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... magician and investigator of[br]psychic phenomena.

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Don't laugh;[br]this is science.

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For 25 years, Randi has[br]explored the world of the

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paranormal and tested[br]claims of supernatural powers.

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Now, Randi journeys to Russia to[br]challenge psychics never

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before seen in the west.

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After decades of research, can[br]we finally discover

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the secrets of the psychics?

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Funding for Nova's 20th[br]anniversary season is made

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around the world for commitment[br]to quality

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healthcare products for the[br]entire family.

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Major funding for Nova is[br]provided by the corporation

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for public broadcasting and by[br]annual financial support from

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viewers like you.

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From the earliest days,[br]man has believed that

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dreams and the supernatural are[br]in some way real.

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All over the world[br]psychics demonstrate

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powers that their[br]followers accept as

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modern-day miracles.

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Here, in Moscow, psychic[br]healers treat the sick

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with chants and incantations.

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And, in the Philippines,[br]psychic surgeons perform

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operations without knives.

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A metal spoon turns liquid[br]in the hands of a psychic

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performing in Britain.

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This is happening.

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Nearly everywhere,[br]fortune-tellers find the

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future in cards, crystal[br]balls, and palms.

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Three out of four Americans say

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they've had a psychic experience.

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Today, you can even find[br]a psychic at the mall.

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Purveyors of the supernatural[br]have created

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a multi-million dollar industry.

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But, are psychic phenomena what[br]they appear to be?

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My name is James Randi,[br]the Amazing Randi.

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I'm a magician.

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Okay, I have here a pen...

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For the past 25 years,[br]I've been investigating

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the claims of psychics.

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A psychokinetic[br]demonstration of a

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supernatural nature.

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Watch this.

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Psychics often say that an[br]object can be moved using

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only the power of the mind.

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And it moves in a miracle[br]fashion like that.

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Isn't that amazing stuff?

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Stop!

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Magicians can produce[br]the same effect.

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Of course, I was just[br]blowing on the pen.

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But, a little suggestion[br]and a little distraction

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go a long way.

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As a magician, there's[br]nothing I like more than a

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well-executed illusion.

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Just look at what my[br]friend Jamy Ian Swiss can do.

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There are those who use[br]magic tricks for more than

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entertainment; they[br]convince people that what

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they do is real, that[br]they have special powers.

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Magical thinking, you[br]know, is a slippery slope.

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Sometimes it's harmless[br]enough, but other times

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it's quite dangerous.

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Personally, I'm opposed to[br]that kind of fakery, so I

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have no reservations at[br]all about exposing these

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people and their illusions[br]for what they really are.

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I've investigated the[br]claims of hundreds of

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psychics.

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People aren't always happy[br]with my conclusions, but I

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do have my supporters.

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In 1986, I was honored[br]with a MacArthur Award.

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Unfortunately, most of the prize[br]money went into defending myself

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against a series of libel suits related to one of my

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earliest and most controversial investigations.

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The subject was Uri[br]Geller, a young Israeli

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who claimed to have[br]supernatural powers.

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His remarkable affinity[br]for metal and his psychic

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abilities are well[br]documented all over the world.

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In the early 1970s, Geller[br]became a superstar,

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the most famous psychic[br]in the world.

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Okay, just a second, look[br]at me.

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Visualize everything that you[br]drew once more.

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He claimed to read[br]people's minds.

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I'm going to[br]show what I got.

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Anything wrong, then I'm wrong,[br]but it really came very[br]strongly.

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It could be two mountains[br]with a round thing on or

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two people - I , uh, I...

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Can I show?

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Yeah.

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Am I wrong?

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You're right.

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I'm right.

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Good.

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That's what I got.

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He claimed to bend[br]keys with his mind.

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I know you're going to think[br]this is a set-up, friends,

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and old Tom has never[br]conned you on anything.

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This - this guy is bending[br]this key by rubbing it.

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It was bent at about, uh,[br]a one-degree angle when

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you started out, and it's[br]coming up on 45 degrees now.

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It's still moving.

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Are you thinking, "Bend?"

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Is that what you're doing?

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Yes, I'm saying, "bend."

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Hard, soft?

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I'm saying, "Bend,[br]bend, bend!"

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And sometimes I[br]say, "Bend, baby!"

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But, Geller was best known[br]for his way with spoons.

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Hold the tip of this[br]spoon very, very gently.

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Okay.

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What I'm doing is I'm[br]trying to melt the metal down.

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It's like feeling...

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It's going...

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Yeah.

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I did not force it at[br]all in my hands....

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There's no force at all.

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Look.

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The whole...

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You see it's becoming...

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... fall off.

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It's - touch it here[br]where I'm stroking it.

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There is absolutely no...

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That is eerie!

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I have a wisdom tooth...

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As you can see, the metal[br]is beginning to crack here.

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It's breaking.

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Yeah.

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Look, it's becoming -[br]it's like putty wax.

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You see?

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Look.

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And keep - keep[br]stroking it here.

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You see - don't, don't you see,[br]the crack is becoming bigger?

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Yep.

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I melt the metal[br]down so - so...

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I want it to bend.[br]I just say, "Bend."

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You melted it.

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Now, wait a minute,[br]wait a minute.

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Keep stroking your keys[br]more and people at home,

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want your watches to start[br]working, or if there is a

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radio that is broken,[br]want it to start working.

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Television broken - just want it[br]- all those broken things.

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Now...

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What Geller was saying,[br]effectively, was that

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wanting things[br]could make them so.

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I felt that claim[br]had to be challenged.

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The media, even some[br]scientists, were taking

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the Geller phenomenon[br]seriously, so I decided to

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show, for starters, that I[br]could at least duplicate

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these effects using trickery.

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Now, a key can be displayed in[br]such a way

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that it looks like it's[br]bending.

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For example, just by[br]stroking it,

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you'd swear that it's bending[br]right up before your eyes.

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Magicians call this[br]process ratcheting.

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But, to do this, the key[br]has to be bent in advance.

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The hard part, of course,[br]is how to go about bending

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the key without letting[br]them catch you.

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Now, there's several ways.

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I could, for example, take it[br]and press the tip

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against the top of the table.

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That would do it.

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Or, in shifting my chair[br]backwards or forwards, as

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I just did, I could've[br]taken it and dropped it

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below the level of the[br]table and pressed the tip

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on the chair I'm sitting[br]on,

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which is exactly what I just did.

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Did I fool ya?

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Mentalists have[br]duplicating hidden

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drawings for years.

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If Mr. Geller had chosen to use[br]trickery,

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he could've used any of a[br]number of techniques.

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One favorite involves turning[br]your back and

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covering your eyes while[br]the drawing is being made.

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Now, I've always wondered[br]why you would cover your

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eyes while your[br]back is turned.

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But, melting metal is[br]something else again.

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It's done something like[br]this, and it gets soft.

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So, I say to it, "Bend,[br]bend, bend," and it bends.

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Of course, it does take[br]a little preparation.

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In fact, it takes a[br]lot of preparation.

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Now, this isn't proof[br]positive that other

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demonstrations aren't the[br]result of supernatural power,

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but isn't this a more reasonable explanation?

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And then, of course,[br]there was Mr. Geller's

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appearance on The Tonight Show.

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I got a call after they[br]booked him to appear.

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Will you welcome,[br]please, Uri Geller.

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Johnny had been a magician[br]himself and was skeptical.

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I was asked to help[br]prevent any trickery.

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Nice to see you.