Tag: DOJ

OPINION: Merrick Garland On A Mission

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OPINION: Merrick Garland On A Mission

OPINION: Merrick Garland On A Mission

By Dani Davis

High Profile Prosecutor

The 86th Attorney General of the United States is Merrick Brian Garland. Garland was born November 13, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Harvard law and in 1989 began his illustrious career as a federal prosecutor. His first headline grabbing case was that of lead prosecutor in the cocaine possession case against former Washington D.C. Mayor, Marion Barry. Garland became Deputy Assistant AG during Bill Clinton’s tenure.  The two biggest trials of the decade, that of Ted Kaczynski, the “Unabomber,” and Eric Rudolph, the 1996 Olympic Games bomber, were led by Merrick Garland. In 1997, Bill Clinton nominated Garland to the D.C. Circuit. He served on that court from 1997-2020, the last seven years as chief judge.

Disgusting Mitch

In 2016, then president Obama nominated Merrick Garland to fill the associate justice seat on the Supreme Court vacated by the death of Antonin Scalia. The obstructionist right-wing GOP controlled Senate, led by Mitch McConnell, refused to even take up Merrick Garland’s nomination. Unheard of behavior. This obstructionist activity continued until Garland’s nomination expired in January 2017 when Obama left the WH. McConnell’s despicable conduct opened the door for Donald Trump to make an alarming three (Federalist Society) appointments to the Supreme Court in four years; the first, EPA hater, Neil Gorsuch, the second, beer boozing Brett Kavanaugh, and finally, the perpetually pregnant, Amy Cony Barrett.

The Ex Guy

It seems pretty clear ‘The Ex’ and his allies attempted to overturn the 2020 election. Sedition is very serious stuff and any hint of it must be investigated. If there has been criminal wrongdoing it must be punished. I can barely keep up with all the Trump plots. In Georgia, I guess Trump just wanted 11,780 more votes to corruptly appear. In Arizona it was about fake electors replacing the legitimate ones. On 1/6/21, afraid that the other plots might fail Trump dispatched armed rioters to the Capitol to terrorize elected officials; and prevent them from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. These things didn’t just randomly happen, someone was pulling the strings, someone was paying expenses, it looks like at least one of those someone(s) was Donald John Trump.

January 6th

Putting everything else aside, Donald Trump’s actions on January 6th are easy to document and present in a pretty package for a jury. He and his minions called militias to D.C. with a promise of something ‘wild’ going to happen. Trump, Mo Brooks, Rudy, and others whipped up an armed and already agitated crowd and pointed them to the Capitol. While VP Pence and other elected officials were running for their lives,  Donald Trump was in the West Wing cheering on the rioters, calling them patriots.

Refusal To Act

For 187 minutes, Trump refused to call off the mob or reach out to law enforcement or military leaders to try to stop the violence. Without a doubt a dereliction of duty. Trump’s refusal to act in the face of an insurrectionist mob makes him culpable for those who were injured and those who lost their lives that horrible day. Using violence and intimidation Donald Trump attempted to stop the peaceful  transfer of power. That must be investigated and Merrick Garland has promised us that. Our AG was recently quoted  “We intend to hold everyone, anyone, who was criminally responsible for the events surrounding January 6th…accountable.”

White Hot

You would think with all this going on in Trump’s life he wouldn’t be setting any more fires, but you would be wrong. It turns out that for the last 18 months Donald Trump has been holding government documents, many marked top secret, in unsecure boxes at his beach club in Florida.  It’s been nearly three weeks since U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland approved the search and seizure of documents being held illegally by former president, Donald J. Trump, at Mar-a-Lago. While multiple stories were forthcoming from the ex-president, once the dust settled none of Trump’s bombast made any sense.

Off The Deep End

In full battle formation, the Republican Party now demands we defund the FBI, squash the IRS, impeach both AG Garland and President Biden. Kevin McCarthy is sending notice that when he takes over as Speaker of the House, he will start investigations into everyone in the Biden administration. In fact, Marjorie Taylor Greene has already gone so far as to file articles of impeachment against our Attorney General. Such waste of paper,  will go nowhere as long as Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House. This is a big reason to prevent the Republicans from winning the 2022 general election. At this point the American people need to take to the polls like never before. It will take a blue wave of extraordinary proportions to overcome historical trends, state directed gerrymandering, voter suppression, and unethical behavior by the MAGA extremists.

From The Sidelines

Lindsey Graham has been warning of riots in the streets if Trump is indicted under the Espionage Act for theft of government documents.  Graham has yet to make the same threats if the EX-Prez is indicted for wire fraud and other crimes related to ripping off his donors with his SAVE AMERICA PAC.  After paying for Trump’s legal fees to defend against multiple crimes the RNC has said they will not pay Trump’s legal fees for defending his theft of government documents. It seems that even the RNC has established limits when it comes to defending Trump’s corruption. According to multiple sources the RNC has had enough, and has told the former guy that he needs to pay his own legal bills when it comes to the investigation of stolen government records that Trump has had stored at his club in Florida since leaving office, eighteen months ago.

Paper Packin’ Librarians

I believe Merrick Garland will hold steady to his promise to make wrong doers accountable, no matter their station or, former title. Meanwhile the Republican Party has declared AG Garland, the FBI, the DOJ, the IRS, and of course the paper-packing librarians at the National Archives, to be their newest targets of hate. I accidentally landed on FoxNews the other night and listened to an earful of propaganda. Move over Dr. Fauci, you have competition for the Public Enemy Number One Spot.

Conclusion

I believe Mr. Garland will fearlessly pilot the Justice Department’s examination of Trump’s involvement into the 1/6 riot, his theft of government documents, his rip-off of his own donors with his SaveAmericaPac, and numerous other sketchy actions by the ex-president. I say, let the chips fall where they may, “No one is above the law.”

 

What’s Going On With Rudy?

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What’s Going On With Rudy?

Rudy Continues His Nosedive

By William Jones and D. S. Mitchell

Confiscated

In recent years, the image of Rudy Giuliani has sunk to lows unimaginable  two decades ago.  His legacy has been severely damaged by his connection to Donald Trump.  In his pursuit of  Trump’s approval, and every cent he could get his hands on, Rudy may have broken the law while trying to help the former president overturn the 2020 election and line his own pockets.  The FBI thinks there is evidence of crimes and they just confiscated Rudy’s personal and business devices.

Rudy’s Bio

Rudolf Giuliani was born on May 28th, 1944, in Brooklyn, New York; U.S.A. He attended Manhattan College as well as New York University. For over 50 years, Rudy Giuliani has served, city, state and national government in multiple capacities. Giuliani has also had a private law practice.

Giuliani’s entry into politics

Giuliani is a long time Republican. In 1993 he was narrowly elected Mayor of New York City.  Giuliani immediately began cracking down hard on petty criminals. He always urged police to take aggressive stances against even minor violations of the law. Giuliani was often referred to as “the Nanny of New York.” He claimed credit for reduced crime rates stating that civilization had found its way into the city.  Critics disregarded Giuliani, stating crime rates had decreased nationwide.  They also added that Giuliani was contributing to police abuse and corruption. Rudy was expected to run for the U.S. Senate in 2000, but due to some negative personal events he decided not to run.

High Point Amidst Disaster

On September 11, 2001, New York was attacked. The attack brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Center leading to the death of over 2800 people. Giuliani received praise for his handling of the situation, and the aftermath. He even was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his conduct. In 2007 he announced that he would seek the Republican Party presidential nomination in 2008. However, in late January 2008, Giuliani withdrew from the race after finishing a distant third in Florida.

Tied To Donald Trump

Rudy Giuliani was an early enthusiastic supporter of  Donald Trump in his 2016 run for president. After Trump’s election, Giuliani jostled for several cabinet positions but was overlooked. He was later chosen as an ‘unofficial adviser on cyber security.’ In 2018 Giuliani was part of the legal team that represented President Donald Trump in the Special Counsel’s (Mueller) Investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.  After the Special Counsel declined to file charges against the then-President Trump Giuliani continued as the president’s ‘personal attorney’.

Ukrainian Mischief

In search of “dirt” on Trump’s anticipated rival in the 20220 election, Joe Biden, Giuliani became  involved in what was referred to as a backchannel between President Donald Trump and some not so kosher former Ukrainian officials. The allegations indicate that Giuliani engaged in efforts meant to pressure current Ukraine officials into launching multiple investigations into corruption by Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. The quid pro quo allegations and the firing of Ukrainian Ambassador Marie Yovanovich brought Trump and his associates, including Giuliani, under intense scrutiny.

The First Impeachment

An impeachment was launched by the House of Representatives against President Trump. Giuliani was portrayed as a key player in the scandal during the House proceedings. In December 2019, after being impeached, the door of hope opened for Trump in February 2020 when the Senate acquitted him. Time was not in his favor as Joe Biden defeated him by 7 million votes in November.

2020 Election Challenges

Following Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential election, Trump picked Giuliani to head his legal team  challenging the election results. Giuliani’s failure was notable, losing every case in every jurisdiction. The process was a total failure.

Giuliani’s Raided by the Feds

On Wednesday, April 28th, 2021, under the authority of a duly authorized search warrant Federal Agents raided Giuliani’s Manhattan home and office. Various gadgets were seized, including computers and cell phones.  It looks like the business dealings of Rudy Giuliani are under investigation. The Feds look serious. The FBI doesn’t execute search warrants on high profile individuals, especially lawyers, unless they are confident they will find incriminating evidence. Leaks indicate Giuliani may be under scrutiny for illegal money transfers, campaign finance fraud, and acting on the behalf of a foreign government, etc, etc, etc.  According to the prosecutors, the warrant, which required approval from the top levels of the judicial Department, and a federal judge, signifies that the government is convinced Giuliani has committed a federal crime(s).

Look Over There

Mr. Giuliani, in a statement after the seizure, denied any wrongdoing and argued that the search warrants demonstrated a “corrupt double standard” on the part of the Justice Department. Giuliani said he was being persecuted while the DOJ/FBI are ignoring  “blatant crimes” by Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and President Biden. He even stated the Feds refused to take evidence of crimes by Hunter Biden that Giuliani has in his possession.

Victoria Toensing
There was a third search warrant issued at the same time for the cell phone of  Washington lawyer Victoria Toensing.  Toensing is a former federal prosecutor and a close associate of Rudy Giuliani and former President Donald Trump. Her law firm issued a statement saying Toensing is not a target of the federal investigation.
The Evolving Situation
The full scope of the investigation is still  not clear.  On Thursday 29th April 2021, Donald Trump told Fox business that Giuliani was “the greatest mayor in the history of New York and a great patriot”. The White House press secretary said on CNN that the White House was given no heads up about the raid prior to its execution.
Orange Jumpsuits

Many of Trump’s allies have been trapped in federal investigations, and there are likely to be more on the horizon.  The big question becomes will Giuliani pull a Michael Cohen and ensnare the former president in criminal charges. Time will tell. Of course, these guys are all as old as dirt. Any could drop dead at any moment. Hopefully the AG gets them sentenced first.

https://www.calamitypolitics.com/2019/05/11/rudy-guilliani-moments-great-small/

60,800 Professionals Agree: The President of the U.S. is a Crazy Ass Criminal

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26000 mental health professionals signed on to a letter warning the public about Trump's mental health.

A Crazy Ass Criminal

By D. S. Mitchell

Mental Health Professionals Agree

60,000 mental health professionals have signed on to a letter warning of Donald J. Trump’s mental instability. Now 800 former prosecutors claim if Trump were not president he would have been indicted for obstruction of justice. So, that is 60,800 people who point to the president of the U.S. as a crazy ass criminal. Hmm.

800 Former Prosecutors Sign On

Recently 800 former prosecutors signed on to a letter stating that if Donald J. Trump was not President of the United States he would be indicted for obstruction of justice. Sadly, Donald J. Trump is president of the United States. This is not the first time that Donald Trump has been identified as unfit to be president of the United States.

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Part I: Behind The Curtain

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Part I: Behind The Curtain

D. S. Mitchell

We are now in the midst of the most controversial presidency in our in our country’s history. Trump’s erratic and often bizarre behavior, his Twitter storms, his failing public agenda, his plummeting poll ratings, the mounting pressure of multiple ethics and campaign investigations, his attacks against members of his own party, keep the world riveted to our various media devices.  Sadly, for the country his first 7 months in the Oval Office have been nearly toxic, starting with his dark and angry Inaugural Address has led to anger and violence on “both sides.” There is an uptick of violence by whites against blacks and other people of color.

How did we go from a Republican House, a Republican Senate and a Republican President that had the potential to ramrod through any legislation they proposed has dissolved into the current chaos. What started as whispers over drinks at dinner between Republican party operatives and legislators, moved to the first timid voices, and what now can best be described as a near free-for-all between the varying Republican factions. Louder voices are demanding either changes in his behavior,  or they will use the power of the Congress and remove his spoiled, delinquent ass, from office.

You can almost see the salivating lawmakers as they look to their quiet former colleague, the up-tight Vice President Mike Pence. The visual is all photo perfect, with Pence looking like a TV game host and sounding like a Baptist preacher. That budding love affair between Pence and the Legislative Branch, is at the moment, only wishful thinking, but as Trump becomes more toxic I can see increased support for the presumptive “new” president.  I can see Trump when forces begin to close in on him; Trump will pardon everyone in sight, including himself and resign, leaving us with that devoted conservative Mike Pence.

I promise you, if Trump resigns, or is removed from office and they try to leave us with Mike Pence I will lose it–seriously lose it.  If Russia colluded with the Trump campaign, then Pence was at the very center of the scandal and should never under any circumstances be sworn into the office of the President of the United States.

So, how did it come to pass that a probable losing candidate for a second term as Indiana governor, could now  be standing this close to being sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.  Paul Manafort is the man behind Trump picking Mike Pence for this now pivotal role. Paul Manafort and Mike Pence. What ties did those two have between them, that made Manafort confident enough in Pence that Manafort would push Pence for the Vice President role, working apparently overtime to convince Trump that Pence was the perfect balance to the ticket.

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Natalia and Associates

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Calamity Politics is a progressive political blog. Our intention at CP.com is to present relevant, thought provoking articles about serious political issues that are confronting our country.

More Trump Russian scandal news keeps leaking out. It appears that the GOP candidate and his inner circle are intricately enmeshed with various Russian oligarchs and the Russian government. One of the major characters in this building drama is former Senator Jeff Sessions, Trump campaign surrogate and Trump appointee to the position of the highest law official in the United States, the Attorney General.

Mr. Sessions appeared at his confirmation to have developed a sudden onset of amnesia, totally forgetting 2 separate visits he had with then Russian Ambassador, Kisylak. When those meetings were disclosed by the press, Sessions went back and changed his statements, protecting himself from possible perjury charges.

In May of 2017 the U.S. Department of Justice quietly and abruptly settled a case against Prevezon Holdings. Prevezon is a Russian firm accused of laundering an estimated $230,000,000 dollars through Manhattan real estate purchases and sales. The case was about to go to trial when DOJ made Prevezon an offer they couldn’t refuse. DOJ headed by Attorney General Jefferson Sessions felt a fine of 6,000,000 was appropriate. The six million is far less than the case was expected to settle for. Furthermore, the Russian firm was not required to make any admissions of guilt.

Way back in May, the lawyer representing the family of Pyotr Katsyv, the former Vice Governor of the Moscow region, whose son Denis owns Prevezon was an unknown Russian lady lawyer named Natalia Veselnitskaya.

In a statement at the time of the settlement announcement, Veselnitskaya said the offer by Trump’s lying Attorney General was almost “like an apology from the United States government”.

As of July 9, 2017 anyone with ears or eyes knows who Natalia Veselnitskaya is. She is the “Russian government lawyer” whose meeting at Trump Tower with Donald Trump, Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort as well as a former Russian intel officer who is now a U.S. citizen and registered lobbyist, and numerous other people, including a translator and a mysterious and rumored money laundering Russian real estate figure named Kaveladze.

This June 2016 meeting is the biggest political bombshell revelation in the quest to uncover any evidence of Trump Russia collusion in the 2016 presidential election. Hair raising information. This story is starting to burn very hot and the fire is getting closer to the Oval Office.

A group of Democrats in Congress are interested in the dealings the Trump campaign has had with the Russian government and they further are seeking information to learn if Veselnitskaya, the female attorney who came to Trump Tower a year ago described as “a Russian government lawyer” peddling dirt on Hillary Clinton, had any unethical connection with Jeff Sessions and the Trump administration that led to his decision to settle the lawsuit on terms so seemingly friendly to Prevezon.

The Prevezon case was being brought by Preet Bharara, the U.S  attorney for the Southern District of New York.  Mr Bharara was fired by President Trump after initially being asked to stay on post-inauguration. Bharara similar, to fired FBI Director James Comey,  has  stated that he was uncomfortable with personal overtures made by Donald Trump and surrogates.

The day prior to Bharara’s firing, Trump attempted to reach Mr. Bharara by phone and the prosecutor refused to speak to him or call him back, citing discomfort with Trump’s desire to ingratiate himself with a U.S. attorney.

Seventeen Democrats came together and sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions stating in part:”We write with some concern that the two events may be connected and that the DOJ may have settled the case at a loss to the United States in order to obscure underlying facts”

The lawmakers want to know if Natalia Veselnitskaya had any role in the Prevezon settlement talks, whether Sessions–who had been a Trump campaign advisor–knew of the 2016 meeting at Trump Tower, whether any Trump administration officials had contacted the DOJ about the case, and the Democratic lawmakers also asked for documents explaining the decision to abruptly settle a very strong case for a ridiculously low fine.  A soft settlement that none believe the Bulldog prosecutor Bharara would ever have settled for.  Suspiciously, the settlement was arranged within several weeks of Bharara’s firing.

The public rarely gets excited over dirty business dealings involving money laundering and a complex tax fraud scheme, but this “matter seems to intersect with too many key signposts of the burgeoning Trump-Russia scandal to ignore,” said Will Bunch in an article for Philly.com, which was one source used by Calamity Politics in the research for this post.

The early dishonesty by Sessions, regarding issues Russian,  is a broader *”mosaic of lies” that have permeated the Trump campaign and the subsequent Trump administration regarding their contacts with Russians.  The mounting number of secret contacts by Trump officials coming to light are making it increasingly difficult to believe those past and current dealings between the Trump campaign and their administration with the Russian government are honest and above board.

Sessions had by his own statement, recused himself from the Russian investigation and all things Russian.  However, there is no reason to believe that the disgraced Sessions recused himself from the Prevezon settlement, and as such the Prevezon settlement and Natalia Veselnitskaya have fallen into the growing abyss of the Russian-Trump conspiracy scandal.

I’m more and more convinced that these activities with the Russians originated in dirty money transactions and probable purchases/sales at Trump properties that were designed to launder ill gotten money out of Russia.  It is possible that there are salacious dossiers and ugly sex transactions by Trump, I have no problem believing that such information exists, unless of course it is boy-on-boy.  That dirty scenario would put an end to Trump. But, I think it all started because of money and Trump’s need to feed his hyper-expensive life style.

Donald Trump had tried to market everything from ties, to vodka, to steaks, to his name, and most of the ventures were a failure, most notably Trump University which got him in hot water with multiple states.  Several state AGs filed suit against Trump and his “scam” university.  The real estate business however, was tailor made for laundering large sums of money, millions and hundreds of millions of dollars per transaction.

So, in my view this is how it went down.  On one side you have an eager, not so law abiding guy who owes everybody in the world, and on the other side you have a group of foreign oligarchs bent on hiding skimmed money stolen from Russian sources. Such a perfect arrangement.  An evil marriage that has after a three decade plus relationship culminated in the installation of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States.

The information is being hemorrhaged out almost hourly.  It will take time but I believe that the disgusting relationship between Russia and all things Trump will be revealed. I’m not sure, but I believe that the greatest scandal in US history, involving possibly hundreds of individuals, is nothing more than a conspiracy to make more money.  You can never have too much money. Right?  I call it sick.  When money is more important that your  country, the sacredness of the vote, the near holiness of the U.S. Constitution you should be banished to that f’ing country you sold out to.

Explain to me why every American soldier serving this country doesn’t throw his gun down and demand an air line ticket home?  When you don’t know who your President is working with it’s time to cut the ties that bind. I will keep writing about the Russia scandal. It’s gonna be a rough ride. Join the Resistance.

Dar

Tentacles of the Kremlin

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Tentacles Of The Kremlin

D. S. Mitchell

An Irritation

I’m here to tell you it is colder than hell here at the beach. But, the U.S. political news scene is hot. Really, really hot. The political shenanigans that went on during the 2016 Presidential campaign are a constant lingering pimple on the ass of the President of the United States. We all know it is weird. I mean, have you ever heard so many Russian names in your whole freaking life? Well, whatever you just answered, I didn’t hear it. Speaking for myself, in 70 plus years I have never heard so many Russian names.

Lobbying For Putin

The tentacles of Putin’s Kremlin are pervasive. It seems Russia has penetrated the highest levels of the U.S. government. Russian interests are actively engaged in U.S. policy.  The Russian government and Russian special interest groups, have spent millions of dollars contracting with American lobbying firms. Their goals are specific. 

Kremlin Motives

First and foremost, the Kremlin wants a softening, of Obama era sanctions. The first round of sanctions came as punishment for Russia’s annexation of Crimea.  Those sanctions were intensified because of Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.  The second target aimed at reducing fracking in the U.S. The fracking process has produced abundant oil supplies. With abundant product has come plunging oil prices. The dip in prices have devastated the Russian economy.  The third major lobbying target has been the financial sanctions. Sberbank and VTB Capital have faced severe cash shortages due to plunging oil prices and the U.S. sanctions.

Web Of Corruption

The FBI and the Justice Department are conducting an investigation into possible links between the corrupt former Ukrainian pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych and former Trump campaign manager, Paul Manafort. In a Hot Air article, John Sexton wrote that the Democratic super lobbying firm, The Podesta Group, LLC is under investigation.  John Podesta was Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager.  John denies recent involvement with the group he helped found.  I don’t know if we  will ever know the full extent of this web of corruption.  It looks like it is world-wide.

Corruption

Rick Gates, a Paul Manafort deputy, hired The Podesta Group, reported HotAir. The FBI is attempting to discover if any U.S. companies and financial system were used to aid illegal activities and corruption by the party of former president Viktor Yanukovych. By reports, The Podesta Group did not register their work as agents for a foreign government as required by law.  Buzzfeed says that PG has lawyered up.  PG was listed on lobbying disclosure forms, however.  The Podesta Group reported receiving $24 million in fees in 2016, mostly from foreign governments.

Money Flying

The Democratic super lobbyist Podesta Group, got $170,000 over 6 months from Sberbank to lobby for lifting sanctions on Russian banks. Records show Sberbank met with State Department officials twice accompanied by a Podesta representative. The PG did not at any time register as an agent of a foreign power during this time. The Podesta Group represented Sberbank and its subsidiaries, Troika Dialog Group.  Interestingly, “Troika Dialog” was related to Klein Ltd, a Cayman Island organization. Klein Ltd is known to have funneled tens of millions of dollars to environmental groups to oppose low-cost fracking in U.S.” said Richard Pollock, Daily Caller.

Democratic Ties

Two other big lobby groups, best known for their Democratic ties have also become entangled with the Russians.  Manatos & Manatos, known backers of Carter and LBJ, represented VTB Capital at the tune of $17,500 monthly to lobby for sanction lifting. VTB and Sberbank are known to have spent at least $700,000 in 2016 to end financial sanctions.

Conclusion

My concern here is of course, that even without meddling in the election, the Kremlin is actively undermining many aspects of our lives.

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