Those are some high rates of survival.
Compare Covid-19 to the survival rates of various kinds of cancer.
The cancers with the lowest survival estimates are mesothelioma (6.5%), pancreatic cancer (7.3%), and brain cancer (12.2%). The highest survival estimates can be seen in patients with testicular cancer (95.3%), melanoma of skin (91.3%), and thyroid cancer (87.4%).
I recently wrote about what a local funeral homeowner told me about Covid-19 deaths during the year 2020. He said:
Covid-19 is spreading everywhere! There is no disputing that fact. What Oklahomans need to realize is that Covid-19 spreads equally in cities and counties that have mask mandates compared to those that don't. The statistics prove it.
A recent editorial in our local paper asked the question:
"If Christ walked into a packed sanctuary on Sunday morning, with nary a mask to be seen, in the middle of a deadly pandemic — what would Christ have to say to that pastor? What would Christ have to say about the Church’s silence — or worse, its complicity — in the face of a government that allows so many to needlessly die?"
Let's talk about the percentage growth of deaths annually in the United States. It certainly feels as if many more people have died in the United States during 2020, especially if you listen to the evening news. However, the annual death rate in terms of percentage growth is actually less in 2020 than in the years 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. The death rate has the same percentage growth in 2020 as in the year 2019, and only the year in the past eight years that has a lower death rate percentage increase than the year 2020 is the year 2013.
I recently wrote about what a local funeral homeowner told me about Covid-19 deaths during the year 2020. He said:
"We've set an all-time record in 2020 for the number of people who have died from alcohol poisoning or from damage to the liver by alcohol. Those deaths number as many as Covid-19 in 2020."
Garfield County and Enid, Oklahoma (where I live) have taken one of the least oppressive approaches to confront the Covid-19 virus in the United States. If alcohol-related deaths have set a record in our county, imagine what it must be like in other counties and states where schools are closed, businesses are shuttered, and families have lost one or both income streams.
Michigan, which has had some of the most severe lockdown requirements in the nation, mandating masks since last spring, had the highest number of cases reported this past Thursday, 30 TIMES higher than Oklahoma which has no state-wide mandate for masks.
But some cities and counties in Oklahoma do have mask mandates. Let's examine them and compare them to Enid, Oklahoma.
The Enid city council voted down mask mandates twice during the summer of 2020. However, on July 8, Norman, Oklahoma, kicked off a series of cities in Oklahoma that imposed mask mandates. Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Stillwater, Altus, Anadarko, and Lawton quickly followed Norman in implementing mask mandates. Now let's look at how those cities and counties are doing compared to Enid, Oklahoma, and Garfield County. (Source: November 19, 2020, Oklahoma State Health Department Color Coded Map - see comparisons below the map)
Enid and Garfield County have 72.5 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people. The cities and (counties) that have had mask mandates since July 2020 have the following rates per 100,000.
Lawton (Comanche County) - 77.00 cases per 100,000 (higher than Enid and Garfield County).
Anadarko (Caddo County) - 95.4 cases per 100,000 (much higher than Enid and Garfield County).
Oklahoma City (Oklahoma County) - 73.1 cases per 100,000 (higher than Enid and Garfield County).
Altus (Jackson County) - 134.5 cases per 100,000 (nearly 100% higher than Garfield County).
Stillwater (Payne County) - 66.0 cases per 100,000 (nearly the same as Garfield County).
Norman (Cleveland County) - 53.00 cases per 100,000 (still in the orange classification of cases).
Tulsa (Tulsa County) - 60.5 cases per 100,000 (a significantly higher number due to Tulsa's population).
Lawton (Comanche County) - 77.00 cases per 100,000 (higher than Enid and Garfield County).
Anadarko (Caddo County) - 95.4 cases per 100,000 (much higher than Enid and Garfield County).
Oklahoma City (Oklahoma County) - 73.1 cases per 100,000 (higher than Enid and Garfield County).
Altus (Jackson County) - 134.5 cases per 100,000 (nearly 100% higher than Garfield County).
Stillwater (Payne County) - 66.0 cases per 100,000 (nearly the same as Garfield County).
Norman (Cleveland County) - 53.00 cases per 100,000 (still in the orange classification of cases).
Tulsa (Tulsa County) - 60.5 cases per 100,000 (a significantly higher number due to Tulsa's population).
The bottom line is that Enid, Oklahoma, and Garfield County are doing either comparable or BETTER than counties with mask mandates in place. Yes, cases are increases, but...
Covid-19 is spreading everywhere! There is no disputing that fact. What Oklahomans need to realize is that Covid-19 spreads equally in cities and counties that have mask mandates compared to those that don't. The statistics prove it.
Let's look at the spike of Covid-19 cases throughout the entire nation. It will show that the "flare-ups" and "spike" in cases of Covid-19 increases do not differentiate mask-mandate and government lockdown states (like California, New York, and Michigan) compared to those states that are less oppressive and do not mandate masks or lockdowns (like Oklahoma). The source of the following information is John Hopkins University. Following the "squiggly black line" as it SPIKES - in every single state, regardless of lockdowns or mask mandates. Covid spreads uniformly across the states regardless of mandates.
But what about hospitals and hospital capacities?
Yes, hospitals are full and will continue to be full. We are in a pandemic. People are going to get sick. Some are going to die. Pray for our hospital personnel. Pray for administrators of Nursing Homes. They are on the front lines. They are worn out and tired.
But they would be that way regardless of mandates, lockdowns, and government control. Pandemics have occurred throughout human history. We are in the middle of one.
"So what's your point, Pastor Wade?"
A recent editorial in our local paper asked the question:
"If Christ walked into a packed sanctuary on Sunday morning, with nary a mask to be seen, in the middle of a deadly pandemic — what would Christ have to say to that pastor? What would Christ have to say about the Church’s silence — or worse, its complicity — in the face of a government that allows so many to needlessly die?"
Here's what I (Wade Burleson) believe Christ would say to me:
|
Keep on.
Enid, Oklahoma, is a great place to live. Our tax revenue is up compared to other cities. We have new businesses opening. Our Mayor and City Council have given the freedom to individuals to make personal choices about their health and the prevention of disease that they deem best.
Enid's a great place to live during a pandemic because of our old-fashioned values of faith in God, respect for human life, love for individual liberty, and the freedom to pursue the course of living that we believe best leads to our happiness.
Let's keep it that way. Practice personal hygiene. Get some exercise. Always have respect for another person's personal space. Wear a mask if you desire. Stay home if you are sick or susceptible to disease.
But trust the people around you to make the best choices for their health, and most of all, trust God for the ultimate care of your soul, body, and business.
We'll get through this together without government mandates.
Persuade people of what you believe to be true. Respect those who disagree. But if you give in to government mandates on masks, you'll soon be asked to give in to government mandates in vaccinations. And once you give in to government mandates on vaccinations, you'll have to give in to government mandates for health verification via electronic control of driver's licenses and passports ("Do you have your vaccination?).
As President Ronald Reagan once said, "In this present crisis, the government is not the solution to our problem, for government IS the problem. It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so.”
26 comments:
" It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so.”
Classic! Thanks for your persistence in promoting sanity.
My son, who lost his own dear father this spring, is consoling a young Coast Guardsman we have known for years whose father passed away this week, in isolation, in hospital, alone, but for his nurse and the Presence of his Lord.
So, in memory of the father of this young Coast Guardsman, a friend of our family who 'is family', and for all those in need of the Help of the helpless, this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLMbHttVbp4
Thank you, Wade! I my heart needed this…..
Throughout this pandemic, I have asked myself that trite phrase, 'What would Jesus do?", and I have become convinced that it is not what we are doing.
We are taught to protect the weak, and so I do not challenge the fears of my mother, although if my mother were to tell me that she wanted to get back to living, I would support her. Although I do not want my mother to get sick or die of this thing, the second reality is that her time on this earth is limited because of age and malignancy. Her chance of dying within the next 12 months is probably near 80 or 90%, within in the next 2 years 99%. I am sad that she will live the last of her life in fear. Her calculated risk of dying of COVID is 4.4%. Would COVID shorten her life? Maybe. But, is the cost of living in fear and isolation for her remaining months on this earth worth it? Yet the news tells her to cower in fear and for her, that is the way she lives her life.
I hate seeing people isolated in hospital rooms with no visitors. The lack of visitors, although appropriate from an epidemiologic view, hurts patient care as the sick frequently benefit from family members that can advocate for them or alert nurses to symptoms.
I know that what I can offer people is my presence. The rest I have handed to God. I predict that 10-20 years from now, if we still have a free society that can critically think, our response to this pandemic will be appropriately ridiculed and we will be considered a bunch of fools.
BTW, I recently found a fascinating online calculator at the South Dakota COVID page that calculates "COVID age." (https://south-dakota.covid-age.com/). For me, if I get COVID, the risk of hospitalization is 4.5%, ICU admission is 1.2%, and death is 0.17%. Not zero, but I feel good about those numbers.
I have played with this thing a lot. If I calculate my stats for obesity with vascular disease, hypertension, and poor diabetic control (that disease set often comes together), the numbers change and mortality becomes 14%. If I then give myself cancer on chemotherapy, the mortality becomes 21%.
Obviously, in all things statistical, for a person, what matters is what happens to that person. I had a medical issue in my 20's that occurs in 1/100,000 people. Kind of sucked when I was that one person, but I think for many people, understanding their true risk of this disease can help them plan their life and their response to the risk of infection.
"10 The life of every living thing is in His Hand, as well as the breath of all mankind."
(Job 12:10)
Wade do you even know how to read statistics? You said the county with Tulsa has 60.5 cases per 100000 but the county with Enid has 72.5 per 10000. The means the Covid 19 infection rate is higher in Enid than Tulsa. Around 20% higher. Hardly comparable.
“Learning to unlearn is the highest form of education”
It’s our pride and arrogance that prevents us from seeing that we are falling prey to the biggest fraud ever committed in mankind.
Sojourner,
I respect your views and appreciate your comment, though I don't share them. I desire freedom for dialogue, healthy respect toward those who disagree, and a place of open transparency.
My greater issue is the potential profit motive of big pharmacy. To try to scare people into wearing a mask - even hoping for legal mandates and judicial punishment for violating the mask mandate - seems to me to drive people toward desiring a very expensive vaccine.
I have never been anti-vax (and still am not). But I will not be taking the Covid-19 vaccine. At least for a while - until a few years have passed to test the long-term effects.
I would love for people to discuss the RNA vaccination (Covid-19) that changes the DNA of a human being, a first-of-a-kind in the world vaccination that uses tissue from a chimpanzee and an aborted fetus. Long-term effects of this vaccination have not been studied due to a rush through of the testing process by the FDA, allowing for potential cross-transfer of future animal kingdom viruses into human beings. Surveys state 80% of medical personnel are hesitant or unwilling to take the vaccine, a much lower rate than the general populace. I'm very interested in facts, science, dialogue, and discussion, but have little patience for bless your heart attitudes.
I read an interesting article yesterday that I thought I bookmarked but can't find....the premise was that pandemics end when either a) the contagion is controlled (medical end) or 2) when people stop panicking (societal end). The article then discussed the ? Asian flu (I was reading fast and *thought* I bookmarked) that was a pandemic but hardly noticed because most just saw it as a bad flu year and refused to get into the hype.
This article also referenced the governor of Colorado saying that he wouldn't lock down again because he didn't think he could get people to do it. You are now seeing people refusing to follow Newsom's grim set of edicts. People are beginning to hear/see the statistics and realize that they might be at death's door if they get the 'rona. They know we locked down before and it didn't go away. Why repeat what you know doesn't work?
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are on a mRNA platform. Both are created from computer generated sequence data and do not use tissue culture or fetal culture in production (although it would be my guess that those modalities were used in early testing to see if the concept works.....there is no other way).
Proteins are encoded by genes in our DNA. DNA exists in the nucleus of the cell. There, when expressed, the gene is transcribed into mRNA (messenger RNA) which exits the nucleus and in the cytoplasm of the cell where the mRNA is used by ribosomes to create proteins.
For these vaccines, people are being given a vaccine with the mRNA. The RNA is taken up into cells where the ribosomes use the instructions to create the spike protein. The spike protein is then excreted from the cell where the immune system sees it and mounts and antibody response. This all really simplified, and typing it out I have a ton of questions (like is it taken up by all cell types, is the spike protein excreted or expressed on the surface of the cell, how long do they see expression of this protein/evidence of the mRNA, etc etc etc).
With that process in mind, the mRNA should not be getting into the nucleus of the cell. There should be no changes to our DNA.
So, what *could* go wrong?
If a person examines the history of vaccine development, it is, unfortunately, littered with attempts that went wrong. Many of the early attempts at polio vaccine were aborted early because they found they killed a bunch of kids (oops....that was back in the old days, though). The genghe vaccine made the disease worse (so is now only offered when it is thought that the person is already old enough to have seen the illness). We know that with the swine flu in 2008, a vaccine was rushed out and then they saw increased incidence of GBS (Guillain Barre Syndrome), and neurological disorder which can be transient or not. That being written, I hold my arm out for the flu vaccine every year, I am fully vaccinated, but I will hit pause on a rushed Sars CoV2 vaccine.
Early attempts at making a corona vaccine for Sars CoV1 and MERS were troubled by hypersensitivity reactions (lung) or antibody dependent enhancement of infection when tested in animal models so were aborted. With Operation Warp Speed, I believe that animal model step was skipped (takes time) and so......Although the "authorities" who have proven themselves so reliable throughout this thing (/sarc) say it is all well and good, the reality is that right now, these vaccines with 95% efficiency have a whopping 2 months (sort of depending on how you count it) of safety data behind them.
The Moderna study was transiently stopped because of concerns that a participant had developed transverse myelitis. That is a condition that acts like a stroke in the spinal cord (inflammation knocks out the spinal cord). Later the spokesperson for the company said that the diagnosis had not been made yet (the transverse myelitis came from some conference call to investors) and a few weeks later the safety boards said keep testing. The fact that someone presented with symptoms concerning for TM, is obviously quite concerning because those are concerning symptoms. The reality is that even if this person had transverse myelitis happens it can happen just by chance, and by bad luck a study participant could have that unrelated to the vaccine. But things like that give one pause......especially with the known neurological complications from the swine flu vaccine.
This is not the first time that we have had a pandemic in an election year. This is the first time the pandemic was real (it is interesting to read the history of the 1976 election with Gerald Ford and the swine flu "pandemic" that never was.....). Is COVID real? yes, it is. Have we been whipped into mass hysteria likely worsened by an election year? My opinion is that we have. My faith is in God has been strengthened. My faith shouldn't be in the church, but I am beginning to lose that faith, as I see my church hiding behind the safety of YouTube videos while real people suffer. My faith in government is utterly destroyed. I could spew forth for pages about how the CDC has chosen to throw healthcare workers under the bus, how the unintended consequences of what we are doing now will reverberate for years going forward, but certain physicians who seem to like to keep themselves in the news cycle keep spewing forth the fear.
If it is so important that we lock down, stay away etc, why would a Nancy Pelosi even think about going to a salon at age 80? Why would a Nancy Pelosi even think about having a dinner for the all the incoming representatives (who by definition (I hope) do not live in the same household), how could they *ever* say the riots were "safe", why would Newsome even *think* about, much less attend a swanky dinner with a bunch of people not in masks and unrelated to him? Maybe, it is because the true risk of those activities really isn't that high.
(Continued)
Color me skeptical. Color me jaded early on a Monday morning.
I do maintain that everyone needs to do their own risk analysis. As I mentioned previously, my mother's fear saddens me, but I try to honor and respect it.
Life is filled with risk. Thousand of lives could be saved if we chose to drive at 55 mph, but most of us are happy to assume the risk of driving 70 mph down the road. I was willing to do the things when we thought that risk of dying from Sars was 5-10% for all comers. Now, that we know differently and I see how it is causing people to suffer, how it is compromising our physical and mental health, as the list of "unintended consequences" grows, a new approach is needed. Somehow, people have absorbed the fear and our media refuses to change the story.
RB Kuter,
I was going to congratulate you for saying, “It isn’t so much that liberals are ignorant, it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”
But then after a quick glance, I thought Wade had said it. Further reading nailed it to Ronald Reagan.
On my tool box at General Dynamics was a sign that said, “Vote for Ronald Reagan.”
Haven’t had a cold in ten years, but the last two weeks I’ve been spitting junk and coughing my head off. Going to sleep with a cough-drop in your mouth can be dangerous as one went down my windpipe. Never had a temperature and the worst is over; feeling better.
Rex.
Glad you are feeling better! You may be immune to Covid naturally now - having gotten it? :)
something to think about in these difficult times:
'you shall not side with the great against the powerless'
and
what we do to the 'least of these' we do also to Him . . .
with those thoughts in mind, and taken to heart, we will know what is the best way forward so that people who are vulnerable are protected as best we know how to do it
my God forgive us our foolish ways, and forgive not only that which we have done wrong, but also that which is right that we have KNOWINGLY failed to do
This is a simple prayer for these strange days that works for me:
'Jesus Christ, I trust in You'
REX RAY, if you continue with any severe congestion, call your physician - hope you are better soon
WADE, I am confident that you will always try to do what is right in good faith, even though at times I may disagree with you
- remember, remember 'do not side with the powerful against the helpless' and you can't go far wrong - trust in Our Lord for guidance always - you have my respect and my prayers
“This, from the video ‘Germ Theory Deception Part 2’, can also help us understand what is occurring – Alex Loglia reciting the work of Dr. Bill Holub:
“What is really happening with these supposed epidemics is the following. Actually the word epidemic from the Greek, means literally on or at and people. And means something that happens to people as a group all at once – NOT a slow contagion. The actual epidemic process is very simple – remember that everyone already has their daily compliment of germs and remember also a large population of people, such as a town or a region of a city, is continually being exposed to the same environmental hazards all at the same time. For example large numbers of people are exposed to the same weather changes, water quality changes, pesticides, foods and water, contaminated food of a fast food chain, bad news in the media, batches of drugs and medication, holiday moods, air quality changes and many other toxic insults.
The, quote on quote, group healing reaction to these toxic challenges is what you are seeing when people start coughing, sneezing or whatever. They are not catching it from each other. They are experiencing it with others. In addition, at many levels, we are all connected. About the only thing that is catching about all of this is paranoia. After all, medicine has had about a century to literally instil the fear of germs into our culture. So people fear the germs in the air, in the water – they fear germs from touching people, which, in turn leads to our general fear of people. When they read or see reports about infections going around, so to speak, the fear, paranoia and anticipation has been shown to lower ‘immunity’ and precipitate illness – now isn’t that interesting. Our self imposed stress about holidays has the same effect.”
http://entityart.co.uk/the-germ-theory-deception-viruses-5g-agenda-vaccines-louis-pasteur-bechamp-terrain-theory-coronavirus/
"my God forgive us our foolish ways, and forgive not only that which we have done wrong, but also that which is right that we have KNOWINGLY failed to do"
Amazing rhetoric made into empty chatter and clanging cymbals coming from those who continue to actively support the movement to destroy the most vulnerable, helpless, powerless, human beings, those millions of pre-delivered babies in Moms womb.(And even those poor infants almost out of the womb). Confounding.
Yes, Rex Ray, I was using the quote Wade had used. Perhaps I should have made that more apparent in my comment. I wish I was sharp enough to come up with such profound and useful comments, but I do try not to plagiarize those who do!
I am so glad you are recovering. After being so sick I know the recovery will be lengthy but just so you are progressing in your recovery. Praise God for that!
Since Thanksgiving is at our house, I got myself check out today if I had the virus. A quick test was negative. I’m feeling a lot better, but two hundred dollars poorer. I believe someone is making a lot of money.
Today, by accident I found:
https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=18877210&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjQzMDY5NjczLCJpYXQiOjE2MDYyMTc5NjAsImV4cCI6MTYwNjMwNDM2MH0._zCEk636DYF9dSBAXbChCzSYN6Mo0KD-AN4f0ew2ZE4
It’s a picture in 1956 of my Uncle, Rex Ray, and his wife in a Bonham, Texas newspaper. They’d served 30 years in China and 6 in Korea. The article was about them bringing six baby orphans from Korea for adoption.
My uncle’s son, Dan Ray, took over his father’s work and served 39 years in Korea. When Dan was buried 12-10-11 a mile from here, one of those Korean babies, Johnny Ray North, was there with his two sons. The reason I know the date is because that’s the day all three went down the slide.
Hey REX RAY,
glad you are virus free, hope you have a great Thanksgiving with your people
wonderful to hear about your uncle and his son ministering in China and Korea- the story about bringing the Korean baby orphans home for adoption is priceless - a beautiful family story!
The care of those orphans is what respect for life is all about: that those babies will live and be well.
You take care now.
Wow, Rex Ray! What a legacy! Thank God for family whose identity becomes true and faithful followers of Jesus Christ no matter where He leads!
"The slide"; another one of those Rex Ray wonders!
How respect for life is viewed in a way that comes from a different faith tradition, this might help a bit.
It is a quote from Sister Joan Chittister, a Benedictine nun who was being interviewed by Bill Moyers in 2004, this:
""I do not believe that just because you are opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, a child educated, a child housed. And why would I think that you don't? Because you don't want any tax money to go there. That's not pro-life.That's pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is."
Sister Joan was a heroine to 'The Nuns On The Bus' who traveled and spoke against a highly restrictive and punitive Ryan Budget that targeted the marginalized and the poor in ways that was then (and is still) considered morally wrong among many Christians. Yes, Ryan was Catholic, well, so were the nuns who took to the road against his policies which they knew were NOT 'of Christ'. The 'Ryan Budget' failed then.
But we will see its like come again and again and again in different forms. And yes, we will continue to see people like 'the Nuns On The Bus' speak out for the powerless.
I hope soon that people begin to cultivate a heart for children who suffer from hunger, from sickness, from 'the monsters who come in the daytime', and that people begin to realize that RESPECT for human life needs a much broader conversation than is now politically fashionable on the right. It's time. It used to be one in seven American children had 'hunger issues'; but now in 2020, it is thought that the ratio is one among five.
Thanks for listening. It's okay to disagree with me, I'm okay with that too.
Celeste,
Great information. Thank you.
Wade, you said you don’t share my views - does that mean all of them?
You use covid1984 statistics to try to convince people that the threat is minimal (and I can appreciate that in a sense), but do you also have that same confidence level in the 2020 election statistics and counting? They both have the same common denominator (fraud and manipulation).
People’s faith in the medical system and health care providers has greatly diminished over the past 8 months and for good reason. Many nurses have quit there jobs, not because of the supposed risk of getting sick, but because they see the manipulation and fraud in the industry and how it’s driving this scamdemic. People are losing faith in doctors and hospitals and see them more as used car salesmen now because not enough of them have the courage to speak out against the fraud and medical tyranny.
There has always been fraud in the voting system, but this time their plan was to make it as plain as day.
Sojourner,
I don't share your views about 5G networking. I apologize. I should have been more specific. Thanks for your comments!
Thanks for the clarification, Wade. The evidence that humans are destroying their own existence through electricity and chemicals is overwhelming. Please don't close your mind like you expressed you'll "never be" an anti-vaxxer. Glyphosate and similar chemicals are in the air, earth, rain and bodies of water. We are in an age of genocide and most are paying attention (thanks to social engineering) to the wrong thing (just like they want).
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zRA-Z_BW924
Christiane, I heard about it on Sesame Street. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBLUxXJNQUw
Then I found more info here: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/7016245/Preventing-a-Disrupted-Presidential-Election-and.pdf
One of their scenarios is being played out in real time piece by piece. Guess they had a hunch like George Bush did when he was told months before 9/11 that airplanes could strike buildings, but he looked into the camera post 9/11 and lied and said "who could imagine?". Why? Because it was a self-inflicted wound to bring order out of chaos. Much like Event 201 and Convid-1984 was. Ever hear of the hegelian dialetic? Doesn't matter if your blue or red, left or right - both end up at the same place of ultimate slavery.
Lord willing, thousands of these treasonous bad actors will have a one way flight to Gitmo. I'm not willing to participate in the Great Reset, so I may not be around much longer.
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