," seek pragmatic understanding of actual historical events, or apply literal interpretation to past reality. Only a "weak," "pitiable," and "frantically insecure" Christianity believes in the historical, physical resurrection of Jesus. To Spong, literalizing the stories of Scripture and particularly the resurrection of Christ, only serves to destroy faith (i.e., Spong's kind of faith). In this provocative book, Spong reaches beyond linear time and space to achieve a transcendent, symbolic truth of resurrection, comprehended as a subjective, experiential reality incorporating Jesus' as the ultimate "mythic hero."

Despite his avowed disclaimer against use of literal interpretation of Scripture, he vainly attempts to literally undermine and replace the persons, places, times and events of Easter. Spong grossly prooftexts and misuses scripture throughout the book. He conveniently ignores historic and textual evidences toward early creedal development, pre-Gospel manuscripts, well-established oral tradition, and the presence of contemporaneous sympathetic and non-sympathetic witnesses, while using liberal, late scriptural dating to justify his alternative perspectives. Spong commits the fallacy of special pleading.

Instead of a Jerusalem-based physical resurrection of Jesus on the third day, Spong espouses an actual, initial post-resurrection "experience" by Peter in Galilee. After wrestling with the finality of Jesus' death for approximately six months, Peter suddenly envisioned that life's purpose is to give love and life to others, just as man Christ had done throughout his life and death. Indeed, it is not Jesus' resurrection that was critical, but Peter's "resurrection."

For Spong, Peter personifies the true beginning of Easter and springboard of Christian faith, accomplished through his own self-reflection and realization. Historic conversions from Judiasm to Christianity, as initiated by Peter and spread to the masses, as well as subsequent martyrdom further confirmed the experience of a spiritual resurrection. Such transformation and sacrifice were merely manifestations of a new spiritual outlook on life as inspired by Christ, but were not caused by the literal viewing of a physically resurrected Christ. Offering no evidence himself, Spong feebly attempts to dispose of any physical evidence by placing Christ's body in a common grave with criminals, left unidentifiable. He then ambiguously resurrects the `spirit' of Jesus' life to be both transcendently and immanently discovered later.

And, despite his dogmatic assertion against knowledge of objective reality, he not only proclaims with confident, self-refuting certainty that Jesus actually died in Jerusalem, but that bodily resurrection of Christ, and any literal interpretation of the events surrounding such is a grossly mistaken idea. This begs the question as to how he has accessible, authoritative knowledge, the very thing he seeks to dismiss. His dichotomous views prevail throughout.

One positive insight to be gleaned in these pages is Spong's desire and commission to live life unselfishly, guided by the amazing loving, sacrificial example of Jesus Christ.

This book is true to its postmodern roots, a decided effort directed toward deconstruction of orthodox Christianity and reconstruction of Spong's own brand of mythology. He separates faith and rational thought, yet appeals to logic to substantiate his own religious knowledge. This is indeed `Spong's story,' a creative legend of his own with the blurring of fact and fiction to avoid direct implications of an empty tomb, to avoid the possibility of the supernatural, to avoid his unanswered questions toward life after death, and to futilely escape any arrogant positioning associated with knowledge. Spong's spiritual, linguistic and historical reconstructionism rejects critical historical analysis, whether scriptural, philosophical, cultural or secular.

In his own words, this book promotes Spong's "re-creation," his "speculative interpretation" of resurrection; and, the reader should judiciously approach this book as an inconsistent and self-refuting fiction lacking validity or authority.

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Resurrection: Myth or Reality?

Manufacturer: Aquila
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Did Jesus rise from the dead?: Critique of John Shelby Spong's Resurrection : myth or reality? (Honors thesis - Freed-Hardeman University)

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Did Jesus rise from the dead?: Critique of John Shelby Spong's Resurrection : myth or reality? (Honors thesis - Freed-Hardeman University)
Edmon Louis Gallagher
Manufacturer: Freed-Hardeman University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006RW5DC

RESURRECTION - MYTH OR REALITY? - A BISHOP'S SEARCH FOR THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY

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RESURRECTION - MYTH OR REALITY? - A BISHOP'S SEARCH FOR THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY

Manufacturer: HarperSan Francisco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

RESURRECTION - MYTH OR REALITY? - A BISHOP'S SEH FOR THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY

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RESURRECTION - MYTH OR REALITY? - A BISHOP'S SEH FOR THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY

Manufacturer: HarperSan Francisco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Resurrection : Myth or Reality?
John Shelby Spong
Manufacturer: HarperSanFrancisco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Resurrection Myth Or Reality a Bishops S

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Resurrection Myth Or Reality a Bishops S
John Shelby Spong
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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