Is there any area of our government, over the span of the last seven years, any area, in domestic or foreign policy, national defense, public welfare, the economy, name it, where the average, reasonably informed American might point to success, to signs of progress, of improvement, something, anything, to point to with satisfaction, with pride?
Yesterday I read an article by Steve Benin on the resignation of Karen Hughes from her post as Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, a mouthful there, and a job for which she was as ill suited and unqualified as the man who appointed her and in which, during her two year tenure, she accomplished little, if anything.
In truth, she accomplished nothing, unless you want to count convincing large portions of the world that all Americans must be as out of touch with reality, as clueless and unthinking as their current Commander in Chief, and at that she excelled, as anyone might, having been dispatched to the Middle East with the rank of Ambassador, but without knowledge of the language, culture, history, religions, and general pet peeves of the various states and peoples of the region.
But Karen Hughes was tapped for her office for the same reasons as all Bush appointees are chosen, not for expertise or experience, not for performance or integrity in public service but for loyalty, for unwavering belief in the Messianic delusions of neo conservatism, and a willingness to march in lockstep, nah, goose step, against all who might disagree or dissent.
Rick has a new video out thanking the netroots (that's YOU!) for helping the campaign so far.
Let's get ready to kick it up (especially since we're bringing K-T home to Texas to help make a new U.S. Senator), and make the Decider a money raiser for Team Noriega!!!
(I don't hear any quacking, do you? - promoted by boadicea)
The "Hitler comparison" should be shouted from the rooftops, as should the Goebbels comparison, the Himmler comparison, the Mengele, Stalin, Torquemada, Beelzebub comparisons and all the rest. If it struts like a Nazi, talks like Nazi, tortures like a Nazi and wages aggressive and illegal war like a Nazi... it's not a duck.
Eighteen months or so ago I wrote a post comparing Bush, Cheney and the boys from PNAC to Hitler, to the Nazi hierarchy and to the wonderful folks who gave the world kristallnacht, the terror bombings of Guernica, of London and conducted history's magnum opus of human carnage, the holocaust, the destruction of two thirds of the Jews in Europe and millions of other "undesirables."
I took a moderate amount of heat for what one local (Dayton) commenter called my "classlessness," and received a few surly EMails from people who are probably, to this day, driving around with "Bush/Cheney" bumper stickers on their Cadillac and Lexus SUVs but since I want so badly to be loved and admired, (or at least not ignored) I resolved to try to avoid using the "Hitler Comparison" after that.
I saw it used by others on the blogs and, guardedly, in the MSM, witnessed their reception of similar treatment and I realized that a taboo (see Godwin's law) had been created. "Disrespectful to the office of the President," some cried, "diminishes the horror of the holocaust and the brutality unleashed on Europe's Jews by the real Hitler," cried others, "the ultimate ad hominem attack," wrote one academic seeking to show that such comparisons were childish , demeaning to those who offered them and "kills dead," scholarly internet discussions.
(Bob gets to the heart of the matter yet again. - promoted by boadicea)
I am sick to death of all the pussyfooting around the subject that has occupied the media for the duration of this premeditated, illegal war of terror that we the people of the United States have allowed to be waged against the people of Iraq, in our name, for the last several years.
No matter how much lipstick and rouge we smear on the face of this war no matter how we attempt to dress up the evil and bestial acts that have been performed in its unholy name, it still has the hideous countenance of an evil swine from hell.
It is an illegal war, begun and conducted under false pretenses, by a group of criminal liars and thieves in the United States Government, abetted by a cowardly congress who abrogated their constitutional duties in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign funds and furthered by a complaisant press that ignored their obligation to remain independent from government, from their sponsors and report the facts.
The members of the completely rogue executive department acted in their own self interest in a quest for personal power and wealth, in concert with the usual domestic and international corporate pirates who, in the depths of their insatiable greed, continually amplify human conflict to their own ends and bring poverty, war, suffering and death down upon the world.
There is no such animal as extraordinary rendition, nor do I know of the existence of any beasts called enhanced interrogation methods.
The first is kidnapping, it is illegal, a felony and the second word is torture, its meaning is clear:
NOUN:
1. Infliction of severe physical pain as a means of punishment or coercion. 2. An instrument or a method for inflicting such pain. 2. Excruciating physical or mental pain; agony: the torture of waiting in suspense. 3. Something causing severe pain or anguish.
Torture is illegal in this country, a felonious act, it is illegal in the world at large, according to several conventions that we are legally bound by. Anyone committing torture, causing it to be committed, directing its commission, or training others in its techniques is guilty, guilty of war crimes, of crimes against humanity and crimes against "Nature's God.
The progress being made in our 4 1/2 year war of terror on Iraq is phenomenal. So impressive are our recent gains that the "top tier" Democratic candidates who have lined up in competition to become the heirs of this great struggle for freedom, for Middle Eastern democracy, for oil and gas rights for western corporations and of course for lucrative contracts in arms sales and private security for campaign contributors, last night went way out on a limb and declared their goal of removing our troops from the quagmire in Mesopotamia by the end of their first term in office in 2013.
Despite their boldness, they did not report whether or not they could guarantee the colonization of Mars, a cure for cancer, or flying pigs within that time frame.
If you thought you were safe here in Texas from the housing crisis that's threatening to send the American economy into a recession, then you were fooling yourself. The housing market is in full retreat and Texas, despite its lower than national average housing prices and cost of living, is helping lead the way.
Thes numbers are leading most analysts to expect the Fed to lower interest rates today in an effort to keep a full blown recession from devastating not just the US economy but also the world economy. Just check out what's happening to these British acount holders of a UK bank. The Northern Rock bank invested heavily in the US housing market driven by the predatory subprime practices. With the US housing meltdown, Northern Rock has seen their stocks prices plummet to the point that investors and account holders like this elderly gentleman are taking out their money from the bank.
Northern Rock - or is that Rocky? - is the perfect example of what analysts say can happen and in part is currently happening to the US economy. We'll see on the flip just how.
For now let's get some reaction - heck, a response from our compassionate President and his administration. What say you Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke?
The losses related to housing have exceeded "the most pessimistic of projections," Bernanke said.
Wow. No shit. How about you, Mr. President? Do have some course of action or words to comfort homeowners facing economic ruin?
It's not the government's job to bail out those who made the decision to buy a home they knew they could never afford.
Are you serious? Is this the GOP's idea of tough love? This from the guy who ran all his companies into the ground and needed his daddy's friends, the Saudis, to bail him out..
It was the lending system's job to turn these loans down. Instead they not only approved these loans, brokers and lenders bent rules and misled 1000s of consumers who simply don't understand real estate financial contracts and jargon enough to understand exactly what they were getting into.
Further, homeowners were lured into a false sense of security by brokers and even politicians like Bush who knew better than to let these people shrug off the seriousness of their loan burden. Remember Bush bragging about being responsible for the highest level of home ownership ever? He inflated the housing picture for his political ratings and lured 1000s of homeowners to ruin.
And now instead of being accountable for his actions, he scolds Americans who already know the weight of their poor choices. Faced with prospect of losing their homes and seeing their families on the streets, these working Americans don't need to be lectured to and they didn't ask for a hand out. They just want to make they payments they were told to expect.
A rich brat who never had to do hard work a day in his life and always got bailed out should stop scolding people and start acting like the leader he's supposed to be.
And by the way, that Presidential plan Bush has proposed to "solve" the housing crisis? It's just talk and only affects those people with good credit. In other words, it won't do anything to fix the subprime markets that's driving the crisis and which is suffering the most. Bush said so himslef he only cares for the rich.
Most analysts expect the Democratic Congress to heavily upgrade Bush's "plan" but this way he can at least take credit for it - something he's never been shy about.
By now you've probably heard George Bush's state of Iraq speech. Like many of you, I wasn't impressed with his "Stay the Course" solution because it hasn't, well, solved anything. And no matter how many generals or soldiers he throws at the problem, until the Iraqis want a peaceful, stable Iraq, our soldiers will continue to be caught in a civil war. With followers of the recently killed Sunni cleric vowimg revenge and the killing just occuring 10 days after the cleric, a major Bush ally, met George Bush which will only frighten others from cooperating with us, the Iraqi civil war is only to be getting worse. That's a fact the GOP spin machine is trying to suppress.
Yes, Bush threw a (small) bone to a nation sick of a poorly managed war by claiming that he would finally bring a small number of troops home. Of course, Bush did this only after intense public pressure pushed Congress to demand real progress or to bring out troops home. Even then, Bush will make us and the troops wait almost ONE FULL YEAR from now before the vast majority of those returning troops will come home. The 5700 to be home by Christmas is part of the White House's attempt to generate good PR for the holidays.
This is of course not the first time Bush has used the troops for his ratings and it won't be the last. I am happy for those lucky families who will see their family member for Christmas, but for the families of the remaining 162,200+ Americans who have served extended duty in Iraq, there have been far too many holidays spent without a loved one.
And for 1000s of families like Omar Mora's, there will never be another Christmas which they will celebrate with their soldier.
But there was something about George Bush's speech last night just didn't sit right. Yes, like many of you, I too get an oily feeling evertime George Bush talks. After so many lies, I too don't trust him. If he is not sounding like an idiot, Bush's speeches are spiked with code words and subliminal messages, and I am constantly tryinh to figure what his real game plan may be.
And it's these words that will give you a glimpse of Bush's real plans:
"The more successful we are, the more American troops can return home. The principle guiding my decisions on troop levels in Iraq is: return on success."
Not only is this the frighteningly absurd logic that caused American troops to suffer in Vietnam for decades (yes, decades), but did our President really just hold our troops as hostages?
I'm wondering if y'all wanna play a game. It's called "What the hell is George Bush talking about?" Since it's George Bush we're talking about, we'll keep the rukes reeeeal simple.
We'll give you a Bush quote and you tell us what scandal, policy, or nonsense he's talking about. Make it funny or a real guess. I doubt you'll be that far off.
When you're done posting your guess, read the answer on the flip. Ok, ready? Here's today's "What the Hell is Bush Talking About?" quote:
Washington is a town where there's all kinds of allegations. You've heard much of the allegations. And if people have got solid information, please come forward with it. And that would be the people inside the information who are the so-called anonymous sources, or people outside the information - outside the administration.
Dick Cheney and I do not want this nation to be in a recession. We want anybody who can find work to be able to find work.
Back in December of 2000, Presidential candidate George Bush spoke these ah compassionate words while appearing on 60 Minutes. It's ironic that we remember these words now because with the current mortgage meltdown we face the possibility of a recession today.
Originially I thought this was a classic Bushism. Uh, George, it's not the people who can find work that need your sympathy. But I was wrong. As George Bush has proven from his tax cut for the rich to his neglect of Katrina's working class victims, he really meant it when he said he cares only for those who already can find work.
No doubt those of you who can find work must feel comforted to hear that your President and VP really, really, REALLY care about you*. But hold on thar, pardna! Did you read the fine print?
*Presidential comfort is limited to those individuals who earn $200,000 or more. Voters are subject to all applicable state taxes raised due to loss of federal revenue. Side effects of Presidential love may include nausea, deployment to Iraq, manipulative photo ops, and a shotgun blast to the face. Next time read the fine print.
At the time Bus spoke the profound words, Bush was attacking what people back then thought was a slow economy. And of course he blamed Clinton/Gore for it. Not the Internet speculation that day-traders were speculating in. Not the SEC which failed to regulate companies like Enron from shoddy accounting that gave employees and Americans a false fiscal picture of a company. And most definitely not the Republican dominated Congress which weakened the kind of regulations that prevented the Enron-style accounting and speculation that eventually hurt the economy (they still are trying to weaken the rule).
Instead those ethically sound, God fearing, fiscal conservatives, um like Mark Foley, Ted Haggard, Tom Delay and Larry Craig, spent over $70 million taxpayer dollars to catch Clinton committing the biggest, baddest, ultimate sin: oral sex.
You remember that frightful time in American history. Every time Bill Clinton tried to do something like oh, bomb Taliban terror camps, Republicans accused him of wagging the dog, of attempting to distract Americans from the terrorists who would one day cause so much pain to this nation. Of course now these same obstructionist Republicans claim Clinton did nothing to stop Bin Laden. Like 'last throes', this was jus one more GOP lie.
One of the biggest myths Republicans have spread is the idea that Democrats are weak on terror. Specifically, they have claimed that Bin Laden and the Taliban were able to carry out the devastating 9/11 attacks because Bill Clinton did nothing to stop Bin Laden.
An email chain letter many of you may have seen goes so far as to blame Clinton for the deaths of over 7000 people. After listing several terror acttacks against Americans occurring in the 1990's which Clinton promised to avenge, they end the email with this:
Maybe if Mr Clinton had kept his promise, an estimated 7,000 more people would be alive today.
It was a classic and manipulative Republican tactic: state some facts, leave out key details, and then make an emotional and misleading insinuation that simply can't be argued against or for it.
Think about it. No matter what Clinton did, those terror attacks could still have occurred and 7000 people would still have died. Oh, and those key details which this Rovian letter failed to mention? Specific actions which the Clinton administration undertook to hunt down those terrorists responsible for each one of those attacks - including the conviction of several terrorist leaders.
What the GOP conveniently leaves out is the FACT that more terror suspects were convicted during Clinton's administration before 9/11 than were convicted in Bush's reign after 9/11.
But the real insinuation of the email, the real lie that Republicans want the public to believe is that Clinton (and by extension the Democrats) did nothing to stop Bin Laden and the Taliban. Then the GOP can not only claim the 'Tough on Terror' mantle all by their lonesome, but they are also off the hook for not capturing Bin Laden or even eliminating the Taliban SIX years after 9/11.
Well, the idea that Bill Clinton did nothing to stop Bin Laden and the Taliban is a lie and with the anniversary of 9/11 approaching, it's only right that we finally call the GOP on their lie.
The Clinton/Gore administration went after Bin Laden right up to point of Bush entered the White House and had the Bush administration taken national security briefings from the Clinton anti-terror team seriously, the Twin Towers might still be standing.
(Outstanding reporting, Bob. Thanks for sharing it here at Texas Kaos. - promoted by boadicea)
A rumble a loud crack, like thunder, rocks, dirt and chocking dust rain down. A rock fall is imminent. So what is a miner to do? "You run for your life," said Tim Miller, who toiled in Kentucky's mines for more than two decades.
... The goal is to eliminate the coal industry. Of course the goal is to eliminate the coal industry. Coal is filthy. It destroys ecosystems to dig it up. It kills the people who work around it. Coal plants throw particulates in the air and causes respiratory ailments. They throw mercury in the water and causes birth defects. They throw CO2 into the atmosphere and cause global warming. The coal industry corrupts the political process. It lies to the public about global warming, and mine safety, and coal reserves, and everything else. It leeches money and opportunity out of the states where it is based. The only reason we think of coal as "cheap" is that we don't tally all those costs in the debit column. From David Roberts Coal is the enemy of the human race...
During the winter of my fourteenth year I had a part time job. Every morning I would get up at 5 o"clock and walk up the hill to the ancient brick home of an elderly widow where I would descend to the dimly lit basement and remove the previous day's supply of clinkers from the firebox of an equally ancient and frightening looking furnace, shovel in a supply of fresh coal and get a good fire roaring. That was it, home to shower and head to school. She payed me two dollars a day and in 1958 when a gallon of gas was a quarter, that was a good sum of money. That is also the sum total of my life's experience with coal.
David Roberts wrote the brief but engaging piece quoted above earlier in the summer at Huff Post, he wrote his rant in reference to a coal industry mogul who for several months had been preaching to anyone who would listen about the evils that congress, in league with environmentalists, were plotting to perpetrate on the coal industry. I had heard the name of the subject of his rant before but at the time I didn't recognize it.
It wasn't until two weeks ago when a mine in central Utah's Emery County in Crandall Canyon, one of the deepest coal mines in the country collapsed, burying six miners 1500 to 1800 feet below the surface and 3 1/2 miles from the entrance point, that the name and the reason the it rang a bell popped back into my mind.
Robert Murray. The name was familiar because I had read a Washington Post article about his testimony before a congressional committee in the spring in which he took congress to task over the Clean Air Act of 1990 and declaimed on the perils of listening to the purveyors of Global warming science, which he has since referred to as "global goofiness." (as quoted below in the New York Sun)
An annual report, known in the American intellignce community as the Terrorism Index, once again found that the Bush Adminstration continues to receive a failing grade from those who know the most about national security and fighting terrorism.
The report which will be in the September copy of Foreign Policy magazine is a survey of 100 foreign policy experts and paints a damning picture of Bush and the GOP's anti-terrorism efforts. And before the report is Swiftboated, these experts ranged from former White House officials, former secretaries of state, a CIA director, liberals and conservatives. In fact, conservatives were often more critical of Bush.
Foreign-policy experts deem U.S. national-security strategy in disrepair, the war in Iraq alarmingly off course, and the world increasingly more dangerous for Americans. More than 80 percent predict a terrorist attack on the scale of the one on Sep. 11, 2001, within the next decade.
What is the biggest reason for their pessimism? In a word, it's Iraq. In the opinion of these experts who have spent their lives and careers studying national security and fightinh terrorism, the Iraq war has made the war on terrorism more difficult and it has made Americans less safe.
Nearly all of the experts (92 percent) believe that the war in Iraq is having a negative impact on U.S. national security.
But what's interesting about this report is just how much these experts are pessimistic as a result of recent events which include George Bush's hail mary known also as the escalation.
That's right. There will be two reports detailing the effects of the Iraq war and the troop surge and only one of them will be an honest look at reality. And unfortunately for our nation, that reality is brutal and alarming thanks to the incompetent leadership of George Bush and his cheerleaders in the GOP.
In a story in the LA Times this morning "Top general may propose pullbacks" Julian E. Barnes and Peter Spiegel report that Petraeus may announce pullbacks from some areas in Iraq, including al Anbar province and a turnover of those ares to Iraqi forces.
I'm somewhat mystified by this process as it appears that, at the White House, they seem to know already, in other words, today, what they are going to report in September, in other words, a month from today. In fact it seems that they began writing their "field report" weeks ago... in the White House.
I'm not sure why exactly, but this somehow reminds me of reports I hear from teachers with experience in the "no child left behind" follies, who have described to me the specter of spending weeks and weeks of classroom time devoted to "teaching to the test" in order to maintain mandated academic ratings and the flow of federal funds. Taking the test is mostly a charade, passing the test, a foregone conclusion, an exercise in making things look good on paper.
In other words, as Junior might say every few seconds, in the case of Iraq they are writing a "report" which will contain recommendations that will allow us to draw conclusions, that were decided on in the White House more than a month ago.
Did The Rooster Call Up the Sun or Did Rove Get the Last Laugh? The only certainty my grasshoppers is that the cherry blossoms of spring will become the turd blossoms of summer
Karl Rove also known as "Turd Blossom" in that colorful native patois spoken by the Texas Chicken hawks announced today that he is leaving the rapidly sinking Scow of State that is the Bush administration effective the end of August.
His reason for leaving, taken verbatim from the official Washington departing rats exit speech is of course, to spend more time with his family.
When asked by one of the fully interchangeable talking heads of the White House press horde if he was being forced out, TB replied, "that sounds like the rooster calling up the sun" which I believe is another expression in that curious Pecos dialect that these birds use among themselves. Only Molly Ivins could decipher and translate the curious Texas Pig Latin these guys speak in private. I miss Molly.
Draftees At Drill Preparing For The War To End All Wars 1917
Lieutenant General Doug Lute, the "War Czar" known around the White House as the "General of least reluctance" is talking "Draft." Expressing his concern at the stress and strain of repeated lengthy deployments on the troops as well as their families the General said:
As an Army officer, this is a matter of real concern to me. Ultimately, the American army, and any other all-volunteer force, rests with the support and the morale and the willingness to serve demonstrated by our ? especially our young men and women in uniform. And I am concerned that those men and women and the families they represent are under stress as a result of repeated deployments.
General Lute, who accepted the position of War Czar after the rest of the General Staff either fled in stark terror at the prospect of accepting such a potentially career ending position or simply hid out in the Senior Officer's head in the Pentagon until the position was safely filled, did not actually use the "D" word, but, in response to questions from National Public Radio's Michele Norris on Friday in an interview for "All Things Considered" he definitely left the door wide open in this exchange:
I know some of you are questioning if we even have a Constitution left but as long as Congress continues to remember its role to check executive authority, yes we do still have a Constitution. We just don't have the Fifth Amendment anymore which is part of the whole pesky Bill of Rights. You think I'm joking, right? Well, in George Bush's world everything can be a joke - but the joke itself.
Bush issued an executive order on July 17th which gives the Secretary of Treasury the right to seize the property and accounts of any person or group who (are you ready?) "threatens the security of Iraq":
(i) to have committed, or to pose a significant risk of committing, an act or acts of violence that have the purpose or effect of:
(A) threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq; or
(B) undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq or to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people;
And who gets to decide if you are "threatening" Iraqi security? You guessed it: Bushco, specifically the Secretary of Treasury with input from the Secretaries of State and Defense. So Henry Paulson, Condi Rice, and Robert Gates can basically decide you are threatening "Iraqi security" and claim eminent domain on your assets - without any compensation.
Sec. 7. Nothing in this order is intended to affect the continued effectiveness of any rules, regulations, orders, licenses, or other forms of administrative action issued, taken, or continued in effect heretofore or hereafter under 31 C.F.R. chapter V, except as expressly terminated, modified, or suspended by or pursuant to this order.
Did you get that? The order seems to take precedence over um, ah, the FIFTH AMENDMENT?!? Bush literally just said that his administration doesn't need to follow the Constitution.
Now I don't think Bush will actually enforce this randomly against US citizens, but the order allows him to - it allows him to effectively repeal the Fifth Amendment. If executive orders and signing statements give the President the authority to ignore the Constitution, then we really do have a serious loophole in our laws. Having a corrupt AG will be the least of our problems.
Hell, this made it worth letting Dick Cheney President for a day. Not like he isn't running it anyway.
Of course, this is not the first time George Bush has taken it up the a**. No dear reader, follow me on the flip for several more occasions when the out of bs coming out Bush required frequent colonoscopies.
Americans are just giddy over this "Homeland" thing.
We judge the US Homeland will face a persistent and evolving terrorist threat over the next three years. The main threat comes from Islamic terrorist groups and cells, especially al-Qa'ida, driven by their undiminished intent to attack the Homeland and a continued effort by these terrorist groups to adapt and improve their capabilities.
The statement above comes from the "National Intelligence Estimate" (NIE) which was issued today by the office of the director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell.
I read the so called NIE this morning and the most interesting thing that I learned was that the word "homeland" was used eleven times in a page and a half. The 766 word document that probably cost millions to compile, print, bind and distribute informs me of ..... nothing new. al Quaeda is a threat and will continue to be, and so on, they still hate us. Pardon me, but ho hum.
I discovered this morning that the Bush presidency is a success. Boy, was I surprised.
Bill Kristol explains it all in an article at The Washington Post that gets my recommendation for the Fatuous Nonsense of the Week Award.
He opens by admitting that such an assertion may expose him to some "harmless ridicule" and proceeds to offer two pages of proof as to why such ridicule might be justified.
"Let's step back from the unnecessary mistakes and the self-inflicted wounds that have characterized the Bush administration. Let's look at the broad forest rather than the often unlovely trees. What do we see? First, no second terrorist attack on U.S. soil -- not something we could have taken for granted. Second, a strong economy -- also something that wasn't inevitable."
George Bush was speaking in Cleveland yesterday to a group of businessmen when Karl Rove revealed his secret strategy to get Bush's pitiful approval ratings (26% and falling) back up.
They're gonna wrap him up in so many American flags y'all is ain't gonna have no choice but to love him!
Sneaky, ain't it? Bet ya didn't see that one before? Ya do love America, right? Hyuck, hyuck!
After this, the only people who'll have more flags wrapped around them will the American soldiers whose casket comes home draped with the flag on them.
Is there any area of our government, over the span of the last seven years, any area, in domestic or foreign policy, national defense, public welfare, the economy, name it, where the average, reasonably informed American might point to success, to signs of progress, of improvement, something, anything, to point to with satisfaction, with pride?
The "Hitler comparison" should be shouted from the rooftops, as should the Goebbels comparison, the Himmler comparison, the Mengele, Stalin, Torquemada, Beelzebub comparisons and all the rest. If it struts like a Nazi, talks like Nazi, tortures like a Nazi and wages aggressive and illegal war like a Nazi... it's not a duck.
No matter how much lipstick and rouge we smear on the face of this war no matter how we attempt to dress up the evil and bestial acts that have been performed in its unholy name, it still has the hideous countenance of an evil swine from hell.
