Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web of Corrupt Leaders

Sunday, October 6, 2019

Armstrongism and the Neanderthal Key



Armstrongism and the Neanderthal Key


Because the vital key that unlocks prophecy to our understanding had been lost. That KEY is the IDENTITY of the United States and the British peoples in Biblical prophecy. That KEY has been found!
Herbert W. Armstrong,
The United States and Britain in Prophecy
******** 

There is no use trying," said Alice; "one can't believe impossible things."
"I dare say you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
Lewis Carroll,
Through the Looking Glass
It would be unexpected to anyone that the discovery of bones in Germany in 1856 would lead to the identification of a prehistoric hominid species, the Neanderthals, and this discovery could have a profound effect on Armstrongism over a century later. Neanderthals have been the subject of intensive research and the body of scientific literature on them is large. They will not be described further in this writing but it is important to mention that the entire Neanderthal genome was sequenced in 2010 and evidence of admixture with the ancestors of modern humans were identified. A foundational belief in Armstrongism is British-Israelism. The Neanderthal component in the modern human genome makes a highly significant statement about British-Israelism.

Genetics, Neanderthals and the Armstrongist Story of Israel



HWA maintained that a collection of modern nations comprise the people known in the Bible to be descended from Jacob (Israel). This includes the people of the British Isles, Jews, and various Northwest European peoples. The assertion that these people are all descended from Jacob is genetically impossible. Relying on the Biblical account, we know that Jacob was haplogroup J (“haplogroup” means y-chromosome haplogroup throughout the text) by noting that he is a descendant of Abraham. The Jews and the Adnani Arabs both claim descent from Abraham and both are haplogroup J (see work of Dr. Spencer Wells). This means that Abraham’s male descendants, including Jacob, will be haplogroup J. Y –chromosome haplogroups are inherited in the masculine line only. The peoples of the British Isles and the peoples of Northwest Europe are principally haplogroup R1b. The Jews are haplogroup J. Israel could not have been the father of Judah, Levi, and Simeon (haplogroup J) and also the father the other brothers (haplogroup R). This can only happen if there was what genealogists call a “non-parental event.” Non-parental events would include adoption or illegitimacy. 

As we have seen, if we apply principles of genetics to the Biblical genealogies, all the descendants of Israel are haplogroup J. (Note that all peoples have absorbed outsiders over time. The modern-day Jews also harbor other haplogroups besides J but J is the principal modern and ancient Jewish haplogroup.) This decisively excludes the British and other Northwest Europeans from the House of Israel. Among believers in British-Israelism, much is made of the fact that the Jews are not Israel. But this is a trivial point of nomenclature and has no genetic bearing. And it is not possible that the British and Northwest Europeans mutated from haplogroup J to haplogroup R in the generations after Jacob. The genetic distance between R and J is too great for that to be a possibility and rates of mutation are not remotely that rapid. Also, a hard biological constraint is that human haplogroups in the genome are related to each other in a hierarchical structure and this supposition would violate that structure. In addition, there is a well-defined archaeology connecting the Western Europeans to the ancient Steppe Pastoralists who came out of the north Russian steppes (see Dr. David Reich’s book “Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past,” 2019)

Though we know from genetics that British-Israelism is a myth, as discussed above, the validity of this conclusion is corroborated by Neanderthal ancestry among the people of Europe and the Middle East. Asians have more Neanderthal ancestry than other races. Next, are Europeans. The people with the least Neanderthal ancestry are sub-Saharan Africans. Some tribes in the sub-Sahara have no Neanderthal ancestry. This is because modern humans originated in African and did not encounter Neanderthals until they migrated to Europe and Asia where Neanderthals lived. The haplogroup J people of the Middle East have less Neanderthal ancestry than Asians and Europeans but more than sub-Saharan Africans. The spectrum difference in the relative proportion of Neanderthal ancestry points out that Europeans, including the British and Northwest Europeans, derive from a different source than the haplogroup J people of the Middle East. These two groups, the Jews in this case and Northwest Europeans, have different long-duration migrational and genetic histories vis-à-vis Neanderthals. This leads to the inescapable conclusion that the British and other Northwest Europeans are not descended from Israel. 

The Missing Dimension in Armstrongist British-Israelism

Herbert W. Armstrong and Herman Hoeh did not have the benefit of the science of genetics at the time they developed the Armstrongist canon on race.  Perhaps, if there could have been a primer on genetics in the library in Des Moines, British-Israelism would never have been incorporated into Armstrongism.  But it was adopted and this was an influential factor in setting the direction of the development of Armstrongism in belief and practice.  British-Israelism has unfortunately attracted a significant number of people to Armstrongist congregations who want or who have grown to be comfortable with a racialized belief system, who want to believe they are special to god above others not because of their faith but because of their racial status.  Perhaps, in time the Armstrongist churches will evaluate the scientific evidence and eject from their beliefs this odd blend of mythology, racism and conspiracy theory that is British-Israelism.    One key that supports that ejection is the Neanderthal heritage in the modern human genome. 
NEO

37 comments:

  1. Don't you know that the daughters of men were the Neanderthals and the sons of God were the sons of Adam and Genesis 6 tells the whole story?

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  2. Gen 6:2 - That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.


    Neanderthal Women Were Beautiful

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  3. "The Jews and the Adnani Arabs both claim descent from Abraham and both are haplogroup J"


    Keyword - "claim"

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  4. "This can only happen if there was what genealogists call a “non-parental event.” Non-parental events would include adoption or illegitimacy."


    Or a female or group of female Israelites marrying non-Israelites if Israel really was originally haplo group j.

    or

    What if a female Israelite married a non-Israelite long ago who was of haplo group j?

    If you seriously think it's possible to determine what happened thousands of years ago I've got ocean front property in Kansas that you would likely be interested in buying.

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  5. Armstrongists will simply take the Neanderthal findings as proof that rebellious and evil humans had sex with pre-Adamic hominids.

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  6. Were any of the hominids homosexual? If so, then what should we thus label them as a term??

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  7. Tonto said...
    Were any of the hominids homosexual? If so, then what should we thus label them as a term??

    Homo Erectus might be appropriate but the term is already taken

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  8. Dennis,

    The complete lack of specimens of hetero sapiens should be enough to convince you that modern anthropology and paleontology are perverted anti-God phenomena designed to lead people away from worship of the supremely moral ancient deity who chose to arrange his birth through the rape of a teenage girl who was already betrothed to another man.

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  9. COG attitude - DNA is not reliable except for the no gay gene - of course they ignore the whole article which explains that there is not a single gene (just like there is not a single gene for height).

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  10. Haplogroup this or haplogroup that, it's all mumbo jumbo. If someone is unschooled in a topic, it's easy to be misled or deceived by experts in that field. Which is why most members were deceived by at least parts of HWAs theology. Another example of this phenomenon is in in fiance, resulting in people being swindled out of their lifes savings.
    Now NEO comes here with the same ploy.

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  11. TLA, is it possible that LCG is trying to soften its members up to admit that BI is rubbish disproved by science?

    With that "no gay gene" article, they are teaching their members that DNA science is trustworthy. It's only a small step from "DNA shows that nobody is born gay" to "DNA shows that practically no Americans or Britons are born Manasseh or Ephraim."

    If BI is true, there remain things we don't yet understand about DNA that may refute most of what we think we know, and just as it may yet prove BI it may show that there actually is a "gay gene."

    However, if we understand DNA well enough to prove that there is no "gay gene" then we have also understood it well enough to prove that BI is patently false.

    LCG members, to continue their belief that BI is true, will have to prove to themselves that their leaders are morons who published an article that is false. Or, they will have to prove that BI must be false, as their leaders published an article that must be true. Which will they choose?

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  12. Near_Earth_Object said...
    Dennis:

    Here is my diatribe. Sorry.

    I could not agree more with your analysis and understanding of the realities of DNA and 19th Century religious claims. The Mormons are running up against DNA realities as well in their wild tale told in the Book of Morons with respect to Native Americans and Israelites etc.

    Of course we know that in the end, the only avenue and apologetic left when good science done well debunks religious tale weaving is Ron Weinland's apologetic for his failed prophecies. "Brethren, YOU DON'T GET IT! It's SPIRITUAL!" Even the NT takes Abraham, the father of the Circumcised and turns him into the father of the uncircumcised gentiles. It's a miracle! :)

    Anyway, I'd not consider this a diatribe. If you consider mine such, that's up to you.

    Being of the Tribe of "Zebulon", I am proud to be 4% Neanderthal. Some would say I am 100% Neanderthal but that's not really proved in the DNA. It lies deeply imbedded in the Snark Cells. :)

    Spencer Wells rocks!

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  13. "This can only happen if there was what genealogists call a “non-parental event.” Non-parental events would include adoption or illegitimacy."


    well duh...

    since Israel comprises those natural born and gentile proselytes, pretty much all haplogroups would be represented in the sons of Jacob today. (and who knows how many jews had gentile fathers)

    same applies to The Church.

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  14. Re BI check out the following good articles (from a group possibly with some of a COG background) by Jim Patterson:

    https://shepherdsvoicemagazine.org/british-israelism-a-brief-exposure-and-refutation

    https://shepherdsvoicemagazine.org/british-israelism-supplemental-pages-britains-empire-resistance-repression-and-revolt/

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  15. "Contrary to the narrative by all BI based books and booklets, the British Empire did not come to be through blessings of Abraham any more than the Roman Empire did, or by adopting some moral high ground. The British Empire expanded through conquest and repression. Though many BI books speak of the wealth of the western nations as evidence of God’s blessing, they avoid the often overlooked question: at whose expense?"


    Only minutes into the shepherdsvoice article and I find a most ignorant comment. What does he mean that the fact of conquest and repression is "contrary to the narrative of ALL bi books? That's just dumb. Especially knowing that's exactly how the old testament portrays Israel in its attainment of the promised land.

    While I'll most likely continue reading, ignorant statements like this doesn't help the cause!

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  16. Again from Jim Patterson's garbage:

    "Today, it is an unfortunate embarrassment to the Sabbath Keeping Community when outspoken BI advocates in our midst use the expressions found in Genesis 49 such as “Blessings of the deep that lies beneath” as a reference to the oil and mineral reserves found in the United States, where the Bible interprets Joseph’s blessings as the well springs of water (Deuteronomy 33:13-16)."


    Funny how he has to go to the NIV to get his "well springs of water" when the actual Hebrew says dew. The Hebrew talks of the blessings from heaven aka dew, and blessings from the deep. The Hebrew for water is mayim, yet the Hebrew word in Deut. 33 for dew is tal, meaning "as covering vegetation". So Jim, does the tal that covers vegetation come from the deep? I'm willing to listen to arguments against BIism, I've always held that belief with kid gloves because it's hard to prove, but the shabby research that I've seen so far from Patterson isn't going to convince me to abandon the possibility. Nor are Geneticists and their haplogroup j pronouncements, since most scientific theory is eventually proven wrong. There's nothing wrong with holding the BI theory with kid gloves and wait to see if the end time warnings for Israel really do come against the U.S. So far though, the prophecy that strangers will overtake the end time Israelites, and women ruling over them sure seem to be coming about.

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  17. “Strangers will overtake the end time Israelites, and women ruling over them....”

    Not really. What you are seeing is formerly marginalized people now having better educational opportunities and developing parity in skill levels. Most of the people you are complaining about, like it or not, are now part of the mainstream American melting pot. It’s not as if they were Ghengis Khan, or the vandals, marauding and raping and pillaging their way across the USA.

    BB

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  18. BB, Not really! The strangers that I'm complaining about are the damn illegals who have absolutely no right to being here. They are empowered by the Democrat party because they see them as potential future voters. Anyone who thinks that illegals haven't been taking part in our elections are fools. Especially since some states allow registration when a drivers license is applied for. They believe that Russia influenced the last election but not a single illegal voted. Morons!

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  19. Anon 1:32 PM said: "Again from Jim Patterson's garbage: 'Today, it is an unfortunate embarrassment to the Sabbath Keeping Community when outspoken BI advocates in our midst use the expressions found in Genesis 49 such as “Blessings of the deep that lies beneath” as a reference to the oil and mineral reserves found in the United States, where the Bible interprets Joseph’s blessings as the well springs of water (Deuteronomy 33:13-16).' Funny how he has to go to the NIV to get his 'well springs of water' when the actual Hebrew says dew. The Hebrew talks of the blessings from heaven aka dew, and blessings from the deep. The Hebrew for water is mayim, yet the Hebrew word in Deut. 33 for dew is tal, meaning 'as covering vegetation'. So Jim, does the tal that covers vegetation come from the deep? I'm willing to listen to arguments against BIism, I've always held that belief with kid gloves because it's hard to prove, but the shabby research that I've seen so far from Patterson isn't going to convince me to abandon the possibility. Nor are Geneticists and their haplogroup j pronouncements, since most scientific theory is eventually proven wrong. There's nothing wrong with holding the BI theory with kid gloves and wait to see if the end time warnings for Israel really do come against the U.S. So far though, the prophecy that strangers will overtake the end time Israelites, and women ruling over them sure seem to be coming about."

    Idk if I misunderstand your correction of Jim's reference to "well springs of water" (highlighted above) or you've misunderstood, according to me, Jim's accurate statement. The word in both Gen 49:25 and Deut 33:13 translated as "deep" is Hebrew "tehowm" (Strong's 8145). It's used 36 times in 35 verses in the KJV and means "an abyss (as a surging mass of water), especially the deep (the main sea or the subterranean watersupply)." Matthew Henry in his commentary for Gen 49:25 explains the blessings above and below as referring to: "Blessings of heaven above (rain in its season, and fair weather in its season, and the benign influences of the heavenly bodies); blessings of the deep that lieth under this earth, which, compared with the upper world, is but a great deep, with subterraneous mines and springs." For Deut 33:15 Matthew Henry explains Moses' blessing refers to: "[1.] For seasonable rains and dews, the precious things of heaven; and so precious they are, though but pure water, that without them the fruits of the earth would all fail and be cut off. [2.] For plentiful springs, which help to make the earth fruitful, called here the deep that coucheth beneath; both are the rivers of God (Ps. 65:9), and he made particularly the fountains of waters, Rev. 14:7." So imo Jim's statement is Biblically sound and correct unlike the traditional COG and BI interpretation that the "blessings of the deep" referr to oil and mineral reserves.

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  20. Aw, couldn't you just take a baby step and maybe become only half a racist? All you'd have to do is give up hating the illegal women. I mean, some of them are really gorgeous! You'll feel so much better! 🤗

    BB

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  21. Isa 14:1 - For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.

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  22. Lam 5:1 - Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach.

    Lam 5:2 - Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens.

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  23. For those who don't know how God works a true "melting pot" those strangers who come here become part of Israel.

    Eze 47:22 - And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.

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  24. Hos 7:8 - Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.

    Hos 7:9 - Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.

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  25. Has nothing do do with racism Byker, but you're too blinded by the left to understand that. How do I know you're a leftist? Because leftists love to label anyone who disagrees with them as ignorant, racist, Limbaugh followers, Faux News groupies, etc. Of course you'll drone on about how middle of the road you are. Blah, blah, blah! That's all your ramblings amount to.

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  26. 10:51 Pardon me, I guess if Matthew Henry said it it's gospel truth!

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  27. 3:23 I’d accept Matthew Henry’s interpretation on Gen 49:25 and Deut 33:13 re the blessings above and below as, in your words, “gospel truth” much more than the twisted and wrong HWA/BI interpretation! Moreover, if you omit the Matthew Henry quote in 10:51’s response the link to the original Hebrew and its meaning of “deep,” which 1:32 obviously got all confused and in a spin about with what Jim Patterson was actually saying, is Biblically correct and “gospel truth!”

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  28. 5:02 You guys really need to learn how to use Strongs concordance. When a phrase is between two () that means it's an example, not a definition. So when it says (as a surging mass of water) and (the main sea or the subterranean watersupply) those are merely examples, not the definition of the word.

    By the logic (or illogic) that you're using then I guess the beast and false prophet are going to be thrown into a deep underground sea.

    Here's the definition of the word pit in Revelation.


    βυθός bythós, boo-thos'; a variation of G899; depth, i.e. (by implication) the sea:—deep.

    Also, I don't think you've seen me defend HWA once, so your comparison of him and Henry is moot.

    The point is that the prophecy for Joseph can refer to oil and gas in the deep just as much as it can mean water.

    You're wrong in your defense of Paterson.

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  29. Anon 4:15 said: "The point is that the prophecy for Joseph can refer to oil and gas in the deep just as much as it can mean water."


    I'm willing to concede your statement is possibly true. But, if we let the Bible interpret the Bible the Jacobite and Mosaic blessings re "the deep" can be found in the description of the Promise Land itself. In Deut 8:7 it's described as "a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills." The Heb. word tehowm is translated "deep" in Gen 49:25 and Deut 33:13 and "depths" in Deut 8:7. From the latter verse the meaning is apparent that it's referring to water and not gas or oil.

    This example used by Patterson to illustrate how BI misinterprets the Bible is not dissimilar to how BI misinterprets Gen 22:17 "gates of his enemies" as referring to "sea gates" like Suez Canal or Panama Canal, when the truth is, as Patterson's correctly explains "gates" in the Bible refers to city gates not sea gates. However, having said that, if the essence of BI is true i.e. Europeans are descended from the lost tribes of Israel it would mean (to me) that this prophecy has come true by virtue of the fact that the Anglo-Americans have ruled in the "[city] gates of their enemies." But, why BI believers had to distort the plain Biblical meaning into something it does not when the former makes more sense and even confirms the BI belief I'll never know.

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  30. Jim, You're never going to admit that you're biased against any kind of points proving your research shabby.

    The deep means anything under the earth. Of course in the bible it meant wells of water. Exactly how many gas wells or oil wells are mentioned in the bible?

    Personally I have no clue if BI is true or not, but with the British and American "empires" being the greatest to ever exist thus far, would you rather admit that's because white people are so much superior than all other races? Or simply because God has blessed them only because of a promise that he made with Abraham?

    You'd think anyone who was anti-racist would lean more toward the latter view.

    If anything BI proves the white race is not as great as they appear, if it weren't for God's blessings we'd be no different than the rest of the world. Perhaps even inferior seeing that it seems that God is removing his blessings and the world is quickly surpassing the U.S.

    BI is nothing to boast about imo.

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  31. A post from another thread:

    Exactly nck, it's actually funny watching all this radical anti-HWAism. It's much like what Ron Dart labelled "radical anti-paganism" back when folks were condemning him for acknowledging Jesus' birth on the first day of the feast of tabernacles.

    One thing that I've found is that no matter what someone does there's always going to be someone bitching. Trump could give citizenship to all the illegals, raise minimum wage to $20 an hour, fix social security and the radical anti-Trumpers would still hate the man.

    The thing about BI is that if true it would mean the white race is not any more special than any others, if it weren't for God's promise to Abraham we'd probably be way behind Asians at the very least. We're well on our way there now, if not already there in many ways. Again I say, if true.

    So why all the hatred for BI? Because if BI is really false, and Britain and the U.S. has/had become the greatest empires in human history, it would be because whites are the "master race", and we all should know that just isn't true.

    Isn't it more non-racist to conclude that the only reason whites have succeeded as we have, is not because we're better than anyone else, but because of one man's obedience, God promised to bless his worthless kids?

    In really thinking about it, and the wealth that we've attained, imo that's one more feather in the hat of BI. We don't deserve what we've had, we're no better than anyone else on earth. BI proves that. We needed Gods help!!!!

    Nothing to be proud of imo.

    It's not really BIism that needs to be attacked but the way HWA and the acogs teach it as something to be proud of. It's really something to be embarrassed about. We needed daddy to help us win the race. If true that is!

    km

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  32. 11:03

    Yes km.

    The origins of BI in the early 17th century are full of self depreciating protestant reminders in painting, print and other media to remind the audience that the accomplishments of the white race were nothing but a result of a laborious attitude and "A BLESSING FROM GOD", far from proud boasting of racial superiority.

    Any other interpretation is colored by the hilarious misinformation this blog provides on armstrongism.

    Nck

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  33. 3:12: "Of course in the bible it meant wells of water."

    Case closed!

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  34. No Jim, the case isn't closed, only your mind. Anyone that writes such a long article as yours on the subject has a vested interest in it and nothing will change your mind.

    I don't have a Web page devoted to proving you wrong, I just pointed out a couple items of your shabby research. I don't care whether you're willing to admit err or not. The chance of that is the same as if HWA ever really admitted error.

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  35. 11:44 You're seriously mistaken. My name isn't Jim and I didn't write the article from the Shepherd's Voice magazine. If you want to argue directly with him about his research or motives feel free to contact them for his contact details. Then you can argue all you like with the real Jim.

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