Sarah Smith
@sarahesmith23.bsky.social
📤 6945
📥 2929
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Houston Chronicle senior storyteller. Probably reading.
[email protected]
Since it is New Year's Eve and I am working, here is one of those overly-sincere threads about things I loved writing in 2025. To begin: A wistful love letter to the asteroid that is seemingly not going to hit us
www.houstonchronicle.com/lifestyle/ar...
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How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Asteroid (Essay)
At least, I think, as we hurtle through space, trapped together on our own spinning rock in a vast expanse of nothing, we might be able to choose our own fates.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lifestyle/article/asteroid-hit-earth-nasa-20165767.php
3 days ago
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Gregory Pratt
5 days ago
Good morning. ICYMI: The
@chicagotribune.com
published our in depth report on the Trump raids of the city, and it’s well worth your time to read and understand the chaos of our times
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/28/c...
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64 days in Chicago: The story of Operation Midway Blitz
President Donald Trump’s federal immigration enforcement operation led to most surreal autumn in Chicago history. What happened during those 64 days will be remembered for a long time.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/28/chicago-immigration-operation-midway-blitz-2/?share=trh0hloiobide1yicogi
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Sarah Smith
Jack Jenkins
about 1 month ago
NEW: Churches in Charlotte are hosting trainings on how to response to ICE agents — with *hundreds* filling pews. At one training, a child led those gathered in "This Little Light of Mine" — but changed the words to “All around Border Patrol, I’m gonna let it shine"
religionnews.com/2025/11/20/a...
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As ICE descends on Charlotte, faith leaders draw on other cities' actions to aid immigrants
(RNS) — As many as 500 people, a mix of clergy and other volunteers, have appeared at the training sessions on how to counter ICE.
https://religionnews.com/2025/11/20/as-ice-descends-on-charlotte-faith-leaders-rally-to-aid-immigrants/
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David Noll
about 2 months ago
Escape room where the thing you are trying to escape is reading about Olivia Nuzzi
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Ruth Joffre
about 2 months ago
I’m begging the media to bring ethics back
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Jessica Lussenhop
about 2 months ago
An absolute powerhouse of a
@propublica.org
team has done what U.S. officials refuse to do: identify the men and women swept up in that midnight raid in Chicago. Life in the building was not perfect, but reporters found little evidence to back up government claims:
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
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“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime
Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...
https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-venezuela-immigration-ice-fbi-raids-no-criminal-charges
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Melissa Sanchez
about 2 months ago
I'm really proud of this story and my colleagues --
@jodiscohen.bsky.social
@tchristianmiller.bsky.social
Sebastian Rotella and
@mariamelba.bsky.social
... best collab ever. We got help from A LOT of people
@propublica.org
and beyond, including Ronna Risquez, and Andrea Morales from
@mlk50.com
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Melissa Sanchez
about 2 months ago
You probably saw videos of a nighttime raid in Chicago. Agents rappelling from a helicopter, bursting down doors, questioning brown-skinned immigrants. We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua.
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
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“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime
Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...
https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-venezuela-immigration-ice-fbi-raids-no-criminal-charges
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Shannon Heffernan
about 2 months ago
The Chicago Headline Club Foundation has launched the Essential Equipment Fund to help independent and freelance journalists buy gear like respirators and helmets.
headlineclub.org/2025/10/11/e...
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Essential Equipment Fund
CHCF’s Essential Equipment Fund helps Chicago-area journalists stay safe while reporting protests and public events. Apply and support today.
https://headlineclub.org/2025/10/11/essential-equipment-fund-for-journalists/?fbclid=IwY2xjawOAWFZleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFWSDJPSTczbWNSYjRkd245c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHoMqMu5_hL6ppFOrK7tGHPwhNP_vqTEPoC_wiywrSDB5XIibjt-YFylr-uvu_aem_Z_l0BnnAi50jtsIcl9e-cg
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Sarah Smith
Olivia Messer
about 2 months ago
“So, what would you like for me to say?” the woman asked. “Honestly, my next question is, are you pro-life? Is your church pro-life?” Monroe asked. The church hung up.
thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/11/t...
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A Woman Asked 43 Churches If They'd Feed a Starving Baby. The Texas Ones Failed Her Test.
Nikalie Monroe is going viral on TikTok for calling churches across the country to ask for baby formula for a fictional two-month-old.
https://thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/11/tiktok-woman-calls-churches-baby-formula-snap-texas/
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Sarah Smith
whet moser
about 2 months ago
"My father remained at the Texas detention center until October. During those six months, he went completely blind in one eye and lost most of the vision in the other, because he wasn’t receiving adequate medical care for his Type 2 diabetes."
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I try
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about 2 months ago
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Rainesford Stauffer
about 2 months ago
Nandy, a 22-year-old in Kentucky, has Type 1 Diabetes. Foods he's supposed to eat are more expensive, he said. He goes to Walmart and Kroger trying to find lowest prices. He's been eating one meal a day to stretch food out. It's impacting his health: “It’s like a death sentence for people like me”
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More Young People Will Go Hungry Without SNAP
“We’re trying to make it, but it’s been hard.”
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/amid-snap-benefits-suspension-more-young-people-will-go-hungry
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Jack Jenkins
about 2 months ago
More on this moment, as described by Rev. Black himself, here:
religionnews.com/2025/10/07/i...
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Rainesford Stauffer
about 2 months ago
It feels a bit weird to post right now in light of what has happened to
@teenvogue.com
and so much of the incredible team there. What sources shared here is important, & I’m grateful I got to work on this. I reported on how young people are being impacted by delays to SNAP: “It’s about survival.”
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More Young People Will Go Hungry Without SNAP
“We’re trying to make it, but it’s been hard.”
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/amid-snap-benefits-suspension-more-young-people-will-go-hungry
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Joseph Cox
2 months ago
PSA from 404 Media: you can opt-out of a data broker selling your flight travel data to the government to be searched without a warrant. Here's how I did it. This is ARC, the data broker owned by major U.S. airlines like United, Delta, American, etc
www.404media.co/how-to-opt-o...
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How to Opt-Out of Airlines Selling Your Travel Data to the Government
The Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), owned by major U.S. airlines, collects billions of ticketing records and sells them to the government to be searched without a warrant. I managed to opt-out o...
https://www.404media.co/how-to-opt-out-of-airlines-selling-your-travel-data-to-the-government/
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Lex McMenamin (they/them)
2 months ago
I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day. certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
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Gregory Pratt
2 months ago
NEWS: ICE arrests Chicago man whose teenage daughter is fighting cancer: “He belongs with her.” I spent yesterday afternoon with Ofelia Torres and her mother, Sandibell, talking about Ruben Torres. Here’s the story
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/21/i...
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ICE arrests Chicago man whose teenage daughter is fighting cancer: ‘He belongs with her’
Ofelia Torres has spent almost every day of the past month at Lurie Children’s Hospital, where the 16-year-old Lake View High School student is fighting cancer.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/21/ice-arrests-chicago-man-teenage-daughter-cancer/
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Sarah Smith
Kyle Cheney
3 months ago
BREAKING: A unanimous appeals court panel rules that reporter Catherine Herridge must testify about her source for a story that has become the subject of a leak investigation.
media.cadc.uscourts.gov/opinions/doc...
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Every culture’s death rituals are different, but they're all meant to allow us to live our lives even as we carry our dead. This is what happens when those rituals go awry. Belatedly, my latest story (& first
@esquiremag.bsky.social
/
@houstonchronicle.com
collab!)
www.esquire.com/news-politic...
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Cheating the Dead: The Undertaker and the Families Who Say He Scammed Them in Their Hour of Grief
A man stands accused of desecrating bodies at a funeral home. A bereaved mother will stop at nothing to get justice for her son. And the police trail on the case has gone cold. A requiem for the livin...
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a66052331/javian-major-funeral-home-case/
3 months ago
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Sardonicus
4 months ago
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Anna Bower
4 months ago
NEW: The law is supposed to protect unaccompanied migrant children from being summarily whisked out of the country by ICE in the dead of night. But that didn't seem to matter on Labor Day weekend, when the Trump administration tried to do just that. My latest:
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
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Charlie Warzel
4 months ago
I wrote about what I think is a genuinely revealing document of elite depravity and impunity. It is shocking and sickening. But it's also a crucial moment. We're about to see what happens when conspiracy theorists actually get what they asked for but it turns out not to be what they want.
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You Really Need to See Epstein’s Birthday Book for Yourself
This time, the conspiracy theorists were right.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/09/jeffrey-epstein-birthday-book-conspiracy-theories/684157/?gift=bQgJMMVzeo8RHHcE1_KM0fGBEa0cMmXQ9jazwm3ufrc&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
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it was the stupidest of times; it was the worst of times
4 months ago
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And wildly misaligned with my salary but thanks, I guess
4 months ago
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current writing stage
4 months ago
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Sarah Smith
Clara Jeffery
4 months ago
RFK Jr just buried a big report on the link between alcohol and cancer. Luckily,
@smencimer.bsky.social
had written this a few years back:
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the punchline being, it may be me, depending on how the day goes
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4 months ago
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Currently on "who will eat the week old cupcakes in the newsroom" watch
4 months ago
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Sarah Smith
Lawrence Hurley
4 months ago
🚨EXCLUSIVE: Federal judges tell NBC News the Supreme Court has got to do a better job of explaining emergency rulings, with frequent decisions in favor of Trump at least appearing to validate harsh criticism of the judiciary at a time of rising threats:
www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...
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In rare interviews, federal judges criticize Supreme Court's handling of Trump cases
Ten judges tell NBC News the Supreme Court needs to explain its rulings better, with some urging Chief Justice John Roberts to do more to defend the judiciary against external criticism.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-trump-cases-federal-judges-criticize-rcna221775
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Jake Grumbach
4 months ago
Found in the wild
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Jack Mirkinson
4 months ago
Today in
@thenation.com
we have harrowing, unforgettable accounts of the Israeli massacre that killed Anas al-Sharif and 5 others—from three journalists, including al-Sharif's cousin, who were there. Unfathomable that the world's media doesn't care about this.
www.thenation.com/article/worl...
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mollie bryant
4 months ago
I think/post about this a lot but I also wonder if I've underestimated the appeal of not thinking to other people
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The amount of reliance on ChatGPT in newsrooms to do a task that a human brain could do in a very short amount of time feels like if the dinosaurs had that asteroid in a slingshot and aimed it at themselves.
4 months ago
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Liam McCarthy
4 months ago
Epilogue packs quite a punch after a wild story-
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And... there's more
www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...
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4 months ago
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Ken Schwencke
5 months ago
Oh my god
www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/20/w...
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Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chips
THE CITY reported the incident to law enforcement and was promptly contacted by the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office.
https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/20/winnie-greco-eric-adams-aide-attempted-cash-katie-honan-reporter/
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Modern news headline formula, option 1: [random number] of the [superlative adjective] [SEO noun] to [verb] [preposition] [SEO proper noun]
5 months ago
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Sarah Smith
Nusaiba Mizan
5 months ago
Texas funeral commissioner's ‘problematic’ texts about Islam raise questions about her leadership, by
@sarahesmith23.bsky.social
and Dug Begley
www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investi...
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Exclusive: Head of Texas agency targeting Plano mosque sent anti-Islam texts
Kristin Tips, chairwoman of the Texas Funeral Service Commission, sent multiple Islamophobic links as her state agency investigated a Plano mosque.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/funeral-commission-epic-islam-text-messages-20814811.php
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Mark
5 months ago
The untold origin story of Trump Burger: A $250K murder-for-hire plot, ICE arrest and vaccine scam - Houston Chronicle
www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...
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Trump Burger’s untold story: A $250K murder plot, vaccine scam and ICE arrest
It’s a story with subplots involving a vaccine scam and a murder-for-hire scheme. It asks what we as a society require for legitimacy. And it’s a quintessentially American saga.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/trump-burger-origin-story-20808182.php
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Sarah Smith
The Bulwark
5 months ago
EXCLUSIVE:
@timmiller.bsky.social
spoke to Andry as he shared his journey through U.S. detention that led to imprisonment in El Salvador. He speaks about abuse, survival, and rebuilding his life through faith and his hope for the future. Watch it here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ySs...
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I took a little foray into that Trump Burger saga for
@houstonchronicle.com
The subplots include an ICE arrest, a vaccine scam and a $250,000 murder-for-hire plot. Yes, really.
www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...
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Trump Burger’s untold story: A $250K murder plot, vaccine scam and ICE arrest
It’s a story with subplots involving a vaccine scam and a murder-for-hire scheme. It asks what we as a society require for legitimacy. And it’s a quintessentially American saga.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/trump-burger-origin-story-20808182.php
5 months ago
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Julian Gill
5 months ago
The untold origin story of Trump Burger: A $250K murder-for-hire plot, ICE arrest and vaccine scam
www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...
by
@sarahesmith23.bsky.social
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Trump Burger’s untold story: A $250K murder plot, vaccine scam and ICE arrest
It’s a story with subplots involving a vaccine scam and a murder-for-hire scheme. It asks what we as a society require for legitimacy. And it’s a quintessentially American saga.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/trump-burger-origin-story-20808182.php
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Dwight Silverman
5 months ago
More evidence that
@sarahesmith23.bsky.social
is one of the
@houstonchronicle.com
's best writers. This origin story about Trump Burger is bonkers+.
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Trump Burger’s untold story: A $250K murder plot, vaccine scam and ICE arrest
It’s a story with subplots involving a vaccine scam and a murder-for-hire scheme. It asks what we as a society require for legitimacy. And it’s a quintessentially American saga.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/trump-burger-origin-story-20808182.php
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Another officer says, “They’re starting to resist more now,” to which an officer replies: “We’re going to end up shooting some of them.”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
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Immigration agents told a teenage US citizen: ‘You’ve got no rights.’ He secretly recorded his brutal arrest
Video from Kenny Laynez-Ambrosio, 18, puts fresh scrutiny on the harsh tactics used to reach the Trump administration’s ambitious enforcement targets
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/25/florida-teen-immigration-arrest?CMP=oth_b-aplnews_d-1
5 months ago
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After returning from the Maine coast to Houston and its 95 degree heat with 91% humidity, I must continuously remind myself that in August I will look back on this longingly
5 months ago
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“Robert is, in fact, an innocent man,” Brian Wharton, the lead detective on Roberson's case, now a pastor, said from the pulpit. “But you don’t have to know that. What you do have to know is as disciples of Jesus the Christ, is that We. Do. No. Violence.”
www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...
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6 months ago
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“Robert is, in fact, an innocent man,” Brian Wharton, the lead detective on Roberson's case, now a pastor, said from the pulpit. “But you don’t have to know that. What you do have to know is as disciples of Jesus the Christ, is that We. Do. No. Violence.”
www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...
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6 months ago
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After the devastating Texas floods, an ode to that sacred, messy, beautiful thing that is girlhood (
@houstonchronicle.com
gift link)
www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...
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Before the river rose, remembering Camp Mystic and the sacredness of girlhood
This is camp, and camp is heaven on earth, home away from home, a retreat from the rest of their lives for two or four weeks at a time.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/camp-mystic-flood-girlhood-ode-20759301.php?utm_source=marketing&utm_medium=copy-url-link&utm_campaign=article-share&hash=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaG91c3RvbmNocm9uaWNsZS5jb20vbmV3cy9ob3VzdG9uLXRleGFzL3RleGFzL2FydGljbGUvY2FtcC1teXN0aWMtZmxvb2QtZ2lybGhvb2Qtb2RlLTIwNzU5MzAxLnBocA%3D%3D&time=MTc1MTk5MTA4NzcyMQ%3D%3D&rid=MzUwZTgwNTAtNTM2YS00OGYyLTg0M2ItMWRjZTJjM2E2OWU3&sharecount=MA%3D%3D
6 months ago
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