From the monthly archives:

April 2006

Do You Want To Start Clapping???

by Drima on April 21, 2006

WARNING: There is no real structure to what I’m saying here in this post. I’m simply typing thoughts as they come to my head. Everything I state here is based on my own personal opinion. Sorry in advance if you get confused. I’m new to blogging and still in the process of refining my writing style.

We all know we got issues and faults to deal with. Nobody is perfect right? Not you, not me, not even America, the Jews or Muslims in general are perfect. Religion however, IS perfect but the way it’s practiced is not (Yeah, yeah, I know there are probably some shouting WHAT!!?? Islam is perfect?? Like it or not it is perfect, depending on the interpretation). And yes, yes I know a Muslim is happy with being a Muslim and a Jew is happy with being a Jew so how can a Muslim say Judaism is perfect? So wait, if I’m Muslim and I don’t want to be Jewish does that mean there’s something wrong with Judaism. No, not at all, maybe it doesn’t suit me but for that Jewish individual it is the perfect religion and that should be respected. I’m a Muslim, I’m very happy with it and I have no intention whatsoever of converting to any other religion be it Judaism or Christianity. Was that a hateful statement against two very decent religions? The answer is no, it wasn’t.

We are all born having different preferences but essentially we are all the same. If we disagree then let’s disagree in a spirit of true humanity. If every Jew, Christian and Muslim was a truly spiritual and religious person this world would be a better place. Don’t get me wrong I’m not here making negative remarks about Judaism, Christianity or Islam and saying they are bad religions. No, no I’m not. The point I intend on stressing and emphasizing is that, it is us humans that are flawed. We are flawed because we have the gift of choice and sometimes get the temptation to make the wrong decisions. Those wrong decisions are not a result of religious commandments. Never attribute the wrong and negative actions back to the religion of the “practicer”, for every negative action is a sin, and a sin in any religion is the result of not adhering to that religion itself. Islam is pure I believe, and it teaches us to endorse human rights (if same sex marriages are a human right then the hell with them, out of the window they fly in this case). Islam as it’s practiced now is more of a “sociopolitical” ideology as stated by many Muslim and Arab “reform” bloggers out there in the blogosphere. How can you implement the sociopolitical side of the religion correctly when you can’t even follow the spiritual side of it? Before we start practicing the sociopolitical part of the religion, we must put the “spirituality” side of it at the top of the list, for if we have government officials with corrupted souls, they will practice the sociopolitical part of Islam in accordance with their corrupted agendas and self-interests and that my friends is the first and greatest tragedy of all.

At the start I mentioned that nobody is perfect. I emphasize on “is” (now, present tense). I was taught to strive for perfection. I find it funny though since I think nobody can ever be perfect. Nothing worldly is perfect. That’s why life is called life because it’s not perfect. Many Muslims have sort of accepted their reality. They are frustrated by it but feel helpless to change it. They realize things will never be perfect so why bother. I believe this is the second problem. If we strive, we Muslims can change things. The West thinks democracy is the solution and I believe it is but not in its Western version. Believe it or not, a moderate and non-extremist interpretation of the Quran and Islam will lead towards a model very similar to that of Western democracy except with a few differences. I don’t believe a secular government can please the majority if implemented in Muslim countries. Many Muslims equate democracy and freedom with “Western” attitudes towards alcohol, homosexuality, drugs, prostitution, nudity etc. That is the reason they find it difficult to accept and are against it. Here is a poll showing the perceptions of Sudanese people towards democracy. Even I myself find it difficult to accept democracy in this form especially when it comes to issues such as homosexuality.

(Personal opinion: I don’t mind gays just as long as they don’t hit on me, if they want to be gay they can go ahead. I do sympathize with special cases such as those who are born hermaphrodites or have abnormal hormonal unbalance etc. and I think society shouldn’t look down on them. However I am 1000000% against same sex marriages. Married couples have the right to adopt and that’s why my opposition to this is so strong. I believe it is completely wrong for a child to be adopted and have to grow up with either Daddy&Daddy or Mommy&Mommy. It’s just not normal. I don’t harbor any hatred towards homosexuals but this is just a personal opinion on what I believe.)

The best Muslim country in my opinion with a great system of government is Malaysia. It embraces democracy but not in its Western concept. I advice those interested in the matter to explore more facts about the multi-religious/cultural nation of Malaysia further to get a proper understanding of what Islam Hadhari or moderate Islam is really all about. Here is Tun. Mahathir, Malaysia’s ex-prime Minster’s comment on Western democracy.

The Western concept of democracy does have a lot of good in it but there are some factors that make it unattractive to Muslims. The recent cartoon controversy just made democracy even more unattractive. While I do believe in freedom of speech, I also believe it shouldn’t be abused. I was very offended by the Danish cartoons and I’m also offended by the continuous anti-Semitic cartoons in the Muslim world. I am also offended by the fact that the pathetic KKK can still go out in processions and spread their hateful speeches. Those are things I don’t understand sometimes about America. Isn’t there something called hate crime or this is allowed because it’s “freedom” of speech. Democracy is about the majority but what if the majority is wrong and the minority is right? Here is an interesting short Malaysian article entitled “Is Democracy Islamic?” It is very thought provoking specially for a Muslim.

It is important to note that Islam in the current way it’s implemented is inaccurate (Malaysia is the most accurate in my opinion in its method of implementation). Look at Saudi Arabia, the country in which the holiest site of Islam is located. They don’t allow foreigners coming into the country to bring along their bibles and forbid them from building synagogues and churches. The Quran commands us to allow non-Muslims to follow their own religions and not force them to do otherwise. Clearly some Muslim countries claim to be Muslim when in fact they are not even following simple and basic Islamic commandments. Someone might ask why Saudi Arabia is doing this then. Simple… This is their policy for political reasons and not religious ones. Many people judging the issue emotionally will probably say “yeah, good for them, those damn infidels ain’t gonna mess our land with their so called holy buildings… they’re oppressing our brothers in Palestine so why the hell should we be nice and let them build their crap”. Muslims in general must set aside their hatred and prejudice towards the west and start thinking constructively. I do realize it is difficult to do that especially when images of dead/suffering Muslims from Iraq and Palestine are broadcasted almost daily all over the Muslim world on channels like Al-Jazeera. And yes I do realize that many times the dead Muslims shown in Iraq didn’t wind up dead because of American bombs but because of the Shiite and Sunni violence. If you ask me, I think Al-Jazeera should show the good about America once in a while. Hell they should even broadcast Oprah Winfrey too. American media should do the same with the Muslim world. For God’s sake stop making us look so evil. We Muslims as everyone else have a right to defend ourselves but the disgusting and sick tactics of suicide bombings targeting civilians are not the way to go. They are wrong and Muslims must stop supporting and/or sympathizing with terrorists. If some of you were wondering why the Quran contains verses about war and fighting off the non-believers, then I will clarify for you. Every nation has the right to defend itself. If someone comes to my house and tries to hurt my family, I shoot him in the head. Plain simple for self defense but me being pissed and going up to him and blowing him up is completely wrong. During the days of the Prophet, the verses were revealed because Muslims were under attack from the non-believers and didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know if going to war was okay and allowed in Islam. Therefore Allah Almighty revealed those verses and allowed them to defend themselves. Most importantly He Almighty has revealed that we should always resolve to diplomacy and let war be the last option. Not only that but many rules regarding war were laid down including that it be conducted only in self defense and that civilians NEVER be a target. Things have now gotten complicated with advancing technology and all this pre-emptive strike and “the best defense is an offence” technical talk. There’s no need to complicate such issues.

We Muslims must deal with misperceptions internally amongst ourselves and also externally to the West by reforming our mentalities and most importantly engaging much deeper in creative and critical thinking. That’s were the third problem lies. Many Muslims are fed information by the “ullamas”, told not to ask questions and then ordered to strictly follow with the utmost diligence. That’s just wrong. We need more Islamic preachers of the Amr Khalid type. If we are to climb out of the hole we buried ourselves in, we must engage in creative and critical thinking much more. Thinking is the most difficult job to do and that is why so few engage in it. Muslims must also stop the attitude of “go to mosque, be good Muslim, die, go to heaven and enjoy for all eternity”. That is one of the factors why we are generally economically deprived. We have to create a better world and contribute something to humanity as a whole. We must also shed away the general anti-Semitism. If Muslims managed to truly understand the Jewish faith from Jews themselves rather than from radical clerics, things would improve. Allah Almighty allows a Muslim man to marry a Christian or a Jewish wife so why so much hatred? Also until Israel stops its continuous harassment of innocent Palestinians, Muslims will continue to view Zionism as an evil movement. Hamas should also tone it down and cut the crap with targeting civilians. If you want to have a war then purely make it military VS military based and don’t use terrorist tactics. Don’t involve civilians or better still don’t start a war. Furthermore the West should also set aside its post 9/11 hatred for the actions or inactions of Muslims and stop painting us with the same brush. But then again hatred blinds logic and now we have nothing but hatred, hatred and more hatred. As such I’m not naïve to the fact that there will never be 100% peace on this planet. Sinister forces will always exist. That however should not deter us towards striving for perfection even though it may not be achieved. Let’s please set aside the prejudices and the labeling and try to reach out. Keep an open mind. Generalizations, stereotyping and labeling leave no options for improvements or peace. The blogosphere is expanding as you read this. Let us use it as a platform to help set the tone for the 21st century.

Before concluding let me again state,

1. It is us humans that are flawed. We are flawed because we have the gift of choice and sometimes get the temptation to make the wrong decisions. Those wrong decisions are not a result of religious commandments. Never and I mean never attribute the wrong and negative actions back to the religion of the “practicer”, for every negative action is a sin, and a sin in any religion is the result of not adhering to that religion itself.

2. Before we start practicing the sociopolitical part of the religion, we must put the “spirituality” side of it at the top of the list, for if we have government officials with corrupted souls, they will practice the sociopolitical part of Islam in accordance with their corrupted agendas and self-interests and that my friends is the first and greatest tragedy of all.

3. The West must realize that “Western” democracy is not that appealing to Muslims in general. We Muslims however must not completely reject it. Muslim countries should at least start implementing a similar model to that of Malaysia.

4. Muslims must engage themselves more in creative and critical thinking to avoid being “programmed robots”. When such thinking is conducted, it should be done with good intentions that benefit humanity as a whole

Lastly but most definitely not least

Jews & Westerners reading this… Please make some changes
Muslims & Arabs reading this… Please make some changes

It takes two hands to clap. Do you want to start clapping???

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Peace Deal By End April & UN Still Insisting On Taking Over AU

by Drima on April 20, 2006

Mustafa Osman Ismail, the president’s advisor and the secretary of political communication at the ruling National Congress, announced that he is very optimistic a peace deal could be signed by the end of April at the Abuja talks. He also made comments that the recent attack against the Sudanese embassy and its staffs in Ndjamena by the Darfur rebels was allowed by the Chadian government to happen and is evidence that Chad supports them. Meanwhile the UN wants to replace the AU forces with its own as quickly as possible. The Sudanese government says it’s not the right time and that if such a decision is to be made, it should be made after the Abuja talks are over.

I think the government is right in this case. Let’s just wait for a week and see what happens by the end of April. I hope the peace talks do end up well and that whatever the two sides agreed on is followed by concrete actions.

I believe the US pushing for a quick resolution to end this crisis is a very good thing. However I do believe the US is trying to hit two birds with one stone. For a long time the US has been doing all it can to destabalize the Sudanese government which it considers to be part of the Axis of evil. The Sudanese government is well aware of this and that’s the reason it has and still is against UN forces replacing AU ones in Darfur. Once the UN forces (in other words the US) get in, they won’t leave easily. Let’s also not forget the 1997 Sudan bombing of Al-Shifa pharmaceuticals factory which the US claimed was being used to manufacture chemical weapons. Following the bombing, the owner of the factory, Mr. Idris filed a law suit against the US government for the mistake. The US did admit to the mistake later.

After the millions of dollars that belonged to the owner were unfrozen he was quoted as saying “fortunately, we live in a country where we have a system of justice that requires that people produce evidence when someone is accused of being a terrorist”. YES, Mr. Idris you are defintely right. You are lucky you live in such a country with such a system.

If you are interested here is the Sudanese side of Al-Shifa story and here is an interesting article on the matter.

In the past the Sudanese government was associated with Bin Laden but then later expelled him. Currently I doubt if they have conncetions with Al-Qaeda. Anyways for now Darfur, Darfur and more Darfur. It’s depressing reading all those depressing headlines. Let’s hope 5 years from now things will improve. I truly wish the best for my country. We have seen and been through way too much. It’s time we enjoyed some peace and stability. On the other hand I wish the best for the Iraqis for they have experienced much more than we Sudanese have. Finally before I get back to studying (I’m having my finals for this sem, wish me luck) I just want to say one more thing… LIFE GOES ON…! Peace fellow humans =)

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Another Case of Bird Flu In Sudan

by Drima on April 19, 2006

Another case of bird flu has been reported in Sudan. Damn! I seriously pitty President Omar Al-Bashir. He must have a serious headache. Darfur crisis, screwed up Chad relations, Eastern rebels getting more pissed off by the day, mediating between Syria and Lebanon and now bird flu. Folks it’s one tough job being president. Good luck to him settling all those issues while at the same time being wanted by the UN for “war crimes”. Yeah war crimes, leadership is always ultimately responsible as Donald Trump always says on his show The Apprentice. But then again when was the last time Sharon was wanted for war crimes? I guess the definition of “evil” is also written by the victors just as history is.

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University of Chicago Will Not Divest From Sudan

by Drima on April 19, 2006

Apparently the U of C won’t divest. Weird decision if you ask me. Many other Universities already did so why won’t the U of C?

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Civilizations Rise & Fall. Is America’s End Near?

by Drima on April 17, 2006

For thousands of years and since the beginning of time many great civilizations such as Ancient Egypt, Roman, Greek, Babylonian, Persian, Aztec, Ottoman, Maya etc. rose and fell. So it’s only natural that America will fall one day. If and when that happens, many think China will take over. Now this is not meant to be some kind of anti-American post so don’t get the wrong idea. You see… I was having a discussion with a group of friends a few days ago about this topic and if they were right about one thing then it’s that all good things come to an end (super anti-Americans would say all evil things come to an end). Once in a while I like to click around controversial American websites such as www.infowars.com which are talking about the near downfall of America and how it’s going to be taken over by martial law. Infowars is also one of the big supporters of the 9/11 truth movement. Many critics in the US lash out at such websites calling the unpatriotic when those same websites argue that they are doing what they are doing for exactly the opposite reason because they ARE patriotic and want the citizens to rise up for their true constitutional rights. For now let’s try putting aside all the “great” conspiracy theories that come out of the Arab/Muslim world about America and the Joooos. These websites my friends love reading are American websites talking about the predicted downfall of their own country if nothing is done by American citizens. A friend of mine was yelling… will someone please explain to me why the US seems so incapable when it comes to dealing with China & Russia? Even with the Iranian case, China & Russia are backing up and the US is getting pissed at Iran but it seems it’s reluctantto “raise its voice” against the other 2 giants (it’s the same case with the Sudan sanctions if you ask me). Anyways those websites talk about how citizens rights are eroding away through controversial bills such as the Patriot Act. To make a long story short, they are talking about how America is turning slowly like how Great Britain is depicted in the recent box-office hit V for Vendetta.

So to all my fellow readers who read this humble blog of mine, websites such as www.infowars.com might be talking crap and bullshiting for all I care or maybe might be telling the truth. Frankly sometimes I just come to a point where I don’t know what to believe anymore. However if there is anything I firmly believe regarding this issue then it’s only this… For thousands of years and since the beginning of time many great civilizations rose and felllllll…

I think the downfall is coming but I don’t know if it’s going to be after 10 years, 20, 50 or two thousand years.

What do you think???

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Ancient Jewish Communities In Sudan

by Drima on April 17, 2006

I thought this article might be of interest to some of you so I’m posting a link to it here.

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US Universities To Decide About Sudan Investments

by Drima on April 17, 2006

Universities in the US have started mounting pressure on some of the most powerful institutional funds in the country to withdraw billions of dollars worth of money from any Sudan-related investments. It’s a move designedto put pressure on the Sudanese government to end the Darfur crisis. While this is a good move, I still don’t thinkit will have much effect on the Sudanese government. It will however have an effect on the companies operating inSudan. Some of those companies’ stocks have already started declining in value. Pitty them, they’re suffering for doing business with the government of Sudan and even if they complain, the Sudanese government can easily replace them and give the contracts to other companies. Meanwhile China & Russia are still against the idea of sanctions.

“International action against Sudan, meanwhile, has been blocked in the United Nations Security Council by China and Russia, which have economic interests with the Khartoum government in PetroChina, an oil company, and via Russian military arms sales.”

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Sudan Is Not As Bad As You Think

by Drima on April 16, 2006

When I was a little kid and people asked me where I was from I would hesitate to say Sudan. Everytime Sudan was mentioned on the news, embarassing images would be shown. Naked hungry children with flies buzzing around their heads, topless women with dusty hanging droooopies etc. You get it. While there are unfortunate events happening, the country is still a beautiful place to visit. Below are some pictures I found on flickr here. Frankly I was surprised to see many pictures of Sudan posted there on flickr
Small farms in the upper north

Tourist/temporary UN employee skiing on the Nile, Khartoum

Sailing on the Nile, Khartoum

Cruising down the Nile, Khartoum

Nile in Southern Sudan

Sunset, Khartoum

Meroe Pyramids

Believe it or not, there are more pyramids in Sudan than there are in Egypt, but beacuse Sudan’s tourist industry is very undeveloped few people are aware of the treasures it contains. The pyramids are located in the northern part of the country close to the border with Egypt. Currently there is British team of archeologists excavating but they are facing great difficulties. I’m not surprised, the government doesn’t give squat about those ancient precious sites.

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When Will The Sudanese Government Step Up?!

by Drima on April 16, 2006

The Darfur tragedy is getting worse by the day and until now no real progress has been made. I predict the situation will worsen even further now that relations between Sudan and Chad are screwed. The peace talks are going to end up down the drain since Chad has withdrawn from them. Having AU forces to maintain peace is useless if it is not accompanied by assistance to help the refugees resettle and get back to their lives. The Sudanese government is going to have a steep uphill task. It better fix its relations with Chad before things turn nasty. Furthermore It also seems the Eastern conflict is about to get out of control.

I’m trying to stay as positive and optimistic as possible but folks believe me the temporary joy of peace between the North and South is about to erode away. If you think the situation in Darfur is screwed, think again. It’s just about to get much worse.

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Where Some of The Darfur Aid Ends Up

by Drima on April 16, 2006

A year ago during my holiday in Sudan, I went to an open market. To my surprise and disgust, I saw food products with stickers labeled “A Gift From The People of United Arab Emirates” being SOLD in the damn market. They were supposed to be freaking sent as freaking aid to Darfur. They were supposed to be given for free to the poor people who needed them the most and NOT sold. Use your God given imagination and figure out how they ended up being there… Yes a little harder… Think some more… Are you there yet?

Yup you got it, corruption baby! That’s right, corruption.

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Abuja Talks & Possibility of Breakthrough

by Drima on April 16, 2006

According to a senior U.S. State Department official, a Darfur breakthrough might be possible. He noted that negotiators in those discussions were able to reach an agreement on the thorny issue of wealth and power sharing. If you ask me, I don’t think a breakthrough is easily going to happen. If the government agrees to share $$ and power then it will send a message it doesn’t intend on to the rebels in the Eastern part of Sudan who also want a share in $$ and power. The Sudanese government has to realize that the past days when it kept everything to itself are long gone. The situation now is different. The East and West have been “inspired” by the achievements of the South after a long 21 year civil war that it managed to win. What all Sudanese citizens now want is to start enjoying economic benefits and a better quality of life. If a breakthrough occurs in the Abuja talk, it will obviously be a good thing. Displaced Darfurian refugees can come back to their homes and hopefuly enjoy their share of the country’s wealth. My biggest fear is that if and when the rebels take up their positions in the government, they will become just as corrupted as the government itself is and keep most of the money to themselves rather than using it to build hospitals and schools in the Western region.

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Conspiracies & Anti-US Sentiments

by Drima on April 16, 2006

Darfur is rich in natural resources specially uranium. The current belief in the Sudanese street is that America is exaggerating the Darfur issue as a reason to take control over the area and its natural resources (in other words the uranium so it won’t end up in terrorists’ hands). Many people believe that a UN military presence in Darfur is also equivalent to that of a US military. The US supposedly has a plan to assist Israel in taking control over the region. The first step was Iraq and now naturally it’s Sudan, Iran and Syria. Egypt, Libya and Jordan are supposedly already ruled by “puppet” governments so they are not a major issue.

Ah the sweet conspiracy theories! Frankly speaking however I do think the US is pissed off because it can’t have its share from Sudan’s newly discovered massive oil wealth. In the early 70’s Chevron discovered and drilled many wells. Unfortunately the activities had to stop after the civil war broke out. Now even though anti-US sentiments run high in the Muslim world, remember that it’s mainly towards the government.

They hate Bush but loooove Britney Spears!
They hate Rumsfeld but loooove Hollywood!
They hate Dick Cheney and call him a dickhead but loooove 2Pac!
They hate Condolezza Rice but loooove Hip Hop music!
They hate the Pentagon but loooove Linkin Park!
They hate the White House but loooove Michael Jackson! (No wait! Not anymore!)
They hate the American government but loooove Celiene Dion! (No wait, DaMN! I forgot, she’s Canadian)
Surprisingly they like the Statue of Liberty. I guess that explains a lot huh.

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McDonald’s In Sudan?

by Drima on April 15, 2006

As you all know the US has an embargo on Sudan and do you know what the worst part of that is? Yes, you guessed it… There is no freaking McDonald’s in Sudan. Not even ONE restaurant. That is one of the main reasons my little sister hates going there for holidays (she’s a McDonald’s addict). Meanwhile I finaly figured out why I never became overweight eating it regularly here in Malaysia while Americans suffer from super obesity from eating too much fast food. It turns out the types of oils used in McDonlad’s restaurants differ from one another. I guess finaly it makes a little sense. Meanwhile Sudanese citizens are missing out on the second greatest opportunity of being alive on this earth. The first is freedom and the secong is McDonald’s. =p

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Ethiopia: Quran Torn, Thrown Into Toilets

by Drima on April 15, 2006

Anger is spreading and growing in Ethiopian universities as pages torn from the Quran were found inside toilet bowls in the campus of Adis Ababa University (Arabic Link). This is completely wrong. No book of ANY religion be it Torah, Bible or Quran should be abused in this sick way. I find it to be a worrying development. Tensions are already running high in Egypt after the church stabbings incidents and now this is happening in Ethiopia. Students are demanding “justice”. The question now is this, how are you going to find out for sure who did it? The religious make up of Ethiopia is as follows:

Muslim 45%-50%, Ethiopian Orthodox 35%-40%, animist 12%, other 3%-8%
(Source)

So as you notice, the risk of violence between Muslims and Christians is quite high. I’m not saying a Christian is responsible. All I’m saying is I’m afraid that this will end up being the scenario. Let’s hope things stabalize in Egypt and Ethiopia and that they don’t get worse. Let’s also hope this doesn’t inspire violent riots too. The anger is legitimate but must be expressed without violence.

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More Problems For Darfurians

by Drima on April 15, 2006

Following Chad’s decision to cut ties with Sudan, Deby is now threatening to expel about 200,000 Darfur refugees in Chad back to Sudan. The United States warned against such a move (Arabic link).

Meanwhile as Sudan’s relations with Chad worsen, its relations with Eritrea are improving.

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