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Full-time work is often taxing. Retirement shouldn't be. Picking a retirement location with low taxes gives you more cash to spend exploring the surrounding scenic beauty, taking in the local nightlife, or hoarding your hard-earned dough for future expenses. Kicking less money up to Uncle Sam also helps retirees on fixed incomes better cope with food, gas, and utility costs.
Americans will spend more on taxes in 2008 than on food, clothing, and housing combined, according to Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge. This year, Americans worked 74 days to pay their federal taxes and 39 days more to cover state and local levies, the Tax Foundation calculated. There's not much you can do about the federal taxes if you want to live in the United States, but the state and local tax burden varies considerably by location. The most expensive state and local taxes are typically sales and excise taxes (14 days' pay), property taxes (12 days' pay), and income tax (10 days' pay).
To find low-tax places to retire, U.S. News cranked up our Best Places to Retire search tool. We sifted through more than 2,000 U.S. places to find locales that have relatively low taxes but also offer amenities important to retirees like a reasonable cost of living and fine recreational and cultural choices. Many of the low-tax retirement havens have no state sales tax, like Billings, Mont., or no state income tax, like Sioux Falls, S.D. There's nothing like zero tax to make your retirement dollar go further.
One low-tax retirement gem, Stafford, Texas, a suburb of Houston, eliminated its property tax in 1995. Texas is also one of seven states with no income tax. (The others are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming.) Stafford also has the lowest sales tax in the Houston area.
Seniors looking to maximize their fixed income may also want to give Manchester, N.H., a look. There is no sales or traditional income tax, but New Hampshire does levy a 5 percent tax on interest and dividend income above $2,400 annually ($4,800 for couples). Residents ages 65 and older pay tax only on amounts above $3,600, and that's outside your retirement accounts. Withdrawals from retirement accounts are not taxed in New Hampshire.
Many retirement locales offer tax perks specifically for seniors. Nashville-Davidson County, Tenn., the home of country-music (and state) capital Nashville, for example, was the first jurisdiction in the state to allow homeowners ages 65 and older earning less than $35,390 in 2007 to freeze the amount of property tax due on their primary residence in the year they qualify, even if tax rates increase later. The frozen dollar amount will rise if the owner sells or makes improvements to the house. If the house drops in value and the current taxes become lower than the frozen amount, homeowners pay the lower amount. And like New Hampshire, Tennessee also doesn't tax earned income, just dividends and interest.
Low-tax towns don't have to be dull. Doral, Fla., is home to the Doral Golf Resort & Spa, which hosts a PGA tournament every year. And Henderson, Nev., Las Vegas's less glittery cousin, is only a short drive from the Strip, Hoover Dam, and Lake Mead. Businesses often flock to tax-friendly cities. And thriving local economies are sure to help retirees find second careers and start small businesses. The business-friendly tax structure of Spokane, Wash., is key to attracting prime technology jobs to the area. After work, retirees can stroll along the Spokane River, which runs through the center of town, or hike in the nearby mountains.
Some cities, like Cheyenne, Wyo., try to slash their budgets rather than increase taxes. In October, Cheyenne Mayor Jack Spiker announced a hiring freeze on nonessential personnel, a reduction of out-of-town travel, and a review of equipment expenditures. "Just like taxpayers, the city needs to tighten its financial belt during these times of economic uncertainty," he says. By leaving vacant positions open until the end of the year, the city estimates it will save $3,160 a month per entry-level employee and $5,050 monthly for each vacant mid-level position.
Perhaps the most tax-friendly state for retirees is Alaska. The geographically largest state in the union is the only one without any kind of income or sales tax. The city of Juneau levies a 5 percent sales tax, but seniors ages 65 and older who have lived in the city for at least 30 days and plan to remain indefinitely in the state can get a Senior Sales Tax Exemption Card for a $20 application fee. Those over age 65 may also be eligible for a senior-citizen property tax exemption on the first $150,000 of assessed value. All Alaska residents with at least one year in the state also receive annual Alaska Permanent Fund dividends. The payout was an unusually high $3,269 in 2008, but even more typical dividends have been nothing to scoff at, ranging from $827 to $1,964 over the past two decades. This dividend may be taxed as income on federal tax returns.
Here are 10 great tax havens for retirees:
Billings, Mont.
Cheyenne, Wyo.
Doral, Fla.
Henderson, Nev.
Juneau, Alaska
Manchester, N.H.
Nashville, Tenn.
Sioux Falls, S.D.
Spokane, Wash.
Stafford, Texas
More: http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/10-great-low-tax-places-to-retire.html
Best wishes,
Col. Laird John B. Cutty Kt
*johnbcuttykt*
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Bemes, clouds and MySpace: Welcome to the brave new world of retail.
By TOM HAYES and MICHAEL S. MALONE
Retailers will eventually recover from the consumption tailspin that threatens this holiday season. But quite apart from the recession, there are other, profound changes underway in the retail sector. As the evidence mounts about the power of social networks to reconfigure individual behavior, the crucial question facing industry is: How to leverage this phenomenon into actual profits?
The second generation of Internet ("Web 2.0") companies such as MySpace, Facebook, Linked/In and YouTube exploded upon the scene three years ago. Today, MySpace and Facebook together have more users than the entire U.S. population; and the online community concept is already becoming a powerful tool for everything from creating customer loyalty, to assistance in product design, to a sounding board for company strategy.
Corporations from IBM to Toyota and Johnson & Johnson have been rushing to establish their own affiliated social networks and bind their customers ever more closely. There isn't a smart company today that isn't implementing some kind of online community, wiki or blog strategy.
But companies with millions of members of online communities are now asking: What next? How do we sell them products and services, or mobilize them into massive de facto R&D, manufacturing and sales departments? We have been studying the challenge and have concluded that very few of the traditional techniques of classical marketing (call them Marketing 1.0), or even of eCommerce (Marketing 2.0) will work in the world of social networks. A very different set of tools, concepts and practices is needed. Call it Marketing 3.0. Here are five:
- From loyalty to attention. Before you can win consumer loyalty, you have to capture and reward consumer attention. Old propositions -- network television's tired offer of 22 minutes of canned sitcoms in exchange for eight minutes of untargeted commercials -- won't cut it. Consumers are demanding a better deal.
Some brands are starting to flirt with better exchange rates: Virgin Mobile gives a minute of free phone time for every minute of advertising a customer accepts. Ryan Air recently announced it would offer $15 coach tickets from the U.S. to Europe, subsidized by passenger attention to advertising and in-flight sales pitches.
Smart marketers will of necessity become obsessed with customer attention in the way they once obsessed over customer loyalty. The shrewd brands will create elaborate attention-rewards programs, and incentives to break through the noise and make that critical initial connection.
- From crowds to clouds. Once you get that attention -- once you generate heavy traffic to your site, gather a large league of "friends" on MySpace, or spawn a dedicated following on Twitter -- how do you monetize the crowd?
Smart brands are turning their crowds into "clouds": organic, self-forming and often self-governing communities of interest. Companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Frito-Lay and Harley-Davidson use their clouds as feedback loops to get better faster by obtaining good, timely, often brutally honest customer insights. And the members of clouds can become true believers; they don't just watch your commercials, they make them.
Right now, few companies are emotionally equipped to wring the best benefits of a cloud, because the most valuable voices out there usually belong to the malcontents. In the old model, customer-service departments aimed to placate or jettison disgruntled customers. In the cloud model, the idea is to cultivate and reward them. That's not an easy transition.
- From places to spaces. Consumers are increasingly organizing themselves into new communities -- not just the big generic social communities, but myriad idiosyncratic slices of narrow, passionate interest (i.e., BlackPlanet, Inpowr and MomsCafe).
These new market spaces, or "meganiches," may seem small, even strange at first. But when they're efficiently targeted, they can be highly responsive, lucrative and loyal. Well-established meganiche Web sites include Gamefaq.com for video gamers, Dpreview.com for digital photography aficionados, and Howardchui.com dedicated to mobile phone zealots.
With this shift toward self-organization by consumers, national advertising campaigns as we know them will increasingly become a waste of time and money for many companies. The trick for brands is to cohabit social spaces with these consumers. Social media, and its verb form, "friending," requires entirely new forms of advertising: bottom up instead of top down, personal rather than public, and subtle rather than full frontal.
- From memes to bemes. In the Age of Broadcast, good advertising could occasionally manufacture memes of tremendous social impact. Think of "Where's the Beef?" or "I can't believe I ate the whole thing." If you can't recall an irresistible or effective turn of phrase of late, it's because it is exceedingly difficult to spread a meme in today's fragmented media environment. Marketing 3.0 is now the science of devising and managing directed business memes: call them bemes. Bemes are sent by members of social communities to each other and typically contain a reward or exclusive offer, which, when redeemed, also results in a reward coupon for the sender. This encourages members of social communities to propagate a "viral" ad. One well-documented beme was "The Subservient Chicken" from Burger King.
Brute force marketing won't work inside social networks. The best online marketing now takes place among people who know and trust each other. Consider how rumors work. Like a rumor, a beme is a bit of useful information that rewards each person who passes it along. Want to be a sensation? Create a beme that consumers willingly accept and share with others.
- From silos to simultaneity. Too many retailers today persist in believing that online shopping is merely a virtual extension of real world shopping. That is a big mistake.
Rather, online and offline need to coexist, and we need to rethink how they relate. For example, to their surprise, companies like BestBuy (which even encourages customers to shop the aisles but buy online from in-store kiosks) and Macy's are discovering that physical retailing is a perfect way to move units online. That is, the physical world has become the showroom for the virtual realm.
Retailers now must reimagine a world where consumers experience products in stores but ultimately buy them on the Web: Stores are for experiences, the network is for inventories. And what in turn prepares potential customers for what to look for in stores? Online communities.
All of this suggests that Marketing 3.0 is not only different from its predecessors, but actively undermines them. If your marketing program fails to adapt to this new world, it won't just become irrelevant -- it will actually work against you.
Mr. Hayes, a former vice president at HP and Applied Materials, is the author of "Jump Point: How Network Culture is Revolutionizing Business" (McGraw-Hill, 2008). Mr. Malone, a columnist for ABCNews.com, is the author of the forthcoming book "The Future Arrived Yesterday."
To your success,
Col. Laird John B. Cutty Kt
*johnbcuttykt*
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By
Darren Olander
Netiquette is the acceptable behavior within a social marketing
(Web 2.0) or social networking atmosphere. Failure to recognize
these unspoken rules could mean little or no marketing results, or
even worse, a disastrous effect on your image.
It is actually quite common for people to misuse social networks,
and thus, receive no real benefit from them. In fact, more than
anything among professional social networks people naturally have the wrong idea, and the few that do know what they are doing are experiencing great results.
What is the common problem? The problem is that marketers view
these sites only as a means of advertising and sponsoring people
into their businesses. Don't get me wrong though, if used properly
these sites will increase your businesses and income, but with a
much stronger foundation.
First let's go over what not to do through social marketing. As a
side note, social marketing can mean any Web 2.0 social
book-marking, content sharing, or social networking site. You
should not blatantly shove your product or opportunity. Instead,
you should be attracting people to you by offering value and
information to other users. If you are becoming friends with users
just to send them advertisements without attempting to build a
personal relationship then you are misusing the site. In most cases it is also true that these users will not be responsive at all to your message and will just block or report you. However, once you have built a relationship with your contacts it is ok to send them an announcement of your product or opportunity along with an informative message on how it will help them. You should limit how often you do this, do not promote your stuff to them every day, try to keep it to once per week. Instead, bring them value 90% of the time and 10% promoting yourself or business. You will find that you are attracting more and more people to you instead of chasing people.
Another pitfall that some people fall into is conflicting with others within the social network. Know the difference between discussion and attacking. If you have a different view than someone else it is ok to voice your opinion but make sure to use facts and keep a constructive atmosphere.
To your success,
Col. Laird John B. Cutty Kt
*johnbcuttykt*
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Dear friend,
With over 1 billion people, India is the second most populous nation after China. The huge and growing population is causing unprecedented stress on the Indian social network: high levels of poverty, illiteracy, persistent malnutrition, trafficking in human beings, and a growing HIV/AIDS problem. All of these factors have contributed to India's population of 18 million street children. India has a higher rate of malnutrition among children under the age of three (46% in year 2007) than any other country in the world.
Mother Teresa said, "If you can't feed 100 people, then feed just one." $22 provides a child in an Indian orphanage with one month of nourishing meals -- rice, lentils, milk, vegetables, bread, noodles, and even such children's delights as fruit, peanut butter, jelly, and small glucose cookies.
Feed an Orphan in India for a Month $22.00
My best to You and Your dears,
Col. Laird John B. Cutty Kt
*johnbcuttykt*
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10 questions you should ask to yourself: a preparation to self-improvement
Be all you can be, but it's not always in the Army. I often see myself as somewhat contented with my life the way things are, but of course it's hard to think of anything else when where are real issues to be discussed.
Still I aspire for something deeper and more meaningful.
So we're all pelted with problems. Honestly it shouldn't even bother or even hinder us to becoming all we ought to be. Aspirations as kids should continue to live within us, even though it would be short-lived or as long as we could hold on to the dream. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks… or can they?
1. What do I really want?
The question of the ages. So many things you want to do with your life and so little time to even go about during the day.
Find something that you are good at can help realize that small step towards improvement. Diligence is the key to know that it is worth it.
2. Should I really change?
Today's generation has taken another level of redefining 'self', or at least that's what the kids are saying. Having an army of teenage nieces and nephews has taught me that there are far worse things that they could have had than acne or maybe even promiscuity. So how does that fit into your lifestyle?
If history has taught us one thing, it's the life that we have gone through. Try to see if partying Seventies style wouldn't appeal to the younger generation, but dancing is part of partying. Watch them applaud after showing them how to really dance than break their bones in break-dancing.
3. What's the bright side in all of this?
With so much is happening around us there seem to be no room for even considering that light at the end of the tunnel. We can still see it as something positive without undergoing so much scrutiny. And if it's a train at the end of the tunnel, take it for a ride and see what makes the world go round!
4. Am I comfortable with what I'm doing?
There's always the easy way and the right way when it comes to deciding what goes with which shoes, or purse, shirt and whatnot. It doesn't take a genius to see yourself as someone unique, or else we'll all be equally the same in everything we do. Variety brings in very interesting and exciting questions to be experimented.
5. Have I done enough for myself?
Have you, or is there something more you want to do? Discontentment in every aspect can be dangerous in large doses, but in small amounts you'll be able to see and do stuff you could never imagine doing.
6. Am I happy at where I am today?
It's an unfair question so let it be an answer! You love being a good and loving mom or dad to your kids, then take it up a notch! Your kids will love you forever. The same goes with everyday life!
7. Am I appealing to the opposite sex?
So maybe I don't have an answer to that, but that doesn't mean I can't try it, though. Whether you shape-up, change the way you wear your clothes or hair, or even your attitude towards people, you should always remember it will always be for your own benefit.
8. How much could I have?
I suppose in this case there is no such things on having things too much or too little, but it's more on how badly you really need it. I'd like to have lots of money, no denying that, but the question is that how much are you willing to work for it?
9. What motivates me?
What motivates you? It's an answer you have to find out for yourself. There are so many things that can make everyone happy, but to choose one of the may be the hardest part. It's not like you can't have one serving of your favorite food in a buffet and that's it. Just try it piece by piece.
10. What Really Makes You Tick?
So? What really makes you tick? You can be just about anything you always wanted to be, but to realize that attaining something that may seem very difficult is already giving up before you even start that journey. Always remember, that self-improvement is not just about the physical or philosophical change you have to undergo, but it's something that you really want.
To your success,
Col. Laird John B. Cutty Kt
*johnbcuttykt*
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Massive Traffic To Your Web Site
By Penny Sansevieri (c) 2008
Embarking on an Internet marketing campaign doesn't have to be difficult, tricky, or complicated. Here are a few simple ways (twenty in fact) that you can easily implement to get tons of traffic to your site right now!
1) Write articles: believe it or not this is an incredible tool for driving traffic. Well-written, relevant articles can net quite a bit of activity to your web site. Don't forget to add your URL in your byline. Articles should be 500 to 2,000 words in length. You can send articles to sites like: Article City, GoArticles, Submit Your Articles and Ezine Articles.
2) Social bookmark *everything* and I do mean everything - you can bookmark each page of your site and each blog entry you post. While this might seem tedious, it's worth it. You'll see a strong increase in traffic if you social bookmark each page on your site and each of your blog entries.
3) List yourself in the best directories – you'll have to pay for this but since most people don't do this (since everyone's looking for a freebie) you could really enhance your traffic by getting a listing: dir dot yahoo dot com, business dot org, botw dot org.
4) Get yourself listed at: DMOZ dot org – it's not easy to get listed there, but worth the effort.
5) Review: if you can review hot new products or books within your market, head on over to Amazon and start positioning yourself as an expert. In order to do this effectively you'll want to create an Amazon profile and make sure and sign each review with a reference to your URL (your web site). You can also go to Epinions and Revoo to review products as well.
6) Offer a freebie on Craig's List: you'll be amazed at how much traffic you get from a single Craig's List ad. The key here is to send people to a page on your site and make sure they have to sign up for something (like your email newsletter) before they can grab their freebie. That way you're not just getting traffic, you're also building your list.
7) Create a "recommended by" list on your Delicious page – you can do this by logging on and creating an account and there and then tagging articles, blogs and other content you think is important to your readership. Then offer this page as a resource site. You can add a link to this page in your email signature line or on your web site.
8) And speaking of your email signature line... do you have one? If you don't, create one. Believe it or not, people do follow these links. You'll be amazed how many folks read email signature lines. I have one and change it several times a year, depending on what we're doing or promoting or what books I have coming out.
9) Lend a helping hand: you can be an answer person at Yahoo Answers – you don't have to spend hours on there, but maybe a few minutes a week. Make sure and include a link back to your site following your answers.
10) Set up a social networking site using Facebook, LinkedIn, or Squidoo. It's free and easy to do, just don't forget the all-important link back to your site!
11) Make sure your blog has an RSS feed so if you capture a reader you don't lose them if they forget to bookmark your site or blog.
12) Join relevant groups at Yahoo groups. You'll find everything from groups on growing your small business, writing books, finding your passion, even underwater basket weaving. I dare you to find one that isn't right for what you're promoting. When you do find the right group, join and participate as you can!
13) Podcasting is another great way to drive traffic. Start a podcast by going to Audio Acrobat. There are other programs you can use, but I love Audio Acrobat. You can record the podcast over the phone quickly and easily and then hit the "send" button on your computer once it's recorded and the system will syndicate it to 27 podcast directories including iTunes. It's a great way to let people know about you and your web site!
14) Start a blog and then once you do, start commenting on other people's blogs, linking to them from your site or adding them to your blogroll.
15) Inbound links: don't squander your time (or a perfectly good link) on smaller low-traffic sites. Instead spend your time going after high traffic, high quality sites. Good sites should have a PR (page ranking) of 4-6 depending on the market. You can find out what a site's page ranking is by downloading the Google toolbar which comes with a PR feature built in.
16) Start an email newsletter: while it may not seem like a newsletter that you email can drive traffic to your site you'd be surprised at the effectiveness of this type of promotion. If your newsletter (like your articles) is interesting and relevant to your audience, you'll find that it has a huge pass-through factor, meaning that it is passed from one email subscriber to another. Also, if you have an email newsletter you should never, ever go to a single event without your handy signup sheet. Yes, you can even use offline events to drive traffic to your web site.
17) And speaking of offline efforts: if you're ever quoted in a magazine or other publication, make sure and mention your URL as it's appropriate to the topic. Don't be too pushy about this, but do not forget to tell folks you have a web site that may be a great resource for the topic of your interview.
18) If you have products to sell, why not get a store on eBay? This site gets a tremendous amount of traffic and on your sales page you're allowed to list your URL. It's another great way to get an inbound link and a way for people to find you.
19) Load a video on YouTube and 57 other video sites (the rest listed on my Red Hot Internet Publicity blog).
20) While this isn't a tip per se, it's still important. If you're going to go through all the trouble of getting traffic to your site, make sure your site is converting this traffic into something. Get folks to sign up for something, your newsletter, the RSS feed on your blog. Whatever it is, getting their email address will help you remarket to them when the time is right. Studies show that visitors landing on a site often don't buy the first time. That's ok! You want to get them into your marketing funnel so you can market to them again and again – not in a way that's obtrusive, offensive or downright annoying, but in a way that is helping them with their own mission.
An example of this might be an email newsletter. A helpful, informative newsletter is a fantastic funnel. A blog is another great way to keep people in your marketing loop without bombarding them with "please buy my stuff" email messages. Also, make sure you know what your traffic numbers are before you launch into any Internet marketing campaign. By traffic numbers I mean how many people are visiting your site. You want to know this so you can gauge a before and after view of your marketing efforts.
About The Author
Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a book marketing and media relations expert whose company has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns. Visit AMarketingExpert.com
To your success,
Col. Laird John B. Cutty Kt
*johnbcuttykt*Contact form
1. Publish a picture of yourself in your ad. This will
show people that you're not hiding behind your web
site and you're not afraid to backup your product.
2. List how many famous or respected people have
purchased your product in your ad. These people
should be fairly known by your target audience.
3. Publish the results of any tests your product has
passed in your ad. Your product may have passed
a durability test, safety test, quality test, etc.
4. Publish the results of any positive surveys you've
taken from your customers in your ad. Just survey
your current customers and list the results.
5. List any publications that have written about your
business in your ad. It could be a product review,
on a top ten list, an article, etc.
6. List any related books that you've written in your
ad. When you list a book(s) you've wrote, it gives
you credibility because it shows you're an expert.
7. Have a professional looking web site to publish
your ad on. When people visit your site and it looks
unprofessional, they'll relate that to your product.
8. Publish any endorsements from famous people in
your ad. Some people will think if a famous person,
enjoys your product, so will they.
9. Use a money back guarantee in your ad. This
will remove the risk from your potential customers
and show them that you stand behind your product.
10. Provide testimonials from satisfied customers in
your ad. The testimonials should include specific
and believable results you customers have received.
Quote of the Day:
"It is by studying little things that we attain the great
knowledge of having as little misery and as much happiness
as possible." -- Samuel Johnson
To your success,
Col. Laird John B. Cutty Kt
*johnbcuttykt*
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Dear friend,
How do you define motivation?
One definition of motivation is a student's willingness, need, and desire and compulsion to participate in, and be successful in, the learning process.
Do you agree?
How do you motivate children? With games, treats, rewards, or praise? What is it that a child holds dear? What is it that is important to the child. Understanding that may help to know how to motivate a child.
How about you? How would you define motivation? Do you feel motivated at school? How would you describe motivation?
Motivation could be closely related to goals and goal setting.
Do you want to study English? What is that motivates you to study English? Do you have an English goal? Is your goal specific? Is it measurable? Have you set a deadline for this goal?
Here are seven rules of motivation that may help you.
1. Set a major goal, but follow a path. The path has mini goals that go in many directions. Make tiny goals, take short steps first. These little steps and successes will help you take the bigger steps as you progress in your path.
2. Finish what you start. A half finished project is of no use to anyone. Develop the habit of finishing self-motivated projects.
3. Socialize with others of similar interest. They will help and encourage you to take steps along your path if you should fall and stumble. Be sure and associate with winners in you path.
4. Learn how to learn. There is much you can do on your own without having to go to anyone else to improve in whatever it is you want to improve in. You just have to tap in to your potential.
5. Harmonize natural talent with interest that motivates. Get in tune with what it is that you are good at. If you are naturally good at something it will help you persist at getting really good at it.
6. Increase knowledge of subjects that inspires. Find out everything you can by reading books, internet, friends, and other sources. The more we learn about a subject, the more we will want to learn about it.
7. Take risks. There are times that we have to try something we may not want to or do not feel inclined to do. Do it anyway? You will grow? Failure is a learning tool. We just have take the right view about it. No one has ever succeeded without a string of failures.
To your success,
Col. Laird John B. Cutty Kt
*johnbcuttykt*
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