Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob

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Perfect

The First Book

Frightening account of corruption

Incredible Book

More to come??

Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob
Dick Lehr , and Gerard O'neill
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Law Enforcement | Criminal Law | Law | Subjects | Books
Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Murder & Mayhem | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
True Crime | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Similar Items:

The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century

Brutal: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob

Street Soldier: My Life as an Enforcer for Whitey Bulger and the Boston Irish Mob

All Souls: A Family Story from Southie (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster

ASIN: 0060959258
Release Date: 2001-05-22

Amazon.com

In the spring of 1988, Boston Globe reporters Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill set out to write the story of two infamous brothers from the insular Irish enclave of South Boston: Jim "Whitey" Bulger and his younger brother Billy. Whitey was the city's most powerful gangster and a living legend--tough, cunning, without conscience, and above all, smart. Billy, president of the state Senate, was a political heavyweight in Massachusetts. These facts alone make for an intriguing story, but as Lehr and O'Neill found out, this was only the beginning.

John Connolly, a rising FBI agent and fellow "Southie," had known the Bulgers since boyhood when Whitey rescued him from a playground fight. After investigating organized crime in New York, Connolly was reassigned to the bureau's Boston office in 1975, and was determined to make a name for himself by relying on his old connections. He succeeded in a big way by lining up Whitey as an FBI informant in an effort to bring down the Italian Mafia--a major coup for both the FBI and Connolly. In exchange, Bulger received protection. Though heavily involved in extortion, intimidation, assassination, and drug trafficking, Connolly's "good bad guy" did not receive so much as a traffic infraction for over 20 years. In time, however, the deal changed, and information began flowing the other direction, with Bulger manipulating Connolly and a small group of corrupt FBI agents to further his nefarious network. The criminals and the lawmen eventually became virtually indistinguishable.

Black Mass expertly details the twists and turns of this complex story, painting a vivid portrait of Boston's underbelly and its inclusive political machine, as well as exposing one of the worst scandals in FBI history. It's also an examination of loyalty--to family, home, and heritage--and "a cautionary tale about the abuse of power that goes unchecked." As a final favor, Connolly tipped off Bulger that he was to be indicted on racketeering charges in 1995, allowing him time to go on the lam (he's reported to have access to secret bank accounts across the country). He was added to the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted List" in 1999. --Sharon M. Brown

Book Description

John Connoly and James "Whitey" Bulger grew up together on the streets of South Boston. Decades later, in the mid 1970's, they would meet again. By then, Connolly was a major figure in the FBI's Boston office and Whitey had become godfather of the Irish Mob. What happened next -- a dirty deal to being down the Italian mob in exchange for protection for Bulger -- would spiral out of control, leading to murders, drug dealing, racketeering indictments, and, ultimately, the biggest informant scandal in the history of the FBI.

Compellingly told by two Boston Globe reporters who were on the case from the beginning, Black Mass is at once a riveting crime story, a cautionary tale about the abuse of power, and a penetrating look at Boston and its Irish population.

Customer Reviews:

Perfect.......2007-03-14

This item was exactly what i ordered in the exact condition that i ordered it in. Would definitly do business with seller again! Thank you

The First Book.......2007-02-23

This book was the first book to be written on the Bulger/FBI scandal. For those who don't know; James "Whitey" Bulger ran Bostons Irish mafia for almost 20 years. He also was a Top Echelon Informant for the FBI. As such, they let him get away with all types of crimes, including murder. Making matters worse, his younger brother Billy was the Senate president of the Mass. state Senate. Another brother, Jackie, was a juvenile court judge. This family took corruption to new heights. Eventually they fell. Whitey is now one of the top 10 fugitives. This book by two Boston Globe reporters, details the Bulger brothers, their history, Boston politics, and how they all came together. This is a good book. The only problems are because it was written in 1998-1999, some things have changed ( For example, Bulgers partner in crime, Steven Flemi, has pleaded guilty to several murders, and is doing life without parole ). Also, there wasn't enough written about the Top Echelon Informant program and all the problems with it. I'd recomend getting 2 other books along with this to get a complete picture. 1 is Dangerous Alliances by Ralph Ranelli; the other is The Brothers Bulger by Howie Carr. All 3 books should give you a complete view of this scandal.

Frightening account of corruption.......2006-10-20

Black Mass is an unbelievable account of the illicit relationship between two Irish mobsters from South Boston (Whitey Bulger and Stevie Flemmi) and their FBI handlers (John Connolly and John Morris).

The book begins with background on South Boston and the "us against them" mentality of the residents. As a young boy, John Connolly looked up to and admired Whitey Bulger, a local gangster, and left an indelible impression on Connolly one day when Bulger rescued Connolly from a fight. Years later, when Connolly was assigned to the Boston FBI office, he sought out Bulger to turn him into an informant, hoping to make a name for himself. Bulger's younger brother was president of the state senate and Whitey by this time was head of the Irish mob in Boston, both highly regarded in their own circles.

Though Connolly may have begun the relationship with good intentions, it very quickly turned corrupt, and the information Bulger supplied Connolly was self-serving, and Connolly, never having grown out of his idolization of Bulger, did all he could to keep Whitey's record clean. The Irish and Italian mafias had a tenuous relationship, so for Bulgur, informing on his competition got them out of his way, and as long as he worked with the FBI, he was untouchable. Bulger's partner in crime, Stevie Flemmi, as it turned out, had been an informant for several years before Bulger. Rather than the FBI handling them, Bulger and Flemmi cultivated a bond with Connolly and Morris to ensure that they could do anything without fear of punishment. Reports were made up, lost, or taken; phone calls from other law enforcement agencies were ignored; Bulger and Flemmi's importance was inflated; and they were always one step ahead of a sting. Under the protection of the FBI, Bulger and Flemmi were involved in racketeering, gun running, drugs, and over a dozen murders - and got away with it.

What amazes me is that supposedly Connolly and Morris only benefited by $7000 during the two decades that Bulger and Flemmi were informants. Initially I believe that Connolly just wanted notoriety, but he is also flamboyant and likes living the high life, which it appears he did.

Eventually Morris' conscience bothered him enough to start talking, but it still took several years before Bulger, Flemmi, Connolly and Morris were indicted. Connolly warned Bulger, enabling him to escape. Flemmi, on the other hand, still thought that Morris would tell the court that this was all a mistake, and get Flemmi off as he had done for so many years.

As far as I know, Bulger is still a fugative and on the 10 Most Wanted List. I hope that regulations are now being followed to ensure FBI handlers are accountable for their action or inaction, and that the chain of command is aware of what the agents are doing. This was a well-written and engrossing story.

Incredible Book.......2006-08-19

I've had an interest in Boston and the organized crime around Boston for a while. I've actually had a big interest in the mafia in general. This is a great book with a lot of information that is very useful in understanding how corruption in the system allows organized crime to become more powerful and almost unstoppable.

More to come??.......2006-08-05

One might ask after reading this excellent book whether 2 kids,say brothers, were groomed to follow in the Bulger's footsteps but perhaps something went awry??

I know of 2 brothers from Massachusetts. Both were raised in state care during Bulger's reign. The older brother went into the army and a couple years later the younger was being harassed by activities a man who bore the same name in the same town, as if the younger brother had another identity created and which was made to look bad to hurt him in the identity confusion following. It is speculated the older brother set up the younger brother, both from Woburn,Mass and that the older brother after a name change went into FBI service at his younger brother's constant expense.Wherever the younger brother went the older followed and bad thingsalways happened to the younger as a result. There is a lot that went on but it looks as a duplicate of the Bulger's good guy/bad guy pairing for controlling different levels of influence was going on.

BLACK MASS, The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between The FBI and The Irish Mob

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BLACK MASS, The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between The FBI and The Irish Mob

Manufacturer: Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IF3QFS

Black Mass, True Story of an Unholy Alliance between the FBI and the Irish Mob

Average customer rating:

Black Mass, True Story of an Unholy Alliance between the FBI and the Irish Mob
Dick and Gerard O'Neill Lehr
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OES6G2

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Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob
Gerard O'Neill Dick Lehr
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OES3GA

Customer Reviews:

Why patients need unionized doctors.......2001-10-19

When Doctors Join Unions, Grace Budrys, Cornell University Press, 177 pages, c. 1997, describes the inexorable forces driving doctors into classical unions as opposed to more traditional medical associations and societies.

Insightfully, Budrys shows that traditional private practice doctors, independent contractors, are joining with their salaried colleagues to sign up with unions even though only the salaried doctors are entitled to classical collective bargaining at this time. The motivation for both groups of doctors is similar. In private practice for-profit HMOs and managed care programs often delay or deny diagnostic studies and treatments prescribed by treating doctors. The doctors, untrained in negotiations, then find they have to challenge their own administrations to provide care. In government programs at the state, county, and federal levels, including Medicare and Medicaid, doctors find that burgeoning rules and regulations also prevent them from doing what patients need. This obstructionism unifies doctors, cuts across financial and remuneration incentives, and drives them toward unionization, especially towards the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD), affiliated with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the largest union in the AFL-CIO. Budrys states that the UAPD is "a harbinger signaling the emergence of new forms of collective representation" and concludes her book with these words about the UAPD: "I find it hard to imagine another organization that is in a better position to do so."

Uninspired treatment of a timely topic........1998-07-07

A reasonable history of the UAPD prior to 1985. Author chose to ignore the Agency Shop agreements with the State of California and other Public jurisdictions as the primary reasons for UAPD's continued existence. Doctors working for those entities must pay agency fees or dues in order to work.

More recently, author did not delve into findings of US Dept of Labor that UAPD was not a Union for purposes of collective bargaining in private sector. In fact, UAPD severed its private sector bargaining units in order to avoid scrutiny of procedures for electing its officers. Findings of DOL suggest violations of NLRA, Taft-Hartley and Landrum-Griffin.

Author also did not choose to include decertification of UAPD as bargaining agent for doctors employed by Contra Costa County in 1995.

The one interesting innovation of UAPD, the UAPD IPA, was remarked upon only in casual passing and not provided any in-depth treatment.

Generally, book seems to be a subject author tired of during research and only published because the amount of time spent in research would otherwise have been wasted.

Customer Reviews:

Business Traveler's Road Atlas.......2003-07-22

This handy little book is great for the traveler. With details of airports and most cities, you will have everything you need to make it from the airport, to your hotel, to your meeting, and home again. I found it is perfect for the places you go to infrequently. Small and compact for the amount of info. Just wish you could buy annual versions.

Customer Reviews:

Fun and silly book.......2000-01-30

More than jumping rope and playing jacks, this book covers shadow animals, paper tricks, paper airplanes, a recipe for homemade soap bubble mix, tricks with yo-yos, tops, simple juggling, balloon tricks and animals, the string game Cat's Cradle, plus the skill I have always wanted to learn -- how to whistle with two fingers. No, it's not Tolstoy, and the photos of what look like the author's friends and neighbors give it a 'Berkeley in the 70's' feel (after 10+ years it could use some polishing) but I'd recommend it as an entertaining read for anyone facing a B'day past 30 who is in need of a little fun.

It would be just as well to burn you cash as buy this book........1997-06-11

I was very embarrased that I even bought this book. Some of the items given the most time w/this softback are "Jumping Rope", "Playing Jacks", "Blowing Bubbles". Also, full instruction s on how to whistle are in this book. There are about 3 decent self-working card tricks. But the balance of the paper the book is printed on would have been better used as toilet tissue. Please save you cash on this one. If you are interested in the card tricks, just email me and I will tell you about them

Product Description

This Cubase SX 3 training CD-ROM covers key operational techniques and the cool features of Cubase for everyone from the newbie through the experienced Cubase user. If you prefer the âshow meâ style of learning, then CSi is for you. Sit down with a DAW pro and learn concepts, production techniques, and the new options available in Cubase SX. This CD-ROM covers the Project Window, Transport Panel, Key Editor, Drum Editor, Track Mixer, Sample Editor, Pool, and Menus. The Introduction topic takes you through set-up, first record, edit, and mix. Youâll also get a âWhatâs new in Cubase SX 2â movie and additional tutorials on the Score Edit Window. The CSi movie tutorials are designed to include not only basic functionality, but production techniques, special shortcuts, key commands, and before and after audio examples. In addition to the hours of movie tutorials, "Cubase SX CSi Master" includes a massive digital audio workstation-related glossary.

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Luddites And Friends (Ideas)
Paul Kennedy
Manufacturer: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC Audio)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: 0660192918

Amazon.com

The thesis of Planet Baywatch is that Baywatch is not a part of culture ... rather, it is culture. To prepare us for the New World Order of Baywatch, the authors tease out the major motifs of David Hasselhof's universe, most importantly that all fat people and those without all-over tans are Evil. Also noted are the bizarre preponderance of midgets, the sad fate that awaits those who answer C. J.'s siren call, and the many subtle variations on the Slow Motion Montage. But don't think that all this heavy hermeneutic analysis precludes discussion of Baywatch's greatest asset: breasts. A whole chapter is dedicated to this unnatural topic. Indeed, one only wishes that there was more text in this slim (128 pages) volume. Many questions are asked and left unanswered, such as is C. J. a cyborg? How flabby does David Hasselhof have to get before he stops appearing shirtless? And why all the midgets?

Customer Reviews:

Humourless "parody" of Classic Show.......1999-10-21

The idea behind "Planet Baywatch", regardless os what anyone else may say here, is to tear apart the show, piece by piece. The main ammunition is that the show is little more than "a flagrant display of tits and ass". The fact that these learned "authors" work for Playboy does put that statement in a different light. Each character is given a personal attack, with all information therefore culled from the first 3 epsidoes of Season 3. One wonders if the authors had actaully watched more than 3 episodes what they might have said..... Anyway, another classic attack is that nobody ever has sex on the show. I agree. I've always hated the way prime-time shows like Bewitched and The Cosby Show never showed hardcore sex during primetime. I could go on spouting off about these smart alec's wondeful witty ignorance, but I think I've given a pretty fair impression with what I've already said. Oh yeah, I truly have learned the paraphrased proverb: Don't buy a book by its cover.....

a great book, with some exceptions.......1998-07-15

its a great book with some exceptions-no michael "newmie" newman, no cast photos, and no episode guides.

Finally, the truth about Baywatch.......1996-12-09

I always thought Baywatch was just a bad TV show about lifeguards. But thanks to PLANET BAYWATCH: AN UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO THE NEW WORLD ORDER, I've learned just how significant (and believe it or not, even influential) the show really is. Baber and Spitznagel's brilliant satire is an original and irreverent take on the mind-boggling international success of Baywatch. I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I'm not a huge fan of the show, so I was not expecting to appreciate most of the jokes. But despite my Baywatch ignorance, I still found the book to be a hilarious read. After finishing it, I'm starting to share the views of the authors. Baywatch may very well be destined to take over the world. PLANET BAYWATCH is, without a doubt, the humor book of the year

Hilarious.......1996-11-05

A very funny look at the Baywatch phenomena. j

Planet Baywatch: The Unofficial Guide to the New World Order

Average customer rating:

Planet Baywatch: The Unofficial Guide to the New World Order
Brendan; Spitznagel, Eric Baber
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KPVE78

Amazon.com

Cisco IOS Access Lists takes a methodical approach to access lists and their capabilities, and is ideal for administrators of Cisco equipment who have configured access lists before but feel as if they're not taking full advantage of their capabilities (which, author Jeff Sedayao proves, extend well beyond security). Much of what Sedayao has written is of a "policy engineering" nature, is not strictly focused on Cisco's Internetwork Operating System (IOS), and has relevance to administrators of all sorts of access control equipment. There's emphasis on traffic minimization as well as security, as a section on using access lists to keep routing updates off stub networks exemplifies.

Like many books in the blue system-administration series, this one includes a lot of explanations of what each capability is for, and how each fits with other parts of the system. A lot of times, these sections include conceptual diagrams that show routes of communication and the desired access policies. Then come excerpts from real access lists (Sedayao focuses on IOS 10 and later) and, often, commentary on what the interesting lines of the lists are doing. It's a great way to teach people who have the ability and desire to experiment. Engineers, after all, typically like to learn by doing. --David Wall

Topics covered: The capabilities and limitations of access lists under the Cisco Internetwork Operating System (IOS) and other similar routing and access-control environments. Access policies (with emphasis on packet filtering), routing policies (via route filtering and route maps), and the details of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) pertaining to access lists are all covered.

Book Description

Cisco routers are used widely both on the Internet and in corporate intranets. At the same time, the Cisco Internet Operating System (IOS) has grown to be very large and complex, and Cisco documentation fills several volumes. Cisco IOS Access Lists focuses on a critical aspect of the Cisco IOS--access lists. Access lists are central to the task of securing routers and networks, and administrators cannot implement access control policies or traffic routing policies without them. Access lists are used to specify both the targets of network policies and the policies themselves. They specify packet filtering for firewalls all over the Internet. Cisco IOS Access Lists covers three critical areas:

Intranets. The book serves as an introduction and a reference for network engineers implementing routing policies within intranet networking.
Firewalls. The book is a supplement and companion reference to books such as Brent Chapman's Building Internet Firewalls. Packet filtering is an integral part of many firewall architectures, and Cisco IOS Access Lists describes common packet filtering tasks and provides a "bag of tricks" for firewall implementers.
The Internet. This book is also a guide to the complicated world of route maps. Route maps are an arcane BGP construct necessary to make high level routing work on the Internet.

Cisco IOS Access Lists differs from other Cisco router titles in that it focuses on practical instructions for setting router access policies. The details of interfaces and routing protocol settings are not discussed.

Customer Reviews:

Good idea, good attempt. Bad tech editors and reviewers........2004-03-25

I wouldn't recommend this book to novice network wizards. But for those who can see and identify errors, lets just consider this book as a tech quiz, a la "find and fix". It's been fun for me. Come on... It's impossible to know everything. Don't blame author. He has done a good work. He just didn't have a good support team. Yes, errors, yes, typos, and triple yes overall weight of all discrepancies almost ruin all other good impressions. But still, there are a lot of great and cool tips and tricks I have found.
Hope there will be another edition.

Good book, would be great with better editing.......2003-03-05

This is a good book on Cisco IOS Access Lists, especially since there is only one other available in the market. Content is very good, as the author is knowledgable and has extensive experience. There are some errors, with better editing this book would have been worth 5 stars. Still worth reading since you can spot the errors once you have enough knowledge and use of access lists.

Too many errors.......2003-03-01

Book has good content, but unfortunately has far too many errors for me to recommend. I can understand having errors but some are far too obvious to be excused. No doubt the author is very knowledgeable, but I hope in the future his work is more carefully edited.

Good book to learn ACLs.......2002-08-30

This just the book one would like to read to go through the basics of Cisco ACLs. The author introduces the concepts with some very simple and easily understandable examples.

On the other hand, book is either a little outdated or author has intetionally not included many interesting ACL features. Features like turbo acls, dynamic acls, log input, extended communities are either not discussed or discussed very little in the book. The focus of the book is mostly control plane, the data plane is somewhat neglected.

Overall a decent book, at best a book for a beginner. For someone new to acls this book will help save a lot of time understanding acls, route-maps, prefix-lists, communities, as paths ....

Worth the value.......2002-03-05

Just received the book yesterday(March 4, 2002)and I'm at page 34 in Chapter 2 ... I was surprised to understand better the basics of Cisco IOS Access Lists that i haven't gained on CCNA study guide books. I believe that after reading the entire book, I'll gain the information i need in knowing Cisco IOS Access Lists as the way it should be. I recommend this book for those networking students and professionals who wish to take Cisco Certifications.

Average customer rating:

False advertising
ERRORS- Too Bad
Excellent Content
Wonderful Reference
The Best QoS book!

Administering Cisco QOS for IP Networks
Michael Flannagan , Syngress Media , and Publishing Media
Manufacturer: SYNGRESS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Certification Central | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Syngress | By Publisher | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B00006929A
Release Date: 2000-03-15

Book Description

Administering Cisco QoS for IP Networks discusses IP Quality of Service (QoS) and how it applies to Enterprise and Internet Service Provider (ISP) environments. It reviews routing protocols and quality of service mechanisms available today on Cisco network devices and it will provide you with examples and exercises for a hands-on experience designed to give you the background to implement these capabilities in your network.

Download Description

Customer Reviews:

False advertising.......2002-06-14

Although the book does have some good content, I bought the book specifically based on the front cover claim that it included free MP3 audio files of the book.

Well it doesnt. I have registered the book on Syngress.com, downloaded the ebook and sent messages to the author and syngress. As yet still no mp3 files or even replies to my messages.

The book may well be worth buying, but dont base your decision on the claims on the front cover.

ERRORS- Too Bad.......2002-06-13

Sorry to say there are errors in this book. I will point out the section on CAR (Committed Access Rate) on pages 188-196.

For example on page 189 in his initial example. His objective is to assign web traffic an IP Precedence of 5 up to a bandwidth of 4 MB. Anything over 4MB rate is to be assigned to a best effort delivery class (an IP Precedence of 0).

His solution is:
rate-limit input access-group 101 16000000 4000 4000 conform-action set prec-transmit 5 exceed action set-prec-transmit 0

My Solution:
First of all his objective was to set the base rate to 4 MB. So instead of the value of 16000000 the value should be 4000000.

If you leave the value to 16000000 16MB will pass through the interface "conformed" meaning it will mark all packets with an IP Precedence of 5. So much for best class delivery after 4MB.

I'm not going to get technical but I just wanted to point out an example. This is just to point out something that set me back about one day on studying for my CCIE. I would not want someone else to rip their hair out on this because all of his examples on CAR is messed up.

Went to B&N and looked at all the QOS books.

Srinivas Vegesna's book was the book that helped me out the most. Yes his book may be a little into the math but at least it was correct with the info and the math will actually help you understand how the algorithm works if you need to go in-depth.
Donald Lee's book is also great too but a little less intense on the math. Donald's book presents stuff in a easy to understand manner.

Anyway this book is rated 5 stars and supposedly is best seller. Nobody reported errors and there is no errata posted on the web site. All I can say is why. So I post only to inform.

Excellent Content.......2001-04-17

This book contains excellent content for those interested in implementing QoS over their IP network(s).

The topics on congestion avoidance and congestion management were especially useful.

I would suggest this book to any engineer attempting to deploy QoS on their network.

Wonderful Reference.......2001-04-06

This one is a keeper... Excellent coverage of QoS. Detailed coverage on all the important aspects- EIGRP, DiffServ, Queuing and Congestion, etc. I really found the chapters on BGP especially useful. Give this one a shot!

The Best QoS book!.......2001-04-04

I just finished reading this book, and I'd recommend it for anyone who needs to understand and configure QoS. I really like the way the book is organized. It provides comprehensive instructional chapters followed by detailed configuration chapters. The team of CCIEs on this book obviously know their stuff.

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