Click on the image for the full article and also CLICK HERE.
Click on the image for the full article and also CLICK HERE.
This is a work in Progress
Here is a proposed question for a test of applicants to FDNY (Click Here)
If a building is contaminated by hazardous materials and the FDNY has a hazardous materials unit, who should inspect it?
A) the FDNY's hazardous materials unit that is trained, drilled and equipped to work within a hazardous environment
B) the local firehouse that is not trained, drilled or equipped to work within a hazardous environment or
C) the Bureau of Fire Prevention?
Note: the answer seems obvious but the current FDNY Commissioner did not answer this question correctly so it must be more difficult than it appears. (Click Here)
A decision was made. Who made it? FDNY decided to have its Haz-Mat Battalion coordinate the inspections of the toxic ground zero buildings. Who made this decision? The FDNY official who made this decision was not the Captain of the local firehouse. The Captain of the local firehouse did not have "the juice" to command the FDNY's Haz-Mat Battalion or to deploy its resources. So who made it? "At present we have our Haz-Mat battalion coordinating these inspections and would like to get back to having the administrative companies perform them." said the FDNY Manhattan Borough Commander in his 10/10/2007 email to the NYS DOL (See last read underlining above). At what level of the FDNY was this decision made?
In addition to who made the decision to task FDNY's Haz-Mat Battalion, there is a bigger question. The ground zero buildings became toxic on 9/11/01. Why wasn't the FDNY's Haz-Mat Battalion assigned the task of "coordinating these inspections" in the last quarter of 2001?
in the year 2002?
in the year 2003?
in the year 2004?
in the year 2005?
in the year 2006? and
during the first three quarters of the year 2007?
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One of the verses in the Charge of the Fire Brigade (Click Here) is
But no haz-mat suits for you
no guidance from FDNY too
How you do it is up to you
risk your lungs and your health
Meet my quota of 2 a month, Bloomberg and Scoppetta said
We'll decontaminate you after your dead
Inspect while we blunder
However, as is readily apparent from the NYS DOL's above email of 9/27/07 to FDNY's Manhattan Borough Commander, "How you do it" was not up to the fire fighters at the TEN HOUSE. Bloomberg and Scoppetta are mistaken. The NYS DOL pursuant to PESH requires that a specified procedure be followed in order to protect the health and safety of employees entering the toxic ground zero buildings. The FDNY as the employer of the fire fighters at the TEN HOUSE was not free to disregard the requirements of the NYS Labor Laws. Under the NYS Labor Laws, the employer (FDNY), not the employees (the Fire Fighters at the TEN HOUSE) had the burden of ensuring compliance with the NYS Labor Laws.
Furthermore, take a look at the above email. Now, go back and review the prior emails in this continuing email conversation between the FDNY's Manhattan Borough Commander and the NYS DOL. Notice two other names that pop up on all of them: Allen Hay and Nicholas Del Re. Hay was or is Assistant Chief of FDNY's Safety and Inspection Services Command and Delre was or is Deputy Chief of FDNY's HazMat Operations. So, in addition to the Manhattan Borough Commander, FDNY involved its Safety and Inspection Services Command and its Hazmat Operation in the discussion wherein FDNY was trying to figure out how to inspect toxic buildings. But doesn't something strike you as odd.? What is missing from this picture? Where is the Captain of the Ten House? Why wasn't the Captain of the Ten House included in these email discussions? Was the Captain of the Ten House so unimportant that nobody even gave it a thought that he was not involved in these discussions? You bet he was. Do you understand? Do you see the significance of who on behalf of FDNY was involved in these discussions - and who wasn't? It wasn't the job of the Captain of the Ten House - the local firehouse - to figure out a plan to inspect toxic buildings. If it was his job, he would have been included in the discussions. [Interestingly, FDNY deems FDNY Captains so unimportant that FDNY does not give FDNY Captains their own email address.] Figuring out the plan to inspect toxic buildings was above his rank in the chain of command. Figuring out is above the TEN HOUSE. The TEN HOUSE would implement a toxic building inspection plan and use the resources given to it according to a toxic building plan. However, THERE WAS NO TOXIC BUILDING INSPECTION PLAN! THERE WAS NOTHING FOR THE TEN HOUSE TO IMPLEMENT AND THERE WERE NO RESOURCES FOR THE TEN HOUSE TO USE! Isn't it, therefore, unconscionable that Scoppetta would sideline the Captain of the Ten House!
It wasn't until after FDNY had sidelined the three innocent, dedicated and decorated fire officers that FDNY began the process of trying to figure out how to enable the TEN HOUSE to inspect the toxic ground zero buildings. Remember the 9/10/2007 email from the FDNY Borough Commander to the NYS Dept of Labor from Chapter Two:
"We are also looking to develop a procedure to inspect these type of buildings."(See blue underline).
How insane is that? FDNY sidelines them for not inspecting and then, after, they are sidelined, tries to figure out how to inspect the toxic ground zero buildings! Something doesn't make sense here! Shouldn't it be the other way around? First figure out how to do it, give them the instructions on how to do it, and then, if they fail to do it, sideline them. Instead, the MESHUGAAS punished them first and attempted to figure it out last! What kind of lunacy is this?
Furthermore, let us not forget the further and additional lunacy in which FDNY figured out out how to deal with toxic ground zero buildings and furnished another FDNY unit other than the TEN HOUSE with the know-how and the resources to deal with it but never shared this know-how and resources with the TEN HOUSE (Click Here) and see below
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"I want to make sure that I do not overlook anything when I send firefighters into these buildings for inspections." (See Last Yellow Underline).
FDNY faced a crossroads with regard to the toxic ground zero buildings. A decision needed to be made. In order to protect fire fighters from the toxicity of ground zero buildings, there were two alternatives available:
There was not a third alternative. These two were it. There was no other way to protect fire fighters. Keep them out or give them the means to safely enter, inspect and exit.
Recall what Battalion Chief John McDonald was quoted as saying in a NY Post Article,
"There was black mold . . . asbestos, mercury, concrete dust and heavy metal dust in that building," McDonald said.
Yet, there are people who have never been in a blaze accusing McDonald and two other brave fire officials of not following normal procedures.
Said Chief McDonald: "This was not a normal building, a normal site. And it is [the Environmental Protection Agency] that is literally in charge of abatement in that building. I don't know what the heck is going to happen, but always foremost in my mind is to look after my men."
Before the tragic August 18, 2007, FDNY made a decision. FDNY selected the first alternative not the second. FDNY decided to keep fire fighters out of the toxic ground zero buildings. FDNY rejected the second alternative. FDNY decided not to give fire fighters the means to safely enter, inspect and exit the toxic ground zero buildings.
After the tragic August 18, 2007, FDNY changed its mind. FDNY second guessed itself. FDNY called into question its pre-fire decision. FDNY decided that the second alternative was preferred over the first. FDNY decided to provide fire fighters with the means to safely enter, inspect and exit the toxic ground zero buildings.
In the 9/25/2007 email from FDNY's Manhattan Borough commander to the New York State Department of Labor, FDNY put into written words its change of heart.
"I want to make sure that I do not overlook anything when I send firefighters into these buildings for inspections." (See Last Yellow Underline).
In this email, FDNY's Manhattan Borough Commander puts into written words what had heretofore been the unwritten (as far as FreePetey knows) official FDNY policy in effect at the time Captain Peter Bosco arrived at the Ten House: "STAY OUT OF THE TOXIC GROUND ZERO BUILDINGS unless and until FDNY provides you with the means with which to do it safely."
How do we know that this was the official FDNY policy? There are only two alternatives available:
There was not a third alternative. These two were it. There was no other way to protect fire fighters. Keep them out or give them the means to safely enter, inspect and exit. The evidence is irrefutable that FDNY did not provide the TEN HOUSE with the means with which to enter, inspect and exit ground zero buildings safely and the TEN HOUSE stayed out of the toxic ground zero buildings. Hence, the evidence leads us to the conclusion that FDNY selected the first alternative. Without the means to safely enter, inspect and exit the toxic ground zero buildings, the Ten House had no other choice but to stay out.
"I want to make sure that I do not overlook anything when I send firefighters into these buildings for inspections." (See Last Yellow Underline).
FDNY's Manhattan Borough commander will not send firefighters into the three toxic ground zero buildings unless and until all the "i"s are dotted and all the "t"s are crossed. Nothing, nothing is to be overlooked. You would have to be either evil or incompetent to send fire fighters into these toxic hell holes without providing them with proper safeguards. Moreover, doing so is prohibited by NYS Labor Laws. It would be like the New York Rangers saying to an employee without a helmet, glove, stick or pads, hey, go play goalie! Doing so is certain to result in injury. Until the Department of Labor tells the FDNY's Manhattan Borough Commander how to do inspections, the Manhattan Borough Commander will not send firefighters into the three toxic ground zero buildings.
One need not be the FDNY's Manhattan Borough Commander to think like this. This is common sense. Safety first. Protect the fire fighters. Give them the means to do the job you want them to do and they will do it. Withhold the means, and the job won't get done. Yet, if this is common sense and given that FDNY never provided the Ten House with the means to inspect the toxic ground zero buildings, why in the world is Captain Peter Bosco, his Battalion chief, John McDonald and his Division Chief, Richard Fuerch, on the sidelines? Is it because they who put them on the sidelines have no common sense? Or is it because they who put them on the sidelines were the ones who, before the tragic August 18, 2007, selected the first alternative, regretted their selection, and needed scapegoats to divert attention away from themselves?
In a hasty rush to judgment before any of the evidence was in, Bloomberg and Scoppetta attempted to tar and feather Captain Peter Bosco, his battalion and division chiefs at a public press conference for not inspecting a toxic ground zero building. We objected (Click Here) to both the tar and the feathers.
The Captain of the local firehouse was not the FDNY official who selected the first alternative. This selection was already made before Captain Peter Bosco arrived at the Ten House. Captain Peter Bosco merely inherited it. The decision to not provide the Ten House with the means to safely enter, inspect and exit the toxic ground zero buildings was made above the rank of Captain of the local firehouse, above the rank of Captain Bosco's battalion chief and above the rank of Captain Bosco's division chief. This decision reached the top of the FDNY chain of command. FDNY - at its highest level - decided not to allocate the resources needed to safely inspect the toxic ground zero buildings. Hence, to protect the fire fighters, fire fighters needed to stay out of the toxic ground zero buildings. Without the means to safely enter, inspect and exit them, the fire fighters of the TEN HOUSE had no other choice.
Captain Peter Bosco - a captain of a single firehouse - was not at the level in the hierarchy of FDNY where he would be privy to FDNY's decision making process with regard to picking either the first or the second alternative. In other words, the big FDNY dalmations did not consult with or seek out Captain Bosco's opinion.
But there is someone who knows what happened at that rarified level of the FDNY's chain of command.
Recall what Chief Fuerch told Steve Dunleavy of the New York Post on Sept 3, 2007:
"We'll cooperate, and then a lot more will come out in the wash,"
Chief Fuerch knows why FDNY did not equip the TEN HOUSE with the means to accomplish the goal of inspecting the toxic ground zero (Click Here). Chief Fuerch knows who failed to allocate the resources needed to safely inspect the toxic ground zero buildings. It wasn't Chief Fuerch. Decisions were made above the level of Chief Fuerch. Again, recall what Chief Fuerch told Steve Dunleavy of the New York Post on Sept 3, 2007:
"We'll cooperate, and then a lot more will come out in the wash,"
The Ten House was not in position to supply itself with a toxic building inspection plan and the resources needed to implement it. Just look at the above and the other emails. Planning and the allocation of resources to implement a plan is done by the very top of the FDNY hierarchy. It is not done by the Captain of the local firehouse. The Captain of the local firehouse implements a plan and uses the resources given to him. Don't blame the captain of the local firehouse when the top of FDNY failed to provide him with a plan and resources. Doing so is
Common Sense is overrated.
sounds like something Perfidious Nick would say
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Michael? Michael? What has Michael got to do with it? Isn't Pete the one who is one the sidelines for not inspecting the toxic Deutsche Bank Building while Michael is still in the game? Maureen, what about Pete? Why are you talking with the Manhattan Borough Commander when, according to Scoppetta, you should be talking to the Captain of the local firehouse? Maureen, doesn't Pete's opinion count? Come on, Maureen, why are you ignoring Pete and speaking to Michael? Why aren't you asking Pete about what he is planning? Sure, Michael is a big FDNY dalamtion and Pete is a little FDNY puppy, but still, don't you want to know what someone from the sidelines thinks? Maureen, just because Michael can deploy and coordinate FDNY resources throughout the Borough of Manhattan and Pete's world is limited to the resources of the Ten House, is that a reason not to seek his counsel and wisdom? Shouldn't Pete's opinion matter, Maureen? Maureen, why ask the Manhattan Borough Commander to decide when you can ask the Captain of the local firehouse?
Or, perhaps, you are talking to the right person, Maureen! Perhaps it does take the top FDNY dalmation in Manhattan to figure out how to inspect toxic buildings. Perhaps it is above the rank of Captain of the local firehouse! Come to think of it, Maureen, you hit the nail on the head! The top of FDNY needs to create the plan to inspect toxic buildings. This is beyond the rank of Captain of the local firehouse. Congratulations, Maureen, you know how to do your job.
I believe in looking reality straight in the eye and denying it.Garrison Keillor(Could have been uttered by perfidious Nick)
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Do you really think that I have a good explanation for not figuring out how to inspect toxic buildings in the year 2001 or in 2002 or in 2003 or in 2004 or in 2005 or in 2006 or in 2007?(perfidious Nick could ask himself this)
"I don't know what you mean by 'eggs,' "Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. "Of course you don't -- till I tell you. I meant "there's a nice knock-down argument for you!'"
"But `eggs' doesn't mean `a nice knock-down argument,'" Alice objected.
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in a rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master -- that's all."
"What about those three fire fighters whom you sidelined? They broke no law," said Alice.
"When I finalize the FDNY procedure, they will have broken it," Humpty Dumpty said.
"But it did not exist. How can you sideline them for breaking a law that did not exist?" asked Alice.
"I did not say they broke a law that existed - everybody knows they did not," Humpty Dumpty superciliously replied. " I said they will have broken it after I have finished finalizing it.'
"Where I come from," Alice said, "ex post facto laws are banned. You can't break a law that doesn't exist. That doesn't make any sense."
"It makes as much sense as the definition of an egg I just gave you," chortled Humpty Dumpty as yolk ran down his chin.
Alice was too much puzzled to say anything.
Humpty Dumpty continued smiling condescendingly, "Besides, people would have called me an egghead if I didn't sideline them."
Pointing out the obvious, Alice said:"But you are an egghead."
"Listen young lady," Humpty Dumpty screamed. "Don't be impertinent. Know your place. I am up here; you are down there. How dare you question me? I am master of the sidelines and, as master, the truth be damned. I'll piss and shit on whomever I damn well please. I sidelined them because I can not because I'm right. It was them or me. I refuse to take responsibility for something I failed to do. Do you really think that I have a good explanation for not figuring out how to inspect toxic buildings in the year 2002 or in 2003 or in 2004 or in 2005 or in 2006 or in 2007? Hell no so better that they take the fall rather than me. It has been prophesied that if I take the fall, all the kings horses and all the kings men will not be able to put me together again! That worries me. Like King Herod and the babies of Bethlehem, I don't want the prophesy to come true. I'll do what I must - whatever it takes - no matter the cost to others - to forestall it. I may be a bad egg but I'm not addled!"
Young Alice's heart broke and she started to cry as she thought of the the three innocent, dedicated and diligent fire officers on the sidelines unjustly condemned by a rotten, runny egg ...
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To understand what has happened to the three innocent, diligent and dedicated fire officers, it is important to have an understanding of the distinction between goals and the means to accomplish the goals. An employer can set a goal for his employees to accomplish. The same employer can either give his employees the means to accomplish the goal or withhold from his employees the means to accomplish the goal.
For instances:
Recall what a testy Mayor Bloomberg was reported to have said in a report by Marcia Kramer concerning the "sidelining" of the three FDNY scapegoats (Click Here). [When you read it, read it to yourself in a nasal, high-pitched, and bumptious tone](Also, click here):
You tell -em Bloomberg. You tell perfidious Nick this! Oops, we forgot. This rule does not apply to one of your tea and crumpet cronies. It only applies to the little guys who you feel free to piss and shit on."Can't conceive of how anybody thinks we should leave anybody in a position where there's a question as to whether or not they were taking the steps to keep the city safe," Bloomberg said. "That's what their job is."
SHAME ON YOU!
It's unconscionable!
What is unconscionable is that neither Bloomberg nor Scopetta have the decency to stand up and admit that they made a mistake with these three innocent, diligent, and dedicated fire officers. What kind of men are they? It takes a great leader to admit a mistake was made. How about it Bloomberg? How about it Scoppetta? Is there an ounce of nobility in you? If so, show it.
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We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France and on the seas and oceans; we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills. We shall never surrender and even if, which I do not for the moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle until in God's good time the New World with all its power and might, sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the Old. . Churchill
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Go forward to CHAPTER FIVE -
On 9/10/2007, the New York State Department of Labor replies to FDNY's email sent early in the morning of the same day. This email talks about decontamination. It also talks about what needs to be worn and its not the FDNY's turnout gear. It talks about wearing two Tyvek suits. It says the details would have to be worked out.
The inspection of a toxic building is not a simple thing. Details need to be worked out. Decontamination needs to be provided. Tyvek suits need to be provided. During the approximately 8 months that Captain Peter Bosco was at the Ten House from late December 2006 early January 2007 to August 18, 2007, guess how many Tyvek suits the Ten House was given? Come on, guess. The answer is none. Guess whether he was given the official written procedure to follow for the inspection of toxic buildings. Come on, guess. The answer is he was given nothing. An official FDNY written procedure did not exist for toxic buildings.
FDNY never contemplated that fire fighters would inspect toxic buildings before the tragic August 18, 2007 fire. That is why FDNY mandated that inspections be done in ordinary work clothes (Click Here) and why FDNY did not have an official written procedure for the inspection of toxic buildings. If they contemplated that fire fighters would be entering toxic buildings to inspect, FDNY would have provided the proper PPE and FDNY would have provided an official written inspection procedure, no?
Moreover, FDNY was not free to inspect a toxic building however they wished. There are laws: laws that protect firefighters' health and safety. These laws are not NYC laws but NYS laws. These laws are administered by the NYS Department of Labor via a program called PESH. It is illegal to send firefighters into a toxic building without taking measures that would protect the health and safety of the firefighters. PESH forbids it. The burden to comply with these Health and Safety Laws is on the employer not the employee. FDNY - not the Captain of the local fire house - must figure out how to abide by the Health and Safety Laws of the State of New York.
This is what Manhattan's top FDNY dalmation is doing in this series of emails. He is trying to figure out how to comply with the Health and Safety standards of the State of New York with regard to the inspection of toxic buildings. Fire fighters cannot simply walk into toxic buildings in their ordinary work clothes as they would for an ordinary building. That's illegal.
The big question is why now? Why didn't perfidious Nick figure this out when the ground zero buildings became toxic on 9 /11/2001 nearly 7 years ago?
It's unconscionable!
Shame on you perfidious Nick.
But, what is worse. Perfidious Nick "sidelines" three innocent, dedicated and diligent men for not inspecting the toxic building when FDNY did not have a procedure in place to inspect them. How can a procedure be violated that did not exist?
Sideline yourself perfidious Nick.
It's unconscionable!
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On 9/10/2007, the top FDNY dalmation in Manhattan - He was not 'sidelined' by perfidious Nick - emails the New York State Department of Labor. The subject of the email is the same as the 9/7/2007 email from the New York State Department of Labor to him: "Respirator Usage at 130 Liberty Street". At the end of the email, Weinlein writes "We are also looking to develop a procedure to inspect these types of buildings. How would we need to decontaminate after the inspection." (See blue undelining above)
They knew! The bastards knew! They knew that FDNY did not have a procedure in place to inspect toxic buildings! They knew that Captain Bosco, his battalion and division chiefs are innocent. Captain Bosco his battalion and division chiefs could not have failed to follow FDNY procedure when such a procedure simply did not exist! FDNY was looking to develop a procedure it did not have.
Yet, the bastards "sidelined" them! It's unconscionable!
Do you know what the "sidelines" are?
The "sidelines" are a euphemism for the gallows. At a news conference, attended by perfidious Nick, with cameras flashing and politicians smiling, The City of New York marched three innocent men onto the gallows, blindfolded them, bound their hands behind their back and put ropes around their necks. And they have stood there to this day with nooses around their necks. Since August 27, 2007 - the day they were sent to the "sidelines" - three innocent men have stood with a rope around their neck not knowing whether or when the floor will open under their feet and they would swing in a most unhealthy and inhospitable manner.
How do you think it feels? From the perspective of perfidious Nick it must not be looked upon as such a big deal being taken out of "the game" and put on "the sidelines". His use of a sports metaphor confirms this. However, take a look at it from the perspective of the three men standing on the gallows with ropes around their necks day after day. Think of the anxiety these three innocent men have lived under since August 27, 2007: their comrades having made the supreme sacrifice and they, on the gallows, being cruelly blamed for it by perfidious Nick who as early as 9/10/2007 knew that FDNY did not have a procedure in place to inspect toxic buildings! Perfidious Nick who as "the father" of "his children" - the rank and file of FDNY - has not lifted a finger to remove the rope from their necks and has not even uttered a single consoling word to ease their anxiety. Instead, perfidious Nick abandons them on the gallows despite knowing that they are innocent.
Moreover, whose job in FDNY was it to come up with a procedure to inspect toxic buildings? Was it the job of the captain of the local firehouse who only arrived at ground zero in late December 2006 early January 2007? Captain Bosco was at the Ten House only about eight (8) months. What was FDNY doing over the 5 and a quarter years from 9/11/2001 when the ground zero buildings became toxic to when Captain Peter Bosco arrvied at the Ten House? From reading the email above, it seems that FDNY only started trying to figure out an inspection procedure for toxic buildings in September of 2007 and the job of coming up with a procedure to inspect toxic buildings was being done by the top FDNY dalmation in Manhattan not the captain of the local firehouse. Riddle me this Batberg: why didn't Scoppetta start work on developing a procedure for toxic building inspections when the ground zero buildings became toxic on 9/11/2001? What was his reason for waiting only September of 2007? Have you asked him?
The FDNY failure - and FREEPETEY has always maintained that the decontamination & deconstruction of 130 Liberty Street was not an FDNY project - was not that the Captain of the local fire house, his battalion chief and division chief did not implement an inspection procedure with regard to toxic buildings; the FDNY failure was that there was no inspection procedure to implement! Let's put the horse before the cart where it belongs. Had there been an inspection procedure to implement, the three innocent, diligent, dedicated fire officers would have implemented it. No question. It wasn't implemented because there was nothing to implement! It did not exist. It wasn't there. That there was nothing to implement is the responsibility of the very top of FDNY not the bottom. Don't look down at the scapegoats. If you want to figure out the FDNY failure, look up at those who made them into scapegoats. Up, up and up - that is where the responsibility lies.
SHAME ON YOU PERFIDIOUS NICK!.
It's unconscionable!
"These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren" (Proverbs 6:16-19).
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Go back to CHAPTER ONE - FDNY Seeks Help from PESH
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