Should you care to know the date,
Mark it, Wildebeast Wednesday
The sun is up, the coffee perked
Soon will be time to join the herd
Stampeding down the dusty road
In its horde transit to greener sites
And in the late afternoon,
To return for food and find some rest.
Some may choose to watch TV
The words of King Orange Widebeast
Churning dust, yet going nowhere.
=p.
(Leonard N. Shapiro, NYC 4/28/25
The American mainstream citizen has regularly been witness to the presumptuously misnamed policy of personalized vengeance designated by the “Orange Avenger” since his dystopic, Orwellian elevation to what had historically been a traditionally venerable Oval Office. Trump’s arrogant use and declaration of the thematic noun, “retribution,” is revealingly symptomatic of his singular level of personal hubris and neurotically presumptuous ideation.
It seems impossible to rationally comprehend the unique persona of an individual so encased and invested in his own reductive bubble, that, albeit President of the most powerful and influential Nation on the planet, evaluates temporal reality by the reductive ideation as to his perception as personally “winning” or “losing.”
The word “retribution” properly refers to the just meting out of punishment by an official authority, such as the State, for societal wrongdoing, and is brightly contrasted with the individual perception, or motivational word, “Revenge.” The mere act of opposition to Donald Trump is transmogrified by virtue of his hubris and aberrant ideation to be deserving of the official status of “Retribution.”
Trump’s delusional perception as to what is acceptable or repugnant to society (read, “him”) appears to be sociopathically unfettered by his numerous criminal convictions, felony indictments, his demonstrated lack of moral compass, his serial mendacity, his overt acts of National treason, or his demonstrable incapability. Such blemishes on his character are distorted and construed by him merely as evidence of opponents’ vain attempts to discredit him. The game, stadium spectators, popcorn, and the umpire reside solely within the discombobulated venue of his perception.
The overweening perception of immense power, vested in such a monomaniac, provides the underpinnings of fear by the ever-present unpredictability of exercise of his dystopian, elected executive power. Wrongdoing is unrelated to rules, regulations, or societal norms; in such instances, it is defined by action, arbitrarily and neurotically, perceived by Donald J. Trump as contrary to his interest and, ipso facto, wrong, and justly deserving of his “retribution.”
We share in the apprehension and temporal angst concerning the potential harm and mayhem caused to the Nation by this Presidential cuckoo nest.
-p.
Modern history has shown that the most effective antidote to the toxic disease of governmental repression and totalitarian rule is the existential endurance of independent, rational thought. The signature goal of higher education is the relevant promotion and advancement of individualized thought and its consequential goal, humanistic enlightenment; the latter, eternally constituting the singularly effective prophylaxis against totalitarianism.
Contextually, the Trump administration has perversely presented the notably identifiable symptoms of the malignant recurrence of virulent, diagnosable fascism. The latest tactic of its deceitful misrepresentation of the salutory, democratic word, “diversity,” has been to further transmogrify and toxicly metastasize to a fallacious, discreditable, and un-American accusation, those whose identifiable symptoms evince disagreement with MAGA agitprop.
It may not be necessary to comment on the blatently undemocratic, and inarguably unconstitutional nature of such egregious misuse of power, whose ambient odor is unavoidably noxious and repulsive; however, much insight to the procedural chess game is garnered from such overtly tactical efforts to “sanitize” education and its successfully traditional end product, individualized and mature perceptive.
For those who, conceivably, lack the requisite insight, we would contextual;lly declare, that the inculcation of authoritarian governance is existentially nourished and husbanded by an uninformed, inadequately educated, and myopic public; the latter being compliant, pliant, and malleable “sillyputty” in the egregious hands of totalitarian malefactors. A relevantly reprised admonition of Thomas Jefferson, to the effect that democratic government can only succeed if a Nation evinces literate and informed citizenry, has a particularly bright resonance in this context, (in addition to that as intended, viz., good governance.)
Trump’s egregious efforts to control university education irrefutably seek to apply the foul, heinous, and pungent”fertilizer” upon which the repulsive and indigestible stalks of fascism existentially feed and nocturnally thrive.
As any informed citizen is aware, the foul emergence of a tyrannical government can only be born and thrive in a venue evincing the noxious swamp of citizen ignorance and disinterest; the latter domicile. Inarguably, the preferred venue of Trump and his MAGA lemmings, but not the rationally chosen homestead of the educated and informed citizen.
Wisdom, derived from an uncensored liberal education, provides the fundamental underpinnings of an enduring democratic Nation and effectively constitutes the eternally effective prophylactic against autocracy.
It is encouraging to observe the recent growth of rejection of such tactics of , “cleansing,” predictably languishing in their present stages of public rejection and its predictable, historically appropriate mortality.
=p.
After several frustrated years of inability to appropriately describe the sui-generis persona of Donald J. Trump, we were recently stricken with an epiphany, amounting to an acceptable mode of his portrayal. For years, the presenting conundrum resided, not in the inadequacy of critical adjectives in our lexicon, appropriately descriptive of his societally aberrant and bizarre persona, but in the anomalous applicability of all of them.
An adequate description of any individual, pragmatically requires the selection of a few outstandingly representative traits, positive or negative, to enable the rendition of a comprehensible picture of the subject, In the unique case of Donald J. Trump, it bizarrely appears that the entire inventory of negative adjectives is applicable, thus rendering, his personalized description intrinsicly indistinct and nebulous; indeed, one might randomly conjure up, at random, any negative adjectival attribution of Trump and deserve confidence in its empirical verisimilitude.
The singular difficulty in the portrayal of this uniquely unprecedented ogre, scientifically, and curiously identifiers as a member of the anthropological class of homo sapiens, may be avoided, as we recently have realized by the effort to conceive of his contextual perception as a comic book villain, who, escaping the c comic book pages of his fictionally creative role through some unseen portal and eerily arriving into the world of non-fictional reality, creating the singular occurrence of a mixed media reality.
One might recall from early life, certain memorable comic book villains, appearing in publications of D.C. Comics or Marvel Enterprises, LLC., such as “The Joker,” The Penguin,” “Magneto,” “Lex Luther,” and others among the copious menagerie of colorfully portrayed “bad guys,” and thus, discover that he is more capable of an acceptable referential description of the real-life, elebrated villain, the “Orange Autocrat” presently maintaining his darkly evil sway over the American Nation.
In the comic armegeddon, the fictionally created monster is reliably defeated by the publisher’s utilitarian and supremely capable super-hero, yet the contextual, non-fictional villain, aptly thus describable by reference to the action-packed comics, will not be confronted by a colorfully imagined super hero like Superman, Captain Marvel, or Spiderman; the latter cast of ultra characters, unfortunately, for moral society, are not able, analogously, to find the portal leading to a mixed media reality.
The justice-restoring, declaredly, non-fictional,” Super-Hero,” available to restore justice, societal health, and morality to Gotham City, in the non-fictional world of reality, is the conglomerate of informed and dedicated American citizens, without benefit of impressive stereotypical super-hero costumes, with the effective antidote as prescribed in their informed, constitutional franchise of the vote.
-p.
From the aesthetic view of birds in their flowing, oceanic-like tides of seasonal migration and the compelling sight of hordes of wildebeests churning up clouds of dust in their annual trek to seasonal venues, to the contrastingly mundane ceremonial morning shaving and dressing, the dynamics of repetitive or routine behavior are universal and eternal. Dr. Ivan Pavlov, the famous Russian physiologist, uncovered (1904) the natural phenomenon of behavioral conditioning, which occurs in response to the presentation of relevantly motivating stimuli.
Human behavior might also permissibly be described as “Pavlovian,” in the sense and analogous context that empirical experience (as opposed to basic instinctive reaction) motivates the empirical predictability of Man’s nuanced response. From the quick withdrawal of one’s grip on the handle of a hot tea kettle or the overtly expressed rejection of stale food, to the willing acceptance of a cold beverage on a hot, summer afternoon, or the positive self-affirmation of external laudatory approval.
One’s accustomed, social condition, and comfortable lifestyle are productive of the perception of its temporal normality. They are causative of feelings of outraged disappointment, even dystopia, in the case of a principal transmogrification osuch normal societal life, when the imposed change is perceived as a diminution of personal spontaneity and freedom of choice. Such a dismaying response would apply to the arbitrary removal of one’s favorite easy chair and doubtlessly, far more predictable to the current diminution of freedom of expression and personal liberty.
The despair caused to the American mainstream citizen, proximately responsive to the ubiquitous, autocratic mischief of the Trump-MAGA administration, is, by such dynamic, contextually repugnant to the mainstream, freedom-loving American citizen, accustomed to the liberal franchise assured by the Nation’s constitutional “Bill of Rights.” The experiential discontent is palpable and makes irrefutable a responsive rejection of the entire dumpster of Trump and his lemming-like cult.
Like the motivational drive of a galloping horde of wildebeast toward the direction of a more suitable venue, the American citizen will, before long, dispense with the unacceptably autocratic atrocity of the Trump-MAGA proponents and, like the practical wildebeast, return to the traditionally positive and easy chair life of the traditionally free and aspirational American citizen.
=p.
Residents of the North American Continent have reportedly, have been experiencing an ever-increasing ground rumbling sound, accompanied by a palpable feeling of shift, similar to that experienced in an earthquake.. Geologists explain that such phenomenon,” the aftershock,” dynamically functions as a physical adjustment necessitated by a previous shift in the Earth’s massive tectonic plates.
The Nation, analogically, is presently experiencing a dynamic “aftershock” responsive to the recent rightward shift from the foundations of its traditional democratic character, effected by the current Presidential administration. The latter change in direction constitutes a notably substantial shift in the deep, stable bedrock of our two hundred and forty-year-old Democratic Republic.
It may be contextually observed that people who normally reside in repressive autocracies are pragmatically submissive and resignedly passive to mundane tyranny; however, once individuals have traditionally accommodated themselves to the sweet fruits of civil freedom and the franchise of liberty, they become systemically resistant to tyrannical incursion into their personal lives.
The current abatement of traditional liberty, expression, and free choice, brought about by the autocratic Trump administration, dynamically serves to catalyze its own uiltimate rejection by a people defining their traditional mode of living, in the enjoyment of the franchise of liberty; it has had the analogous impact of a deep, geological seismic event, shifting the democratic-oriented tectonic plates, underpinning our sxystemi way of life and predictably resulting in, responsive public aftershock.
Donald Trump’s ov erarching self-interested predilection, has, by now, been plainly revealed to the Nation as antithetical to good democratic governance and contrastingly revelatory of his neurotic insatiable aspiration to be seen as a “winner” ( his words) at the cost of the interests of the Nation. domestically and internationally, and that of its citizens.
The Trump administration’s reductionist mentality and undemocratic policies have led to ubiquitous policies of autocratic rule, including the diminution of national military security, the undermining of the economy by the irresponsible imposition of tariffs, the major reduction of existential health research, the banishment and foreign incarceration of hundreds of foreign residents,without due process of law, the fascist-style program of “retribution” against political opponents, an all-pervasive rejection of the tenets of the U.S. Constitution and the societally estabkished Rule of Law, an atavistically imperial desire for the aggrandizement of foreigh sovereign nations, the perverse admiration and passionate romance with foreign dictators, the elimination of vital federal civil service inclusive of regulatory agencies designated to protect the health and safety of the Nation, interference with and hobbling of University and primary educational well as medical and scientific research, the absence of programmatic and equitable reform to the tax code, the elimination of all inspectors general, the promotion of fossil fuels which despoil the environment and cause catastrophic global warming and, in general respect for truth and the aspiration to universal of fairness and equity.
Such “aftershock” reactions have been plainly observed in responsively angry, citizen town meetings, the growing resistance by Universities to further submit to Trump’s autocratic demands, the ubiquitious loud well attended public protests, expressing outrage directed at Trump’s arbitrary and self-serving by-passing of the Nation’s foundational system of law and justice, and the economic bedlam created by Donald Trump’s impulsive and reductionist predeliction for tariffs and satavistic economic policies, the latter’s resulting in higher prices and inflation, despite Trump’s, snake oil campaign representations to the contrary.
It is empirically conceivable, given the egregious and bizarre nature of the Trump administration’s emulation of the Putin-Orbanesque style of autocratic governance, that the seismic meter will uniquely demonstrate a notably higher register attributable to the aftershock than the originating shift of tectonic plates, itself.
-p.
It was an April morning at 7:30 A.M., and despite the early weekend hour, the four members of the Roth family were fully awake. All had fallen victim to the chronic metastasis of the classic, Seasonal Pajama Syndrome, a non-toxic epidemic, having its advent the first weekend morning of the Roth children’s Spring Break from College. The children, Bernard and Betsy, students, Sophomore and Junior years, respectively, at the same University, after a measure of the usual familial exchanges, raised certain perplexing issues concerning the notable change in Collegiate atmosphere in the past several months.
Bernard and Betsy unhappily articulated the notable retrogressive change in atmosphere, of their University, from the institutional aspiration to educate and enlighten undergraduates, to an institution, defensively dedicated to not ruffling the feathers of an unschooled, autocratic Chief of State; the latter, with a woefully insufficient appreciation for the principal strengthening of the Nation by the creation of an enlightened and capable citizenry, and an atavistic and harmful lust for singular and unlimited power
The well-informed parents, themselves, distressed by the identical dilemma, given that the context of the questions was empirically irrefutable, at first, found it impossible to responsibly reply, but after some moments of contemplation, offered the following response:”
“The rules of the game, such as those enunciated in our Constitution and rules of law, are just, but obviously not self-enforcing. It is within the fundamental character of Man to choose to abide by the humanistic social contract, whose terms were empirically proven by history to be societally and individually just and successful, or to refrain from such compliance, despite the history of Civilized society having historically profited and advanced by such compliance.
It has eternally been the case that when Man has chosen to observe the societally established norms of behavior and inter-personal interaction, he has benefited and advanced, spiritually and simultaneously in capability. The ultimate existential value of truth and aspirations for beneficial enlightenment exist as eternal pathways to humanistic fulfillment and, contextually, do not diminish with their individualized, anecdotal betrayal. Such a fundamental truth is encouraged by an adequate, informative, and secular education, such as is offered by a liberal education, and cannot be intrinsically undermined by tyrants and snake-oil demagogues.
The presenting challenges to citizens and educational institutions do not, in the slightest degree, detract from the foundational values of enlightened truth and moral equality. No temporal offender of reason or justice can long boast of his pernicious success nor detract from the ultimate survival of a just humankind.”
We then proceeded to our institutionalized coffee, bagels, and cream cheese. [It also appears to have stopped raining,]
-p,
We would highlight one of the categories, among the conglomerate of disasters attributable to the incompetent and neurotically egoistic Trump Administration, which appears to be so presumptuously absurd as to be( virtually farcical.
Our contextual reference is to the populist, inappropriate attempt by Donald Trump to shape or redirect the educational policies and curricula of America’s established Universities. Donald Trump, aided by the (mandated ) loyalty of his “freak show” Cabinet and the cultish support of his MAGA minions, all of whose collective brainpower is incapable of distinguishing “tariff policy” from “five-card poker,” vital civil servants from “freeloaders,” “recession” from “inflation,” or, basically, “truth” from “alternate facts” and possessing a pitiful understanding of the Nation’s Constitution and its system of laws.
Our historically venerated Nation is contemporaneously presented with a bizarre governmental polity, principally dedicated to the exclusive service of Donald J. Trump’s sophomoric and delusional zero-sum game, consisting of his neurotic and reductive perception of “winning” or “losing.”
History has irrefutably demonstrated that the most cogent and invaluable natural resource of a nation is its human resources; not the fortuitous presence of natural resources such as oil, coal, iron ore, water, nor even geographic location. A relatively recent confirmation of this historical observation was reprised approximately three-quarters of a century ago, relative to the Second World War. Germany, a relatively small nation, came frighteningly close to success in its military desire to conquer the entire world; an ambition, frighteningly feasible because of its population’s level of educational literacy and its resultant organizational facility..
Trump’s ignorant disdain for education and cultural cohesion is ominously consistent with his dual gift of overweening self-interest and profound intellectual ignorance. His systemic self-concern has the ineffable result of little attention paid to matters outside the perceived purview of his selfish and reductive, horse blinders. It is impulse, rather than deliberation, egoistic self-concern, and populist atavistic bigotry, rather than ethical responsibility, that provide the dystopic dynamics of his egregious, unprecedented policies and his regressive actions.
An insatiable, autocratic appetite for unrestrained power describes the underlying theme of Donald Trump’s actions, as he determinatively and dramatically signs his name, prominently and assertively, to his reckless and irresponsible, un-American Executive Orders with the dramatic, stage, Gilbert and Sullivan-style, flourish of his thick, potent, black “sharpie” to demonstrate his presumed and publically declared sense of power. Trump seems to systemically lack the bodily genes for for shame, as clearly demonstrated, among other examples, in his tactical use of his purported desire to oppose “antisemitism” strategically asserted against America’s prestigious Universities, such as Columbia and Harvard Universities (institutions in which he, as a student, would not have had a scintilla of a chance of acceptance) to camouflage his primal lust for power,
The irritating, sardonic falsity of such purported motivation is demonstrated by his previous bizarre statements concerning past Christian White Supremicist, anti-semetic demonstrations, to the telling effect that “both sides had decent people,” his general behavior toward minorities, notably illustrated by his choice of a Secretary of Defense that notably, sports large body tatoos demonstrating his ardent support for White Christian Militias.
We find it to be frustratingly impossible to discover in the entire American-English lexicon, words, adequately conveying the extraordinary level of brash and ignorant presumption evinced in the aspiration of Donald J. Trump to deign to prescribe the educational policy of our revered educational institutions.
So, call it “Chutzpah,”
-p.
If it were possible to borrow the truthful impactful mirror from Grimm’s Fairy Tale, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” we could effortlessly reflect the tactical falsity of the popular Trump-MAGA memes. This fairytale mirror truthfully declared to the egotistical Witch (contextually, read: ” Donald J Trump”) that the young, innocent female protagonist was more beautiful than she. A quick glimpse into such a truth-telling mirror would quickly and effortlessly confirm the empirical truth and demonstrate the falsity of Trump’s eternal mendacity.
By singularly good fortune, the proverbial Dwarfs, curators of the singular Looking Glass, happen to be loyal followers of this blogspace and have generously consented to a cursory written review of some typical Trumpist tropes (Ms. White being otherwise engaged in participation in lucrative, televised cosmetic commercials). The examples are presented below, in abbreviated form; however, their composite effect is intended to render a true (mirror) image of his aberrant persona.
N.B. :[Trump perception] v. * Snow White’s Magic (Truth) Mirror:
(1) [Washington 1/6/21 event was a peaceful protest against the “rigged” election.] The Washington event was a treasonous insurrection against the Washington Capitol, supported by Donald Trump; the election was certified as valid; the disgraced Rudy Guliani seditiously approved of it, calling it a “Trial by Battle.”
(2) [The most beautiful words are “Winner” and “Tariffs”] *The most beautiful words are familial love and empathy. It seems Trump does not have the mental capacity to distinguish “tariffs” from “poker.”
(3) [Alternate facts are usually preferable] * There are no acceptable facts except those that are empirically and situationally true.
(4) [Vaccination causes autism] * Vaccination saves lives by preventing disease and is existentially vital. In our view, parents who do not have their children vaccinated should be charged with child abuse.”
(5) [Immigrants bring crime and disease] * Immigrants are more fairly described as people aspiring to be American citizens and lead a better life. Xenophobia is egregiously inappropriate to a Nation populated by immigrants and their progeny.
(6) [Trade deficits are bad and need elimination]* Trade deficits merely indicate that the U.S is purchasing goods needed for manufacture or profitable resale. Being the “purchaser” does not make one the “loser” and the seller the “winner.” Trump’s reductionist ignorance regarding international commerce is colossal.
(7) [ Women are less intellectually gifted and capable than men of making rational and appropriate decisions, viz., even in the feminine area of abortion rights]. *Women’s rights to abortion are exclusive and strictly personal; female competency is measured by the universal standards of individualized, and sexually irrelevant, capability.
(8) [Institutions of Higher Education are breeding grounds for communism and anti-American sentiment.] *Universities produce enlightened citizens and constitute, by any measure, the most valuable natural resource of a Nation, by any objective measure; and due to populist Trumpism, may become a “Threatened Species.”
(9) [Political opposition is “treasonous”] *A Democratic Republic thrives on the free exchange of diverse opinion and venerates free speech and expression.
(10) [ The Gulf of Mexico should be renamed “the Gulf of America,” Canada should be annexed as an American State, Greenland should be taken over by America] * The mirror of truth merely flashes the bold orange words, “Insanely delusional.”
(11)[ Trump is making “America Great Again,” * The mirror is uniquely suffering an uncontrollable series of deep hiccups and rapidly turning black.
(12) Together with a myriad of additional matters regarding which truthful reflection is existenially needed viz., discontinuance of Radio Free Europe and USAID, executive limitations on Health Research services, such a NIH, CDC, and on Social Security, Medicaid and other vital programs of Governmental assistance (viz., FEMA) the elimination of regulatory health protections, and a plethora of others.
We wish to thank the Seven Dwarfs for their generous loan of the Snow White magic mirror of truth and hope to invite all seven and, of course, Snow White herself if she is not too busy to Washington, D.C. in four years, to attend the predictable inauguration of the next Democratic PartyPresident.
-p.
The “Orange Plague,” presently ravaging the Nation, is notably similar in toxicity to the 14th-century European “Black Plague,” but. nevertheless, distinguishable from the latter by its absence of a known organic (i.e., bacterial) etiology. Analogous in its facility of infection, its advent is generally observed to have had its proximate occurrence simultaneously with the public release of the movie, “Dumb and Dumber,” and most impactfully in response to a low grade television game show, “The Apprentice.” The latter, hosted by the real estate grifter, Donald J. Trump, was ultimately recognized as the cause and metastasis of the thematic disease.
The thematic, infectious disease is bizarrely, albeit, uniformly, manifested by a mental condition popularly described as “brainfog,” substantially disturbing the individual capacity to exercise availoable reason and substituting in its place, an aberrant and irressitable tendency to support irrational, paranoid ideations. The ubiquitous brain fog initiates pernicious infection, perpetuating ubiquitous beliefs in the existence of ubiquitous sub-rosa conspiracies, factually promotes fraternity and feelings of kinship with others identically afflicted, and promotes antipathy for uninfected citizens stubbornly and eternally clinging to their faith in factual reality.
Such symptoms are inarguably injurious to established society, manifesting their greatest harm in the symptomatic practice of unfettered belief and ardent promotion of the articulated delusional policies promoted by the dynamic lunacy of an ersatz Orange “Sorcerer.” The latter human “Biohazard” is justifiably owed exclusive credit as the egregious source and empirical dynamics of the toxic transmission of the subject disease, functionally and effectively analogous to the memorable “Typhoid Annie,” in its empirical attribution to the cosmetically tanned, orange hair-dyed, shifty-eyed. egocentric, President and publically declared, “would-be” “Dictator,” Donald J. Trump.
Such dystopic behavior has impactfully interfered with the Nation’s history-long international friendships converting loyal allies to enemies; traditional international opponents to be confusedly morphed into conversant friends, an excellent national economy, sadly downgraded to conditions of inflation and excessive consumer prices, national secrets treasonously revealed to potential enemies, health and societal safety, severely hobbled, established law and order, atavisticly and self-interestedly bypassed, education and free speech constricted by un-democratic censorship and quasi-religious strictures, and democratically definitional elections, slanted and deemed unreliable.
The toxic National circus plays on, perversely orchestrated and approved by the infectious orange-haired ringmaster, exemplified by his selection of a Presidential cabinet, whose provenance includes a head of security with personal ties to our inveterate enemies, a health secretary who principally opposes modern responses to illness, such as vaccination, pasteurized milk, and fluoridated water, an alcoholic head of the Nation’s armed forces with scant military experience and large body tattoos representing ardent support for White Christian Nationalist Militias, an Attorney General whose loyalty is , inappropriately directed to the Orange President, instead of the American people and who, as directed by him, demands ubiquitious “political retribution, an Education Secretary of Education whose enlightenment is limited to the business of professional wrestling, a Secretary of Immigration who is an announced, dedicated xenophobe and other “Mad-Hatter” and side show monstrosities to, somehow, guide the Nation. The traditional mainstream American citizen has unwittingly and unjustly fallen ill to a consignment of incompetent, cynical mismanagement for an unjust, unhealthy, four-year disability.
His undeserved and uncalled for suffering and disillusion can only be assuaged by his own continuing to hope and express himself by democratically-based behavior and beliefs, with the predictably, empirical hope that in a few years, he will accrue the opportunity to reprise the Nation’s traditional health and its rightful colors to the traditional, red, white and blue, of government responsibility and citizen participation, from the present orange disabilitry and ugly blemish on its laudable tradition.
-p,
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