Saving Stray Cats, And Loving Them For Life

THE FACEBOOK CAT CLUB question of the day was: "If you saw a pregnant cat by the side of the road, would you stop and pick her up, and take her home, and take care of her and her kittens, forever and a day? Or something to that effect. It didn't offer specifics, such as, are we talking about a remote stretch of road, a major highway, or an urban environment, and does the cat have a collar on, or what not. People, as always, chimed in. Overwhelmingly, the consensus was that yes, I most certainly would, in a heartbeat. After all, these are hard core cat people. I know the type, being one of them. I chimed right on in, eagerly asserting my good intentions, my willingness to saddle myself for the rest of my adult life. After all, I have already done exactly that, twice, have adopted two mothers and their litters, all seven of whom cats now reside comfortably in my garage, even as we speak. They're adorable. I recommend it. One kill joy had the temerity and percipience to point out that the pregnant lady was quite likely to run from anyone getting out of a car on a highway; we remained silent. Why spoil the hypothetical fun? Trying to warm things up a bit, I congratulated all the would be saviors for their compassion, when, suddenly but not surprisingly, some trouble maker blurted out that just because not everyone answered the question "yes", they still care. Brilliantly, I returned that I never said they didn't. She just had to win the argument, so was willing to contradict herself to do it: "I never said they did". I knew it was time to leave the room. I parted with "yes you did, see above". By now, she may have figured it out, asuming she went back, reread her own words, and gave it a moment's thought. Cat conversation can stimulate as much spontaneously camaraderie as bitch sessions about the weather, and are far more interesting. Then too, they can lead into dark places. I shall never forget the time I was praising Islamic culture at the senior center, for their love of cats, and its compassionate treatment of all stray cats. Cats were beloved by the Prophet. He gave a cat credit for saving his life by killing a snake, and in the Quran, cats are mentioned with affection, and, unlike dogs, may enter the home. Cats in Islam are considered clean and communal. Everyone is responsible for the care and well being of all cats. They roam the streets of all Islamic cities, beloved. if you dare harm one, its curtains for you. I really love and admire that. The folks at the senior center saw fit to chastise me for making favorable remarks about the infidel. Beloved Pentecostals, I was merely talking about cats. the beautiful white female who came into my yard looked hungry, so I fed her. and again. She settled in, then, one day, brought her litter over, and showed them to me. Four cuties. One one survived. then came her sister, another white beauty. same scenario. First, wrap the old man around my pretty paw, then, bring forth the litter. This time, all four survived, and I help nurture them to young adulthood, their current state. the two mothers and five children now let me touch them, and I see years of happiness straight ahead. The expense of having all seven spayed, neutered, and vaccinated cost me my retirement savings, but hell, who wants to live forever? these two white sisters were born in the big yard across the street, as were their litters, so they often cross the street, perhaps seeking their roots. i wish they wouldn't do that, but at least its a quite, suburban street. The offspring of feral mothers, I discovered, begin life feral, in imitation, and I am still conquering this with slow but steady love. its going to work out. they swarm at my feet when I bring forth the feast, and I can now bend over and stroke all seven on their sweet backs, with impunity. they don't even start anymore, and are comfortable with me, and the electric blanket and heated kitten beds I provided. And boy, do they ever eat well. Left over chicken and beef from the senior augment of healthy cat food. they even enjoy the occasional meatloaf snack, but I am careful not to give them too much of a not cat human thing. They aint going nowhere, and, it turns out, neither am I. So much for my retirement plans of leisure and travel. I have babies to care for. Europe'll have to wait, maybe for another lifetime. At least I have my precious babies.

Keeping The Electoral College, Or Not

THE OFT MALIGNED electoral colleges has been much more maligned than usual since the election which elevated Donald J. Trump to the presidency only because of it. The modern maligning has been and still is, understandably and unsurprisingly, precipitated largely by sore loser liberals. Conservatives and Trump supporters, also understandably, either support the institution or are silent on the matter. They are currently quite content with the peculiar institution, dating back to the election of 2000, when George Bush the second was elected because of the electoral college, the Supreme court, or both, take your pick. Strictly vote countingly numerically, Al Gore and Hillary Clinton should both have become president, had the popular will prevailed, which in America it seldom does. We are a Republic, not a democracy, just the way the framers intended. We are a nation made by Madison wherein we the common masses are duly represented and governed by our elite wealthy superiors, again according to plan, for our own good. In Madison's day our elite wealthy superiors consisted of the landed white male gentry. Today, we allow the corporate oligarchy to do the heavy lifting on our alleged behalf. Madison, never one to trust the less socially prominent, doubtless would have approved of our present day penchant for corporate governmental oligarchy translated into government, and its insistence on supplanting democracy, which requires economic equality to function properly. hence, the world has never actually known a democracy, but only an ameliorated form of it, of one type or another. The electoral college places yet another buffer between the people and political power by giving elected legislators one final chance to overturn the popular vote, just in case they happen to elect an unacceptable demagogue. Since we recently did the demagogue thing, and since the electoral college and not the people chose said unacceptable demagogue, the electoral college may be said to have done the exact opposite of its intended purpose, an argument in favor of throwing it out. Madison stood five foot four, dressed in all black attire, especially on Sundays, and was unaffectionately known as "Little Jemmy". He was a serious man, and place us in categories. In his arbitrary bifurcation of the body politic there ware "the better sort" and "the lesser sort". The well to do, and everybody else. And so it remains today, less formally attired, yet, quite extant. We Americans are a conservative people by nature. Who are we to buck tradition? Hell, we can barely stand even the thought of improving the constitution, let alone are basic electoral system, or, perish the thought, our purposefully unequal social, political, and economic system. Scrapping the creaky, outdated old constitution and replacing it with a new and improved version, suitable for our times and circumstances, as both Madison and Jefferson envisioned, seems quite beyond the realm of possibility. Most likely we are stuck with the antiquated, aristocratic electoral college, at least for the foreseeable future. There has long been, and still is, a false rumor afloat that the college of electors somehow levels the playing field for the small states, giving them equal representation. Even a cursory examination of the math reveals that quite the opposite is true. Under the current system, Wyoming gets three electoral votes, and California gets many multiples of ten as many. how does this achieve small state large state parity? By going to a one vote per person paradigm, and leaving it at that, and simply adding up all the votes, one has the same electoral impact, whether one lives in Wyoming or California. but in the United States of america, equality is the very last thing on our minds.

An Idiot's Guide To Respecting Evangelical Trump Supporters

IT WAS TOO WINDY to stack BBs, so, I began pondering idly, day dreaming, always a dangerous pursuit for me. I betook myself to seeking an answer to the question: Precisely, what, if anything, would it require for me to respect Trump supporters, to gain some modicum of respect for the evangelical Christian community, which comprises, amazingly, the lion's share of the base of Trump support? At length, after much rumination, I arrived at an answer. A trump supporter, in particular an evangelical Trump supporter, to gain my respect, would have to say something like: "I fully realize how horribly degraded Trump's personal behavior is. I get it about all the women, all the lies, the vicious slanderous attacks on people who have the audacity to merely disagree or displease him, the greed, the narcissism, the lust for attention at any price... I get that part. However, I support him, with many reservations, because he pursues an agenda containing certain basic tenets with which I agree, and, after all, he was the strongest vote getter in the Republican primaries, and thank God he defeated Hillary Clinton, who would have had us, forced by the government, to render unto Caesar and give unto the poor, and only Christ has the authority to do that. Trump cut taxes on the wealthy, which I agree with, because I believe the wealthy deserve a break, they already pay more taxes than their fair share, and if they are going to sell whatsoever they hast, and give unto the poor, it should be Jesus instructing them to do so, not the government. Trump does not believe in climate change, and therefore does nothing to help fight it, and I agree with this policy, because it really doesn't matter whether climate change is real; if God Almighty wants the climate to change, He will change it, and if He does not, He will not allow it. I support Trump's wall. I believe we must keep the immigrants out. If we are to welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, and care for everyone, we should do so because Jesus commands it, not because the United States government does. We should do so voluntarily, from following Christ, not from government coercion. Before we can take care of anyone else, we must take care of our own; surely the Lord mandates this. Cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will only make us stronger, more self sufficient, and my Christian conservative upbringing tells me that this is the proper way to behave, each one of us being strong, and taking care of ourselves. Trump may in fact be a womanizing, lying, profane man who insults many people, but the people he insults deserve it, and the things he is doing will make America great again, if they already haven't, and in fact might well already have. I forgive Trump his sins, and I embrace his agenda as being far more Christian that what we would have had from that goodie two shoes Hillary Rodham Clinton, what with her high taxes, redistribution of wealth, and environmental protection socialist non Christian agenda"......Obviously, I'm reaching here, bigly. The reasoning just presented above, while quite possibly a roughly accurate portrayal of what the evangelical Trump supporters believe, is insane, but its very insanity is precisely why it is probably a fair approximation of the aforementioned evangelical ideological insanity described above. Obviously Trump is the opposite of Jesus, and should be despised and rejected by all true Christians, who love him only because he is conservative, like they are. That they embrace him fully exposes their evil and their hypocrisy. And obviously, whatever Jesus taught, and we know pretty well what he taught, to reflect that teaching with American government action is good, not bad. When analyzing the reasons for Trump support, all Trump support, evangelical or otherwise, insanity is what you are going to get, the best one can hope for. But at least, at least it would be refreshing if even a single one among the insane minority would simply acknowledge that Trump is a pure, clear reprobate, and then, having done that, move on to the insanity. Thus far I have not found a single one among the insane forty two percent who is willing to even acknowledge, or own up to Trump's debauchery, his vile personality. At least, doing that would be a step in the right direction, a step towards honesty and sanity, but don't look for it, don't hold your breath. Trump supporters, after all, are not known for their nobility of character or soul.

Changing Words

THE TERMS "global warming", and "climate change" are both accurate, and acceptable, but not interchangeable. Global warming refers to the process which causes climate change. It is the cause, and climate change is the effect. The two are closely associated, but not the same. Global warming is far older than climate change, etymologically. The term fist appeared at least as early as 1988, when scientist James Hanson of NASA gave his now famous testimony in Congress, warning that global warming was taking place, describing the causes of it, mainly human industrial activity, and further warning that if left unchecked, it could eventually have serious consequences for the ecosystem, and ultimately, human survival. For many years global warming was the only term widely used. then, at some point after the beginning of the third millennia, the expression "climate change" became widely used, the ways words and expressions do in modern civilization; by someone with influence bringing it into existence, and gradually, through imitation, spreading it far and wide. Climate change replace global warming as the go to term primarily because it was considered more important to actually enumerate the effect, rather than the underlying cause. The change was made, in effect, for the sake of accuracy, as an improvement in descriptive verbiage, as often happens among English speaking people, and presumably, those who speak other languages as well. the transition was not without a backlash. People who insist that there is no such thing as climate change, or that even if there is human activity has nothing to do with it, and therefore it can't be helped, and therefore we shouldn't even try to change it or worry about it, but instead should simply go about our business routinely, as always, as if nothing is happening - these people seized upon the change in terminology as proof that the whole affair is nothing but a hoax. If it were real, they said, then the term "global warming" would be sufficient, and the very fact that a new term has been substituted proves conclusively that those who alleged its existence are fabricating the whole business. that this argument is dubious to the point of being laughable probably never occurs to them, many of whom still make the same argument. A similar transformation has occurred with the terms 'carbon dioxide" and "carbon". the climate change crowd, namely, scientists, used to warn us that humanity, by injecting tons of CO2 into the Earth's atmosphere, was causing global warming, leading to climate change. Then, almost overnight, said scientists started warning us about the effect o carbon on the climate, almost as if oxygen doesn't matter. this, in fact, is exactly the case. oxygen simply does not matter, and actually never has. Indeed carbon is inserted into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide, with two oxygen atoms clinging to every carbon atom to form the CO2 molecule which humans exhale from their bodies and from their factories, but since scientists knew all along that carbon is the culprit, and that oxygen merely an innocent bystander, they dropped the dioxide word from the list, justly exonerating it from all implications of blame. well, once again, out came the unscientifically educate conservatives, in full force. The media, the know nothing egg head know nothing out of touch every tower scientists, and the liberal do gooder socialist redistributors of other people's wealth were at it again, substituting one word for another, playing word games in their evil attempt to use a fabricated emergency to change the political and economic system, to send us all back to the stone age, to confiscate the wealth of the achievers, and redistribute it to the lazy impoverished masses. or, something like that. people who deny the obvious science fact of climate change are so crazy and deluded that trying to explain their point of view makes them seem crazy, which, by the way, they are. the far right climate change denial community is still at it, crazier than ever. Eighty five percent of Republicans belong to it. It is arrogant to believe than human kind has the power to change the climate, they say. Only god can do that. The Lord is coming back son, anyway, they say, so nothing else matters. the climate is always changing anyway, they say, so therefore people can't possibly be impacting it. And the piece de resistance: climate change is happening all over the solar system, on every planet, so it must have some cause, most likely an increase in solar radiation, which has nothing to do with human activity. Each of these arguments, upon cursory examination, is stark raving, crazy. the good news, if there is any, for us all, is" "climate change" is most likely the final version, since it seems completely descriptive an accurate, and will most probably not be supplanted by any new terminology, sparing us from further etymologically inspired uproar.

Taking Heat, And Dishing Out Warmth

ALEXANDRIA OSTACIO-CORTEZ did not enter politics for the purpose of engaging in bitter partisan backbiting. Assuming she ins't naive, she knew that sharp criticism and hostile verbal engagements would be part of the package, but perhaps not to the degree of bitterness she has encountered in her brief time on Capitol Hill. She has shown strength in her ability to take the heat, but no hesitation to respond, no indication that she is shy in the face of withering fire. Her harshest critics, of whom there is a veritable caravan of conservatives constantly on the attack, are learning to expect a timely, measured, intelligent response to their hateful, often dishonest accusations. She is often accused of being no more than an air headed bar tender, an immature, ignorant little girl who entered politics on a lark, and isn't prepared to hang with the big boys. Far from it. Cortez has a degree in a rigorous, demanding field of study from a prestigious institution, which she obtained with high marks. She has been interest in current events and societal concerns for a long time, and has shown such perception and thoughtful insight in her interactions with those who know her best that she was strongly encouraged to run for Congress by many people, including those with knowledge of political reality and what it takes to succeed in the political arena. So far, so good. She has suitably impressed her congressional colleagues, with her attire, demeanor, and well reasoned responses to all circumstances and questions. Already she appears poised to climb the ladder of party hierarchy among the Democrats. Grudgingly, behind the scenes, her opponents respect her, even though they seem not to like her, you can tell. So lacking are they for real, tangible material which to use against her that many of them have taken to slinging gratuitous mud at her, as if thinking and hoping that some of it might stick. It hasn't. At one of Donald Trump's recent circus style mob rallies, Donald Junior, no more noble nor less vile than his mud slinging father, lead a chant of "OAC sucks", in which the throng of all white all angry mostly middle class drop outs eagerly participated, their angry facial expressions filling the cameras. Take a look at them. The hatred and anger and despair radiates from their twisted faces, and they must either not fully realize how emotionally ill they are, or not care, or enjoy it. Cortez is among those who has the audacity to insist that everyone has as a basic human right access to good health care, whether or not one can afford it. That, too the conservative capitalistic crowd, is blasphemy. She sees the great disparity in income and wealth in America, as do most progressives, as a very real threat to democracy and economic stability, a problem urgently in need of correction. Equality, gander, racial, and economic, she views as a goal worth pursuing actively, rather allowing to either happen or not happen based upon the vicissitudes of an unregulated society. Opinions such as these will arouse the ire of the right wing every time, and are the main reason why they sink so low into their anger and hatred that they scream obscenities at her in unison. they go low, she goes high. Cortez has let it be known that she fully intends to fight for health insurance for all, and that by "all", she means those opposed to people helping each other, people who yell the obscenities at her, the supporters of Donald Trump. Few things in life are more difficult than taking the high road while being unfairly, viciously attacked. Alexandria Cortez has a difficult road ahead. Chances are, though, that she will meet all forthcoming challenges head on, and prevail against her enemies, maybe even by doing what Abraham Lincoln suggested, by turning them into friends.

Rallying, Attacking, Distracting

WHY, when one has been president for more than two years, and the next election is a year and a half away, does a president need or desire to have campaign style rallies, other than excessive narcissism, an excessive desire for immediate adoring attention from a mob, an extremely insecure, sensitive ego constantly in need of emotional nourishment? Another possibility is that the president is aware that his reelection chances depend entirely on some mixture of sensational behavior on his part and prefabricated events, combined with some sudden emergency crisis to be determined later, owing to historically low approval ratings and diminishing chances of reelection. Trump's mobsters like the rallies. Trump rants, they rant back, and everybody vents anger. Now that Hillary is old news, and quite obviously going to neither be indicted, tried, nor imprisoned for anything, the mob and its mob boss must find other prey. The perfect target is Alexandria Ostacio-Cortez, for several reasons. Primarily, she's a progressive, what we used to call "liberal", and that alone makes her a prime target for Trump, who would himself be quite happy to be a progressive, if is furthered his advancement, and in fact has at various times has been one. Secondly, Cortez is a woman, and one with whom Trump could definitely not get away with sexually molesting, notwithstanding his fame and fortune. Those kind bother him, in more ways than one. Then too, she is highly intelligent and well educated, properties Trump lacks. One of his former professors as the University of Pennsylvania recently described him as the dumbest student ever to set foot on campus. Cortez is outspoken, and obviously not afraid of Trump and Trump's gang, ready to trade shots any old time. None of that endears her to the misogynist in chief. Throw in her attractiveness, and the die is cast; she will be attacked by Trump, and his spawn. Cortez's response to the "Cortez sucks" chant at the mob gathering in Michigan was a bit disappointing: that Trump, in the absence of Hillary, is looking for a new women to abuse, and has now found one. She left out the part about Trump being a self proclaimed proud sex offender who has abused all three of his wives either by cheating on them or marrying them, that the president is a painfully insecure and overly sensitive damaged soul which can probably be accounted for by having been raised by an overbearing, impossible to please father. Trump has troubles ahead. Mueller did more than exonerate him of collusion with the Russians. He investigated a number of different avenues of criminality, and including substantial evidence gathering, then turned them all over to state law enforcement agencies whose eventual criminal indictments will be beyond the president's power to pardon. Manafort and Cohen, names which may still ring a bell, talked to the law about things other than collusion to win an election; they talked about all manner of Trump family shadiness, mostly having to so with money matters, all serious in nature, all felonious. Trump supporters are generally behaving as if their icon's legal troubles are over, and as if its told you so rub it in time. They are quite mistaken. Many investigations continue, and will have damaging results for Trump. There will be no retaliation for teh trauma and insult of Mueller by Trump and his adoring mob, against the media, the Democrats, against the fictitious deep state, or anybody else. There are no available targets. Mueller's investigation was above board, perfectly, legal, perfectly appropriate, and there exists no conspiracy against Trump, other than the law and the truth. All this tough talk about getting even with the instigators of the Mueller investigation serve the same purpose as attacking Alexandria Cortez; distraction. The inevitable demise of Trump and his mob movement,, at the hands of justice according to due process, not only will not be deterred, it will not even be delayed.

Helping The Trump People

ABOUT TWENTY YEARS AGO, in a magazine article, a much younger looking and more perceptive Donald Trump said, roughly paraphrased; "If I ever run, I'll do it as a Republican, because Republicans are the dumbest people in the world. They believe everything they hear on FOX news. I could lie all the time, and they would believe me." Anyone who doubts that he actually said this is cordially invited to do the necessary research. Trump, it turns out, is quite the self fulfilling prophet. One wonders whether his opinion of Republicans is as pejorative now as it was at the time of the interview. Why wouldn't it be? Republicans have responded to him, and continue to respond to him, in precisely the manner he long ago predicted, accepting or believing all his lies. Numerous sociologists, psychologists, and Barbara Bush have tried to understand why those who support Trump do so, considering his truly deplorable behavior and lie mongering. The lies are blatant, undeniable, and constant. So far research has focused on actual differences between the progressive and the conservative mind, involving different reactions to external stimuli, such as fear and anger. Conservatives, it seems, are more responsive to perceived threats with stronger fear responses, and Trump expertly exploits that. Anyone who suspects that this generalization is a fabrication to insult conservatives or Trump supporters, again, is invited to do the necessary research. One fact emerges unscathed. Trump supporters support him not in spite of his lies, and his vicious slanderous remarks about other people, but because of them. Throughout his long life Trump has alternately been an independent, a Democrat, and several other political affiliations. He has been pro choice, pro life, an interventionist, and isolationist, this, that, and the other, a veritable chameleon, changing his color with the vicissitudes of momentary expediency. This is the characteristic of a survivor; flexibility, a willingness to travel through life unanchored to any set of core principles, other than his own advancement. Personal advancement for Trump, as revealed by his behavior, has always meant fame and fortune. Sexual conquests have been a priority, almost as if each one serves as more validation of his worth, which, perhaps, is one reason why men, even those with beautiful adoring wives, often stray. I have been aware of Donald Trump much longer than I should have been, considering that for most of his life he was merely another very wealthy very ambitious high rolling New York investment and money monger. This is because he has gone to great lengths to insinuate himself into the public eye, onto the front pages of scandal sheets, always chasing cameras and tabloids, offering himself as fodder for gossip, in exchange for the attention he so desperately craves. His behavior is that of the consummate narcissist. Nobody in the mental health profession disputes this. Not long after his election as president tens of thousands of mental health professionals signed a letter warning us about his excessive narcissism and other mental instabilities. Trump's political enemies, who consist of nearly sixty percent of the American people, took heed. His supporters, predictably, did not. Trump's supporters are masterful at ignoring and dodging any evidence of malignancy in Trump's behavior or mental state, of which there is a prodigious amount. They have to be. Conversations with Trump supporters invariably frighten me, so twisted does their reasoning seem. The evangelicals emphasize forgiveness of sin. When reminded that forgiveness requires repentance and atonement, they shrug their shoulders. When reminded that one can forgive anyone anything, without electing as president someone unfit for the job, they fall silent. Trump supporters are magicians at avoidance of addressing Trump's lies and erratic behavior, partly because they do not see it, nor wish to, partly because they do not mind it, party because they approve of it. And, this, above all else, is the frightening part, the part which is so eerily remindful of Hitler and his mind numbed minions. People who support Trump as president are themselves afflicted with a complex array of mental and emotional disturbances, ranging from alienation, anger, and fear, to resentment at the direction of their rapidly changing world, which they see as spinning out of their control. Rather than excoriate and despise them for their folly, the best approach for the rest of us, the majority, might well be to reach out in friendship and compassion, and offer, sincerely, to do everything we possibly can to help.

Abusing the Bible, the Right Wing Way

ONE OF MY CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN FRIENDS, of whom I have a few to keep up appearances, posted something interesting on Facebook recently. She cited a bit of scripture from the book of Deuteronomy, I believe it was, a passage which, according to her, said: "a wise man turns to the right, and a fool turns to the left." Then, not content to let scripture be scripture and leave well enough alone, she offered the annotation: "Yep, that's right! That proves it, conservatives are wise, and liberals are fools". I could not, and still cannot, ascertain the degree, if any, to which she was attempting to be humorous. Since I know her to be a devout albeit poorly educated christian conservative, I guessed, with a certain degree of sadness, that she intended no humor. Alas, it would have made her look better if she had. At first I accepted her scriptural quote as accurate, because I recalled that in both the Old and the the New Testaments, on several occasions, being on the right was presented as better than being on the left. Jesus himself, if memory serves, even said something to that effect. Since only about fifteen percent of people are left handed, left handedness, and leftness in general, has always suffered from negative bias. There is power in sheer numbers. A vague feeling of disquiet prompted me to gather together my bible, and check the scripture she cited. What it actually said was: "A wise man does what is right, and a fool does what is wrong." Quite a discrepancy. Leave it to the bible to make much more sense than those who inaccurately misquote it. obviously, her butchered use of teh Bible was intentional, a feeble attempt to use what to her is the Word of God to promote her personal political agenda. alas, what won't conservative Christians do to promoter their contradictory religious and political ideology? for verily, the central message of Jesus, the central message of the Christian faith, i t precisely the opposite of the central agenda of the modern American conservative movement, from attitudes about money, to attitudes about gay rights, and any number of contradictory beliefs. Jesus said "give unto the poor". He did not say "welfare makes people irresponsible". Jesus said "judge not". he did not say "condemn homosexuality as a sin or a sickness". The list of contradictions between Christianity and conservatism is long and loud. One must misquote the Bible to turn it into a politically conservative document, as my friend tried to do. i wondered, and still wonder, did she ever stop and consider the fact that most people have their own copiers of the bible, and that if you deliberately distort what it says, and name the chapter and verse you are allegedly quoting, other people can simply go to their copies, and expose your misdeed? Maybe she thought everyone would take her at her word, and nobody would bother. She was wrong. Not only did I bother, I responded to her Facebook post with the corrected passage, thus exposing her perfidy. predictably, she unfriended me, and hasn't been seen online since. I have recently been wondering whether she felt, or feels, the slightest twinge of guilt for her abuse of her sacred book. I would guess not. her willingness to commit such a sin against the sacred spirit of literary integrity would seem to preclude any possibility of guilt. or, maybe she reconsidered her behavior, like many criminals, only after getting caught. In any event, the world is relieved of one right wind religious reprobate, at least for the time being. I fully expect her to be back in action all too soon, spreading the false, nefarious doctrine of right wing Christian conservatism. For in fact, fools lean to the right. The only problem is, there are millions more where she came from, and they are not likely to be easily vanquished to the murky, swampy wilderness of social isolation. Not with folks like Jerry Falwell polluting American society with claims that god almighty ordained Donald Trump to be president. Like the poor, the righteous right wing religious reprobates will always be among, us. what remains to us is to ignore them correct then when we can, and, by all means, vote them out of elective office.

Getting The Facts

WITHIN MOMENTS after JFK expired at Parkland General, or wherever, assuming he expired, conspiracy theories started multiplying like stray cats in a small southern town. The list of people who done it came to include LBJ, the CIA, Castro, the ubiquitous, always available Russians (Russian scapegoatery has a long and distinguished pedigree, long predating the now confirmed election interference and Trump's alleged collusion therewith), the mob, et al. As the years turned into decades, the list of conspirators lengthened, Culminating in the Oliver Stone film in the early nineties in which we all might as well turn ourselves in as co-conspirators. Mick and the boys had it right all along. I shouted out: who killed the Kennedy's? When after all, it was you and me. I was eight years old when Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, accomplished something way above his pay grade, and grew up concocting my own conspiratorial assassination theories, like all good Americans, but by the time Stone's movie came out, I was ready to give Oswald full credit, by default, from exhaustion. People wanted, and still want, big people getting credit for doing big things, not some little nobody like lee Harvey. The JFK tangled web, after more than half a century, has finally died down a bit, laid to rest as never to be resolved, replaced by newer, even sexier conspiracy upgrades. The tangled web of folks and groups in collusion to get Trump is remindful of the Kennedy mess, and Donald has sworn to get them all. Good luck with that. They include the Democrats, the media, the imaginary deep state, et al. Stay tuned for more. In actual reality, which these days people tend to eschew, the conspiracy out to get Trump consists of one group; the majority of the American people. We're perfectly willing to await our turn to vote, and to do it the right way. Speaking of conspiracies, what's with this business of the Attorney General having in his possession the entire Mueller report, but not letting anyone else look at it? He seems to have mistaken it for his personal diary. Didn't the House of Representatives vote, something like four hundred twenty to noting, to get a copy of it? And, am I dreaming, or did Mitch McConnell, using his Senatorial majority leadorial agenda setting powers, just block any attempt in the Senate to facilitate the sharing of Mueller's information? Is this all a bad dream, or what? Now, look. I, as well as the next man, and the next, no matter how much I despise Donald J. Trump, which I can assure you, is considerably, am perfectly willing to accept the fact that there was no Russian-Trumpian collusion of any form or fashion. In fact, I personally hope and pray there wasn't. The last thing i want is to have a president of the United States indicted, arrested, tried, convicted, and executed for treason, great reality TV though that would make. I mean, the Nixon thing was bad enough. But I cannot accept the results of an investigation which I cannot see. And, chances are, Barr's four page letter is basically telling the truth, summarizing Mueller, but; how do we know? We don't, and won't, until, as Bernie Sanders inelegantly put it, we see the whole damned thing. What if Trump and a few of his enforcers visited Mr. Barr, and offered to let him live, instead of swimming with the fishes, so long as he redacted and redacted to Trump's heart's content? I mean, what if? Is it true what the rumor says, that first the full report will be given to "The white House" for "redacting", and then released? Or is this another of my bad dreams? Trump first, then America? What? To quote John McEnroe, you cannot be serious! Just to let you know; right wing Trump supporter nut cases are not the only ones with vivid imaginations. There are millions of us who can see it now; Donald Trump, switching off FOX fake news for a brief spell, glancing through the Mueller thing, and magic marking out the part about collusion, and leaving the rest, good to go. I mean, if you were Trump, wouldn't you? Sorry, that isn't a fair question. No, this is not the way it needs to happen. No way, no how. I'm ready to take to the streets over this one, and I already have my hand painted sign ready to go, cardboard nailed to two by four. To quote Donald Trump, who said it twice in a row during his mercifully brief inauguration rant: "America first. America first".

Investigating.

ALL INVESTIGATIONS ARE GOOD. Why not? Why not find out what's going on? The only drawback is the expense, the time and money. All worthwhile endeavors, however, require effort, and, well, investigations, if nothing else, keep lawyers off the streets, where they might make even more trouble. If memory serves, when bill Clinton received sexual favors from a comely young intern, and investigation into the affair was launched, and investigation which soon digressed and branched into numerous other avenues of investigation, none of which were specifically mandated in the beginning. Bill Clinton said it best: "the republicans just spent seventy million dollars proving that I'm a sinner. There's lotsa folks down in Arkansas who could've told 'em that for free". And indeed they could have, and likely would have. And, as it turned out, receiving a blow job was about the worst thing Big Bill ever did; all of the various horrible forms of corruption and financial crimes of which he and his wife were accused and for which they were investigated proved to be fiction, and their investigation fruitless, as a matter of historical fact. It could be argued, and has been, that the various investigations into Clinton were the most wasteful witch hunts in American history. But again, why not at least find out? In retrospect, the Kenneth Starr saga seems to have done no damage to the Clintons, and it certainly didn't hurt to find some things out, mainly, that the Clintons were not financial criminals, they were merely trying to get rich. Belatedly, they succeeded. Now we can expect to hear all manner of wailing and moaning by Trump supporters with expressions of righteous outrage at the horrible burden imposed upon their leader by Robert Mueller, the injustice of it all, and that it is proof that dark sinister force, mainly progressives and media people, used Mueller as an insidious way to bring down the don. Break out the violins and kleenex, folks. We are already hearing it. Nobody but nobody, says Trump, could have endured what he has endured, and nobody else should ever have to. The truth, of course is that he didn't endure it; he cried like a toddler with a wet diaper the entire time. And why? Any decent, dignified person would have merely said: I welcome the investigation, because I am confident it will fully exonerate me, and I understand that the American people need to know that their president is not a treasonous traitor". It would have been, could have been so simple, so calm, so appropriate. but never expect ever expect the great reprobate to do the right thing, tell the truth, or to take the high road, or to refrain from any opportunity to lash out at somebody and scream bloody murder, when there is no bloody murder, no need for histrionics. Trump the unreality TV star simply has to gain attention, and has to be the poor victim, fighting valiantly against evil. Instead, he is a whiner, a crybaby, having attempted to obstruct justice daily throughout Mueller's perfectly legitimate investigation, and, as always, the president is the person with the least amount of good character even remotely conceivable. When seventeen out of seventeen intelligence gathering agencies tell us that the Russians attempted to influence the outcome of the 2016 election in favor of Trump, when trump, his family, and his close associates have a long history of many contacts with many Russians, and when trump, in front of God and the world implores: "Russia, if your'e listening, I hope you can find Hillary Clinton's missing emails", there is reason to ask: to what extent, if any, is the Trump campaign working with the Russians to secure his election to the presidency? The Mueller investigation was not only warranted, it was entirely necessary, and we still do not know its findings, because we the American people have still have not seen nor read it, but only a brief summary of it, which may or may not be accurate, provided by Trump's hand picked Attorney General. That, dear reader, is not enough. So, enough already. Mueller is finished, he has submitted his report, and now let us all read through it, that we may know what it says. This is not some sort of horrible, dark conspiracy to take down Trump, as his supporters, people of demonstrably and universally of low character pretend to believe. This is simple, common sense. Everything Trump has said so far since Barr's four pager was presented has been, unsurprisingly, an outright lie. Trump has not bee fully exonerated. Nor is he going to enact any retribution against anyone who was involved in, advocated for, or supported the investigation as criminals, because if he dare tries, he will and up engaging in even more criminal activity, and land his ass in an even larger sling. We all know that the don of con gives not a fig whether future presidents go through something similar. Donnie'll be long dead. If they keep their noses clean, like Trump refuses to do, they might hot have to. But if they do, no harm no foul. A little transparency never hurt anyone, even, and especially, a Trump supporter.

Deceiving Ourselves

A GREAT NINETEENTH CENTURY Northern European philosopher whose first name was "Soren" once said that there are two ways for us to be deceived: by believing a lie, and by failing to accept the truth. People who refuse to accept the reality of man made climate change for personal ideological reasons, or any other reason, including failing to understand basic science, are deceiving themselves in both ways. They refuse to accept reality, and are accordingly accepting a lie, and they deny the truth. Another great northern European philosopher whose last name was "Goethe" said that we are never deceived, we only deceive ourselves. Suppose that the United States were being invaded by a foreign army, say, the Russians. Their tanks and troops landing on the east coast and making their way inland, because the commander in chief refused to give orders to the military to resist and drive the invading enemy off our soil. (For this mental exercise, the Russians are the perfect motif, amid today's controversies).The invaders are advancing, capturing territory, inflicting billions of dollars of damage to property, private and public, and taking many lives. And yet, the president of the United States not only refuses to take action, she repeatedly assures us that the invasion is a hoax, fake news, and is in fact not happening. She continues this strange behavior no matter how many competent military officers frantically try to persuade her of the reality of the situation. Finally, she simply dismisses everyone under her authority who disagrees with her "no Russian invasion" viewpoint, and installs as her assistants and advisers only those willing to agree with her position, and to present it to the public. So effective is the commander in chief's ability to convince millions of people that there is no Russian invasion, that millions of people, a minority but a significant one, believes it, and joins the president in denying the reality of the invasion. Many of the people who deny it continue to do so even as Russian tanks and troops roll across their land and down their streets, leaving tread marks and foot prints, as well as ruined lawns, dead dogs and cats, and trampled gardens. We Americans are confronted with this exact situation, only, its worse than in this purely hypothetical fantasy. We are indeed ignoring an enemy which even as we ignore it is ravaging our country, costing us billions of dollars in damage and countless shortened lives. The enemy, of course, is climate change, an enemy far more inexorable and deadly than any invading Russian army, although its invasion is much slower. Even though a large majority of Americans now accepts the reality of climate change, those who refuse to have enough political power, currently, that our efforts to fight the enemy are falling short. The necessary effort involves changing our behavior, since ultimately we are the enemy, we are the manufacturers of climate change. But the deniers tragically, currently have the power to thwart our efforts to fight and win. Fossil fuel corporate money inundates the political system, purchasing climate change denial among America's political leaders, and the fossil fuel industry keeps belching pollution into the atmosphere, slowly, but increasing rapidly, killing us all. In southern Florida millions of people agree that every summer is hotter than the last. Every high tide, Miami floods. The Department of Defense tells us that human made climate change is the greatest threat to America's national security. Science tells us that with current trends all insects will be extinct within one hundred years, and that by the year 2050 most major cities in Asia and elsewhere will be uninhabitable in the summer. Fossil fuel pollution fills the atmosphere with many types of polluting particles, which enter our lungs, damage our hearts and brains, and shorten our lives, the lives of everyone on the planet, by years. The proof is overwhelming. Ask a scientist, any scientist. And yet, we refuse to accept the truth, we prefer to believes lies, and we have elected a president and political leaders who assist an enemy invasion by ignoring it. When we are all dead, our descendants will suffer far more than we do now. We deserve our fate, but they do not, and we are responsible for it.

Turning Lemons Into Lemonade; Making America Greater

EVERYONE IN THE WORLD, except perhaps those who have been hiking the Appalachian trail for the past two and a half years, has long since become familiar with those iconic bright red MAGA ball caps, which are not associated with any baseball team, but rather, with Donald Trump's political career and his millions of loyal followers. And just as those who adore Trump adore the ball caps, the caps are every bi as repugnant to those who detest the president as is the president himself, at least, almost. Such people need have no hatred nor anxiety. for these people, the message is; not to worry, incorporate, coopt. It is a time tested, true blue tactic. when during the American was of independence from Great Britain the British and their American allies, of whom there were many, belittled the revolutionaries as ill mannered uncultured bumpkins by singing the disparaging tune "Yankee Doodle", the yanks themselves began singing it. they made it their own, and the term "Yankee" which originally meant both a sailor responsible for hoisting sails and an American lower class worker, became in America a term not of derision, but of veneration. To this day Americans are known as "yankees" in many parts of the world, and at home, the word has essentially positive connotations, except among those who happen to hate a certain historically successful baseball team, a team named after sail hoisting sailors. We return to red ball caps. To progressives, and to thoughtful people with some measure of historical knowledge, the expression "make America great again" is at best meaningless, at worst, a lie. it is, if nothing else, an expression of the true conservative spirit. America was once geat, in the halcyon, revered past, no longer is, but can be once again. reverence for the past,a longing to return to it, a reverence for tradition, pure conservatism. Also, pure nonsense. Here's why. If America has ever been great, if America has always been great, it still is. Nothing has happened recently to change that, to remove her greatness. Conversely, if America is not great now, then she never has been, because, by all fundamental measurements, America is basically the same as always. If anything, America has improved. Higher levels of education, better health, longer lives, more prosperous citizens, greater social equality, and, notwithstanding our current enormous degree of economic inequality, economic inequality has throughout much of American history been a persistent feature of American economic life. the most reasonable conclusion is that America is great in some ways, and not so great in others. America, a complicated mixed bag of greatness and shortcomings. The truth, as usual, is many shades of grey. Back to the ball caps. Humility is, in most quarters, considered a virtue, while pride and arrogance are not. let us assume for the sake of common sense that whatever it is about America that is already great need only be left alone, and that our duty as patriotic citizens is to address those areas in which American is not great, and probably has never been great, and to make them great. The appropriate message on the ball caps then becomes "make America Great." Make America more prosperous for more people by ending poverty, homelessness, and unemployment. Make america great by leading the world in addressing and finding and implementing solutions for climate change. Make america great by curtailing its career as an aggressive imperialistic power bent on remaking the world in its own image, for the purpose of enhancing the power and prosperity of its corporations. Make America great by taking control of the country away from the billionaire corporate oligarchs who have long owned and controlled it, and giving control to to people, who have never before had any real power in the United States, but could, for the first time, with sufficient political and economic reform. Make America great by ending, once and for all, racism, sexism, and all other manner of social and economic inequality. Make america great by ending disease and hunger. And perhaps most importantly of all,make America great by renewing our commitment to education as all levels, and our commitment to the advance of science, and by ending the all too pervasive contempt for and rejection of science demonstrated by those who oppose vaccinations and those who deny the reality of climate change of the human made kind. The list is endless. And, since we wish to be confident and optimistic as well as humble, our ball caps could say; 'make America Greater". And while we're at it, why not vary the color scheme a bit. Caps can come in all colors. there are a billion shades of red. Why not use blue too? Making America greater is a bipartisan project. May all good citizens come forth, with their caps of many colors, proclaiming the positive, hopeful message: Make America Greater (MAG).

Going It alone, But Having It Our Way

DONALD TRUMP'S "America first" agenda, which could be accurately described as "America Alone", has removed the United States from the Paris climate change accord, the nuclear arms limitations agreement with Iran, and the Trans Pacific Trade Partnership, among others. In all instances, all the other participants in these cooperative endeavors are happily continuing their productive cooperation, without the slightest concern for our departure. These agreemtns were entered into for a reason. Now, all the other countries benefit in many ways from them, America does not. Good riddance America, Don't let the door hit your butt on your arrogant way out, is the message. America will go its own way, irrespective of foreign concerns, and will subordinate cooperation with all other nations to the immediate but poorly conceived, poorly perceived interests of the United Sates. In other words, America Alone. Trump's presidency has done nothing to enhance America's prestige abroad; quite the opposite, in fact. In parades all over the world, caricature balloons float high above flat bed floats, depicting Trump is various unflattering guises, from village idiot to petty, gun wielding tyrant. Trump is not respected by the global community, and increasingly, neither is America. Recently the United States informed young Iranian student scientists that under no circumstances should they even consider a career in nuclear physics. Although possible consequences were not specified, presumably Iranians who choose the verboten career will meet with severe punishment, od some undetermined sort. one can scarcely imagine what that might entail. legions of special forces operative infiltrating Iranian territory, possibly armed with poison pills and an assault rifles, picking off young Iranian scientific scholars by the thousand. Between 1953 and 1973 the United states, under several presidents, did everything in its power to persuade Iran, governed by the Shah, an American puppet, to develop and deploy a nuclear weapons arsenal. Iranian students of nuclear physics studied at M.I.T., with American pleasure and approval, and at other prestigious American institutions of higher education. We the highly fluctuating America people have now come full circle; from encouraging and supporting Iranian inquiry into nuclear weapons, to forbidding absolutely their doing so. To Iran, this must seem a confusing state of affairs, as it must to anyone paying attention. One might wonder why the U.S. didn't merely ship nuclear bombs and missiles directly to Iran. The most likely answer is that doing so might have aroused the wrath of other global powers, and might have made the united State seem to be a war mongering belligerent. Precisely why did the United States of Imperialism spend a quarter century trying to get Iran to go nuclear? According to former Secretary of State and national security adviser Henry Kissinger, it was because "they were our friends then". Just as a matter of fact; all the other countries which signed the nuclear agreement with Iran are stills standing strongly by it, and Iran is abiding by it. it would seem that the American way is not the only way.Imagine, the United States, presuming to tell all Iranian students which courses of study and careers are impermissible, while harboring even the most tenuous belief that is has even the remotest hope of enforcing its belligerent bullying. Quite honestly, had I been born in Iran rather than Missouri, I would in all likelihood be on social media, twitter tweeting right back at Donald Trump, telling him precisely what he might do with his nuclear physics instructions, his torn up treaties, and his country. it wouldn't be pleasant nor pretty. The United States of Animosity, withdrawing from the world as if it is somehow too superior to participate in it, and simultaneously presuming telling its member nations, nations willing to cooperate in and abide by international agreements, what to do. the United States under Trump has not been made great again, far from it. It has been made lonely again, lonely, bizarre, bipolar, and impotent, much like its demonstrably mentally ill head of state. The time may be arriving for America's remaining sane to adorn red baseball caps, emblazoned with the message: "make america sane again". the only problem with this approach is obvious: has the United States of Aversion ever been, in any real sense, sane?

Waiting For Mueller, Alone

A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, when Manafort was indicted, my thought was that the Mueller investigation was wrapping up, and that soon we would know something, maybe even the truth. I repeated the process a few more times, but finally learned. I betook myself to being patient, and reminded myself that justice does not adhere in my voraciously, fervently anticipating the fall of the tower of Trump via exposure of treason, and incarceration. In all truth. all these meetings 'twixt Trumper folk and Russians had to be for a reason, am I correct? I mean, something must have been going on, and to investigate it, in light of the fact that all seventeen intelligence gathering services assured us that Russian election tampering in twenty sixteen was a reality, was justified, reasonable, and had nothing to do with hunting witches, contrary to the vociferous protestations of White House occupants and spokes personnel. And, then too, what's wrong with rooting out witches? Sometimes, as in Mueller's case, it works. By definition, any investigation which exposes crime and causes its culprits to be prosecuted and sentenced is a successful enterprise, and not a witch hunt, assuming the term "witch hunt" as a futile endeavor, intended only to make trouble. Mueller has been honorable, dutiful, and professional, so, let's hear what he has to say. I've been saying that I hope Mueller did not find the president to be a traitor, although, as a known gangster and reprobate the president is known to be capable of anything, and, as mentioned above, there certainly is an abundance of evidence and smoking guns, contrary to what Trump supporters dishonestly imagine. More fascinating are the various attitudes and reactions of the masses for and against Trump. Indeed, his despisers are chomping, waiting for and fully expecting a report horribly damaging to his orangeness. Anything else will be a construed as a failure of the system, and of the sacred spirit of accountability. The very thought of merely awaiting the report, accepting whatever it says, then moving on factors not into any equation known to anti-Trumpism. The trump supporters are far more fascinating, their attitudes amazing, psychotic, delusional, and a few other things. Once the witch hunt meme gained momentum, it just wouldn't relent. We live in a society in which everyone seems to have read 'Macbeth", a nation of Shakespeare-ian scholars. Double, double, toil and trouble, and all that malarkey. The president understands the big lie oft repeated idea, that it works, and his one hundred and eleven references to witch hunts took hold. The best part has been the various permutations of the grand conspiracy theory, at which the far right and the paranormal community are so terribly accomplished. Among these wackos, every and all unsatisfactory result is the product of some damned conspiracy, which only the purveyor of the news itself knows anything about. Everybody has his or her own brand. Fake (liberal) news media, the professorial community, Chinese hackers; you name it, they invent a conspiracy to cover it. Among these pro Trump loonies, who, yes, are loonies merely by definition of being Trump supporters, the slightest indication in the Mueller report that the Don of the gang is anything other than a pristine defender of the faith and the American way will evince wrath the likes of which have not been seen since the last time a conservative Christian read the Bible straight through, which, in a word, has been forever. I hope Trump is clean; I'd rather impeach him for failing to fight climate change. The mere fact that I am content to await the report, to accept it, and to move on puts me at odds with both sides, and, as the old song says, stuck in the middle with you.

Looking For The Deep State

CONVERSATIONS WITH CONSERVATIVE conspiracy theorists yield unexpected fruit. I am persuaded that many of them truly believe in what they call "the deep state", the exact nature of which must must extrapolate from available information, what little is available. Does it consist of real people, or are they also imaginary? Do they have secret symbols and gang signs like Klan members and white supremacists? they must be government employees, at least nominally, or they wouldn't have earned the designation"state". But where are they? Certainly not in any part of the executive branch. Most cabinet level agencies are seriously understaffed under Trump's policy of down sized governmental bureaucratic contraction. Buildings where deep staters might furtively lurk, creep, and conspire, places like the State Department and E.P.A., are more than half empty, making the verification of the loyalties of those who remain a virtual piece of cake. we are left with a boringly mundane conclusion. the "deep state", if anywhere, is right under our very noses, much to the surprise and probably disappointment of the conservative conspiratorial community. Even the most cursor examination of the flow chart of the United states federal government reveals a tangled, confusing, bureaucratic depth of two, or is it three million civil servants, without even mentioning the military. That's deep, and its state, socialism at its finest, right out there int he open, visible to all, hiding nothing, engaged in nothing more sinister and subversive than shoving trillions of dollars of public resources down the deep hole, never to return. The conservative conspiracy theorists, unimpeded by reason, reluctant to abandon the fun, next propose a secret coven of ultra elite ultra wealthy white men, secreted away somewhere in Switzerland, pulling strings, controlling everything from the world economy to the United nations, implementing a subversive globalist agenda, inimical to the sovereignty of the United States and detrimental to the American way, freedom, liberty, and a upwardly mobile dreams and aspirations of the common man. Again, the conspiracy theorists are actually on to something, but looking for it in the wrong place, seeing trees, as it were, but not the forest. Introducing the fortune five hundred, plain as the nose on your face, in plan view, not hiding anything or anyone, its agenda perfectly obvious to even the most superficial scrutiny. They have meetings in fancy accommodations, they purchase political loyalty and power, they contrive insidious schemes to plot power and money grabs under the guise of everyone's best interest; in short, they meet all the requisite criteria. If nothing else, they deserve the respect of acknowledgment. Why look beyond them, to something even more perfidious and insidious? Won't they suffice? The will, with a little embellishment, a few gated estates, helicopters, yachts, and, just for good measure, clandestine gatherings behind locked doors in Switzerland. Maybe the search for this level of allure and glamour is why we elected Donald Trump. The deep state, the fiction that there lurks hidden within the n the United States government an organized movement to overthrow Trump and seize power, was invented due to the unwillingness of conservatives to accept the reality that a large majority of the American people reject Trump's policies, his behavior, his presidency, a reality far less palatable than the notion of a much smaller but potentially potent anti trump force, deeply hidden, but ever lurking. The problem with conservatives, and their conspiracy theories, as well as all their paradigms, including the rare variety which harbors no thoughts of conspiracy, is that they get everything backwards. They put supply before demand, and solutions before problems. Hence their intent to arm the good people before ascertaining exactly who the good people are, which, in truth, can never be done. A conservative colleague recently told me that teh death penalty does nothing to deter a convicted murderer, but deters would be killers from acting on their worst impulses. Again, backwards. People sufficiently motivated to kill are not likely to pay heed to consequences they no more expect to experience than detection, capture, and conviction. But as for the captured, convicted, and executed murderer? He'll never harm another soul, and in terms of actual deterrents, it doesn't get any better than that.